Every reporter: Yan Fengfeng Every editor: Wu Yongjiu
Recently, the controlling shareholder of ACC, Conch Group, made a significant increase in its holdings, marking its first increase in approximately 12 years. At the same time, the company also changed the original purpose of the repurchased shares to cancellation.
In the past three years, ACC's stock price has continued to fluctuate at relatively low levels, with overall performance being relatively weak, one reason being the continuous contraction of the company's performance against the backdrop of industry decline. However, despite a decline in operating revenue in 2025, net profit has increased, mainly due to a decrease in raw material costs and fuel and power costs.
However, since March, the sharp rise in oil prices has brought uncertainty to whether the company's future profitability can continue to improve. So, can ACC's profitability improvement trend in 2025 be sustained? How will the cement industry develop in 2026? In this regard, the &#34;Daily Economic News&#34; reporter conducted interviews and research.
<h2>A significant increase in holdings after 12 years, with an increase of over 700 million yuan</h2>
ACC announced on March 25 that its controlling shareholder, Conch Group, increased its holdings of the company's A shares by 34.7556 million shares through centralized bidding transactions from March 3 to March 25, 2026. After this equity change, Conch Group's shareholding ratio increased from 36.40% to 37.05%, reaching the 1% disclosure threshold.
Based on the average closing price of 26.64 yuan during the period, the value of 34.7556 million shares is estimated to be 926 million yuan; calculated at the lowest price of 22.62 yuan during the period, the value is 786 million yuan.
This increase in holdings is part of Conch Group's commitment to the increase plan disclosed by ACC on February 25, 2026. According to the increase plan, Conch Group plans to increase its holdings by no less than 700 million yuan and no more than 1.4 billion yuan within six months from the date of the announcement.
It is worth noting that this is the first increase plan launched by Conch Group since November 2013, approximately 12 years later, although at that time it only increased its holdings by 1.5871 million shares.
<h2>500 million yuan share repurchase plans to change purpose to cancellation, revenue decline in 2025 but profit growth</h2>
Alongside the controlling shareholder's increase, ACC has launched another initiative.
On March 24, the company held a board meeting and approved the &#34;Proposal to Change the Purpose of Repurchased A Shares and Cancel Them.&#34; The company plans to change the purpose of the 22.2425 million A shares repurchased from November 2023 to February 2024 (accounting for about 0.42% of the total share capital) from the original plan of &#34;used to maintain company value and shareholder rights, the repurchased shares will be sold according to relevant regulations&#34; to &#34;used for cancellation and corresponding reduction of the company's registered capital.&#34;
The average repurchase price of these shares is 22.51 yuan/share, with a total amount of approximately 501 million yuan. After the cancellation of the shares, the company's total share capital will be correspondingly reduced, which will directly enhance earnings per share (EPS) under unchanged net profit. This proposal still needs to be submitted to the company's 2025 annual general meeting of shareholders for approval
Although the company previously conducted large-scale repurchases and later launched a plan for the controlling shareholder to increase their stake, the company's stock price has continued to fluctuate at relatively low levels over the past three years.
The pressure on the company's stock price may stem from the downward performance pressure in recent years. The company's operating revenue reached a historical high of 176.295 billion yuan in 2020, but has since shown a downward trend, with operating revenue dropping to 82.532 billion yuan in 2025, a decline of 53.19% from the historical peak.
Correspondingly, the company's net profit attributable to shareholders in 2025 has also significantly shrunk compared to the peak in 2020. ACC achieved a net profit attributable to shareholders of 35.158 billion yuan in 2020, while in 2025 it was only 8.113 billion yuan.
However, although the company's operating revenue in 2025 decreased by 9.33% compared to 2024, the net profit in 2025 ended the previous four years of decline, showing a year-on-year increase of 5.42%.
In the context of declining operating revenue in 2025, the company's net profit was able to grow, which may be attributed to the company's cost control.
According to data from Tonghuashun, ACC's gross profit margin in 2025 was 24.16%, an increase of 2.46 percentage points from 21.7% in 2024; the net profit margin was 9.53%, up 1.11 percentage points from 8.42% in 2024. The annual report shows that the comprehensive cost of the company's cement clinker products decreased by 11.12% year-on-year, with fuel and power costs down 15.70% year-on-year and raw material costs down 10.85%, with these two costs accounting for 52.56% and 19.55% respectively.
In this regard, Guotou Securities' research report stated that ACC's decline in cement clinker sales was better than the industry average, mainly benefiting from growth in overseas and export sales; at the same time, as the decline in coal costs was greater than the price decline, the company's gross profit per ton rebounded year-on-year.
<h2>Doubts about whether profitability can continue to improve against the backdrop of rising energy prices, industry demand faces pressure while the supply pattern is expected to optimize</h2>
Although the company benefited from the decline in fuel, power, and raw material costs in 2025, since March 2026, crude oil prices have risen sharply, and domestic coal prices have also seen a significant increase from the low point in mid-2025. So, how will the company's operating situation be affected against the backdrop of rising energy prices? Can it maintain the trend of increased gross profit margin seen in 2025?
In this regard, a relevant person from ACC (hereinafter referred to as: ACC related person) stated when contacted by a reporter from Daily Economic News: &#34;Since coal is our main fuel and raw material, the rise in coal prices will definitely affect some costs, but there is a transmission process.&#34; As for whether the company's gross profit margin can continue to improve, the person stated that the gross profit margin has seen some phase-wise decline, but it is difficult to judge how it will be in the future.
The reporter from Daily Economic News found that although the company's net profit for the entire year of 2025 increased, the net profit for the fourth quarter of 2025 declined by 27.59% compared to the same period in 2024, amounting to 1.809 billion yuan
The gross profit margin for the fourth quarter of 2025 is 23.77%, a decrease of 4.38 percentage points compared to 28.15% in the same period of 2024.
Observing the stock price movement of ACC, it has generally fluctuated within a relatively low range over the past three years. Although it has shown some resilience during the industry's downturn, industry factors remain one of the dominant influences on the company's stock price. What will the future situation of the cement industry, in which the company operates, look like?
In this regard, relevant personnel from ACC stated: &#34;The overall demand in the industry will continue to decline, but the rate of decline may narrow in the future. On the supply side, since this year, the policy of production control has been implemented, and the industry is also undergoing consolidation, which will clear some related capacity. Additionally, the carbon trading market should accelerate the exit of some backward production capacity. There are some positive factors on the supply side, but how much capacity can actually exit still depends on the implementation of relevant policies.&#34;
A report from China Chengxin International indicates that domestic cement demand will continue to be weak in 2025, with capacity utilization further declining and prices fluctuating downward. Looking ahead to 2026, it is expected that the policy support will be limited, and industry demand may further decline; on the supply side, under strict regulation, the speed of capacity exit will accelerate, but excess pressure still exists; prices may continue to fluctuate at low levels throughout the year. If capacity control and corporate self-discipline significantly strengthen, it will be very beneficial for price recovery; the profitability of cement companies will become increasingly differentiated, with leading companies demonstrating resilience through scale and overseas layout, and overall debt repayment pressure remains controllable.
Guotai Junan Securities' research report predicts that the capacity utilization rate for cement clinker in 2024 and 2025 will be 53% and 50%, respectively, indicating severe overcapacity. After two years of policy brewing and advocacy, from 2026 to 2027, a supply-side policy control dominated by &#34;production control + carbon market&#34; is expected to lead to the gradual exit of overproduction capacity and backward capacity, optimizing cement supply and improving the profit center.
Northeast Securities' research report believes that the total volume of the domestic cement market is in a slow downward channel. In 2025, China's cement output is expected to be 1.69 billion tons, a year-on-year decrease of 7%, with the rate of decline narrowing, and the annual output will be about 70% of the peak; on the demand side, China's real estate demand will continue to decline in 2025, and infrastructure investment will shift from growth to decline, marking the first time since 2014 that the National Bureau of Statistics has reported a decline in infrastructure investment growth. In 2026, under the &#34;anti-involution&#34; strategy, supply-side control will be implemented, and major projects such as the Yaxia Hydropower Station will bring prosperity to regional market demand, with expectations for overall industry profitability to recover and further increases in dividend yields under the trend of improving shareholder returns.
Daily Economic News

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The controlling shareholder of ACC, Conch Group, has made a significant increase in holdings for the first time in 12 years, with an investment exceeding 700 million yuan, raising its shareholding ratio from 36.40% to 37.05%. The company's stock price is hovering at a low level, affected by industry demand pressure and performance contraction. Although operating revenue is expected to decline in 2025, net profit is projected to increase due to a decrease in raw material and fuel costs. The rise in crude oil prices brings uncertainty to future profits. The company also plans to change the purpose of repurchased shares to cancellation

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The controlling shareholder makes a significant increase in holdings for the first time in 12 years, with ACC's stock price lingering at low levels due to cost variables and industry demand pressures behind it