与此同时，王府井和武商集团均公告称，将共同投资设立合资公司，经营武汉市内免税项目。其中，王府井持股占比51%，武商集团持股占比49%。① Progress has been made in the city's duty-free shops, with Wuhan's first city duty-free shop to be jointly operated by the Wangfujing Group and Wushang Group. ② According to the Wangfujing Earnings Reports, while the income is under pressure, the growth rate of the duty-free format is significant, but it is limited in its effectiveness to boost overall revenue due to scale constraints.
According to a report by Caijing Lianhe on December 26 (Reporter Wu Weiling), progress has been made in the city's duty-free shops, with Wuhan's first city duty-free shop to be jointly operated by Wangfujing (600859.SH) and Wushang Group (000501.SZ).
This evening, Wangfujing announced that the company recently participated in the competitive negotiations for the operation of the Wuhan city duty-free store project and has recently received a "Notice of Acceptance" from Hubei Provincial Bidding Co., Ltd., confirming the company as the successful supplier for the project, with a contract duration of 10 years.
At the same time, both Wangfujing and Wushang Group announced that they will jointly invest to establish a joint venture company to operate the Wuhan city duty-free project. Among them, Wangfujing holds a 51% stake, while Wushang Group holds a 49% stake.
According to the announcement, from the perspective of the registered address, the joint venture company is located in Wuhan's iconic shopping center "Wushang MALL". In terms of business offerings, in addition to conventional duty-free shop categories such as food and clothing, the joint venture company will also actively sell domestic "trendy goods" and include products with independent brands that help promote excellent Chinese culture.
Wangfujing stated that in recent years, with the continuous development of China's market economy and the further relaxation of duty-free policies, the city's duty-free market has significant growth potential. The joint investment to establish a joint venture company with Wushang Group to develop and operate the Wuhan city duty-free project will help combine Wangfujing's professional advantages with Wushang Group's local operational advantages and CNI Resource Index, accelerating the development of the company's duty-free business.
Wushang Group also stated that the city duty-free store is located in Wuhan's core business district, which can enhance the company's international image and commercial attractiveness, strengthening the company's competitiveness.
According to the Wangfujing Earnings Reports, while the income is under pressure, the growth rate of the duty-free format is significant, but it is limited in its effectiveness to boost overall revenue due to scale constraints. In the first three quarters, the company's revenue decreased by 8.27% year-on-year, among which the duty-free format achieved revenue of 0.204 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 68.62%, but its share in total revenue was only 2.4%.
