Today, Vitasoy, which is listed in Hong Kong, released its latest annual report.
According to the financial report, in the year ended March 31, 2022, the company’s annual comprehensive income fell by 14% to HK $6.501 billion. The annual profit turned into loss. During the period, the loss attributable to equity holders of the company was HK $159million, down from the profit of HK $548million last year.
Vita dairy performance meeting site
The company mentioned that the repeated outbreak of the epidemic has impacted the supply chain and the consumer. In addition, the sales in mainland China, its largest market, was weak in the first half of the year, but the sales situation in the second half of the year has improved and “regained the growth momentum”.
“Mainland China is still our most important market, accounting for 59% of our revenue.”
Mainland business
先来关注下中国内地业务。
In the fiscal year 2021/2022, the revenue of Vitasoy in mainland China was HK $3.913 billion, down 23% from HK $5.067 billion in the same period last year. In addition, the company suffered an operating loss of HK $340million in the mainland for the whole year, down 35% from the profit of HK $524million last year.
In this regard, Vitasoy was attributed to the weak sales in the first half of the fiscal year and the impact of the epidemic. In August last year, the company had predicted that the first half of the fiscal year would turn from profit to loss, mainly due to the sharp decline in market demand in the second quarter.
“In mainland China, in addition to the poor performance in the first half of the year, our business has also been seriously affected by the spread of Omicron, a new variant of coronavirus disease in 2019, to East and South China, where our business share is the largest.” The company said that although Guangdong Province and Shanghai were affected by the epidemic, compared with the same period last year, the second half of fiscal year 2021/2022 still recorded better performance than the first half.
Luo Youli pointed out at the above meeting that the mainland market showed a “strong recovery” in the second half of the year, and the performance of various brands and sales channels was stable. In the second half of the fiscal year, the mainland business has declined
He disclosed that since November last year, the company has resumed sales in various channels. Although limited by the epidemic, the core business and innovative products have recovered their sales momentum. In the same month, Vitasoy also re attracted consumers through a series of advertisements and promotions, ranking first in JD plant drinks in the “double 11” event. From last year
Luo Youli, executive chairman of Vitasoy group
谈及市场举措，维他奶财报称，其维持核心产品组合方的执行力，同时通过创新为来年增长奠定基础。报告期内，该公司在植物奶、即饮茶均推出了新品。
In the field of vegetable milk, Vitasoy entered the oat milk market last year by launching vitaoat oat oat milk series. “The new product series are rapidly gaining popularity among consumers and will bring considerable revenue growth in the coming year.”. In terms of tea, the company launched Vita bubble lemon tea and vita honey peach tea, and continued to gradually try Vita sugar free tea in selected markets.
Hong Kong business
再来看看中国港澳业务。
According to the financial report, the annual revenue of Vitasoy’s Hong Kong business (Note: covering Hong Kong, Macao and exports) was HK $1.957 billion, up 3% from HK $1.896 billion last year; Operating profit recorded HK $199million, down 44% from HK $355million last year.
When explaining the sharp drop in profits, the company said that it was because the government subsidies for the epidemic were significantly reduced compared with last year. Excluding government subsidies, its full year operating profit fell by 13%, mainly due to the surge in raw material costs and rising oil prices in the second half of the year.
“Our business outside the mainland of China has performed well as a whole.” The financial report pointed out that in Hong Kong, the Vitasoy business gradually returned to normal after the outbreak of the epidemic. This mainly depends on the popularity of new products, including vitaoat oat milk and vita fresh tea, which offset the impact of the closure of ports and the suspension of local schools.
However, Vitasoy also pointed out that the fifth wave of epidemic in Hong Kong from February to March 2022 made it difficult for the safety and continuous operation of plants, warehouses and logistics, disrupted the normal operation and led to the growth not meeting expectations.
重拾增长
Looking forward to the new fiscal year, lubotao pointed out that the goal of Vitasoy is to regain profit growth, and three major tasks should be done for this purpose.
First, improve the executive power, for example, increase the same store sales and per capita consumption in potential mainland provinces. Second, business expansion, that is, to increase penetration in more channels and provinces, “our business has been in a strong position in South China, and has also laid a solid foundation in central and East China. We believe that there are still greater opportunities in the markets of North China and West China”. Third, focus on innovation and continue to promote oat milk and bubble tea that were listed last year.
He also said that due to the acceleration of the plant-based trend, Vitasoy was very confident in the long-term prospects of the market and prepared a lot of marketing activities in the first half of the fiscal year. “This period is also our peak season. Although some markets are still affected by epidemic prevention and control, we will rely on flexibility and resilience to solve these situations.”.
Lubotao, CEO of Vitasoy group
Vita milk financial news said that as the situation improved, it was still “full of confidence” in the future prospects of the business..
For the mainland market, the company said that it would continue to carry out brand activities, product innovation, regional expansion and other initiatives. “We will hold marketing activities for Vitasoy milk and Vitasoy brand to enhance brand value”.
Specifically, in terms of products, in addition to supporting the core product portfolio, Vitasoy will continue to promote last year’s product innovation, such as vitaoat oat milk, Vitasoy bubble tea and peach tea, and add new product series to strategically enter emerging potential markets. “We will continue to selectively and gradually expand our product supply to more potential regions in mainland China”.
In terms of market execution, the company said that the whole product portfolio will be launched with a new “success image”, further improving the in store execution, so as to increase the revenue of each store.
Since June, the recovery has been accelerated through strong marketing activities, including strengthening store execution, expanding core products, and developing innovations that cater to market trends, so as to strengthen the additional growth of “Vitasoy” and “Vitasoy”.
In addition, Vitasoy is also promoting public welfare activities. It is understood that as of June this year, Vitasoy Viagra has provided 23145 boxes of Vitasoy milk to 4 provinces, 28 rural schools and 4139 students.
In general, Vitasoy believes that although tourism restrictions are being lifted or relaxed in many international regions, it is also expected that a new round of epidemics may continue to break out in various markets, which may have a serious impact on the first half of the next fiscal year.
“This will continue to hinder operations, logistics and supply chains, and the situation will be exacerbated by rising energy and commodity prices and rising inflation.” The company said that it would strengthen its adaptability and agility by strengthening its organizational ability and alertness, so as to flexibly adjust its plans and adapt to the changing circumstances in the periphery.
Nevertheless, we will continue to enrich our product portfolio through strategic innovation. On the basis of the successful launch of new products in fiscal year 2021/2022, we will also launch new products in all markets.
Cost trend
The snack generation noticed at today’s meeting that the rising cost and countermeasures have also become the focus of attention.
Wuyinhong, chief financial officer of Vitasoy group, said that it is expected that the rising trend of costs in the new fiscal year will continue. In order to maintain profit growth, the company will work hard on cost and procurement, such as signing contracts with strategic suppliers to lock prices and contact different suppliers.
Therefore, Vitasoy has raised prices in some markets in the past six months. In the future, we will also examine different market conditions and make price adjustments according to the products.
维他奶集团首席财务总监吴茵虹
According to its financial report, the company did not pay interim dividends during the year. Today, some Hong Kong media said,
Luo Youli said that although the business recovered strongly in the second half of the year, due to uncertain factors such as the epidemic situation, “we need to be very careful to observe”.
He also pointed out that from the dividend policy of the past years, it can be seen that Vitasoy is willing to share profits with shareholders, but it should also balance the long-term development interests and dividend ratio. “The board of directors is very concerned about the future development. When we have a profit expectation, we will distribute it appropriately. But I believe that all shareholders will agree to restore the Chinese business to a healthy state first.”.
今天，港股低开低走，维他奶收跌6.84%，报13.90港元。
▼
Follow “snack generation” (wechat: foodinc) “and reply to” Vitasoy “to see the wonderful news.
