VNET Group - Earnings Call - Q3 2025
November 20, 2025
Transcript
Operator (participant)
Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by for the third quarter 2025 earnings conference call for VNET Group. After the management's prepared remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. Please note the Chinese line is in listen-only mode. If you wish to ask questions, please dial in through the English line. Participants from our management include Mr. Ju Ma, Rotating President; Mr. Qiyu Wang, Chief Financial Officer; Ms. Shengguang Liu, Head of Investor Relations of the company. Please note that today's conference call is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to the first speaker today, Ms. Shengguang Liu. Please go ahead.
Shengguang Liu (Head of Investor Relations)
Thank you, our pre-turn. Hello, everyone, and welcome to our third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. Our earnings release was distributed earlier today, and you can find a copy on our ARRIVE site as well as on NewsWire services. Please note that today's call will contain forward-looking statements within the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from our current expectations. For detailed discussions of these risks and uncertainties, please refer to our latest annual report and other documents filed with the SEC. VNET does not undertake any obligations to update any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable laws. Please also note that VNET's earnings press release and this conference call include the disclosure of unaudited GAAP and non-GAAP financial matters.
VNET's earnings press release contains a reconciliation of the unaudited non-GAAP matters to the unaudited GAAP matters. A summary presentation, which we will refer to during this conference call, can be viewed and downloaded from our ARRIVE site at ir.vnet.com. Next, I'd like to alert you that we will be utilizing text-to-speech technology powered by Neulink.ai to deliver this quarter's prepared remarks by Mr. Ju Ma, our Rotating President, and Mr. Qiyu Wang, our CFO. The management team will join the Q&A session in person. Additionally, this conference is being recorded. A webcast of this conference call will also be available on our ARRIVE site at ir.vnet.com. Now, let's get started with today's presentation. Mr. Ma, please go ahead.
Ju Ma (Rotating President)
Good morning and good evening, everyone. Thank you for joining our call today. I'll start with an overview of our major accomplishments during the third quarter of 2025. Let's turn to slide four. We delivered another strong quarter, demonstrating our strategy's effectiveness in capturing opportunities. On the operational side, our wholesale IDC business sustained its robust growth trajectory, driven by our rapid delivery capabilities and customers' fast-moving pace. As of September 30, 2025, our wholesale capacity in service grew by 16.1% quarter over quarter to 783 megawatts, an increase of around 109 megawatts. Wholesale capacity utilized by customers rose by 13.8% quarter over quarter to 582 megawatts, an increase of around 70 megawatts, while the utilization rate was 74.3%, reflecting customers' continuous demand for our high-quality, high-performance AIDC services. Our retail IDC business continued to progress smoothly, benefiting from growing AI-driven demand.
This quarter, our retail MRR per cabinet increased for six consecutive quarters, reaching RMB 8,948. On the financial side, our total net revenues increased by 21.7% year over year to RMB 2.58 billion for the third quarter. Wholesale revenues remained our key growth driver, reaching RMB 956 million, a significant year-over-year increase of 82.7%. Fueled by the rapid growth of our wholesale IDC business, our adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter also increased by 27.5% year over year to RMB 758 million. In addition, building on the increase we announced to our full-year guidance before Q2 earnings this year, we are further increasing our full-year revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance this quarter, thanks to faster-than-anticipated movings among wholesale IDC customers and ongoing operational efficiency gains, supported by our premium wholesale and retail IDC services. We continue to capitalize on strong customer momentum and secure new orders in the third quarter.
I'll share more on the next slide. Moving on to our new order wins on slide five. In the third quarter, we secured three wholesale orders totaling 63 MW. Specifically, in addition to the 20 MW order from our JV project we mentioned on our last call, we won a 40 MW order from an internet company, as announced in September, and a 3 MW order from an intelligent driving company, all for data centers in the Greater Beijing area. Entering the fourth quarter, we are seeing continued order momentum, including a 32 MW wholesale order we just secured from an internet company for a data center in the Yangtze River Delta. Furthermore, driven by growing demand from customers for intelligent deployment, we secured a combined capacity of approximately 2 MW in new retail orders across multiple retail data centers from customers in the cloud services, local services, and financial services sectors.
During the quarter, rapid AI development and broader adoption of AI applications continued to fuel growth in China's IDC industry. We saw sustained momentum in AI-related investments, especially from hyperscalers that are executing strong CapEx expansion plans. This has further accelerated demand for high-performance data centers. Driven by AI training and inference needs, AI has become the core growth driver of the IDC industry, propelling the industry's business model evolution from product-based resource delivery to platform-based services that provide integrated AIDC solutions. Meanwhile, customer demand and critical resources, such as power, are increasingly concentrated among leading IDC players. As an industry pioneer in AIDC development, we're leveraging our acute insights, strong resources, and premium, reliable services to seize these structural growth opportunities by quickly meeting customers' needs. Now, let's delve into our business updates, starting with our wholesale business on slide seven.
Our wholesale business maintained strong growth momentum, with capacity in service increasing by around 109 MW quarter over quarter to 783 MW, and utilization rate remaining stable at 74.3%, mainly attributable to our delivery capacities at our NOR Campus 02 and NHB Campus 01A, and faster-than-expected movings at our NOR Campus 01. Our mature capacity utilization rate also reached 94.7%, a relatively high level. We have a clear growth path for our wholesale data center capacity. Let's move on to slide eight. As of the end of the third quarter, our total wholesale resource capacity was around 1.8 GW. Specifically, our capacity under construction was around 306 MW. Capacity held for short-term future development was around 414 megawatts, and capacity held for long-term future development was around 291 megawatts.
These secured resources represent a significant advantage in light of the IDC industry's limited effective supply and are in line with our optimistic view of AI-driven demand's long-term growth potential. Moving to our retail IDC business on slide nine. Our retail business continued to progress smoothly in the third quarter. Retail capacity in service was 52,288 cabinets, with the utilization rate increasing slightly to 64.8% as of the end of September. As I just mentioned, our retail MRR per cabinet has increased for six consecutive quarters, reaching RMB 8,948. Turning to our delivery plan on Slide 10. With our strong and efficient delivery capabilities, we successfully delivered a total of around 109 megawatts in the third quarter of 2023, bringing our total deliveries around 297 MW as of the end of September this year.
We currently have seven data centers under construction, with six in the Greater Beijing area and one in the Yangtze River Delta. We plan to deliver around 306 MW of capacity over the next 12 months, or around 132 MW during the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, and around 174 MW during the second and third quarters of 2026. This delivery plan reflects our view as of the end of September, but we may update these estimates as we gain greater visibility over the next couple of quarters. In conclusion, our strong third-quarter results showcase our ability to identify opportunities and our readiness to seamlessly meet evolving market demand. Our visionary Hyperscale 2.0 framework has positioned us to lead under the new global AI-driven paradigm, supported by advantages across high-density deployment, delivery speed and quality, and cutting-edge sustainable technology.
As AI-related demand grows, we will continue to advance our effective dual-core strategy and Hyperscale 2.0 framework, seizing opportunities to further unleash our growth potential in the AI era. Now, I will turn the call over to our CFO, Qiyu Wang, for further discussion of our operating and financial performance. Thank you, everyone.
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
Good morning and good evening, everyone. Before we start the detailed discussion of our third-quarter performance, please note that, unless otherwise stated, all the financials we present today are for the third quarter of 2025 and are in RMB terms. Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, all the growth rates I am reviewing are on a year-over-year basis. Let's turn to slide twelve. In the third quarter, we continued to pursue high-quality business. Our total net revenues increased by 21.7% to RMB 2.58 billion, mainly driven by the rapid growth of our wholesale business. Our adjusted cash gross profit rose by 22.1% to RMB 1.05 billion, while our adjusted EBITDA also grew year-over-year by 27.5% to RMB 758.3 million. Let's look more closely at our top line.
As you can see on slide thirteen, in the third quarter, wholesale revenues, our key revenue growth driver, increased significantly by 82.7% to RMB 955.5 million, and the rapid growth was mainly attributable to the NOR Campus 01. Retail revenues increased by 2.4% to RMB 999.1 million. Our non-IDC business revenues increased by 0.8% to RMB 627.1 million. During the third quarter, we maintained solid margins thanks to our continuous efforts to enhance overall efficiency. As shown on slide fourteen, our adjusted cash gross margins improved to 40.7% from 40.6% in the same period last year. Our adjusted EBITDA margin rose to 29.4%, compared with 28% in the same period last year.
Moving on to liquidity on slide fifteen, we maintained robust and healthy liquidity, bolstered by a net operating cash inflow of RMB 809.8 million during the third quarter, bringing our net operating cash flow for the first nine months of the year to RMB 1.37 billion. Our cash position remained solid, with total cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, and short-term investments reaching RMB 5.33 billion as of September 30, 2025. Next, let's take a look at our debt structure on slide sixteen. We maintained our prudent approach to debt management. As of September 30, 2025, our net debt to the trailing twelve months Adjusted EBITDA ratio was 5.5, and total debt to the trailing twelve months Adjusted EBITDA ratio was 6.7, both remaining at healthy levels. Our trailing twelve months Adjusted EBITDA to interest coverage ratio was 6.5.
We prioritize long-term debt maturity planning in our debt and strategic management to ensure the security of debt repayment. Currently, the company's short and medium-term debt maturing in 2025-2027 comprises 41.4% of our total debt. Turning now to CapEx spending, as you can see on slide seventeen, for the first nine months, our CapEx was RMB 6.24 billion, with the majority allocated to the expansion of our wholesale IDC business. We still expect our CapEx for the full year 2025 to be in the range of RMB 10 billion-RMB 12 billion. The increase is mainly to support our planned delivery of 400-450 MW in 2025. Now, moving to our full-year guidance for 2025 on slide eighteen.
As we expect faster-than-anticipated movings among wholesale IDC customers and ongoing operational efficiency gains through the end of the year, we have further increased our full-year revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance. We now expect total net revenues to be in the range of RMB 9.55 billion-RMB 9.867 billion, a year-over-year increase of 16%-19%, and adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of RMB 2.91 billion-RMB 2.945 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of 20%-21%. If the RMB 87.7 million of disposal gains on the EJS02 data center were excluded from the adjusted EBITDA calculation for 2024, the year-over-year growth rate would be 24%-26%. Please note our updated guidance factors in the impact of the private REIT transactions we issued early this November and excludes the target IDC project's financials from our consolidated financial statements.
Before I conclude, I'd like to briefly update you on our ESG efforts. Our outstanding sustainability performance has once again earned recognition from a leading global rating institution. In the 2025 S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment, VNET score increased to 73 from 70 last year, ranking among the top 8% of the IT service industry globally. We stand out in areas including risk management, information security, environmental management, and customer relations, underscoring our comprehensive capabilities in sustainability development. This quarter's strong growth and enhanced profitability are yet another testament to our high-quality growth strategy. Looking ahead, we will continue to consolidate our core strengths and capture growth opportunities, delivering sustainable long-term value for all stakeholders. This concludes our prepared remarks for today. We are now ready to take questions.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star two. If you're on a speakerphone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. For the benefit of all participants on today's call, please ask your question to management in English and then repeat in Chinese. Your first question, it comes from Tom Tang from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Tom Tang (Analyst)
Thanks, management, for this opportunity to ask questions, and congrats again on a very strong quarterly result. I have two questions. The first question is more on the 2026 outlook. We're hearing that there has been some expansion in the domestic chips and capacities. Just wondering, what is our current outlook for the overall order tendering in 2026? The second question is about private REITs. We noticed that we have filed another private REIT with a size of almost CNY 10 billion. Just wondering, what will be the timeline of this private REIT execution? How much cash are we going to recycle, and what will be our impact to the financial statements? 我简单翻译一下就是，首先感谢管理层给我这个提问的机会，然后也再次恭喜，是一个非常强劲的业绩。我这边可能有两个问题。第一个问题是关于2026年的展望呢，我们有听到最近好像国产芯片有一些不错的进展，所以不知道管理层在现在会对2026年的一个整体的订单状况是一个怎么样的展望。然后第二个问题是关于REITs，我们看到我们最近又在上交所提交了一个接近CNY 10 billion的一个REITs的申请，所以想请教一下这个REITs未来的一个时间线是怎么样的，以及我们会可能有多少这个现金的回收，以及对我们的资产负债表和income statement，就是利润表会有个怎么样的影响。谢谢。
好，谢谢，谢谢你的问题。第一个问题呢，我来回答您的这个问题。就像您谈到对于明年的整体的一个展望，那从我们因为也到年底了，我们公司呢，也会和客户呢来进行比较密集的交流，也希望呢能够跟客户一道来去了解他的发展的一些路径，并且呢为我们的这个资源储备呢做一些这个准备。那从我们自己的交流和我们的pipeline的情况来看呢，我们认为呢明年就2026年的市场呢应该会保持一个稳中有升的一个基本的态势。同时呢，我们在交流过程当中，我们也发现现在的客户呢对于自己的业务的拓展以及在不同区域的布局呢已经颗粒度已经非常小了。他们呢会在不同的季度呢来进行不同的规划。那从这些角度来看呢，就倒逼我们为客户提供服务的时候呢，要首先要提前的布局，同时呢还要按照季度呢，无论是他的招标节奏还是他的交付节奏，都给我们提出了更高的要求。那总之一句话呢，就是我们认为呢26年那国内的市场呢会保持稳中有升。刚才您还谈到了一个非常重要的一个话题，就是关于国产芯片的进展情况。那么我们也之前呢，我也跟您，包括其他的朋友也分享过，世纪互联呢一直在对国产芯片呢保有一个关切，以及呢一直在追踪。正像您谈到的，国产芯片的进展呢是越来越快。那从我们角度来看，那么今年国产芯片的使用呢也是越来越多。那么我们预判呢在2026年，那么国产芯片呢会有一个叫白鸽蒸馏的这么一个局面。因为您知道国产芯片呢除了耳熟能详的两到三家以外，那么做国产芯片的企业也是不少。那么我们相信呢在明年呢这些芯片呢都会得到自己的长足的发展和进步。那么这样带来的会使客户对于芯片的选择呢会越来越多，越来越有确定性。那最后呢就是能够带动我们的整体的这个发展。好，谢谢。
This is Marjin, I'll take your question. Thank you very much. As we are approaching the end of the year, we are engaging our customers and trying to learn about their development path. This would put us in a well-positioned to plan our resources accordingly. According to our communications with the clients and also the current status quo of the pipeline, we believe that the market will be fairly stable with moderate increase for the year 2023. According to our conversations with the clients, we feel that they are having very detailed expansion plan or growth nationwide. Therefore, we have to plan carefully in order to accommodate the users' needs because they are requiring us to deliver the capacities at a faster pace with a higher requirement. That is why we are planning accordingly as well.
The overall reading for the next year is that the market is going to be stable with a moderate increase. With regard to your second question on the domestic chip, we VNET are tracking and monitoring the development of the domestic chips very closely. We know that the sector is evolving very quickly with a lot more options available. We believe that in 2026, we are going to see intensive competition among domestic chip players. Other than the two to three major players, there are more upcoming players coming into the market. We are going to see significant growth development in this sector. That would give us, give the customers a lot more choices with more certainty. Again, that would push the development or in return drive the development of our business. Thank you. 我来说一下刚才你问到的REITs的情况。确实是我们这两个项目是我们继我们首个私募REITs试水成功以后推出的。那我们首个项目的底层资产是城市型的IDC。那这次这两个项目的底层资产呢都是基地型的。这也是我们首次实现基地型的项目通过这个私募REITs的方式大规模的发行。那如果这两个项目可以顺利的发行成功呢，也标志着我们基地型的业务就完成了开发、持有、部分退出和长期运营的资本闭环。 This is Qiyu Wang.
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
I'll take your second question with regard to the REITs projects. These two REITs projects followed on the heel of our first private REITs projects. The underlying project for our first REITs project was retail IDC, whereas the underlying assets for these two REITs projects are wholesale IDCs. This would be the first time that we have scaled private REITs issuance with underlying assets of wholesale IDCs. If these issuance were too successful, this would officially mark that we have completed the full closed-loop capital cycle of development, holding, partial exit, as well as the long-term operation. 这两个项目目前还都在交易所进行审批。那我们预计估值的倍数会显著的优于我们刚刚发行的这个项目。而且这两个项目发行以后，不同于我们的第一个项目，世纪互联都会继续合并会计报表。也就是说这两个项目的发行对我们损益表上面的收入和EBITDA数据合并数据不会有影响。而且之后我们类似基地型的项目的类似产品的发行也都会延续这种合并报表并表发行的模式。那我们现在的目标是在一季度完成这个发行。 These two REITs projects are currently being reviewed by the exchanges, and the expected valuation multiples would be better than the first REITs project.
Once the two REITs projects were successfully issued, we will, unlike the first REITs project, consolidate the financial statements of these two projects into the group-level financial statements. Therefore, it would not impact the group-level financial statements, specifically the revenue or EBITDA data. We are planning to adopt a similar approach with future private REITs projects with underlying assets of wholesale IDCs. Our goal is to complete the issuance by Q1 next year.
Operator (participant)
Next question.
Shengguang Liu (Head of Investor Relations)
Thank you. Your next question comes from Timothy Zhao from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Timothy Zhao (Analyst)
Great. Thank you, Management, for taking my question, and congrats on the very solid results. Two questions here. One is regarding, I think, just earlier Management mentioned that we have seemed to receive more orders for—hello?
Operator (participant)
Yeah, we can hear you now.
Timothy Zhao (Analyst)
Okay. Yeah. I was saying that VNET appears to be, we need more orders in your wholesale campuses in Hebei and Jiangsu. From the geographical location perspective, how do you think about the customer preferences and what kind of demand does each campus serve differently? That's my first question. My second question is regarding the pricing. It's for the wholesale business. I noticed that for this quarter, there is some fluctuation in the wholesale MRR. Just wondering, how do you think about the pricing trend into the fourth quarter and next year for the wholesale business? 那我很快翻译一下。感谢管理层接受我的提问，也祝贺非常稳健的一个季度的业绩。那我这边有两条问题。那第一条是follow up刚刚管理层聊到的，那现在客户对于市中心的颗粒度会变得比较的高。那特别是对于不同地点的基地型的市中心，想请教一下，那客户的偏好考虑分别有哪些？那在我们不同的区域的基地里面，那客户的需求有哪些不同？这是第一个问题。那第二个问题是想请教一下关于我们的基地型数据中心的价格。那我们看到三季度可能有一些环比和同比的波动。那想请教一下我们对于四季度以及明年整个基地型数据中心的价格趋势是怎么判断的？谢谢。
好，谢谢。我来回答您这个问题。第一个就像您刚才谈到的，就是现在客户在全国范围内他的订单呢，他是对不同的区域是有自己的考量。那其实客户呢，他本身来讲并没有什么明显的偏好，而是根据他自己的业务类型、离他总部的地点，包括他原有的内容、原有的容量进行扩容的便利度，这几个维度来进行考量的。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
I'll take your first question. Actually, the client takes specific considerations with regard to their orders for their business across different regions. They do not have very particular preferences. I think the major considerations on their end is first the type of business and product offerings, second the distance or proximity to their headquarter, and the third is how convenient it is to scale up the existing capacity that they have with us.
Timothy Zhao (Analyst)
对，另外一个呢，就是您可以看到，就是以我们公司为例，那客户在不同的地点来释放订单的节奏呢，也是不一样的。一般呢，每个季度呢都会有一些变化。那从我们来讲，您知道我们在环京地区的这个基地以及长三角地区的基地呢，承接现在主要客户的需求比较多。那同时呢，在我们的具体到在比方说河北地区，比方说乌兰察布地区呢，客户呢释放呢也是有他的节奏。这个呢是从我们来看，一个一方面呢是主要是客户自己根据自己的业务，比方说他对实验的要求，他会选择就近的地点。同时呢，也有一个很重要的考量呢，就是客户的扩容，他的就近的扩容的这个需求。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
Take VNET for example. We have observed that clients have different types of pace with regard to their requests across different regions. It would vary quarter by quarter. We have a lot of the demand coming from the Greater Beijing Area as well as the Yangtze River Delta area. However, we do have upcoming new demands from customers for campuses in Hebei Province as well as the Ulanqab campus. Like I said, the major considerations on the client side are their current product offerings and the proximity to their headquarters as well as how convenient it is to scale their existing capacity with us. That is the major consideration on their end. Based on that, they are varying their requests quarter by quarter.
Timothy Zhao (Analyst)
您还同时也问到了关于现在价格的一些情况。那首先呢，我想跟您分享的是从目前特别是Q3来看，我们的价格呢，特别是基地型项目的价格呢，是保持非常平稳的这个态势。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
With regard to the pricing of our wholesale IDCs, according to what we have observed, the pricing for Q3 was fairly stable.
Timothy Zhao (Analyst)
那我愿意呢再稍微的做两点说明。第一个呢，就是由于客户呢，他的上架节奏呢，一般呢会高于他的预期，高于我们的预期。所以使得呢，我们的项目的IR呢，普遍呢会好于我们的预期。这是第一个做的补充说明。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
I would like to elaborate on that. First, customers are moving in faster than we expected. Therefore, the IR of these projects are better than we expected.
Timothy Zhao (Analyst)
那第二个我也非常坦诚的跟您交流呢，就是确确实实公司在特别是资源相对，就是整体的市场供求关系平衡，资源甚至有略显紧张地区来讲，世纪互联呢，我们确实我们不采取所谓低价的策略呢，来参与客户的一些投标工作。所以从这角度来看，我们还是保持着我们的投标价格以及成交价格的。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
Number two, frankly speaking, in areas where the dynamics of supply and demand is in tight balance, VNET do not engage in the biddings with low prices. Therefore, we are able to secure fairly stable order or contract price.
Timothy Zhao (Analyst)
好，谢谢。 Thank you.
Operator (participant)
Next question.
Shengguang Liu (Head of Investor Relations)
Thank you. Your next question comes from Dean Liu from Bank of America. Please go ahead.
Dean Liu (Assistant VP, Enterprise Credit)
Hi, Management. Thanks for taking my question. Congrats on the strong results. I have two questions here. First one is in our last earnings call, we mentioned we have a few projects and we are participating for the tendering. Could you update us the progress and how we complete all the projects ongoing, or how many projects we are doing with our clients? In future, how do you see the seasonality of more tendering in future? My second question is about the new land and power resources. In this quarter, we see our total resources on hand is likely stable. In future, where would we, which area will be our focus to find more resources, land and power? 好的，我这边翻译一下。恭喜管理层这个非常详细的业绩。第一个问题想请问就是上个业绩会我们提到就是说我们有参加了一些客户的一些竞标的一个工作。想问一下这些的进展现在都是可能有些项目已经完成了，还有哪些可能在谈的过程中？未来我们这个新订单客户发单的这个季节性，大概可能未来这一年的或者说这半年是怎么去预期的？然后其次就第二个问题是关于我们的资源。目前三季度来看，二季度是大概平稳的状态。未来我们对新的这个电力还有这个土地资源，这个未来去获得更多资源，这个是怎么考虑的？哪些地域是我们可能重点去开发，或者说我们现有的一些地方？好，谢谢。
好，谢谢您的问题。我来回答您的问题。关于第一个问题呢，就前面我也稍微描述一下。我在这儿再跟您做一个解释和说明。就是从发展趋势来看，确确实实在2025年的一二三个季度呢，就是客户呢，释放的需求呢，是随着不同的客户，他有不同的节奏，释放的不同的量。我们紧跟客户的这些节奏呢，来抓住客户的需求，来给客户提供这个服务。那么您可以看到，我做了一个简要的统计，就从今天往前推，我们前12个月呢，我们总共获得订单呢，超过了331兆瓦。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
Thank you for questions. As we have observed for the first three quarters, different customers are coming up with different requests at different paces. For us, we follow their paces closely. I have did a very brief summary for what we have achieved in terms of the new orders that we have secured for the past 12 months. That was 331 megawatts.
Dean Liu (Assistant VP, Enterprise Credit)
那展望后12个月，当然包括2026年，我们觉得我们现在对于客户的服务认知使得我们有信心呢，第一，我们有信心在后12个月呢，保持住公司的这一发展的势头和这个订单的数量。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
Looking ahead to 2026, based on the services we are offering to our clients as well as the understanding of our clients, we are confident that we are able to sustain this growth momentum.
Dean Liu (Assistant VP, Enterprise Credit)
同时我们在服务客户基地型项目的同时，我们也密切关注客户以及整体的AI的发展的趋势。那么我们也认为呢，随着AI的逐步的推进，特别是训练和推理，平衡推理逐渐成为新的增长引擎，这些特点呢，我们也在这个预判到这一趋势以后，我们也在资源的部署、城市型的改造，以及呢，我们对于GPU的判断，我们会保，我们对这个信心呢，我们对这个判断是有信心的。我们也相信随着这些需求的逐步的释放，特别是大客户将这个训练推理、私有化部署、群体智能的逐步的释放，我们有信心呢，保持这一数字。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
With regard to the wholesale IDCs, we have been following closely the client's AI development trend. We have noticed that customers are actually balancing their inferencing and training demands. We have captured that change. The customers are pivoting more towards the inferencing, and we are deploying resources accordingly to meet that customer's needs. Therefore, we are repurposing some of our cabinets and acquiring GPUs in advance. This would put us in a good position to accommodate our users' needs. Particularly with these orders from the key clients, we are confident that with the efforts on our end, we are able to accommodate users' needs as the AI growth momentum continues to unleash.
Dean Liu (Assistant VP, Enterprise Credit)
谢谢。我回答您第二个问题。这个问题呢，是非常关键，以及呢，是公司呢，考量比较多的一个问题。首先想跟您说明一下，就是除了我们会通过和客户的服务和近距离的接触呢，我们会准备好明年的这个工作和资源的同时呢，公司已经将未来的五年作为我们今后发展的一个基本时间长度来规划和获取资源。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
With regard to your second question on resources that we are planning to acquire in the future, that's something that the company values a lot and puts a lot of thought in. Based on the service that we offer to our clients, as well as the understanding that we have on them, we are planning our resources for the next year. On top of that, we have extended our planning over to a five-year horizon rather than on a yearly basis. This would allow us to plan more strategically to accommodate users' needs.
Dean Liu (Assistant VP, Enterprise Credit)
考虑到五年呢，有几个基本的考量。第一个，客户的通算和测算的服务的比例。第二个就是客户在不同区域他对资源的需求。第三个来讲就是AI和GPU的发展。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
To break it down, we carefully weigh three factors. One is the split, the demand split between generic computing power versus smart computing power. The second is the geolocations. The third is the AI GPU-related chips development.
Dean Liu (Assistant VP, Enterprise Credit)
那具体到您的问题，我在最后做一点补充说明。那具体到明年，那明年我们还会首先聚焦在环京地区，包括乌兰察布，包括河北、北京的周边地区。同时我们也已经在长三角地区开展了资源的获取工作，面向五年的中期布局，支持长三角的客户。除此以外，我们也启动了在环京和长三角地区以外的资源的布局工作。当有初步结果以后，我们会在适时的公布。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
More specifically, with regard to next year, we are going to focus, number one, the Greater Beijing Area, particularly Ulanqab, Hebei, and the Beijing surrounding areas. Number two, the Yangtze River Delta areas. We are starting to acquire resources for the next five years to accommodate our users' demand. Additionally, we are exploring the resources outside of these two major areas that I mentioned. Thank you.
Shengguang Liu (Head of Investor Relations)
Thank you. Your next question comes from Sarah Wong from UBS. Please go ahead.
Sarah Wang (Director)
Thank you for the opportunity to ask a question. I actually only have one question. I recall earlier this year, Management had shared that one of the top priorities from Hyperscale customers is the time to market. Has that changed? Also, as inference demand is going to be the growth driver into next year, is there any change in the customer's consideration in terms of new order release? If we talk about more workloads by inference, that means maybe user latency will be a relatively more important consideration factor going forward. 感谢提问的机会，那也非常恭喜公司取得很强劲的业绩。那我只有一个问题，就想请教一下，因为今年上半年的时候，我记得管理层有提到当时这个客户对于新的，尤其是AI数据中心的交付速度，有比较高的一个要求。我不知道那个要求到现在有没有一些变化。如果我们展望未来的一些潜在的新订单，对于我们这些超大规模的客户来说，他们最看重的因素有哪些？那刚刚其实管理层也提到明年可能是推理需求会增长很强劲的一年。那推理需求起来的话，会不会也对这个用户延迟或者是这个地理位置有一些新的要求？谢谢。
谢谢您的问题。我先从您最后的一个问题来回应。就是确确实实我们的判断的训练和推理呢，会去年和今年呢，都是同步在开展。那么明年来讲的话呢，慢慢推理呢，会成为一个更多的一个新的增长的一个引擎。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
I'll take answer the second half of your question. Yes, we have observed that inferencing will become a major growth driver for next year.
Sarah Wang (Director)
所以这样对于客户来讲，他对地点的选择呢，他会要求的时延会越来越小，越小越好。所以呢，在环京地区，那么包括河北，包括乌兰察布，对于我们公司来讲，那客户呢，在这方面来讲的话呢，要求下单呢，会比较多。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
That means the customers have higher requirement in terms of latency. The lower latency, the better. Therefore, we are in a very good position to meet customers' needs with our campuses in the Greater Beijing Area, particularly Hebei Province, as well as the Ulanqab campus.
Sarah Wang (Director)
那再回到您的刚才第一个问题，确实这个问题来讲，对我们呢，是一个，sorry，很难发，幸福的烦恼，咋不说。就是这个问题对我们来讲是确确实实挑战非常高的。客户呢，对于新订单的交付速度，一如既往呢，是要求的比较高。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
With regard to the first half of your question, yes, it is quite a trade-off that we have to face. We are facing significant challenges in terms of how fast the customer wants to move in with the capacity that they have secured with us.
Sarah Wang (Director)
那目前呢，我们是通过三个主要的做法能够来满足客户的要求。第一个呢，就是我们提前布局好土建和外电。第二个呢，就是我们进一步加强供应链的整合能力。第三个呢，是我们通过建筑的标准化和机电的模块化，能够实现快速交给客户。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
There are three approaches that we are taking to meet customers' demand. Number one, we are planning early in terms of civil engineering and external power supply. Number two, we are consolidating our capacity in terms of supply chain management. Number three, we are adopting electrical mechanical modularization, as well as other standardized construction solutions to meet customers' needs.
Sarah Wang (Director)
那最后呢，也跟您分享，就是客户的要求一般呢，还是T+6，也就是六个月之内交付。那我们通过刚才跟您分享的这三个手段，能够满足客户的T+6的要求，甚至我们还做到过一次T+3的交付给客户。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
As you know, the general timeline that the customer expects is T+6, which means they want to move in within six months after signing the contract. Yes, we are able to accommodate users' needs in terms of the horizon. In one particular case, we're even able to accommodate or deliver within three months after signing the contract, just so you know.
Sarah Wang (Director)
好，谢谢。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
Thank you.
Operator (participant)
Next question, please.
Shengguang Liu (Head of Investor Relations)
Thank you. Your next question comes from Xu Yunjie from CICC. Please go ahead.
Hi, Management. Congratulations on the company's strong earners, and thank you for taking my question. My first question is about the wholesale IDC, and the delivery pace for the wholesale IDC business is very fast, and has the company set the utilization rate target for the next two years? My second question is about the retail IDC business. We have seen the retail business, IDC business, MRR has been growth in for several quarters, and what are the main drivers behind this trend, and how do you view this sustainability in the future? 管理层好，非常恭喜公司的这个非常强劲的业绩，然后也谢谢给我这个提问的机会。第一个问题是想要问一下，就是在我们现在的这个IDC的交付速度非常快的一个节奏下，这个情况下呢，管理层是怎么去看待就是未来两年的我们的整个的这个商家率的一个目标，尤其是我们的这个就是基地型的这一部分的业务？第二个呢，就是关于这个零售型，我们也已经看到我们的这个MRR已经是有连续好几个季度的一个稳健的增长了。那这个背后的主要的驱动因素是什么，并且就是怎么去看待一下未来的这样的一个持续性？谢谢。
好，谢谢您的问题。第一个关于这个基地型业务的这个商家率，那我们就像刚才谈到的，我们会根据客户的要求坚持快速的上架节奏，交付节奏，同时客户的上架节奏也很快。那么目前我们成熟机房的上架率呢，已经保持在95%左右。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
With regard to the utilization rate, of course, the customers are demanding to move in at a faster pace. For our mature IDCs, the utilization rate is inching closer to 95%.
那谈到上架率这个的目标呢，这个我想主要取决于我们明后两年的这个交付量。同时呢，我们会在这个Q4吧，我们会提供更多的信息来回答您的问题。同时呢，长期来看的话呢，我们有信心呢，使得我们的商家率呢，稳步提升。
With regard to the specific target on the utilization rate, I think it partly depends on the capacity that's going to be delivered in the next two years. We will disclose more information in the Q4 financials, and we are, you know, in the long run, we are confident that the utilization rate will steadily increase.
再回答您的第二个问题，非常感谢您关注我们的零售业务，因为我们的基地型业务增长一直是保持了比较高速的这个发展。那零售业务来讲也是很荣幸的话呢，能够在多个季度吧，能够MRR呢，得到稳健的提升。您知道这个领域的竞争其实也是蛮激烈的。
Thank you for your attention on our retail IDC business. As you know, the wholesale IDC business has been growing fairly quickly in contrast to the retail IDC. We are very pleased to see the MRR of our retail business continue to grow quarter over quarter for several consecutive quarters. As you know, the competition landscape in this sector is fairly intense.
这背后的我觉得主要的原因呢，有这么几个。第一个呢，从外部来看，客户对于零售型业务的需求呢，从原来的只有存储和通算呢，慢慢朝着存储、通算和制算呢，并重的这个趋势来。所以我们呢，能够通过我们的技术改造承接客户这三类的需求，使得我们呢，能够保障这个业务的业绩的增长。
I think the growth partly boils down to a couple of factors. Number one, in terms of the needs of customers, they are adding smart computing on top of storage plus generic computing, and we are proactively repurposing our cabinets in order to meet their demands, in order to capitalize on this growth momentum and need.
从我们内部的角度来看，我们做了两件事情。第一个呢，我们在提供最基本的托管服务的之上，我们还为客户提供一些以软件服务，包括算力网络、存储网络这样的增值服务。
Factor number two on our side, on top of the hosting service we offer to the clients, we are providing incremental value-added services on the software level, let's say networking, as well as storage networking services.
另外呢，就是之前呢，我也跟大家也分享过，就是在两年前我们就已经开始进行我们零售业务或者城市型数据中心的高电机柜的改造。从这个工作我们每年都进行，那目前看呢，我们也受益于此。
Another factor is the initiative of repurposing the retail cabinets into higher density cabinets, and clearly we are benefiting from these efforts and initiatives.
最后呢，我想说一句，就是只要客户的需求、存储、通算和制算，包括增值服务持续保持的话呢，我们相信我们的零售业务呢，也能够随着客户的这些需求呢，持续地保持未来发展的持续性。
Last but not least, should the demand from customers in terms of storage, generic computing plus value-added services sustain, we are confident to sustain the growth momentum of our retail business.
好，谢谢。
Thank you.
Operator (participant)
Next question, please.
Shengguang Liu (Head of Investor Relations)
Thank you. Your next question comes from Andy Yu from DBS. Please go ahead.
Andy Yu (Analyst)
Hi, thank you Management for taking my questions and congratulations on the solid results. I have two questions. Your key peer has announced plans to expand into regions with lower electricity costs to capture AI training demand. How do you see the supply-demand dynamics will evolve in these regions where VNET currently has a first-mover advantage? Secondly, the government's stand on data center C-REITs has become more positive. With a shorter timeline for new asset ingestion pools IPO, do we expect our C-REIT application to accelerate? Apart from REITs projects, what will our funding strategy be going forward? 那样我翻译一下呢，恭喜公司亮丽的业绩。我有两条问题想请教一下。那昨天有像也宣布计划进入电费更低的地区来满足AI训练需求。公司在乌兰察布已经有先发布局，请问管理层怎样看未来这些地区的供需和竞争的情况会有怎样的改变？然后就是政府也对数据中心C-REIT态度更积极，也缩短了IPO后新资产注入时间。请问我们的C-REIT申请会加快吗？然后REITs以外，公司未来整体的融资计划是怎样的？谢谢。
好，谢谢。我先回答您的第一个问题，就是我想是这样，就是根据各个企业自身的历史的原因，对于市场的判断以及对于发展策略的不同呢，那么我想每个企业呢，会对不同的区域来进行布局，来进行这个资源的获取。那么从我想从我们公司的考量呢，给您展开做一个报告，做一个汇报。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
Thank you. I'll take your first question. I think different companies are adopting different strategic growth approaches with regard to their own reading on the market dynamics as well as their development legacy. They are actually deploying resources based on all of these factors. However, I would like to elaborate on how we go about it.
Andy Yu (Analyst)
首先呢，就是我们判断呢，就像刚才前面我也有提到，我们对于今后这三到五年，我们认为呢，AI的发展呢，仍然是一个非常重要的发展的引擎。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
Like I iterated many times, over the next three to five years, AI is going to be increasingly more important growth driver.
Andy Yu (Analyst)
那对于这个整个过程呢，我们公司呢，有这样的研判供您参考。首先呢，我们会认为基础模型的训练呢，在国内呢，会集中在为数不多的有实力的一些企业当中。更多的企业呢，是采用基础模型呢，来进行使用，用推理或用其他的领域。所以一句话，基础模型的训练会越来越多地集中在为数不多的企业当中，这个是刚需。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
On the corporate level, our reading is that the training of foundational models, that type of demand will be increasingly concentrated to one or few top capable deep-pocketed players. That is the first reading that we have on the market.
Andy Yu (Analyst)
第二个呢，就是关于推理和私有化部署会保持增长的趋势，这一点呢，可以从最近的杰森黄的讲话当中呢，得到印证。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
Number two, we believe that inferencing and private deployment will continue to sustain its growth momentum as it can be evidenced or confirmed from Jensen Huang's remarks.
Andy Yu (Analyst)
第三个呢，我们认为在未来的五年里边，随着国产GPU的发展和成熟，那么推理、私有化部署以及会涌现出来的群体智能，这些都是我们必须要持续关注的客户需求。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
Number three, we believe over the course of the next five years, as the GPU grows, domestic GPU chips grow, there is going to be more demand from the inferencing, private deployment, as well as many emerging group intelligent agents. These are the growth areas or customer demands that we are paying closer attention to.
Andy Yu (Analyst)
所以最后呢，我想表达的意思就是，我们世纪互联会秉持一个协调发展的理念，用公司在不同的资源来满足客户不同的需求。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
In a nutshell, we at VNET will adhere to the principle of a coordinated, balanced development, using our resources to meet users' varying demands.
Andy Yu (Analyst)
好，谢谢。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
Thank you.
Shengguang Liu (Head of Investor Relations)
好，我要回答一下您那个第二个问题，关于公募REITs。我们的那个公募REITs现在在很积极的推进过程中，进展现在还不方便说，但是我们希望可以尽快给大家分享一些好消息吧。那除了公募REITs以外，刚才我也讲到了，公司现在其实在积极的推进这个持有型ABS，也就是私募REITs的发行。这个产品我们已经成功发行了一个了，它可以承载我们更大规模的项目的这个资本化。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
Our C-REIT is still underway. However, I am not in a position to disclose any information at the moment, and we wish to update you later as we see more progress. Other than the C-REITs or public REITs, we are proactively advancing the holding type ABS, also known as private REITs, and we have successfully issued one, and we are hopeful that this would allow us to recycle a major sizable fund or capital from such types of issuance.
Shengguang Liu (Head of Investor Relations)
在这里借这个机会也想分享一个好消息，就是我们在国内的运营主体，北京世纪互联刚刚拿到了国内的一个评级机构的3A评级，这个在民营企业里是不多见的。那基于这样的评级，我们也在积极的推进在国内的债券市场进行这个科创债的发行。那这类债券的利率是非常低的，如果可以成功发行，对我们降低融资成本和拓宽融资渠道也会有很大的帮助。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
Additionally, I am happy to share that we, so one of the operating entities, domestic operating entities, Beijing VNET, has just received a AAA rating from a domestic rating institution, which is rare among private-owned companies, non-public, so non-OEMs, non-state-owned companies. With this rating, a favorable rating, we are actively advancing the issuance of domestic corporate bonds, particularly the Science and Tech Innovation Bond, which comes with a very favorable interest rate. Should it be pulled through, we are going to benefit from a lower interest rate with a widening channel of financing.
Operator (participant)
Next question, please.
Shengguang Liu (Head of Investor Relations)
Thank you. Your next question comes from Ethan Jiang from Nomura. Please go ahead.
Okay, thanks Management for taking my question. Only one quick question. How do you see the trend for our unit CapEx spending? I noticed that for the first time of the total CapEx spend, it was around RMB 6 billion versus our full year guidance of RMB 10-12 billion. It looks a bit behind schedule versus our capacity delivery schedule. I am just wondering if Management can provide some colors on this, and also for next year's CapEx, what's our outlook and potential sources for funding our next year's CapEx? 很快翻译一下，就是这一个很快的问题，就是看到前九个月可能我们100到全年100到120亿的CapEx里面，我们只花了六十几个亿，同时我们已经roll out了可能300兆瓦的这个capacity。就想问一下我们这个unit CapEx的这个trend是怎么看的，以及明年我们整体的这个CapEx的一个展望和我们怎么去fund这个我们明年的CapEx。谢谢。
对，好，我来回答这个问题。我们现在主要的capex都在这个基地型的业务上，那目前基地型的单千瓦capex的这个水平是在平稳下降的一个趋势。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
The majority of our CapEx is on the wholesale IDC, and the CapEx per unit megawatt for our wholesale IDC campuses are gradually trending down.
对，明年的capex预算我们还在编制过程中，我们正在按照类似25年的规模准备我们的融资计划。那资金的来源主要就是项目层面的资产证券化，还有刚才提到的境内债券的发行。我们25年全年通过项目层面的这个pre-REITs、私募REITs，还有开发基金这些方式，实现我们股权类的这个资金回收超过20个亿。我们目标26年的这个数字要超过25年。
We are still in the process of putting together our CapEx for next year, and we are preparing the similar size of funding, and the proceeds or the sources of this funding would mainly come from asset securitization as well as issuance of a domestic corporate bond. A quick number that I want to share with you. Through the pre-REITs, private REITs, and development fund that issued in 2025, we have successfully recycled CNY 2 billion through the equity assets. Our goal is that we are going to beat this number in 2026.
所以我们现在融资的工具箱是非常丰富的，我们有信心在控制公司的杠杆水平在比较安全的水平的同时，满足这个我们的capex的需求。
There are a lot of tools in our toolboxes, financing toolboxes, I would say, and we are confident that we are able to fund our CapEx while keeping the leverage ratio within a secure range or safe range.
Operator (participant)
Next question, please.
Shengguang Liu (Head of Investor Relations)
Thank you. Your next question, it comes from Anthony Leng from JP Morgan. Please go ahead.
Anthony Leng (Equity Research Associate)
哈喽，管理层，请问听得到我的声音吗？
Operator (participant)
可以听到。
Anthony Leng (Equity Research Associate)
strong, fast customer moving rate? Is there potential upside to the full-year guidance further? Second question is regarding the Q3 reported margin. There was some sequential decline versus Q2, despite a very strong customer moving rate. What could be the potential driver to cause this decline? What could be the next few quarters' EBITDA margin trend? So my first question is about the full-year upward revised guidance. It seems that in the fourth quarter, the implied revenue looks like there is a single-digit quarter-on-quarter decline. I would like to ask if there is any special reason for this part, or if there is potential upside to further revise up our full-year guidance, or if our full-year guidance is somewhat cautiously optimistic. The second question is about our Q3 EBITDA margin. This part seems to be down quarter-on-quarter, but our customer moving rate is very fast and demand is also very strong. Is there any special reason for this? I would like to ask about our future EBITDA margin trend. Thank you.
对，我来回答这两个问题吧。就是全年的指引方面，我们一贯是一个比较审慎的风格。那具体的数字呢，我们还要再进一步观察一下我们新客户的这些上架速度，包括用电的情况，这跟我们的营收都有一些关系。目前看第四季度出现您说的营收环比下降的可能性非常小，您可以更多的参考我们全年业绩指引的更积极的那个空间吧。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
Let me take your question. As always, we have been consistently prudent in terms of offering our full year revenue guidance. I think we are going to watch closely the pace of our customers moving in, as well as the electricity used by them, because they are closely related to the revenue. Looking to the quarter-over-quarter growth, I think there is very little likelihood the Q4 revenue will decline sequentially. I would advise you to refer to the upper end of our full year revenue guidance range.
Anthony Leng (Equity Research Associate)
EBITDA margin 有一点点季节性的波动，这个是在一个正常的水平下。我们整个业务的收入啊，包括我们的成本水平都没有什么显著的变化。
Qiyu Wang (CFO)
With regard to the EBITDA margin, I would say it's within a reasonable range, because the majority of our revenue is from the wholesale IDC business. Because of the rising temperatures in Q3, we are seeing more tariffs for Q3. Given that, these are actually reflected in our P&L in terms of the tariffs that we pay. However, with regard to our operational costs, they are consistent. We do not see huge fluctuations. I would see this as reasonable seasonal fluctuations. Thank you.
Shengguang Liu (Head of Investor Relations)
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect your lines.