Liu Miaomiao of PhillipCapital has kept her " buy" call and 6 cents target price for Zixin Group after the company' s plan to issue share options to a group of investors including chairman Liang Chengwang, potentially raising some $26.6 million.

 

From Liu' s perspective, this commitment by Liang and other investors underscores the long-term commitment and confidence in the company&rsquo s growth trajectory.

 

At $26.6 million, it is equivalent to around half the company' s current market cap and will be used to fund Zixin' s expansion plans in Hainan and Singapore.

 

Some 889 million share options with an exercise price of 30 cents each will be issued to be exercised within five years.

 

Liang himself will take up 300 million share options, around a third of the total. His stake will increase to 21.9% of the enlarged share base, assuming he fully exercises his options.

 

According to Liu, Zixin can expect to start generating revenue from its new production in Hainan in FY2027, which will be an addition to its existing presence in Fujian province.

 

In addition, Liu expects revenue for Zixin' s cultivation and supply segment to grow 27% y-o-y, driven by a 25% expansion in cold storage capacity.

 

She notes that sweet potato prices have been on an upward trajectory, up 8.8% year to date, thanks to increasing health consciousness in China and rising popularity among younger consumers.

 

The company has also secured two new orders for animal feed, which gives more traction to a fledgling revenue stream.

 

Meanwhile, processed sweet potato sales will remain the key earnings driver, thanks to new product development such as sweet potato chips and functional products.

 

Liu expects sales to grow 28% y-o-y in the current FY2026 as the new factory commences operations, as well as the launch of Zixin' s own proprietary brands.

 

She expects Zixin' s FY2026 patmi to increase by 16% y-o-y to RMB65.2 million.

 

Meanwhile, it maintains a " robust" balance sheet with net cash of RMB183 million, equivalent to 60% of its market capitalisation.