Zeng Xiangbin, general manager of Maotai liquor sales company, fell to his death, insider: He was under too much pressure
The Red Star Capital Bureau has been informed by multiple sources that an executive of a subsidiary of Kweichow Moutai (600519.SH) unfortunately fell to his death more than a month ago.
The Red Star Capital Bureau learned that the above-mentioned senior executive was Zeng Xiangbin, director and general manager of Kweichow Moutai Sales Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Moutai Sales Company"), who fell to his death on December 7, 2021, at the age of 49.
As for the cause of his death, a person close to Zeng Xiangbin told the Red Star Capital Bureau that his work pressure was too great.
The Red Star Capital Bureau combed the annual report released by Moutai in Guizhou and found that the growth rate of the main financial indicators of Moutai Sales Company has declined year by year in recent years.
An industry insider said in an interview with the Red Star Capital Bureau that the pressure on the staff of Maotai Sales Company, especially as the general manager, is unimaginable.
As of press time, Kweichow Moutai has not released any news.
The general manager of the sales company fell to his death at the age of 49
Moutai Sales Company is an important non-wholly-owned subsidiary of the listed company Kweichow Moutai. Kweichow Moutai holds 95% of the shares and China Kweichow Moutai Distillery (Group) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Moutai Group") holds 5% of the shares.
According to Tianyancha, Zeng Xiangbin’s current position is director and general manager of Maotai Sales Company.
A person familiar with the matter provided a video to the Red Star Capital Bureau. From the video, at about 8:00 a.m. on December 7, 2021, Zeng Xiangbin fell to his death from the window sill on the 4th floor of his house in Renhuai City.
Red Star Capital confirmed the bad news from others who witnessed the scene.
A person who did not want to be named said that he had rented a house in Zeng Xiangbin's hands for more than 10 years and was very familiar with Zeng Xiangbin, "He is my landlord, and I rented some rooms in the house jointly owned by him and his brother-in-law. Open a store and run a business." Three days after the incident, he also attended Zeng Xiangbin's memorial service.
According to him, the memorial service was organized by Kweichow Moutai Group, and many heads of Moutai Company attended it at that time.
In addition, the Red Star Capital Bureau also learned that a few days after Zeng Xiangbin left, his old father also died in grief because he could not accept this fact.
As for Zeng Xiangbin's impression, many insiders revealed that he is low-key, mild-tempered, serious and responsible for his work, and is a "workaholic".
"He often works overtime until the early morning, and sometimes brings colleagues to work overtime at home."
Zeng Xiangbin rarely appears in media reports. His most recent public appearance was an inspection of Baozhen International Wine Company in 2018.
On the official website of Kweichow Moutai Group, Zeng Xiangbin only appeared once - in November 2017, he held a discussion with the mayor of Zhongxin Town, Daozhen County, Guizhou Province.
The Red Star Capital Bureau learned that Zeng Xiangbin was born in 1973 in Maotai Town, Renhuai City. He started working in August 1993 and served successively as assistant to the general manager of Kweichow Moutai Maotai Wine Marketing Co., Ltd. Deputy General Manager and other positions.
According to Tianyancha, he also served as the legal representative of 36 companies including Henan Guojiu Moutai Sales Co., Ltd. and Beijing Guojiu Moutai Sales Co., Ltd.
Sales company revenue and profit growth continued to decline
As for the reason why Zeng Xiangbin fell from the building, a person familiar with the matter revealed to the Red Star Capital Bureau that his work pressure was too great.
For many people, a bottle of Feitian Moutai is hard to find, and the sales company seems to have no pressure.
However, the Red Star Capital Bureau reviewed the 2017-2020 annual reports of Kweichow Moutai and found that although the main financial indicators of Moutai Sales Company are rising, their growth rate is declining year by year.
According to the annual report, Moutai Sales Company was established in May 2000 with a registered capital of 10 million yuan, and Wang Xiaowei is the party secretary and chairman of the company.
As of the end of 2020, the company's total assets were 78.7 billion yuan and net assets were 51.2 billion yuan; as of the end of June 2021, total assets fell to 59.98 billion yuan and net assets fell to 31.7 billion yuan.
From 2017 to 2020, the company's operating income was 49.8 billion yuan, 62.5 billion yuan, 72.8 billion yuan, and 82.2 billion yuan; operating profits were 30.1 billion yuan, 41.6 billion yuan, 49.9 billion yuan, and 59.1 billion yuan; net profit was 22.4 billion yuan, 30.9 billion yuan, 37.3 billion yuan, 44.2 billion yuan.
Judging from the above indicators, from 2018 to 2020, revenue increased by 12.7 billion yuan, 10.3 billion yuan, and 9.4 billion yuan, respectively, with growth rates of 25.5%, 16.5%, and 12.9%, respectively; operating profit increased by 11.5 billion yuan and 8.3 billion yuan, respectively. RMB 9.2 billion, with growth rates of 38.2%, 19.9%, and 18.4%, respectively; net profit increased by RMB 19 billion, RMB 6.4 billion, and RMB 6.9 billion, with growth rates of 37.9%, 20.71%, and 18.5%, respectively.
This also means that the company's revenue and net profit growth have declined for two consecutive years.
At the same time, on September 24, 2021, Ding Xiongjun became the new chairman of Kweichow Moutai, and proposed to promote modern management reform, asset management reform, marketing system and price system reform in terms of reform.
In this regard, liquor industry analyst Cai Xuefei analyzed to the Red Star Capital Bureau that the sales scale of the entire enterprise of Kweichow Moutai is growing rapidly, but the growth rate of the main financial indicators of the sales company is declining, which shows that part of the profits of Kweichow Moutai is lost by market middlemen and The channel has been obtained, but Moutai has not obtained the premium and direct benefits of the brand in the development process.
"So Kweichow Moutai should promote the reform of sales channels, use market methods to control prices, re-smooth the relationship between manufacturers and merchants, and enhance the Maotai sales company's ability to control the market, so as to obtain a stronger premium ability and improve profit level."
In Cai Xuefei's view, although Feitian Moutai is hard to find, Moutai has always been very demanding in terms of other series of wines and sales systems, and has put forward many reform measures.
"As an employee of a sales company, especially the general manager, the pressure can be imagined."
Kweichow Moutai has not released any news yet
A person familiar with the matter told the Red Star Capital Bureau that after Zeng Xiangbin's death, Maotai Group went to visit, but there is no other actual statement, "They may be afraid that this incident will not affect the company well."
Subsequently, the Red Star Capital Bureau called Maotai many times, but as of press time, it has not been contacted.
Regarding the death incident, Lu Qingqing, a lawyer from Sichuan Renhou Law Firm, believes that according to the "Administrative Measures for Information Disclosure of Listed Companies", the news of the death of the director and general manager of the subsidiary is not legally required to be disclosed.
"According to the regulations, a listed company can only fulfill its information disclosure obligation if a major event that may have a greater impact on the trading price of the listed company's securities and its derivatives occurs."
Lawyer Chen Shijun, a partner of Sichuan Shenghao Law Firm, also holds the same view as Lu Qingqing.
He told the Red Star Capital Bureau that it was impossible to determine whether the crash would have an impact on the price of Kweichow Moutai listed companies, so it was not a mandatory information disclosure requirement for listed companies.
In addition, Zhao Liangshan, a senior partner of Shaanxi Hengda Law Firm and a well-known public welfare lawyer, said that if Zeng Xiangbin, a director of the subsidiary, holds less than 5% of the shares of the subsidiary, then Kweichow Moutai does not need to disclose the death of Zeng Xiangbin; If it is less than 5%, it is necessary to fulfill the obligation of information disclosure.
According to the 2021 performance forecast previously released by Kweichow Moutai, according to preliminary calculations, Kweichow Moutai is expected to achieve a total operating income of about 109 billion yuan in 2021, a year-on-year increase of about 11.2%; it is expected to achieve a net profit of about 52 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of about 11.3% about.
As of the press release on January 14, Kweichow Moutai’s share price was 1,876 yuan per share, with a market value of 2,357.2 billion.
In addition, it is strange that the Tianyancha APP shows that on December 8, 2021, the day after he fell from the building, Zeng Xiangbin was newly appointed as the executive director and legal representative of Xinjiang National Wine Moutai Sales Co., Ltd.
In response, the Red Star Capital Bureau called the Xinjiang National Wine Moutai Company, and a staff member of the company hung up the phone on the grounds that it "needs to verify with the headquarters".
Zhao Liangshan believes: "If it is true, it means that Kweichow Moutai is suspected of fraud and concealment, and may face relevant penalties." But in Lu Qingqing's view, it may also be caused by poor information.
Red Star News reporter Li Weiming Li Chen