How about the prospect of Hydrogen energy company?

In recent years, the heat of the hydrogen energy industry has risen, and the huge market potential has attracted many listed companies to enter the market.

The reporter of China Business News noted that because the hydrogen energy industry is still in the stage of demonstration application and business model exploration, the performance of many listed companies in the hydrogen energy industry is not ideal.

Known as the "first share of hydrogen energy", Yihuatong (688339.SH, 2402.HK) recently announced that its loss in the first half of the year is expected to increase by 30% compared with the same period last year. In addition, many companies in the industry are currently in a state of loss.

"This was mainly due to a decrease in revenue of approximately 40% year-over-year during the reporting period." Yihuatong said that the fuel cell industry is still in the early stage of commercialization, and the group's operating performance has certain volatility, and its operating income is usually concentrated in the second half of the year. The positive impact of the government's first fuel cell vehicle demonstration city cluster and related supporting policies contributed to the Group's increased sales of fuel cell systems in the same period last year.

Persistent loss

Many companies in the hydrogen energy industry are at a loss.

Yihuatong is a company specializing in the research and development and industrialization of fuel cell systems, and its products are mainly used in commercial vehicles such as buses, logistics vehicles and heavy trucks.

It is understood that Yihuatong has achieved mass production of fuel cell systems, and established in-depth cooperative relations with Yutong Bus, Beiqi Foton, etc. Fuel cell vehicles carrying the company's fuel cell system have been operated in Beijing, Zhangjiakou, Shanghai, Chengdu, Zhengzhou and Zibo and other ground lines.

However, since its listing in 2020, Yihuatong has suffered sustained losses.

Wind data show that from 2020 to 2022 and the first quarter of 2023, Yihuatong's revenue was 572 million yuan, 629 million yuan, 738 million yuan and 48 million yuan, respectively, an increase of 3%, 10%, 17% and -50%. The net profit returned to the mother was minus 23 million yuan, minus 162 million yuan, minus 166 million yuan and minus 39 million yuan, respectively.

Taking 2022 as an example, IHuatong said in its annual report that the company's loss of 166 million yuan in the current period was mainly because the fuel cell industry was still in the early stage of industrialization at this stage and the market size was small; The continuous high level of R&D investment has a certain impact on the current operating performance; Increase investment in market expansion and talent reserve; Impairment losses were made on some inventory and fixed assets that were no longer able to meet customers' market needs or fit products for sale.

Today, Yihuatong continues to lose money. On August 14, Yihuatong announced that, according to a preliminary assessment, it is expected that the loss of the first half of the net profit of the mother increased by 30% compared with the same period last year (-60 million yuan), that is, the loss of about 78 million yuan. "The change was mainly due to a decrease of approximately 40% in operating income during the reporting period compared to the same period last year."

In the announcement, Yihuatong said that the fuel cell industry is still in the early stage of commercialization, and the group's operating performance has certain fluctuations, and its operating income is usually concentrated in the second half of the year.

It is worth noting that many companies in the industry are also in a state of loss.

In the past three years, Hou Pu Shares (300471.SZ), the main hydrogen energy equipment, only achieved a profit of 11 million yuan in 2021, and the rest of the financial average annual loss; In addition, the net profit of Jiehydrogen Technology, which is preparing to be listed, and Guofu Hydrogen Energy, which has been terminated, will be minus 59 million yuan and minus 66 million yuan respectively in 2021.

"Although the company lost money in the first quarter of this year, it must hope to achieve profit as soon as possible." The company has always been optimistic about the hydrogen energy industry, but the company is only an equipment provider, the specific situation needs to see the upstream site planning and downstream automotive applications." Thick stock sources told reporters.

There is still uncertainty

Many companies in the hydrogen energy sector have mentioned the risk of receivables recovery in their statements.

As the hydrogen energy industry policy becomes more intensive, the technical path becomes clearer, and the industry direction becomes clearer, in addition to enterprises focusing on hydrogen energy, energy companies such as Sinopec, Donghua Energy, Jiahua Energy and some listed companies have arranged hydrogen energy through endogenous development, epitaxial mergers and acquisitions, and participated in all links of the whole industrial chain.

Under the joint promotion of national policies and the market, many enterprises have accelerated the layout of the hydrogen energy industry chain, and increased product research and development investment and market promotion efforts, and market competition has become increasingly fierce.

Ihuatong said that the head vehicle enterprises continue to accelerate the research and development investment and marketing in the fuel cell vehicle industry, and some traditional engine or motor manufacturers continue to promote the cooperation of international leading fuel cell enterprises through technology authorization, joint ventures and strategic cooperation, equity investment and other ways. Some emerging fuel cell system and reactor manufacturers continue to make efforts in research and development, market and industrial chain cooperation. "If the company does not respond to changes in the fuel cell vehicle market in a timely manner in the future, it will face the risk of losing market share and falling product prices due to increased market competition."

Hou Pu shares in 2013 has carried out hydrogen energy business, the company said that although the current in the field of hydrogen energy refueling equipment has a certain technical reserve and has achieved a certain sales performance, but hydrogen energy and fuel cell applications are still in the early stage of industrialization in China, mass, large-scale output is still a process, there are more uncertainties in the industry.

In addition, many of the above companies in the hydrogen energy field have mentioned accounts receivable recovery risks in their statements.

Taking Yihuatong and Houpu shares as an example, by the end of 2022, the accounts receivable of the two were 1.114 billion yuan and 241 million yuan, accounting for 151% and 34% of the current revenue, respectively, and 29% and 10% of the total assets at the end of the period.

Houpu shares said in this regard, the company's main natural gas vehicle/Marine and hydrogen energy filling equipment products delivery and acceptance cycle is long, although most of the credit is good large customers, but if the macroeconomic environment, customer funds, such as dramatic changes, resulting in accounts receivable can not be timely recovered according to the contract or bad debts occur. It may reduce the company's capital turnover speed and operational efficiency, and there is liquidity risk or bad debt risk. The company has taken various measures to shorten the payment collection cycle, reduce older accounts receivable, and control the risk of bad debts.

"Due to the relatively strong position of the vehicle factory in the automobile industry chain, the company's accounts receivable payment cycle is long, and the actual payment cycle is generally 1-2 years or even longer." The company's collection progress generally depends on the customer's own financial situation, if the customer's business situation deteriorates, or the financial environment of the new energy vehicle industry chain cannot be fundamentally improved, it may lead to the company's receivables can not be timely recovery or even loss of the risk." Yihuatong said.

The industry has a promising future

In 2022, the national sales of fuel cell vehicles exceeded 3,000, an increase of more than 113% year-on-year.

As a secondary energy, hydrogen energy has the characteristics and advantages of diverse sources, clean and low-carbon, storable and transportable, flexible and efficient, and can be widely used in chemical industry, transportation, construction, energy storage, power generation and other fields.

A number of hydrogen energy companies have said that in order to cope with the global environmental crisis, the world's major economies have reached a consensus on carbon peak and carbon neutrality to deal with the global environmental crisis, and have formulated a strategic plan for the development of hydrogen energy industry at the national level, and the development of hydrogen energy has become a global consensus.

Benefiting from the national "dual carbon" emission reduction target and the implementation of the fuel cell vehicle demonstration application city cluster policy, China's fuel cell vehicle industry has achieved rapid development in 2022. Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers show that in 2022, the sales volume of fuel cell vehicles in China exceeded 3,000, an increase of more than 113% year-on-year.

In terms of hydrogenation station construction, data from the China Hydrogen Energy Alliance Research Institute show that by the end of 2022, the number of hydrogenation stations in China has reached 358, an increase of 64% over 2021, ranking first in the world. From the perspective of regional distribution, at present, China's hydrogen refueling stations are mainly concentrated in the eastern coastal provinces and cities where the fuel cell vehicle industry is more advanced, such as Guangdong, Shandong, Jiangsu and other places.

"At present, the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle industry market is in the early stage of commercialization, has not yet formed a scale effect, the comprehensive cost is high, but with the scale of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in the Winter Olympics and other events, the global 'dual carbon' target background and the domestic fuel cell vehicle demonstration city cluster policy release, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will usher in unprecedented new momentum." Yihuatong said.

Yihuatong pointed out that from the application scenario, China's hydrogen fuel cell vehicle application scenario has been transformed from a single commercial demonstration application in the field of public transport to a multi-scenario demonstration application such as public transport, sanitation, urban logistics distribution, cold chain transport, slag transport, bulk goods, and also in new fields such as ships and cogeneration.

Li Hang, general manager of Dongfang Jiangxia Investment, said that as of May this year, the international hydrogen energy listed companies have reached 183, and the Wind hydrogen energy index (8841063.WI) has risen nearly 15% in the past year, and the Sinolink Securities fuel cell index has risen about 8% in the past year, outperforming the 2.76% rise in the CSI 300 index. From the perspective of the primary market, hydrogen energy investment and financing also continues to be hot, and there are more than 30 equity financing events in the hydrogen energy industry in 2022, with a total amount of more than 6 billion yuan.