In recent years, with the support of energy transformation and relevant national policies, the hydrogen energy industry has become a hot "darling" in the capital market. Hydrogen energy "unicorn" Shanghai Reshaping Energy Group Co., Ltd. recently moved to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Will this brave venture into the Hong Kong Stock Exchange be successful?

After withdrawing its application documents for listing on the Science and Technology Innovation Board more than two years ago, the hydrogen energy "unicorn" Shanghai Reshaping Energy Group Co., Ltd.(hereinafter referred to as "Reshaping Energy") has moved to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Recently, according to the official website of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Shanghai Reshaping Energy Group Co., Ltd.(hereinafter referred to as "Reshaping Energy") officially submitted a prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with CICC as the exclusive sponsor.

As a leading domestic hydrogen energy fuel cell system company, Reshaping Energy has established in-depth cooperation with well-known domestic and foreign automobile companies such as FAW Jiefang, Dongfeng Motor, and Toyota Motor. In addition, reshaping energy is not short of capital attention. Well-known investment institutions and companies such as Sequoia Capital, IDG Capital, and Sinopec Capital are all shareholders.

In recent years, with the support of energy transformation and relevant national policies, the hydrogen energy industry has become a hot "darling" in the capital market. Will this reshaping of energy and venture into the Hong Kong Stock Exchange be successful?

From A shares to Hong Kong stocks

Data shows that Reshaping Energy is a leading hydrogen energy technology company, focusing on the design, development, manufacturing and sales of hydrogen fuel cell systems, hydrogen energy equipment and related components, and providing hydrogen fuel cell engineering development services that meet customer needs.

As early as March 2021, Reshaping Energy's IPO application on the Science and Technology Innovation Board was accepted by the Shanghai Stock Exchange. According to the prospectus disclosed at that time, Reshaping Energy originally planned to publicly issue no more than 21.6654 million shares and raise 2.017 billion yuan. The proposed investment projects include fuel cell stack production line construction projects, high-power fuel cell system research and development projects, and supplementary working capital. In August of the same year, reshaping Energy suddenly withdrew its listing application after completing the second round of inquiries from the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

At that time, a reporter from China Energy News once sent an interview letter to Reshaped Energy about suddenly withdrawing its listing application. The other party replied that:"Based on the current industry status, market environment and future development and other factors, the company proactively adjusted its business development strategy for long-term planning considerations and finally made the decision to withdraw its IPO application this time."

After more than two years, Reshaping Energy has officially moved to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange recently. The latest prospectus shows that according to consulting firm Frost Sullivan, based on the total output power of heavy truck hydrogen fuel cell systems sold in 2022, Reshaped Energy ranks first in China's hydrogen fuel cell system market; Based on the cumulative mileage (approximately 168 million kilometers) of fuel cell vehicles sold with fuel cell systems installed as of September 30, 2023, Reshaped Energy ranks first in China's hydrogen fuel cell system market.

From the perspective of the proposed fund-raising purposes, reshaping Energy will be mainly used for the research and development and expansion of hydrogen fuel cell systems, hydrogen energy equipment, and business expansion in overseas markets.

The valuation has exceeded 10 billion yuan

In recent years, China's hydrogen energy industry has developed rapidly and is popular in the capital market. Reshaping energy is no exception. According to the prospectus, since its establishment in 2015, Reshaping Energy has received multiple rounds of financing, with a total financing amount of nearly 4 billion yuan. Among them, there are many well-known institutions such as Sequoia Capital and IDG Capital, as well as industrial capital such as Sinopec Capital and FAW Liberation Group., the current valuation has exceeded 10 billion.

According to disclosure, in July 2017, Reshaping Energy completed the Pre-A Series of financing and Series A financing, raising approximately 220 million yuan in funds, mainly invested by Chunyang Capital and Huiyang Capital. In June 2019, Reshaping Energy ushered in Series B financing, raising a total of 333 million yuan. Zhixin Capital led the investment, and Junlian Capital, Bohua Capital and other institutions also participated in the investment. In August of the same year, Sinopec Capital invested approximately 492 million yuan in shares, becoming the second largest shareholder of Reshaping Energy.

In September 2020, Energy was restructured into a joint-stock company, and at the same time, it welcomed a series D financing of 717 million yuan. Investors included Zhengzhou Spruce, Shuimu Hydrogen Source, Dezai Houqicheng, Weiming Venture Capital, Kaihui Fund, Dongfang Electric, etc.

In 2022, Reshaping Energy completed two rounds of E-1 and E-2 financing, raising a total of approximately 2.17 billion yuan. Among them, the E-1 round financing amount is 1.698 billion yuan, and there are many investment institutions, including the National Manufacturing Fund, Yutong Bus, Zhongjin Innovation, Sequoia Hanchen, Wenzhou Zhemin Investment, Hillhouse Yurun, etc. In the E-2 round of financing, FAW Jiefang invested 480 million yuan and obtained approximately 4.43% of the shares after the capital increase was completed. Based on this calculation, the valuation of Reshaping Energy after the E round of investment exceeded 10 billion yuan, ranking among the ranks of "unicorns".

At present, the company's largest shareholder is founder Lin Qi, who holds 14.55% of the company's shares. Sinopec Capital is the company's second largest shareholder and the largest institutional shareholder, holding 14.33% of Reshaped Energy.

Commercial problems to be solved

Despite the support of many "star capitals", the overall hydrogen energy industry is still in its early stages of development, and the commercialization problem of the industrial chain remains to be solved.

The prospectus shows that reshaping Energy's largest source of revenue is sales of hydrogen fuel cell systems and components, accounting for 98%, 94.9% and 94.6% of total revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2023 respectively. Among them, during the reporting period, the company's sales of fuel cell systems equipped with fuel cell stacks were 639 units, 790 units and 230 units respectively.

According to disclosure, in 2021, 2022 and the first nine months of 2023, the revenue achieved by reshaped energy was approximately 524 million yuan, 605 million yuan and 219 million yuan respectively; the gross profit for the same period was 61.8 million yuan, 49.8 million yuan, and 34.7 million yuan respectively, but the net losses for the same period were approximately 654 million yuan, 546 million yuan and 460 million yuan respectively. At the same time, the net cash flow used to reshape energy business activities was-768 million yuan, -728 million yuan, and-625 million yuan respectively.

In fact, this is not a problem that a company that reshapes energy is facing. Currently, most other hydrogen energy companies are also losing money. Taking Yihuatong, the "first share of hydrogen energy" as an example, the 2023 performance report shows that Yihuatong lost 226 million yuan in 2023. From 2020 to 2022, the company also lost 22.5236 million yuan, 162 million yuan, and 167 million yuan respectively. Guohong Hydrogen Energy, which was successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in December last year, is also at a loss. From 2020 to 2022, Guohong Hydrogen Energy suffered losses of approximately 215 million yuan, 703 million yuan and 273 million yuan respectively. The company's latest performance report shows that the loss in 2023 will be approximately 404 million yuan.

It can be seen that commercialization is currently a common problem faced by hydrogen energy companies. Will reshaping energy's brave venture into the Hong Kong Stock Exchange go smoothly? This newspaper will continue to pay attention.