ZKH Group Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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March 19, 2024

There are 8 speakers on the call.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to ZKH Group Limited's 4th Quarter and Fiscal Year 2023 Earnings Conference Call. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Jin Li, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Speaker 1

Thank you, operator. Thank you, everyone. Welcome to our call today. Joining us today on the call are Mr. Eric Chen, our Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and Mr.

Speaker 1

Max Lai, our Chief Financial Officer. During this call, we will discuss our future performance, which are forward looking statements made under the Safe Harbor provision of the U. S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties.

Speaker 1

Some of these risks are beyond the company's control and could cause actual results to differ materially from those mentioned in today's press release. A number of potential risks and uncertainties are included in ZKH Group's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. ZKH Group does not undertake any obligation to update this forward looking information, except as required by law. During today's call, we will also discuss certain non GAAP financial measures for comparison purposes only. Please see the press release issued earlier today for a definition of non GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation of GAAP to non GAAP financial results.

Speaker 1

Eric and Max will share our business updates, operating highlights and financial performance for the Q1 and the full year 2023. After the prepared remarks, we will have a Q and A session. With that, I will turn the call over to Eric. Eric, please go ahead.

Speaker 2

Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining our Q4 fiscal year 2023 earnings conference call. The first since our public listing on the New York Stock Exchange late last year. Our collective team effort and effective execution have gotten us where we are today. And despite macroeconomic uncertainties and challenges throughout 2023, we were able to end the year with solid financial results that placed us on firm ground for future growth.

Speaker 2

In 2023, our GMV reached RMB11.08 billion, an increase of 18.2 percent year on year. In the Q4 alone, our GMV increased by 20.2% year on year, reaching RMB3.21 billion. Notably, we achieved this growth amid a downturn in the construction and construction related industries. This means that we achieved outstanding sales growth stemming largely from our customers in manufacturing sectors such as new energy and NEV, manufacturing of machineries as well as chemicals. Looking at our bottom line, we narrowed our adjusted net loss by RMB339 1,000,000 in 2022 to RMB288 1,000,000 in 2023.

Speaker 2

And our adjusted net loss margin improved from negative 7.5% in 2022 to negative 3.3% in 2023. Our improving metrics were underscored by our ability to reach breakeven in the Q4 of 2023 with an adjusted net profit of RMB 27 point 54,000,000. These gains were driven by our investments and efforts over the past year to enhance digital intelligence, product capabilities and customer service capabilities. Throughout the year, we focused on strengthening our core competitiveness and improving operational efficiency. To achieve this, we deeply integrated digital and intelligent technologies across our business to systematically build end to end digital capabilities spanning the entire value chain.

Speaker 2

Let's take a closer look at the details. First, we've automated key customer processes and scenarios for our top 100 customers using RPA technology developed in house to cover processes from inquiries, order placement, shipment to reconciliation and invoicing. Our proprietary ZKH AI assistant, a chatbot developed based on AI models and the MRO industry knowledge base has been adopted by 95% of our staff since its launch in May 2023. This tool allows us to respond to a diverse range of business and product inquiries automatically, which significantly improves the efficiency of information gathering and knowledge sharing. In the pivotal supply demand matching process, we have greatly improved product matching accuracy across product production lines for inquiries and quotes by using machine learning algorithms to incorporate historical transaction data, industry knowledge and specialist expertise into our IT system.

Speaker 2

Digitalization and intelligence play a vital role in improving our organizational capabilities and operational efficiency. Supported by digital and intelligent technologies, a broader range of customers can now directly interface with our systems resulting in an increasing number of transactions completed online. In 2023, the amount of sales through digital footprint accounts for about 70% of our total GMV. Meanwhile, thanks to our streamlined organizational structure and enhanced operating efficiency, human resources productivity in 2023 increased by approximately 39%, accelerating our path to sustainable profitability. One of our core competencies is our product capabilities.

Speaker 2

We are committed to providing our customers with a one stop purchasing experience. So we are continuing to add SKUs and cast a wide net with broad product lines. Right now we have reached 17,000,000 SKUs. In addition to expanding our product lines, we are deepening our involvement in product development every step of the way. Notably, we've intensified our efforts to grow our own private label products and offer customers an excellent product selection and recommendations providing high value products that are readily available.

Speaker 2

Currently, private label products account for approximately 5% of our total GMV. In terms of sales, our strategy is to focus on large corporate customers first and then gradually target and acquire small and medium sized enterprise customers through online marketing. Over the past year, we have strengthened our ability to centrally develop and cultivate key accounts with large corporate customers and provide regional services to small and medium sized enterprise customers. We've also greatly improved our customer acquisition capabilities through online marketing. Furthermore, we completed the transformation of our GBB platform into an e commerce only platform to reach microenterprise clients.

Speaker 2

These synchronized efforts propelled our customer base beyond 66,500 in 2023, an increase of more than 8,500 from 2022. Next, I'd like to share a few of our initiatives and accomplishments on the ESG front. We take our corporate social responsibility very seriously and are actively taking steps to ensure sustainable product development while implementing green and low carbon practices. We've built a comprehensive ESG management system. In 2023, this included adopting more new energy vehicles in our fleet and retrofitting our offices and warehouses with energy saving LED lighting.

Speaker 2

We also promoted ESG standards to thousands of our suppliers by including them in our cooperation agreements and actively gave back to the community through donations and volunteering. These efforts were recognized by the China Energy Conservation Association, which named ZKH as one of the most promising enterprises for carbon neutrality in 2023. We also received the Dual Carbon Innovative Technology R and D Case Award from Xinhua Net. Looking ahead to 2024, our key strategic objectives are to consistently invest in products and digitalization and accelerate our globalization to bolster and expand our leadership in the MRO industry. First, we will expand the deployment of RPA Technologies with which we aim to cover our top 500 accounts by the end of 2024, further elevating our overall process automation.

Speaker 2

This year, we'll also launch our ZKH AI assistant to our customers and suppliers. Additionally, we're looking to develop a large model within the MRO vertical domain to enhance our ZKH AI assistance features, improving its efficiency and performance in understanding customer needs, selecting products, responding to requests for quotations and product matching. In terms of product capabilities, we will continue to enhance our product quality and lower cost across our product portfolio. Tailoring our approach to each product's distinct features and development stage, we will selectively engage in comprehensive product development, including definition and selection, research and development and even the smart manufacturing process. We'll create flagship products for each product line and consistently invest in bolstering our private label products.

Speaker 2

At the same time, we're looking to deepen our partnerships with suppliers, pulling resources and fostering strategic alliances with compatible supplier partners to realize greater cooperative synergies. Another area of focus lies in our global expansion aspirations. For 2024, our primary target market is the United States, where we intend to penetrate the market with a product strategy focusing on curated high value offerings. We are currently advancing towards our goals across product selection, establishing a U. S.

Speaker 2

Company, warehouse site selection, local team recruitment and the design and launch of a standalone U. S. Website. Our team is efficiently executing each of these initiatives and we expect to officially off our U. S.

Speaker 2

Operations during the second half of twenty twenty four. Meanwhile, we will actively pursue overseas merger and acquisition opportunities to accelerate our overseas growth trajectory. To conclude, we are confident that with our persistent execution and innovation across these areas, we can provide customers with higher value products and services that will sustain our growth, empower our long term development in the global MRO market. As a public company driven by a passion for improving commerce through transparency and efficiency, we hold a strong and clearly defined sense of purpose and hold ourselves to high social responsibility standards. The greater the challenges, the more committed we are to our mission and values and the more devoted we must be to pursuing endeavors that we care about and take pride in.

Speaker 2

As we navigate our evolving dynamic business environment, we remain true to our foundational aspiration, achieve today, thrive tomorrow. Thank you.

Speaker 3

Thank you, Eric. And thanks everyone for making time to join our earnings call today. I'm Max Lai, CFO of the company. I will provide an overview of our 2023 Q4 year end financial results. In the interest of time, I will be presenting highlights only.

Speaker 3

We encourage you to refer to our press release issued earlier today for complete details. For the Q4 of 2023, our GMV increased by 20.2% year over year to RMB3.2 billion from RMB2.7 billion a year ago. By platform, GMV generated from EtherCage platform grew 18.3% year over year to RMB2.9 billion and GMV generated from GBP platform grew 41.8 percent year over year to RMB300 1,000,000. By business model, GMV coming from a product sales model reached RMB 2,300,000,000 up 6.8% year over year. YJMP from marketplace model was RMB885,300,000, up 78.6 percent year over year.

Speaker 3

The proportion of GMV generated from marketplace model was 27.6 percent for the Q4 of 2023 compared to be 18.6% in the prior year period. Our total net revenues for the Q4 of 2023 were RMB2.44 billion, representing an increase of 8.2 percent from RMB2.26 billion for the prior year period. We have increases in all categories of net revenues due to continued growth in MRO market demand. Looking at breakdown of our total net revenues. Net product revenues for the Q4 of 2023 were RMB2.32 billion, an increase of 6.2% from RMB2.19 billion in the prior year period.

Speaker 3

The increase was mainly attributable to higher revenues generated from eSketch platform and GBP platform, primarily driven by an increase in the number of customers. Net service revenues for the Q4 of 2023 accounted for RMB98,600,000 an increase of 73.1 percent from RMB56,900,000 in the prior year period, primarily due to the growth of marketplace model on e cigarette platform. Other revenues for the Q4 of 2023 were RMB20.4 million, an increase of 40 7.2 percent from RMB13.9 million in the prior year period, mainly attributable to high revenues generated from our warehousing and logistics services. Gross profit for the Q4 of 2023 grew 10.9% year over year to RMB417.2 million, resulting in a gross margin of 17 point percent compared to 16.7% in the prior year period. The increase was driven by the significant growth of marketplace model of eSketch platform and a lower gross profit margin on product sales model was due to the impact of inventory write downs.

Speaker 3

Operating expenses for the Q4 of 2023 were RMB423.9 million, a decrease of 8.9 percent from RMB RMB465.3 million in a year before. Operating expenses as a percentage of net revenues were 17.3% compared with 20.6% in the prior year period, demonstrating our improved operating efficiency and leveraging. Fulfillment expenses for the Q4 of 2023 were RMB107.8 million, an increase of 9.8% from RMB98.2 million in the prior year period. The increase was primarily attributable to higher employee benefits costs. Fulfillment expenses as a percentage of net revenues were 4.4% compared to 4.3% in the prior year period.

Speaker 3

Sales and marketing expenses for the Q4 were RMB170 1,000,000, an increase of 3.2 percent from RMB164.7 million in the prior year period. The increase was primarily attributable to the increased travel and as well as marketing and promotion expenses as business travels and marketing and promotion activities resumed after COVID-nineteen restrictions were lifted. Sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of net revenues were 7% compared with 7.3% in a year before. Research and development expenses for the 4th quarter were RMB37.8 million, a decrease of 36.4 percent from RMB59.5 million in the prior year period. The decrease was primarily attributable to lower employee benefit costs.

Speaker 3

R and D expenses as a percentage of net revenues were 1.5% compared with 2.6% in the year before. General and administrative expenses for the Q4 of 2023 were RMB 108.2 million, a decrease of 24.2 percent from RMB 142.8 billion in the year before. The decrease was primarily attributable to lower employee benefit costs as a result of reduced average headcount. General and administrative expenses as a percentage of net revenues were 4.4% compared with 6.3% in the year before. Loss from operations for the Q4 of 2023 was RMB6.8 million compared with RMB80 9,100,000 in the year before.

Speaker 3

Non GAAP EBITDA for the 4th quarter was RMB 43,300,000 compared to negative RMB56.7 million in the prior year before. Net profit for the Q4 of 2023 was RMB20.2 million compared with net loss of RMB RMB53.5 million in a year before. Non GAAP adjusted net profit for the 4th quarter was RMB27.5 million compared to non GAAP adjusted net loss of RMB62.2 million in the prior year before. Adjusted net profit margin was 1.1 percent for the 4th quarter compared to the adjusted net loss margin of 3.6% in the prior year period, marking the 7th consecutive quarter of year over year improvement. Now I would like to briefly walk you through the highlights of our fiscal year 2023 results.

Speaker 3

For the fiscal year of 2023, our GMV increased by 18.2 percent year over year to RMB11.1 billion from RMB9.4 billion in 2022. By platform, GMV generated from ezegate platform grew 18.1% year over year to RMB10.1 billion and GMV generated from GBV platform grew 19 0.8% year over year to RMB970.2 million. By business model, GMV of product sales model reached RMB8.3 billion, up 5.1% year over year with GMV of marketplace model versus RMB2.7 billion, up 90.2 percent year over year. The proportion of GMV generated from marketplace model was 24.8% in 2023 compared with 15.4% in 2022. The total net revenues were RMB 8.7 2,000,000,000 representing an increase of 4.9 percent from RMB 8,320,000,000 in 2022.

Speaker 3

We have increases in all categories of net revenues due to continued growth in IMRO market demand. Net product revenues were RMB8.34 billion, representing an increase of 3.1 percent from RMB8.09 8,090,000,000 in 2022. The increase was mainly attributable to higher revenues we generated from EtherCage platform and GBP platform driven by the increase in the number of customers. Net service revenues were RMB307,400,000, an increase of 71.3 percent from RMB179.5 million in 2022, primarily due to the significant growth of marketplace model on eSergate platform. Other revenues were RMB72.2 1,000,000 an increase of 47.8 percent from RMB48,800,000 in 2022 mainly attributable to higher revenue generators from our warehousing and logistics services.

Speaker 3

Gross profit was RMB1.45 billion, an increase of 10.2 percent from RMB1 point 32,000,000,000 in 2022. Gross margin was 16.7% compared with 15.8% in 2022. The increase was driven by the significant growth of our marketplace model on e cigarette platform. Lower gross margin of product sales model was due to the impact of inventory write downs. Total operating expenses were RMB1.85 billion, a decrease of 7.6 percent from RMB 2,000,000,000 in 2022.

Speaker 3

Operating expenses as a percentage of net revenues were 21.2% compared with 24.1% in 2022, showing improved operating efficiency and leverage. Loss from operations were RMB398.7 million compared to RMB685.7 million in 2022. Non GAAP EBITDA was negative RMB211.9 million compared to negative RMB561.3 million in 2022. Net loss was RMB 304,900,000 compared to RMB 731,100,000 in 2022. Non GAAP adjusted net loss was RMB287,500,000 compared to RMB 626,100,000 in 2022.

Speaker 3

Adjusted net loss margin was 3.3% compared with 7.5% in 2022. As of December 31, 2023, we had cash and cash recuperate, restricted cash and short term investments of RMB2.12 billion compared with RMB2.01 billion as of December 31, 2022. Net cash used in operating activities was RMB 59,300,000 in the 4th quarter of 2023 compared with net cash generated from operating activities of RMB31.8 million in the prior year before. Net cash used in operating activities was RMB567.9 million in 2023 compared with RMB 504,200,000 in 2022. With that, I would now like to open the call to Q and A.

Speaker 3

Operator, please go ahead. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. And our first question today will come from Lia Zhang of Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.

Speaker 4

I'll translate myself. Thank you, management for taking my question and congratulations on the strong results. I have two questions. My first question is regarding to the overall industry trend. Could management share the outlook 2024 outlook for China's MRO procurement service industry and competitive landscape?

Speaker 4

My second question is, if we look by customer vertical, could management share that 2024 outlook of our customers' spending budget by industry vertical?

Speaker 5

So basically the MRO landscape in China hasn't fundamentally changed because Chinese, the manufacturing sector in China is still the largest in the world. If you look to industries like real estate related industries like construction, concrete and steel industries, these industries have indeed taken a hit in recent years due to the changes in the Chinese policies and the economy. And in 2021, construction accounted for 20% of our GMV, but now it's down to only 5%. Going forward, the impact from the construction sector to us will be minimal. And the manufacturing sector in general is still very stable.

Speaker 5

So in the past year in China, sectors like chemicals, coal, machinery, manufacturing, cars, EVs, all these have been growing very healthily. So MRO is still a very large existing market and this trend of moving procurement from offline to online has not changed. So this is a great opportunity for quick growth for our industry. And second point is, in times of in times that are challenging, the need for the companies to optimize their cost will become even greater. So that's so this online trend, this moving things online thing hasn't really changed and that's really beneficial for the entire industry.

Speaker 5

In terms of Chinese business going abroad, we have seen a lot of Chinese manufacturers moving their facilities and supply chain from inside of China to Southeast Asia, Europe and Mexico. They're setting up entities there. So there's more and more companies going to these different geographies and that is a great opportunity for us because we need to keep if we want to keep meeting their needs, we need to go where they go. And in terms of going abroad and setting up a presence overseas, our selection, our choice is different from other companies. So the order is the U.

Speaker 5

S. Market first, followed by the EU and Japan and other developed Western markets. The logic behind that is the online model suits better with companies or rather with the markets that are compliant and transparent. So in terms of the market competition, in 2023 2024, I believe market competition in our industry is getting more stable and more rational. As a market leader, I believe our advantages are becoming increasingly marked because we are enhancing our core competitiveness and our cost advantages and bringing benefits to our customers.

Speaker 5

So the MRO industry is a large existing market and the different types of companies exist in this market. And there's different types of business models and we believe there's good opportunities for all. And as for us, we decided to focus on MRO and we hope to become the most specialized and professional player in this space. As for our customers and the different verticals, in 2023, we have seen that the more conventional and the stabler industries have seen higher growth. For example, we grew by 46% in the chemicals vertical last year and with EV, the growth was even faster, 147% there.

Speaker 5

With the property management, which is a more conventional business and more stable, not as volatile as the real estate industry, the growth there was 49%. And we also saw growth with the food and mining industries. Concrete, where things like concrete business did slide and with the steel industry, the growth there was negative. This year, we believe the negative impact from the construction industry has already been capped and as people need to go back into construction. So construction needs to continue.

Speaker 5

We believe there will be some kind of recovery when it comes to construction, the construction business. And for industries ranging from transportation, chemicals, food, EVs, property management, coal, telecom and communications in general, the growth there will be 20% to 30% this year. So that's it from me for this question. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. And our next question today will come from Ella Ji of China Renaissance. Please go ahead.

Speaker 6

So my question is regarding the business development plan and the budget and the target for the 2 growth areas. 1 is the private label and the other one is the U. S. Expansion. Could management elaborate on the detailed plans for these two growth areas in 2024?

Speaker 6

Thank you.

Speaker 5

Thank you very much for that question. So as for private labels, this is definitely a key to our future competitiveness. And our plan is to have 30% of our GMV coming from our private label sales and this figure was 5% last year. And when it comes to private label product selection, we will start with the products that are more generic in nature, products that are consumables and products where our customers don't have a lot of brand loyalty and are insensitive to exactly which brands they are using. And also products where made in China has a clear advantage in terms of costing.

Speaker 5

GM gross margin from private label last year was over 27% already. And our goal is to hit 30% for private labels across the board. For some private label SKUs, the GM there might be more than 30%. And we believe be it the China market or overseas markets, private label will be a very potent force. And our expectation for growth for private label in 2024 is 3 fold or 3x.

Speaker 5

For overseas market business development, the plan is to start with the U. S. And our first warehouse in Texas will go live in June. And then we will expand to California, then the East Coast in that order. The rationale behind choosing Texas as the first stop is the costs in Texas are generally speaking lower than other states.

Speaker 5

And it's more convenient to cover the Mexico market from a geographical perspective. So we're going to use our U. S. Market to cover the Mexico market from Texas. Specifically, the approach will be different from our China strategy.

Speaker 5

So our goal in the U. S. Is to become and become a Costco in MRO. So the product selection wise, it's going to be more curated and cherry picked, because it's going to be hard in the preliminary stage to be all encompassing, right? So it's going to be easier to build our supply chain with more highly selected SKUs.

Speaker 5

And we're going to in terms of the customers we're going to target, we're going to serve primarily SMEs and we're going to use purely e commerce to serve them. So for the online so even though we are going to use the online model to serve SMEs primarily, we also know that a lot of the Chinese companies that are currently have a presence in Mexico already are they are already our customers in China and a lot of the U. S. Companies are also being served by us in China. So some large companies and customers have already approached us and are in talks with us in terms of hoping that we can serve them in those markets as well in Mexico and in the U.

Speaker 5

S. So that's something we are planning on doing as well. In terms of our supply chain strategies, we're not going to just use Chinese suppliers or suppliers that are located in China. For each SKU we're going to sell, there's going to be a secondary or backup supplier. And this is to fend off any potential risks and changes when it comes to supply chain.

Speaker 5

So we're going to use this global sourcing strategy going forward. In terms of the U. S. MRO market, we understand that there's already some large MRO companies around, but overall this market is still very fragmented in the U. S.

Speaker 5

So a big opportunity for us once we get up and running in the U. S. Is to hurry up and look to acquire some significant channel companies or intermediaries in this space in the U. S. So having an intermediary in the U.

Speaker 5

S. Combined with the competitive products from China is going to propel us to grow faster in the U. S.

Speaker 3

All right.

Speaker 5

That was it. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question today will come from Brenda Zhao of CICC. Please go ahead.

Speaker 7

Good evening, Eric and Max. Thanks for taking my questions. I got 2 here. One is about the GPM. We've seen that the GPM increased 80 bps in 2023.

Speaker 7

May I know your 2024 strategy for GPM improvements? And second, what's your supply chain and fulfillment infrastructure investment plan in 2024? Thank you.

Speaker 2

Sure. In terms of improving gross profit margin, there are a number of things that we are working on. First is regarding pricing. In the early days of our business, we priced very aggressively in order to grow our scale. And capital markets condition were also quite different back then.

Speaker 2

But in the past couple of years, we've seen the markets becoming much more rationalized and greater focus is being placed on financial health. Therefore, we are adjusting our pricing strategy. We still want to maintain our price competitiveness, but we no longer see a need for over competition or excessively aggressive pricing? Another thing that we are working on is to deepen our collaboration with our supplier partners in order to further help reduce costs for our customers. And the 3rd, which is also extremely important thing that we're working on is to grow our private label products in the as the share of our total GMV.

Speaker 2

And in the next 2 to 3 years, we overall are seeking to grow our gross profit margin by 2%. We are also benchmarking against our competitors overseas and we are seeing in general our overseas counterparts reaching over 50% in their gross profit margin. And as we expand our business internationally, we hope we are hoping to also further increase our overall GPM. In terms of our supply chain efficiency and cost reduction, this is yet another priority that we're working on. Notably, we are increasing investments in automating our warehouses.

Speaker 2

This will we believe further improve our operational efficiency and reduce operational costs. And coincidentally, we are going to launch tomorrow an automated warehouse for fasteners tomorrow, which I will go and open tomorrow. And I believe that with further warehouse automation, we will be able to further improve our GPM as well. We are going to continue to rent our warehouses because we believe that there is still a oversupply of commercial warehouses and office spaces here in China and there is opportunity for us to lower the rents for warehouses. And that is my response to your question.

Speaker 2

Thank you.

Operator

And that will conclude our question and answer session. At this time, I would like to turn the conference back over to management for any closing comments.

Speaker 1

Thank you once again for joining us today. You can find the webcast of today's call on ir.dkcha.com. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us. Our contact information can be found in today's press release. Thank you and have a great day.

Operator

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

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