New Stock Outlook | Guan'an Information: "Data Security + Network Security" dual drive, performance steady, profit improvement.

The largest professional security provider that provides data security platform in China, the pure AI+ information security race target, with stable performance growth, aims to turn losses into profits by 2025. However, Guan'an Information, which is planning to list in Hong Kong, only has 0.86 billion yuan in cash. It is understood that Guan'an Information recently submitted an IPO application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with ICBC International and China Thai International as joint sponsors. The company is an early participant in the field of information security in China, applying big data analysis and artificial intelligence technology, focusing on data security, network security, and emerging security areas, with its main income coming from data security and network security solutions. The company has a certain level of industry competitiveness. According to Frost & Sullivan, based on the 2025 revenue, the company ranks seventh among professional security providers in China providing data security with a market share of 3.8%, and first among professional security providers in China providing data security platform with a market share of 9.7%. The company also ranks thirteenth among professional security providers in China offering information security with a market share of 1.8%. Guan'an Information has shown stable performance. From 2023 to 2025, the compound annual growth rate of revenue is 17.14%, and by 2025 it is expected to turn losses into profits with a net profit of 20 million yuan, ending the streak of consecutive losses. However, the profit margin is low, with a net profit margin of only 2.82%. The company has gone through financing from angel rounds to Series E from 2015 to 2022, with its implied valuation soaring from 12 million yuan to 4 billion yuan. It has received 1.02 billion yuan in proceeds from these financings, all of which have been used for business development and operations. As of March 2026, the company only has cash and cash equivalents worth 0.86 billion yuan. The company's listing in Hong Kong aims to meet the demand of financial investors to exit and to raise more development funds. With the integration of AI technology, there is a strong demand for AI+ information security solutions. The company focuses on data security and network security solutions for its customers through its platform, standardized software, and specialized services. With 13 subsidiaries, the company's core entities are Beijing Guan'an and Shenzhen Guan'an, with operating entities mainly located in Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen. The company's target customers are state-owned enterprises headquartered in the capital city of Beijing, while the Shenzhen entity serves as a strategic gateway to the Greater Bay Area. In terms of revenue, the company's data security and network security solutions have a balanced revenue structure, with synchronized growth and similar contribution to revenue in previous years. From 2023 to 2025, the compound annual growth rates of the two major business revenues were 16.3% and 15.7%, with revenue contributions in 2025 being 42% and 48% respectively. In addition, the company also provides customized services and other solutions, with revenue increasing significantly in 2025, contributing to 10% of the total revenue. Both major businesses have three sub-businesses: platform, standardized software, and specialized services, with each sub-business offering a rich variety of products to meet diverse customer needs. The platform business of data security accounts for the highest percentage of revenue in 2025, at 21%, including secure data centers, data asset management platforms, and data sharing exchange platforms. Meanwhile, specialized services in network security account for the highest percentage of revenue at 30%, including data security consulting services, data security assessment services, and data security operations. It is worth noting that Guan'an Information has a high concentration of customers, with the top five customers contributing 62.2%, 68.4%, and 70.1% of revenue from 2023 to 2025, with the largest customer contributing 35.3%, 45.2%, and 36.6% respectively. The core customers are mainly large telecommunications network operators in China. The company adjusted its strategic focus in 2024 to expand into the field of artificial intelligence and computing power, and has secured a national-level project in the southwest region of China from a core customer (Intelligence Project), which accounts for a large part of the revenue from other solutions in 2025. In terms of profitability, the company's gross profit margin has been increasing, with gross profit margins of 37.5%, 34.9%, and 42.6% from 2023 to 2025, while expenses have been optimized year by year, with sales expense ratio decreasing by 11.8 percentage points, management expense ratio decreasing by 5.4 percentage points, and research and development expense ratio decreasing by 8.8 percentage points. With the dual push of gross profit margin and expense ratio, the company has improved its net profit margin from a loss of 24.3% to a profit of 2.8%, significantly improving profitability. However, the company's operating cash flow performance is poor, with only 0.86 billion yuan in cash and cash equivalents as of March this year, while short-term interest-bearing debt amounts to 1.44 billion yuan. Introducing diverse capital, careful consideration is needed for the listing to raise funds From an industry perspective, according to Frost & Sullivan, the size of the Chinese information security market is expected to reach 105.7 billion yuan by 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 9.6% over the past five years, and is expected to reach 172.7 billion yuan by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 10.6%. In the field of data security, the market size in 2025 is 29 billion yuan, and in the national network security platform, it is 19.8 billion yuan, both maintaining double-digit compound growth, and are expected to reach 50.9 billion yuan and 35.1 billion yuan respectively by 2030. The integration of artificial intelligence technology has led to a sharp increase in demand for AI+ information security solutions, with accelerating demand in emerging areas such as artificial intelligence security, Internet of Vehicles (IoV), Internet of Things (IoT), and cloud security, collectively driving market expansion, but also facing relatively fierce industry competition. In the entire information security market industry, professional security providers account for 36.9%, with the top five participants holding a market share of 39.2%. Guan'an Information ranks high in the industry, with a market share of 1.8% in 2025, ranking 13th, but there is still a significant gap with the top five competitors. However, the company holds a leading position in segmented markets, such as ranking first among providers offering data security platforms with a market share of 9.7%, ahead of its main competitors. The company may increase its research and development efforts to maintain its product competitiveness. From 2023 to 2025, its research and development expense ratios were 23.3%, 15.2%, and 14.0%, respectively. The decline in research and development expense ratio is mainly due to the growth in scale and the commercialization of research and development results, with stable annual research and development investment. As of December 2025, the company's research and development team has 186 members and has been granted 145 patents, including 141 invention patents, as well as 202 software copyrights. In summary, Guan'an Information's "data security + network security" dual drive model ensures steady income growth, with a very stable revenue structure supported by platform, standardized software, and specialized services. However, the company has a high concentration of customers, which poses a certain dependency risk. The company's profit improvement is significant, achieving profitability in 2025, but with a still low profit margin and unstable operating cash flow, the current cash and cash equivalents are limited, having spent most of the funds raised through multiple rounds of financing earlier, and is in urgent need of listing to raise additional funds. The company's performance may not be outstanding, but with the AI+ information security sector attracting industrial capital, institutional capital, and state-owned capital, the company's valuation in 2022 was 4 billion yuan, considering the revenue growth and profit improvement, the current valuation may be no less than 5 billion yuan. In this listing, although Guan'an Information has state-owned background, support in the AI+ information security sector, the company's current low profitability, and the need for financial investors to exit, caution is still advised due to the company and industry growth potential, low profitability, and the need for financial investors to exit.