The nearly year-long surge in pork prices has finally been reflected in the leading companies of the breeding industry.

On October 23, 2024, Wens Foodstuff Group Co., Ltd. (300498.SZ, hereinafter referred to as "Wens Shares"), with a market value of tens of billions of yuan, released its financial report for the third quarter of 2024. The report shows that in the first three quarters of this year, Wens Shares achieved a net profit attributable to the parent company of 6.408 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 241.47%; of which, the net profit attributable to the parent company in the third quarter alone was 5.081 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3097.03%.

The report also shows that among the top ten circulating shareholders of Wens Shares, there are three public funds: Yifangda ChiNext ETF (159915.SZ), Yifangda CSI 300 Initiated ETF (510310.SH), and Huatai-Pine CSI 300 ETF (510300.SH), all of which have significantly increased their holdings compared to the mid-year report.

Performance increases quarter by quarter in the first three quarters

In the first three quarters of 2024, Wens Shares achieved a total revenue of 75.384 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.53%; achieved a net profit attributable to the parent company of 6.408 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 241.47%; and the net profit attributable to the parent company after deducting non-recurring gains was 6.46 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 233.30%.

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Among them, the third quarter achieved a total revenue of 28.644 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21.89%; achieved a net profit attributable to the parent company of 5.081 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3097.03%. Looking at it quarter by quarter, this has been the third consecutive quarter for Wens Shares to achieve positive growth in performance, and the growth rate has been expanding quarter by quarter. In the first and second quarters, the net profit attributable to the parent company of Wens Shares were -1.236 billion yuan and 2.563 billion yuan, respectively, with year-on-year increases of 55.04% and 232.16%, respectively.

"Of course, there is a factor of a lower base last year, but the more important factor is the rising price of the company's products," a staff member of Wens Shares told the Economic Observer Network reporter. Thanks to the rise in the prices of the main products of livestock and poultry, coupled with the continuous decline in breeding costs, the company's cash inflow has accelerated, and the balance sheet is also accelerating the repair. As of the end of the third quarter of 2024, the debt-to-asset ratio of Wens Shares has dropped to 54.86%, a decrease of 6.55% from the end of the previous year, and a decrease of 4.09% from the end of the first half of the year.

Public information shows that the main business of Wens Shares is the breeding and sales of pork and chicken, among which the pork business is its core business. In July, August, and September 2024, Wens Shares sold 2.3233 million, 2.354 million, and 2.5105 million pigs (including live pigs and fresh products), respectively, with the average selling price of live pigs being 18.95 yuan/kg, 20.45 yuan/kg, and 19.05 yuan/kg, respectively, and the corresponding sales revenue was 32.188 billion yuan, 38.051 billion yuan, and 43.914 billion yuan.

On the same day, Wens Shares also released a preliminary plan for profit distribution in the first three quarters of 2024. According to the preliminary plan for profit distribution, Wens Shares plans to distribute a cash dividend of 1.5 yuan (including tax) per 10 shares to all shareholders, with a total cash distribution of 995 million yuan (including tax). According to the reporter's statistics, this profit distribution is the second cash dividend of Wens Shares in 2024, and it is also the 13th cash dividend since the end of 2015 when it went public; with this cash dividend, the total amount of cash dividends distributed by Wens Shares to shareholders will reach 26.796 billion yuan.

Public funds significantly increase their positionsIt is worth noting that in Wens Foodstuff Group Co., Ltd.'s (hereinafter referred to as "Wens") previous semi-annual report, there was only one public mutual fund, the E Fund ChiNext ETF, among the top ten circulating shareholders. However, in the third-quarter report, the number of public mutual funds among the top ten circulating shareholders increased to three, which are the E Fund ChiNext ETF, the Huatai-PineBridge CSI 300 ETF, and the E Fund CSI 300 Initiated ETF.

Specifically, the E Fund ChiNext ETF held approximately 150 million shares, ranking second among the top ten circulating shareholders, an increase of 39.6346 million shares from the semi-annual report's holdings (110 million shares); the Huatai-PineBridge CSI 300 ETF held approximately 103 million shares, ranking sixth among the top ten circulating shareholders, an increase of 39.7297 million shares from the semi-annual report's holdings (62.7703 million shares); the E Fund CSI 300 Initiated ETF held approximately 67.8885 million shares, ranking tenth among the top ten circulating shareholders, an increase of 26.1215 million shares from the semi-annual report's holdings (41.767 million shares).

A rough estimate shows that these three public mutual funds alone have increased their holdings in Wens by approximately 105 million shares in the third quarter. Based on Wens' closing price on October 22, the corresponding market value is about 2.021 billion yuan. It is important to note that since the disclosure of the third-quarter reports for public mutual funds is not yet complete, the full extent of the increase in holdings of Wens by public mutual funds will be reflected as the third-quarter reports are gradually disclosed.