STO Express Equity Incentives 19.5599 million shares for "1 yuan purchase" Investors: Free gift?
The purchase cost of this batch of shares is 236 million yuan, and the current market price is 163 million yuan. Logistics experts said that the price of 1 yuan makes the industry feel incredible
who inspires
The total number of employees participating in this employee stock ownership plan does not exceed 124 (excluding reserved shares), and the scope of holders is directors, supervisors, senior managers, Core management personnel and core backbone employees.
who benefits
Eight directors and senior executives are expected to subscribe for 27.95% of the total shares of the employee stock ownership plan.
The proposed subscription share of core management personnel and key backbone personnel (not more than 116) accounts for 45.45% of the total share of the employee stock ownership plan.
Wang Wenbin plans to subscribe for 2.9812 million copies, with one person accounting for 15.24%.
Recently, an announcement by Shentong Express (002468.SZ) caused a public outcry.
On February 14, Shentong Express announced that it plans to transfer no more than 19,559,900 shares that have been repurchased to company executives and key employees at a price of 1 yuan per share.
On February 16, the closing price of Shentong Express was 8.34 yuan, which means that the employee's stock will have a substantial floating profit.
"The market has actually been expecting the incentive plan of STO Express, including the changes in the board of directors and management team last year, which have made the market expect it. It was generally expected in the industry that an equity incentive plan may be launched after the end of the first quarterly report of this year. The expected price is Between 4.5 yuan and 5 yuan (the market price is 50 to 40% off)." On February 16, express logistics expert Zhao Xiaomin told the Red Star Capital Bureau that the company's market performance did not change much from last year, and the price of 1 yuan was introduced. It's the most incredible place in the industry.
It is generally believed in the industry that this employee equity incentive is basically equivalent to a "Valentine's Day gift package".
In the capital market, the price of 1 yuan is used as an equity incentive, although Shentong Express is not an exception, but it is rare.
So, what is the intention behind the launch of the 1 yuan share option incentive by Shentong Express?
124 employees can buy stock for 1 yuan
Wang Wenbin alone accounted for 15.24%
On the evening of February 14, Shentong Express released the first employee stock ownership plan in 2022.
According to the announcement, Shentong Express’s shareholding plan does not exceed 19,559,900 shares in total, accounting for 1.28% of the company’s current total share capital, of which 14,356,400 shares are used for employees participating in the employee stock ownership plan for the first time, and the remaining 5,203,500 shares. As a reserved share, it will be transferred within the time specified in this Employee Stock Ownership Plan.
The employee stock ownership plan purchases repurchased shares at a price of 1 yuan per share.
The total number of employees participating in this employee stock ownership plan shall not exceed 124 (excluding reserved shares).
The announcement shows that the scope of holders is the directors, supervisors, senior managers, core managers and key backbone employees who have a direct and important influence and contribution to the company's future operations and performance growth.
In terms of distribution ratio, 8 directors and senior managers are expected to subscribe for 27.95% of the total share of the employee stock ownership plan.
The proposed subscription share of core management personnel and key backbone personnel (not more than 116) accounts for 45.45% of the total share of the employee stock ownership plan.
In addition, in order to support the sustainable development of the company and attract and retain outstanding talents, the employee stock ownership plan has set aside 5,203,500 shares.
The reserved share subscription period is before December 31, 2023.
The employee stock ownership plan has listed 8 directors, supervisors and senior executives, and the proposed subscription shares range from 44,700 shares to 2,981,200 shares, totaling 5,466,700 shares, accounting for 27.95% of the total shares.
The specific personnel include Wang Wenbin, general manager of the company, Han Yongyan, deputy general manager, and Liang Bo, the person in charge of finance.
It is worth noting that in this shareholding plan, Wang Wenbin intends to subscribe for 2.9812 million shares, with one person accounting for 15.24%.
Wang Wenbin has also attracted much attention this time because of his status as an "Ali executive".
Public information shows that from 2007 to 2019, Wang Wenbin served as the vice president of Alibaba Group, the head of Taobao and Tmall technical products, the head of the merchant business department, and the president of Alibaba Cloud of Cainiao Network; from 2015 to 2020, he served as general manager and CTO. He is also the general manager of the express business department; from 2019 to 2020, he also served as the new retail special assistant to the CEO of Alibaba Group.
The grant price is much lower than the repurchase cost and market price
"The industry feels incredible"
According to the published draft, the shares of the employee stock ownership plan come from 19,559,900 shares previously repurchased by Shentong Express with the company's own funds.
At the beginning of 2021, Shentong Express completed the repurchase work, with a total of 19.5599 million shares repurchased, accounting for 1.28% of the company's current total share capital; the highest transaction price of the repurchase was 15.50 yuan/share, and the lowest transaction price was 9.16 yuan/share. The total transaction amount was 236 million yuan (excluding transaction fees).
This operation means that Shentong Express, which previously spent 236 million yuan to repurchase shares with a current market price of 163 million yuan, will sell it to its own employees at a "fracture price" of 19.5599 million yuan.
Coupled with looser assessment objectives, employee stock ownership incentives can be called a welfare package.
Express logistics expert Zhao Xiaomin told the Red Star Capital Bureau that the market has actually always expected the incentive plan of Shentong Express, including the changes in the board of directors and management team last year, which have made the market look forward to it.
It was generally expected in the industry before that an equity incentive plan may be launched after the end of the first quarterly report of this year, and the expected price is between 4.5 yuan and 5 yuan (50% to 40% off the market price).
The introduction of the price of 1 yuan is the most incredible place for the industry.
The stock price fell 4% the day after the announcement
Suspected of "disregarding the interests of investors"
This operation of Shentong is indeed good news for motivated employees.
But judging from the sentiment feedback from the market, investors do not seem to buy it.
On the day after the announcement of the shareholding plan (February 15), the share price of Shentong Express fell 4.27% to 8.18 yuan per share.
In the stock bar of Shentong Express, the matter sparked heated discussions among investors.
"It's a free gift?" "Equity incentives are a good thing, but the threshold is too low." "Ignore the interests of secondary market investors." Some STO shareholders expressed their injuries.
There are also shareholders who hold the opposite opinion, thinking: "The lock-up period is 36 months, and it is not a bad thing for executives to be bound to Shentong." "200 million for a stable management team is not necessarily a bad thing."
Regarding the basis and rationality of using 1 yuan/share as the grant price, STO Express also gave an explanation: it intends to further improve the company's medium and long-term incentive mechanism, consolidate the foundation of the human resources system, and focus on key employees and key incentives to retain and motivate. This part of the core talents avoids the competition of talents by peer competitors.
The main purpose is to enhance the confidence of the awarded employees, fully mobilize their enthusiasm, and maintain and further strengthen the company's advantages of lean management.
In recent years, the express delivery industry has faced fierce market competition, and the unit price of express delivery has continued to decline, and the profitability of express delivery companies has been affected to a certain extent.
Intense industry price competition had an impact on STO's performance.
Shentong said that before the industry pattern is completely stable, confidence is more important than gold; it is one of the key tools for the company to step into high-quality and sustainable development by continuously enhancing the confidence of employees and fully stimulating and mobilizing the enthusiasm of employees.
big brother left behind
The market value of Shentong Express is 12.8 billion, and it will lose 840 million to 950 million in 2021
Founded in 1993, STO Express was one of the earliest private express delivery companies, and it had the largest market share until 2014.
As the former big brother of the express delivery industry, the development of Shentong Express seems to be a little weak now.
A few days ago, Shentong Express released a performance forecast. It is expected that the net loss attributable to shareholders of listed companies in 2021 will be 840 million to 950 million yuan, and the profit in the same period last year will be 36.327 million yuan.
Regarding the reasons for the loss of performance, Shentong Express said that the price competition in the industry is relatively fierce.
In order to maintain the healthy development of the express delivery network and enhance the customer expansion and service capabilities of the franchised outlets, the company appropriately adjusted the support of the market policy during this period, resulting in a decline in the company's single-ticket express delivery revenue, which had a certain impact on the annual performance.
At the same time, Shentong Express said that due to changes in the express delivery market in 2021, the company's asset investment and the provision of asset impairment, the annual performance will still be under pressure. If the impact of the above asset impairment is excluded, the company's performance in the fourth quarter of 2021 is expected. gained profit.
Today, the market value of Shentong Express is 12.8 billion.
Looking at the market value of leading A-share express companies, SF Holding (002352.SZ) has a total market value of 302.7 billion, ZTO Express (ZTO.US) has a total market value of 24.9 billion, Yunda (002120.SZ) has a total market value of 53.4 billion, Debon The total market value of the shares (603056.SH) is 11 billion, and the market value of Shentong is only higher than that of Debon Express.
According to the Red Star Capital Bureau, in the capital market, the use of a price of 1 yuan as an equity incentive is not a precedent for Shentong Express. There have been cases before, but they are rare.
Previously, in December 2021, the well-known home appliance company "Supor" launched an equity incentive plan. The news caused a public outcry. The focus of the controversy was the equity grant price as low as 1 yuan in the incentive plan.
Supor's operation has also been questioned by the outside world as a transfer of benefits, and it has also attracted regulatory attention.
In an interview with the Red Star Capital Bureau, Liu Chang, a salary and welfare consultant, said that in fact, the employee stock ownership plan follows the "Guiding Opinions on the Pilot Program of Employee Stock Ownership Plans for Listed Companies", and the guiding opinions do not limit the price of equity grants. Therefore, the employee stock ownership plan has a certain degree of flexibility in the price setting. "The price of 1 yuan per share is understandable at the compliance level. However, the rationality of the plan is to judge whether there is a transfer of benefits and whether it damages the interests of shareholders. The basics."
Liu Chang said that Shentong’s unlocking cycle can focus on whether the incentive plan is beneficial to the company’s long-term interests during the unlocking cycle, and whether the executives and core team can balance short-term and long-term interests in strategic planning.
At the same time, it also depends on whether this incentive can match the company's performance indicators and personal performance indicators, and has a performance-driven effect.
Liu Chang believes that "1 yuan grant" is only a parameter in the design of the long-term incentive system, and it does not mean much when viewed alone. On the contrary, the evaluation and rationality of the incentive effect itself should be the core essence of long-term stock option incentives.
Chengdu Business Daily-Red Star News reporter Yu Yaoshen Mengyun