Original link: https://www.latepost.com/news/dj_detail?id=1574
Alibaba’s reorganization left a variable
The day after the founder publicly appeared in China, Alibaba announced the largest restructuring since its establishment. This may also be the largest restructuring of a Chinese private company.
The reorganization was initiated by Zhang Yong, chairman and CEO of Alibaba, who will take over the split cloud intelligence group. Other business groups and CEOs are Taobao Tmall (Darshan), Local Life (Yu Yongfu), Cainiao (Wanlin), and Dawen Entertainment (Fan Luyuan). Subsidiaries of the original group, such as Hema, Ali Health, RT-Mart, etc., will also become independent in this reorganization.
Some businesses have the opportunity to prove whether they can really fight, no matter what the result is, at least the capital market has found a new room for imagination.
What we now know is that Alibaba is still a listed company (US stock code BABA, Hong Kong stock code 9988.HK), and its legal and financial entities have not changed. Each business group and company has its own CEO and board of directors, and the new CEOs report to their own board of directors instead of Zhang Yong. At present, we understand that Zhang Yong may join the board of directors of some business groups.
But what we don’t know is whether there is a higher-level reporting relationship between the board of directors of the business group and its subsidiaries, how independent these boards are, and Alibaba’s partnership system that can appoint company executives. How much power is there, let alone whether the partnership system will still have power? In the past few years, this highest power organization in Alibaba has always kept a distance from the front line during the company’s ups and downs. (Gong Fangyi)
Huawei expands its board of directors with six new faces
On March 28, Huawei elected a new board of directors. Compared with the previous session, Huawei’s board members expanded from 13 to 17. In the next year, they will be responsible for auditing Huawei’s medium and long-term strategic planning, annual business plan, profit distribution and other matters, and making decisions.
The role of Huawei’s top management on the board has not changed. Founder Ren Zhengfei remains a director. The chairman is still Liang Hua, and the vice-chairmen are Xu Zhijun, Hu Houkun, and Meng Wanzhou. Meng Wanzhou will take over as chairman on April 1. According to Huawei, the vice chairman is the highest leader of the company during his duty.
Important changes have occurred in the Standing Committee of the Board of Directors, which is the permanent executive body of Huawei’s board of directors. The main members are the chairman, vice chairman and executive director, responsible for “researching and brewing” major issues of Huawei.
In the last session of Huawei’s board of directors, the only executive directors were Wang Tao (Director of the ICT Infrastructure Business Management Committee) and Yu Chengdong (CEO of Terminal BG, CEO of Smart Car Solution BU). (President of Manufacturing). He Tingbo (President of HiSilicon, President of 2012 Laboratory Technology) and Zheng Liangcai (President of Human Resource Management Department) are executive directors present. Among them, Zhang Pingan and Zheng Liangcai are new members of the board of directors.
In addition, Zha Jun (2012 Laboratory Director, President of Academia Sinica), Hou Jinlong (President of Digital Energy Technology Company), Yang Chaobin (President of ICT Products and Solutions), and Ying Weimin (Chief Supply Manager) became new directors. Xu Wenwei (director of the Scientist Advisory Committee) and Yan Lida (deputy director of the Advisory Committee) no longer serve as directors. Tao Jingwen (President of Quality Process IT) and Bloomberg (Vice President of Public and Government Affairs) will continue to serve.
After the drastic changes in the general environment, Huawei’s business has accelerated its eastward shift, and it values the contribution of the Chinese market to its revenue more than ever. The change in Huawei’s board of directors underscores this point again. (He Qianming)
World’s Largest Cryptocurrency Exchange Indicted for Illegal Trading
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is facing its most significant regulatory action to date in the United States. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced on Monday that it has sued Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao on the grounds that it violated relevant regulations such as derivatives transactions, and called it “the world’s largest centralized digital asset exchange.” The physical network is ultimately controlled by Changpeng Zhao.
The CFTC is responsible for regulating the commodity and derivatives markets, including cryptocurrencies. All institutions that provide derivatives trading services in the United States must register with the CFTC and accept its supervision. The CFTC pointed out that Binance restricts US user transactions on the surface, but actually guides users to use methods such as VPNs to change IP addresses to bypass platform restrictions. In addition, the platform failed to require users to provide identity verification information, and did not implement basic compliance procedures related to anti-money laundering.
The further allegations allege that Binance knowingly evaded U.S. law and “participated in a planned regulatory arbitrage strategy for commercial gain,” knowing that there were many U.S. users on the platform, and even money laundering by criminals. The evidence cited are emails and internal chats from Binance executives. That suggests the CFTC and more U.S. regulators have access to records of internal company communications and even CEO Changpeng Zhao’s phone.
This may just be the starting point, with the CFTC filing a civil suit seeking fines, trading injunctions, and more. The U.S. Department of Justice has been investigating Binance since 2018, mainly because it failed to register with the Ministry of Finance and comply with anti-money laundering requirements. At the end of last year, it was reported that some prosecutors believed that the existing evidence was sufficient to support criminal proceedings against Zhao Changpeng and other executives, while some believed that time was needed for review.
Although Binance strenuously denies the allegations, the industry generally believes that it is various compliance “loopholes” that have driven Binance’s explosive growth. Founded in 2017, Binance has become the largest cryptocurrency exchange in just five years, accounting for more than half of the trillion-dollar market’s trading volume. According to media reports, Changpeng Zhao once told employees that the company would be “bigger than Google.”
Other practices are also controversial. At the beginning of November last year, as soon as its peer FTX was in crisis, Changpeng Zhao announced the sale of all FTX’s native encrypted tokens FTT, which exacerbated market panic. A few days later, he announced that due to the huge financial black hole and regulatory risks of FTX, he refused to assist or acquire it. A series of words and deeds are believed to have pushed FTX into bankruptcy, while Binance has established itself as an industry leader.
As the industry’s advantages expand, more and more stringent regulations and even lawsuits may also be expected by Binance. In an open letter last July, Changpeng Zhao wrote that “like all young companies, we have made mistakes in the past”. In February, Binance said it expected to pay the fine to resolve regulations and investigations it faces in the United States. This time, Binance responded that it was surprised and disappointed by the CFTC’s prosecution, and will continue to cooperate with regulators in the United States and around the world to develop a clear and comprehensive regulatory system. (Lin Guangying)
Futu’s Hong Kong stocks traded actively in the fourth quarter of last year, while U.S. stocks were sluggish
Futu Holdings’ performance rebounded in the fourth quarter of 2022, with revenue increasing by 42.3% year-on-year to HK$2.28 billion, driving annual revenue to increase by 7% year-on-year to HK$7.61 billion.
Among them, the brokerage commission income in the fourth quarter was approximately HK$1.05 billion, a year-on-year increase of 22.4%, but mainly because the comprehensive commission rate increased from 7 basis points to 9.6 basis points, while the total stock trading volume fell by 11% year-on-year to HK$1.1 trillion.
Futu mentioned that with the rebound of Hong Kong stocks that started in November last year, especially some Chinese Internet companies, the trading volume of Hong Kong stocks rose by 30% month-on-month to HK$396.6 billion.
However, during the same period, the trading volume of US stocks still fell by 10% to HK$675.3 billion. Despite domestic regulatory adjustments and the gradual resolution of external scrutiny risks, Chinese concept stocks have also rebounded sharply. Investors still seem to have doubts about the direction of U.S. stocks and major Chinese Internet companies. (Lin Guangying)
Huazhu expects revenue growth of over 60% in the first quarter
The hotel industry, which suffered heavy losses in the past three years, is quickly emerging from the shadow of the epidemic.
Huazhu executives said at this morning’s earnings conference call that driven by strong domestic demand, Huazhu China’s overall ADR (Average Daily Rate, average room price of rooms sold) has increased significantly. In the first quarter (especially after the Spring Festival), China’s business Growth was “very good” and slightly higher than the company had estimated. The company’s revenue is expected to grow by about 61% to 65% in the first quarter and by about 42% to 46% for the full year.
In terms of key business indicators, in the fourth quarter of last year, Huazhu’s mixed revenue per available room (RevPAR) was 159 yuan, a drop of more than 9% from the same period in 2019 before the epidemic. However, the data has increased month by month from October last year to February this year, returning to 74%, 87%, 91%, 96% and 140% in 2019 respectively.
The financial report shows that in the fourth quarter of last year, Huazhu’s revenue increased by 10.69% year-on-year to 3.706 billion yuan; the net profit loss narrowed by 72.98% to 124 million yuan. In the fourth quarter of 2021, due to the outbreak of the new coronavirus mutant strain Omicron, Huazhu’s occupancy rate fell by 14% in the quarter, and it suffered a loss of 459 million yuan (including the 257 million yuan asset impairment caused by the previous acquisition).
The huge loss has prompted the company to strengthen cost control. In 2022, Huazhu will reduce rent by about 300 million yuan, and the headquarters staff will be reduced by 15%. 539 stores will be closed throughout the year, mainly low-quality economical soft brand hotels and Hanting 1.0 hotels.
Huazhu said that this year the company will focus on “lean growth” and expand its hotel network based on high-quality stores, especially in low-tier cities and relatively weak markets. Huazhu plans to open 1,400 stores and close 600 to 650 stores this year. (Qiu Hao)
OTHER NEWS
In 2022, SF’s order volume will increase by 5.5% year-on-year, and its revenue will increase by nearly 30%.
Last year, SF Express’ revenue increased by nearly 30% year-on-year to 267.5 billion yuan, and its net profit increased by 44.6% year-on-year to 6.17 billion yuan. Among them, individual users increased by nearly 100 million to 585 million, and monthly active customers (enterprises) increased by 10% to 1.81 million. However, the annual order volume only increased by 5.5% year-on-year to 11.14 billion orders, and the net profit was driven more by changes in product structure or unit price increases. SF Express mentioned in its annual report that as the “price war” trend of express delivery is curbed in time, e-commerce platforms and traffic become more diverse, and the industry is turning to service quality competition.
Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao met with the CEOs of Apple and ASML successively.
According to the Ministry of Commerce, in the past two days, Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao met with Apple CEO Cook and ASML CEO Wenningke. The exchange topics mainly include the latter’s development in China, stable supply chain, etc. Wang Wentao said that China is willing to provide a good environment and services for foreign-funded enterprises such as Apple and ASML.
Tianjin Municipal Party Committee Secretary and Mayor met with Samsung Lee Jae-yong.
According to “Tianjin Daily”, Chen Miner, secretary of the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee, and Zhang Gong, the mayor of Tianjin, recently met with Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong and his party. Lee Jae-yong arrived in China ahead of the China Development Forum (CDF) last week, and his first stop was Samsung’s electric motor company and MLCC (chip capacitor) production line in Tianjin. This is also Lee Jae-yong’s second visit to China after three years since he inspected Samsung’s Xi’an memory chip base in May 2020. Samsung is still hesitating whether to apply because the U.S. “Chip Act” clearly restricts companies applying for subsidies to expand production and invest in China. U.S. subsidies can hardly make up for Samsung’s existing interests and cost advantages in China, but the current chip industry has been mixed with many factors beyond commercial competition itself.
Cyberspace Administration of China: Severely crack down on online malicious acts that damage the image and reputation of enterprises and entrepreneurs.
The State Cyberspace Administration of China stated on the 28th that the business network environment is an important part of the business environment of enterprises. This year, it plans to launch a special action of “clear and clear, optimize the business network environment and protect the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises” to deal with online falsehoods and falsehoods related to enterprises in a timely manner. Information such as subjective assumptions, malicious associations, stirring up old news, etc., deal with infringing information involving entrepreneurs, such as slander and abuse, related speculation of negative news, illegal use of names and portraits, etc., and severely crack down on online malicious acts that damage the image and reputation of enterprises and entrepreneurs.
Nongfu Spring’s tea beverage revenue will increase by 50.8% in 2022.
Nongfu Spring’s revenue in 2022 will be 33.24 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.9%, and the net profit attributable to the parent company will be 8.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.6%. Among them, packaged drinking water revenue accounted for 55%, and tea beverages (tea π, oriental leaves, steamed tea, etc.) continued to grow at a high rate, and the revenue accounted for 20%. The overall gross profit margin decreased by 2.1 percentage points, due to the increase in the price of crude oil, which increased the cost of packaging raw material PET.
The price of raw materials has risen, and Master Kong’s income did not increase last year.
Master Kong’s revenue in 2022 will increase by 6.3% year-on-year to 78.7 billion yuan, but management said that due to rising raw material prices and falling gross profit margins, net profit fell by 30% to 2.63 billion yuan. Among them, the beverage business accounted for more than 60% of revenue, gross profit fell by 1.9 percentage points, and net profit was 1.378 billion yuan. The instant noodle business accounted for nearly 40% of revenue, gross profit fell by 0.4 percentage points, and net profit was 1.375 billion yuan.
Alipay launched the largest range of executive rotation in the past 7 years, and established two new business divisions.
According to the exclusive news from “LatePost”, the Alipay business group under Ant Group has recently launched the largest executive rotation in the past 7 years. The positions of many vice presidents and senior directors have changed, and a new digital product division and Alipay App division have been established. . The report pointed out that the adjustment is for more innovation and change. The Alipay App Division will expand the Internet business that helps merchants operate digitally, and the Digital Product Division will be responsible for Alipay’s open system for merchants.
The first domestic LNG import transaction settled in RMB was completed.
On the platform of the Shanghai Oil and Gas Trading Center, CNOOC and Total Energy, a French multinational energy company, completed the first domestic purchase transaction of imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) settled in RMB. The volume of the transaction is 3.200000 to 3.4000 million British thermal units (about 65,000 tons), and the energy source comes from the United Arab Emirates. After launching the international LNG trading business in 2020, the Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Trading Center has launched an international LNG electronic trading system that can conduct bidding, bidding, and order consolidation, laying the foundation for the RMB settlement of this transaction.
China Huarong’s debt-to-equity swap with China Everbright Bank was approved by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.
On March 28, the official website of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission indicated that China Huarong Asset Management Co., Ltd. had approved the conversion of China Everbright Bank’s convertible bonds into shares. China Huarong converted about 140 million convertible bonds held by China Everbright Bank into A-share ordinary shares at a conversion price of 3.35 yuan per share, which is a premium conversion compared to the recent closing price of China Everbright Bank. After the share transfer, China Huarong holds 4.185 billion shares of China Everbright Bank and will become the fourth largest shareholder of China Everbright Bank.
Kaspersky said it detected malicious code in earlier versions of Pinduoduo.
It was reported earlier that information security company Kaspersky detected malicious code in an early version of Pinduoduo App. Kaspersky security researchers responded that these malicious codes use known Android system vulnerabilities to elevate their own privileges, and then download and execute malicious modules to access user notifications and files without authorization. Google removed the Pinduoduo app last week and urged users who had installed the app to uninstall it, and Pinduoduo has denied claims that its app contained malicious code.
SMIC expects this year’s expansion and investment pace to be the same as last year.
The largest wafer foundry in Mainland China saw its revenue increase by 40% to 49.5 billion yuan last year, and its net profit increased by 13% to 12.1 billion yuan, both record highs. Under the constraints of the industry downturn and the international situation, the company expects that this year’s revenue will decline by no more than 5% year-on-year, and the gross profit rate will be halved from 38% in 2022 to about 20%. However, SMIC does not plan to reduce investment. It is expected that capital expenditure this year will be roughly the same as that of the previous year, and the monthly production capacity increase by the end of the year will be similar to that of the previous year.
NIO’s third-generation battery swap station went online today, and the battery swap is expected to take only 5 minutes.
The first batch of NIO’s third-generation battery swapping stations went live in 10 cities across the country on March 28. According to NIO, the power swapping time will be shortened by 20%, the number of daily services will be increased by 30%, and the cost will be reduced by 30%. Last month, Weilai announced that the construction target of power station replacement in 2023 will be increased to 1,000 new ones, 600 more than the original target. However, since the first launch of the battery swap station in 2018, NIO’s battery swap business has not yet been profitable, and the construction of the swap station will increase cost pressure.
GAC Aian will independently develop the AH8 project, and Huawei will only participate as a supplier.
GAC Group announced on March 27 that the GAC Aian AH8 project has changed from joint development with Huawei to independent development, and Huawei will continue to participate in the cooperation as an important supplier. In July 2021, GAC Group announced that Ian will cooperate with Huawei to implement the AH8 project. Under Huawei’s Huawei Inside mode, Huawei will provide Ian with a full-stack solution including software and hardware. In August last year, Xiao Yong, deputy general manager of GAC Aian, said that there was basically no bargaining power in cooperation with Huawei. At present, the car brands that cooperate with Huawei through this model include BAIC Polar Fox and Changan Avita.
Chaimi Technology released new products of scrubbers and robots.
On the evening of March 28th, Chaimi Technology held a new product launch conference in Shanghai. In addition to the new scrubber M13Beta, it also released a bionic quadruped robot dog Eame One II and a general-purpose robot integrated with an AI language model. Humanoid robot. In an earlier exchange with the company’s management, “Wandian Finance” learned that last year, driven by online channels such as Douyin, Chaimi’s overall performance increased by 60% year-on-year and domestically by 600%. The company plans to increase offline stores and brand building this year, expanding from second-tier provincial capitals to first-tier cities such as Shanghai.
The United States and Japan have reached an agreement on key minerals for electric vehicles such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel.
The United States and Japan announced this week that they have reached a trade agreement on key mineral raw materials for electric vehicles, including that the two sides shall not implement bilateral export restrictions on key raw materials such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel, and review foreign investment in related supply chains. In addition, the IRA Act, which came into effect in the United States this year, provides a $7,500 tax deduction for consumers of electric vehicles, provided that the vehicle is finally assembled in North America, a certain percentage of battery components are manufactured in North America, and key minerals for batteries are not extracted in “foreign entities of concern”. Processing or recycling and more. The US-Japan agreement is expected to relax the conditions for Japanese electric vehicles to receive subsidies in the United States.
Musk’s brain-computer interface company seeks partners to conduct human experiments.
According to media reports, Neuralink, Musk’s brain-computer interface company, is in contact with the Barrow Neurological Institute, one of the largest neurosurgery centers in the United States, to prepare for human trials once regulators allow it. The latter implant was approved in 1997 and has been implanted in more than 175,000 patients to help reduce the tremors of Parkinson’s disease. Neuralink’s implant is different. It is a brain-computer interface device that hopes to eventually cure diseases such as paralysis and blindness. At present, such implants have not been approved to enter the market in the United States.
Buffett continued to buy Occidental Petroleum, and his shareholding ratio rose to 23.6%.
Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is continuously buying Occidental Petroleum shares, holding a 23.6% stake. About a year ago, Buffett began buying a lot of Occidental Petroleum shares. He has spent more than $1 billion on the stock since March. Berkshire Hathaway has now become the largest shareholder of Occidental Petroleum Corporation, and some analysts believe that Buffett may eventually acquire the company.
Disney began the first round of 7,000 layoffs, a total of three rounds.
All of Disney’s divisions are expected to be affected. As of the third quarter of last year, Disney had about 220,000 employees worldwide, a quarter of whom were part-time or temporary workers. A second, larger round will be notified in April, with the final round of layoffs expected by this summer. The layoffs are part of a massive cost-cutting plan following Iger’s return, which he said last month would cut the company’s costs by $5.5 billion.
U.S. regulators will investigate management practices at two failed banks.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Federal Reserve will investigate possible misconduct by the management of Silicon Valley Bank (Silicon Valley Bank) and Signature Bank (Signature Bank) before the collapse of the banks, and the results are expected to be announced on May 1. Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Michael Barr said that “Silicon Valley Bank’s bankruptcy is a typical case of mismanagement.” He also said that regulators had noticed the risk control problems of Silicon Valley Bank before, but the bank’s management was slow to respond.
The chairman of the National Bank of Saudi Arabia, which previously said it would not aid Credit Suisse, resigned.
The National Bank of Saudi Arabia, Credit Suisse’s largest shareholder, announced the resignation of its chairman, Ammar Al Khurdairy, for personal reasons. On the 15th of this month, after Credit Suisse disclosed its internal control flaws, he said that the National Bank of Saudi Arabia would not provide more assistance to Credit Suisse. Saeed Mohammed Al Ghamdi, CEO of the National Bank of Saudi Arabia, will take over as chairman.
The wealth of the Thai Red Bull family increased by US$7.8 billion last year, the largest increase in Asia.
Red Bull GmbH will sell more than 11 billion cans in 2022, accounting for a quarter of the global energy drink market, and record revenue. Thanks to the easing of pandemic restrictions and successful marketing, Red Bull has grown its audience from music festival goers to travelers. The Thai family Yoovidhyas behind it also increased their wealth by US$78 last year, bringing their total wealth to more than US$27 billion.
The second Metaverse Fashion Week opens tomorrow, with Adidas, Coach, Diesel, etc. participating.
The Fashion Week will be held in the virtual world Decentraland from March 28th to 31st, with Adidas, D-Cave and many other brands participating. Last year, the first Metaverse Fashion Week received 108,000 users and sold more than 7,000 wearable devices with a total value of 77,000 US dollars. The organizer said that preparations for this year’s fashion week began half a year in advance, allowing more time for brands to plan. Adidas will hold a fashion show on March 29 and let users try on the new Virtual Gear series. Tommy Hilfiger is hosting a new event every day and will unveil the artist-created blue, red and white “TH” logo.
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