“Investors Network” Jordan

In January, Yasui Foods (603345.SH) announced that it plans to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. As a leading enterprise in the frozen food industry, the company's performance scale has continued to grow rapidly since its listing, showing strong market competitiveness and good development prospects.

However, it is worth noting that the majority shareholders of the company have continued to reduce their holdings in recent years. This move has drawn the market's attention to the company's future development and strategic layout. Although Yasui Foods has performed well on the scale of performance, the majority shareholders' cash out behavior may have a certain impact on the company's stock price and investor confidence.

As of January 23, Yasui Foods closed at 80.79 yuan/share per share.

Intended to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

Yasui Foods, the leading domestic quick-frozen food brand, recently announced preparations for its Hong Kong stock listing. This decision aims to accelerate internationalization and overseas business layout and enhance overseas financing capabilities. The company's management has been empowered to initiate relevant preparations. However, the details of the listing have not yet been determined, and the company said it will conduct in-depth discussions with relevant intermediaries.

However, the market's reaction was not as enthusiastic as expected. On the two trading days after the announcement was issued, Yasui Foods' stock price showed continuous declines in the intraday market. As of January 23, Yasui Foods had closed at 80.79 yuan/share, and the market value had shrunk sharply to 23.695 billion yuan. This phenomenon seems to indicate that investors are not optimistic about Yasui Foods' Hong Kong stock fund-raising.

Looking back at the history of Yasui Foods, its stock price has been rising ever since it went public in February 2017. On February 18, 2021, the stock price reached a high value of 283.99 yuan/share. However, over the next few years, the stock price began to fluctuate downward. Compared to the previous high stock price, the market value has evaporated by nearly 60 billion yuan. During this period, the majority shareholders of the company also reduced their holdings several times, and the actual controller also changed.

According to Dongcai Choice's data, the shareholding ratio of Yasui Foods shareholders has changed significantly in recent years. At the end of 2019, Fujian Guoli Minsheng Technology Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Guoli Minsheng”), Liu Mingming, and Zhang Qingmiao were the top three shareholders of the company, with shareholding ratios of 40.51%, 8.47%, and 4.41% respectively. However, by October 26, 2023, the shareholding ratios of the three had dropped to 25%, 4.19%, and 1.75%, respectively. Liu Mingming and Zhang Qingmiao have stepped down as the company's third and fourth largest shareholders as their shareholding ratio has declined.

Meanwhile, the reduction in holdings by Yasui Foods actual controllers and major shareholders has also attracted widespread attention in the market. Recently, many investors raised questions on the company's interactive platform and expressed dissatisfaction with the continued reduction in holdings. They are concerned that this will have an impact on the company's long-term development and put pressure on the company's stock price stability. In this context, many investors called on the company to take active measures, such as buying back the company's shares, to stabilize stock prices and boost market confidence.

Furthermore, the actual controller of Yasui Foods has also changed. On September 11, 2023, the company issued an announcement stating that due to personal reasons, the former actual controller Zhang Gaolu signed equity transfer agreements with Wang Su and Wang Jijuan after agreement within the family. After the transfer, Zhang Gaolu no longer held shares in Guoli Minsheng, nor did he hold or control any shares in Yasui Foods through Guoli Minsheng. Hang Jianying and Lu Qiuwen became the company's new actual controllers.

Pre-prepared dishes performed particularly well

Although the stock price performance of Yasui Foods was poor, its performance continued to soar. The company was founded in 2001 and initially established a foothold in the rice and noodle industry, but soon adjusted its strategic focus and switched to the field of hot pot ingredients, achieving rapid expansion in the scale of the enterprise.

At present, Yasui Foods has formed a “three-way approach” business model in terms of products, including frozen hot pot ingredients, quick-frozen noodle rice products, and quick-frozen prepared dish products. In the domestic market, Yasui Foods has a broad layout and production bases all over the country, including Xiamen, Wuxi, Taizhou, Liaoning, Sichuan, Hubei, Henan, Guangdong, Shandong, etc., and has built an efficient and collaborative production network.

Over the past few years, Yasui Foods' performance growth rate has been outstanding. From 2018 to 2022, the company's revenue increased from 4.259 billion yuan to 12.18 billion yuan, and net profit increased from 270 million yuan to 1,101 billion yuan, with compound annual growth rates of 30% and 42%, respectively. In the first three quarters of 2023, Yasui Foods' revenue reached 10.27 billion yuan and net profit was 1,122 billion yuan, up 25.93% and 62.69% year-on-year respectively. The performance growth rate remained high.

The rapid growth in Yasui Foods' performance is due to the continuous improvement of the company's channels and the continuous release of production capacity in various regions. In terms of marketing, Yasui Foods has adopted a strategy of balancing BC and making full efforts, covering a full range of sales channels such as dealers, supermarkets, BC supermarkets, e-commerce, and new retail.

In terms of channels, Yasui Foods expands the market through various methods, including helping dealers enter the C-end market and online live streaming business, setting up online live streaming rooms; participating in major supermarket live streaming events, customized products and high-end gift box service organizations and enterprises; and promoting new products and planning events on new retail channels such as Hema Xiansheng, Guoquan, and Dingdong Grocery Shopping platforms. After years of intensive cultivation, Yasui Foods has developed a considerable scale advantage in terms of channels.

In terms of products, Yasui Foods uses hot pot ingredients as the company's basic market, and dish products are the second growth curve. In recent years, the prepared food industry has shown huge room for growth. According to a research report by Tokai Securities, the annual revenue growth rate of Yasui Foods' hot pot ingredients and cooking products business reached 23% and 66%, respectively, from 2018 to 2022. Meanwhile, Yasui Foods has also rapidly risen in the field of prepared dishes with a first-mover advantage. Its subsidiary, Mr. Frozen, had revenue of 600 million yuan just two years after establishment, and Yasui Little Chef also surpassed 200 million yuan in sales in the first year of its establishment.

Overall, both in terms of performance and business model, Yasui Foods has shown strong strength and huge potential for development. However, the phenomenon of the majority shareholders of the company continuously reducing their stock holdings may suggest internal strategic adjustments and shareholders' expectations for the future market, which has brought a hint of uncertainty to the company's future development. (Produced by Thinking Finance) ■