Gree Electric Appliances, Inc. of Zhuhai (Stock code: 000651) is a leading home appliance manufacturing company in China, famous for its high-quality air conditioning products. The company is headquartered in Zhuhai and has been expanding its product lines in recent years, covering multiple home appliance categories including refrigerators and washing machines. As a listed company, Gree Electric Appliances has been closely watched by the market for its financial performance. The financial report for the first quarter of 2024 shows that the company has performed well in multiple key financial indicators, but there are also some issues worth noting.

Firstly, looking at the asset-liability data, Gree Electric Appliances had total assets of 380.814 billion yuan at the end of the first quarter of 2024, which is an increase of 3.47% from the end of the previous year. This indicates that the company continues to maintain steady growth in its asset scale. As for liabilities, the balance at the end of the period was 255.447 billion yuan, an increase of 3.25% from the beginning of the period balance of 247.408 billion yuan. Although liabilities have increased, the asset-liability ratio has decreased from 67.22% at the end of the previous year to 67.08%, indicating that the company has achieved certain effectiveness in controlling liabilities. In addition, the total equity attributable to shareholders of listed companies increased from 116.794 billion yuan to 121.530 billion yuan, a growth rate of 4.06%, further enhancing the company's financial stability.

In terms of profit data, Gree Electric Appliances has performed well. The revenue for the first quarter of 2024 was 36.364 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.56%. The net income attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 4.675 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.77%. More notably, the net income after deducting non-recurring gains and losses was 4.525 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21.55%, indicating a significant improvement in the company's core business profitability. The gross margin increased from 27.42% in the same period of the previous year to 29.45%, and the net margin increased from 11.01% to 12.76%, indicating that the company has improved in both cost control and profitability. In addition, the basic earnings per share and diluted earnings per share were both 0.85 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.44%.

However, the cash flow data shows some problems. In the first quarter of 2024, Gree Electric Appliances' net cash flow from operating activities was -2.941 billion yuan, a decrease of 119.52% from the same period of the previous year, which was 15.065 billion yuan. This significant decrease was mainly due to the decrease in cash received from selling goods and providing services. Although the subtotal of net inflow from operating activities was 35.407 billion yuan, the subtotal of net outflow was as high as 38.348 billion yuan, resulting in negative net cash flow. It should be noted that the significant decrease in cash flow may put certain pressure on the company's short-term liquidity, and the management needs to take effective measures to deal with it.

Overall, Gree Electric Appliances' financial performance in the first quarter of 2024 is generally good, especially in terms of profitability and asset-liability management. However, the significant decrease in net cash flow from operating activities is a problem that needs attention. In the future, while maintaining profit growth, the company needs to strengthen cash flow management to ensure financial health and sustainable development.