Morn A-shares Rebound; Trans., Digital Curr.

On the evening of August 30, Qinchuan Machine Tool disclosed its semi-annual report for 2024, reporting a total operating revenue of 2.021 billion yuan in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 2.33%; the net profit attributable to the parent company was 43.1841 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 46.45%; the net profit excluding non-recurring gains was 6.5686 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 512.89%; earnings per share were 0.0428 yuan.

The overall economic operation of the machinery industry in the first half of the year was generally stable, but it faced significant downward pressure. According to data released by the China Machine Tool and Tool Industry Association, from January to June 2024, the machine tool industry as a whole completed a business revenue of 501.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 7.7%, with the decline narrowing by 6.1 percentage points compared to the January-March period. From January to June 2024, the machine tool industry as a whole achieved a total profit of 14.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 78.2%, with the decline widening by 0.4 percentage points compared to the January-March period.

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It can be seen that the decline in Qinchuan Machine Tool's net profit was mainly affected by the overall industry environment. Although the company's net profit decreased year-on-year, the decline was lower than the industry as a whole, and at the same time, the company's revenue grew against the trend.

Qinchuan Machine Tool is deeply involved in the manufacturing of machine tools and is a leading backbone enterprise in the domestic machine tool industry. It has developed into one of the enterprises with the most categories, the highest precision and complexity, and the most complete industrial chain in China's machine tool and tool industry. It is in the first echelon in the fields of gear machining machines, thread grinding machines, machining centers, turning centers, and cylindrical grinding machines.

In the first half of the year, the company's revenue still increased slightly year-on-year, mainly due to two aspects: one is the development of the reducer sub-market, and the other is to increase export efforts to seize overseas orders.

Developing the sub-market, the sales of reducers increased by more than 25%.

The company is fully committed to increasing revenue around its main products. Among them, the sales and revenue of high-precision transmission robot joint reducers increased by more than 25% year-on-year, providing strong resilience and support for the main business income.

Industrial robots are a development direction that the market has been focusing on in recent years. In August 2023, seven departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Mechanical Industry Steady Growth Work Plan (2023-2024)," which mentioned, "Continue to expand the demand for industrial mother machines, instruments, pharmaceutical equipment, industrial robots, etc."

Qinchuan Machine Tool has been deeply involved in the field of industrial robots for many years. The company is a well-known domestic manufacturer of industrial robot joint reducers and has formed a product range of 5 series, 34 specifications, and more than 140 speed ratios of reducers, achieving mass production and sales, which can meet the reducer selection needs of different robots and automation applications ranging from 5kg to 1000kg for domestic and foreign users.

In the first half of 2024, among the company's key new products and R&D projects, 15 industrial robot joint reducer integrated machines and 10 bare machine products were developed. At the same time, the company also has its own technical reserves in the field of humanoid robots.Seizing Overseas Orders, Main Machine Export Revenue Grows by 62.35%

In the context of domestic demand upgrading and a market situation with a gradual slowdown in overall growth, Qinchuan Machine Tool has intensified its efforts to develop trade exports. In the first half of the year, the cumulative export growth reached 42.55% year-on-year, setting a new record for export business. Among this, the revenue from the export of main machines increased by 62.35%; for the first time, gear grinding machines achieved export to the Turkish and Brazilian markets.

According to customs data, in 2023, China's import value of metal-cutting machine tools was $5.14 billion, a decrease of 8.2% year-on-year, while the export value was $5.53 billion, a year-on-year increase of 27.6%. The trade surplus in metal-cutting machine tools indicates a further enhancement of China's competitiveness in the international market. In the first half of this year, the overall import and export of China's machine tool industry saw a slight decline, with a significant decrease in imports and a slight increase in exports, leading to an expansion of the trade surplus.

Against this backdrop, Qinchuan Machine Tool has increased its export business efforts, delved deeper into foreign markets, and strengthened strategic cooperation with its controlling shareholder, Fast Group. Leveraging the international business network of Fast Group as a platform, the company has enhanced trade export collaboration. In recent years, Fast Group has accelerated its international development process, actively exploring and promoting industrial cooperation, resulting in significant growth in international business. In the first half of this year, Fast Group's foreign trade export business grew by 55%.

Emphasis on Technological Breakthroughs, Continuous Improvement in Scientific and Technological Innovation Capability

Qinchuan Machine Tool places great emphasis on technological breakthroughs and the independent control of core technologies. In 2024, the company's key new products and R&D projects at the corporate level are progressing steadily according to plan. The company continues to tackle 16 key core "bottleneck" technologies, focusing on high-precision gear grinding machines, high-precision external cylindrical grinding machines, precision lathes, intelligent machine tools, core functional components, and complex cutting tools.

The company actively applies for patents and strengthens intellectual property management, with a total of 34 patent applications, including 8 invention patents, 17 authorized patents, 1 software copyright application, and the establishment of 16 standards. Continuous efforts are being made to tackle core "bottleneck" technologies, with more than 20 ongoing national and provincial scientific and technological projects. Focusing on high-precision gear grinding machines, high-precision external cylindrical grinding machines, precision lathes, intelligent machine tools, core functional components, and complex cutting tools, the company has independently or collaboratively overcome 16 key core technologies.

It is noteworthy that the project "Key Technologies and Applications for Improving the Precision and Stability of High-grade CNC Machine Tools," in which the company participated, won the second prize of the 2023 National Science and Technology Progress Award. This technology has effectively solved the processing difficulties of precision parts in various application fields.

Continuous Deepening of Reform, Structural Adjustment Promotes High-quality Development

Qinchuan Machine Tool has deeply carried out state-owned enterprise reform and improvement actions, formulating and issuing the "Qinchuan Group's Action Plan for Deepening and Enhancing State-owned Enterprise Reform." The plan arranges and deploys from 10 aspects, including optimizing the business structure and promoting scientific and technological innovation. As of the end of June, more than half of the tasks in the reform and improvement action have been completed.Additionally, the company has been selected as a "Demonstration Enterprise for Creating World-Class Professional Leaders" by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, and as a "World-Class Professional Leader Enterprise" by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Shaanxi Province.

Guided by the acceleration of strategic implementation, the company has carried out the "Structural Adjustment Year" themed activities. Focusing on products, research and development, market, and cost as the main lines, the company continuously optimizes its business structure and accelerates technological innovation, laying a solid foundation for high-quality development.