Investor.com" Jordan.
In 2023, the international situation is like a complex picture, the world economy is faltering on the road to recovery, and China's economy is also facing new challenges. However, the "combination of macro policies" is like a pair of ingenious hands, which has effectively promoted the domestic economy to stabilize and rebound.
As an important force in economic development, how to achieve high-quality development and enhance the core competitiveness of listed companies has become an important issue at present.
Recently, the 2023 Annual Meeting of Thinking Finance Investors, hosted by Thinking Finance & Investor Network and co-organized by Guoxin ** Shanghai Branch, came to a perfect conclusion at the Golden Bird Art Center in Pudong, Shanghai.
In the roundtable discussion session of the annual meeting, Zhang Cuntao, managing director of the business department of Guoxin** Investment Banking Division, Zuo Qin, general manager of Nanjing Xinbai brand, Ling Yunfeng, general manager of the brand management department of Guohua Life Insurance, and Chen Yuandi, editor-in-chief of Investor.com, conducted in-depth discussions on the theme of "driving the future and high-quality development strategy of listed companies".
From left to right: Chen Yuandi, Zhang Cuntao, Zuo Qin, Ling Yunfeng.
Chen Yuandi: Today's theme is the high-quality development of the company, due to the changes in the external environment and internal factors, the number of high-quality development companies has changed or even decreased, first of all, please share with the guests, in your eyes, which factors can reflect the high-quality development of a company
Zhang Cuntao:High-quality development is a relatively macro abstract topic. In the A** market, there are more than 5,000 listed companies, and investment bankers often face the embarrassing situation that the company's stock price quickly reaches a high point and then declines after listing. In this case, most investment bankers still hope that the company can have a good valuation, but in fact, many companies do show a trend of rising and falling after listing.
When evaluating whether a company has achieved high-quality development, it is necessary to first look at financial indicators. Financial indicators must be beautiful, but relying only on beautiful financial indicators does not mean that the company has achieved high-quality development. Corporate governance is also a very important factor. A company with a good governance structure contributes to its long-term stable development. In practice, we have found that many of the reasons for the eventual demise or closure of companies are related to corporate governance.
At the same time, we should also pay attention to the company's innovation ability and core competitiveness. These factors, although abstract, are very important in practice.
Zuo Qin:As a listed company, high-quality development needs to create benefits, have market share and lead the industry, have an efficient internal circulation system, focus on innovation and pay attention to ESG, these factors are crucial for the company's long-term development.
Ling Yunfeng:Regarding the high-quality development of listed companies, I believe the following points are crucial. First of all, the company's main business should be prominent and competitive, and at the same time, the industrial policy should be in line with future trends, so as to gain a foothold and achieve sustainable development in the current business environment.
Secondly, the company's operation should be benign and healthy, and its financial position should be sound, which is the foundation for high-quality development. In addition, it is especially important to control leverage in the current environment, and many companies have problems due to this.
Finally, the company's strategic positioning should be clear and clear, which requires the company to have a good governance structure as a support. A stable team and consistent and persistent business strategy are the keys to achieving high-quality development. For financial enterprises and real enterprises, the awareness of green development is becoming more and more important, and every individual is closely connected to the world. Time will tell, perseverance can bloom the most beautiful roses.
Chen Yuandi: The sharing of several guests just now made me think about the power of corporate culture. Corporate culture is the cornerstone, which shapes the atmosphere of the enterprise. In your opinion, what are the characteristics of a healthy corporate culture?How to evaluate the quality of a company's corporate culture?
Zhang Cuntao:In fact, many listed companies lack a real corporate culture. To put it mildly, more than half of the more than 5,000 listed companies do not have a real corporate culture. Since the comprehensive registration-based reform in 2018, we have indeed seen the overall quality of listed companies improving, and the corporate culture has gradually formed. Every entrepreneur, whether private or state-owned, emphasizes the importance of culture and even writes it on the wall.
However, only compiling the culture into a brochure does not mean that we really have a corporate culture, and having a vigorous atmosphere is the embodiment of truly having a corporate culture. If a business lacks vigor and dynamism, regardless of its nature, it can mean that it lacks a real corporate culture.
Zuo Qin:I very much agree with Mr. Zhang's point of view. When it comes to corporate culture, many companies confuse the concepts of corporate vision, corporate values, and corporate culture. Corporate vision and corporate values are different and have their own independent definitions and meanings. The corporate culture runs through the employees of the enterprise, like a capillary in the business environment infiltrates an atmosphere, affecting the mentality and behavior of employees.
As a company with a domestic and international industry, we are also striving to create a corporate culture that is young, international, and respectful of professionals and values.
Ling Yunfeng:At this stage in China, it is natural that the personality of the boss often determines the culture of a company. For example, if the boss of a company likes to play basketball, if the company can continue to develop, then his hobby will also become part of the corporate culture, promote the popularization of sportsmanship, and have a positive impact on improving the mental outlook of employees.
As the core competitiveness of an enterprise, corporate culture plays an important role in the cohesion and centripetal force of internal employees. In a company with a good corporate culture, employees will feel a sense of belonging and pride, which will undoubtedly enhance the overall strength of the enterprise.
In the field of the real economy, some high-performing companies, such as BYD, advocated a "family" culture in the early days. They not only provide support to employees at work, but also care about their family life and solve problems such as children's schooling. Although the level of care may be limited, this corporate culture is constantly improving and leaping forward, it has different connotations and meanings at different stages, and is becoming one of the important manifestations of enterprise strength and competitiveness.
Chen Yuandi: In recent years, enterprises have faced tremendous changes and challenges. We often observe that some enterprises go from high-quality development to reversal of the situation, or vice versa, the process is not achieved overnight, but has experienced a key "inflection point". How do you think companies can respond to or seize the risks and opportunities in the "inflection point"?What are the signs that businesses are going through an "inflection point"?
Zhang Cuntao:As investment bankers, we often need to assess the quality of a company. Whether it is the previous approval system or the current registration system, we focus first on financial indicators. If there is a significant deterioration in the company's financial metrics, we also need to consider its environmental context. For enterprises in the early stage of development, we can give a certain understanding. But if the whole industry is making a profit and you're still losing money, then no matter how you explain it, it's hard to justify it.
Taking technology projects as an example, due to the nature of this field, we often encounter loss-making companies. In the field of artificial intelligence, probably 90% of businesses are losing money. At this point, we need to communicate further to understand the reasons for the loss and the potential for future development.
Corporate governance is also a key focus for us. Whether it is an investment bank or an investment institution, when we choose a company, we will first consider the track in which it is located. Then we will pay attention to the core competitiveness of the enterprise and the quality of the business owner. Even when it comes to the IPO stage, we will understand the details of the business by reading the prospectus. In today's increasing number of science and technology projects, the quality of the founding team and the governance culture of the enterprise are still very important. If these two things go wrong, we basically don't move forward with the project anymore.
Zuo Qin:As an expert in professional institutions, Mr. Zhang has a more macro perspective and a broader focus. On the other hand, I pay more attention to the micro level, and from a personal point of view, there is no absolute definition of what is called "good company" and "bad company", both are cyclical changes. Of course, can we find a key node or small trend to judge the ups and downs of a company?I think the key point is probably the atmosphere of the company.
We work in a lot of different industries every day, and if you spend a day or two at any of our companies, you can really feel the atmosphere. First of all, the company's business and workplace atmosphere are very efficient, and everything is very responsive. Secondly, everyone is full of innovative spirit and positive forward. In the current business environment, no matter which track you are in, even if it is a small company, as long as you have these two feelings, it means that the company is constantly improving and developing.
Ling Yunfeng:Many companies operate in a highly competitive industry environment, which puts the management team's ability to operate, shareholder support, and market opportunities to the test. In the past, a good company may have changed because of a change in leadership. In the current domestic environment, especially for companies that are already scaling, the change of leadership can have far-reaching consequences. For example, when Dong Mingzhu of Gree Electric Appliances retires, it will have an impact on the investment strategy of the best managers. It's crucial for investors to keep an eye on these developments in companies.
Yuandi Chen: What do you think are the biggest or most difficult challenges facing enterprises in the current environment?
Zhang Cuntao:The biggest challenge facing businesses today is how to adapt to changes in the external environment. In recent years, the external environment has changed dramatically, which has brought severe challenges to the implementation of corporate strategies and tactics. In particular, technology projects tend to be less resilient than traditional industries. Therefore, companies need to ensure that their decisions are in line with the current economic environment or the external environment. When there are significant adverse changes in the external business environment, companies need to be able to adjust their strategies in a timely manner to ensure survival and growth.
In addition, information disclosure is also a difficult problem for enterprises. On the one hand, high-quality development requires true, accurate, complete and timely information disclosure. But on the other hand, excessive disclosure can lead to some problems. For example, the Science and Technology Innovation Board encourages the development of six major industries, but these industries often involve *** and trade secrets. Once a company discloses too much information, it may lead to adverse effects such as overseas supply disruptions.
For technology projects, you also need to pay attention to protecting your trade secrets. Many tech projects have high gross margins of 60 or 70 percent, but disclosing too much information can lead to customer churn. Therefore, enterprises need to protect their own interests when disclosing information. At the same time, companies also need to actively communicate with regulators to better adapt to changes in the external environment.
Zuo Qin:Since 2016, when our company turned to the big health track, we have also experienced many challenges. At that time, when the country put forward the "Healthy China 2030" plan, we realized that the traditional department store industry was not a fast-growing industry, so we took the initiative to choose the big health track. At present, we have expanded into four sub-tracks, including biomedical, hematopoietic stem cells, health care and modern business. While the overall development is good, we have also encountered some difficulties in this transformation process.
On the one hand, there were some obvious challenges in the transition from the old track to the new one. For example, team configuration and the convergence of old and new companies is a big problem. Even if we don't talk about values, everyone's understanding of basic business logic needs to be run-in.
On the other hand, as the number of tracks increases, how to make these tracks support each other well and form a resonance state is something we have been adjusting and optimizing. We need to make sure that each track supports each other and creates synergies.
Ling Yunfeng:The concessionaire finance industry is facing policy challenges, which require companies to constantly adapt to the guidance and regulations of the national financial regulatory authorities. In this process, companies need to fill in the gaps and improve their own business to ensure that the overall business is on the path to healthy development.
Another challenge for companies is how to achieve the core unity of short-term and long-term effects. For example, in the process of transformation of the life insurance industry, although some results have been achieved, the efficiency of the industry as a whole is still declining. Due to the impact of China's aging, a large number of people will enter the retirement stage in the next ten years, and solving the problem of pension has become a general direction.
However, life insurance companies are faced with the challenges of heavy assets and small profits when carrying out health care business, and how to achieve the matching of assets and liabilities and coordinate the relationship between long-term and short-term benefits is a problem that needs to be solved for enterprises. This can put pressure on cash flow or short-term operational pressures, so comprehensive planning is required.
Chen Yuandi: Can you look forward to the future trends and prospects of high-quality development?Which industries and companies will see opportunities?
Zhang Cuntao:The state emphasizes that listed companies should pay attention to the people's nature and political nature. This means that we need to pay attention to the industries and sectors listed in the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, as well as the future development trends of these industries. At the same time, we also need to pay attention to opportunities in other areas, such as technological innovation and new retail. At the specific enterprise level, we need to have the ability to create three innovations and four innovations.
Zuo Qin:We have always firmly chosen the big health industry and have full confidence in it. The return cycle of the big health industry is long, and enterprises need to assume certain social responsibilities and have a sense of business pursuit and national mission. With the intensification of the aging of the population, the big health industry still has broad development prospects in the future. We are bullish on this industry and believe that it will continue to contribute to society.
Ling Yunfeng:From a macro perspective, it is necessary to study political economy and pay attention to the key industries and investment directions mentioned in the reports of national leaders when making industrial investments in China. In addition, China is internationally competitive in some areas, and some companies have even achieved import substitution through a bottom-up approach. If the market environment improves and overseas markets recover, I believe that China's private enterprises will have more opportunities.
To give an example, there are some companies that are in the business of import substitution. They first introduced foreign products to China, led sales, then assembled, and gradually began research and development. Although there are some disputes between technology transfer and independent research and development, their products eventually gradually encroach on the market for foreign products, and may even be exported. These grassroots industries may produce small giant enterprises.
Chen Yuandi:Today, we have delved into many aspects of the industry and the development of the company. We firmly believe that the most difficult period is largely over. In the future, it is necessary to grasp the positive changes in the external and internal environment, and the difficulties are only temporary, and spring will eventually come. (Produced by Thinking Finance).