Behind the high growth of Aibo Medical, how to compete with the price butcher in the future?

Mondo Finance Updated on 2024-02-27

Investor.com" Cai Jun.

Aibo Medical (688050.)SH, hereinafter referred to as the "Company") and the ophthalmic device industry, or to a crossroads that must be turned.

In February this year, the company made public its performance report, and the total operating income and net profit attributable to the owners of the parent company in 2023 were 9500 million yuan, 30.4 billion yuan, each year-on-year83%。

Among them, the revenue growth rate of "Pronomine" and other series of intraocular lenses and "Prono Pupil" orthokeratology lenses exceeded % respectively. In 2022, the revenue of these two businesses will be 35.3 billion yuan, 1700 million yuan. Based on this calculation, the revenue of the two businesses in 2023 will be 49.4 billion yuan, 2100 million yuan, each accounting for a percentage of revenue1%。

Behind the high-growth performance, Aibo Medical is actually worried. The industry leader OPCOM has fallen into a growth bottleneck, and the moat of the company's related businesses will also be shaken by the price reduction strategy of imported brands. Whether it is the industry or itself, it is urgent to find a new landing site.

The last remnants of specialization

There are two major products of ophthalmic instruments, one is orthokeratology lenses for optometry (**myopia), and the other is intraocular lenses for surgery.

The two major products have given birth to a number of listed companies with a market value of 10 billion. The industry leader OPCOM has an operating income of 13 in the first three quarters of 2023200 million yuan, the main ** is orthokeratology lenses.

In contrast, Aibo Medical entered similar products a little later, but it also formed a scale. In 2022, the company's revenue from similar products will exceed 100 million yuan, and at the same time, it will also encounter Haohai Biotech, which switched from the medical beauty track, and gradually entangled.

In 2022, the company announced that "Myok" sold by Hengtai Vision, a subsidiary of Haohaishengke, infringed three patents of its similar products, and filed a lawsuit.

The following year, Hengtai Vision released an open letter to the partners of "myok" on the official platform, showing that the State Intellectual Property Office had made a decision that the three patents alleged to have been infringed by the company in the case had validity problems, two of which were declared invalid, and the core part of one patent was also declared invalid.

After a series of events, the revenue growth rate of the company's orthokeratology lenses has also slowed down significantly, with 62 in 2022 and 2023, respectively09% and 25%. Not only himself, but the big brother OPCOM is also a little "unsold", and the sales of similar products in the first three quarters of 2023 will only increase slightly by 446%。

In fact, the real landing site of Aibo Medical is the intraocular lens. The company is the only mid-to-high-end domestic player, through product strength and cost performance, through local centralized procurement to open up the growth space, accelerate the product admission, eat the share of imported products.

According to the statistics of Qianhai** in East Asia, the centralized procurement of intraocular lenses has covered all provinces and cities in the country. Since 2021, the company has won bids in Anhui, Jiangsu, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Fujian, Northeast and Northwest Alliance and other provinces or regions, with an average price reduction of 40%-60%. From 2021 to 2023, the company's revenue growth rate of this business will be % respectively.

In contrast, Haohai Biotech has taken a different path and has suffered a lot of vitality.

In 2021, the company exclusively distributed the AAEN brand in the United States, and the revenue of intraocular lenses was 33.3 billion yuan, slightly more than Aibo Medical. In 2022, its distribution agreement was terminated, and its business income fell to 2800 million yuan, surpassed by the company. In the first half of 2023, its holding subsidiary, Contamac in the United Kingdom, made overseas efforts, and its business revenue achieved 20.4 billion yuan, still lower than the company.

In three years, Aibo Medical's intraocular lens has risen rapidly, with its own advantages, industry dividends, and peer contrast. However, the good times will eventually pass away.

In November 2023, Alcon of the United States won the bid for the centralized procurement of mid-to-high-end intraocular lenses, and the trifocal varieties were selected from 230,000 yuan dropped to less than 9,000 yuan, and the bifocal variety ** was less than 1,800 yuan, even lower than the company.

In the past, Aibo Medical's advantages were based on the high quality and low price of imported products. Nowadays, imported products have also become "** butchers", and there is still much room for domestic reveries.

At this point, the big brother OPCOM has given an answer, that is, ophthalmic devices will develop from specialization to consumerization. In recent years, the company has not only acquired and added eye hospitals and clinics, but also sold steam eye masks, lutein, eye protection table lamps, etc.

The wrestling of consumerization, contact lenses

With the advent of the trend of ophthalmic consumerization, Aibo Medical put the landing point on the first glasses.

In 2021, the company acquired Tianyan Pharmaceutical, which is mainly engaged in contact lenses (color ** glasses) business, and has been successively approved for listing on daily, monthly, and semi-annual varieties. Before the acquisition, Tianyan Pharmaceutical had an annual output of 10 million contact lenses. After the acquisition, the company decided to expand production by 30 million pieces.

In 2023, the company will acquire Youyoukang, which is also mainly engaged in contact lenses business, which has 7 first-class glasses Class III medical device product registration certificates, and the color films cover daily, monthly, and semi-annual treatments. Compared with Tianyan Medicine, Youyoukang's varieties, production capacity, and channels are more mature.

Aibo Medical's betting strategy has been clearly visible. From an investment perspective, as of the third quarter of 2023, the company's goodwill was 05.3 billion yuan, an increase of 152 from the beginning of the year4%。

According to the statistics of Qianhai** in East Asia, the domestic contact lens market size exceeds 15 billion yuan, which is mainly occupied by manufacturers such as Taiwan and South Korea, and domestic manufacturers account for less than 10%.

It should be pointed out that at present, domestic contact lens manufacturers are mainly OEM OEMs, including Tianyan Pharmaceutical and Youyoukang. Therefore, capacity is crucial in the initial phase.

The company disclosed that Tianyan Pharmaceutical is in the climbing stage and is still a certain distance from the set goal. The original intention of the acquisition of Youyoukang includes the rapid expansion of production capacity, and at the same time the formation of a complementary product line with Tianyan Pharmaceutical, which is more conducive to market promotion. In the future, the two acquisition targets will be integrated in terms of market channels, procurement costs, and R&D under the premise of full production.

In the performance report, the company mentioned that vision care products (**glasses and **glasses care products, etc.) accounted for more than 15% of the revenue. Based on this calculation, the revenue of this sector in 2023 will exceed 1400 million yuan.

As of the first half of 2023, Tianyan Pharmaceutical's revenue is 01.6 billion yuan, net profit -584160,000 yuan. In the same period, Youyoukang's income was 02.5 billion yuan, net profit -02.3 billion yuan. It can be judged that the scale effect of OEM expansion of contact lenses is beginning to appear, but the pressure on net profit also needs to be paid attention to.

At this point, Aibo Medical also said in the express report that the reason why the annual net profit growth rate in 2023 will be lower than the revenue growth rate is that the glasses business is in the early stage of rapid expansion, and the profitability in the early stage is weak due to the scale effect, production line commissioning and brand marketing.

In fact, the old rival Haohai Biotech also coveted the contact track track.

In 2021, the company won with 4164090,000 yuan to acquire 60% of the equity of Xinshikang, which has the process technology of four contact lenses, mainly OEM. In the following year, the transfer price of all the shares of Xinshikang held by him was 41.64 million yuan.

One in and one out, Haohai Shengke has done a "loss-making" business. According to the announcement, due to differences in management background and culture, the company believes that the integration effect of Xinshikang is difficult to achieve the expected goals, and there is a certain uncertainty in the development prospects, so it decided to transfer.

The old opponent has failed, and Aibo Medical's contact lenses are not limited to this. The company disclosed that in addition to OEM, it has also created its own brand Okla, which means that it stands in the same wrestling field as big names such as Bausch & Lomb and Johnson & Johnson.

Jingdong** shows that Okla annual disposable 1 piece (daily wear type, oxygen permeability 608dk t, water content 38%) is about 130 yuan, ** the same as similar products of Bausch & Lomb. Another contest between domestic production and importation may have just begun.

From the perspective of capital, the valuation of OPCOM and the company may gradually move closer to the consumer category from the medical category. In fact, Haohai Biotech's medical beauty peer Bloomage Biotech is an example, gradually switching from hyaluronic acid medical beauty to beauty consumption. (Produced by Thinking Finance).

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