Yangcheng Evening News reporter Huang Ting
More than 80 million yuan in arrears has staged a "tear-off" drama between home appliance suppliers and retailers.
On the evening of April 25, Whirlpool (600983), a home appliance company, announced that, based on the fact that Gome Electric Co., Ltd. and its affiliated companies (hereinafter referred to as "Gome Electric") did not comply with the contract in terms of payment for goods, and there was a long-term delay, the company decided to The business cooperation with Gome will be terminated from the date of the announcement.
However, just one night later, Gome issued a statement in response, saying that the company did not delay payment for goods, but that Whirlpool (rights protection) had a chaotic management and had not fulfilled its obligations according to the contract for a long time.
It even directly named Galanz, the controlling shareholder of Whirlpool, saying that Galanz was forcing the company to subsidize unreasonable expenses, and intended to solve the problem through Whirlpool's troubles.
Some industry analysts analyzed to a reporter from the Yangcheng Evening News that there will be a certain period of payment between suppliers and retailers; some experts believe that Whirlpool chose to make the contradiction public, which may be due to its unsatisfactory business performance, and part of the reason should be blamed on Gome. on delinquent accounts.
Gome accuses Whirlpool of chaotic management
Before this dispute broke out, Gome was a long-term cooperative customer of Whirlpool in the Chinese market.
From 2019 to 2021, Whirlpool's sales to Gome were 152 million yuan, 98.1211 million yuan, and 79.5841 million yuan, respectively, with the former accounting for 2.87%, 1.98%, and 1.61%, showing a downward trend year by year.
From the beginning of 2022 to the disclosure date of the announcement, Whirlpool’s sales to Gome will amount to 8.81 million yuan.
According to Whirlpool's announcement, as of March 31, Whirlpool's total accounts receivable from Gome was 87.104 million yuan, and the net receivables after deducting withholding discounts (subject to the actual agreement between the two parties) was 82.358 million yuan.
Based on the above situation, the company decided to terminate the business cooperation with Gome since the announcement date.
Based on the public sales amount, the arrears may have been more than one year.
Whirlpool announced in the announcement that since April, the company's management has made significant changes in its judgment on Gome's future solvency, and sent a letter to Gome on April 25 and 26 to request it to pay the dues immediately. Gome's reply letter did not make any arrangements for payment.
After Whirlpool insisted that Gome would not repay the money, on April 26, a statement from Gome not only denied that the payment was delayed, but also turned the blame to Whirlpool, pointing out that its internal management was chaotic and it continued to delay reconciliation and settlement.
Gome's statement mentioned the payment, saying that since the two parties signed a number of "purchasing contracts" for cooperation, Whirlpool has not reconciled and confirmed the relevant expenses in accordance with the contract for a long time. Up to now, Whirlpool still owes Gome various expenses About 10 million yuan, and the unsalable defective products exceed 20 million yuan.
There is no situation that Gome unilaterally refuses to settle the payment for goods, and Whirlpool is always welcome to reconcile and settle accounts.
Who is responsible for poor product sales?
"A world-renowned home appliance company with a home appliance chain giant has annual sales of less than 100 million yuan. Is it because Whirlpool's products are insufficient, or Gome's sales power is insufficient?" Liu Buchen, an analyst in the home appliance industry, told a reporter from the Yangcheng Evening News. , behind the disputes over arrears between the two parties is actually a mutual "throwing of the blame" for poor product sales.
Liu Buchen explained that the 10 million yuan should be the promotional expenses for Whirlpool's increased sales in Gome, such as building a booth and making posters.
Gome's statement obviously means that Whirlpool overestimated its own strength, and sales did not improve after investment.
It is not uncommon in the cooperation between home appliance retailers and suppliers.
Another home appliance industry analyst, Liang Zhenpeng, told reporters that when Gome and other retailers cooperate with home appliance companies, they don't pay first and deliver the goods at the same time.
Gome will sell the goods first, and then settle the payment to the supplier. In most cases, it is on credit, or it will give the manufacturer some deposit first, and there will be a certain account period in this process.
In this process, contradictions between the two sides are common.
As for why Whirlpool publicly "ripped its face" with Gome, Liang Zhenpeng believes: "There is a possibility that Whirlpool, as a listed company, has not performed well in recent years. At this time, an announcement was issued saying that the payment for goods was in arrears by Gome, which could reduce the external pressure on the company. blamed for poor business performance, and blamed Gome's unpaid bills for its poor performance."
Affected by the weak growth of the domestic home appliance market, Whirlpool has experienced three consecutive years of declining revenue and widening net losses.
According to the 2021 annual report, Whirlpool achieved operating income of 4.931 billion yuan for the year, a year-on-year decrease of 0.26%.
The net loss attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 589 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 293.41%.
The net loss attributable to shareholders of the listed company after deducting non-recurring gains and losses was 668 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 105.09%.
Galanz Holdings failed to reverse Whirlpool's dilemma
As of the first quarter of this year, Whirlpool's latest equity distribution is that Galanz holds 57.11% of the shares, Whirlpool (China) holds 19.9% of the shares, and Hefei State-owned Assets holds 3.34% of the shares.
Gome directly named Galanz, the controlling shareholder of Whirlpool, in the statement, adding a bit of gunpowder to the dispute.
"The behavior of Whirlpool fully shows that all the problems are created by the major shareholder Galanz." Gome mentioned in the statement that Galanz has invested resources inconsistent with its operating capabilities in the process of cooperation with Gome, resulting in an embarrassing situation. It did not listen to the professional and well-intentioned suggestions put forward by Gome; Galanz, in order to force Gome to subsidize unreasonable expenses, intends to solve the problem through Whirlpool.
Whirlpool has not responded to the accusation as of press time.
Galanz related people told reporters that the announcement shall prevail, and there is no further response at present.
In May 2021, Galanz successfully acquired a 51% stake in Whirlpool China for 2.05 billion yuan and became the controlling shareholder of Whirlpool, and has continued to increase its holdings since then.
In July of that year, Galanz and Whirlpool China jointly held a brand upgrade strategy conference, announcing that Galanz would focus on household appliances, while Whirlpool (China) would focus on white goods.
"Galanz is an enterprise known for its strict cost management, which has had a great impact on the development of Whirlpool in the Chinese market." Liu Buchen said, for example, after Galanz took control, the salaries of Whirlpool's management and R&D personnel were greatly reduced, resulting in a large outflow of talents; R&D Expenses have also been greatly reduced, the pace of launching new products has slowed, and capabilities have declined; investment in brand building has also stagnated.
According to public information, before and after Galanz’s holding, many former executives of Whirlpool resigned. Ai Xiaoming, the former company president, submitted his resignation in April 2021, and then the company president was replaced by Liang Huiqiang.
Liang Huiqiang is the grandson of Liang Qingde, the founder of Galanz.
"Since Galanz took control of Whirlpool, it has carried out some restructuring of the management business structure and changes in management personnel, but the time is still relatively short, and the future performance of Whirlpool China remains to be seen." Talking about the impact of the termination of cooperation with Gome, Liang Zhenpeng believes that Whirlpool In the future, there will be one less mainstream sales channel, which is not good for Whirlpool, and the disclosure of disputes will inevitably have an impact on the follow-up cooperation between the two parties.