"Be More Courageous and Take Things One Step at a Time" Fosun's Management Explains 2023 Interim Results in Detail

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HONG KONG, Sept. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- "It is very clear that we have won out over the cycle and Fosun's liquidity pressure has been well managed. We will focus on the development of businesses where we boast clear competitive advantages. Development is the key solution to all issues."

On 31 August, Fosun International held the 2023 interim results presentation, during which Guo Guangchang, Chairman of Fosun International, made the above remarks. On that day, Guo Guangchang, Wang Qunbin, Co-Chairman of Fosun International, Chen Qiyu and Xu Xiaoliang, Co-CEOs of Fosun International, and Gong Ping, CFO of Fosun International had an in-depth exchange on corporate strategy, operational indicators, innovation progress, global operations, ESG and other issues that investors are concerned about.

In the first half of 2023, Fosun achieved total revenue of RMB97.06 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 10.9%; the key indicator reflecting the Company's operational capabilities - industrial operation profit reached RMB3.37 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 5.5%, if excluding the profit of disposed (including transactions yet to be completed) enterprises, representing a significant year-on-year increase of 66%.; profit attributable to owners of the parent for the Reporting Period was RMB 1.36 billion.

Meanwhile, Fosun maintained a healthy financial position and sufficient liquidity. As of the end of the Reporting Period, cash and bank balances and term deposits were abundant, reaching RMB114.68 billion; through stepping up its efforts in the divestment of non-strategy and non-core assets, cash received from divestment at the consolidated level exceeded RMB20.0 billion; the Group's total debts at the consolidated level decreased to RMB220.9 billion, among which Fosun's debt at the holding company level narrowed to RMB94.7 billion.

Guo Guangchang said at the presentation, "We will attach greater importance to innovation, brand building, and the building of globalization capabilities in future development. At the same time, we will continue to reduce debt, continue with asset-light operations, and invest in R&D and innovation. In addition, I think we should be more courageous now, policies supporting private enterprises and the stock market are being launched continuously by China Banking Regulatory Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and financial institutions, and overseas interest rate hikes have basically reached their peak. Therefore, Fosun will focus on innovation, focus on globalization, and focus on strengthening our existing capabilities. We will no longer take 'expansion' as the main direction of development, but invest in industries where we boast clear competitive advantages. We have further defined and fine tune our strategy."

Regarding our financial position that investors are concerned about, Wang Qunbin said that while focusing on development, Fosun is also actively promoting liquidity management, and has navigated through the onshore and offshore "maturity wall", and Fosun's international rating outlook has also been upgraded. In the future, Fosun will continue to implement the business streamlining and core business-focused strategy, reduce debt in an orderly manner, and actively seize industrial operation opportunities in domestic and foreign technology innovation and globalization to help advantageous companies in the Fosun ecosystem further accelerate development and enhance global competitiveness.

During the presentation, Chen Qiyu analyzed the operation of the four major business segments. In particular, the Health segment maintained steady development, Fosun Pharma's innovative products contributed to sales growth, and further deepened the development of its global business; the Happiness segment became a strong driving force for Fosun's revenue and profit growth in the first half of the year, consumer products, especially gold jewelry and catering, are developing rapidly. After accumulating operational capabilities and capabilities to drive profitability, Fosun Tourism Group demonstrated its competitiveness in the industry; regarding the Wealth segment, the business of Fosun Insurance Portugal and German private bank HAL achieved substantial growth in the first half of the year; the Intelligent Manufacturing business focused on the intelligent manufacturing technology industry and green resources industry to promote the high-end, intelligent and green transformation of Fosun's manufacturing business.

When Xu Xiaoliang introduced Fosun's strategy, he said that Fosun's 31-year development has always revolved around the two core dimensions of "change" and "unchanged". What remains unchanged is the original aspiration of "Self-improvement, Teamwork, Performance and Contribution to Society" and the mission of creating happier lives for families worldwide; in the first half of 2023, Fosun made three important changes, it implemented the business streamlining and core business-focused strategy; enhanced asset-light operations to give full play to Fosun's global operational capabilities; achieved investment-divestment balance by making full use of the twin driver of investment and operations. In the future, Fosun will continue to adhere to its original aspiration and mission to win out more cycles, and will also adapt to changes at different development stages and actively seek changes.

Gong Ping analyzed the interim results from the financial perspective. On the one hand, Fosun International's revenue hit a new high in the first half of the year, thanks to its strategic focus, accelerated focus on household consumption as the top-priority sector, and focus on the development of core businesses where it boasts clear competitive advantages; on the other hand, the business growth recorded in the first half of the year is also inseparable from active and stable financial management, the total debts was reduced in an orderly manner and the capital and asset structure continued to be optimized. Looking forward to the second half of the year, Fosun will continue to promote industry operations, reduce costs and improve efficiency, and optimize various financial indicators through the divestment of non-core assets to further drive the healthy and rapid development of the Group.

"Common trade and global industrial chain interaction are what benefit all companies the most. The anti-globalization trend should gradually be contained. Fosun itself has indeed benefited from its strong global operations, and we will continue to further build up our globalization capabilities." Guo Guangchang said, "We must innovate, develop, and better serve customers one step at a time to navigate the cycle. We are neither young nor old, we will continue to work diligently regardless."

SOURCE Fosun