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[introduction] shanghai reshape energy group once again submitted its listing application to the hong kong stock exchange

china fund news reporter niu siruo

in recent years, thanks to the energy transformation and the support of relevant national policies, the hydrogen energy industry has become popular and a highly sought-after focus in the capital market.

on september 2, hydrogen energy unicorn shanghai reshape energy group co., ltd. (hereinafter referred to as reshape energy) submitted its prospectus to the hong kong stock exchange for the second time, intending to list on the main board of hong kong.

this is the second time the company has attempted an ipo on the hong kong stock market after its first application failed in february this year. however, reshape energy's performance has been under pressure in recent years, with cumulative losses exceeding 2 billion yuan during the reporting period; at the same time, the company faces the risk of not being able to recover high trade receivables and bills receivable as scheduled.

still unable to turn losses into profits

according to the prospectus, reshape energy's revenue mainly comes from the sales of hydrogen fuel cell systems and components; providing hydrogen fuel cell engineering development services; selling hydrogen energy equipment and related components and others, mainly including providing after-sales services.

among them, reshape energy's largest source of income is the sales of hydrogen fuel cell systems and components, accounting for 94.9%, 95.8% and 71.8% of the total revenue in the five months ending may 31, 2022, 2023 and 2024, respectively.

according to frost & sullivan, in terms of sales output power of hydrogen fuel cell systems in 2023, reshape energy ranked first in china's hydrogen fuel cell system market with a market share of 23.8%; in terms of total sales of hydrogen fuel cell systems in 2023, reshape energy ranked third in china's hydrogen fuel cell system market.

however, reshape energy's leading position in the hydrogen fuel cell market has not brought any benefits to its performance. in the past 2021, 2022, 2023 and the first five months of 2024, reshape energy's operating income was rmb 524 million, rmb 605 million, rmb 895 million and rmb 13 million, respectively, and the corresponding net losses were rmb 654 million, rmb 546 million, rmb 578 million and rmb 409 million, respectively, with a cumulative loss of rmb 2.187 billion.

in terms of gross profit margin, reshape energy's gross profit margins from 2021 to 2023 are 11.8%, 8.2% and 20.1% respectively, which is significantly lower than its peer sinohytec. the gross profit margins of sinohytec in the past three years were 37.9%, 38.4% and 32.5% respectively.

regarding the increase in revenue but not profit, reshape energy explained that it was mainly due to the continuous expansion of the company's business scale, which led to increased expenses and raw material costs; the recognition of significant impairment losses on trade receivables; and significant inventory impairment losses caused by the rapid iteration of fuel cell systems towards high power and the decline in market prices.

as for the performance in 2024, reshape energy predicts that considering that the industry development is in its early stages and the company continues to increase r&d expenditures, production costs and other expenditures to gain market share and improve product competitiveness, the company is expected to record a net loss in 2024.

supporting revenue through sales on credit

although reshape energy's operating income has shown a steady growth trend, its accounts receivable and notes receivable have remained high.

according to the prospectus, from 2021 to 2023, the balances of reshape energy's accounts receivable and notes receivable were rmb 924 million, rmb 1.266 billion, and rmb 1.583 billion, respectively; in the five months ending may 31, 2024, reshape energy's accounts receivable and notes receivable continued to grow, reaching rmb 1.601 billion.

during the above period, reshape energy's operating funds were in a state of outflow for a long time. its net cash flow from operating activities was -768 million yuan, -728 million yuan, -718 million yuan, and -144 million yuan, respectively, and was in a negative state for a long time.

it can be seen that reshape energy quickly supported its revenue volume in a short period of time by selling on credit, but at the same time, it will also face the risk of not being able to recover the money as scheduled.

hydrogen fuel cells are still to be commercialized

it is undeniable that despite the intensive implementation of favorable national policies, the commercialization of hydrogen energy-related products such as hydrogen fuel cell systems and hydrogen energy equipment in china is still in its early stages. from an industry perspective, many companies in the hydrogen energy track are also facing profitability difficulties.

taking the hong kong-listed "first hydrogen energy stock" sinohytec as an example, from 2021 to 2023, the company lost 146 million yuan, 166 million yuan, and 243 million yuan respectively. guohong hydrogen energy, which was successfully listed on the hong kong stock exchange in december 2023, is also in a loss-making state. from 2021 to 2023, guohong hydrogen energy lost approximately 703 million yuan, 273 million yuan, and 404 million yuan respectively.

sinohytec previously stated that the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle industry market is currently in the early stages of commercialization and has not yet formed economies of scale, and the overall cost is relatively high. however, with the large-scale use of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in events such as the winter olympics, the global dual-carbon goals, and the opportunities released by domestic fuel cell vehicle demonstration city cluster policies, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will usher in unprecedented new momentum.

industry insiders said: "competition in the lithium battery industry has become extremely fierce. both the entire industry and individual companies are actively cultivating new growth points. my country's hydrogen fuel cell vehicle industry has gradually transitioned from the incubation period of industrial development to the critical stage of accelerating development."

the china business industry research institute analyzed that with the advancement of technology, the reduction of costs and the improvement of infrastructure construction, the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle market is expected to achieve rapid growth. in particular, the commercial vehicle market is easier to achieve large-scale application due to the fixed operating routes and relatively low demand for hydrogen refueling stations. the industry generally expects that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will usher in a large-scale stage in the next few years, and by around 2030, the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle industry is expected to achieve true commercialization.

editor: xiaomo

audit: wooden fish

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