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21st Century Business Herald reporter He Hongyuan and intern Han Chang report

Nestlé's revenue in China has declined.

On July 25, Nestlé released its 2024 semi-annual report. The financial report showed that in the first half of the year, the company's total sales fell 2.7% to 45 billion Swiss francs (about 365.141 billion yuan), with an organic growth rate of 2.1%, a pricing contribution rate of 2.0%, and an actual internal growth rate (an indicator of product sales) of 0.1%. The actual internal growth rate in the second quarter was 2.2%.

Nestlé Greater China is also in a sales decline. In the first half of the year, Nestlé Greater China's sales were 2.44 billion Swiss francs, equivalent to 19.799 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 4.2%, of which the exchange rate had a negative impact of 6.1%. The above sales do not include Nestlé Health Science and Nespresso, which are directly managed by Nestlé Global Business Unit.

Of course, leaving aside the exchange rate factor, Nestlé's sales in China continued to grow. In the first half of the year, the organic growth rate of Greater China was 1.6%, the actual internal growth rate was 2.9%, and the actual internal growth rate in the second quarter reached 3.8%. The pricing contribution rate was negative 1.3%, mainly affected by the fierce competition in the food and beverage industry.

From a category perspective, Nestlé pointed out that in Greater China, the instant coffee, pet food, confectionery and infant nutrition businesses achieved market share growth, while the market share of the seasoning business decreased.

Nestlé’s official website shows that its seasoning brands include three major brands: Haoji, Maggi and Maggi.

Right now, the seasoning market is experiencing a fierce price war.

The financial report shows that in 2023, Haitian Flavor Industry's revenue was 24.559 billion yuan, a year-on-year decline of 4.10%; net profit attributable to the parent company was 5.627 billion yuan, a year-on-year decline of 9.21%. Among them, the year-on-year decline in the price of major products was an important factor in the decline in performance.

But Haitian Flavor Industry is stabilizing. The first quarter report of 2024 showed that the company's revenue was 7.694 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.21%; net profit attributable to the parent company was 1.919 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.85%.

Back to Nestlé, growth has indeed become more difficult due to market changes.

On July 25, the Shanghai Composite Consumer 80 Index closed at 4139.91 points, down 0.21%.

Macro

Beijing has attracted 3,700 first stores in the past three years

On July 25, according to Xinhua News Agency, in the past three years, Beijing has attracted more than 3,700 first stores, and the new commercial area in the city has exceeded 4 million square meters.

Olympic Economy Boosts Chinese Product Exports

On July 25, CCTV News reported that as the Paris Olympics approached, the French market has a stronger demand for Chinese-made products, many of which come from Guangdong. According to statistics, since June this year, the volume of cargo shipped from China Southern Airlines Logistics Guangzhou International Cargo Terminal to Paris, France, has increased by more than 65% compared with the same period last year.

South Korean government proposes across-the-board tax cuts

On July 25, according to media reports, South Korea announced a series of proposed tax incentives, including reducing the heavy inheritance tax and extending support for chip manufacturers; under the pressure of an aging population and slowing consumption, the government seeks to boost the stock market and stimulate economic growth. The South Korean Ministry of Finance said on Thursday that President Yoon Seok-yeol's government plans to reduce the top inheritance tax rate from 50% to 40% and cancel the requirement for controlling shareholders to pay a higher tax rate. If the National Assembly approves the change, it will mark the first reduction in inheritance tax rates since 1995 and will affect the wealth of families behind major companies from Samsung Electronics to Hyundai Motor.

agriculture

Average pork prices rise in agricultural product wholesale markets nationwide

On July 25, according to the monitoring of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, as of 14:00 on the same day, the average price of pork in the national agricultural product wholesale market was 25.20 yuan/kg, up 0.5% from yesterday.

Jinzhengda: The company's compound fertilizer is being produced and operated as planned

On July 24, Kingenta released an announcement that the overall sales of fertilizers have declined, but compound fertilizers are still growing, especially in crop fertilizers, soil health, and fertilizers for biological control, with rapid structural growth. The company's single-element fertilizer monoammonium phosphate and compound fertilizers are currently being produced and operated according to plan, and sales are good. The third quarter autumn fertilizer use is about to begin, and the company has carried out the preliminary autumn raw material stocking and autumn market policy formulation according to the plan. The company is currently actively exploring the market.

food and drink

Ximai Food: "Oatmeal Food Innovation Ecological Factory Project" officially put into production

On July 25, Ximai Food announced that one of the company's fundraising and investment projects, the "Oatmeal Food Innovation Ecological Factory Project", has completed the main construction and equipment installation, debugging, trial operation and other work, and was officially put into production recently.

Lindt & Sprüngli: All divisions achieve positive growth in the first half of 2024

On July 24, chocolate producer Lindt & Sprüngli released its 2024 first-half report. During the period, the company's sales increased by 7% to 2.16 billion Swiss francs. Operating profit increased to 292 million Swiss francs, and the EBIT margin increased to 13.5%. In the first half of the year, all regional divisions showed positive growth, among which the "rest of the world" division had organic sales growth of 10.0% to 293.2 million Swiss francs, and the Japanese and Brazilian markets achieved double-digit growth. Lindt & Sprüngli also reiterated its full-year targets, with sales expected to grow organically in the range of 6-8%, and the EBIT margin to be at the upper limit of 20-40 basis points.

Oatly: Net loss of $304 billion in the second quarter of 2024

On July 24, oat milk giant Oatly released its second quarter results for 2024, with revenue of $202.2 million, up 3.2% from the same period last year, and revenue increased 3.9% from the same period last year at a constant exchange rate. Sales in all operating departments achieved steady growth. The gross profit margin in the second quarter was 29.2%, an increase of 10.0 percentage points from the same period last year. The net loss attributable to the parent company's shareholders in the second quarter was $30.4 million, an improvement of $56.3 million from the net loss attributable to the parent company's shareholders of $86.7 million in the same period last year. The adjusted EBITDA loss in the second quarter was $11 million, an improvement of $41.5 million from the same period last year.

Supermarket

Japan's Lawson Group officially delisted on July 24

On July 24, local time, according to CCTV News, Lawson Group, a large convenience store chain in Japan, announced its delisting. It is reported that on February 6, 2024, KDDI, a large Japanese telecommunications operator, announced that it would conduct a TOB (open tender offer) for Lawson. In April, Lawson announced that KDDI had completed its tender offer for its shares. In the future, KDDI and Mitsubishi Corporation will each hold 50% of Lawson's shares.

sports

Anta, Li Ning and Topsports were selected into Fortune China 500

On July 25, the 2024 Fortune China 500 list was officially released. In the field of sports shoes and apparel, Anta, Li Ning and Topsports were selected.

E-commerce retail

Douyin e-commerce: Adjusting the priority of business objectives and no longer putting "price power" first

On July 23, according to Caijing, Douyin e-commerce recently adjusted the priority of its business objectives and no longer put "price power" first. In the second half of the year, it will focus on pursuing GMV (transaction volume) growth. At the beginning of this year, achieving low prices was still the most important task for Douyin e-commerce, followed by order rate and number of monthly paying users, and GMV ranked last. It is reported that Douyin knows that low prices will have a certain impact on GMV, but the rapid decline in GMV growth in the first half of the year still exceeded expectations. At present, Douyin Group executives also participate in e-commerce business management meetings more frequently than in the past and ask about business conditions. After judging that the live broadcast e-commerce format cannot achieve the lowest price, the company decided to put GMV back to the top priority.

Xiaohongshu launches the "Treasure Manager Plan"

On July 24, at the Link e-commerce partner conference, Xiaohongshu revealed that in the past year, the number of merchants with monthly sales of 5 million or more on Xiaohongshu e-commerce has increased by 3.5 times, the number of Xiaohongshu purchasing users has increased by 4.3 times, and the proportion of searches with purchasing intentions has reached 25%. At the meeting, Gintoki, the head of Xiaohongshu's e-commerce operations, announced the launch of the "Treasure Manager Plan", which will provide hundreds of billions of traffic to support the growth of managers, and upgrade the three major platforms of Dandelion, Qianfan and Chengfeng to help more managers achieve efficient growth.

Travel

Fliggy and Tongcheng released data: Flight bookings to France increased by more than 70% year-on-year

On July 24, data from Fliggy showed that since July, the number of air ticket bookings to France has increased by more than 70% year-on-year, the number of hotel bookings in France has increased by more than 1.5 times year-on-year, and the transaction volume of visa processing services to France has increased by more than 1.4 times year-on-year. Marseille and Bordeaux, both "Olympic cities", are also favored by Chinese tourists. Since July, the number of air ticket bookings to Marseille and Bordeaux on Fliggy has doubled. Data from Tongcheng Travel Platform showed that in the first week of the opening of the Olympics, the popularity of flight ticket bookings from major domestic cities to Paris increased by more than 150% year-on-year, and the popularity of hotel bookings in the core urban areas of Paris increased by more than 4 times year-on-year. In the first week of the opening of the Olympics, the average price of flights from major domestic cities to Paris increased by more than 40% month-on-month.

Tuniu's "2024 First Half Tourism Consumption Report": The rise of county tourism market

On July 24, Tuniu Travel Network released the "Tuniu Tourism Consumption Report for the First Half of 2024". The data in the report shows that the popularity of third-, fourth- and fifth-tier cities and county-level tourist destinations is high, and "downward tourism" is favored by more and more tourists. In the first half of this year, the number of tourists to third- and fourth-tier cities and county-level destinations such as Dali, Nyingchi, Lingshui Li Autonomous County, Mudanjiang, Qingyuan, Huangshan, Diqing, Shangrao, Jiujiang, and Leshan increased significantly. Among them, the number of tourists to Dali increased by more than 3 times year-on-year, and the number of tourists to destinations such as Nyingchi, Lingshui Li Autonomous County, Mudanjiang, Qingyuan, and Huangshan also increased by more than 2 times year-on-year.

Domestic regional passenger aircraft now cover all 25 airports in Xinjiang

On July 24, according to CCTV News, the domestically-made commercial aircraft ARJ21 began to operate the Kashgar-Urumqi route, which is another new route operated by the ARJ21 aircraft in Xinjiang. The route is operated by Chengdu Airlines, which means that the ARJ21 flight destinations have achieved full coverage of Xinjiang's 25 operating airports. The Kashgar-Urumqi round-trip route opened this time, with flight number EU3015/16, will operate 4 flights every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. The outbound flight is scheduled to take off from Kashgar at 9:15 and arrive in Urumqi at 10:55; the return flight is scheduled to take off from Urumqi at 11:55 and arrive in Kashgar at 13:45.

Film and Television Entertainment

Inside Out 2 becomes the global box office champion of animated films in film history

On July 25, according to data from Maoyan Professional Edition, "Inside Out 2" grossed over 1.463 billion U.S. dollars worldwide, surpassing "Frozen 2" and becoming the global box office champion for animated films in film history.