Charging pile revenue doubled, and gross margin continued to rise
The company released its 2023 annual report. In 2023, it achieved revenue of 650 million yuan, +127.12% year-on-year, achieved net profit of 0.17 million yuan, and realized net profit without deduction of 0.06 million yuan, reversing losses over the previous year. Among them, in 2023, the company achieved revenue of 505 million yuan from sales of charging piles, +131.33% year on year, gross profit margin of 33.34%, +5.72 pct year on year; engineering construction achieved revenue of 70 million yuan, with a gross profit margin of 10.24%. Considering that the company's railway business has not yet been divested, we lowered the company's 2024-2025 net profit forecast to be 130 to 250 million yuan (originally 190 million yuan, 360 million yuan), and the estimated net profit for 2026 is 370 million yuan, EPS is 0.19, 0.36, 0.54 yuan/share, corresponding to the current PE price of 37.4, 19.7, 13.1 times. The company's charging pile products have brand competitiveness and are expected to fully benefit from the development of the charging pile industry and maintain a “buy” rating.
Profitability increased significantly, and the staff scale was expanded to prepare for subsequent development. The company's overall gross margin and net margin in 2023 were 26.71% and 2.68%, respectively, +6.08/+36.38pct, respectively. The gross profit side increased sharply, and the net profit side turned a loss into a profit. Sales/management/R&D/finance expenses were 12.90%/6.68%/4.28%/0.14%, respectively, +1.15/-10.64/-0.24/-0.56pct, respectively. The scale of the company grew, and the number of personnel expanded. In 2023, the company's talent scale reached about 600 people. Sales and R&D expenses increased accordingly, and management expenses were reduced due to scale effects.
Actively lay out production bases to ensure future production capacity needs
The company has laid out production bases in Xi'an Xixian New District, Fengdong New Town, Xianyang Economic Development Zone (under construction), and Shunqing District of Nanchong to meet growing market demand. Based on the original charging & energy storage product production line, the relevant base will use advanced information-based production management systems to automate production lines for upstream components, battery packs, etc.
In-depth strategic cooperation has been reached with important customers, and has actively carried out overseas business layout. The company's business has spread across all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities, and various overseas markets such as Asia and Europe, and has reached in-depth strategic cooperation with domestic and foreign energy companies such as CNPC, Sinopec, State Grid, Xiaoju Charging, BP, Shell, etc., as well as some local urban investment platform companies.
Risk warning: Competition in the charging pile industry has intensified, and the progress of going overseas falls short of expectations.