Sugar Substitute Business Climate Awaits Recovery
发布时间:2026-04-16 来源:华泰证券
Jinhe Industrial's(Jinhe)2025 revenue was RMB4,911mn(-7%YoY),the attributable net profit(NP)was RMB347mn(-38%YoY),and recurring NP was RMB277mn(-41%YoY).For 4Q25,revenue was RMB1,368mn(+9%YoY,+24%QoQ),and attributable NP was RMB-43.96mn(-130%YoY,-177%QoQ),with the latter missing our estimate of RMB80mn,mainly because the business climate of sugar substitutes has yet to recover.The company plans to distribute acash dividend of RMB0.2 per share.Considering suppliers'strong willingness to hold up prices and the support rising raw material prices,we expect the business climate of sugar substitutes to recover in the future.Maintain OVERWEIGHT.
Sugar substitutes prices generally rose YoY in 2025
For the food additives segment,revenue fell by 17%YoY to RMB2,280mn in 2025,mainly because downstream demand has yet to recover.GPM rose by 3.3pp YoY to 30.4%,mainly driven by rising product prices.According to baiinfo.com,the average prices of sucralose/acesulfame potassium/methyl maltol/ethyl maltol were RMB204k/36k/103k/82k per tonne(+37/-3/+15/+12%YoY)in 202,as mainstream enterprises were willing to hold up prices.For the bulk chemical raw materials segment,revenue slid by 5.6%YoY to RMB1,720mn in 2025,and GPM fell by 5.2pp YoY to 1.9%,mainly due to falling prices of some products.For the specialty chemicals segment,revenue was RMB470mn(+0.03%YoY)in 2025,and GPM fell by 2.6pp YoY to 9.3%.For 2025,overall GPM dropped by 1.9pp YoY to 17.3%.
Acesulfame potassium price has risen in 2026 ytd
According to its profit alert,Jinhe guides for a1Q26 attributable NP of RMB90-110mn(down by 55-63%YoY,mainly due to alower profit from core sweetener products)According to baiinfo.com,as of 14 April 2026,the average prices of sucralose/acesulfame potassium/methyl maltol/ethyl maltol were RMB105k/50k/102k/80k per tonne(+0/+56/+0/+3%YTD).We attribute acesulfame potassium price hikes mainly to suppliers’strong willingness to hold up prices and rising raw-material prices.We expect the business climate of sugar substitutes to gradually recover in the future,driven by domestic mainstream suppliers’strong willingness to hold up prices,cost-side support,and rallying overseas demand.
Earnings forecasts and valuation
We maintain our 2026/2027 attributable NP forecasts at RMB669/770mn and add our 2028 forecast of RMB908mn(+93/+15/+18%YoY),with 2026/2027/2028 EPS of RMB1.18/1.36/1.60.We value the stock at 22x 2026E PE,a premium over its peers’average of 19x on Wind consensus to factor in the growth potential of its projects under construction.Our target price is RMB25.96(previous:RMB21.58,based on 26x 2025E PE).Maintain OVERWEIGHT.
Risks:demand for sugar substitutes remaining lackluster;significant fluctuations in raw-material prices.