The performance has declined, the stock price has plummeted, and the old road of "high-end goods" BESTORE can no longer go on.
Before the peak sales period at the end of the year, on November 29, Yang Yinfen, chairman and general manager of BESTORE, issued an open letter to all employees, saying that a new round of reform will be launched to return to the image of BESTORE as a neighbor, and the business side will implement the largest price reduction in 17 years, with an average price reduction of 22% for 300 products and a maximum reduction of 45%.
On February 24, 2020, BESTORE was successfully listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, becoming the "No. 1 stock of high-end snacks". However, in the past two years, BESTORE, which is taking the high-end route, has experienced a low ebb in performance. In 2021, the company's net profit fell by nearly two percent, and in 2022, the company's net profit returned to growth, but the revenue only increased slightly by 124%。
In this open letter, Yang Yinfen directly told the truth: "At present, what is in front of us is not only the problem of living difficult, but the problem of whether we can live. ”
"Snack Assassin" price reduction for alive
Yang Yinfen, who announced the big change, has only been in office for a few days. On November 27, BESTORE held the second extraordinary general meeting of shareholders in 2023, which completed the general election of the company's third board of directors and board of supervisors as scheduled, and achieved a smooth succession.
After the general meeting of shareholders, BESTORE held the first meeting of the third board of directors, at which the new chairman of the board of directors was elected and the appointment of senior management was deliberated. Yang Yinfen was elected chairman of the company and once again assumed the position of general manager. Yang Hongchun, the former chairman and general manager, no longer serves as the chairman and general manager after the re-election, and still serves as the company's directorZhang Guoqiang, the former director and deputy general manager, no longer holds the position of deputy general manager and still serves as a director of the company after this change.
Yang Yinfen, Yang Hongchun and Zhang Guoqiang are the co-founders of BESTORE. Yang Yinfen and Yang Hongchun both worked in Guangdong Kelon Electric Co., Ltd
Yang Yinfen's first knife after taking office was to cut at the product**.
On November 29, Yang Yinfen issued an open letter to all employees, proposing that BESTORE will launch a new round of reform around the theme of "strengthening business innovation and comprehensively improving operational efficiency", return to the image of BESTORE as a neighbor, and move towards a route of good quality and close to the people.
It is reported that on the business side, BESTORE has implemented the largest price reduction for the first time in 17 years around the principle of "price reduction without quality reduction", with an average price reduction of 22% and a maximum reduction of 45% for more than 300 products on sale in stores, mainly focusing on snacks with high cost optimization but not affecting quality and repurchase rate.
According to reports, macadamia nuts, pine nuts, pistachios, cashews and other nuts, pork jerky, duck neck, grilled sausages and other meat snacks, spicy strips, dried tofu, bread cakes, melon seeds and other popular products with a high repurchase rate are currently the main force for price reduction. BESTORE even directly pulled Sam for benchmarking, the brand said that the classic pork jerky ** 65 yuan a catty, and Sam's price is 89 yuan a catty.
Yang Yinfen said: "At present, consumer groups and consumption Xi are changing. The reality that consumers think that we are 'expensive' also shows that our products should be more accessible to the people. We want to work with our partners to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and ultimately achieve the best people-friendly through technological innovation and digital tools. ”
But four years ago, being close to the people was not at all the "label" pursued by BESTORE. At the beginning of January 2019, BESTORE held a high-profile "High-end Achievement Conference", officially defining "high-end snacks" as a brand strategy and corporate strategy. At that time, Yang Hongchun, founder and chairman of BESTORE, said that the announcement of the high-end snack strategy was not a transformation, but a persistence and focus on the past 12 years. Looking back, the persistence of more than ten years has finally come to the time when it has to change.
At present, what is in front of us is not only the question of how difficult it is to live, but also the question of whether or not we can live. In the internal letter, Yang Yinfen mentioned, "I said in August this year that 17-year-old Liangpin is facing the most difficult challenge since its establishment. Today, this challenge is still intensifying. ”
In fact, in August this year, when BESTORE was accused of being a "snack assassin" for selling duck tongue of more than 500 yuan per kilogram, it may have laid a foreshadowing for the company's sudden price cut: consumers can no longer accept the snack giant's ** system.
For this revolutionary strategic turn, BESTORE seems to have made great determination. It is reported that Yang Yinfen will directly implement the reform strategy internally by changing the performance of employees. "I know very well that it is difficult to change, and only when he hurts himself will he take the initiative to change. But by the time the pain hits everyone, it's too late, so I have to force everyone to change now with the most direct performance appraisal method. ”
The performance and stock price are both sluggish, and the institutions are busy leaving
Since the release of the "High-end Snack Strategy" in 2019, BESTORE has continued to launch sub-brands in 2020 based on customer segments and scenarios, such as BESTORE Xiaoshixian, which focuses on pan-children's snacks, and BESTORE Feiyang, which is a healthy and light food. Whether it is mass snacks or more subdivided children's and healthy snacks, BESTORE takes a relatively high-end and first-class route.
But obviously, this is no longer in line with the current consumer trend. From the perspective of the industry, the transfer of online consumption traffic, the intensification of competition, the full flowering of various offline snack models, and the emergence of a series of new species, especially the snack discount stores in the form of ** battles, have threatened the business of traditional retail chain stores.
Performance is a good response. In 2020, 2021, and 2022, the total revenue of BESTORE will be 789.4 billion yuan, 932.4 billion yuan, 944 billion yuan, the growth rate is. 11% and 124%, which is a significant slowdown from the growth rate of about 20% or even more than 30% in previous years, especially in 2022, this growth rate is already very weak.
On the net profit side, from 2020 to 2022, the growth rates of BESTORE are: 16%。Although in 2022, the company achieved a net profit of 33.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of nearly two percent, but you must know that most of the profits come from subsidies, and after deducting subsidies, it is only a small amount.
Entering 2023, BESTORE's revenue in the first three quarters decreased by 14 year-on-year33%, and the net profit attributable to the parent decreased by 33 year-on-year43%, of which the net profit in the third quarter fell 97% year-on-year88%。So, at the investor conference, some investors directly raised questions: Why is the third quarter performance so poor?
In 2022, BESTORE has carried out a large number of store closures. This year, the company closed 409 stores, of which more than half closed due to losses.
In the secondary market, BESTORE is also difficult to satisfy investors. In the year of listing, the share price of BESTORE once exceeded 85 yuan, and then it did not exceed it, and continued to fluctuate and decline. In February this year, BESTORE's share price was close to 40 yuan, but as of November 30, its share price has fallen to 1938 yuan, a new low this year, with a market value of 7.8 billion.
Zhang Lei, chairman of Hillhouse Capital, mentioned in the book "Value": "BESTORE understands the premise and grasps the key in the new retail play, and is also using innovation to reconstruct scenarios that are more in line with consumer needs." ”
However, when he praises, he spares no effort, and when he sells, he is ruthless. From March 2021 to the end of May this year, BESTORE has been liquidated by Hillhouse Capital many times**, and the latter's shareholding ratio has also dropped to 5%.
On June 3 this year, BESTORE once again announced its shareholder plan. According to the announcement, from June to September 2023, Hillhouse will have no more than 4.01 million shares, and the proposed proportion will not exceed 1%.
Not only Hillhouse, but also Today's Capital, which has been with BESTORE for 13 years, has also chosen to leave. On May 17 this year, BESTORE announced that Dayong plans to use centralized bidding or block trading to achieve a total of no more than 24.06 million shares, that is, no more than 6% of the company's total share capital. Before this **, the shareholding ratio of Dayon Limited was as high as 3030%, which is the largest external shareholder of BESTORE. Behind Dayong*** is today's capital. According to the third quarterly report of BESTORE, as of the end of September this year, Yongda *** held 27 shares of BESTORE05%。