occurrences

Zhongju Hi-Tech issued an announcement: Some of the company's shares held by the controlling shareholder, Zhongshan Runtian, were judicially auctioned.

Key points of investment

▌Some of the controlling shareholder's shares have been judicially auctioned, and the resolution of equity issues is expected to speed up

12 million shares held by the controlling shareholder, Nakayama Runtian, were judicially auctioned, accounting for 1.53% of the company's total share capital. The bidder Jiaxing Dinghui Eanye successfully bid. The transaction price was 406 million yuan, or 33.81 yuan/share, 95.7% of the previous day's closing price. Dinghui Eanye is a concerted actor of the company's shareholder, Zhongshan Torch Group. After this auction is successful, it is expected that the shareholding ratio of Zhongshan Torch Group and Congruent Actors will increase to 17.0%, while the shareholding ratio of the controlling shareholder, Zhongshan Runtian, may drop to 12.2%. At the same time, some of Nakayama Runtian's shares are still to be auctioned. Among them, on April 13, one pledged share will be judicially disposed of, accounting for 1.06% of the company's total share capital. If Nakayama Runta executes all of its shares, the remaining share ratio will drop to about 8%.

▌The fundamentals are good, and the performance is expected to recover

Currently, the company's fundamentals are good. The profit side in 2022 lost money due to land disputes. This is not a fundamental factor. Inventory levels are currently healthy. We are optimistic that the company's 2023 performance is expected to usher in restorative growth when demand recovery is compounded by a decline in raw materials.

At the same time, shareholder issues have been resolved, and operations are expected to be straightened out. As the restaurant side recovers faster, the company's B-side is expected to resume growth at an accelerated pace. The condiment business is expected to grow steadily throughout the year.

Profit forecasting

EPS is expected to be 1.02/1.21/1.41 yuan in 2023-2025. The current stock price corresponds to PE 37/31/27 times respectively, maintaining the “buy” investment rating.

Risk warning

Macroeconomic downturn risks, consumption recovery falling short of expectations, capacity construction or utilization falling short of expectations, controlling shareholder debt risk, etc.