Recently, Chenqi Technology Limited submitted a prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, preparing to be listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. CICC, Huatai International, and ABC International are its sponsors. According to Beido Finance, the main business entity of Ruqi Travel is Guangzhou Qichen Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Qichen Technology").
Tianyancha information shows that Qichen Technology was established in March 2018, formerly known as Guangzhou Chechipin Information Technology Co., Ltd. At present, the company's registered capital is 10 million yuan, the legal representative is Jiang Hua, and shareholders include Sun Yanhong, Nanjing Wangdian Technology Co., Ltd. and Guangdong Zhujiang Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd., etc.
According to Beido Finance, Ruqi Mobility is a mobile travel brand under GAC Group, jointly invested and established by GAC Group and Tencent, and launched in Guangzhou on June 26, 2019. In addition to Ruqi Travel, GAC Aian, a subsidiary of GAC Group, is also preparing for IPO related matters.
In July this year, Gu Huinan, the general manager of GAC Aian, said that the IPO of Aian is progressing in an orderly manner. Previously, media reported that Gu Huinan revealed at the 2022 Guangzhou Auto Show that he was submitting relevant materials for the IPO application to the securities regulatory agency, and planned to sprint for the first share of the new energy vehicle science and technology innovation board, which is expected to be realized by the end of 2023 or early 2024. listed.
1. Rapid growth in performance, travel service income has formed a scale effect
According to the prospectus, Ruqi Travel positions itself as a travel technology and service company.
Ruqi Travel stated in the prospectus that the company's business includes travel services, mainly including online car-hailing and Robotaxi services; technical services, mainly including artificial intelligence data and model solutions and high-precision maps; A full set of supported ecological services.
According to the prospectus, Ruqi Mobility was co-founded by GAC Group and Tencent, and then introduced autonomous driving solution provider Pony.ai as a strategic shareholder. Ruqi Travel stated in the prospectus that shareholders with different industry backgrounds have enriched the market insights and opinions of major stakeholders in the service value chain of the entire travel industry.
According to the prospectus, Ruqi Travel started to provide online car-hailing services in 2019, and its business continues to develop. In 2020, Ruqi Travel will launch the Shunfeng car service, start the development and commercialization of Robotaxi in 2021, and start the car service business in April 2022.
According to Frost & Sullivan, in October 2022, Ruqi Mobility will be the first travel platform in the world to launch the commercial mixed operation of manned online car-hailing and Robotaxi services. As of June 30, 2023, the Robotaxi service has been in operation for about 18,490 hours, covering 538 stations, and completed about 457,000 kilometers of safe trial operation mileage.
According to the prospectus, as of June 30, 2023, a total of 261 vehicles are connected to Ruqi Travel’s Robotaxi operation technology platform. Ruqi Travel stated in the prospectus that the continuous growth of the number of users is also an important basis for promoting the commercial operation of Robotaxi.
As of June 30, 2023, Ruqi Travel mainly operates in nine focused cities (mostly located in the Greater Bay Area). As of June 30, 2023, the number of registered users of the company's travel service platform has reached 21.6 million, the average monthly active passengers are 1.1602 million, the average monthly active drivers are 28,600, and the peak daily orders for travel services exceed 360,000.
According to Frost & Sullivan, as of December 31, 2022, Ruqi Travel's user penetration rate in the Greater Bay Area will exceed 30%, ranking second in market share. At the same time, according to the information released by the Ministry of Transport, as of June 30, 2023, Ruqi Travel ranked first in the order compliance rate of the Ministry of Transport for 14 times.
Correspondingly, Ruqi Travel’s travel service revenue will increase from 400 million yuan in 2020 to 1.013 billion yuan in 2021, and further increase to 1.250 billion yuan in 2022, with a compound annual growth rate of 76.8%. At the same time, it will increase from 604 million yuan in the six months ended June 30, 2022 to 791 million yuan in the same period in 2023, a relative increase of 48.08%.
2. No profit has been realized yet, and the cumulative loss in the last three years is 1.5 billion yuan
Beido Finance found that the total revenue of Ruqi Travel will increase from 404 million yuan in 2020 to 1.014 billion yuan in 2021, and further increase to 1.368 billion yuan in 2022, with a compound annual growth rate of 84.0%. The 616 million yuan in the first half of the year increased to 913 million yuan in the same period in 2023.
In 2020, 2021, 2022 and the six months ended June 30 in 2022 and 2023, the gross profit of Ruqi Travel will be -92.218 million yuan, -245 million yuan, -146 million yuan and -78.592 million yuan respectively and -70.689 million yuan, operating losses were 298 million yuan, 683 million yuan, 562 million yuan, 280 million yuan and 340 million yuan respectively.
During the same period, Ruqi Travel’s losses (net losses) for the period were 299 million yuan, 685 million yuan, 627 million yuan, 302 million yuan and 345 million yuan respectively, and no profit has yet been realized. Based on this calculation, the cumulative loss of Ruqi Travel in the past three years (2020 to 2022) is about 1.611 billion yuan.
According to non-international financial reporting standards, the adjusted losses of Ruqi Travel from 2020 to 2022 are 299 million yuan, 669 million yuan and 531 million yuan respectively, with a total loss of about 1.5 billion yuan. In the first half of 2023, Ruqi Travel’s adjusted loss was 281 million yuan, an increase of 5.86% from 266 million yuan in the same period in 2022.
It is not difficult to see that the profitability of Ruqi Travel is being optimized. From 2020 to 2022, the gross profit margin of Ruqi Travel will be -22.8%, -24.2% and -10.7%, respectively, and -7.7% in the first half of 2023, and it is on the road to "return to positive". From 2020 to the first half of 2023, the adjusted profit margins of Ruqi Travel will be 74.1%, 66.0%, 38.8% and 32.2% respectively.
Beido Finance found that the loss of Ruqi Travel is mainly due to the higher expenses during the period, especially the sales expenses. From 2020 to 2022, the sales and marketing expenses of Ruqi Travel will be 153 million yuan, 265 million yuan and 231 million yuan respectively. In the first half of 2023, the company's sales and marketing expenses will be 110 million yuan, which is the same as the 110 million yuan in the same period in 2022.
It is worth mentioning that Ruqi Travel continues to increase investment in research and development. In 2020, 2021, 2022 and the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2023, its research and development investment will be 43.28 million yuan, 117 million yuan, 105 million yuan, 48.705 million yuan and 57.666 million yuan, respectively. Accounted for 10.7%, 11.5%, 7.7%, 7.9% and 6.3% of total revenue.
During the reporting period (2020 to the first half of 2023), the net cash used in the operating activities of Ruqi Travel was 274 million yuan, 443 million yuan, 665 million yuan and 373 million yuan respectively, and the net assets (liabilities) were 514 million yuan respectively , -152 million yuan, -750 million yuan and -1.084 billion yuan, the scale of liabilities is increasing day by day.
However, Ruqi Travel's cash reserves are also quite strong. As of the end of 2020, 2021, and 2022, the company's cash and cash equivalents will be 536 million yuan, 86.981 million yuan, and 554 million yuan, respectively. As of the first half of 2023, the cash and cash equivalents of Ruqi Travel will be 397 million yuan, and the same period in 2022 will be 573 million yuan.
According to Beido Finance, this is due to the multiple rounds of financing completed by Ruqi Travel. According to the prospectus, Ruqi Travel has received three rounds of financing. Investors include GAC Group, GAC Industry, Tencent Mobility, Pony.ai, SPARX Group, DMR, Guangzhou Industrial Investment Group, Hefei Guoxuan and other institutional investors.
3. A strong lineup of shareholders, supported by GAC, Tencent and other investors
According to public information, Ruqi Travel announced in early 2023 that it has completed the A-round financing of over 1 billion yuan , led by GAC Group, Pony.ai, WeRide, SPARX, Ruisheng Asia, Guangzhou Industrial Investment Group, Lingnan Business Travel Group, Industrial Control Institutions such as capital participated in the investment.
According to Beido Finance, Ruqi Travel received an investment of 1 billion yuan from Tencent and Didi in March 2019. In addition, in June 2023, Ruqi Travel announced the completion of the B-round financing of 842 million yuan, led by GAC Industry, followed by a number of industrial funds and financial investors.
According to the prospectus, Ruqi Travel completed the founding round of financing (900 million yuan) in July 2019, with a cost per share of 10 yuan and a post-investment valuation of 1 billion yuan; in June 2023, it completed the A round of financing (about 979 million Yuan), the cost per share is 20.2793 yuan, and the post-investment valuation is 3.01 billion yuan; the B round of financing will be completed in August 2023, the cost per share is 3.044 billion yuan, and the post-investment valuation is 5.36 billion yuan.
On June 21 this year, GAC Group issued an announcement saying that it agreed to the joint venture Ruqi Travel to carry out financing with a scale of about 842 million yuan. According to reports, Ruqi Mobility is a joint investment enterprise of Zhonglong Investment Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of GAC Group, and its controlling shareholder, Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Guangzhou Industry").
Among them, Guangzhou Automobile Group will not participate in the financing (B round) of Ruqi Mobility, and its controlling shareholder, Guangzhou Industry, plans to invest about 295 million yuan to participate in this financing. After the financing is completed, GAC Group Corporation holds about 19.89% of the equity of Ruqi Travel through its wholly-owned subsidiary Zhonglong Investment Co., Ltd.
At present, GAC Industry is still the major shareholder of Ruqi Mobility. Before the IPO, GAC Industry directly held 15.31% of the shares, indirectly held 18.89% of the shares through GAC; Tencent held 18.41% of the shares, Guangzhou Public Transport Group held 5.68% of the shares, Pony.ai held 5.34% of the shares, and Zhixing BVI, a subsidiary of Zhixing Trust, held the shares 5.20%.
At the same time, Guoxuan High-Tech (SZ: 002074) holds 2.95% of the shares through Hefei Guoxuan, Hongfeng Investment, Dayi Investment, China Drive, and Jovial Lane each hold 2.84% of the shares, SMBC Trust holds 1.71% of the shares, Ruisheng Asia through DMR holds 1.68% of the shares, and Guangmin New Energy holds 1.48% of the shares.
In addition, Guangzhou Guangshang Xinfu and Guangzhou Gongkong each hold 1.40% of the shares, Guangzhou Chentu Huajie holds 1.21%, Guangzhou Kechuang Hexing Bank holds 1.05%, Shenzhen Xinrui Fengsheng holds 0.93%, Guangzhou Kechuang Industry Holding 0.84% of the shares, and Jiang Hua, the executive director and chief executive officer (CEO) of Ruqi Travel, holds 0.03% of the shares.
According to Beido Finance, Gao Rui, the deputy general manager of GAC Group, serves as the executive director and chairman (chairman of the board) of Ruqi Mobility, the chief technology officer is Song Deqiang, the chief operating officer is Han Feng (Han Feng), and Sun Lei serves as the vice president. . Among them, Han Feng served as the vice president of operations of OYO China and the general manager of the Great North District.