Recently, the Kweichow Moutai shareholders' meeting, known as "China's version of Warren Buffett's shareholders' meeting", was successfully held.
As a leading liquor company with a market value of more than 2 trillion yuan, Moutai has a high degree of attention at the annual shareholders' meeting, and this year is the first annual general meeting of shareholders held after the latest adjustment of the company's main leaders, and the enthusiasm for this inside and outside the industry is even higher, attracting 1,700 people, including Moutai executives, shareholders, shareholder representatives, investors, media, etc., to the scene, setting a new high since 2019. On the other hand, it also reflects that Moutai's value investment has gradually taken deep root in the A-share market.
In the communication session of the conference, the management of Kweichow Moutai responded to the focus of shareholders' attention one by one, such as strategy, price, dividends and internationalization. Answer sincerely, communicate carefully, and fully demonstrate the pattern and demeanor of the leading wine company.
01
The head of the company makes its debut, and is committed to stability, health and sustainable development
In April, Moutai officially announced Zhang Deqin as the new chairman and became the new head of the company. At the shareholders' meeting, Zhang Deqin delivered a speech entitled "Let us work together to commit to the stability, health and sustainable development of Moutai", expressing the unique feelings of this "old Moutai man" towards Moutai.
In Zhang Deqin's view, the stable, healthy and sustainable development of Moutai requires the understanding and support of shareholders. He said that Moutai's achievements today are the result of the care and care of several generations of party and state leaders and the successive Guizhou Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government, the wisdom, sweat and hard work of several generations of Moutai people, and the support, understanding and trust of the majority of shareholders for Moutai. In the future, Moutai will work with the majority of investors to work together to protect our common brand - Moutai, build a consensus, and work together to commit to the long-term development of Moutai, so that investors can have returns, enterprises have profits, employees have income, and the government has taxes.
At the same time, as a leading enterprise in the liquor industry, Moutai needs to adhere to the core competitiveness of Moutai for its stable, healthy and sustainable development. To put it simply, "quality, brand, technology, environment, and culture" are the core competitiveness of Moutai, which supports the high-quality development of Moutai.
Zhang Deqin also pointed out that Moutai needs first-class talents to build a world-class enterprise. In the future, Moutai will continue to introduce high-level talents, and at the same time cultivate more masters, craftsmen and professionals within the company to further consolidate the talent base. In addition, to build a world-class brand, it is necessary to continue to innovate, and in recent years, Moutai has accelerated the promotion of industrial transformation and upgrading, and strengthened the research of key core technologies.
A number of shareholders who participated in the meeting said that the biggest impression left by Zhang Deqin's debut was "sincere, sincere and pragmatic", which gave everyone a lot of confidence that Moutai will always be a benchmark for value investment.
The industry believes that "stability, health and sustainable development" is the new development direction drawn by Zhang Deqin for Moutai, and it is also the expectation of shareholders and investors for Moutai.
02
The cumulative dividend will reach 232.654 billion, and Moutai will give back to shareholders with practical actions
In the capital market, dividends are the return of many shareholders and investors, and they are also an important indicator to measure the strength and governance level of enterprises. The dividend plan announced by the annual Moutai shareholders' meeting is the most important thing that shareholders are most concerned about.
The "2023 Profit Distribution Plan" adopted at this meeting indicates that it is proposed to distribute a cash dividend of 308.76 yuan (tax included) for every 10 shares, with a total cash dividend of 38.786 billion yuan (tax included). The total cash dividend for the year was 56.55 billion yuan, accounting for 75.67% of the company's net profit attributable to the parent company in 2023.
Compared with the previous period, the amount of dividends has increased significantly, hitting a record high, and the company has repaid the trust and attention of investors and shareholders with practical actions.
It is understood that in addition to the annual infrared, Kweichow Moutai has also issued special dividends for two consecutive years. In 2022, a special dividend of 27.523 billion yuan will be implemented, and a special dividend of 24.001 billion yuan will be implemented in 2023, with annual dividends superimposed, and the dividend rates will reach 95.78% and 84.01% respectively.
Up to now, Kweichow Moutai has accumulated cash dividends of 208.653 billion yuan since its listing, and with the special dividend amount, the cumulative dividend amount will reach 232.654 billion yuan.
The company has always maintained high dividends and high returns, so that investing in Moutai is the investment value has become the consensus of investors. It should also be noted that Moutai's high dividend strategy not only benefits shareholders, but also has a significant demonstration effect on the entire liquor industry. According to media reports, Moutai's move has raised the dividend standard of the entire industry, prompting other liquor companies to follow suit, increasing investors' enthusiasm for investing in the liquor sector.
In addition, many investors also expressed their hope that Moutai would continue the special dividend policy at the meeting, and proposed that the normal dividend could be steadily increased. Yang Delong, a well-known economist, believes that the dividend rate of Moutai in ordinary years is 50%, and the special dividend reached 75% last year, and it is recommended that the dividend rate can be stable at 75% or above in the future.
Moutai also made a clear response, saying, how to pay dividends? How to increase dividends? In a sense, the demands of major shareholders of state-owned assets and small and medium-sized shareholders are the same, and the company will continue to uphold the attitude of being responsible to shareholders and formulate a reasonable dividend policy.
It should also be noted that the foundation of high dividends is that Moutai should maintain stable, healthy, sustainable and high-quality development. In this regard, Moutai emphasized that Moutai will not choose to slow down the pace for the sake of stability, and facing the future, Moutai will promote the high-quality development of Moutai with self-improvement on the basis of steady and far-reaching development.
03
A number of concerns have reached consensus, and we are more confident in the next step
Moutai can get the support of many shareholders and investors, and although performance is important, its sincere and pragmatic attitude is even more valuable. During the on-site question-and-answer session, Moutai's management also patiently communicated with investors on other issues that investors were concerned about, which enhanced shareholders' confidence in the future of the company.
In November 2023, the ex-factory price of 53 degrees Kweichow Moutai (Feitian, five-star) will be increased by 20%. Therefore, whether Kweichow Moutai will raise the market guidance price, shareholders have been suspenseful about this. Moutai said that it would seriously consider, analyze and investigate, and ultimately take the company's final operation as the standard. Previously, Moutai executives also responded to the price issue, pointing out that price is another core competitiveness in addition to quality, and the purpose is to adhere to the matching of product and price.
On the whole, there is still a lot of room for the internationalization of Chinese liquor, but Moutai has now taken internationalization as one of its top-level strategies. Companies are still discussing the Hong Kong market. Recently, we have been conducting in-depth exchanges on internationalization, and I believe that we will see results soon.
At the same time, to build a first-class brand, innovation is also required. The management of Moutai said that Moutai is a big tree, and innovation is like the bud of a big tree, and it is hoped that small trees of the same kind will grow under the big tree, so that forests can be formed in the future, and the resistance can be increased. In the future, we will never give up and continue to do more for the growth and stability of the entire forest of Moutai.
It is worth noting that Zhang Deqin was previously the chairman of Xijiu, and in response to shareholders' questions about the relationship between Moutai and Xijiu, he said that he hoped that the two companies would improve each other in the competition, and would not use Moutai's resources to help Xijiu, but would encourage Xijiu to move forward.
For the future development of Moutai, Zhang Deqin put forward Moutai's development goals for 2024 at the conference, including the expected year-on-year increase of about 15% in total operating income, and the plan to complete the investment in fixed assets of about 6.179 billion yuan. The presentation of these specific figures shows that the company has a clearer plan and goals for future development.
According to Kweichow Moutai's first quarter report in 2024, the revenue in the first quarter of this year was 45.776 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.11%; The net profit attributable to the parent company was 24.065 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.73%. Judging from the development trend of this data, Moutai's annual growth and healthy development still maintain a high degree of certainty.
The amount of information revealed at this Moutai shareholders' meeting is quite huge. On the one hand, the new head of Moutai, Zhang Deqin's business style and strategy have gradually become clear, and most people in the industry have expressed their high approval, believing that under the leadership of Zhang Deqin, Moutai will enter a new stage of development and open a more brilliant chapter. On the other hand, the consensus reached by Moutai's management and shareholders on many issues is of great significance to the company, which will help Moutai achieve "stable, healthy and sustainable" development.
The industry believes that the current Moutai is building a solid "moat" relying on the five core competitiveness, fully demonstrating the demeanor of a leading enterprise, and the future is more worth looking forward to.