On February 9, 65438, CITIC Securities completed the listing counseling of Inspur Cloud in science and technology innovation board. On that day, various departments of Inspur strengthened one after another, Inspur software had a daily limit, and Inspur information once rose by more than 4%. However, after a brief "rebound", the two stocks fell sharply for two consecutive days. Compared with the intraday high on the 9th, Inspur Information has dropped by 7.6% and Inspur Software by 6.47%.
In the first half of this year, Inspur Group also had a good time. At that time, as an old IT giant in China, it was called "a must-buy target for new infrastructure" and was popular in the market. The share prices of two listed platforms, Inspur Information and Inspur Software, have doubled this year. However, the quality of the company's assets does not seem to be recognized by the market, and the stock price continues to slump after short-term speculation.
From the three quarterly reports recently disclosed by Inspur Information, it can be seen that its main business relies on subsidies, its profitability is weak, its R&D investment is low or its technology is backward, its inventory is high, and the risk of price decline is high, so its future prospects are worrying. Inspur information is an important financing platform for the parent company Inspur Group. If Inspur Cloud can successfully land in science and technology innovation board this time, it will add an important financing platform for Inspur Group to ease the financial pressure under the difficult transformation in recent years. However, it may be more important to expand the business coverage and improve the R&D investment level and profitability than to publicize the new infrastructure concept, so as to truly get rid of the vicious circle of constantly seeking external "blood transfusion".
The "youngest son" with high hopes-Inspur Cloud
On February 9, 65438, according to official website of CITIC Securities, as of June 6, 2020, 165438+65438, CITIC Securities had completed the counseling for the listing of Inspur Cloud in science and technology innovation board, and submitted the Summary Report of CITIC Securities Co., Ltd. on the initial public offering and listing counseling of Inspur Cloud Information Technology Co., Ltd. to Shandong Securities Regulatory Bureau.
Official website said Inspur Cloud was founded as an industrial Internet platform developer. Based on the hybrid cloud management model, it provides security protection mechanisms and service capabilities for government agencies and enterprises, and provides comprehensive services covering IaaS, PaaS, DaaS, government applications and enterprise applications.
In 20 15, the brand "inspur cloud" was officially independent. At that time, the parent group promised to invest 10 billion yuan in three years, and the target amount for 20 17 years was raised to 21800 million yuan, 21900 million yuan and 242 billion yuan.
Inspur Cloud inherited the information service experience and government relations resources of the parent group, and its business expansion was particularly successful. For many years, the government market share was the first and the public cloud market was the top three.
Official website shows that the company has seven core cloud data centers and 62 local cloud data centers all over the country, providing cloud computing services for 150+ local governments and 100+ enterprises in 25 provinces across the country, carrying 10000+ government departments and more than 40,000 applications, providing convenient services for 2.45 million civil servants nationwide, benefiting 470 million. From the business data alone, the depth and breadth are beyond the reach of peers.
Before listing, Inspur Cloud completed no less than three times of financing in the primary market. According to publicly disclosed information, Round B took place from 2065438 to July 2009, with a financing amount of 600 million yuan; The C round took place in March 2020, and the C+ round financing allegedly took place in August, with a financing amount of 654.38+0.5 billion yuan. At present, the valuation has exceeded 65.438+0 billion yuan.
From the list of employers, the last round mainly introduced investment funds with government background, including the State Council, Ministry of Finance, Shanghai State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, China Construction Bank, Minsheng Bank and other investment institutions. In the second round, internal executives mainly hold shares, and there are not many external strategic investors, especially well-known institutional investors.
It is worth mentioning that, as a new infrastructure rookie who is about to apply for science and technology innovation board, Inspur Cloud never forgets to "focus" on policies and always emphasizes its identity as a new infrastructure.
On April 20th, when defining the scope of new infrastructure, the National Development and Reform Commission pointed out that computing infrastructure will be represented by data centers and intelligent computing centers. On April 9, at the 2020 Inspur Cloud Data Center Partner Conference, Inspur Cloud proposed to promote the integrated development of artificial intelligence, cloud computing and big data, and fully develop the "intelligent computing center" for the wisdom era, even slightly ahead of the policy release. The topic of betting is stable and accurate.
The wave of state-owned assets background did participate in the "problem" of new infrastructure. On June165438+1October 17, the National Information Center jointly issued the Guide to the Planning and Construction of Intelligent Computing Centers, which once again clarified the definition of intelligent computing centers: intelligent computing centers effectively support data opening, intelligent ecological construction and industrial innovation gathering through the production, aggregation, scheduling and release of computing power, and effectively promote AI industrialization and industrial innovation gathering. This description is also highly consistent with the official introduction of Inspur Cloud.
The declining "eldest son"-Inspur information
As the big brother of "Inspur Department", Inspur information has always been beautiful. In the first half of this year, because the x86 server provided by Inspur Information is a "necessary raw material" in the field of new infrastructure, Inspur Department was once regarded as a "must-buy target for new infrastructure" and its share price doubled.
But without solid performance support, the stock price rise can only be a "flash in the pan". Judging from the latest financial report, Inspur information cannot hide the decline in performance and contains many risks.
In the third quarterly report, the company said that in the first nine months of this year, the company achieved revenue of 45.5 billion yuan, up by 65,438+09% year-on-year, benefiting from the urgent demand for cloud centers in teleconference, distance education and other industries during the epidemic. However, compared with the growth of revenue scale, the profit is pitiful. In the first three quarters, the company's net profit was only 628 million yuan, and the net interest rate was the same as that of the same period last year, only 65,438+0.3%.
Because the company's main business is servers, it is essentially an assembly company. In recent years, the market competition is fierce, and the gross profit margin of the server market is decreasing year by year, so the company's revenue scale is increasing year by year, but the money is getting less and less. The financial report shows that the gross profit margin of Inspur Information has dropped from about 20% ten years ago to about 1 1% now.
The profitability is weak, so naturally there is no motivation to invest in research and development. The financial report shows that the company's current R&D investment only accounts for 4% of revenue, far lower than other head technology companies. For the technology industry with rapid technology iteration, the lack of R&D income will definitely limit the future development momentum, and Inspur information seems to be entering a vicious circle and slowly falling behind.
On the other hand, the company's inventory balance is high, or there is a high risk of price decline. Perhaps because of the management's optimistic judgment on the market in the second half of the year, the company hoarded more goods in the first half of the year. The mid-year report shows that the company's inventory balance is as high as 654.38+05 billion yuan, the highest in history. However, shipments seem to be less than expected, and revenue in the third quarter even fell by 8.8%. At this time, the company's inventory balance is still as high as 65.438+03.685 billion yuan.
Because electronic products are updated faster and the risk of falling prices is greater, these goods that are not sold in time become a burden. In the semi-annual report, the accumulated balance of the company's inventory depreciation reserve reached 965.438+03 billion yuan, of which 602 million yuan was added in the first half of the year, nearly five times that of the same period last year, even exceeding the net profit of the same period.
Previously, due to two placements in three years, Inspur Information frequently raised funds to "replenish blood", which was also controversial.
From 2065438 to July 2007, the company distributed 290 million shares to all shareholders, amounting to 2.998 billion yuan, of which167500 yuan was used to supplement working capital and 9710000 yuan was used to repay bank loans. In other words, nearly 3 billion yuan was raised from all shareholders, and nearly 90% was used to "pay off debts and replenish blood".
On 20 19, 17, the company released the rights issue plan again. No more than 322 million shares will be allocated to all shareholders, and no more than 2 billion yuan will be raised. For the second time, the company was even more "justified". It was announced that after deducting the issuance expenses, all the raised funds would be used to repay bank loans and replenish working capital.
Inspur is unwilling to "break the grain"
Inspur is one of the earliest IT brands in China. It owns three listed companies: Inspur Information, Inspur Software and Inspur International. Its business covers cloud data center, cloud service big data, smart city and smart enterprise, and provides IT products and services to more than 120 countries and regions around the world.
From 20 10, Inspur Group began to plan a strategic transformation, from a traditional IT product and solution provider to a cloud computing service provider and an intelligent computing center service provider, with the goal of becoming a leading new Internet enterprise of "cloud+digital+artificial intelligence". However, the former IT giant's efforts to "switch from hardware to software" seem particularly difficult.
From its list of honorary awards, we can also see the development of the company in recent years. In 2008, Inspur Group ranked third among the top 500 Chinese enterprises and 10 among the top 500 enterprises in China. By 20 19, its ranking in "Top 500 Chinese Enterprises" had dropped to 189.
According to public information, Inspur Group is 38.88% owned by Shandong State-owned Assets Investment Holding Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Shandong SDIC), and the actual controller is Shandong State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. According to Shandong SDIC's release notes, Inspur Group achieved operating income of 32.554 billion yuan and net profit of 569 million yuan in 20 17, and operating income of 21937 million yuan in the first half of 20 18.
In terms of business, Inspur Group's main business can be divided into three parts: hardware products based on servers, software products based on management software, and innovative business based on cloud services. The traditional software and hardware business is mainly carried out through the listed companies Inspur Information, Inspur Software and Inspur International, while the imaginative and innovative business cloud services are all placed in Inspur Cloud, which is about to impact the science and technology innovation board.
In order to successfully send his son to the science and technology innovation board, Inspur Group also carried out a series of equity structure adjustments. On March 6 last year, Inspur Software announced that after verification, the company did not hold the equity of Inspur Cloud, and it was different from its business and sub-industries.
In March of this year, Inspur Software, a listed company, issued an announcement on the change of rights and interests, announcing that it was "divided into two". Inspur Software Group, the former controlling shareholder of listed companies, will be divided into Inspur Software Group and Inspur Software Technology (newly established) by means of existence and separation. After the change, the controlling shareholder will be changed from Inspur Software Group to Inspur Software Technology, and the actual controller will remain unchanged. The major shareholder of Inspur Software Group, the original controlling shareholder of listed companies, is Inspur Cloud.
On the wave cloud side, after several rounds of financing, the concentration of equity has also been greatly weakened, and it seems that we should try our best to avoid suspicion. The data shows that the first round of financing was completed in 18, and the shareholding ratio of Inspur Software decreased from 100% to 42.45%. 65438+Several rounds of pre-IPO capital increase since July 2009 further diluted the shares of Inspur Software. At present, its shareholding ratio has dropped to 38. 1776%, and it is still the largest shareholder. Ningbo Honghui, Ningbo Chen Kang and Tianjin Tongchuang hold 12.72%, 1 1.76% and 6.83% respectively, and the remaining institutions and individuals hold no more than 5%.
Previously, Inspur Information, as the main source of the group's "blood transfusion", frequently raised funds in the secondary market by means of fixed increase, allotment and bonds. Including the 5 billion yuan raised by the above two rights issues in the past three years, since Inspur Information went public, the total amount of financing has reached 65.438+065.438+59 million yuan.
Inspur Group, on the other hand, collected wool through dividends and reduction. Since 20 14, the dividend of Inspur Information has reached as high as1260,000 yuan, and the annual dividend has not been less than100,000 yuan since then. 18 and 19 paid dividends even exceeding 300 million yuan. However, a large proportion of dividends mainly went into the pocket of the controlling shareholder, with a shareholding ratio of 465,438+0%. In recent years, Inspur Group has reduced its holdings by more than 5%. At present, the group's shareholding in Inspur Information has dropped to 36%.
If younger brother Inspur Cloud can successfully land in science and technology innovation board this time, it will be able to receive information from older brother Inspur Cloud, thus alleviating the financial pressure of Inspur Group under the difficult transformation in recent years. However, it may be more important to expand the business coverage and improve the R&D investment level and profitability than to publicize the new infrastructure concept, so as to truly get rid of the vicious circle of constantly seeking external "blood transfusion".