As the bell rings in the Year of the Dragon, the peak season of liquor comes to an end, and the attention of the industry and outside the industry has shifted from the Spring Festival Gala to the terminal inventory and distribution. A reporter from Beijing Business Daily visited the distribution of Jinsha Liquor, Golden Seed Liquor and Jingzhi Liquor under China Resources in Beijing. On February 28, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily visited some China Resources Vanguard and ole' boutique supermarkets in Beijing and found that none of the core products of the three liquor companies were sold in the store.
The internal channel integration of China Resources liquor companies is still on the way, but its personnel adjustments have been made in unison. In the past half month, China Resources liquor companies have made two personnel changes. With Hou Xiaohai, chairman of the board of directors of China Resources Beer, who presided over the merger and acquisition, successively withdrew from the management of Jinsha Liquor and Jingzhi Baijiu, the industry has launched various conjectures about this "de-Houization".
There are frequent executive changes.
A reporter from Beijing Business Daily visited some supermarkets under the China Resources Department in Beijing and found that in the China Resources Vanguard convenience supermarket located in Baizhifang, Xicheng, the liquor brands sold included Niulanshan, Red Star and other products, but among the many liquor products, the reporter did not search for Jinsha Liquor, Golden Seed Liquor and Jingzhi Liquor. The same phenomenon can be seen in ole's boutique supermarkets. In addition to the Vanguard convenience supermarket, the reporter also visited the ole's boutique supermarket (Financial Street Shopping Center store), and failed to find the products of Jinsha Liquor, Golden Seed Liquor and Jingzhi Baijiu.
Industry insiders pointed out that at present, China Resources and the three acquired liquor companies have not completed the integration of the channel side, on the one hand, because of the adaptability of the channel and the willingness of beer distributors to sell liquor, and on the other hand, the current high-level structure of the China Resources liquor sector is still in the process of sorting out and running-in.
In addition to the channel integration progress bar has not yet been filled, the two recent personnel appointments can show that China Resources and its liquor companies are still in the run-in period. On February 28, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily learned from the national enterprise credit information publicity system that Hou Xiaohai had stepped down as the legal representative and chairman of Jingzhi Baijiu, and the position was taken over by Wei Qiang. In addition, Liu Muzheng replaced Zeng Shenping as a director of Jingzhi Baijiu, and Shi Beijia replaced Lin Ying as a supervisor.
Two weeks ago, Jinsha Liquor, another liquor company under China Resources, also experienced a high-level adjustment. It is reported that Wei Qiang took over as the legal representative and chairman of Jinsha Liquor, Fan Shikai and Zhao Weixin served as directors, Hou Xiaohai and Zeng Shenping withdrew from the board of directors, and Guo Jibao, the head of finance, was added.
In response to high-level personnel changes, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily interviewed relevant departments of China Resources Liquor, Jinsha Liquor and Jingzhi Liquor, but did not receive a reply as of press time.
Counting the process of Hou Xiaohai's tenure in three wine companies, the shortest term of office is less than one year. According to public information, it has only been 9 months since Hou Xiaohai became the chairman of Jinsha Liquor in February 2023 and resigned from this position; In addition, Hou Xiaohai's term of office from October 2021 to his appointment as Chairman of Jingzhi Baijiu until his resignation from this position is approximately 28 months.
Xiao Zhuqing, a wine marketing expert, pointed out to a reporter from Beijing Business Daily that China Resources, as a state-owned enterprise, needs to ensure that the value of state-owned capital is maintained and increased, and Hou Xiaohai's flaws in the process of mergers and acquisitions of Jingzhi Liquor and Jinsha Liquor may affect the trust of relevant parties in Hou Xiaohai's control of the liquor sector.
Performance "change face".
If channel integration and personnel adjustment are in the run-in period, then the performance data has some taste of run-in pains.
According to public information, from 2019 to 2021, Jinsha Liquor achieved revenue of 87.8 billion yuan, 176.7 billion yuan, 36$4.1 billion; Profit after tax was 15.6 billion yuan, 61.5 billion yuan, 131.5 billion yuan. However, after China Resources invested 10 billion yuan in acquisitions and became owners, according to the financial report data of China Resources Beer, Jinsha Liquor will only achieve 97.7 billion yuan, net profit of 10.2 billion yuan, down 512% and 41%.
Not only Jinsha Liquor, but also Golden Seed Liquor, the only listed company in the liquor territory of China Resources, has not recovered its losses after being acquired. According to the financial report data, Golden Seed Liquor is expected to have an annual loss of -12 million yuan to -22 million yuan in 2023. In 2022, Golden Seed Liquor achieved an operating income of 118.6 billion yuan, down 211%, net profit -18.7 billion yuan.
The house leak coincided with the overnight rain, and while the performance of Jinsha Liquor declined, the situation of "waist folding" in the terminal market also appeared frequently. Recently, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily visited the terminal market and found that the actual transaction of Jinsha Abstract Liquor's Jinsha Abstract Liquor terminal with an original price of 1399 yuan was 630-650 yuan bottles. According to today's public data on wine prices, the price of Jinsha Summary (Treasures) on February 28 was 530 yuan per bottle.
Xiao Zhuqing told a reporter from Beijing Business Daily that China Resources took over Jinsha Liquor controlled by Hubei Yihua at a high level, and found that Jinsha Liquor whitewashed its luxury performance by pressing goods, and China Resources took over Jinsha Liquor facing huge channel inventory pressure. The reason may be that China Resources has suffered a "dumb loss" due to lax risk control.
Channel advantages or into exports.
When taking the road of liquor with beer thinking, the key point in determining whether China Resources will take a flower road to the new liquor world or a detour road in the future lies in the channel. Xiao Zhuqing pointed out to the Beijing Business Daily reporter that although China Resources Group lacks high-end liquor operation talents and market experience, it has a huge sales team and marketing network at the level of marketing affordable beer, which can provide the foundation and advantages for China Resources to develop affordable ration liquor.
For the integration of China Resources liquor and its own channels, the two sides have been working hard. A reporter from Beijing Business Daily asked He Xiuhua, general manager of Golden Seed Liquor, at the performance briefing on the issue of channel integration, and learned that China Resources Suguo and China Resources Vanguard supermarkets in East China, Golden Seed Liquor has entered sales, and other business formats of China Resources System have also been effectively carried out.
When a reporter from Beijing Business Daily conducted a survey on the distribution of Golden Seed Liquor in China Resources Suguo, he found that at present, the main markets covered by China Resources Suguo are only Anhui Province and Jiangsu Province. Among them, in the China Resources Suguo Mini Program, including the Fengxian People's Shopping Plaza store in Xuzhou, Jiangsu, and the Datun Life Supermarket in Peixian County, no related products of Golden Seed Liquor were found. The products of Kouzijiao, Yingjia Tribute Liquor and Gujing Tribute Liquor, which are also brands in Anhui Province with Golden Seed Liquor, are sold.
Shen Meng, chief strategist of Guangke Consulting, pointed out that the introduction of Golden Seed Liquor into the liquor sales channels within the China Resources Group system can expand the reach of Golden Seed Liquor to consumers, but the presence of channels does not guarantee that it can be converted into performance, and Golden Seed Liquor still needs to achieve outstanding results in terms of quality and marketing.
Nowadays, at the beginning of the year, how to accomplish the set goals has become a problem in front of the Department of China Resources. Taking Jinsha Wine as an example, at the brand strategy conference, Jinsha Wine disclosed that its revenue growth target for 2024 is 40%. This goal is full of challenges for Jinsha Liquor, which currently has high inventory. In Xiao Zhuqing's view, if Jinsha Liquor wants to achieve its goals, it needs to rely on the support of upstream and downstream industry chain partners of member enterprises of the Great China Resources system. Expand the "circle of friends" of Sands Abstract in the China Resources system, and strive to help each other within the China Resources system through the tasting and experience of the China Resources system.
In the future, if CR Liquor wants to improve its performance and promote the performance of the three liquor companies, on the one hand, it needs to strengthen the C-end strategy, adjust the national layout, and deepen the market in Henan and Shandong. On the other hand, it is necessary to introduce professional liquor industry management talents, and introduce stable and sustainable business policies according to the characteristics of the liquor industry to help dealers expand profit margins, promote payment collection and sales momentum, so as to improve terminal sales. Xiao Zhuqing added.
Beijing Business Daily reporter Liu Yibo Feng Ruonan.