New Stock Preview | Sublime China Information: High Profit Margin Advantage Highlighted Industry Growth Rate Exceeding 10% Data Asset Value Expected to be Reassessed

According to the disclosure of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on November 28th, Shandong Sublime China Information Co., Ltd. (referred to as Sublime China Information) has submitted an application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's main board, with Ping An Securities (Hong Kong) as its sole sponsor. This company, which has been deeply involved in the field of commodity information services for many years, has now embarked on the path to a Hong Kong listing after being listed on the A-share market in China. According to the prospectus, Sublime China Information is a leading comprehensive commodity information service provider in China. Based on revenue calculations for 2024, the company ranks second in the commodity information service industry in China, with a market share of 10.6%, ranking first in the energy commodity sector. Steady Revenue Growth Significant Profit Margin Fluctuations The prospectus shows that Sublime China Information's business operations cover 25 commodity industries, relying on over 120,000 global information sources to continuously accumulate scale and structured data assets. Currently, the company operates over 800 comprehensive and vertical industry research homepages, covering approximately 1200 commodities, and publishes around 95 commodity industry indices. During the historical performance period, the company's business segments included information services, data intelligence services, consulting services, and exhibition services, with information services being the company's core business. The company's products and services mainly operate on an annual subscription-based business model. According to Zhiyan Consulting, based on revenue calculations for 2024, the company ranks second in the commodity information service industry in China, with a market share of 10.6%, ranking first in the energy commodity sector (including but not limited to crude oil, natural gas extraction products, and chemical raw materials and products) in terms of revenue in 2024, demonstrating its leading position in the core business sector. Looking at Sublime China Information's financial data over the past three years, the company shows a significant characteristic: steady revenue growth and noticeable fluctuations in profit margins. In absolute values, the company's revenue was 273 million RMB in the 2022 fiscal year, experiencing a slight increase to 294 million RMB in the 2024 fiscal year, with a growth of only 7.7% over the two years, a compound annual growth rate of less than 4%. By the first eight months of 2025, the company achieved revenue of 229 million RMB, a year-on-year increase of 4.7%, showing a slight recovery in growth but still moderate. This growth trend seems to not fully match the company's leading position in the commodity information service industry. However, when looking at the profit side, a different picture emerges. From 2022 to 2024, the company's net profits were 58.399 million RMB, 52.066 million RMB, and 70.509 million RMB respectively, with a significant drop in 2023 followed by a strong rebound in 2024, setting a new historical high. The net profit for the first eight months of 2025 was 45.227 million RMB, maintaining stability compared to the previous year. This discrepancy between revenue and net profit growth warrants further investigation into the driving factors behind it. One of the most notable features of Sublime China Information's financial statements is its consistently high gross profit margin level. From 2022 to the first eight months of 2025, the company's gross profit margins were 65.8%, 59.9%, 65.6%, and 62.6% (adjusted to 66.3% for the first eight months of 2025), significantly higher than many traditional industries. Behind this high gross profit margin is the company's light asset operation model and knowledge-intensive business characteristics. Commodity information services mainly rely on professional teams, accumulated data, and technological platforms, rather than heavy equipment and large inputs of raw materials, making sales costs relatively controllable. A closer analysis of the reason for the drop in gross profit margin to 59.9% in 2023 reveals that the sales cost rate increased from 34.2% in 2022 to 40.1% in 2023. This change may be related to an increase in data acquisition costs, higher salaries for technical personnel, or adjustments to product structures. However, the company was able to successfully restore its gross profit margin to 65.6% in 2024, demonstrating excellent cost control capabilities. It is worth noting that in 2024, despite a marginal revenue increase of only 0.3%, sales costs actually decreased by 10.9%. This data change reveals the company's specific path to profit improvement through optimizing operational efficiency. In terms of net profit margin indicators, Sublime China Information achieved margins of 21.4%, 18.4%, and 23.9% from 2022 to 2024, with a margin of 19.7% for the first eight months of 2025, consistently maintaining a high level. This profit level reflects the superiority of the company's business model and the stability of its market position. The drop in net profit margin to 18.4% in 2023 was mainly due to a decrease in gross profit margin and a temporary relaxation of expense controls. The significant increase in net profit margin to 23.9% in 2024 was attributed to the recovery of gross profit margin and the synergistic effect of cost control. This fluctuation in profit margin reflects the complexity of the company's operating environment and demonstrates the management's ability to adjust to challenges. Against the backdrop of limited revenue growth, the company can maintain strong profitability resilience through refined operational management. Looking at Sublime China Information's financial reports, the high gross profit margin of 65% acts as a flag, indicating its moat in the information services field. When the company's administrative expenses decreased from 18.7% to 15.2%, there is an efficiency revolution happening behind the numbers. However, the slow climb from 273 million RMB to 294 million RMB in revenue exposes the ceiling of the subscription-based business model. The fluctuating numbers on the profit statement ultimately need a larger market narrative to carry them - perhaps this is the true motivation behind Sublime China Information's journey to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The "Rising Quantity and Price" Golden Track in the Chinese Market The track in which Sublime China Information operates is showing a positive trend of structural growth, laying a solid foundation for the company's long-term development. The market size of the Chinese commodity information service sector is expected to increase from 25 billion RMB in 2024 to 41 billion RMB in 2029, with a compound annual growth rate of 10.7%, significantly higher than the global growth rate of 5.4%. This means that the market pie is rapidly growing, providing natural growth space for leading companies. Furthermore, the industry is evolving from basic price reporting ("information") to deep market insights and data intelligence services ("solutions"). The latter has a higher growth rate driven by enterprise digitalization and risk management needs. This drives the industry towards higher value-added business models with strong customer stickiness, helping to improve the overall profitability level and competitive barriers of the industry. In this industry wind, with its existing advantages, Sublime China Information is in a favorable competitive position. However, the company's recent revenue growth (around 3-4%) has been significantly lower than the overall industry growth rate (10.7%). This exposes its limited ability to capture incremental market share in a rapidly expanding market. Possible reasons include a strong reliance on traditional large clients, high costs to acquire new clients, or inadequacies in laying out and transitioning quickly in the high-growth data intelligence new track. Looking ahead, the breakthrough for Sublime China Information lies in "deepening" and "expanding." Vertically deepening by accelerating the transformation towards data intelligent services and deepening operations in vertical industries to increase the value and stickiness of individual customers. Laterally expanding by actively exploring international markets and exploring new business models to break through market boundaries. In conclusion, Sublime China Information stands at a "crossroads" on a "golden track." On one hand, the rapid digital transformation in the Chinese market presents historic opportunities; on the other hand, its weak growth and pressure to upgrade its business model. In the short term, with its solid industry position and excellent profitability, the company's foundation is stable, with strong risk resistance and potential for sustained dividends. In the medium to long term, success will depend on the company's ability to transform from an excellent "traditional information provider" into a "modern decision science service provider" driven by technology and data intelligence, and expand from a Chinese leader to the global stage.