Semi-annual report to see high machine: revenue growth at home and abroad market differentiation is obvious

In the past few years, high-altitude working platform machinery has been a popular category in the construction machinery industry, market sales and equipment ownership are growing rapidly every year, leading construction machinery enterprises entering the high machine market, as well as the continuous influx of cross-border players, is also increasing, among which there are many listed companies attracting attention.

From the semi-annual report recently released by the upstream and downstream listed companies of the high machinery industry chain, the operating income and profit of the high machinery sector are differentiated, the high machinery domestic market is under short-term pressure, and the overseas market is still showing an upward trend.

01 | Advanced machinery segment performance growth

The 2024 semi-annual report of listed construction machinery enterprises as a whole, covering the listed enterprises in the high machinery business sector, the high machinery sector is mostly showing an upward trend, which is an important growth point of enterprises.

Zoomlion high-altitude machinery segment revenue of 3.955 billion yuan during the reporting period, accounting for 16.12% of the company's total revenue, an increase of 17.75%.

Xugong Machinery aerial work machinery segment revenue in the first half of 2024 was 4.527 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 11.50%; The operating cost was 3.113 billion yuan, and the gross profit margin was 31.25%.

Zhejiang Dingli achieved operating income of 3.859 billion yuan in the first half of the year, an increase of 24.56%; The net profit of withholding was 862 million yuan, an increase of 5.90%. Among them, the second quarter revenue of 2.408 billion yuan, a record high for a single quarter.

Luxiao technology aerial work equipment achieved operating income of 540 million yuan in the first half of the year, an increase of 467.78%, achieving the explosive growth of the business segment. As a reference, a total of 6,514 units of Luxiao Technology's climbing machines were delivered in 2023, achieving an operating income of 309 million yuan. Revenue from the climbing business has grown significantly.

In addition, Liugong, Sany Heavy Industry, Sanhe Intelligence and other listed companies issued semi-annual reports, although it did not specifically indicate the revenue situation of the high machine plate, but those who mention the high machine business are also growing. For example, Liugong mentioned in its semi-annual report: "High-altitude machinery business actively implements the" four new "strategy of new products, new regions, new customers and new models, sales revenue and profits maintain growth, domestic sales growth is 27 percentage points better than the industry, and market share steadily increases."

At the same time, the leasing leader of the two major listed enterprises in the downstream of the high machine also achieved performance growth. China Railway Emergency semi-annual report shows that in the first half of 2024, the aerial work platform service sector achieved rapid growth, and its operating income reached 1.783 billion yuan, an increase of 32.76%, accounting for 75.56% of the main business income. According to the semi-annual report of Hongxin C&D, in the first half of 2024, Hongxin C&D achieved revenue of 4,872,421 yuan, and the number of aerial work platforms has reached 204,800.

02 | Sales in the domestic market are down

While the performance of listed companies is generally increasing, the sales volume of high-end products is declining.

According to the statistics of the China Construction Machinery Industry Association on the main manufacturing enterprises of the lifting work platform, the cumulative sales of the lifting work platform from January to June 2024 were 101,449 units, down 15.19% year-on-year. Among them, 53,000 units were sold in the domestic market, down 33.7% year-on-year.

After two years of small growth from 2022 to 2023, domestic high machine sales began to decline sharply this year. At the same time since the third quarter of last year has been four consecutive quarters of year-on-year decline, and the decline continues to expand.

03 | Expansion of the scale of leasing faucet

In the high machine leasing market, the two leading lessors, China Railway Emergency and Hongxin Construction and Development, are expanding, promoting the continuous growth of domestic holdings. Correspondingly, the purchase of new machines by other small and medium-sized lessors has continued to decline.

In terms of equipment scale, the fleet size of Hongxin Construction and Development in the first half of the year was 204,800 units, an increase of 28%. At the end of 23, the scale was 178,000 units, an increase of 35.8%, and the expansion of the fleet gradually slowed down; The fleet size of China Railway Emergency in the first half of the year was 151,300 units, an increase of 48.3%, and the scale at the end of 23 was 121,100 units, an increase of 55.33%, still maintaining a high expansion rate.

However, in addition to the two major listed leading enterprises, the purchase of new machinery by other small and medium-sized lessors has continued to decline, while the rental rate and rental level of the high-machine leasing industry have also continued to decline.

According to the statistics of the association, the rental rate of high machine leasing continued to decline in the first half of the year, and the average rental rate from January to June fell 11% year-on-year to only 57.2%. From the model point of view, in the first half of the year, the rental rate of more than 36 meters arm car still maintained a high growth rate, and the segment market demand maintained growth, while the scissors car below 16 meters fell sharply.

In terms of rental prices, the high machine price index continued to decline in the first half of the month, the price index in June was 11242, down 8.8% from the end of last year, and down 10.4% from the end of 2022, while the average price index in the first half of the year was down 8.9%.

It can be predicted that the advantages of head leaseholders will continue to strengthen, and the market competition of small and medium-sized leaseholders will be more fierce, and poorly operated leaseholders may be gradually eliminated by the market in this round of adjustment.

04 | The overseas market continues to grow

In the first half of 2024, China's import and export trade volume of construction machinery was 27.134 billion US dollars, an increase of 3.13%. Among them, the export value was 25.837 billion US dollars, an increase of 3.38%. In the high machine section, the overseas market has increasingly become the main battlefield of major enterprises.

Xugong Machinery reported that compared with the domestic market in the bottom of a large cycle, the overseas market space is huge, and the cycle volatility is small. In the first half of 2024, the overseas share of Xugong's major products such as aerial work platforms increased.

Zoomlion's semi-annual report also said that high-altitude working machinery to strengthen technology and product innovation capabilities, the first half of the focus on overseas opportunities, for North America, Europe sales in short supply.

Data show that from January to May 2024, China's exports of high-altitude working machinery 32,968 units, an increase of 22.2%.

Overseas markets are not smooth sailing, in recent years, overseas countries have made restrictions on China's construction machinery exports, such as the European Union following the anti-dumping investigation launched in November 2023 on China's excavator, mobile lifting platform products, and in June this year announced the outline of the proposed temporary tariffs on the aerial work platform produced by Chinese enterprises. The highest proportion of tariffs is 56.1%, and the risk of overseas markets is increasing.

On the whole, there are still many unknowns and variables in the prospects of the high machine market in the adjustment period, and opportunities and challenges coexist. In the short term, China's high machine market will maintain its inertia. In the medium and long term, the domestic sales pressure of the future aerial work platform may be further increased.