After achieving profitability for the first time, YSB no longer mentions GMV

After nearly 3 years of listing, the pharmaceutical distribution internet company YSB (9885.HK) has finally turned a profit.

On March 18, YSB released its financial report showing a net profit of 30 million yuan for 2024, a significant improvement from the massive net loss of 3.189 billion yuan in 2023.

This directly stimulated YSB's stock price, which closed up 10.46% on March 18.

However, this substantial turnaround was mainly influenced by the change in the item "financial liabilities measured at fair value with changes recognized in profit or loss" for YSB.

After going public in 2023, YSB needed to account for the preferred shares issued before the IPO as "financial liabilities measured at fair value with changes recognized in profit or loss," amounting to 3.172 billion yuan, which had a significant impact on the 2023 profits.

As this item’s impact fades, YSB achieved comprehensive profitability in 2024.

From the revenue side, YSB's growth rate is slowing down.

In 2024, it generated revenue of 17.904 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.48%, slowing down by 13.4 percentage points compared to 2023.

In fact, YSB's downstream customers are not having an easy time.

Due to various factors such as healthcare reform, the number of offline retail pharmacies closing has been increasing since 2024. According to Zhongkang Data, the number of offline retail pharmacies in China closed in Q1-Q3 2024 reached 6,778, 8,792, and 9,545 respectively.

The performance of leading chain pharmacies has significantly declined. In 2024, China National Pharmaceutical Group (000028.SZ) reported a net profit of 642 million yuan, a year-on-year decline of over 60%; Shuyu Pingmin (301017.SZ) is expected to report a net loss of 120 million to 220 million yuan in 2024.

Changes in the external environment are bringing more challenges to the entire industry.

Xinfeng noted that YSB's 2024 financial report no longer discloses GMV data, but its chairman and CEO Zhang Buzhen had set a "trillion GMV" target early last year.

In this regard, a person close to YSB explained to Xinfeng: "This is a common practice referenced from other mainstream internet platforms, and GMV data is no longer disclosed separately. At the same time, it is also because the current revenue sources are more diversified, not just limited to the platform's transaction services for pharmaceuticals."

From a category perspective, YSB is ramping up its own brand business to further increase profit margins.

In October 2024, YSB acquired a pharmaceutical company that holds a total of 8 sub-brands including Yuandian, Antaibang, Futai, and Peitong.

At the same time, YSB is integrating with large models such as DeepSeek.

With its sales channels covering lower-tier markets, whether YSB can promote the further application of AI technology in the grassroots pharmaceutical market is highly anticipated