Description of the event
On October 25, 2023, the company released its report for the third quarter of 2023:2023Q3 achieved operating income of 156 million yuan (-11.54% yoy), revenue of 451 million yuan (-4.05%) in the first three quarters of 2023; net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies of 0.07 billion yuan (-84.74% yoy), and the first three quarters of 2023 was 39 million yuan (-81.61% yoy).
Incident comments
Short-term performance is under pressure, and core business is growing steadily. On the revenue side, with the optimization of the epidemic prevention policy, the company's revenue from magnetic bead products for nucleic acid testing declined sharply. Excluding the influence of these incidental factors, revenue in the first three quarters increased 8.55% year-on-year. Core business chromatographic fillers and chromatography media products achieved revenue of 321 million yuan (+9.12% year-on-year), achieving growth and a steady increase in market share. On the profit side, profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies in the first three quarters was 39 million yuan, mainly due to the high base for the same period last year caused by the investment income from the acquisition of Cypex Instruments in the same period last year, and the decline in stock payment fees and instrument business. In the first three quarters of 2023, the company's R&D expenses were 129 million yuan (+42.53% year-on-year after excluding 35 million share payments), sales expenses were 90 million yuan, and management expenses were 103 million yuan. As of the end of the reporting period, R&D investment accounted for 28.57% of operating income (+12.93% YoY).
Leading domestic fillers, new products are being launched one after another. Self-developed monodisperse chromatographic fillers have broken the long-term monopoly of foreign countries and changed the situation where chromatographic fillers have been dependent on imports for a long time. R&D investment was greatly increased in the first three quarters of 2023, and a number of key new products, such as silicone chromatographic fillers with breakthrough micropore control technology and new soft rubber Protein A affinity chromatography media, were launched and sold in the second half of the year.
The GLP-1 peptide drug brings new catalysts, and the import substitution effect is prominent. Special silicone chromatographic fillers with higher performance advantages have been custom-developed for the use of drugs such as liraglutide, which are in high demand and have high market value. Following the acceleration of the GLP-1 diet drug market in the second half of the year, the company released a new Revo series of monodisperse silicone chromatographic fillers. It can obtain higher purity and yield in GLP-1 and insulin purification, further consolidating the company's leading position in the field of biomedical purification and solving the pain points of imported product substitution.
Profit forecast and investment recommendations: The company's net profit for 2023-2025 is estimated to be 94 million yuan, 133 million yuan and 194 million yuan respectively, corresponding to EPS of 0.23, 0.33 and 0.48 yuan respectively, maintaining the “buy” rating.
Risk warning
1. The development of biopharmaceuticals has not progressed as far as expected;
2. Risk of loss of core technical personnel.