This September is an eventful autumn for Gome.
On September 20th, according to the disclosure of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the major shareholders of Gome, Huang Guangyu and Du Fu, reduced their holdings of 88.925 million shares on September 15th, totaling about HK$ 16.8068 million.
This is Huang Guangyu’s second reduction in 24 hours. On September 14th, Huang Guangyu and other major shareholders reduced their holdings by about 2.737 billion shares and cashed in HK$ 531 million.
On September 13th, Zhongguancun (000931.SZ, 6.17 yuan/share, with a total market value of 4.647 billion yuan), a A-share company, announced that some shares of the company held by Gome were frozen by the court and waiting for freezing. It is reported that Gome holds 55.5 million outstanding shares of the company, with a shareholding ratio of 7.37%.
The national business daily reporter asked Gome for verification on the 15th of this reduction. As of press time, Gome did not respond.
From the perspective of business operation, Gome has announced a "strategic dormant" since mid-August, focusing on offline business, and its offline business is indeed operating normally. On September 16th, the Xibahe Pavilion of Gome, a new store under Gome Line, began trial operation.
At the meeting in August, VP He Jian, the operating system of Gome’s retail TO C business group, also revealed the timetable for the promotion of offline business: "In the second half of the year, we will add 150 urban exhibition hall stores with an area of over 10,000 square meters nationwide and renovate 208 stores nationwide, with an estimated operating area of over 1.45 million square meters."
On the one hand, business promotion, on the other hand, major shareholders reduce their holdings. Gome’s operational contrast with the capital market at the business level is inevitably confusing.
In the interview, people in the industry generally believe that Huang Guangyu will not give up Gome. Chen Yuefeng, founder of Lingwu Media, and Liang Zhenpeng, a senior industrial economic observer, believe that the reduction is mostly for cash flow needs; Zhuang Shuai, an expert in the retail e-commerce industry and the founder of Bailian Consulting, told national business daily that Huang Guangyu might retreat behind the scenes by reducing his holdings.
At the business level, Gome took the initiative to shrink the focus line, which is difficult in the industry, but it is worth a try. "JD.COM is also trying to reshape the offline sales scene of home appliances. I think this is a direction." Li Chengdong, founder of Dolphin Club, said.
Major shareholders reduce their holdings.
"It is definitely not a good signal for major shareholders to reduce their holdings. As for whether it is because you are not optimistic about the company, this is not certain. There are generally two reasons for reducing holdings. Some major shareholders have a tight capital chain and need to cash out to make up the gap. If there is no way, they will reduce their holdings. Some may really think that they have peaked and it is time to run. " Kuang Yuqing, founder of lens research, told every reporter.
In the face of market concerns, Gome is also constantly releasing the signal of normal operation.
On the 13th of this month, in response to the freezing of Gome’s shares, Fang Wei, senior vice president of Gome Retail, said that the company’s production and operation were all normal. In response to the freezing of Gome’s shares, the group has docked with relevant banks and will soon solve it. The company is also actively communicating with investors.
However, Gome has not responded to the reduction of major shareholders. Industry experts generally believe that Huang Guangyu will not give up Gome. "For any entrepreneur, the enterprise is like a child raised by hand, and it will not give up until it is absolutely necessary."
In fact, since the end of last year, Huang Guangyu and his wife Du Fu have reduced their holdings many times:
On December 22, 2021, Huang Guangyu reduced his holdings of Gome retail by 10 million shares at an average price of HK$ 0.67 per share;
On January 24, 2022, Huang Guangyu and his wife Du Fu reduced their holdings of Gome by 30 million shares respectively;
On April 1, 2022, Huang Guangyu reduced his holdings of 400 million shares of Gome Retail at an average price of HK$ 0.55 per share, cashing in HK$ 220 million, and his shareholding decreased from 59.87% to 58.68%.
Liang Zhenpeng believes that the main reason for the continuous reduction is that Gome Group is experiencing serious losses and the capital chain is relatively tight. "Huang Guangyu, as the controlling shareholder, can be used to supplement the company’s cash flow by reducing the shares."
He believes that Gome still has debts that are constantly due to be repaid, and the purpose of reducing its shares is to support the development of Gome and let the company survive the severe winter.
Regarding cash flow, Gome’s financial report for the first half of the year has already begun to show signs. In the financial report, Gome emphasized the "throttling" effect of operating data such as cash flow and gross profit margin, hoping to stabilize the military.
For example, the comprehensive gross profit in the first half of the year was 2.4 billion yuan, and the comprehensive gross profit margin was 19.8%, a significant increase of 5.56 percentage points year-on-year; Operating expenses were about 4.84 billion yuan, a decrease of 3.1% compared with the same period last year. The financial cost was about 876 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 13.61%.
Liang Zhenpeng believes that the reduction of financial costs in the financial report is good news, but the overall operation is still not ideal, "the estimated pressure is enormous." Kuang Yuqing believes that Gome’s "throttling" cannot solve the problems that Gome is currently facing.
Chen Yuefeng believes that the dilemma faced by Gome is also a microcosm of the industry’s dilemma: "Consumer spending and willingness to consume are further reduced, and the demand for home appliances is weakened under the influence of many factors. In the entire retail format, the pressure on home appliances may be even greater. The dilemma of the industry may exist for a long time, especially in the retail format of home appliances. How to break through is not only a problem for Gome, but also a barrier before the industry. "
"Danger" and "Machine" coexist in the offline road.
In an open letter given by Huang Guangyu in August, he admitted that "time shifts easily, we did not anticipate the difficulties in implementation, and the epidemic was disturbed for a long time, which led to a certain gap between reality and this goal". Gome has also begun to shrink its front line and strategically focus on the retail field of home appliances that it is better at.
On September 16th, Gome’s new store was put into trial operation in Xibahe Store. The new store is positioned as "exhibition experience+home extension+home entertainment+home service", hoping to be a connector between customers, manufacturers and brands, which can provide consumers with diversified services.
This is the first new store in Beijing. Before landing in Beijing and Xibahe Store, Gome Experience Store has successively landed in Fuzhou, Chongqing, Wuhan and Xiamen.
As early as April 2021, Gome Retail mentioned the offline planning of exhibition halls in large cities for the first time, and announced on the same day that it planned to lease three properties of Gome Shangdu, Xiangjiang No.9 and Pengrun Building held by the controlling shareholder for a long time. This action was drained by the super-complex created by Wen Heyou and Sanlitun in the industry, and through the upgrading of offline properties, a new ecosystem of local retail services was further built.
This may be the preliminary idea of Gome’s new stores. At this meeting, He Jian also revealed the timetable of Gome’s offline city exhibition hall stores: "In the second half of the year, we will add 150 city exhibition hall stores with an area of over 10,000 square meters nationwide and renovate 208 stores nationwide, with an estimated operating area of over 1.45 million square meters."
This service has also been targeted by JD.COM. On September 15th, the first JD.COM MALL in Northeast China was officially opened in Shenyang. Prior to this, JD.COM MALL in Xi ‘an, Hefei Superbody and Chongqing Superbody have been opened one after another. On September 30th, JD.COM MALL in Shijiazhuang will also usher in a trial operation.
Like Gome, JD.COM MALL is characterized by its large area and different consumption scenarios to meet the different needs of consumers for shopping, buying and playing.
Li Chengdong believes that this new type of store is worth a try. However, the industry is also worried about the big store model. Kuang Yuqing believes that the cost of the big store model is too heavy. Liang Zhenpeng told reporters that this type of new home appliance store is feasible on the premise of selling high-profit products such as high-end home appliances, because it needs to smooth out expensive store rents.
Every road is in danger and opportunity coexist, and Gome has reached a critical moment. As of press time, Gome’s share price is HK$ 0.165 per share, with a total market value of HK$ 5.894 billion.
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