Fosun to double down on family-related investments after stakes in Club Med, Lanvin and others boost interim results to a record
- Fosun to strengthen existing products, including medicines and holiday resorts
- Also looking to buy start-ups with leading technology
Chinese private conglomerate Fosun International plans to launch new products aimed at families within two years, according to company officials, after it posted record first-half revenue and its first interim dividend arrangement.
“We are seeing initial success with our strategy to focus on family consumption, from the aspects of happiness, health and wealth,” billionaire and Fosun co-founder Guo Guangchang said at a news conference on Wednesday.
The company gave no details on the kinds of family products it will focus on.
The company will continue developing and strengthening its existing products, which range from innovative drugs to holiday resorts and insurance, and look for opportunities to acquire controlling stakes in companies that could complement its product lines, Guo said.
Fosun, known for a slew of overseas assets it has acquired in recent years such as French fashion brand Lanvin and holiday resort operator Club Med, will also be interested in investing in unicorns – or start-ups valued at over US$1 billion – that have leading technology, Guo said.
The comments came after Fosun’s first-half sales rose 57 per cent to a record 65.5 billion yuan (US$9.2 billion), beating the consensus estimate of 59.2 billion yuan in a Bloomberg poll. Net profit rose by 11 per cent to 7.6 billion yuan, prompting the company to pay its first interim dividend of HK$0.13 per share, Fosun said in a stock exchange filing
Its debt-to-equity ratio, which measures the financial leverage, dropped to 53.2 per cent from 53.7 per cent in last year. Company officials reiterated the goal of lifting its return on equity (ROE), a key metric for profitability, to 15 per cent from the current 13.6 per cent.
Fosun’s shares climbed by as much as 6.2 per cent to an intraday high of HK$10.16 before earnings were announced, ending the day 4 per cent up at HK$9.95.
Fosun is not an investment company, Guo said, but it uses its investment capability to provide strong products for the family consumers.
The company is still actively pursuing to acquire UK travel company Thomas Cook, in which it already owns a 18 per cent stake, according to chief executive Wang Qunbin.
Shanghai Henlius Biotech, a unit of Fosun, applied to list on Hong Kong’s main board, it said earlier this week.
