Author: Chen Xi
While the new car-making forces are proud to ring the bell on the New York Stock Exchange, Geely has resolutely returned to the A-share market.
On September 1, the Shanghai Stock Exchange officially accepted Geely’s application for listing on the Science and Technology Innovation Edition, which also means that Geely will officially return to A-shares as the first stock of the Science and Technology Innovation Edition vehicle.
According to this news, as of the closing of the Hong Kong stock market on September 2, Geely Automobile (HK: 00175) quoted a price of HK$17.70 per share, with a single-day increase of 3.51 (the Hang Seng Index fell 0.26 on the day), with a market value of 173.299 billion. Hong Kong dollar.
The prospectus submitted by Geely shows that Geely plans to issue no more than 1.732 billion shares this time on the A-share Science and Technology Innovation Edition, and the total planned investment in investment projects with raised funds is 20.424 billion yuan, of which it plans to use the proceeds raised The capital of 20 billion yuan is mainly invested in four major categories of projects: "new vehicle model product research and development projects", "forward-looking technology research and development projects", "industrial acquisition projects" and "supplementing working capital".
Among them, the "new model product research and development project" has a total investment of 8 billion yuan, which will be used for the company's new passenger car product research and development, as well as the upgrade and improvement of some existing models;
"Looking forward The total investment of "Technology R&D Project" is 3 billion yuan, which is used to invest in the company's forward-looking technology research and development in the fields of new energy, autonomous driving, Internet of Vehicles, etc.;
The total investment of "Industrial Acquisition Project" is 3 billion yuan, which is used for acquisitions Advanced factory production capacity and the acquisition of innovative enterprises in the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain;
The total investment in "supplementary working capital" is 6 billion yuan, which is used to supplement the company's operating funds.
It is not difficult to find that more than half of the funds raised by Geely will be used for technology research and development. It is worth mentioning that Geely also disclosed 32 core technologies and 9,332 authorized patents in the prospectus. Among them, one authorized patent is the first in the science and technology innovation edition, higher than SMIC (8812 items) and Ant Group (6382 items).
The 32 core technologies disclosed in the prospectus mainly involve powertrain (6 items), safety (5 items), intelligent driving (4 items), Internet of Vehicles (4 items), new energy- Electronic control (3 items) as well as new energy-48V, new energy-HEV, new energy-motor, electronic and electrical architecture, chassis, lightweight, intelligent manufacturing, intelligent air-conditioning and comfortable cockpit, virtual development, etc.
Judging from these 32 core technologies, Geely, which positions itself as a "pioneer in automotive technology transformation", is accelerating its transformation into a technology-based company. Previously, An Conghui (President of Geely Holding Group, CEO and President of Geely Automobile Group) also publicly stated, "Facing the changes in the global automobile industry and the complex and severe international economic and trade situation, Geely Automobile needs to continuously increase investment in research and development, continue to improve and maintain The company’s innovation and technological advantages.”
According to official data, Geely now has 17,677 patents and more than 20,000 R&D personnel, and its total investment in R&D in the past ten years has increased. It has exceeded 100 billion yuan. In 2019 alone, it invested 20.7 billion yuan in research and development, accounting for 6.3% of sales revenue, which is comparable to the world's first-class automobile groups.
With its heavy investment in R&D, Geely currently leads the industry in many core technologies. For example, in terms of vehicle architecture, it has industry-leading modular architectures such as CMA, BMA, SPA, and PMA; power In terms of assembly, it has achieved complete R&D and manufacturing capabilities for engines and gearboxes, and has also achieved independent supply of 100 engines; in terms of pure electric technology, it has achieved independent mastery of a three-in-one drive system; in terms of new energy, it has mastered hybrid There are four major technical routes: technology, pure electric technology, alternative fuels, and fuel cells; in terms of intelligent driving technology, the "Crawler Intelligent System" based on higher-level driverless technology has been released, etc.
At this year's Chengdu Auto Show, Geely officially announced that it has entered the "4.0 Comprehensive Architecture System Car Manufacturing Era", relying on the world-class modular architecture "CMA Super Matrix" to help it in the "Technology Geely 4.0 Era" Achieve generational leadership.
At the same time, Geely has continued to increase investment in research and development despite sales being hampered during the epidemic, and has invested in a large number of new products this year, including the already launched ICON, Lynk & Co 05, Haoyue, Geometry C, etc., as well as the upcoming Lynk & Co 06, Preface, etc.
Although the 2020 semi-annual report shows that Geely’s cash flow so far is as high as 20.21 billion yuan, but if it is to continue to maintain the current huge R&D investment and support the launch of so many new products, it will obviously require more financial support.
Therefore, in the face of the uncertainty of the global macroeconomic environment and the continued downturn in the domestic market, it is reasonable for Geely to return to A-shares and rely on the strength of the domestic capital market.
This move can not only enrich financing channels, optimize capital channels, and alleviate liquidity pressure with the help of the mainland capital market, but Geely, which has transformed into A+H shares, can also be more efficient by opening up the two major capital markets of A shares and H shares. Integrate global resources and accelerate the transformation into a global car company.
So far, according to Geely’s latest mid-year financial report, it has achieved revenue of 36.820 billion yuan and net profit of 2.297 billion yuan in the first half of the year. Its market share has increased to 6.74, and its brand sales rank fourth in the market. No. 1 Chinese brand. After returning to the A-share market, I believe Geely can use this move to achieve its set goals faster and better, and continue to stay ahead in the "new four modernizations" automotive transformation battle.
This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.