1. Where is Gree’s huge amount of idle money?
In response, Gree announced in an announcement that the company proceeded from the actual business situation, in order to meet the needs of capital expenditures... In 2017, no profit distribution was made, and no share issuance and capital reserve was transferred to share capital.
For the use of Gree Electric Appliances’ huge amount of idle funds, only some information may be obtained from the financial data of the 2017 annual report. Gree Electric's 2017 annual report shows: The company's account has 99.6 billion yuan in monetary funds.
Gree Electric stated that according to the 2018 business plan and long-term industrial planning, the company expects capital expenditures in terms of capacity expansion and diversification expansion will be relatively large. In order to seek long-term development of the company and shareholders' long-term interests, the company needs to make appropriate funds. Reserves. The company's retained funds will be used for production base construction, smart factory upgrades, and smart equipment, smart appliances, integrated circuits and other new industries of technology research and development and marketing.
If Gree is really aggressive in the integrated circuit industry, the amount of money may not be too large, but no concrete plans have yet been seen. As of now, it is not clear to the outside world that the decision-making process of the Gree Electric Appliance Board regarding the non-profit decision and the specific reasons .
However, investors in the capital market chose to use their feet to vote. Gree Electric was surprised that Gree Electric had a total share capital of 6.016 billion shares. As of last Friday's close, Gree’s total market value evaporated on 26th, 27th, 6.1 billion yuan in two days. .
Previously, Gree Electric Appliances had published the plan of Gree Electric's shareholder return for the next three years (2016-2018). The shareholder return plan clearly stated that 'according to the company's operating conditions, if there is no major investment plan during the planning period, If a major cash outflow item (except for a raised capital investment project) occurs, the company's cash dividend amount for that year shall be no less than the average dividend ratio of the parent company for the current year, ie not less than 60%.
In 2015, Gree Electric Appliance Co., Ltd.'s dividend payments in 2016 reached 9 billion yuan and 10.8 billion yuan, and the proportion was not less than 60%. If the estimated net profit of Gree Electric Appliances attributable to parent company in 2017 was 24.402 billion yuan, the dividend amount should be 13.5 billion yuan. Yuan above.
Institutional views are now divided
Gree Electric Co., Ltd. does indeed have huge amounts of idle funds on its books. The interpretation of the latest dividend decision made by several agencies for Gree Electric Appliances is: Gree Electric will have large capital expenditures in the future, and the scale of mergers and acquisitions may exceed that of the last acquisition of Zhuhai Yinlong. This time the new financing, for the future development of the company will have what effect, as of last weekend there is no new confirmation news.
A number of agencies issued research reports urgently, expounding the long-term still insisting on the judgment of Gree Electric Appliance industry leader, but on the other hand, they adjusted Gree Electric's investment assessment to 'wait and see'.
According to Guolian Securities, Gree Electric Appliances Co., Ltd. is still in the leading position in the domestic air-conditioning market, but in 2018, the domestic air-conditioning market has already bid farewell to the abnormal growth trend in 2017, and has even more towards normal growth. Significant increase, diversification strategy advancement. Taking into account the market's over-reaction to the company's new industry development and the first time no dividends, the company's short-term investment rating adjusted to 'wait and see', but does not change its long-term value as the industry leader.
Shen Wanhongyuan believes that Gree Electric Appliances expects to pay dividends in the middle of 2018, and short-term disruption will not change the value of long-term investment. The company's terminal sales in the first quarter of this year are still in good condition. Meanwhile, the company’s advance receipts amounted to RMB 14.9 billion, an increase of 11.68% year-on-year, reflecting the enthusiasm of dealers Higher. Other current liabilities are basically the same as the same period of last year, which shows that the company did not bring high revenue growth through channel pressure, and it is expected that channel inventory will remain low, and it is expected to maintain high growth throughout the year.
Regarding the dividend policy, the company stated in its letter of response that it expects to pay dividends in mid-2018, and believes that the short-term dividend policy disturbance will not change the long-term investment value of the company.
Gree Electric Co., Ltd. stated that the global industrial group with diversified corporate transformation has increased its R&D investment. Gree Electric Appliances has changed from a single professional air-conditioning company to a diversified global industrial group. As stated in the announcement, smart equipment, smart appliances, integrated circuits, etc. The industry needs a large amount of R&D funds. At the same time, retained funds will also be used for the construction of production bases and the upgrade of smart factories. New Financial Observer
2. Mi Lei, founding partner of Zhongke Chuangxing: Hard science and technology needs to be transformed into economic drivers;
In recent years, Xi’an has proposed the slogan of “Building a Hard Science Capital.” Hard technology has become a business card for the ancient city. Dr. Optics, Xi'an Institute of Optics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Mi Lei, founding partner of Zhongke Chuangxing, is the concept. The proponent. He believes that the future industrial upgrading will rely heavily on the transformation of scientific research achievements provided by 'hard technology'.
At present, Zhongkechuangxing and its angel investment institutions have successfully hatched more than 230 high-tech companies, many of which have achieved good growth and efficiency.
Turn scientific research into a moat
In 2012, one day, Mi Lei’s daughter was sick and drowned. The nurse could not find any blood vessels for a long time. She even failed to complete 4 needles. She witnessed the suffering of her daughter. He was very distressed. The researcher of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was also a Ph.D. Mi Lei immediately produced the idea that optical technology could be used to solve the problem of 'difficult needles'.
After about eight months of research and development, Mi Lei and Zhonghe Microlight, a hatchery company in the company, jointly developed a needle-stick artifact - a blood vessel imager. This product can identify the position and depth of blood vessels at the same time. Underneath the vascular imager, when the switch is turned on, the blood vessels can be seen clearly. This effectively solves the difficulty of needle sticking for special groups such as the elderly and children.
In Mi Lei's eyes, many technological means have matured. The key is how to assemble it into a commodity, so that scientific research results can no longer be shelved and can be used by humans. This time he found a partner of “same cooperation”, a professional technical team, and Perfect business model. At present, the vascular imager has been purchased by more than 200 hospitals and has signed agents in many regions abroad. It has tens of millions of annual profits. Now, this product is applied to major hospitals in China and far away. Sales in South America, the Middle East and other overseas markets.
Originally intended to solve the problem of their children's injection problems, after the industrialization of scientific research technology in the laboratory, it finally brought a huge change to the entire medical industry. This matter gave Mi Lei a great inspiration: If the research institute More technologies can be applied to people's lives. The future will surely solve more pain points in human life and create more social benefits.
Based on this, Mi Lei has strengthened his confidence in the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements. He realized that if researchers want to start a business successfully, they must use their own advantages to establish a unique business model for the company. For R&D personnel, it is long. 3. The research results of the year of research are the best moats and barriers for entrepreneurship.
Incubation technology company
In 2013, Xiguang Institute initiated the establishment of Zhongke Chuangxing Technology Enterprise Incubator with the joint venture of social capital. The following year was identified by the Ministry of Science and Technology as 'National Technology Enterprise Incubator'. Mi Lei served as the founding partner. Through talents, technology, With the deep integration of capital and services, Zhongke Chuangxing has explored a successful road to the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements, and formed a scientific and technological innovation ecological rain forest integrating research institutions + angel funds + incubators + entrepreneurship training. Technology' entrepreneurs provide a one-stop full-service startup incubation service.
At present, Xi’an has more than 590 scientific research institutes and 64 colleges and universities. There are nearly 500,000 professional scientific and technical personnel, and the number of researchers is the highest in the country. Many international companies’ research and development departments are also located in Xi’an. However, due to the Xi’an market, Insufficient economic climate, the most common problem is the low conversion rate of industrialization of scientific research products. Many products exist only in laboratories and cannot be put into mass production on the market. The accumulated productivity of scientific research institutes over the years has not been liberated. This is also the whole of Xi’an. The difficulty of 'chasing beyond'.
It was in this situation that Mi Lei, the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Xi'an Opto-mechanics Institute’s “Zhongkechuangxing” team came into being. The initial stage of the venture was a difficult one. The collision of scientific research thinking and industrialization thinking made Mi Lei aware of the breakthrough. Difficulties, the evaluation system in the laboratory is not suitable for industrialization. When Zhongke Chuangxing started its own business, one team that was favored by investors had always been at the forefront of research and development, but in the process of mass production, However, they encountered problems in which quality cannot be controlled and large-scale production costs are too high. The team has been plagued with problems. Until the team changes its thinking, R&D results are closer to the market demand, gradually transformed into user thinking, and the industrialization road began to take the fast track. .
On February 15, 2015, General Secretary Xi Jinping made a special trip to the Xi'an Opto-Electronics Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Xi'an High-tech Zone. This was the top national leader who visited the Guangji Institute for the first time in 50 years. Mi Lei served as an escort. He introduced several hard technology products hatched by Zhong Ke Chuang Xing to the general secretary, including the blood vessel imager he personally participated in the research and development. At the scene of the investigation, General Secretary Xi also put his hands under the vascular imager with great interest to experience it. After the visit, the secretary said: 'After reading Xi'an Optics & Mechanics' Institute, I repeatedly stressed that there is a basis for innovation-driven development.'
In order to solve the problem of Chinese companies' lack of 'core', Zhongke Chuangxing united with Xi'an Institute of Optics and Mechanics, local governments, universities, colleges and enterprises to initiate the establishment of China's first optoelectronic integrated professional space - Shaanxi Optoelectronics IC The Pilot Research Institute is committed to achieving a close integration of technology, market, capital, and industry, and one-stop solution to the challenges of optoelectronic integrated chip startups. As of now, Shaanxi Pioneer Institute has accumulated investment to incubate more than 30 domestic and foreign high-end chip startups. The team has 23 enterprises and more than 300 reserve projects. It successfully broke through a series of core key technologies and developed a batch of products with completely independent intellectual property rights.
'The rise of science and technology is national prosperity, and the strong science and technology are strong in the country. ' Zhongkechuangxing uses the research advantages of the Institute of Optics and Opticals to focus on the two major investment priorities of 'photovoltaic industry' and 'military-military integration', taking a 'small-scale start' and making side-shots. The principle of ', has already hatched more than 230 hard technology companies.
Hard technology
Translate into economic drivers
Mi Lei was the proponent of the concept of hard technology. At the time, he was working on transformation of scientific and technological achievements in Xi'an Opto-Electronics Institute. In the daily practice of transforming achievements, he realized that 'China will have to move toward innovation after the disappearance of the demographic dividend. It is necessary to release the productivity of scientific research. In addition, he is also thinking about how to create a new idea, a new idea to give the general public a universal guide to this transformation. In this case, he proposes The concept of "hard technology" is expected to awaken the concern of the broad masses of society to science and technology through this concept, so that everyone can realize that science and technology can truly promote the progress and change of the entire human race and will play a crucial role in the future development of China.
Mi Lei said that hard technology is 'a sophisticated technology represented by artificial intelligence, genetic technology, aerospace, brain science, photonic chips, and new materials'. These technologies are different from the virtual world made up of innovative Internet models. The physical world made up of scientific and technological innovations is an original technology that requires long-term R&D investment and can only be accumulated through continuous accumulation. It has extremely high technical thresholds and technical barriers, and it is difficult to be copied and imitated. It is a revolution that has far-reaching and extensive impact on the human economy and society. Sexual technology is the driving force and source of world progress.
Today, the concept of 'hard technology' has been widely recognized by the venture capital circle and the whole society. At present, the investment incubation model of Zhongke Chuangxing has become the benchmark of the industry. The world's first 'hard technology town' has also been built. Capping. In 2017, Zhongkechuangxing won the honor of CCTV “Science and Technology Ceremony” annual science and technology innovation team. In the same year, Zhongke Chuangxing planned and held the first 'Global Hard Technology Innovation Conference', which helped Xi’an become a global hard technology company. All' .
China’s research investment is 1.4 trillion yuan each year, ranking second in the world. In another 10 years, this investment will reach the top in the world, but the gap with the developed countries lies in the conversion rate. Mi Lei pointed out, 'At present, developed countries’ technology The industrialization rate of achievements is 25%, and we only have 5%. The number of our researchers has actually become the world's first, so we can only increase the conversion rate of scientific and technological achievements to exceed the United States.
'There is still a long way to go for the transformation of scientific research achievements.' Mi Lei said that many domestic research institutes and universities, a large number of scientific researchers are also tightly bound in the laboratory, 'research' to 'market' still exists It's a long way to go.
Mi Lei said that he hopes that these efforts and explorations by Zhongke Chuangxing can transform the entire nation’s scientific research system, promote the entire national economy, and play a role in promoting science and technology as a powerful country. At the same time, he also called for more. Social capital and successful social experience. Management experience is used to help scientists start their own business. This is a social and personal win-win situation. Securities Times
3. Chip investment 'misunderstood' : How is Datta Capital's layout?
Chip investment 'misunderstood' : How is Datta Capital's layout?
21st Century Business Herald Shen Junhan Beijing Report
Due to the high technical content in the industry and the distance from consumers, the chip industry has not attracted the attention of investors as much as the Internet industry.
Since mid-April, affected by the US sanctions against ZTE, chip investment has caused a domestic upsurge in China. Alibaba, Evergrande and other companies have marched into the chip and integrated circuit industries, and the second-phase of the national integrated circuit industry investment fund of 100 billion is also being raised. in.
But on the back of the coin, chip investment also faces many frustrations. In a forum at the end of April, Zhu Xiaohu, Managing Director of Jinshajiang Venture Capital, said with emotion: 'We are not chip-free. Before we voted several of them, we lost everything.' Volcanoes Stone Capital Management Partner Zhang Suyang even pointed out that 'chip investment's profit is equivalent to selling soap.'
In this regard, Dylan Capital Management Partner Ye Weigang has a different view. He believes that chip projects are actually easier to realize than the Internet project to make money. The investment return rate of their investment in chip projects is even higher than that in education, health care, sports and sports fields. In addition, the chip company's profit rate is actually not low. Such as Intel, Qualcomm and other chip design companies, gross profit can reach 70%, after-tax net profit is also 30%.
Ye Weigang graduated from science and engineering background. After graduating from the United States, he was responsible for the Asia-Pacific region at Cadence, the world's largest electronic design automation (EDA) company. The company mainly develops automation tools for designing chips and printed circuit boards.
Later, Ye Weigang entered the investment field and served as the investment management partner of Shanghai Yongxuan. In 2010, he and Li Quansheng jointly founded Datta Capital, focusing on investment in technological innovation and consumer upgrades. Currently, the total fund management scale is nearly 5 billion yuan. RMB.
From the time of Cadence until now, Ye Weigang has nearly 20 years of investment experience in the chip field. How does the chip industry invest and what are the investment opportunities and challenges? Is it a good time for VC/PE institutions to invest in chips? Recently, in response to the above issues, Ye Weigang accepted an exclusive interview with the 21st Century Business Herald.
Chips do not burn as much money as the internet
From a narrow scope, the chip industry chain can be divided into four links. The most upstream part is the equipment and tools link, mainly for the chip design, manufacturing to provide technical support, including the use of automated tools for chip design, chip manufacturing required Production equipment, materials, etc. The middle part of the industrial chain is the design of the chip, the manufacturing process, and the downstream part is the packaging of the chip.
In general, the annual market scale of the chip equipment sector is in the tens of billions of dollars level, the chip design, the manufacturing market scale is in the tens of billions of dollars level. After the chip packaging is completed, the modules are formed, and then the market scale of electronic products is made into trillions. At a level of several tens of trillions, accounting for more than 10% of global GDP. As a result, the chip industry is closely related to the global economy.
On a global scale, the United States is the most developed country in the four-step process of the chip industry chain. Israel, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, and China Taiwan have formed a single breakthrough in the chip industry chain, such as Israel’s military-related chips. The design is well-developed. The Arm company in the United Kingdom is the world's leading semiconductor chip intellectual property provider. Taiwan, China, has TSMC and UMC in the chip manufacturing foundry. Media design companies include MediaTek and other companies. China's chip industry is not the most Strong, but all aspects of the industry chain are readily available.
From 2000 to the present, VC/PE has always been investing in all aspects of the chip industry. However, investors will focus on light-asset investment, such as chip design, chip design tools, and R&D of production equipment. The capital needed for chip manufacturing and packaging of downstream heavy assets is on the scale of 10 billion, 100 billion, which is more suitable for state-owned capital and industrial capital.
'Because of the high technical content in the industry and the long distance from consumers, the chip industry has not attracted as much attention as the Internet industry previously. ' Ye Weigang said. He maintains an average rate of at least one chip-related company each year and has already voted for nearly 20 Home projects, mainly chip design companies.
Ye Weigang admitted frankly that when chip projects are initially invested, they do need to spend a lot of money, but they do not have the money to burn Internet projects. The average chip company has a large-scale sales revenue from the initial stage, and it takes about three years, and it will cost 30 to 50 million yuan. US$. It takes about two years for a company to generate revenue and achieve profitability. It will cost between two and 30 million US dollars. Therefore, from start-up to profit, it is estimated that it will invest 50-80 million U.S. dollars, almost five or six years of investment cycle.
Some investors mentioned that investment chips have low profits and are easy to lose money. Ye Weigang thinks this is a misunderstanding. At least he has invested in all his own projects. 'At present, we have already exited more than a dozen projects, including 60% of them. On the market, 40% of the companies were merged and acquired. The return rate of these projects is about six times on average. There are also projects that bring a return of two or three times. In contrast, investment education, medical care, and culture and sports are almost four years in length. Times of return. From the perspective of my investment, the chip is the industry with the highest return on investment. ' He said.
Industry Background Team + Appropriate Market Segments
How should the chip industry invest? Ye Weigang concludes that knowledgeable investors find experienced teams to make products that are large enough for market segmentation.
Compared to investment in Internet model innovation, technology investment in chips requires investors to have a higher degree of professionalism. For Datai Capital, two-thirds of the members of the team are of science and engineering origin, and they understand technology. A lot of alumni are doing technology and it is easy to enter the circle. Ye Weigang himself not only has the professional background of learning microelectronics, but also has worked in the semiconductor industry of the United States for many years, and he has sufficient knowledge of the industry.
In terms of the selection of entrepreneurial teams, Ye Weigang stated that the most important criterion is that the team must have experience in the industry. Entrepreneurs should work in large companies or successful entrepreneurial companies for more than 5 years. More than one chip can be produced in volume. Such people are few in the country, most of them are returnees. The age is usually over 35 years old.
In addition, entrepreneurial teams need to have several complex capabilities: First, they must have leaders. They have experience in chip design, marketing and management. Second, they must have experienced chip architects who can divide complex functions into several parts. Thousands of small modules are developed specifically for young people in the team, and then these modules can be reloaded. Third, there must be process managers, chip development from architecture design, front-end development, verification to back-end development, verification, There is a rigorous process for the communication with the manufacturer, and it requires a person to perform process management. Fourth, it requires talents in the market to understand customer needs in advance. Chip development takes at least 18 months if the progress is not smooth. , but also more than 6-12 months. If you wait for more than two years after the chip design, then go to the customer test, the customer's needs have changed. Need to be in the hands of the team before the development, discuss with the customer after two years What is the demand?
In the selection of market segments, Ye Weigang said that the market is too wide or too narrow for the team to do well. The market is the most widely used general-purpose chip CPU. In the year 2000, China has formed an investment boom in the CPU project, but the investment More than 20 projects were unsuccessful. The main reason is that the required investment is too large. After the entire ecological chain is completed, the product can only be sold. The project team cannot do a single point of breakthrough. If the market is too narrow, the chip design is just for a certain customer. There is no consideration for the next generation of products, nor for VC/PE to invest.
'The best is in a sufficiently large market segment, a clearer product path, and the team has an iterative product plan for the next five years.' Ye Weigang said, for example, chips for audio and video processing in mobile phones, and navigation systems for electric vehicles. , Video Surveillance System, Driver Chips for Flat Panel Display Devices, Chips used in people's life, Internet of Things, etc. are all very good market segments. At present, AI chips are also hot spots for VCs. In the middle of the month, it has invested in three AI-related chip companies.
At the investment stage, Ye Weigang stated that Delta Capital mainly invests in the growth stage of the company. At this point, the company has completed chip design, has a prototype that can demonstrate to customers, and can perform chip performance testing. No sales revenue has yet been formed, and the intervention of capital can accelerate the sales expansion of the company. For the early angel projects and the projects that have been sold later to form a profit, Delta Capital also makes some investments.
Market Environment Opportunities and Challenges
After 20 years of chip investment, Ye Weigang also talked about the opportunities and challenges of the market environment. He said that the current market environment has improved.
In early 2000, due to the poor R&D capabilities of domestic customers, they were more inclined to use foreign chips that were successfully tested by Cisco and IBM. Basically, no one would dare to use chips developed by Chinese start-up companies. 'We designed chip designs at that time. The company, its first customer is a U.S. company. The U.S. company used the export to sell it domestically and the Chinese company dared to use it. 'He said. Now that Huawei, ZTE and other Chinese companies have improved their R&D capabilities, they have the guts to test and manufacture domestic chips. application.
The way out for chip startups 20 years ago was to go to the Nasdaq for listing, or to sell to US companies. For example, China's first batch of successful commercialized chip design companies Spreadtrum, Zhuhai Actions and Zhongxingwei, all went to the Nasdaq. Listed on the Stock Exchange (among them, Mr. Li Quansheng, the co-founder of Delta Capital, is an early investor in Spreadtrum and Actions).
Now chip companies' exit channels are more smooth, and the A-share market supports the listing of chip companies. Ye Weigang said that he invested in Orbit (14.540, -0.34, -2.28%) technology in 2007, and the company was listed on the GEM in 2010. After that, it brought more than 30 times the return. In addition, Delta's investment in Xuchuang Technology in 2012, through mergers and acquisitions in the A-share market, now also brings nearly 30 times the book return.
The new challenge in the market environment comes from rising labor costs. Ye Weigang pointed out that when he was an executive at Cadence 20 years ago, he helped the company transfer many low-end R&D projects to China. According to the cost at the time, one of China's outstanding young people The salary cost is probably one-sixth that of the United States. Even if it is only half the efficiency of the United States, China has three times the cost advantage.
Now, the salary cost of recruiting chip designers from the “Qingqing Reinterchange” is probably one-third of that of the United States. When you consider efficiency compromise, the total cost is almost the same as in the US. Many Chinese chip design companies even directly open R&D centers. To the United States.
However, Ye Weigang believes that China's development of the chip industry is still full of opportunities. The main advantage is that the market is in China. 'China's chip imports are worth 230 billion U.S. dollars a year. If imports are to replace 70% of them, it is a market worth 150 billion U.S. dollars. Many listed companies. 'He said.
At the same time, China has a large number of literacy and computer young people who can provide manpower for start-up companies. But as mentioned above, chip entrepreneurship requires people with industrial experience. These people are still in short supply and need to be tapped from abroad. .
In addition, the government has always provided policy support to the chip industry. For example, in 2014, a national billion-billion-dollar national integrated circuit industry investment fund (referred to as the “large fund”) was established. The second phase of the current fund is also being raised.
The first round of good chip design companies looking for VC financing, the second round looking for strategic investment in industrial capital, and the third round looking for investment in large funds are relatively smooth development paths. However, Ye Weigang believes that large funds are due to the state-owned asset management process and Considering the need to preserve and increase value, the funds invested in supporting early-stage chip design companies are not enough, and the efficiency of fund utilization needs to be improved.