“Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily”, December 10 (Reporter Xu Cihao). Following Nai Xue's tea and tea Baidao, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange may welcome a third new tea company to be listed.

The official website of the Securities Regulatory Commission issued the “Notice Concerning the Filing Notice Concerning the Overseas Issuance and Listing of Guming Holdings Limited (Guming Holdings Co., Ltd.)” yesterday. This means that Gu Ming's Hong Kong listing filing information has been officially confirmed by the regulatory authorities.

According to the contents of the listing filing notice, Gu Ming plans to issue no more than 0.441 billion overseas listed common shares and plans to list them on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

It is worth noting that according to the listing rules of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Gu Ming is required to complete overseas issuance and listing within 12 months from the date the filing notice is issued. If the listing is not completed during this period, and the company still plans to proceed with the listing plan, it is necessary to update the filing materials to meet regulatory requirements.

The “Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily” reporter noticed that in January of this year, Gu Ming handed over the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and then the prospectus expired in July.

According to the previous prospectus, Gu Ming is a Chinese ready-to-drink company. The tea brand was founded in 2010, and the founder is Wang Yunan. By the end of September 2023, in the 10-20 yuan mass tea market, the market share of ancient tea was about 16.4%, ranking first. In the ready-to-drink tea market in the full price range, the ancient tea market share was about 8.3%, ranking second.

In terms of products, Guming mainly focuses on three types of drinks: fruit tea drinks, milk tea drinks, coffee and others. According to data in the prospectus, fruit tea drinks together accounted for 51% of the total number of cups sold in the nine months ended September 30, 2023. Among them, the fruit tea series “Super A Cheese Grape” is one of Guming's best-selling drinks. From 2021 to the first three quarters of 2023, the total sales volume exceeded 0.13 billion cups. In 2023, Guming's stores sold a total of 1.2 billion cups of freshly made drinks, and the GMV (product sales) exceeded 19.2 billion yuan.

According to the prospectus, as of December 31, 2023, the Guming store network had a total of 9001 stores, an increase of 35% over December 31, 2022. Based on the number of stores as of December 31, 2023, Guming is one of the top five ready-to-drink brands in the world.

According to the latest data from the third-party data service provider Narrow Gate Restaurant, as of November 2024, Guming's current number of stores was 9,675, covering 19 provinces and 216 cities.

In terms of performance, in the first nine months of 2021, 2022, and 2023, Gu Ming achieved revenue of 4.384 billion yuan, 559 billion yuan, and 5.571 billion yuan, realized profit of 23.992 million yuan, 0.372 billion yuan, and 1.02 billion yuan during the period. Adjusted profit was 0.77 billion yuan, 0.788 billion yuan, and 1,045 billion yuan. Furthermore, the company's GMV in 2023 reached 19.2 billion yuan, up 37.2% year-on-year from 2022.

According to the prospectus, Gu Ming's pre-IPO investors included Meituan Dragon Ball, Sequoia China, AbbeayStreet, and Coatue34.

In the initial prospectus submitted, Gu Ming revealed that he will continue to invest in the following areas: expanding the store network and consolidating its leading position; strengthening technology to improve operational efficiency; continuing to invest in product research and development to optimize and expand the product matrix; strengthening brand building and user operations; and strengthening supply chain capabilities.

Currently, Nai Xue's Tea and Tea Baidao are the only newly listed tea companies in China. In January of this year, Michelle Ice City and Gu Ming submitted their forms to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on the same day. In February, my aunt from Shanghai submitted the forms to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, but they have all expired so far.

According to Jiang Han, a senior researcher at the Pangu think tank, the uncertainty of the market environment may cause companies to re-evaluate the timing of listing after submitting a prospectus. The new tea market is fiercely competitive, consumer demand is constantly changing, and the macroeconomic situation may also have an impact on the performance of enterprises. In this case, the company may choose to temporarily withdraw the prospectus and wait for more favorable market conditions.

“The level of competition in the new tea industry has surpassed investors' expectations.” Jiang Han further analyzed to reporters that in recent years, the new tea market has shown an explosive growth trend, attracting many companies to join. At the same time, China's new tea market is becoming increasingly heated, and the 99 yuan price war has swept through the entire market.

Jiang Han added that under such circumstances, new tea companies are under tremendous pressure, and investors are worried that the profitability and market share of new tea companies will be difficult to maintain stability, which raises doubts about their investment value.

Chinese food industry analyst Zhu Danpeng believes that in the future of the new tea industry, only leading companies will be able to completely lay out the supply chain, and the degree of perfection of the supply chain will determine the long-term development of the enterprise. Therefore, listed companies and leading companies invest their main energy, capital, and talents in the construction and optimization of the supply chain, and Gu Ming's listing will undoubtedly further enhance its dominant position in the supply chain.