In the economic track of Yan value, medical beauty projects have gradually become the mainstream of consumption. With the arrival of the Spring Festival holiday, medical beauty consumption will usher in the peak period.

among the "three swordsmen of medical beauty", Aimei Ke (300896.SZ) and Haohai Shengke (688366.SH) have recently released their 2023 performance reports: in 2023, Aimei Ke is expected to realize a net profit of 1.81 billion yuan -1.9 billion yuan, up 43%-50% year on year; Haohai Shengke expects net profit to be 0.4 billion -0.43 billion yuan, up 121.64-138.27 year on year.

"No two research" according to its three quarterly report in 2023 found that: in the third quarter of 2023, the net profit growth rate of Aimei Ke and Haohai Shengke was 43.74 and 102.04 respectively. At present, the net profit growth rate of Haohai Shengke crushed Aimei, in the "no two research" view, this is mainly due to Aimei over-reliance on hyaluronic acid products, hi body-based solution injection products revenue growth decline; at the same time, with the increase of hyaluronic acid track competitors, has become a risk that can not be ignored.

Aimeike is a national high-tech enterprise engaged in the research and development and transformation of biomedical materials and biomedical products. It has achieved the industrialization of a series of dermal fillers based on sodium hyaluronate, dermal fillers based on polylactic acid, and facial implant lines.

As of the close of A shares on February 6, Aimeike reported 320.5 yuan/share, corresponding to a market value of 69.34 billion yuan; Haohai Shengke reported 97.2 yuan/share, corresponding to a market value of 16.67 billion yuan.

"no two research" according to the three quarterly reports of the two, it was found that in the third quarter of 2023, the revenue of Aimei Ke and Haohai Biotech were 2.17 billion yuan and 1.982 billion yuan respectively, and the revenue growth rate was 45.71 and 25.23 respectively.%.

During the same period, the net profits of Aimeike and Haohai Biotech were 1.418 billion yuan and 0.327 billion yuan respectively; the net profit growth rates were 43.74 and 102.04 respectively.

in an old article in November 2023 (the volume of the third quarterly report of medical beauty, huaxi biology, aimeike and haohai biotech scuffle in double 11), we focused on the volume of the third quarterly report of aimeike, huaxi biology and haohai biotech as the three swordsmen of medical beauty. with the gradual disappearance of hyaluronic acid bonus, their performance also diverged.

Up to now, Aimee and Haohai Biotech not only face problems such as performance differentiation, but also face the serious challenge of homogenization of medical and beauty products.

With the disappearance of the hyaluronic acid bonus, the competition in the medical and beauty industry intensifies, who is more profitable? As a result, "Buer Research" updated some of the data and charts in the old article last November.

the 11th of 2023 will end. according to the statistics of tmall's big beauty makeup data, the medical beauty products of huaxi biology (688363.SH), aimeike and haohai shengke, known as the "three swordsmen of medical beauty", have not entered the TOP10 list of tmall double 11 beauty and skin care categories.

"no two research" according to its 2023 three quarterly report found that, from the performance growth rate, Haohai Biotech revenue net profit performance is stable; Aimei customer profit growth rate slightly less; and Huaxi biological revenue net profit double down.

from the product layout, Huaxi biological layout of medical end products, functional skin care products, functional food and other multi-line business industry chain.

With the disappearance of the hyaluronic acid bonus, the industry's internal volume continues to intensify. In the highly competitive medical beauty track, who can tell a new story among the three swordsmen of medical beauty?

01 performance: profit double decline VS growth acceleration

in the first three quarters of 2023, the three quarterly reports of medical and American swordsmen were not satisfactory.

specifically, Huaxi biology achieved revenue of 4.221 billion yuan in the first three quarters of 2023, down 2.29 percent from the same period last year; Haohai Biotech achieved revenue of 1.982 billion yuan, up 25.23 percent from the same period last year; and Aimeike achieved revenue of 2.17 billion yuan, up 45.71 percent from the same period last year, with the fastest revenue growth among the three.

from the perspective of net profit, the three-quarter report data show that: Huaxi biological net profit of 0.514 billion yuan, down 24.07 percent from the same period last year, Haohai Shengke net profit of 0.327 billion yuan, up 102.04 percent from the same period last year, and Aimeike net profit of 1.418 billion yuan, up 43.74 percent from the same period last year.

From the net profit point of view, Aimee's net profit level is the highest, Haohai Biotech growth is the strongest, Huaxi Bio directly left behind.

"no two research" found that 2021 is considered to be the first year of hyaluronic acid, according to the financial report, in 2021, Huaxi biological annual revenue growth rate of 87.93; Haohai Shengke revenue growth rate of 32.61; Aimei customer revenue growth rate of up to 104.13.

However, AMEC's revenue and net profit growth slowed sharply in the third quarter of 2023. Among them, the slowdown in revenue growth of Aimee is mainly due to the decline in revenue growth of solution injection products dominated by "Hi Body.

Huaxi's revenue and net profit fell sharply, mainly due to the decline in revenue of functional skin care products and the decline in gross profit margin; at the same time, it has continuously expanded the C- end market of skin care products in the past two years, and the substantial increase in sales expenses is also One of the reasons for the decline in its performance.

According to Huaxi Bio's financial report, its sales expenses for the first three quarters of 2020-2023 were 1.099 billion yuan, 2.436 billion yuan, 3.049 billion yuan and 1.943 billion yuan respectively. Year-on-year growth was 110.84 percent, 121.66 percent, 25.16 percent and -36.27 percent respectively. Revenue accounted for 41.75 percent, 57.96 percent, 49.23 percent and 47.95 percent respectively.

while Haohai Biotech achieved significant growth in revenue and net profit, thanks to the high growth in revenue of hyaluronic acid products in medical beauty and wound care products in the first half of 2023, driving the overall revenue growth.

According to the semi-annual report of Haohai Biotech, in the first half of 2023, it achieved revenue of 1.313 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 35.66 percent, and a net profit of 0.205 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 188.94 percent. Among them, hyaluronic acid's revenue was 0.256 billion yuan, up 114.35 year on year.

In the "no two research", it seems that in the future, whether the three swordsmen of medical beauty can continue to take the "Yan value economy" express train at high speed depends on their specific product layout and their ability to control the future pattern.

02 Layout: Multi-wheel drive VS vertical subdivision

Although Huaxi Bio, Haohai Biotech and Aimee are jointly known as the three giants of hyaluronic acid A- shares, their development and layout in the field of hyaluronic acid are very different.

In the production of hyaluronic acid raw materials, Huaxi Bio's market share has been "one of the best", according to the Prospective Industry Research Institute report, 2021 China's total sales of hyaluronic acid raw materials accounted for 82.00 of global sales, Huaxi Bio-hyaluronic acid raw materials sales accounted for 44.00 of the world.

This is due to its technical advantages, such as microbial fermentation technology, enzyme digestion and precise control of molecular weight technology, hyaluronic acid "gradient 3D cross-linking" technology and terminal moist heat sterilization technology, which make it cost and production Efficiency has significant advantages.

Aimei is a sudden rise in terminal medical products. According to the 2022 annual report of Ameek, which cites Frost Sullivan research report statistics, based on 2021 sales, Ameek sodium hyaluronate skin filler ranked first among domestic manufacturers, with a domestic market share of 21.3 percent.

Haohai Biotech is involved in the production of hyaluronic acid raw materials and terminal medical products, but it has no absolute advantage in both fields.

In addition, according to the financial report of the three swordsmen of medical beauty, the gross profit margin of the three major manufacturers varies greatly. In the first three quarters of 2020-2023, Huaxi Bio gross margin was 81.41, 78.07 and 76, respectively.. 99%, 73.07; During the same period, the gross profit margin of Haohai Biotech was 74.93, 72.10, 68.98 and 71.65, while the gross profit margin of Aimeike was 91.81, 93.70, 94.85 and 95.30.

In the "no two study", the reason for the difference in gross margin of the three swordsmen is mainly due to the different directions of their industrial layout.

Huaxi Biology is no longer satisfied with the B- end market with the absolute advantage of hyaluronic acid raw material production. In recent years, it has continued to force the C- end market, focusing on the layout of the entire industry chain. Huaxi Bio has expanded its multi-line business such as medical end products, functional skin care products and functional foods.

In addition, Huaxi Bio has extended its product line to the food industry. Since 2021, Huaxi Bio has launched the food brand "Black Zero", which focuses on mineral water and beverages containing hyaluronic acid. "Eating water light muscle" has become the selling point of hyaluronic acid food.

At present, functional skin care products have become its main source of income. According to Huaxi Bio's 2023 semi-annual report, functional skin care products achieved revenue of 1.966 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 7.56, accounting for 63.92 percent of revenue. Among the four major brands, the revenues of Runbaiyan, Quadi, Mibel and Muscle are 0.632 billion yuan, 0.543 billion yuan, 0.217 billion yuan and 0.341 billion yuan respectively.

Haohai Shengke has taken advantage of its hyaluronic acid raw materials to expand its business focus to ophthalmology with the help of asset mergers and acquisitions.

From 2015 to 2017, Haohai Biotech successively acquired shares in Henan Cosmos, Shenzhen New Industry, Zhuhai Agger and other enterprises to obtain ophthalmic artificial crystal business. At present, the formation of coverage of ophthalmology, medical beauty and wound care, bone joint cavity viscose supplements, surgical anti-adhesion and hemostasis four sub-industry areas.

according to haohai biotech's 2023 semi-annual report, ophthalmology and medical beauty innovative products are the company's largest businesses. in the first half of 2023, its ophthalmic products and medical beauty and wound care products achieved revenue of 0.481 billion yuan and 0.485 billion yuan respectively, up 34.98 and 47.49 respectively year on year, accounting for 36.7 and 37.03 respectively.

Different from the first two, Aimei focuses on the development of medical and aesthetic terminal products, which is why its gross profit margin ranks first among the three.

Aimeike has made continuous efforts in hyaluronic acid medical and beauty terminal products to meet the needs of subdivisions. The products under research cover a variety of products such as solution injection, gel injection, facial filling line, cosmetics and others. It has launched a number of products such as Hi-Body, Aifuda, Yimei One Plus One, and Tight Love to conquer the city and land in the subdivision track.

"No 2 Research" believes that in the industrial layout, relying on the early advantages of hyaluronic acid, the three swordsmen of medical beauty have embarked on different paths: Huaxi biological layout of medical terminal products, functional skin care products, functional food and other multi-line business of the entire industrial chain, Haohai Biotech to expand ophthalmology and medical beauty and wound care products, Aimeike focus on vertical subdivision track. Who will become the real "face value" in the future? Everything needs to be verified by the market.

03 Future: Botox VS New Product Development

According to the report of the Prospective Industry Research Institute, the market size of hyaluronic acid in China will reach 12.7 billion billion yuan in 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of about 14.18 percent.

However, with the increase of competitors in the hyaluronic acid track, the price of hyaluronic acid raw materials and end products has decreased year by year. According to the 2021 Global and China Hyaluronic Acid (HA) Industry Market Research Report released by Jost Sullivan, the average price of hyaluronic acid raw materials has dropped from 210 yuan/g in 2017 to 124 yuan/g in 2021, a drop of more than 40%.

In the case of increasingly crowded hyaluronic acid track and increasingly fierce competition; if you want to break the game, the layout of new categories is imperative. The three swordsmen of medical beauty chose the second largest sub-category of non-surgical medical beauty-Botox.

Previously, Huaxi Bio had set up a joint venture with South Korea's Med to expand botulinum toxin-related products. In January 2020, according to CCTV Financial, South Korea revoked the license of the company's botulinum toxin type A Innotox for forging experimental materials.

So far, all three botulinum toxin product licenses have been revoked. This is undoubtedly a blow to Huaxi Biology, and its plan to expand its thin face needle business has temporarily failed.

on September 5 this year, Huaxi biological announced that the South Korean company Medytox had agreed to terminate the joint venture agreement and the exclusive agency agreement, but the arbitration of the claim has not yet been heard.

Aimee began to lay out the botulinum toxin market in 2018 and acquired a 25.42 per cent stake in South Korean botulinum toxin brand Hunons in 2021. According to the investor survey minutes of Aimee on March 28, 2023, "its botulinum toxin type A for injection has completed phase III clinical trials and is currently in the registration and application stage".

At the same time, Haohai Biotech has entered the field of botulinum toxin and small molecule drugs through equity investment, and currently forms a product portfolio layout of "hyaluronic acid + botulinum toxin + photoelectric equipment" in the field of medical beauty.

"no two research" that, in addition to the layout of botulinum toxin, medical three swordsman new research and development reserves is also an important factor leading the future. Only by constantly innovating and introducing new product lines can we remain invincible in the fierce market competition.

according to the financial report of the three swordsmen of medicine and beauty, the research and development cost rates of huaxi biology in the first three quarters of 2020-2023 are 5.36, 5.75, 6.10 and 6.56 respectively. During the same period, Haohai Biotech's research and development cost rate was 9.46, 9.51, 8.54 and 7.80. However, the research and development cost rate of Aimei Ke during the same period was 8.74, 7.04, 8.92 and 7.33.

Huaxi biological research and development cost rate is the lowest among the three swordsmen of medical beauty, but this is mainly due to Huaxi biological revenue volume. In absolute terms, Huaxi bio-research and development costs the largest investment, the first three quarters of 2023 for 0.388 billion yuan, the same period of Haohai Biotech and Aimeike were 0.182 billion yuan and 0.173 billion yuan, respectively.

in terms of new product reserves, according to the 2023 semi-annual report of the three swordsmen of medicine and the United States, huaxi biology has 346 research projects, including raw materials and synthetic biology, medical equipment, functional skin care products, functional food, etc. Haohai Shengke's research products include hyaluronic acid, radio frequency, laser, botulinum toxin, etc. In addition, the fourth-generation hyaluronic acid product is expected to be approved at the end of this year or the first half of next year; as of the first half of this year, Aimee's botulinum toxin type A for injection has completed phase III clinical trials.

In the "no two research", it seems that the first-mover advantage of the three swordsmen in the field of hyaluronic acid has laid its position in the medical beauty industry; but the competition in the medical beauty track is fierce, and the layout of botulinum toxin and other new products in the future may become the key to the final victory.

04 Who can tell the new story of medical beauty?

As the face injection of hyaluronic acid, there is always failure.

When the hyaluronic acid dividend narrows, the three swordsmen of medical beauty embark on different paths: Huaxi Bio uses the advantages of raw materials to develop functional skin care products; Haohai Biotech uses mergers and acquisitions to shift the focus to ophthalmology; Aimeike focuses on differentiated subdivision of the track, while laying out botulinum toxin.

in the first three quarters of 2023, the performance of the three swordsmen in medicine and the United States was divided: haohai biotech's net profit was stable; Aimei's profit growth rate was slightly lower than that of others. However, Huaxi's net profit declined. According to the "No 2 Research", Huaxi's net profit declined mainly due to its functional skin care product revenue decline and gross profit margin decline. At the same time, it continues to expand the C- end of skin care products market, the sharp increase in sales expenses is also one of the reasons for the decline in its performance.

Today, the three swordsmen of medical beauty not only face problems such as performance differentiation, but also face the challenges of serious product homogeneity, lack of innovation and lack of breakthrough technology in the medical beauty industry.

With the disappearance of the hyaluronic acid bonus, the industry's internal volume continues to intensify. In the highly competitive medical beauty track, who can tell a new story among the three swordsmen of medical beauty?

Some references to this article:

1. "Interpretation of the semi-annual report of the medical and beauty industry:" Three Musketeers "performance differentiation Medical and beauty hospital profit pressure", Oriental Wealth Network

2. behind the depth of the "three swordsmen" in medical beauty: the threshold is not high enough and medical accidents occur frequently, China net technology

3. "hyaluronic acid drives the rebound of haohai biotech's performance, but the ophthalmology sector is still under heavy pressure", interface news

4. "Spring Festival is hard to warm up, but it is beautiful and warm", bullet finance

this article comes from wechat public number "no 2 research" (ID:bueryanjiu), author: no 2 research, 36 krypton is authorized to publish.