深信服(300454) - 2023 Q4 - 年度财报

Financial Performance - Sangfor Technologies Inc. reported a total revenue of RMB 10.23 billion for the fiscal year 2023, representing a year-over-year growth of 15.6%[8] - The company's net profit attributable to shareholders reached RMB 1.45 billion, an increase of 12.3% compared to the previous year[8] - Revenue for 2023 reached RMB 7,662,166,391.60, a year-on-year increase of 3.36%[14] - Net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company in 2023 was RMB 197,830,227.92, up 1.89% year-on-year[14] - Operating cash flow for 2023 was RMB 946,610,462.42, a significant increase of 26.97% compared to 2022[14] - Total assets at the end of 2023 were RMB 15,028,908,327.14, a 23.36% increase from the previous year[14] - Q4 2023 revenue was RMB 2,853,971,457.51, the highest among all quarters[16] - Q4 2023 net profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 743,406,617.92, a strong recovery from previous quarters[16] - Non-recurring gains and losses for 2023 amounted to RMB 87,385,758.88, a decrease from RMB 93,737,797.71 in 2022[20] - The company's weighted average return on equity (ROE) for 2023 was 2.41%, a slight decrease from 2.60% in 2022[14] - The company's total equity attributable to shareholders at the end of 2023 was RMB 8,805,254,642.95, up 14.05% year-on-year[14] - The company's basic and diluted earnings per share for 2023 remained stable at RMB 0.47, unchanged from 2022[14] - Total revenue for the reporting period was approximately RMB 7.662 billion, a slight increase of 3.36% year-over-year[73] - Enterprise customer revenue in the domestic market grew by 19.73%, driven by strong demand from industries such as energy and transportation[73] - Overseas market revenue grew by 47.98%, maintaining a high growth trend[73] - Cybersecurity business revenue was approximately RMB 3.892 billion, a slight decrease of 0.14%, accounting for 50.79% of total revenue[73] - Cloud computing and IT infrastructure business revenue was approximately RMB 3.090 billion, an increase of 8.07%, accounting for 40.33% of total revenue[73] - Net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was approximately 198 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.89%[75] - Operating cash inflow was 9.306 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.34%, with cash received from sales of goods and services reaching 8.730 billion yuan, up 7.40% year-on-year[75] - Total revenue for 2023 was 7.662 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.36%, with enterprise sector revenue growing by 19.73% to 3.425 billion yuan[76] - Cloud computing and IT infrastructure business revenue increased by 8.07% to 3.090 billion yuan, accounting for 40.33% of total revenue[76] - Overseas revenue grew significantly by 47.98% to 346 million yuan, reflecting strong international market expansion[76] - The company's overall gross margin was 65.13%, an increase of 1.31 percentage points year-on-year, driven by the growth of cloud computing business and improved supply chain management[74] - Basic network and IoT business revenue reached approximately 680 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.70%, accounting for 8.88% of the company's total revenue, up from 8.85% in the same period last year[74] Dividends and Shareholder Returns - The company plans to distribute a cash dividend of 0.50 yuan per 10 shares (tax included) to all shareholders, with no stock dividends or capital reserve transfers[2] - The company's cash dividend policy for 2022 was 0.50 RMB per 10 shares, with a total cash dividend amount of 20,807,538.05 RMB[192] - The company's distributable profit for the year was 2,919,315,135.41 RMB, with cash dividends accounting for 100% of the total profit distribution[192] - The company repurchased 1,255,715 shares in 2022, with a total repurchase amount of 130,912,654.44 RMB, which is considered as cash dividends for the year[189] Risks and Challenges - The company faces risks including weak market demand, declining operating performance, intensified competition in cybersecurity and cloud computing, and potential misalignment of new business investments with user needs[2] - Potential risks also include rising hardware procurement costs due to increased prices of upstream storage components, higher period expenses from increased R&D and sales investments, and the risk of core technology leaks and loss of key technical personnel[2] - The company's future outlook includes detailed descriptions of potential risks and countermeasures in the "Management Discussion and Analysis" section[2] - The company faces risks of weak market demand and declining operating performance, with potential impacts from economic fluctuations and increased competition[137] - Hardware procurement costs have risen significantly due to price increases in upstream storage components, such as memory, SSD, and HDD, driven by international conditions and supplier strategies[141] - R&D and sales expenses have increased rapidly, alongside the implementation of equity incentive plans, which may not lead to expected revenue and profit growth, potentially affecting profitability[142] - There is a risk of core technology leaks and loss of key technical personnel, which could negatively impact innovation and product development. The company is implementing measures to protect intellectual property and retain talent[144] - As the company expands, there is a risk of management challenges due to increased organizational complexity. The company is strengthening internal processes and digitalization to mitigate these risks[145] R&D and Innovation - Sangfor's R&D investment in 2023 amounted to RMB 2.1 billion, accounting for 20.5% of the total revenue[8] - The company has established five R&D centers in Shenzhen, Beijing, Changsha, Nanjing, and Chengdu, with R&D personnel accounting for nearly 40% of the workforce, over 27% of whom hold master's or doctoral degrees[64] - The company has accumulated over 3,050 patent applications, with 327 new patents authorized and 46 new software copyrights registered in the reporting period[64] - The company's R&D expenses have exceeded 20% of revenue for eight consecutive years[64] - The company launched the self-developed security GPT 3.0, AI computing platform, and storage EDS 520 version during the 2024 Spring New Product Launch[65] - The company launched its self-developed large model, Security GPT, with a detection rate of 91.4% against targeted phishing attacks, significantly surpassing traditional solutions[73] - The company developed the first enterprise-level security large language model, Security GPT, which demonstrated superior detection capabilities in high-confrontation scenarios[86] - Released a new version of the hyper-converged Sangfor HCI and cloud platform SCP 6.9.0, featuring AI-driven performance and reliability enhancements, including intelligent scheduling for ARM CPUs and NUMA network affinity, achieving significant performance improvements[88] - Introduced the VDI 5.5.6 and VDI 591 series for desktop cloud, supporting up to 100,000 user access points, improving density by 38% on domestic hardware, and reducing video traffic by 40% through optimized encoding algorithms[89] - Released the EDS 501 storage architecture, enhancing performance and reliability across multiple layers, including optimized small file IO, multi-active metadata services, and intelligent data repair mechanisms, widely recognized in AI training and medical imaging scenarios[90] - Unveiled the "Xinrui Tongpin" enterprise intelligent collaboration solution, supporting up to eight simultaneous screen projections, dual-screen display, and ultrasonic matching for secure and stable wireless projection[92] - Launched the MDR-PC solution for endpoint security, providing 24/7 threat detection and response capabilities, addressing advanced threats like ransomware and phishing emails[87] - Introduced the MSS security insurance, a collaborative risk transfer solution with insurance providers, offering comprehensive coverage for potential security incidents[87] - Enhanced the database management platform DMP to support MySQL 8.0, Oracle 12c, and hybrid cloud disaster recovery scenarios, improving database management and backup capabilities[88] - Developed the "Zhilianxing" wireless networking solution for healthcare and manufacturing, offering features like physical isolation, IoT expansion, and high-performance connectivity[91] - Upgraded the IP SIP product to enhance network asset management, ensuring better cost-effectiveness and operational efficiency for high-value network assets[92] - The company launched several key R&D projects, including the Security GPT model and Cloud Brain - Advanced Threat Protection, both of which are in continuous operation[102] - The SASE-Internet Security Access Service project aims to enhance internet access auditing and user behavior analysis, supporting the company's transition to a SaaS service model[103] Market and Industry Trends - Global cybersecurity IT investment reached $189.01 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow to$328.88 billion by 2027, with a five-year CAGR of 11.7%[25] - China's cybersecurity market is projected to grow from $12.35 billion in 2022 to$23.32 billion in 2027, with a CAGR of 13.5%, higher than the global average[25] - China's IT security hardware market size in 2023 was RMB 22.48 billion ($3.16 billion), a year-on-year decrease of 0.9$491 billion in 2022, a 19% year-over-year increase, with China's cloud computing market size reaching 455 billion RMB, a 40.91% year-over-year growth[34] - China's private cloud market size was 129.4 billion RMB in 2022, growing 25.3% year-over-year, and the overall cloud computing market is expected to exceed 1 trillion RMB by 2025[34] - China's IaaS spending has a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.4%, significantly higher than other hardware spending categories[34] - Distributed storage market size in China reached 10.42 billion RMB in 2022, with a growth rate nearly 20 percentage points higher than centralized storage from 2020 to 2022[36] - China's distributed storage market is projected to reach 21.14 billion RMB by 2025, driven by high scalability, efficiency, and reliability[36] - AI model development is driving demand for distributed storage systems due to their high performance, scalability, and cost-effectiveness, expected to see rapid adoption starting in 2024[37] - Traditional industries, including finance, manufacturing, and automotive, are expected to dominate cloud spending by 2025, with distributed cloud and hybrid IT models gaining traction[35] - China's server and storage device investments have a five-year CAGR of 8.5%, reflecting growing demand for enhanced data processing and storage capabilities[36] Products and Technologies - The company's products and technologies include next-generation firewalls, situational awareness, cloud computing (public, private, hybrid, and hosted clouds), zero-trust security, and IoT[5] - The company's hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) integrates computing, storage, network, and security virtualization into standard X86 or ARM architecture servers, forming a unified resource pool[5] - The company's application delivery (AD) products optimize performance, accelerate single-side operations, and provide intelligent management to fully utilize data center resources[5] - Sangfor's cybersecurity products and services generated RMB 6.43 billion in revenue, contributing 62.8% to the total revenue[8] - The company's cloud computing business segment achieved a revenue of RMB 3.8 billion, growing by 25.4% year-over-year[8] - Sangfor's SD-WAN solutions were deployed in over 10,000 enterprise branches worldwide, supporting the digital transformation of various industries[6] - The company launched its next-generation XDR platform, which integrates AI-driven threat detection and response capabilities, enhancing its cybersecurity offerings[7] - Sangfor's VDI solutions were adopted by more than 5,000 enterprises, providing secure and efficient virtual desktop infrastructure for remote work environments[6] - The company's AIGC (Artificial Intelligence Generated Content) technology was integrated into its cloud services, enabling advanced data analysis and automation capabilities[7] - The company's cybersecurity business focuses on providing simple, effective, and reliable security solutions, leveraging cloud-based security capabilities and AI technologies like GPT for proactive monitoring and closed-loop incident handling[44] - Core cybersecurity products and services include next-generation firewalls, VPNs, network behavior management, endpoint security management systems, zero-trust access control systems, and security SaaS offerings such as SASE and SaaS-XDR[44] - The company offers a comprehensive range of security services, including security hosting, risk assessments, security operations, and training, alongside innovative products like security GPT[44] - The cybersecurity solutions are designed to cater to various industries and scenarios, such as security operations, zero-trust architectures, hybrid work environments, and global networking[44] - The company's cybersecurity products and services are delivered through both cloud and on-premises models, reducing the implementation and operational barriers for customers[44] - The company's AC product has maintained the No. 1 market share in the security content management category in China for 14 consecutive years from 2009 to Q3 2023[45] - The company's VPN product has held the No. 1 market share in China for 15 consecutive years from 2008 to Q3 2023[45] - The company's AD product ranked No. 2 in China from 2014 to 2021 and No. 1 from 2022 to Q2 2023[45] - The company's AF product ranked No. 2 in the unified threat management category in China for 8 consecutive years from 2016 to 2023[45] - The company's zero trust solution ranked No. 1 in China in 2022 for both zero trust network access and software-defined perimeter scenarios[45] - The company's NDR product ranked No. 3 in China in 2022 and was recommended in Gartner's NDR Market Guide in 2024[45] - The company's MSS product ranked No. 1 in China's remote managed security services submarket for 2 consecutive years in 2021 and 2022[45] - The company's desktop cloud terminal product ranked No. 1 in China's cloud terminal market for 2 consecutive years in 2021 and 2022[47] - The company's HCI software product ranked No. 2 in China in H1 2023 and Q3 2023[47] - The company's wireless product ranked No. 1 in 6 industries including banking, securities, insurance, and water power in Q2 2023[51] - The company's cloud security revenue accounts for over 10% of the total audited consolidated financial statement revenue for the most recent fiscal year[61] - The company's next-generation firewall products are widely used in government, enterprise, healthcare, education, and financial sectors, providing advanced security features such as intrusion prevention and AI-based threat detection[79] - Desktop cloud products achieved unified management and security control for enterprise, government, financial, and medical customers, with features like USB control, terminal asset statistics, and screen watermarking[80] - The company's products are sold through a channel-based distribution model, with no single distributor accounting for over 30% of sales[82] - In 2023, the company launched new security operation solutions, integrating cloud and on-premise architectures and building a unified data standard to address fragmented logs in the industry[84] - The zero-trust solution evolved from a single SDP product to a comprehensive solution, enhancing market competitiveness with capabilities like threat deception and security radar[84] - The EDR product improved advanced threat detection, adding dynamic AI detection and real-time backup capabilities to combat ransomware attacks[85] - The next-generation firewall AF introduced a cloud threat intelligence gateway module, achieving real-time detection and interception within 100ms[85] - The application delivery AD product optimized for domestic chip architectures, enhancing performance and SSLo traffic orchestration capabilities[86] - Launched the next-generation Managed Cloud Service with five major upgrades, including a hybrid cloud solution, cloud-native managed private cloud, enhanced service capabilities, upgraded security features, and improved ecosystem integration[89] Corporate Governance and Leadership - The company adheres to strict corporate governance standards, ensuring compliance with relevant laws and regulations, and maintains independence from its controlling shareholder[149][151] - The company's board of directors consists of 6 members, including 3 independent directors, and held 15 board meetings during the reporting period[152] - The company's board has established four specialized committees: Strategy Committee, Audit Committee, Nomination Committee, and Compensation and Evaluation Committee[152] - The company's board revised the Independent Director Work System and held 1 independent director special meeting during the reporting period[152] - The company's board of supervisors consists of 3 members, including 1 employee representative supervisor, and held 12 supervisory board meetings during the reporting period[153] - The company's management strictly follows the Articles of Association and effectively implements resolutions from the board and shareholders' meetings[154] - The company has established a performance evaluation and incentive mechanism for directors, supervisors, and senior management through the Compensation and Evaluation Committee[155] - The company ensures information disclosure through designated media including Securities Times, China Securities Journal, Shanghai Securities News, Securities Daily, and CNINFO[156] - The company maintains independence in assets, personnel, finance, organization, and business from controlling shareholders and actual controllers[158] -