HONG KONG, March 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- "Despite how difficult in 2022, the past is behind us. We should focus on 2023 and the future. Despite how much hardship entrepreneurs have endured, we never dwell on the past. We are always thinking ahead and advancing."
On the morning of 30 March, Fosun International held its 2022 annual results announcement, where Guo Guangchang, Chairman of Fosun International, made the above remarks. Guo Guangchang, and Wang Qunbin, Co-Chairman, Chen Qiyu, Co-CEO, Xu Xiaoliang, Co-CEO, Gong Ping, CFO, institutional investors and media attended the results announcement.
Guo Guangchang said at the results announcement, "2022 was a special year for Fosun. I think it was a 'perfect storm'. Thanks to everyone's support, we won out the storm. Since 2023, Fosun's various businesses have fully recovered, especially tourism and commercial businesses, which have been most affected by the pandemic in the past three years, and the data in the first quarter of 2023 have shown a strong upward trend. Therefore, we have full confidence in the future development. Fosun International's results will be back on track and return to sustainable and rapid development."
In 2022, Fosun International's revenue reached RMB175.39 billion, representing an overall increase of 8.7%. Its four major business segments all achieved revenue growth. However, due to the recurrent outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic and the turmoil and downturn of the international capital markets, resulting in high business costs and an increase in floating losses in secondary capital market investment, the Group's overall industry operations and industrial investment have been affected to varying degrees. During the Reporting Period, the net profit attributable to owners of the parent was RMB0.54 billion.
In 2022, Fosun divested a series of non-core assets and executed systematic divestment of the iron and steel asset. Guo Guangchang said that for the past five years, Fosun has been "streamlining the organization" and focusing on its core businesses, but the "perfect storm" in 2022 has greatly accelerated Fosun's "streamlining the organization" plan and Fosun is more determined than ever. In the future, Fosun will focus its energy, capital and strengths on advantageous industries and continue to increase investment in global operations, innovative research and development, and product competitiveness of oriental aesthetics, "streamlining the organization" to accelerate development.
Regarding the ESG work that investors are more concerned about, Wang Qunbin, Co-Chairman of Fosun International, said that Fosun International's ESG work has been recognized by global authoritative organizations in society. It received an MSCI ESG rating of AA and is the only conglomerate in Greater China with an MSCI ESG rating of AA; it received a rating of A in the Hang Seng Sustainability Index. It has been selected as a constituent stock of the Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Benchmark Index for three consecutive years and a constituent stock of the Hang Seng ESG 50 Index for two consecutive years. In the future, Fosun will continue to place a strong emphasis on ESG work, fulfil the original aspiration of "Self-improvement, Teamwork, Performance and Contribution to Society" in its corporate development, and assume more social responsibilities.
Chen Qiyu, Co-CEO of Fosun International, believes that in the future, Fosun must adhere to its strategic focus, and leverage Fosun's advantages to deepen its core businesses with global competitiveness. A major feature of Fosun's business in the future is the exploration of global business capabilities, global operations capabilities, and global value. Fosun will significantly enhance the product competitiveness of its core businesses through technology innovation, especially in fields such as pharmaceuticals and consumption, and increase R&D investment. In addition, Fosun will continue to build the FES system to continuously improve the level of management and operation.
Xu Xiaoliang, Co-CEO of Fosun International, said that despite the great uncertainty in the global market, Fosun's various business segments remained resilient and achieved sustainable development. Since the beginning of this year, Fosun Tourism Group (FTG) and Yuyuan have ushered in an auspicious start; the Yuyuan Garden Lantern Festival, which took a new spin on the classic Shanhaijing, also known as the Classic of Mountains and Seas, a famous Chinese legend consisting of mythical figures and stories, received an overwhelming response and attracted 4 million visits; In January and February, the monthly sales of Club Med, a subsidiary of FTG, hit a decade high; Atlantis Sanya also achieved record-high business volume of nearly RMB400 million, with an average occupancy rate of 96%. In the future, Fosun will further consolidate its global operations capabilities, incorporate the oriental lifestyle aesthetics that young people adore into its businesses, and "intelligently create" good products in the Health, Happiness and Wealth segments for families worldwide.
Gong Ping, CFO of Fosun International, analyzed the financial situation of Fosun International in 2022. He said that in 2022, Fosun International's revenue rose steadily year-on-year, reflecting the stable profitability of its core subsidiaries and risk tolerance in the face of market headwinds such as the pandemic. During the year, Fosun continued to optimize its asset structure, maintained asset diversity, divested non-strategic and non-core assets in an orderly manner, further focused on core businesses, and reduced total debt in an orderly manner. The leverage ratio has remained stable over the past five years, and the average cost of debt has shown a downward trend.
Guo Guangchang said that the core objectives of Fosun are to insist on creating good products and promoting innovation and global operations. "We were able to win out the "perfect storm" in 2022 because we insist on doing the right things and things that take time to accumulate, creating more good products that customers love through innovation and globalization. In the future, we will continue to improve our business operations and achieve better results in return for the ongoing support of Fosun's shareholders."
