Lex专栏 业绩受阻对万科的启示

Takeover battles are bad for your health. On Sunday China Vanke, the Hong Kong and Shenzhen-listed property developer in the throes of a tussle for control, delivered first-half results. While profits after tax eked out a rise of one-tenth, this missed market forecasts as margins lost three percentage points (although management said second-half margins should rebound). Growth prospects, however, have been hurt — yet the disruption may ultimately prove good for minority shareholders.

收购战对健康有害。上周日，万科(China Vanke)发布了上半年业绩，这家在香港和深圳上市的房地产开发商正陷入控制权争夺战。虽然2016年上半年万科的净利润勉强实现10%的增长，但逊于市场预期，主营业务利润率下降了3个百分点（不过管理层表示下半年利润率将会回升）。然而，增长前景已受到损害，不过这场动荡可能最终证明有利于少数股股东。

Late last year, a group backed by insurer Baoneng became Vanke’s largest shareholder. It owns a quarter of the company, ahead of state-owned enterprise China Resources Holding. Vanke called Baoneng “unwelcome” and has since been involved in an increasingly complex and protracted war, including proposing a deal with Shenzhen Metro Corp to issue a large block of new shares in return for assets.

去年年底，保险企业宝能(Baoneng)支持的一个集团成了万科第一大股东。该集团持有万科四分之一的股份，超过了国企华润集团(China Resources Holdings)。万科称宝能“不受欢迎”，自此双方陷入了一场日益复杂的持久战，包括万科提出与深圳地铁集团(Shenzhen Metro)进行交易，发行大量新股收购后者资产。

As a consequence of this unusually public fight, Vanke’s commercial relationships have suffered. In the first half, the company had to alter terms for, or terminate, 31 co-operative projects between June and August alone. (It completed 70 projects.) The management-services unit has been similarly affected with the hit to the brand and quality perception. On the bright side, Vanke’s finances are sound. Over the half, net debt fell a quarter and is at about 20 per cent of equity. Financing costs, including capitalised interest, are nearly five times covered by earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.

结果，这种不寻常的公开斗争导致万科的商业关系受损。仅6月底至8月初，该公司就不得不为31个项目变更条款或终止合作。（该公司上半年获取新项目70个。）与企业品牌和质量认知受到的打击一样，管理服务部门同样受到影响。从光明面来看，万科的财务状况是健康的。上半年净债务下降了四分之一，净债务资本率为14.18%。息税折旧及摊销前利润(EBITDA)对包括资本化利息在内的融资成本的利息保障倍数接近5倍。

So the company is not operationally threatened in the short term. And, despite its previous antipathy to Baoneng, Vanke has become less confrontational, stressing instead a focus on returns and the long-term stability of the company. A poor half may have been just the shock treatment needed for Vanke to remember that it must act in all shareholders’ best interests and not just those of a few.

因此万科的运营在短期内不存在威胁。而且，尽管此前对宝能反感，现在万科已变得不那么对抗，而是强调专注于公司的回报和长期稳定。糟糕的上半年可能正是万科需要的休克疗法，让其记住必须根据所有股东、而不是少部分股东的最佳利益行事。