Tuniu Corp (TOUR) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and thank you for standing by for Tuniu's 2022 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Today's conference is being recorded. (Operator Instructions)

I would now like to turn the meeting over to your host for today's conference call, Director of Investor Relations, Mary.

Thank you, and welcome to our 2022 fourth quarter and full year earnings conference call. Joining me on the call today are Donald Yu, Tuniu's Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer; and Anqiang Chen, Tuniu's Financial Controller. For today's agenda, management will discuss business updates, operation highlights and financial performance for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2022.

Before we continue, I refer you to our safe harbor statement in earnings press release, which applies to this call as we will make forward-looking statements. Also, this call includes discussions of certain non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to our earnings release, which contains a reconciliation of non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures.

Finally, please note that unless otherwise stated, all figures mentioned during this conference call are in RMB. I would now like to turn the call over to our Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Donald Yu.

Thank you, Mary. Good day, everyone. Welcome to our fourth quarter and full year 2022 earnings conference call. In late 2022, the recovery of China's travel industry saw increased momentum due to the optimization of pandemic prevention and control measures as well as the lifting of travel restrictions. As a result, Tuniu's GMV nearly doubled in December 2022 compared to November.

China's domestic travel sector has kicked off 2023 with continued rapid growth, while the outbound travel market has started to recover with a gradual reopening of Macao, Hong Kong and some overseas destinations. We are pleased to recall that in January and February of 2023, Tuniu's booking GMV for package tours both increased over 100% year-on-year.

Despite the significant impact of the 3-year long COVID-19 pandemic, China's tourism industry and Tuniu have both demonstrated remarkable resilience. Despite the unfavorable external environment, we have managed to overcome various challenges and difficulties, while leveraging the opportunities presented by the market. We have successfully upgraded our products and services, while enhancing the company's capabilities and potential.

In terms of products, Tuniu always adhere to placing the highest priority of meeting the demands of our customers. The pandemic has led to higher customer expectations for quality travel experience. Guests are now expecting better food and accommodation, more flexible itineraries and personalized activities. These changes in demand have promoted Tuniu to upgrade our traditional technical products. We have shifted our market positioning to a higher-end model, which we call Max premium products and have implemented a strict quality control process for both our self-operated products and the choice of suppliers.

During COVID-19, the satisfaction rate for our newly launched products reached 90%. Additionally, we have introduced a new mechanism to immediately take down products that receive extremely unsatisfactory ratings for further development. Moreover, leveraging our deep experience in supply chain, products and local tour operators, Tuniu has launched several unique and differentiated travel products.

For example, our new tool is a high-quality package tour products, featuring photography (inaudible) that employs well-trained photography tour guides to take photos for guests during their trips. The photos are then shared with customers in addition to standard -- to the standard hospitality services. Another aspect of the training towards higher end product is the rise of small group and customized tours. Small group tours consisting of 10 people or less are increasingly popular as they better fulfill the increased demand for travel quality and safety in the post-pandemic era.

With the model -- with this model, group of friends or families can form small group tours for a better travel experience, while enjoying discounted organized tour prices. In addition, customized tours are gaining popularity among guests due to their flexibility and personalization and have expanded from organized tours to self-guided tours. We have also seen that a considerable number of guests on self-guided tours will also book individual travel products that are customized for the tours and recommended by Tuniu.

In January of this year, the GMV of customized tour booking increased by more than 150% year-on-year.

In terms of services, Tuniu has always prioritized customer satisfaction above all. Following the upgrade of COVID-19, our product and customer services team has been available around the clock to provide timely response and excellent services for customers. And our tour guys have continued to work closely with local tour operators to ensure guest safety during travel. Since 2020, Tuniu's direct losses related to customer cancellations and booking modifications have totaled over RMB 100 million due to the pandemic and we have advanced another RMB 100 million in response to our customers.

During the pandemic, we implemented a full-cycle service guarantee, including emergency planning before travel, regular prevention and control measures during travel and tracking post-travel feedback. We also keep close contact with our regular customers by sharing short videos and live streaming shows to introduce destinations and promote strong relationships and infuse them for travel.

Our high-quality services help customers feel safe and secure throughout their travel experiences and have earned us their favor and trust. As the travel industry began to recover this year, Tuniu's members day transaction volume in January and February increased by 8x and 6x, respectively, year-on-year. Tuniu continues to achieve cost reductions and greater efficiency through digitalization and use of technology.

On the supply chain side, we employ digital systems to process simple orders and perform product maintenance. We are also in the process of driving a system to automatically respond to customer inquiries to further improve efficiency and customer experience.

In terms of sales, we are leveraging digital technology for order processing and intelligence marketing campaigns. By leveraging technology, our products, customer service and marketing staff are more efficient and have greater capacity to handle increasing late complex matters.

Tuniu's operating expense decreased nearly as much as 60% year-on-year for the fourth quarter of 2022, benefiting from our digital transformation.

During the pandemic, Tuniu also explored new directions in our business development in response to market trends, while maintaining our core competencies. For example, live streaming shows have gradually become a part of people's daily lives. In 2020, Tuniu started our own live-streaming shows and we have since developed over 40 accounts on several mainstream media platforms, creating our own effective marketing package.

Leveraging over 10 years of professional tourism and frontline sales experience, our live streaming team has achieved positive results for both sales and supply of travel products. In January, Tuniu's live-streaming show on Douyin in Eastern China ranked as the top hotel and travel live-streaming show in the region and secondly in China. Several of our single live-streaming shows featuring hotels or scenic spots exceeded 10 million in January. And we were ranked as the top outbound travel product supplier on East of Douyin in January. Furthermore, we have collaborated with a well-known domestic MCN company to jointly launch travel products with the total travel GMV -- with the total GMV of each live-streaming show exceeding 10 million.

Additionally, China's rural revitalization strategy has gained significant attention in recent years and is regarded as a crucial aspect of the country's future economic development. In line with guest preference for experiential tourism following the pandemic, Tuniu has ventured into rural tourism by adopting an asset-light model to operate the B&B around urban areas.

During 2023, Spring Festival, the occupancy rate of our Tianjin B&B doubled year-over-year and overall occupancy rate of our Chengdu hotels reached nearly 90%. Moving forward, we plan to expand our destination options to more locations and experiment with self-run B&Bs as the tourism industry continues to recover.

After 3 years of the pandemic, the tourism industry is finally seeing a full recovery along with new opportunities and challenges. In 2023, Tuniu will focus on newer travel at our core market, while remaining committed to our overall business recovery. For domestic travel, we will further refine our management process, leveraging Tuniu's brand advantages and increase our profitability.

For outbound travel, we will actively rebuild our supply chain and team and restore products and services for destinations that have reopened. We are committed to ensuring the safety and travel insurance of tourists, and we will remain focused on providing timely and responsive service during unexpected situations.

In our internal operations, we will continue to strictly monitor our costs, improve per capita output and create greater value for our customers and the shareholders.

I will now turn the call over to Anqiang, our Financial Controller, for the financial slide.

Thank you, Donald. Hello, everyone. Now I will walk you through our fourth quarter and fiscal year 2022 financial results in greater detail. Please note that all the monetary amounts are in RMB, unless otherwise stated. You can find the U.S. dollar equivalents of the numbers in our earnings release.

Starting from the fourth quarter of 2022. Net revenue were RMB 27.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2022, representing a year-over-year decrease of 63% from the corresponding period in 2021. The decrease was primarily due to the massive impact brought by the outbreak and spread of COVID-19.

Revenues from packaged tours were down 88% year-over-year to RMB 5 million and accounted for 18% of our total net revenues for the quarter. The decrease was primarily due to the resurgence of COVID-19 in certain regions in China. Other revenues were down 27% year-over-year to RMB 22.4 million and accounted for 82% of the total net revenues. The decrease was primarily due to the decrease in the fees for advertising services provided to tourism boards and bureaus.

Gross margin was 45% in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to a gross margin of 47% in the first quarter of 2021.

Operating expenses for the fourth quarter of 2022 were RMB 32.5 million, down 58% year-over-year. Gain on disposals of subsidiaries, which was allocated to operating expenses, was RMB 32.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Research and product development expenses for the fourth quarter of 2022 were RMB 10.9 million, down 19% year-over-year. The decrease was primarily due to the decrease in research and product development, personnel-related expenses.

Sales and marketing expenses for the fourth quarter of 2022 were RMB 22.9 million, down 20% year-over-year. The decrease was primarily due to the decrease in promotion expenses and sales and marketing and personnel-related expenses.

General and administrative expenses for the fourth quarter of 2022 were RMB 33.1 million, down 29% year-over-year. The decrease was primarily due to the decrease in general and administrative personnel-related expenses and allowance for expected credit losses.

Net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders was RMB 4.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. Non-GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders, which excluded share-based compensation expenses, amortization of acquired intangible assets and gain on disposals of subsidiaries, was RMB 34.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2022.

As of December 30, 2022, the company had cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments of RMB 922.3 million. Capital expenditures for the fourth quarter of 2022 were RMB 1.1 million.

Now moving to full year 2022 results. In 2022, net revenues were RMB 183.6 million, representing 57% year-over-year decrease. The decrease was primarily due to the negative impact brought by the outbreak and spread of COVID-19.

Revenues from packaged tours were down 77% year-over-year to RMB 70.3 million and accounted for 38% of total net revenues in 2022. The decrease was primarily due to the resurgence of COVID-19 in certain regions in China. Other revenues were down 6% year-over-year to RMB 113.3 million and accounted for 62% of our total net revenues in 2022. The decrease was primarily due to the decrease in the fees for advertising services provided to tourism boards and bureaus.

Gross margin was 49% in 2022 compared to a gross margin of 40% in 2021.

Operating expenses were RMB 299.8 million in 2022, down 15% year-over-year. Impairment of goodwill offset by gain on disposals of subsidiaries, which were allocated to operating expenses, were RMB 47.2 million in 2022.

Research and product development expenses were RMB 50.8 million in 2022, down 7% year-over-year. The decrease was primarily due to the decrease in research and product development personnel-related expenses.

Sales and marketing expenses were RMB 103.6 million in 2022, down 31% year-over-year. The decrease was primarily due to the decrease in promotional expenses and sales and marketing personnel-related expenses.

General and administrative expenses were RMB 108.9 million in 2022, down 37% year-over-year. The decrease was primarily due to the decrease in general and administrative personnel-related expenses and allowance for expected credit losses.

Net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders was RMB 193.4 million in 2022. Non-GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders, which excluded share-based compensation expenses, amortization of acquired intangible assets, gain on disposals of subsidiaries and the impairment of goodwill, was RMB 134.1 million in 2022.

Capital expenditures were RMB 4.4 million in 2022.

For the first quarter of 2023, Tuniu expects to generate RMB 60.1 million to RMB 64.3 million of net revenues, which represents 45% to 55% increase year-over-year compared with net revenues in the corresponding period in 2022. Please note that the forecast reflects Tuniu's current and preliminary view on the industry and its operations, which is subject to change.

Thank you for listening. We are now ready for your questions. Operator?

(Operator Instructions) Our first question is from [Alice Lee], a private investor.

With the recovery of tourism industry, how is the company's business doing so far? Could you please share any figures during the Spring Festival and any updates on the recovery progress and plan of outbound tourism this year?

Thank you for the question. We think a decent recovery of our business since the first quarter of this year as the market warm up. The domestic tourism market has fully opened. Overseas destinations start to reopen step-by-step. So far, we've seen an increase of 45% to 55% of our net revenues in the first quarter of 2023 on a year-over-year basis.

For this Spring Festival, although going home was the main purpose for travel, leisure travel also surged compared to the past few years. According to our performance, transaction volume of packaged tours during this Spring festival surpassed both 2021 and the 2022 level, growing at triple-digit rates. Interprovince travel in the -- for our organized tours and outbound travel in the form of self-guided tours both increased this year.

Outbound leisure travel products and services are our core strength. Although overseas travel were restricted for the past 3 years, we kept in touch with major suppliers. While travel restrictions were lifted, we kind of immediately resumed our overseas business. For example, the Maldives. Tuniu has leading position in China travelers to Maldives. After the reopening of outbound travel, the Maldives quickly attracted customer popularity and became our top overseas destination in terms of GMV so far.

In one of our live-streaming shows, the sales volume of the product of Lily Beach, one of the islands in Maldives, reached over RMB 10 million. Besides, Thailand, Singapore and New Zealand are also popular destinations. In general, outbound tours recovered in more rapid pace than domestic tours currently. With increase of cross-border flights and possible reopening of more overseas destinations later this year, the outbound tours will continue its robust growth momentum.

To catch this growth opportunity, firstly, we will rebuild the overseas product teams. We have arranged experienced staff as key positions to quickly relaunch products. We've also organized the [private training] for overseas destinations provided by both the company and our suppliers. Going forward, we will continue to resume our overseas direct procurement and destination service team step-by-step.

Secondly, we are working on the resumption of overseas supply chain. After the 3-year of pandemic, we need to reassess existing suppliers and to cooperate with new partners so that we can timely provide high-quality products to our customers. Currently, we have over 400 SKUs of overseas tours and the number keeps growing at a steady pace, so we give priority to product quality over quantity.

Thirdly, we are remaining focused on services to ensure safety and travel experiences of our customers. The conditions of overseas destinations are more complex than before the pandemic. For example, different destinations may have different epidemic prevention and control measures. We need to put more efforts to provide the customer with the same or even better travel experiences than before the pandemic. In overall, we are excited about the reopening of our travel market and have rolled up our sleeves. We will leverage our advantages in the outbound travel market to grow our business at a reasonable rate. Thank you.

(Operator Instructions) We are now approaching the end of the conference call. I will now turn the call over to Tuniu's Director of Investor Relations, Mary, for closing remarks.

Thank you. Once again, thank you for joining us today. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions. Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to speaking with you in the coming months.

Thank you for your participation in today's call. This concludes the presentation. You may now disconnect. Good day.