① In the 2024 budget plan, Bethel lowered this year's revenue and net profit growth targets by more than 10 percentage points; ② Bethel expects the company's 2024 EPB sales growth target to be 30%, and the WCBS 2.0 project is expected to achieve mass production in the second half of this year; ③ The company expects the average annual capacity utilization rate of the Mexican plant to reach 60% this year.
Financial Services Association, April 9 (Reporter Wang Bin) Although Bethel (603596.SH)'s 2023 performance continued to grow, there is still a certain gap from the revenue budget set by the company at the beginning of the year. Perhaps affected by this, Bethel lowered this year's revenue and net profit growth targets by 14.55 percentage points and 10.45 percentage points, respectively, in the 2024 budget plan.
At the 2023 annual results and cash dividend briefing held today, Bethel did not respond positively to the reasons why last year's revenue fell short of expectations, but it unleashed a series of benefits for investors. In terms of new product development and commissioning, Bethel revealed that mass production of the company's electric tailgate is underway, and mass production is expected to be achieved in the second half of 2024; the ADAS mobile parking integrated domain controller is under development and is scheduled to be completed this year; the A-wheel product with active suspension has already been loaded and tested, and mass production is expected to be achieved in 2025.
Furthermore, according to the customer plan, Bethel expects the company's 2024 EPB sales growth target to be 30%, and the WCBS 2.0 project is expected to achieve mass production in the second half of this year. According to reports, the company's WCBS2.0 production line is currently undergoing technological transformation and will be co-produced with WCBS1.0, with an annual production capacity of 300,000 sets per year.
In response to the business situation in the first quarter of this year, Bethel said that the company's Q1 business situation was in line with expectations, and both orders and capacity utilization increased year-on-year. Regarding the “annual decline” issue that investors are concerned about, Bethel said that the 2024 annual product decline is currently in customer discussions, and the company will reduce the negative impact of the annual decline in products on the company's profits through measures such as improving efficiency, sharing raw materials, and reducing R&D costs.
At the results conference, investors raised intensive questions about Bethel's overseas layout and intelligent electronic control products (electronic parking brake system (EPB), electric power steering system (EPS), and line control system (WCBS)). Some investors suggested, “It was previously rumored that the US would increase taxes on auto parts produced in Mexico. How does the company view this situation? Will it adversely affect the company's overseas layout?”
In response, Bethel said that the current judgment has not had a direct impact on the company's business, and the preliminary judgment will have an impact on the export of complete vehicles. “The company has made good progress in developing projects in the North American market in the past two years. In 2024, the company will step up its market development efforts, and it is expected that overseas markets will grow rapidly in the future.”
According to the announcement, Bethel officially began construction of a production base in Mexico in 2021. Chen Zhongxi, director of the company, said that the purpose of the company's construction in Mexico is mainly to serve automakers in the North American and European markets. Currently, the main car companies it has served include GM, Stellantis, and Ford.
According to its report, the first phase of the company's Mexican plant project is scheduled to be delivered in small quantities by the end of September 2023, and is expected to reach design production capacity by the end of the third quarter of 2024. Bethel said that the average annual capacity utilization rate of the Mexican plant is expected to reach 60% this year, and the highest monthly capacity utilization rate will reach 80% or more.
In terms of additional production capacity, Bethel explained that by the end of February this year, the total number of the company's line control product projects had reached 140. The main models were new energy models. Currently, there are 3 to 4 main bidders involved in line control projects. Up to now, the company's production capacity for lightweight products is expected to increase by 4 million units per annum, production capacity of EPB products is expected to increase by 500,000 units per annum, and the production capacity of WCBS products is expected to increase by 600,000 units per annum.
According to financial data, in 2023, Bethel achieved revenue of 7.474 billion yuan, an increase of 34.93% year on year; net profit attributable to owners of the parent company was 891 million yuan, an increase of 27.57% year on year. According to the main financial indicators in the 2024 budget plan, the company expects to achieve revenue and net profit of 9.376 billion yuan and 1,079 billion yuan respectively this year, with year-on-year growth rates of 25.45% and 18.47% respectively. In 2023, Bethel's revenue and net profit growth indicators were 40% and 28.92%, respectively. This means that the company predicts that the growth rate of this year's performance will slow down compared to last year.