Yunji - Q4 2023

Transcript

Operator (participant)

Good morning and good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by, and welcome to Yunji's fourth quarter 2023 earnings conference call. With us today are Mr. Shanglue Xiao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Yeqing Cui, Senior Financial Director, and Ms. Kaye Liu, Investor Relations Director of the company. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. Now I would like to hand the conference over to our first speaker today, Mrs. Kaye Liu, IRD of Yunji. Please go ahead, ma'am.

Kaye Liu (Investor Relations Director)

Hello everyone. Welcome to our fourth quarter 2023 earnings call. Before we start, please note that this call will contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are based on our current expectations, internal market operating conditions and related events that involve known and unknown risk, uncertainties, and other factors of the emerging industry. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminologies such as "well," "it's back," "anticipate," "continue," or other similar expressions. For a detailed discussion of these risks and uncertainties, please refer to our latest document filed with the U.S. SEC. Any forward-looking statements that we make on this call are based on assumptions as of today and are expressly qualified entirely by cautionary statements, risk factors, and details of the company filing with the SEC.

Yunji does not undertake any obligation to update these statements exactly as required on the applicable law. With that, I will now turn over to Shanglue Xiao, Chairman and CEO of Yunji.

Shanglue Xiao (Chairman and CEO)

[Foreign language]

Speaker 5

Hello everyone. Welcome to Yunji's 2023 earnings call.

Shanglue Xiao (Chairman and CEO)

[Foreign language]

Speaker 5

During 2023, and particularly in the fourth quarter's peak e-commerce promotion season, the prevailing trend resonated in the market with intense price competition. Major e-commerce and live streaming platforms adopted low-price strategies as norm, fostering a bargain-hunting mindset among consumers. However, Yunji is not merely an e-commerce platform; we are also a brand builder and a sales service provider. We understand the long-term repercussions of relying on low-price strategies, which can erode brand identity over time. The value we deliver to users lies in our cost-effective products with low return rates, as well as in minimizing decision-making and wait times for our users. Our commitment to a carefully curated product selection ensures that Yunji maintains a stable average order value, even amidst the market's focus on low prices.

Shanglue Xiao (Chairman and CEO)

[Foreign language]

Speaker 5

The stability of our average order value is intrinsically linked to our highly developed product capabilities. Centered around the theme of love for food, beauty, and health, we have developed a range of cost-effective private label products. We have not only expanded existing categories, but also successfully upgraded our lineup of mega-hit products. Over the span of many years of product development and sales, we have identified key ingredients that resonate strongly with our user base, such as collagen and probiotics. Building on successful trials and enthusiastic user feedback, we have introduced a variety of new products across multiple categories that innovatively incorporate these popular ingredients, while exploring different ways to harness these ingredients and enhance product functionality. Leveraging the existing popularity of these ingredients, our new offerings have been warmly embraced by our users.

We aim to cultivate loyal users of individual products who appreciate our carefully selected ingredients. In doing so, we will develop a user base that is loyal to the entire Yunji brand ecosystem, fostering a deeper trust in our brand.

Shanglue Xiao (Chairman and CEO)

[Foreign language]

Speaker 5

At Yunji, we are committed to transparency in terms of our ingredients. We actively seek genuine user feedback. We draw upon the rich heritage of over 5,000 years of Chinese history to source high-quality natural ingredients, such as the Dendrobium and the sea buckthorn. These renowned Chinese medicinal herbs are carefully processed, using advanced technology to produce healthier foods that are easier to digest and absorb. Over the past year, I've personally journeyed through mountains and grasslands to authenticate the quality of our ingredients and products, ensuring that our users can consume them with confidence and peace of mind.

Shanglue Xiao (Chairman and CEO)

[Foreign language]

Speaker 5

In terms of marketing, we recognize the powerful link between exceptional service and strong sales performance. To enhance customer service and drive sales, we are committed to the continuous improvement of our service managers' skills through comprehensive professional training and technical support. Furthermore, we have invited a number of our service managers to explore and trace product origins. These firsthand experiences allow them to gather more product-related materials, which they can then share with users in our communities.

Shanglue Xiao (Chairman and CEO)

[Foreign language]

Speaker 5

During March, we rolled out a range of new products as part of our healthcare brand upgrade. Alongside these products, we also unveiled a novel product plus service integrated sales model. Upon purchasing a product, users can gain access to Yunji's 28-Day Body Image Management Program, which includes personalized one-on-one services and convenient online tracking via a mini-program. Our new healthcare products were responding to that, with sales surprising RMB 8 million on launch day.

Shanglue Xiao (Chairman and CEO)

[Foreign language]

Speaker 5

When it comes to basic daily customer service, we focus on third-party merchant management, internal customer service training, and service policy optimization. We also conduct regular customer follow-ups and online surveys to improve and ensure overall customer satisfaction.

Shanglue Xiao (Chairman and CEO)

[Foreign language]

Speaker 5

AI was a significant trend in 2023, and we have been exploring new ways to apply it in our operations. During the year, our capabilities evolved significantly, and we now integrate AI into a range of functions, from basic customer service chatbots and handling routine call center tasks to more advanced support for service managers. For example, users of our 28-Day Body Image Management Program can now consult with service managers regarding their daily nutritional needs and calorie intake. Our AI health consultants seamlessly support service managers by rapidly and accurately calculating personalized recommended calorie intake in real time and providing informed and insightful advice.

Shanglue Xiao (Chairman and CEO)

[Foreign language]

Speaker 5

That concludes our strategic summary and reflections for 2023. Moving forward, we remain committed to our strategy of curated product selection, ensuring product cost-effectiveness, enhancing brand image, and actively exploring diverse marketing avenues to further elevate the Yunji brand.

Shanglue Xiao (Chairman and CEO)

[Foreign language]

Speaker 5

With that, I will take the floor over to Yeqing Cui, our Senior Financial Director, to go through the financial results.

Yeqing Cui (Senior Financial Director)

Okay, thank you, Shanglue. Hello, everyone. Before I go through our financial results, please note that all numbers stated in the following remarks are in RMB terms, and all calculations and percentage changes are on a year-over-year basis unless otherwise noted. During the fourth quarter of 2023, our operations remained relatively stable, and we continued to reinforce our core operational process. Our refinement to inventory management practice allowed us to generate a stable gross profit. We maintain a strategic focus on inventory management, actively monitoring various product categories on a weekly or monthly basis to ensure optimal stock levels. This approach not only optimizes our assets utilization but also effectively manages our cash flows. Meanwhile, we are actively pursuing more efficient cash flow management. Now, let's take a close look at our financials. Total revenues were RMB 149 million compared to RMB 289 million a year ago.

Revenues from sales of merchandise were RMB 112 million, and revenues from our marketplace business were RMB 34 million. These changes were primarily driven by ongoing refinements to our product range across all categories, coupled with the optimization of our supplier and the merchant network, resulting in a shorter impact on sales. Despite these changes, our gross margin remained relatively solid at 46.6%. This was due to sustained customer loyalty towards our private labels and our effective product curation strategy. Now, let's take a look at our operating expense. Fulfillment expense was RMB 25 million compared to RMB 32 million a year ago. This was primarily driven by a decrease in warehousing and logistics expense, stemming from lower merchandise sales, reduced personnel costs due to staffing structure optimization, and decreased service fee charged by third-party payment settlement platforms. Sales and marketing expense were RMB 29 million compared to RMB 59 million a year ago.

This was primarily a result of a decline in member management fee and a decrease in business promotion expense. Technology and content expense were RMB 12 million compared to RMB 17 million a year ago. The decrease was mainly due to a reduction in personnel costs resulting from staffing structure optimization and reduced server costs. General and administrative expense were RMB 44.5 million compared to RMB 44.9 million a year ago. This was mainly due to the reduction in personnel costs as a result of staffing structure refinements and share-based compensation expense, partly offset by an increase in allowance for credit loss. Total operating expense in the fourth quarter decreased to RMB 110 million from RMB 153 million in the same period of 2022. Loss from operations was RMB 40 million compared to RMB 33 million a year ago.

Net loss was RMB 66 million compared to RMB 68 million a year ago, while adjusted net loss was RMB 65 million compared with RMB 31 million a year ago. Basic and diluted net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders was RMB 0.03 compared with RMB 0.02 in the same period of 2022. Turning to the liquidity, as of December 30, 2023, we had a total of RMB 552 million in cash and cash equivalent restricted cash and short-term investment on our balance sheet compared to RMB 669 million as of December 31, 2022. Our liquid assets were sufficient to cover our payable obligations, and we do not hold any long-term bank loans or debts on our balance sheet. In addition, we are dedicated to making the most of our working capital and smartly managing our assets to better support our operations. In summary, the fourth quarter saw us taking significant strides towards our long-term strategic objectives.

Our ongoing efforts to refine our inventory management system, coupled with our commitment to sustainable and effective assets management, were key to this progress. Looking ahead, our focus remains on continuously enhancing our efficiencies, thereby ensuring our company's resilience and adaptability. Our strategy equips us to effectively confront future challenges and capitalize on opportunities in the evolving economic environment. This concludes our prepared remarks for today. Operator, we are now ready to take questions.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. If you have a question, please press star 1. When asking a question, please state your question in Chinese first, then repeat your question in English for the convenience of everyone on the call. Please hold while we poll for questions. Our first question comes from Ethan Yu with First Trust China.

Ethan Yu (Internal Wealth Management Analyst)

[Foreign language] Let me translate it myself. I just heard you mention customer service. We have observed that in recent months, major e-commerce platforms have launched a series of policies such as seven-day no reason return, free shipping in remote areas, et cetera. What do you think of these new policies which are biased towards consumers? Will the strategy have any impact on our performance? Thank you.

Shanglue Xiao (Chairman and CEO)

Okay [Foreign language]

Speaker 5

This issue evolves the nature of products and user consumption habits. First of all, we believe that to be a good platform, the selling point of your products cannot be for RMB 9.9 within free shipping, and users' consumption behavior cannot be based on impulse consumption. Yunji, especially Yunji's merchandise sales and private label products, has always maintained a loose and cash-methods service policy. However, our quality refund rate is very low compared to other platforms, which is inseparable from our sufficient user education. We believe that loose terms are important, but what ultimately attracts consumers to repurchase is unique product offering and cost-effectiveness. Our average order value is enough to cover our customer maintenance expenses, and we also have many loyal users in remote areas.

Shanglue Xiao (Chairman and CEO)

[Foreign language]

Speaker 5

Thank you for your question.

Yeqing Cui (Senior Financial Director)

Oh, thank you. Thank you. I have no more questions.

Operator (participant)

Once again, if you have a question, please press star 1. To remove yourself from the question queue, please press star then 2. Please hold. As there are no further questions at this time, I'd like to hand the call back to the management for closing remarks.

Kaye Liu (Investor Relations Director)

Thank you for joining us today. Please do not hesitate.