Ask AI · How Liang Feng’s Capital Operations Affect Corporate Fund Management?

Produced by | Frontline of Entrepreneurship

Author | Duan Nannan

Editor | Feng Yu

Design | Xing Jing

Review | Song Wen

On March 6, the leading domestic new energy materials company, Putailai, released its 2025 annual report. Driven by a significant increase in separator coating material sales, the company’s net profit attributable to parent increased nearly 100%.

In the context of the company’s net profit attributable to parent exceeding 2.2 billion yuan, Putailai only allocated 484 million yuan for dividends, with a dividend payout ratio of just 20%. In fact, since the company’s listing, the average dividend payout ratio has been only 21%, and the dividend yield ranks relatively low among peers.

Benefiting from the low dividend payout ratio, most of the operating funds are retained, and leveraging its strong supply chain position, Putailai extensively uses supplier funds, while the retained funds are used for financial management.

Even so, Putailai still plans to list in Hong Kong to raise funds for further expansion of production capacity. But in the context of over 400 companies waiting to list in Hong Kong stocks, will Putailai be able to list smoothly?

1. Profit nearly doubled, but dividends are low, falling short of regulatory refinancing needs

In the second half of 2025, against the backdrop of a surge in energy storage battery installations, sales of materials in the battery industry chain continued to grow.

Data disclosed by Zhuoshi Consulting shows that in 2025, the global new energy battery market size will reach 2,257 GWh, a year-on-year increase of 55.6%. Among them, the energy storage battery market size will be 612.4 GWh, up nearly 95% year-on-year.

With the explosive growth of the energy storage battery market, the coating separator market size is also expanding significantly. In 2025, the global coated separator market size will be 31 billion square meters, an increase of nearly 28% year-on-year.

(Chart / Prospectus)

As the world’s largest coated separator manufacturer, Putailai holds a global market share of 35.3%, ranking first worldwide for seven consecutive years. Therefore, in the context of the continuous expansion of the coated separator market, Putailai’s coated separator shipments are also steadily increasing.

The prospectus shows that in 2025, Putailai’s coated separator and membrane material sales will reach 11 billion square meters, a year-on-year increase of 56.56%. Additionally, the company’s sales of anode materials, functional materials, and other products are also growing. Thus, even if prices for coated separators and anode materials remain sluggish, the increase in product sales has enabled Putailai to achieve both revenue and profit growth.

Data indicates that in 2025, Putailai achieved operating revenue of 15.71B yuan, up 16.83% year-on-year, and net profit attributable to parent of 2.36B yuan, up 98.14%.

Although profit growth is outstanding, Putailai appears somewhat “stingy” in dividends. In 2025, the company announced a dividend of 2.3 yuan per 10 shares. Based on the company’s share capital, the total dividend payout in 2025 was 484 million yuan. Calculated from net profit attributable to parent, the dividend payout ratio is only 20.51%.

By comparison, domestic electrolyte leader Tianci Materials paid out 709 million yuan in dividends in 2025, with a net profit attributable to parent of only 12.68B yuan, resulting in a dividend payout ratio of 52.05%.

In fact, since its listing in 2017, Putailai’s overall dividend payout ratio has been low. Wind data shows that since 2017, the company has achieved a net profit of 5.98B yuan, with dividends totaling only 2.68 billion yuan, a payout ratio of just 21.14%.

With minimal dividends, most of the company’s operating profits are retained. As of December 31, 2025, Putailai’s undistributed profits reached 10.28 billion yuan, and the company’s cash on hand was also as high as 5.46B yuan.

On March 25, the China Securities Regulatory Commission issued the “Guidelines for Supervision of Listed Companies No. 3 — Cash Dividends by Listed Companies (Revised 2026)”, emphasizing that listed companies should prioritize cash dividends and strengthening supervision of companies that do not pay dividends or pay insufficient dividends. Companies with cumulative dividends in the past three years below 30% of average annual net profit will be restricted from refinancing.

Looking at this, Putailai’s profit distribution over the past three years has been severely insufficient. From 2023 to 2025, the company’s cumulative net profit attributable to parent was about 7.53B yuan, while cash dividends during the same period were only 1.14 billion yuan, with a payout ratio of just 20.86%, far below the regulatory requirement of at least 30%.

Under regulatory pressure, whether Putailai will increase dividend payouts in the future remains to be seen.

2. Over 7.5 billion yuan owed to suppliers remains unpaid, yet over 4.1 billion yuan is used for financial management

In addition to retaining funds by reducing dividends, Putailai also accumulates funds by increasing its use of supplier funds. Interestingly, over 40% of the retained funds are used for financial management.

Putailai’s annual report shows that as of December 31, 2025, accounts payable and notes payable totaled 4.62B yuan, an increase of nearly 3 billion yuan from 1.12B yuan at the end of 2024.

Accounts payable refers to amounts owed to suppliers for raw materials purchased or services received but not yet paid. In short, it is the company’s unpaid supplier bills.

In 2025, to address the payment difficulties faced by small and medium-sized enterprises, the State Council issued Order No. 802, the “Regulations on Ensuring Payment to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.” The regulation stipulates that large enterprises purchasing goods, projects, or services from SMEs must pay within 60 days of delivery.

After the regulation was issued, major companies like GAC Group, BYD, and Xiaomi pledged to unify supplier payment terms within 60 days. Accordingly, CATL, which supplies directly to vehicle manufacturers, had an accounts receivable collection period of 59.7 days in 2025, down from 63.72 days in 2024.

Data from Eastmoney shows that in 2025, Putailai’s accounts payable turnover days reached 127.79 days, far exceeding the 60-day payment requirement set by the State Council.

Thanks to sustained profitability and large-scale use of supplier funds, Putailai’s operating cash flow has been very strong in recent years.

From 2023 to 2025, operating cash inflows were 2.37B yuan, 2.7B yuan, and 6.19B yuan respectively, totaling 5.46B yuan—more than the sum of net profits attributable to parent during the same period, which was 5.98B yuan.

With continuous inflow of operating cash, Putailai’s cash and near-cash assets have risen rapidly. As of December 31, 2025, the company’s cash on hand was 4.16B yuan, and it also held 141M yuan in tradable financial assets. The combined total of cash-like assets exceeds 10 billion yuan.

Specifically, Putailai’s tradable financial assets mainly include large-denomination certificates of deposit, bank acceptance bills, structured deposits, and bank financial products.

Thanks to its large cash reserves, the company earns substantial interest income—1.41 billion yuan in 2025 alone. During the same period, Putailai also gained 62.01 million yuan from fair value changes in financial management products. Combined, just from cash assets, Putailai generates over 200 million yuan in profit.

In recent years, due to industry-wide overcapacity, most new energy battery chain companies, aside from a few leading firms, have struggled with performance. To maintain daily operations, many have relied on increasing bank loans to sustain cash flow.

As a leader in new energy materials, Putailai should shorten its payment cycles to suppliers following the issuance of relevant regulations by the State Council, ensuring downstream suppliers have ample operating cash flow.

3. “CITIC system” heavyweight Liang Feng’s shareholding value increased by over 15 billion yuan, controlling Puyuan Materials with a floating profit of over 1.6 billion yuan

Thanks to strong performance growth and a continued market recovery, Putailai has performed well in capital markets.

Since the low point in September 2024, Putailai’s stock price has risen about 200%. As the company’s actual controller, Liang Feng has reaped substantial gains during this rally.

Public information shows that Liang Feng, the actual controller of Putailai, has long worked in the financial industry. He also participated in the founding of CITIC Fund, and during his tenure as fund manager there, CITIC Dividend Select’s net value increased by 247%.

In 2012, Liang Feng co-founded Putailai with ATL founder Chen Wei. Within just five years, Putailai completed a listing on the main board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Subsequently, under the stimulus of the “dual carbon” policies, Putailai’s performance and stock price exploded, with the company’s market value surpassing 120 billion yuan at the end of 2021. Holding shares in Putailai, Liang Feng was ranked 88th on Forbes China’s mainland rich list in 2021 with a net worth of 43.8B yuan.

In 2023 and 2024, the lithium battery industry began to face overcapacity. Affected by this, Putailai experienced a sharp decline in both performance and stock price, with the stock falling over 80% from its peak, and Liang Feng’s personal shareholding value evaporated by over 30 billion yuan.

However, with the market warming and Putailai continuously expanding capacity to boost performance, its stock price has been rising since September 2024.

As of December 31, 2025, Liang Feng directly owns 24.88% of Putailai. Additionally, he controls 10.78% and 9.35% of the company through Ningbo Shengyue Venture Capital Partnership and Ningbo Kuo Neng Venture Capital Partnership, respectively. Roughly estimating, since the stock price began rising in September 2024, Liang Feng’s direct and indirect holdings have increased in value by about 15 billion yuan.

(Chart / 2025 Annual Report)

It is worth noting that besides Putailai, Liang Feng is also the actual controller of another listed company, Ribo Fashion.

In 2023, the former “women’s wear king” Ribo Fashion’s original controller transferred 71 million shares (worth 770M yuan) to Liang Feng and his controlled Kuoyuan Enterprise Management Shanghai Co., Ltd., through a transaction. Later, he also acquired 20 million shares via a private placement.

Shortly after gaining control of Ribo Fashion, Liang Feng began restructuring the company. Not long after, Ribo Fashion announced plans to acquire 71% of Indile, a company specializing in lithium-ion battery adhesives.

As of March 19, 2026, this acquisition was successfully completed, and Ribo Fashion’s stock abbreviation was changed to Puyuan Materials. It is reported that before the acquisition, Indile’s largest shareholder was Putailai, holding 26% of its shares. Moreover, Putailai has been a customer of Indile, with annual procurement amounts in the tens of millions.

After completing the transformation, Ribo Fashion has been favored by investors, with its stock price rising from around 7 yuan per share in August 2024 to over 28 yuan now.

Based on Liang Feng and his controlled Kuoyuan Enterprise Management Shanghai Co., Ltd.'s holdings, this stake is worth over 2.47 billion yuan. Calculated from Liang Feng’s initial investment, this has already brought him a floating profit of over 1.6 billion yuan.

As a “CITIC system” veteran, Liang Feng is undoubtedly highly sensitive to capital operations. Under his continuous management, Ribo Fashion has transformed from a sluggish women’s clothing company into a new energy materials enterprise with a market value exceeding 100 billion yuan.

Under Liang Feng’s leadership, through reducing dividends, occupying supplier funds, frequent private placements, and other methods, Putailai’s asset-liability ratio and cash reserves outperform peers.

However, while benefiting himself and controlling companies, increasing dividends appropriately, returning more cash to shareholders, shortening supplier payment periods, and enabling suppliers to receive payments faster are responsibilities that Putailai, as a leading industry chain enterprise, should undertake.

Note: The uncredited images in the article are sourced from Shetu.com, based on VRF agreement.