HONG KONG, Mar 23, 2023 - (ACN Newswire) - Weilong Delicious Global Holdings Ltd ("WEILONG" or the "Company") (Hong Kong stock code: 9985.HK) announced its audited annual results for the year ended 31 December 2022.
In 2022, COVID-19 had a significant impact on the Chinese consumer market, causing instability in the food production industry's supply chain, and suppressing retail consumer spending to some extent. As a leading spicy snack food company in China, WEILONG faced challenges in the production and delivery due to the resurgence of the COVID-19. Despite this, it still achieved steady performance. The Group's adjusted net profit for 2022 was approximately RMB 913 million (RMB, the same below), representing an increase of 0.6% year-on-year ("YoY"). The adjusted net profit margin increased from 18.9% in 2021 to 19.7% in 2022. In addition, the Group continues to strengthen its research and development efforts. In the first half of the year, it upgraded its main products and product packaging, launched Latiao sharing packages suitable for home and party scenes. At the same time, it continues to optimize the consumer experience by continuously refining and enriching the product matrix based on the "multi-category single product" strategy.
The Group's revenue in 2022 was approximately RMB 4,632 million, a slight decrease of 3.5% YoY. However, due to the increase in average selling prices of the Group's products, the Group's gross profit and gross profit margin both improved. The gross profit increased to approximately RMB 1,960 million, an increase of about RMB 167 million from the same period last year. The gross profit margin increased by 4.9 percentage points from 37.4% in 2021 to 42.3% in 2022.
WEILONG was successfully listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in December 2022. After deducting Share-based payment to employees, Listing expenses and Share-based payments related to Pre-IPO Investments, the Group's profit changed to RMB 151 million. However, judging from the growth performance of the adjusted net profit and adjusted net profit margin, WEILONG remained in a stable growth trend in 2022.
The Board recommends the distribution of a final cash dividend of RMB 0.12 per share (inclusive of tax, the same below), representing approximately 30% of the adjusted net profit of the Group for the year ended December 31, 2022, besides, in order to thank investors for the support and trust in the Global Offering, the Board proposed to declare a special dividend of RMB0.12 per share, representing approximately 30% of the adjusted net profit of the Group for the year ended December 31, 2022, a total dividend of RMB 0.24 per share will be distributed for the year. However, the implementation of the recommendation is subject to approval of the annual general meeting.
In 2022, WEILONG continued to upgrade its distribution channels. In terms of the offline channels, the Company has strengthened its sales team, continuously expanded POS coverage, and improved its execution and service capabilities for key channels and stores. Through in-depth channel building over years, WEILONG has a nationwide distribution network that deeply penetrates the Chinese market. As of the end of December 2022, WEILONG cooperated with over 1,847 offline distributors. In terms of the online channels, the Company continued to strengthen its platform coverage and refined operations. At the same time, WEILONG has also actively expanded its overseas distribution network. As of the end of December 2022, WEILONG's products are sold through distributors to more than 143 shopping malls, supermarkets, and chained convenience store operators in different countries or regions.
Mr. Liu Weiping, Chairman of the Board of WEILONG, commented, "2022 was a significant year for WEILONG. Despite faced many challenges in production, supply chain and product delivery due to the resurgence of the pandemic, the Group has actively upgraded its brand, products and digitization. Through the automation and standardization of production lines, WEILONG has effectively implemented precise quality control and reduced labor and energy costs."
He continued, "Looking ahead, the Group anticipates a gradual rebound of the consumer market as pandemic prevention and control measures are eased and consumer confidence recovers. We will persist in enhancing brand building, consolidating marketing resources, and maintaining a brand image that resonates strongly with young consumers. While focusing on our core product categories, we will also explore new product lines, strengthen product quality to heighten core competitiveness, expand our distribution network, enhance POS coverage and service capabilities, and persist in team building. We will also reinforce our production, manufacturing, and R&D capabilities, and improve the Company's operating efficiency. We aim to create values for our shareholders, customers, and consumers in multiple ways."
About Weilong Delicious Global Holdings Ltd
Wei Long Delicious Global Holdings Limited ("WEILONG") has always adhered to the mission "to let the world fall in love with Chinese flavors" and the values of "consumer-centric and innovation-driven organization". It has been firmly committed to the vision of "transforming traditional food into a more entertaining, casual, convenient, affordable, and smart lifestyle platform that lasts for 123 years", and continuously builds itself as the leading company of spicy snack products focusing on consumers.
WEILONG focuses on turning authentic Chinese gourmet into casual snack food that consumers can enjoy anytime, anywhere, and adheres to a product strategy of "multiple categories and large single product", covering seasoned flour products, vegetable products, bean-based products, and other product categories. The seasoned flour products (commonly known as "Latiao") mainly include big and small Latiao, spicy hot sticks, mini hot sticks, and Kiss Burn. The vegetable products mainly include Konjac shuang and Fengchi kelp. The bean-based products and other products mainly include soft tofu skin, 78 degree sed eggs, and meat products.
According to Frost & Sullivan, in terms of retail sales value in 2021, Weilong ranked first among all spicy snack food enterprises in China, with a market share of 6.2%, and ranked first in each of the seasoned flour product and spicy vegetable snack product categories. WEILONG is a popular snack food brand among young consumers in China, with its main consumer group being people aged 35 and under. Through interesting and topical marketing methods, WEILONG awarded 2022 GEN-Z's Annual Favourite Award "Inspirational Vitality Brand" and won TMTPOST's 2022 Global Innovation Award "Consumer Brand of the Year".
WEILONG successfully listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (stock code: 9985.HK) on 15 December 2022, and was selected by the Hang Seng Indexes Company Limited on February 24th, 2023 to be included as a constituent stock of the Hang Seng Composite Index, the Hang Seng Composite MidCap Index, and the Hang Seng Consumer Goods Index. At the same time,WEILONG was also included in the list of stocks under the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect, and the changes took effect on March 13th, 2023.
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