Profit performance was good in 2023, and the first quarter of 2024 still achieved steady growth under a high base. The company's revenue in 2023 was 17.507 billion yuan, +22.85% year on year, net profit to mother was 1,615 billion yuan, +41.22% year over year, after deducting non-net profit +71.88% year on year. The overall performance was impressive. Revenue for the first quarter of 2024 was +30.09%, while net profit attributable to mother and net profit after deducting non-net profit were +1.6%/+29.04%, respectively. Non-profit and loss are mainly fair value change losses and foreign exchange forward contract losses, etc. Overall net profit after deducting non-net profit performed well under a higher base in the first quarter of last year. In terms of dividends, it is planned to distribute a cash dividend of 20 yuan (tax included) for every 10 shares in 2023, with a dividend rate of 50.34%, while increasing 3 shares for every 10 shares of all shareholders using capital stock.
The charging and energy storage category is still growing steadily, and multi-category construction is progressing steadily. By category, core charging and energy storage products increased by 25.12% in 2023, and the revenue share increased slightly by 0.89pct to 49.14%. Intelligent innovation/smart video products increased by 18.72%/26.47% year-on-year respectively. The company launched various new products in the fields of security and cleaning to drive growth. By channel, online revenue increased by 30.19% in 2023, with independent website platforms growing at 83.87%, accounting for +2.35pct of revenue to 7.1%. Online growth continued to be high in the first quarter of 2024, achieving a growth rate of 33.52%. Offline growth was 8.4%/22.37% in the first quarter of 2023/2024, respectively. In terms of channel distribution, North America still achieved steady growth of 15.4% in 2023. Europe/Japan grew at 30.07%/38.49% respectively, with excellent performance.
Increased gross margin and optimized cost ratio. The company's gross profit margin in 2023 was 43.54%, +4.8pct year on year, and the gross margin for the first quarter of 2024 was +3.59pct yoy to 45.12%. The sales expense ratio for the first quarter of 2023/2024 was +1.58pct/+1.28pct, respectively, mainly due to the increase in sales platform expenses, marketing expenses, and employee remuneration. Management expense rates for the first quarter of 2023/2024 were +0.07pct/+0.98pct, respectively, and remained stable overall. The number of inventory turnover days in 2023 decreased by 2.15 days to 71 days year on year, and turnover efficiency improved. Net operating cash flow of $1.43 billion was achieved in 2023, +0.42% year-on-year.
Risk warning: Overseas consumer demand falls short of expectations; global trade environment deteriorates; category expansion falls short of expectations Investment suggestions: As a leader in cross-border e-commerce, the company is expected to continue to benefit from the growth in overseas e-commerce demand and the optimization of the competitive landscape. By continuously promoting product innovation and upgrading, the company provides efficient and flexible product solutions for consumers to use multiple devices in different scenarios. At the same time, actively developing regional markets and operations will also continue to contribute to the company's future performance growth. We maintained the company's net profit forecast for 2024-2025 at 1,985/2,381 billion yuan, and added a net profit forecast of 2,728 billion yuan for 2026, corresponding PE of 17.4/14.5/12.6 times, respectively, and maintained a “buy” rating.