① Stimulated by high sugar prices, COFCO Sugar achieved the highest annual profit of 2,073 billion yuan since listing last year, an increase of 177.04%; ② During the reporting period, the company's sugar operating volume reached 4.56 million tons and ketchup production reached 299,400 tons, of which the tomato business's revenue and profit all hit new highs; ③ Nearly 90% of the company's net profit for the full year of last year is to be distributed, with a total of about 1,861 billion yuan.
Financial Services Association, April 26 (Reporter Liu Jian) Impacted by sugar prices hitting a 10-year high, COFCO Sugar (600737.SH) handed over the best annual report card since listing, and plans to use nearly 90% of the profits for the whole year to be distributed. In addition, sugar prices fell slightly in early 2024, but remained in a high range. The company's Q1 performance in 2024 continued to grow year on year, but there was a month-on-month decline.
On the evening of the 25th, COFCO Sugar released its 2023 annual report. During the reporting period, the company achieved revenue of 33.113 billion yuan, an increase of 24.53% over the previous year; realized net profit of 2,073 billion yuan, an increase of 177.04% over the previous year; after deducting non-net profit of 2,098 billion yuan, an increase of 232.55% over the previous year.
On a quarterly basis, the company's profit level continued to rise last year and remained at a high level in Q4. Among them, Q1, Q2, and Q3 achieved net profit of 274 million yuan, 495 million yuan, and 672 million yuan respectively, while Q4 achieved 633 million yuan. The year-on-year growth rates for the first three quarters were 19.42%, 22.30%, and 425.85% respectively, while Q4 achieved loss-to-profit conversion.
By product, the company's sugar business volume reached 4.56 million tons during the reporting period. The sector's revenue was about 30.254 billion yuan, an increase of 23% over the previous year. Against the backdrop of high sugar prices throughout the year, it became the main factor in the company's performance growth. Choice data monitoring shows that sugar prices have soared since the beginning of last year, reaching a high of 7,600 yuan/ton in September, then declined slightly at the beginning of the new season, but remained at a high level above 6,500 yuan/ton.
(Sugar price trend image source: choice)
In terms of tomato business, the company's ketchup production reached 299,400 tons during the reporting period, and both revenue and profit reached new highs, achieving revenue of 2,642 billion yuan, an increase of 43% over the previous year, and gross margin increased 16.17 percentage points, which also provided important support for the company's performance.
A CFA reporter noticed that at the same time as the high growth in performance, the COFCO Sugar industry once again showed off generously after the middle of last year. According to the announcement, the company plans to distribute a cash dividend of RMB 0.63 (tax included) to all shareholders. Based on the company's total share capital of 2,139 billion shares, it is proposed to distribute a total cash dividend of RMB 1,347 billion (tax included). In addition to the 513 million yuan cash dividend already paid in mid-2023, the company plans to distribute a cash dividend of approximately RMB 1,861 million in 2023, accounting for about 89.75% of the net profit attributable to common shareholders of listed companies in the company's 2023 consolidated statements.
It is worth mentioning that the “dividend” of high sugar prices continued in 2024. The 2024 first quarter report released by the company on the same day showed that during the reporting period, the company achieved revenue of 7.812 billion yuan, an increase of 62.84% over the previous year, and realized net profit of 440 million yuan, an increase of 60.71% over the previous year. However, revenue and net profit declined month-on-month. Some analysts told the reporter, “Although sugar prices fell slightly after the start of the new season, the overall price fluctuated in a high range of more than 6,500 yuan/ton, which strongly supported the company's performance in the first quarter of this year. Furthermore, in the short term, sugar prices may continue to fluctuate at a high level.”
The company also confessed in the financial report, “The increase in Q1 performance was mainly due to the sugar business seizing the opportunity of rising prices to speed up sales, and the year-on-year increase in sales revenue.”
In terms of future planning, the company's Tangshan Sugar Refinery Phase II 150,000 ton capacity expansion project was officially put into operation during the reporting period. Currently, the Zhangzhou Sugar Refinery Project has also been basically completed. It is expected to be put into trial operation in the second quarter of 2024, and the sugar refining capacity is expected to increase by 350,000 tons/year after commissioning. Some research and reporting agencies believe that the commissioning of related projects will effectively extend the company's sugar industry chain and is expected to support the long-term growth of the company's performance.