In the expectation of the industry and the market, Wuliangye (000858. SZ) 2023 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders was held as scheduled on June 28.
Zeng Congqin, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Wuliangye Group (Co., Ltd.), introduced the company's main operating performance in 2023 at the conference: sales revenue exceeded 80 billion yuan and reached 83.3 billion yuan; The net profit attributable to the parent company exceeded 30 billion yuan and reached 30.2 billion yuan; The tax paid exceeded 30 billion yuan, reaching 31.6 billion yuan.
At a time when the liquor industry is in a period of deep adjustment, Wuliangye's shareholders' meeting attracted many industry veterans and well-known investors in the investment circle. Industry insiders said that the management of Wuliangye had in-depth and frank communication and exchanges with the guests on the spot, responding to market concerns, which is of great significance to dealer channels, capital markets and investors, and will help build consensus and synergy for Wuliangye to accelerate its progress into a world-class wine enterprise with sustainable and high-quality development.
Frank and in-depth communication with investors, the effect of the shareholders' meeting exceeded expectations
With the changes in the consumer market, the liquor industry has entered a development cycle characterized by structural prosperity, with obvious industry differentiation, and the brand influence and market competitiveness of leading liquor companies have been further enhanced. As a leader in the industry, Wuliangye's shareholders' meeting naturally attracted special attention, and the number of participants increased significantly.
"Aotou Finance" noticed that due to the large number of participants, Wuliangye had to temporarily issue an announcement to change the location of the shareholders' meeting to a multi-functional hall that can accommodate more people, and increase the contact number to facilitate the contact of shareholders attending the meeting.
At the conference site, the management of Wuliangye answered the questions about the relationship between the volume and price of core products, product planning, channel construction and company dividends that the participants were concerned about, with a frank attitude and rich content, which exceeded the expectations of the outside world.
Regarding the relationship between the volume and price of Wuliangye's core products, Zeng Congqin said that the eighth generation of Wuliangye will follow the principle of balance between quantity and price, continue to optimize the pace of delivery and business structure, and the planned volume will not blindly increase, and the new planned volume will be inclined to other main products.
"Focus on the in-depth construction of 39 degrees Wuliangye and 1618 Wuliangye, and accelerate the creation of new growth points. Actively do a good job in the layout and market operation of 45 degrees and 68 degrees Wuliangye merchants, and increase the expansion of potential markets and blank markets. When talking about the product structure, Zeng Congqin further added that while Wuliangye focuses on deepening the intergenerational wine series, it will also focus on strengthening the vintage wine series, making the refined culture wine series, and expanding the strong aroma wine series, so as to continuously improve the product structure in a market-oriented manner.
In terms of channels and marketing strategies, the relevant person in charge of Wuliangye said that it will make efforts to strengthen channel management, focus on solving the challenges faced by different channels such as operators, specialty stores, e-commerce and group buying, and continue to improve the profitability of merchants. In terms of marketing, it is closer to the target group, strengthens the cultivation of consumers, and at the same time focuses on the "use scenarios" and constantly explores new growth points.
In the face of the dividend issue that many investors are concerned about, Zeng Congqin gave a set of data: Wuliangye's cash dividend has exceeded 10 billion yuan per year for 4 consecutive years, and the planned dividend in 2023 will reach 18.1 billion yuan, ranking third in Shenzhen in terms of dividend scale and ranking first in Shenzhen liquor listed companies for 9 consecutive years.
It is worth noting that Wuliangye's dividend rate in 2023 is 60%, a year-on-year increase of 5 percentage points, and the annual growth rate of high-end liquor is the highest.
At the meeting, the management of Wuliangye, represented by Zeng Congqin, also gave open and honest answers to the company's international development, cultural construction and other related issues, and the quantity and quality of the answers made many participants feel the sincere attitude of Wuliangye and won universal recognition. "Today, Wuliangye still talked about a lot of issues that everyone is concerned about", a brokerage analyst who participated in the meeting commented on the shareholders' meeting of Wuliangye.
Industry analysts believe that from the answers of Wuliangye's management to different questions at the shareholders' meeting, it can be seen that in the context of the structural adjustment of the liquor industry, Wuliangye has actively adjusted its business ideas in the face of changes in the market environment, with the improvement of product quality as the core, constantly improving the product structure, scientifically grasping the marketing rhythm, and sharing the development results with investors and consumers, which not only shows its own resilience, but also releases a positive development signal to the market.
Continue to maintain strategic focus and develop steadily
Throughout the whole shareholders' meeting, the word "stability" can be said to be a word frequently mentioned by Wuliangye. Steady progress and steady progress are also a true portrayal of Wuliangye's development in the past two years.
In particular, the liquor industry has already entered the stock competition, and squeezing growth has become a norm, which has accelerated the restructuring of the liquor market structure. In this regard, Zeng Congqin believes that the market demand for liquor is still there, and Wuliangye should recognize and adapt to changes, seek the momentum, and unswervingly promote the steady development of the enterprise.
"The more special the period, the more important it is to maintain strategic focus, not only to calculate the 'immediate account', but also to calculate the 'long-term account'." Zeng Congqin said at the conference that Wuliangye will always adhere to the original mission of "creating a better place for consumers, creating good returns for investors, and creating happiness for employees", strengthen confidence, maintain concentration, take the initiative, continue to consolidate the tone of "stability", accumulate the power of "progress", and repay the trust and support of investors with the long-term and steady development of the enterprise and better performance.
In fact, since last year, Wuliangye has maintained the strategy of steady development, worked hard, and achieved good results, and generally continued the development trend of steady progress and quality improvement, with a more solid foundation for "stability", continuous accumulation of kinetic energy for "progress", and continuous emergence of "good" effects. The above-mentioned data of Wuliangye's revenue and net profit in 2023 is the best proof.
The relevant person in charge of Wuliangye told Aotou Finance that in the new stage of industrial development, Wuliangye will continue to maintain strategic confidence and promote the sustained, steady and high-quality development of the enterprise. In the long-term development process, Wuliangye has continuously condensed the irreproducible, imitable and unique "012345" core value expression system of the enterprise, which has become the core support for the steady development of Wuliangye.
Among them, "0" means that Wuliangye is located in the "zero kilometer" of the Yangtze River in the best liquor ecosystem, and has the title of "China's Wuliang Aromatic Liquor Core Production Area". "1" means that Wuliangye ranks first in the strong flavor liquor. "2" represents Wuliangye's "double national treasures" of national treasure cellar ponds and national treasure cellar mud, as well as the "double heritage" of the old winemaking workshop selected as a national industrial heritage and the "1366" extreme traditional brewing technique selected as a national intangible cultural heritage. "3" represents the three advantages of Wuliangye: process advantage, quality advantage and brand advantage. "4" means that Wuliangye has won the title of "National Famous Liquor" for four times and the National Quality Award for four times. "5" is a jade liquid made by Wuliangye by combining the essence of Wuliangye, and has a unique Wuliang formula.
Industry insiders pointed out that under the core value expression system of "012345", Wuliangye will form a joint force from five aspects: reasonable return of product price to brand value, quality improvement, culture, product layout, and modern governance level, so as to further strengthen its core competitiveness and promote the steady development of the enterprise.
"Wuliangye has a high brand value, a complete product structure, sufficient production capacity and energy storage, and rich market operation experience, which greatly enhances Wuliangye's ability to resist risks." Cai Xuefei, an analyst in the liquor industry and general manager of Zhiqu Consulting, said in an interview with the media that strong product premiums, diversified corporate profits, and mature sales models are all guarantees for Wuliangye to continuously obtain new increments in the stock market, and it is also the foundation for the industry to be optimistic about Wuliangye's high-quality development in the future.
Guosen Securities said in the research report that the liquor industry has entered the stage of comprehensive factor competition, and the era of liquor companies relying on a single advantage has passed. Wuliangye has a profound brand heritage, abundant production capacity of high-quality liquor, continuous optimization of product structure, perfect national channel system, and multi-dimensional competitive advantages to support the company's market share to further increase, and the development potential energy is being activated.
It is foreseeable that under the steady development strategy, Wuliangye will focus on the "012345" core value expression system, seek progress while maintaining stability, promote stability with progress, and constantly look for deterministic opportunities in the industry reform, which will not only promote itself to achieve high-quality and steady development, but also show the "long-term value" of liquor, and the company's own industry value and market value will also be further highlighted and released.