Over the past week, Wanye Logistics has been very active, entering into collaborations with supply chain service provider “Yuncangpei” and bulk aquatic product online trading platform “Huacai Technology.” These collaborations aim to further strengthen Wanye’s diversified cold chain logistics services through strong partnerships and technological empowerment.
As an independent logistics brand under Vanke Group, Wanye Logistics now covers 47 major cities nationwide, with over 160 logistics parks and a warehousing scale exceeding 12 million square meters. It operates 49 specialized cold chain logistics parks, making it the largest in terms of cold chain warehousing scale in China.
Extensive and widely distributed warehousing facilities are Wanye Logistics’ core competitive advantage, while enhancing operational service capabilities will be its future focus.
Strong Growth in Cold Chain Logistics
Founded in 2015, Wanye Logistics has maintained rapid growth in recent years. Data shows that over the past four years, Wanye Logistics’ operating income has achieved a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.8%. In particular, the cold chain business income has grown at an even higher CAGR of 32.9%, with the revenue scale nearly tripling.
According to data from the National Development and Reform Commission, the national logistics revenue achieved year-on-year growth of 2.2% in 2020, 15.1% in 2021, and 4.7% in 2022. Wanye Logistics’ revenue growth rate in the past three years has significantly exceeded the industry average, which can be partly attributed to its smaller base, but its development potential cannot be underestimated.
In the first half of this year, Wanye Logistics achieved a revenue of 1.95 billion RMB, a year-on-year increase of 17%. Although the growth rate has slowed, it is still significantly higher than the national average growth rate of about 12%. Wanye Logistics’ cold chain logistics services, in particular, saw a 30.3% year-on-year increase in revenue.
As previously mentioned, Wanye Logistics has the largest cold chain warehousing scale in China. Including the four new cold chain parks opened in the first half of the year, Wanye’s cold chain rentable building area totals 1.415 million square meters.
Relying on these cold chain logistics services is naturally an advantage for Wanye, with half-year revenue of 810 million RMB accounting for 42% of the company’s total income, even though the rentable area is only one-sixth of the rentable area of standard warehouses.
Wanye Logistics’ most representative cold chain park is the Shenzhen Yantian Cold Chain Park, its first bonded cold warehouse. This project covers an area of about 100,000 square meters and has maintained an average daily inbound volume of 5,200 boxes and an outbound volume of 4,250 boxes since it began operations in April, making it a powerful agricultural product cold chain logistics hub in the Greater Bay Area.
Will It Go Public?
Given its scale, business model, and advantages, Wanye Logistics seems poised to enter the capital market. Recent market rumors suggest that Wanye Logistics might go public and become the “first cold chain logistics stock” in China.
Speculation is fueled by Wanye’s accelerated expansion, hinting at pre-IPO momentum. Additionally, the introduction of A-round investments from Singapore’s GIC, Temasek, and others nearly three years ago suggests a potential exit cycle.
Moreover, Vanke has invested over 27.02 billion RMB directly into its logistics business, making it the largest investment among its subsidiaries, yet with an annual return rate of less than 10%. Part of the reason is the high value of logistics cold storage projects under construction, which require significant capital.
Vanke President Zhu Jiusheng acknowledged at an August performance meeting that “even if the transformation business does well, its contribution to revenue scale and profits is likely to be limited.” The capital market can evidently shorten the return cycle for new industries.
Furthermore, Wanye Logistics set a “100 cold chain parks” target in 2021, particularly increasing investment in core cities. Currently, Wanye Logistics’ cold chain parks number less than half of this target. Rapidly implementing this expansion plan will necessitate capital market support.
In reality, Wanye Logistics tested the capital market in June 2020, issuing its first quasi-REITs on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange market, with a modest scale of 573.2 million RMB but good subscription results, attracting investments from institutions such as China Minsheng Bank, Industrial Bank, China Post Bank, and China Merchants Bank. This indicates initial market recognition of its logistics park asset operations.
With increased national support for infrastructure REITs in recent years, public REITs listings for industrial parks and warehousing logistics could be a viable path. At a performance briefing in March this year, Vanke management indicated that Wanye Logistics had selected several asset projects in Zhejiang and Guangdong, covering about 250,000 square meters, which have been submitted to local Development and Reform Commissions, with REITs issuance expected within the year.
However, some analysts point out that Wanye Logistics’ preparations for listing are not yet sufficient, with its pre-listing earnings and scale still lagging behind international advanced levels. Maintaining growth will be a crucial task for Wanye in the foreseeable future.
This aligns with Wanye Logistics’ clear development direction. Wanye Logistics has articulated a strategic formula: Wanye = base × service^technology. While the symbols’ meanings are unclear, the keywords highlight a capital-centric warehousing network and technology-supported operational service capabilities.
By continuously strengthening its base and enhancing service capabilities, Wanye Logistics stands a better chance of navigating the current industry cycle of declining profits and telling a compelling story in the capital market.
