HONG KONG, Mar 21, 2024 - (ACN Newswire) - Weilong Delicious Global Holdings Ltd ("WL Delicious" or the "Company") and together with its subsidiaries (the "Group") (Hong Kong stock code: 9985.HK) announced its audited annual results for the year ended 31 December 2023 ("Reporting Period"). 

The macro-economy continued to recover in 2023 and China's consumer market also showed a rebound trend. Snack food industry experienced diversified changes in the needs of consumers and sales channels. During the Reporting Period, WL Delicious actively embraced the changes and adhered to the 'multiple categories and large single product' strategy. WL Delicious continued to strengthen omni-channel construction and embraced new opportunities brought by the emerging channels. Additionally, WL Delicious persisted in enhancing its brand influence through youthful brand building.

WL Delicious's overall business operations and financial performance remained stable. Revenue for the Reporting Period was 4,872 million (RMB, same as below), representing a 5.2% year-on-year ("YoY"), primarily due to an increase in the sales from the emerging channels such as O2O, snack specialty retailers and content e-commerce platforms. Diversified channels have promoted the accelerated transformation of the snack food industry. Faced with this development trend, WL Delicious has kept pace with the times, actively embraced the growth opportunities brought by emerging channels, and has continued to strengthen its omni-channel operations and expansion strategies, thereby achieving the revenue growth. Gross profit for the Reporting Period was 2,323 million, representing a 18.5% growth YoY. Gross profit margin increased 5.4 percentage points to 47.7%, mainly due to (i) the Group's structural adjustment of main products in 2022; (ii) a decrease in the price of raw materials during the Reporting Period; and (iii) the optimization of the Group's cost management by optimising production process flow continuously. Net profit for the Reporting Period was 880 million, representing a 481.9% increase YoY. Adjusted net profit grew 6.3% YoY to 970 million, and adjusted net profit margin increased from 19.7% in 2022 to 19.9% during the Reporting Period, primarily due to the increase of gross profit.

Based on the Group's overall performance, and having accounted for the sufficient cash flow and improved operations during the Reporting Period, the Board proposed to declare a final dividend of 0.10 per share (RMB, inclusive of tax, same as below). The proposed final dividend and interim dividend representing approximately 60% of the net profit of the Group for Reporting Period. Besides, considering that 2023 was the first anniversary of WL Delicious' listing, the Board proposed to declare a special dividend of 0.11 per share, representing approximately 30% of the net profit of the Group for the Reporting Period. The annual dividend payout ratio of WL Delicious[1] reaches approximately 90%, which includes interim dividend, final dividend, and special dividend on the first anniversary of listing.

In terms of the products, the Group actively explored the consumer needs through market research, expanded its product lines to conform to consumer preferences, and constantly innovated and launched new products. Leveraging rigorous and profound fundamental research and advanced production techniques, the Group launched new products such as spicy Latiao "BADAO PANDA", konjac vegetarian tripe "XIAO MO NV" and spicy crisp Latiao "CUI HUO HUO". The new products further enrich the Group's product portfolio and strengthen the Group's position in the spicy snack food industry.

In terms of channels, through in-depth channel building over years, WL Delicious has a nationwide distribution network that deeply penetrates the Chinese market. In 2023, while continued to strengthen the traditional channels, the Group also embraced emerging channels such as O2O and Snack Specialty Retailers. Further, the Group strived to cover all channels of e-commerce platforms, which formed a strong complement to offline channels. The Group also strengthened consumer interaction through short videos, internal live streaming and influencer live streaming to enhance traffic conversion and repurchase of content e-commerce platforms. At the same time, the Group also actively expanded overseas markets.

In terms of brand, WL Delicious actively strengthened its brand building and engaged with young consumers through novel, interesting and topical activities, thereby capturing consumers' interest points and creating topics with public communication power, thereby enhancing the brand exposure and visibility of the Group. At the same time, the Group also valued "humanistic core" of the brand, actively participated in brand public welfare activities and fulfilled social responsibilities to improve the Group's brand image.

Mr Liu Weiping, Chairman of WL Delicious commented, "The year of 2023, for WL Delicious, was a year to take the initiative to innovate and accelerate the omni-channel construction. Facing the consumer environment that is undergoing many changes, WL Delicious remained confident and actively embraced changes and trends. Looking forward to the new year, WL Delicious will continue to innovate, explore multiple categories strategies, embrace the development emerging channels, and continue to strengthen the construction of online and offline omni-channels. We will actively strengthen our brand building and continue to create a brand image that is loved by consumers. We will also strengthen our supply chain, digital capabilities and enhance organizational team building, and constantly improve the Company's operating efficiency, so as to strive to create values for the shareholders and customers."

[1] The annual dividend payout ratio of WL Delicious: 86.84%

About Weilong Delicious Global Holdings Ltd

WEILONG Delicious Global Holdings Limited ("WL Delicious") is an all-in-one spicy snack products enterprise, leading in the research and development, production, and sales of spicy snack foods in China. Based on traditional formulas, WL Delicious started the Chinese seasoned flour products (also commonly known as Latiao industry, created our first Latiao snack in 2001, leading the standards construction of Latiao industry. With our outstanding product development capabilities, the Group has successfully diversified into vegetable products, bean-based products and others, including Konjac Shuang, Fengchi Kelp, 78° Braised Egg and others. The Group has further launched new products like spicy Latiao "BADAO PANDA", konjac vegetarian tripe "XIAO MO NV" and spicy crisp Latiao "CUI HUO HUO" in 2023, which are quite popular among consumers. In 2023, we have won more than 30 awards, including the "2023 Vibrant Brands Favored by College Students" by the 30th China International Advertising Festival and the "TopBrand2023 Top 500 Chinese Brands" by the Chinese Brand Festival. For more information, please visit https://www.weilongshipin.com/

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