Financial Association News on October 28th (Reporter Zhu Wanping): 'Anhui Liquor Top Three' Kouzi Distillery (603589.SH) saw a decline in both revenue and net income in the first three quarters of this year, falling short of the expectations of most brokerages and failing to meet the company's previously set revenue growth target. Looking at Q3 alone, the company's revenue fell by over 20%, and net income attributable to the parent company dropped by nearly 30%. In addition, one of the controlling shareholders of the company, Liu Ansheng, cashed out more than 0.2 billion yuan during Q3.

Tonight, Kouzi Distillery released its third quarterly report. The company achieved a revenue of 4.362 billion yuan in the first three quarters of this year, a year-on-year decrease of 1.89%; the net profit attributable to the parent company was 1.311 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 2.81%. This performance growth did not meet the company's target guidelines set at the beginning of the year. Previously, Kouzi Distillery disclosed its "2024 Financial Budget Plan," stating that the company budgeted for an operating revenue of 7.035 billion yuan this year, an 18% increase year-on-year.

Looking at the third quarter alone, Kouzi Distillery achieved an operating income of 1.195 billion yuan in Q3 this year, a decrease of 22.04% compared to the same period last year, and the net profit attributable to the parent company was 0.362 billion yuan, a decrease of 27.72% year-on-year. However, Kouzi Distillery's Q3 net income fell short of the expectations of most brokerages.

According to statistics from the Financial Association News reporters, currently including Zheshang Securities, Guosen Securities, China Merchants Securities, SWHY, Huachuang Securities, among others, a total of 9 brokerages have made forecasts on Kouzi Distillery's Q3 net income. Except for SWHY estimating a 20% decline in Q3 net income for Kouzi Distillery, the rest of the brokerages generally predict a year-on-year net income growth rate in the range of 0%-6% for Q3.

In terms of product categories, high-end Baijiu from Kouzi Distillery saw a sales decline in the first three quarters of this year. Specifically, high-end products achieved revenue of 4.112 billion yuan, a decrease of 3.09% year-on-year; mid-range products achieved revenue of 48.8147 million yuan, a decrease of 27.36%; and low-end products achieved revenue of 90.89 million yuan, an increase of 44.47% year-on-year. The decline in sales of mid-to-high-end liquor also led to Kouzi Distillery's gross margin in the first three quarters dropping to 74.76%.

Analyzing by region, Kouzi Distillery saw declines in both the provincial and out-of-province markets in the first three quarters of this year. The company achieved a revenue of 3.555 billion yuan in the provincial market, down 1.65% year-on-year, while the revenue in the out-of-province market was 0.696 billion yuan, with a larger decrease of 8.14%. During the first three quarters of this year, Kouzi Distillery continued to actively attract dealers in markets outside Anhui Province, adding a net 53 dealers, accounting for approximately 10% of the total number of dealers in the provincial market as of the end of September.

It is worth mentioning that one of the controlling shareholders of Kouzi Distillery reduced their holdings for cash-out in Q3 this year. As of the end of September this year, Liu Ansheng directly held approximately 63.4735 million shares of Kouzi Distillery, a decrease of 6.5 million shares compared to the end of June. If calculated based on Kouzi Distillery's lowest stock price in Q3 of 33.88 yuan per share, Liu Ansheng's cash-out exceeded 0.22 billion yuan.

In terms of contract liabilities, at the end of last year, Anhui Kouzi Distillery's contract liabilities were approximately 0.398 billion yuan, a decrease of nearly 30% year-on-year. Based on this, as of the end of September this year, the company's contract liabilities further decreased to 0.355 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of about 7%.

As of the time this report was released, several A-share baijiu listed companies have disclosed their third-quarter reports. Apart from Kweichow Moutai meeting expectations, many other baijiu companies have disappointing Q3 performance. This includes Anhui Golden Seed Winery (600199.SH) with a Q3 revenue decline of about 54% and a net loss of 0.111 billion yuan. In addition, Qinghai Huzhu Tianyoude Highland Barley Spirit (002646.SZ) saw a Q3 revenue decline of 18.76% and a non-GAAP net loss of over 22 million yuan.