ZEHO ECO recently released its first-quarter 2024 earnings report, successfully returning to profitability and demonstrating strong recovery momentum, laying a solid foundation for growth throughout the year.
The report indicates that the company achieved a revenue of 76.72 million yuan in the first quarter, with a net profit of 34.72 million yuan attributable to shareholders of the listed company, representing a significant year-on-year increase of 272.54%. Meanwhile, the net cash flow from operating activities reached 49.14 million yuan, skyrocketing 739.46% compared to the previous year. This marks the first time in three years that the company has achieved profitability in the first quarter, and the substantial growth in cash flow after restructuring settlement and collections to a primary organizational focus demonstrates the company's strong and sustainable operational capabilities.
The impressive performance is driven by several core factors. On one hand, the company significantly improved its accounts receivable recovery efficiency. Since the second half of 2023, ZEHO ECO has elevated the settlement and collection of completed projects to a strategic level, forming a dedicated task force led by senior management, along with a team of dynamic young professionals, to kick-start settlement work on 28 projects. This initiative has yielded substantial results, with the total collection for the first quarter reaching 219 million yuan, up 37% year-on-year, reversing 47.95 million yuan in impairment losses, providing robust support for the company's profit and cash flow growth.
On the other hand, the company actively promoted cost reduction and efficiency improvements through focused operations in key cities and optimized personnel resource allocation, leading to a significant year-on-year reduction in management expenses and labor costs, along with enhanced operational efficiency. In 2024, ZEHO ECO emphasized comprehensive budget management as a core approach to improving company management. By further integrating business and finance and conducting precise analysis of the three financial statements linked with KPIs, the company can monitor each business segment's performance in real-time, enabling timely problem identification and resolution, thus ensuring the smooth achievement of the company's overall strategic objectives.
In terms of market layout, the company is focusing on key cities such as Beijing, Wuhan, Ningbo, and Shenzhen, while paying close attention to critical areas of national and public interest. Specifically, it addresses the ongoing issues of water safety caused by climate and environmental changes. Building on its river and lake management and marine ecological restoration business, the company has added ecological water infrastructure construction and smart water management. By partnering with leading technology companies like Zhipu AI, Infrawaves, and Infinigence, ZEHO ECO is promoting innovative applications of AI large models in smart water management and eco-environmental fields. The company's core competitive advantage, based on "Water Safety + Ecosystem Construction + Digital Technology," lays a solid foundation for achieving annual order targets. Despite a slight year-on-year decrease in revenue due to proactive strategic adjustments, the company's increased efforts in the Beijing market and ongoing expansion in the East and South China markets are expected to lead to steady order growth while simultaneously reducing costs and improving efficiency.
To consolidate the operational adjustments achieved in the first quarter and better address external challenges, ZEHO ECO will strengthen its collection efforts in the second quarter, while also enhancing comprehensive detailed budgeting, deepening the integration of business and finance management, and proactively adjusting market strategies. At the beginning of the second quarter, ZEHO ECO successfully won the bid for the Xiyuhe Flood Retention Area construction project, with a contract value of 137 million yuan, providing a strong foundation for achieving the 2024 performance targets. This successful bid not only recognizes the company's technical capabilities and market competitiveness, but also strongly validates its market focus and collaborative market expansion strategy.
Looking ahead, ZEHO ECO will continue to adhere to the principles of stable operations, continuous innovation, performance optimization, and investor protection. The company will keep enhancing its core competitiveness to strive for high-quality growth.