Hong Kong IPO disclosure precedents · 324 companies, 337 items
sales through distributors: share of revenue, number and movement of distributors, relationship (sell-in / consignment), measures against channel stuffing and inventory build-up
During the Track Record Period, revenue generated from direct sales as of percentage of our total revenue decreased from 94.5% in 2022 to 93.3% in 2023, and further to 91.4% in 2024, and from 90.3% in the four months ended April 30, 2024 to 88.5% in the four months ended April 30, 2025, while revenue generated from distributorship as a percentage of our total revenue increased from 5.5% in 2022 to 6.7% in 2023, and further to 8.6% in 2024, and from 9.7% in the four months ended April 30, 2024 to 11.5% in the four months ended April 30, 2025, primarily due to our expanded use of domestic and overseas distributors to strengthen market penetration in local regions.
Business · p. 207
Our distributors maintain a “buy-out” model with us.
Business · p. 209
To prevent cannibalization, we require distributors to report the information of end customers to us for record before entering into sales arrangements with such customers.
During the Track Record Period, our products were distributed primarily through our distributors, from whom we generated a substantial portion of our revenue.
Business · p. 299
We have adopted the current distribution work scheme primarily due to two considerations: (i) the “Two-Invoice System” requires pharmaceuticals that are selected in national or provincial VBP schemes to be sold to hospitals through qualified distributors; and (ii) the established distribution networks and local resources mastered by our distributors can facilitate a relatively rapid market penetration for our products across China and enable us to save enormous costs to rebuild a nationwide distribution network.
Business · p. 299
During the Track Record Period, we experienced fluctuations in the number of our distributors.
Our revenue generated from sales to distributors was RMB18.3 million, RMB15.7 million, RMB45.2 million, RMB9.8 million and RMB19.8 million in 2022, 2023, 2024 and the first five months of 2024 and 2025, respectively, accounting for 11.4%, 10.8%, 18.4%, 13.2% and 22.4% of our total revenue for the same periods.
Business · p. 316
As a result, 49 distributors transitioned to become sub-distributors under provincial-level distributors, leading to a decrease in the total number of distributors.
Business · p. 318
We believe that our sales correspond to actual consumer demand and therefore our products are at low risk of channel stuffing in our distribution network, because (i) other than provincial-level distributors upon which we impose minimum purchase amount requirement, our distributors typically initiate orders upon receiving requests from end users.
We primarily operate a seller-buyer model with our distributors, who then distribute our drugs to hospitals and pharmacies. As of June 30, 2025, we had over 90 distributors, covering a network of over 1,500 hospitals nationwide in China.
Business · p. 342
In the six months ended June 30, 2025, we terminated our collaboration with four distributors as certain sales targets were not met.
Business · p. 342
To ensure our sales to distributors reflect genuine market demand and an orderly sales and distribution market for our products, we primarily rely on our distribution agreements, policies, and monitoring measures to manage our distribution network.
As of December 31, 2022, 2023 and 2024, and March 31, 2025, we had a total of 51, 117, 185 and 203 distributors, respectively.
Business · p. 282
In 2022, 2023 and 2024, revenue generated through distributors accounted for 6.5%, 8.6% and 8.7% of our total revenue, respectively.
Business · p. 283
We believe we are subject to minimal risks of channel stuffing since we adopt sales control measures including reviews of distributors' inventory levels, sales amounts and marketing activities, as applicable and we recognize revenue when the control of the goods or services is transferred to distributors, and we generally do not accept return or exchange of our products except for verified product quality issues.
In 2022, 2023, 2024 and the three months ended March 31, 2025, approximately 98.8%, 99.5%, 99.3% and 99.2% of our revenue from sale of products was generated from sale to our distributors.
Financial Information · p. 381
For example, we are gradually renegotiating distribution agreement terms with distributors, and aim to consolidate the responsibilities of sales and marketing and product delivery for more streamlined operations.
Financial Information · p. 381
We normally require our distributors to make full payment before shipment, except that we may grant a credit term of 60 to 90 days to distributors that we consider crucial to our business.
Sales of our OBM products through our primary distributors accounted for 79.1%, 84.7%, 69.0% and 47.4% of our total revenue for FY2022, FY2023, FY2024 and 5M2025, respectively.
Business · p. 333
As at 31 December 2022, 2023 and 2024 and 31 May 2025, we had three, four, five and five primary distributors, respectively.
Business · p. 333
Based on these reports, our primary distributors’ inventory balances of our OBM watches were approximately 9,000 units, 7,000 units and 7,000 units as at 31 December 2022, 2023 and 2024, respectively.
We sell the LUXEED brand vehicles to an exclusive corporate distributor, which is principally engaged in the sales of NEVs in the PRC, and further sells the LUXEED brand vehicles to end customers in China.
Business · p. 267
The term of the general distributorship agreement is five years and is renewable upon mutual agreement upon expiry.
In 2022, 2023 and 2024 and the six months ended June 30, 2024 and 2025, we generated revenue of RMB55.8 million, RMB132.4 million, RMB199.0 million, RMB95.1 million and RMB137.5 million from distributors, respectively, representing 11.0%, 15.5%, 15.9%, 16.3% and 18.9% of our total revenue for the corresponding years/periods.
Business · p. 227
In 2022, 2023 and 2024 and the six months ended June 30, 2025, we terminated cooperation with 25, 21, 31 and six distributors, respectively.
Business · p. 228
We do not impose mandatory sales targets on our distributors, allowing purchases to reflect actual market demand rather than sales pressure.
We sell our LiDAR products primarily through direct offline sales, with only a minimal portion distributed via regional distributors.
Business · p. 294
We generated a minor portion of our revenue from our distributors of RMB30.8 million, RMB50.9 million, RMB96.4 million and RMB10.4 million, respectively, for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2023 and 2024 and the three months ended March 31, 2025, representing approximately 2.6%, 2.7%, 4.6% and 2.0% of our total revenue for these periods.
Business · p. 294
Our sales and marketing department monitors, manages and supports the activities of our distributors to help ensure that they comply with our guidelines, policies and procedures.
In 2022, 2023 and 2024 and the four months ended April 30, 2024 and 2025, revenue generated from sales to domestic distributors was RMB155.8 million, RMB211.5 million, RMB307.1 million, RMB90.3 million and RMB128.4 million, respectively, representing 61.3%, 70.5%, 68.2%, 71.8% and 69.5% of our revenue from sales of products for the same periods.
Business · p. 171
Moreover, we strive to provide our distributors with operational supports to boost their development and have adopted several measures to prevent channel stuffing, which primarily include (i) our sales and marketing personnel review distributors’ sales plan and sales target, giving them advice to further improve sales performance and avoid inventory build-up;
Business · p. 177
The aggregated inventory of our bicycle products held by distributors and their respective sub-distributors as of April 30, 2025 represented approximately 57.8% of our total sales volume to distributors for the four months ended April 30, 2025.
During the Track Record Period, sales to our largest distributor in each year/period accounted for approximately 18.7%, 14.7%, 16.1%, 13.7% and 15.6% of our total distribution channel revenue in 2022, 2023, 2024 and the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2025, respectively, and sales to our five largest distributors in each year/period in aggregate accounted for approximately 32.9%, 29.7%, 27.3%, 26.5% and 18.0% of our total distribution channel revenue in 2022, 2023, 2024 and the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2025, respectively.
Business · p. 207
During the Track Record Period, the new distributors we had in each year/period were primarily due to the growth of our business and expansion of our sales network.
Business · p. 209
We do not impose minimum purchase thresholds on our distributors when they place orders with us, which allows our distributors to order products based on their actual sales capabilities, and prevents them from overstocking their inventory.
As of December 31, 2022, 2023 and 2024, we had 124, 114 and 106 distributors, respectively, which contributed to 10.4%, 13.8%, and 7.2% of our total revenues in 2022, 2023 and 2024, respectively.
Business · p. 222
As we maintain a buyer-seller relationship, rather than a principal-agent relationship with our distributors, our distributors place purchase orders from us based on their demand of our batteries in each year or period, which, under our definition, may classify them into new or terminated distributors.
Business · p. 223
We believe the risk of channel stuffing is remote in our distribution network.
We sell Efsubaglutide Alfa exclusively to third-party distributors, who are our direct customers and are responsible for distributing our products to hospitals, pharmacies and e-commerce platforms in China.
Business · p. 326
As of May 31, 2025, our distribution network comprised 20 distributors spanning 13 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions across China.
Business · p. 326
Distributors are required to provide us with access to inventory and sales data of Efsubaglutide Alfa.
Our distribution channels include bancassurance, agency, brokerage/IFA and others, which include digital commerce and other distribution channels. These channels contributed 46.6%, 15.2%, 31.8% and 6.5% respectively, of our VNB in 2024.
Summary · p. 2
As of the Latest Practicable Date, we had 32 ongoing bancassurance partnerships, including eight exclusive bancassurance partnerships in Southeast Asia.
Business · p. 298
In Thailand, our exclusive bancassurance partnership with SCB, a leading bank in Thailand, has been a key driver of our growth since 2019.
In 2022, 2023 and 2024, the revenue from sales to distributors amounted to RMB9,757.7 million, RMB11,318.8 million and RMB12,311.2 million, respectively, representing 80.6%, 81.1% and 81.9% of our total revenue for the same periods.
Business · p. 181
In adhering to our distributor management standards, in 2022, 2023 and 2024, we ceased collaborations with 152, 326 and 446 distributors, respectively, who did not conduct active transactions with us within a specified time frame due to shifted business strategies, market exits or other reasons, did not strictly follow our management policies for distributors or did not meet our expected sales performance.
Business · p. 184
We believe that our sales reflect the actual demand from end customers, thus minimizing the risk of channel stuffing and inventory backlog within the distribution network, as (i) we generally do not allow returns of products sold to distributors, except for limited reasons such as defective products; (ii) the majority of our product categories generally have a shelf life of 12 months and quick-frozen food products require relatively high storage costs; (iii) we require our distributors to report to us regularly on, and to maintain a reasonable level of, their inventory and adjust our supply to them to prevent channel stuffing accordingly; and (iv) we grant a short credit period to distributors and do not set minimum purchase requirements, encouraging distributors to be more cautious in their ordering to align their purchases with actual sales patterns and market demand.
Under our contracts with system integrators or agents, the payments are made to us by the system integrators or the agents, and therefore we recognized them as direct customers in accounting treatments.
Business · p. 222
Given the above, we believe that (i) the system integrators or agents do not have the typical characteristics of distributors, as such term is defined under Chapter 4.5 of the Guide for New Listing Applicants published by the Stock Exchange; (ii) our sales to system integrators or agents is not under a distributorship model; (iii) their involvement as our direct customers does not raise any concern in relation to channel stuffing; inventory risk, cannibalization or recoverability of accounts receivables.
Business · p. 222
Our internal control measures can ensure that all the services were purchased by the system integrators and agents on behalf of the customers, as we typically (i) confirm with the customers the information of the end users at the time of signing the contract, (ii) perform Proof of Concept (“POC”) testing at the end user’s site before the delivery and implementation as the projects require, (iii) keep record of employees’ work travels and working hours, which can help verify information about the end user.