On March 29, Changzhou Almaden Co.Ltd(002623) ( Changzhou Almaden Co.Ltd(002623) , SZ) released its annual report for 2021. The company achieved an operating revenue of 2.032 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.71%, and a net profit attributable to the parent company of 53.999 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 60.80%.
The reporter of the daily economic news noted that on January 28 this year, Changzhou Almaden Co.Ltd(002623) released the performance forecast for 2021. At that time, the net profit attributable to the parent company was expected to be 58-70 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 57.89% – 49.18%. In comparison, the actual profit of Changzhou Almaden Co.Ltd(002623) 2021 was lower than expected.
On March 29, Changzhou Almaden Co.Ltd(002623) closed at 26.84 yuan / share, down 2.51%.
net profit lower than expected
Statistics show that Changzhou Almaden Co.Ltd(002623) is the first enterprise in China to enter the field of photovoltaic coated glass. The company’s main products are Cecep Solar Energy Co.Ltd(000591) glass, ultra-thin double glass modules, photovoltaic power station business, electronic glass and display series products.
As the actual profit in 2021 is lower than the lower limit of the predicted net profit, Changzhou Almaden Co.Ltd(002623) in the annual report, it is said that there are three main reasons for the decline in performance.
First, during the reporting period, the price of bulk materials in China rose significantly, the price of silicon materials in the photovoltaic industry rose steadily, the production cost of module enterprises and the investment cost of terminal power stations increased, and the market driving force weakened. Meanwhile, due to the shortage of photovoltaic glass and the sharp rise in price in the second half of 2020, photovoltaic glass manufacturers have accelerated the expansion of production capacity, resulting in the rapid expansion of photovoltaic glass production capacity in the reporting period. Affected by the above factors, the price of photovoltaic glass fell sharply and fluctuated at a low level since the second quarter of the reporting period, which had a great impact on the company’s operating performance.
Second, during the reporting period, the company’s new photovoltaic glass deep-processing production line in Fengyang was in the production capacity climbing period, and the output and yield of photovoltaic glass did not meet the expectations, which had a certain impact on the profitability of the product.
Third, with the gradual sale of Cecep Solar Energy Co.Ltd(000591) power station assets at the end of 2020, the profit of power business with high gross profit margin in this period also decreased significantly.
In terms of products, in 2021, the operating revenue of Cecep Solar Energy Co.Ltd(000591) glass, Cecep Solar Energy Co.Ltd(000591) components, electronic glass and other glass products and power sales of Changzhou Almaden Co.Ltd(002623) was 1.743 billion yuan, 107 million yuan, 110 million yuan and 53.058 million yuan, accounting for 85.76%, 5.27%, 5.41% and 2.61% respectively.
Among them, the operating revenue of Cecep Solar Energy Co.Ltd(000591) glass of Changzhou Almaden Co.Ltd(002623) increased by 15.41% compared with the previous year, and the gross profit margin was 8.25%, a decrease of 2.06 percentage points compared with the same period of the previous year. During the reporting period, Cecep Solar Energy Co.Ltd(000591) glass sales volume and output increased by 36.63% and 64.96% respectively compared with the same period of the previous year. In this regard, Changzhou Almaden Co.Ltd(002623) said that the main reason was the continuous operation of the company’s new deep processing production line in Fengyang and the stable supply of original glass in Fengyang Silicon Valley kilns, which greatly improved the sales volume and output of the company’s products compared with the previous year.
On the other hand, the operating income of electronic glass and other glass products increased by 276.25% compared with the previous year, but the gross profit margin was – 3.00% The operating revenue of Cecep Solar Energy Co.Ltd(000591) components decreased by 4.58% compared with the previous year, and the gross profit margin was – 1.87%. During the reporting period, the production and inventory of Cecep Solar Energy Co.Ltd(000591) components decreased by 45.74% and 51.74% respectively compared with the same period of the previous year.
In this regard, Changzhou Almaden Co.Ltd(002623) explained that the main reason is that the company has no advantage of vertical integration of component manufacturing, and the competitive advantage of Cecep Solar Energy Co.Ltd(000591) component cost of the company is weak. In the case that the supply of original glass chips required by the company’s production cannot meet the company’s demand for Cecep Solar Energy Co.Ltd(000591) glass and Cecep Solar Energy Co.Ltd(000591) components at the same time, based on the overall strategy and cash flow considerations, the company has reduced the sales orders of ultra-thin double glass components with low gross profit margin and long collection period since 2019, and the supply of original glass chips gives priority to meeting the demand of Cecep Solar Energy Co.Ltd(000591) glass.
R & D investment soared, but there were fewer R & D personnel
At present, Changzhou Almaden Co.Ltd(002623) has a number of core technologies and patents, including independent R & D work such as product production process design, production line design and manufacturing, product inspection standards, etc. The company is the first enterprise in China to use physical toughening technology to produce ultra-thin physical toughened glass ≤ 2.0mm on a large scale and make ultra-thin double glass components. At the same time, through further exploration and Research on photoelectric glass technology, the company has become one of the few enterprises in China that can produce large-size ultra-thin photoelectric glass series products.
According to the annual report of 2021, Changzhou Almaden Co.Ltd(002623) R & D investment reached 702495 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 35.92%, accounting for 3.46% of operating revenue. The main R & D projects include the development of glass diffusion sector, full bonding process, integrated Ag glass, self-cleaning and high-permeability ar glass, high-power components for Gap light utilization, and light and thin curved double glass components.
According to Changzhou Almaden Co.Ltd(002623) ‘s future development strategy and 2022 business plan, the company will vigorously promote the market development of electronic glass and other glass products, pay close attention to the development trend of the above market areas, strengthen the analysis and research of the industry, master the industry technology in time, and formulate the business development strategy according to its own advantages.
At the same time, Changzhou Almaden Co.Ltd(002623) will provide “embedded” R & D services for downstream end customers with the help of the company’s strong R & D strength, understand and master the latest industry trends and customer needs through the multi-dimensional R & D department and sales department, extend R & D activities to the customer’s new product development stage, quickly adjust product design schemes according to market changes, explore customers’ diversified needs and realize diversified development.
However, although Changzhou Almaden Co.Ltd(002623) R & D investment soared and the strategy of extending R & D services was put forward, the number of R & D personnel of the company decreased. The reporter of the daily economic news found that in 2021, Changzhou Almaden Co.Ltd(002623) had 89 R & D personnel, a decrease of 19 compared with 2020, including 12 R & D personnel aged 30-40.
