https://www.afr.com/business/ret ... law-20181005-h169cs
The a2 Milk Co on the defence over share sales, new Chinese law
by Carrie LaFrenz
Executives at The a2 Milk Company have hit back at critics who say the infant formula maker may face a sales decline in its English label product online when China's new e-commerce law kicks in from January, while also defending the recent share sales by a slew of executives.
At the end of August the Chinese government passed a new law providing the framework to e-commerce trade covering operators, contracts, dispute resolution and promotion for domestic and cross-border transactions (CBEC). The law covers larger platforms such as Alibaba's Taobao but also those selling goods via social networks like WeChat.
While details are scant, this law comes into effect from January 2019, when the grace period for selling English label baby formula ends.
a2 chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka and chief executive, Asia Pacific, Peter Nathan said they are conformable with the a2 business model heading into the changes and sales will not be hit at this time.
"We have full confidence there will be no disruption to our business model and this is consistent with the way the market is perceiving the impacts on larger players like [online retailer] Tmall or [French multinational food products group] Danone," Mr Nathan told The Australian Financial Review.
"The regulator is trying to make sure the retailers are legitimate and regulated, which we fully support. We completely refute that the claim of sales loss come January 1."
Ms Hrdlicka, who took over the top job in July, added: "The e-commerce law that was passed is a good step in the evolution of China's e-commerce. It legitimises the channel and it improves the sophistication of the channel and adds consumer protections which are very important."
Turnover in China's cross-border e-commerce trade climbed to 90.24 billion yuan ($18.6 billion) last year, with a sharp rise in complaints in products like milk, milk powder and other foods, diapers, health care products and cosmetics, according to news agency Xinhua.
Greater scrutiny
Individual daigou personal shoppers making money by selling smaller parcels of infant formula were skirting the Chinese tax system, and now under the new law will come under greater scrutiny.
Mr Nathan said he expects many individual daigou will funnel through the "corporate daigous", and a2 will be at an advantage. He is not expecting any label changes in January for formula product, and tipped that daigous will be able to continue selling English label product.
Given the close working partnership between a2 and Synlait Milk, and the New Zealand government's positive relationship with Beijing, sources close to the company said this gives a2 better visibility on shifting regulation by the Chinese government.
But not everyone is convinced. The head of a well-known fund manager, who is not a short seller of the stock, raised concerns around impacts of the new law on product registration and labelling requirements, while a2 executives were selling bundles of shares.
"The market is under the impression that all A2's infant formula product has Chinese registration and therefore is likely to be unaffected by the new rules, or will even benefit, as unregistered players get knocked out," he said.
"The reality is that A2's English label product doesn't have SAMR [State Administration for Market Regulation] registration, only the Chinese label product does. About 90 per cent of A2's infant formula sales are English label. It would seem to us that management would clearly understand the implications of the new e-commerce rules.
"Unless the Chinese government extends the grace period, their sales are going to fall off the cliff."
a2 does not believe the grace period will be extended by the Chinese.
On Wednesday, Bell Potter analyst Jonathan Snape downgraded the stock to a "hold" from a "buy" telling clients there are a number of near-term risks that could emerge over the remainder of year including CBEC regulations. In September, Deutsche Bank cut its call from a "buy" to "hold" on cross-border e-commerce uncertainty.
Mr Snape also heavily criticised the recent sale of about 357,000 shares by Ms Hrdlicka, given her short time frame at the helm.
"If the board was aware that the issued shares were to be disposed almost instantaneously then it should have considered a cash payment (noting a2M exited FY18 with $NZ340.5 million in net cash) to avoid the obvious fallout of a CEO selling stock less than three months following their commencement," he said.
Sale of shares
There is now substantial pressure on a2 to meet market expectations in the coming months, which has been reflected in the $850 million in value wiped off the stock since Ms Hrdlicka's sale was announced, he added.
Ms Hrdlicka sold down her entire shareholding in a2, excluding options. She was not the only one selling since the full-year result in August. In total, 16 directors and executives sold about 3 million shares, but combined they still hold 14 million shares in a2. Ms Hrdlicka's shares were received from the automatic exercise of time-based rights she received as compensation for leaving her prior position at Qantas.
She explained on Friday she had to sell due to tax liabilities and obligations associated with buying a home two years ago.
"I would have liked to have not had to sell my shares, she said. "But they were shares in Qantas that would have vested in August 2018. It's pretty normal when an executive leaves to go to other role, the way you get them to come across is to buy them out of those shares. These are transition shares ... these are a direct replacement of what I was walking away from."
Ms Hrdlicka said the long-term incentive program is an important part of its executive retention program, and with the extraordinary performance of a2 in recent years many executives' portfolios have ballooned full of a2 shares with much of their personal wealth tied to the company.
a2 sales have jumped from $NZ155 million in fiscal 2015 to $NZ922 million in fiscal 2018, while its market cap has expanded to $7 billion. It's a2 Platinum formula is sold in 10,000 mother and baby stores in China and 6000 stores in the US.
Ms Hrdlicka said if the board headed by David Herne had paid her in cash, the amount "would have been eye-popping" and the board likely would have been castigated given it was prior to her commencement date.
"Since the day I signed my contract I have always been aligned to shareholder interests," she added.
评论
不能加中文標籤嗎？
评论
A2有中文标产品啊，中国的妈妈不爱买啊。
报道说90%销量都是英文标产品。
评论
如果澳新美的產品都統一用中英雙語的標籤，中國媽媽會認可嗎？
评论
不一定认可吧，即使市场认可也不解决问题。
矛盾在于，只有中文标的才能在中国合法销售，中英双语标和英语标都不行。
评论
雙語都不行？那比較麻煩。只能違規地賣了。
评论
对，那就要看新法实施后执行力度了。
不管的话就和现在一样。
严的话，就像基金经理说的那样，可能会断崖式下跌。
评论
目前上海浦东机场海关非常严格
评论
违法的卖？如果是法律是违法吧，看怎么界定了
评论
赶紧跑吧，新的代购法是巨大的风险，想投资a2 等明年情况明朗后在投资也可以的
评论
加中文标签后配方要符合中方规定，我朋友以前问过karicare公司，说他们三段在中国官方销售的配方和澳洲本土的是不一样的，这样国内人就不爱买了
评论
海关目前针对日韩航线吧
评论
不知道呢
评论
总是要喝啊 难道喝国产奶
评论
还是看看英文原文的内容吧，楼主这个标题起得...
评论
中國還對配方有要求？
评论
我朋友当时孩子小，在国内，她都在澳洲买了寄回去，她特地发email问了配方的问题，karicare 回复说1-2段澳洲和中国基本一样，3段配方有改动
评论
那不一定是中國要求的吧
评论
我觉的这和化妆品是一个道理，配方里成分每个国家都有不同要求和规定，有些国外化妆品配方到国内销售都会有点改动
评论
中國消費者對中國產品沒有信心。如果中澳版本不同，一定有人願意多花錢買澳洲版。走私的也要買。
评论
说到标签，有人知道为啥Bellamy在中国拿不到证？标签问题？
评论
评论
还在等……没说拿不到，之前是因为国内什么事把那个发证时间延期了，现在不知道什么时候会下来……等吧……
评论
美赞臣花了10个亿抢了贝拉米的证，贝拉米不得不增发自己收购工厂拿证，然后被某同行一直举报各种不合格，至今拿不到证。随着中资在贝拉米的撤出，贝拉米的证就更难了。这么说吧，中国农垦集团绝对不会允许任何一个不听话的外资奶粉品牌进入中国市场的。美赞臣，雀巢和达能莫不如此。
评论
市场的印象是所有A2的婴儿配方奶粉产品都有中国注册，因此很可能不受新规则的影响，或者甚至会受益，因为未注册的玩家会被淘汰，”他说。
“现实情况是，A2的英文标签产品没有SAMR [国家市场监管局]注册，只有中国标签产品。大约90％的A2婴儿配方奶粉销售是英文标签。在我们看来，管理层我会清楚地了解新电子商务规则的含义。
“除非中国政府延长宽限期，否则他们的销售将会从悬崖上消失。”
a2不相信中国人会延长宽限期。
周三，贝尔波特分析师Jonathan Snape将股票评级从“买入”下调至“持有”状态，告知客户在今年剩余时间内可能会出现一些近期风险，包括CBEC监管。今年9月，德意志银行将跨国电子商务不确定性的“买入”调整为“持有”。
斯内普先生还严厉批评Hrdlicka女士最近出售了大约357,000股股票，因为她的时间很短。
“如果董事会知道已发行的股票几乎是即时处置的，那么它应该考虑现金支付（注意到2018财年退出，净现金为3.450亿新西兰元），以避免CEO出售股票的明显后果在他们开始后的三个月内，“他说。
出售股份
他补充说，自从Hrdlicka女士的销售宣布以来，已经有很大的压力要求a2在接下来的几个月内达到市场预期，这反映在该股票的价值已经消失了8.5亿美元。
Hrdlicka女士以a2的价格卖掉了她的全部股权，不包括期权。自8月份的全年业绩以来，她并不是唯一卖出的人。总共有16名董事和高管出售了
评论
cannot agree more, 虽然我没有A2的股票，但这种做空的方式太卑鄙了。
评论
你可以这么想。
但是有一点不符合事实，自称要缴税的CEO卖光了自己的357,000 股, 实际只需要卖一半就够缴税了。
自称要行使期权筹钱的CFO卖了15万股。
其余十四名董事卖的240多万股才是主要的。不是小额买卖。
评论
国庆节入浦东，大摇大摆出来了。澳洲航线还是比较松。
澳洲中文论坛热点
- 悉尼部份城铁将封闭一年，华人区受影响！只能乘巴士（组图）
- 据《逐日电讯报》报导，从明年年中开始，因为从Bankstown和Sydenham的城铁将因Metro South West革新名目而
- 联邦政客们具有多少房产？
- 据本月早些时分报导，绿党副首领、参议员Mehreen Faruqi已获准在Port Macquarie联系其房产并建造三栋投资联