Gelonghui, March 27 | China Oriental Group (00581.HK) announced that the Group recorded revenue of approximately RMB 46.26 billion in 2023, a decrease of about 4.9% compared to last year. Compared with 2022, the average sales unit price of self-produced steel products fell 10.5% to about RMB 3,557 per ton, while gross profit decreased by about 67.4% to approximately RMB 387 million. The Group's overall net loss was approximately RMB 196 million, a decrease of approximately 124.2% from last year's net profit of approximately RMB 811 million. Profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization decreased from about RMB 2.36 billion last year to approximately RMB 1,280 million. The basic loss per share was RMB 0.04 (2022: basic income per share of RMB 0.22).
The Group continues to reduce costs and increase efficiency, increase investment in marketing and environmental protection, and strengthen product development, etc., thereby improving operational efficiency and sustainability. However, due to the above factors, they include (i) a sharp drop in the average sales unit price of the Group's steel products due to continued sluggish demand for downstream products in the steel industry; and (ii) the decline in the price of the main raw materials for steel products was slower than the downward trend in the price of steel products, causing the Group's overall production costs to remain relatively high.
The Group recorded a net loss for the year ended 31 December 2023, a decrease of approximately 173.9% compared with net profit of approximately RMB 265 million for the year ended 31 December 2022 (excluding the after-tax impact of non-recurring revenue of approximately RMB 730 million from the sale of Fangchenggang and Jinxi).