CCTV lens producer Forecam sells customized products to military, and standard products to camera maker like Hikvision and Dahua - a business that generates around 90% of its revenue in the past three years.
White box security camera on wall. Image credit: Srh Hrbch/Unsplash
CCTV Lens producer Fujian Forecam is trading on the new China’s Sci-tech Broad STAR Market next Monday, priced at CNY 25.22 (USD 3.67), aiming to raise CNY 651.08 (USD 94.66) in the IPO from investors.
The company provides standard lenses for China’s leading surveillance giants Hikvision and Dahua Technology, two companies that the U.S considered adding into a blacklist. Fujian Forecam, thus, warned its investors that a trade tension might impact on its operational performance in the prospectus.
Fujian Forecam Optics Co.,Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary (as well as Civilian Products BU) of RICOM Group founded in 1958. It focuses on the development and production of optical lenses, telescopes, and optical elements and units. It has 11.8% market share in the field of CCTV lens worldwide, where Chinese makers hold an accumulative market share of 78.9%. The company ranks third in the CCTV lens market globally, and second in zoom lens (with an 8.9% market share).
The industry is technology-driven, with high gross profit (especially for customized lenses) and stable growing speed. In 2018, the company’s customized business generated CNY 70 million (USD 10.2 million), representing 12.71% of revenue. The company saw a minor decrease in revenue in 2018, dropping 4.86% (year-on-year) to CNY 552.00 million (USD 80.26 million). But in 2016 and 2017, Fujian Forecam experienced sustainable revenue growth - 23.7% and 20%, respectively.
Spending on 8.21% of total revenue in R&D, the company is lagging behind other STAR debutants. But compared to other manufacturing firms (from 6% to 8%) among them, the reading is not bad.