On December 2, HZKE Robotics Technology Group submitted a prospectus for the Science and Technology Innovation Board to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The company's main business is welding robots and industrial welding equipment.
Welding is called the "tailor" of the manufacturing industry and is an important processing method in industrial production.
Due to the harsh working environment of welding, the cost of investing in a welding robot is equivalent to the salary of a welding worker in developed coastal areas for 1-1.5 years. "Machine substitution" has become a trend in the industry.
HZKE sold a total of 1,698 welding robots and robot-specific welding equipment last year, with a market share of about 7% in China. The company achieved revenue of about 400 million yuan in 2019.
In the first three quarters of this year, HZKE's revenue was approximately 430 million yuan and its net profit was 52.68 million yuan, both exceeding the level of last year. HZKE said that the performance improvement stems from the market demand for welding robot products and the improvement of product competitiveness.
Yaskawa Electric has invested in HZKE through its subsidiary Yaskawa Electric China. The current shareholding ratio is 18.3%, second only to KED Group, which holds 45.8%, and ranks the second largest shareholder.
Yaskawa Electric is one of the world's four largest industrial robot manufacturers and HZKE's current largest supplier. HZKE purchases robot arms and controllers from Yaskawa Electric, and sells them to customers after matching them with self-produced robot welding equipment.
In the past three years, HZKE purchased more than 150 million yuan in robot equipment from Yaskawa Electric, accounting for about 50% of the company's total purchases.
HZKE has planned to increase the proportion of self-produced robot equipment, and its self-developed robot arms and controllers will be put into production in June this year.
Because the required robotic equipment is mainly purchased out, its gross profit margin is lower than that of other leading robotics companies in China: such as NJAS Robotics Technology Group, SYXS Robotics Technology Group and other listed companies.
HZKE's fundraising projects include an intelligent welding robot production line with an investment of more than 70 million yuan. Last year, HZKE brought in Seigo Nishikawa, then general manager of Yaskawa Electric China, to engage in research and development of welding robots. Seigo Nishikawa was appointed as the deputy general manager of HZKE after joining, and currently holds 1.6% of the company's shares.
HZKE plans to raise about 310 million yuan through this sci-tech innovation board listing. In addition to the above-mentioned robot production line, the remaining funds will be invested in the construction project of the assembly and testing laboratory building, while supplementing the company's working capital.
Prior to this, robot industry chain companies such as JSBR Robot System Technology Group and SZLD Harmonic Technology Group have all been listed.