As a frequent visitor to the hot search, Dong Mingzhu continued to be on the hot search at the end of the year.
Dong Mingzhu announced that he would issue an additional 200 million year-end bonuses", "Dong Mingzhu said that he had less than 200 sweaters on his body", two news appeared on the hot search list one after the other.
Recently, Dong Mingzhu, chairman of Gree Electric Appliances, announced that the company will issue an additional year-end bonus of 200 million yuan this year to improve the welfare and happiness of employees. She emphasized that every employee should feel their own value and dignity, and abandon those bad labels, such as "wage earners", and hoped that through this initiative, the name of employees will be corrected, demonstrating Gree's respect and protection for employees.
In a recent program of CCTV's "Genting Dialogue", some Gree employees called Dong Mingzhu "love beauty". In response, Dong Mingzhu said: "Many people ask me if I have a special designer? It's such a waste of money that it's not necessary. Dong Mingzhu also said that if you don't buy expensive ones, buy the most comfortable ones: "You don't want a sweater for 200 yuan, but a silk scarf may exceed 1,000 yuan." ”
On the one hand, Gree's arrogant year-end bonus, on the other hand, it is thrifty to less than 200 yuan for sweaters. Whether Gree is good or bad in 2023 has to come back to the performance to see.
Consumers have love, responsibility, and wait-and-see feelings for Gree. Sometimes I feel that its aura comes from my own strength, and sometimes I feel that those things that make people talk about it have taken it to a height that it shouldn't have, after all, as long as Miss Dong is here, Gree will never lack topics, but whether Miss Dong can make Gree more uncontroversial, the answer is obvious.
In the past 2023, the three white appliance giants of Gree, Midea, and Haier have all said that they have achieved the best results in history.
According to the "Times Weekly", Dong Mingzhu took the initiative to disclose the performance at the Gree annual meeting on the 28th of last month. She corrected the figures in the PPT on stage and said bluntly: "(Gree's 27 billion net profit in 2023) This figure is not accurate, we have created a profit of 29 billion." ”
On December 21 last year, Gree Electric Appliances has announced its own performance forecast. According to the information disclosed in the preview, the net profit attributable to the parent company of Gree Electric Appliances in 2023 will be between 27 billion yuan and 29.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 102% to 196%, as far as the current situation is concerned, Gree's net profit level has approached the expected maximum value.
Other information in the performance forecast shows that Gree Electric's total revenue in 2023 is expected to be between 205 billion yuan and 210 billion yuan, which is also the return of Gree Electric's total revenue to the 200 billion yuan club after three years. In 2023, Gree's net profit attributable to the parent company after deducting non-profits is expected to be 26.1 billion yuan to 27.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 88% to 159%。
It is worth mentioning that the venue of this annual meeting of Gree Electric Appliances is Zhuhai Gree Vocational College, which is a school fully funded by Gree. Dong Mingzhu also mentioned at the annual meeting that since 2012, Gree Electric has accumulated revenue of 1,876.7 billion yuan and a cumulative profit of 230.4 billion yuan; In the past 5 years, Gree Electric has paid an average annual dividend of 1407.3 billion yuan, which together with the funding of the school, is regarded as Gree's tradition of "spending a lot of money".
In addition to taking the initiative to "break the news" about Gree's performance data for the whole year of 2023, Dong Mingzhu also generously said that he would take out an extra 200 million yuan to give employees year-end bonuses, which caused heated discussions for a while. Many netizens shouted at Wang Jianlin, who claimed to make a "small goal": "After Gree sent the money, it's up to you now." ”
Dong Mingzhu's boldness is certainly very happy, but some people in the legal profession remind that listed companies have a very rigorous and standardized set of processes for transmitting information to the outside world, which often requires compliance confirmation by enterprises at the level of the four major audit firms, and Dong Mingzhu's move may cause her unnecessary trouble.
Qi Qing, a lawyer at DeHeng Law Firm, said bluntly that before Gree Electric, a listed company, officially announced its financial report, Dong Mingzhu's personal disclosure of performance in advance was actually in violation of the relevant regulations on information disclosure of listed companies, and there was a possibility of illegal disclosure of information.
Frankly speaking, Gree Electric has indeed reached a historical peak in 2023, but it may not be so proud compared to Midea and Haier, which is why some investors think Dong Mingzhu is "making a fuss".
According to the 2023 revenue data released by Haier Group, Haier's global revenue last year was 371.8 billion yuan, higher than that of Gree Electric Appliances, and the total global profit created by Haier was 26.7 billion yuan, with both revenue and profits increasing, both 6% higher than in 2022.
Although Midea has not disclosed the specific content for the time being, Fang Hongbo is not small, he said, "Midea will usher in the best performance in history." "Judging from the 2023 results announced by Midea so far, Midea has surpassed the annual performance of Gree Electric in the first three quarters alone. From Q1 to Q3 of 2023, Midea will achieve revenue of 291.1 billion yuan, an increase of 77%；Net profit attributable to the parent company was 277200 million yuan, an increase of 133%, revenue and net profit hit record highs at the same time.
After an annual meeting, Gree Electric's stock price rose more than 4 the next day2%, but compared with the three white power giants horizontally, 36Kr said that the market's valuation of Gree is still low. As of Feb. 3**, Gree Electric's price-to-earnings ratio was 794, Midea Group, Haier Smart Home were 1266 and 1329。
Before and after the release of Gree Electric's performance forecast in 2023, there are two signals that are very clear.
First, the net profit is obvious**, the profit obtained by Gree Electric Appliances in 2022 will be 24.5 billion yuan, even with the most conservative estimate of 27 billion yuan, the profit level of Gree Electric Appliances has also increased by 2.5 billion yuan. Second, the stock price has been long-term, especially on December 19, Gree Electric Appliances announced that it would spend 101.5 billion yuan, the acquisition of Gree titanium 24After 54% of the equity, the share price of Gree Electric Appliances directly **7%, and the market value evaporated more than 10 billion yuan, returning to a year ago overnight.
So if you want to ask if there is such a "strong" performance support, why doesn't the market buy it? put it on Gree, which is related to Dong Mingzhu's choice all along.
Pang Ran, a home appliance industry analyst who has been paying attention to Gree Electric Appliances for a long time, said that Dong Mingzhu once had a joking name of "power" in the industry.
Before the annual meeting, the hot discussion in the consumer market was the rose air conditioner designed by Dong Mingzhu for Gree. The top of the machine is a retractable physical rose, the fuselage is full of bright pink, the official price is set at 30,000 yuan, this rose air conditioner is the most expensive one in Gree in recent years, Dong Mingzhu said that this is a "to use roses to express love to users" artwork, but users said, this is a "send me very ugly, send me too grandma just right" earthy gift.
Meddling in product design is only part of Dong Mingzhu's personal style, and in the investor market, what is more unbearable may be that Dong Mingzhu often insists on going his own way, such as investing in Gree Titanium before, and now "bottom-up" Gree Titanium.
According to the information cited by Yiouwang, Dong Mingzhu in 2016 was in his personal name "regardless of a large number of opposition" to increase the capital of Greti, this company was still called Yinlong New Energy at that time, Dong Mingzhu and Wanda, CIMC and other five companies invested 3 billion yuan. Prior to this, Dong Mingzhu tried to lead the acquisition of 100% of the shares of Yinlong New Energy for 13 billion yuan**, but was forced to give up due to fierce opposition from investors.
Since then, Gree Electric bypassed the minority shareholders, and the board of directors reached a consensus to obtain 47With 93% of the voting rights, Yinlong New Energy has become a holding subsidiary of Gree. This time it was announced that Gree wanted to acquire Gree Titanium 2454% of the equity, after the completion of the acquisition, Gree Electric Appliances and Dong Mingzhu hold a total of 72 shares of Gree Titanium47%, the announcement also mentioned that in the next 12 months, it will take the opportunity to wholly acquire Gretitanium.
Why are investors opposed? The simple reason is that Gree Titanium is not a high-quality asset.
According to Gree's 2022 performance report, Gree Titanium has a loss of more than 1.9 billion yuan, and the asset-liability ratio has reached 99%. In the past three years, Greti's cumulative loss has approached 3 billion yuan, and in the first half of 2023, Greti's operating income will be 144 billion yuan, net profit -17.1 billion yuan. From 2016 to the present, the valuation of Gree Titanium has fallen from 13 billion to 4 billion, and the valuation has fallen by 70%.
So far, Gree Titanium's total debt is close to 25 billion yuan, and Dong Mingzhu still asked Gree Electric to spend 1 billion yuan to acquire less than 25% of the company's shares at a premium, which is difficult for investors to calculate.
What's more, Dong Mingzhu himself is currently the second largest shareholder of Greti, holding 17 shares46%, after Gree Titanium becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gree Electric Appliances, will she, as the actual controller of Gree Electric Appliances, take advantage of this hot potato? This is also something that investors need to consider.
In fact, Gree Titanium's position in the territory of Gree Electric has always been awkward. Its business is mainly lithium titanate batteries, power batteries, etc., mainly for new energy, but the growth is limited after all. In addition to new energy, Gree Electric Appliances has also entered the business of small household appliances, mobile phones and even prefabricated dishes, but unfortunately it has not achieved breakthrough results.
It is reported that at the annual meeting, Dong Mingzhu said that he would send an extra 200 million to employees, which was Gree mobile phone. Gree** can find that the only models sold are G5 and G7According to Jiemian News, Gree Electric has disbanded the core team of the mobile phone, and the official website of Gree Mobile cannot be opened, and the last update is still on April 16, 2020.
Whether it is Rose Air Conditioner or Gree Titanium, it actually points to one direction, that is, the second growth curve of Gree Electric Appliances.
Judging from the financial reports for the first half of 2023, Midea Group and Haier Smart Home have multiple main business supports. Midea Group's main performance force is consumer appliances such as air fryers, with revenue of 681 in half a year3.6 billion yuan, accounting for 3459%。Haier Smart Home's business is more diversified, with air conditioning revenue of 2314.7 billion yuan, refrigerator and freezer revenue of 2224.5 billion yuan, washing machine revenue of 1534.5 billion yuan, 74 water appliances7.8 billion yuan, kitchen appliances 213.7 billion yuan.
On the other hand, Gree's 2023 interim report shows that its air conditioning products account for 7054% of the revenue, industrial products, green energy, household appliances and intelligent equipment and other branch businesses add up to only about one-tenth, respectively. 19% and 025%。
Moreover, both Gree and Midea mentioned in their financial reports that their home air conditioners are the first in the domestic market, but in terms of revenue data, in 2023, Midea's HVAC (household air conditioning, ** air conditioning, heating and ventilation systems, etc.) business revenue will be 92 billion yuan, and Gree air conditioning (household air conditioning, HVAC, etc.) business income will be 70 billion yuan, and the latter will be 22 billion yuan less than the former.
Major brokerage research reports pointed out that real estate sales are not expected to be strong in 2024, and weak demand for new home decoration will affect the sales of air conditioners. In order to make up for this part of the profits, going to the high-end is the way that various white power companies need to take, and Gree is not fast in this regard.
Pang Ran said that Gree was able to quickly occupy the top position in the domestic air-conditioning market, relying on the interests of provincial first-class businessmen, but with the emergence of new sales channels, this traditional way of selling goods gradually lagged behind the times.
Because relying on dealers at all levels to sell goods means that Gree needs to leave enough profit margins for the channel, and the terminal takes the goods and increases the price significantly, and Gree wants to promote price reduction or adjustment under great pressure. Moreover, Gree only directly connects with provincial-level dealers, and county-level first-class merchants are not under the control of Gree, and the low right to speak in front of them will also have an impact on Gree's plan.
In addition, not creating an independent high-end brand is also a pain for Gree.
Midea and Haier have both established brand sequences through a large number of acquisitions, the former has Toshiba and Colmo, one from acquisitions, and the other is original, according to the company's financial report, the retail sales of the Toshiba brand in the Chinese market in the first half of 2023 will exceed 1.8 billion yuan. According to Haier's financial report, in the first half of 2023, Casarte ranks first in the retail sales share of refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and other categories in the high-end market.
Due to the lack of high-end brands in Gree, the products of each belt can only be mixed together for sale, and the consumer perception is not obvious. Dong Mingzhu thinks well about making rose air conditioners, but what can he actually do? **Chain control, brand appeal, product sales and even team continuity, there are many tests in front of Gree.
Kunpeng Project
Author |You Glass.