On May 16th, an investor relations event that attracted significant attention from the capital market was held at the headquarters of L&A GROUP (300949.SZ).

As the first listed company in China's landscape design industry, L&A GROUP has seen its stock price increase by 41.6% over the past month. This impressive performance attracted the active participation of 45 institutions and 52 professionals, including well-known brokerages such as Guotai Junan, China Merchants Securities, CITIC Securities, Tianfeng Securities, and Southwest Securities, as well as many strong fund companies like Bosera Fund, E Fund, and Xinhua Fund.

The company's executive team attended the event collectively, engaging in candid and in-depth discussions with investors. The executives included: L&A GROUP co-founder, director, and president Li Fangyue, Group COO Wan Xiaofang, secretary of the board and deputy financial director Fu Jiamin, director of the Digital Management Center Guo Rui, and director of cultural and creative services Li Sijia, among others.

Benchmarking against Pop Mart, the new goal is to become a cross-media entertainment group

Over the past three years, by deeply cultivating the dual main businesses of "creative design + parent-child cultural tourism" and leveraging the development of the "AI + IP" dual engines, L&A GROUP has continuously made breakthroughs in urban renewal, parent-child cultural tourism, rural revitalization, industrial site transformation, and park operations.

In particular, 2024 marks the first year of the "L&A 4.0 - AIPO (AI, IP, Product, Operation) Era," where the core business gross profit margin remains in the first tier of the industry, achieving a closed loop in ToBToCToB business development. The Luo Jia brand has begun overall output, with the "child-friendly" cultural tourism comprehensive business accounting for 40.37%, and the synergy between urban renewal and parent-child cultural tourism contributing over 70% of revenue.

Based on 2024, L&A GROUP has further focused its current strategy for 2025. Li Fangyue stated, "While continuing to deepen its role as a value-added service provider in the era of existing assets, L&A GROUP has officially proposed a new goal of becoming a global cross-media entertainment group. Under this new goal, L&A GROUP will benchmark against Pop Mart's 'IP + Experience' model, aiming for a market value ecosystem of 100 billion."

Deep integration of AI and IP to shape dual growth engines

During the more than two-hour discussion, investors actively asked questions covering key areas such as IP business, revenue and profit expectations, order status, AI technology applications, acquisition plans, and equity incentives, with the company's senior management providing detailed answers one by one.

IP licensing fees and derivative products are important topics of interest for investors. Currently, L&A GROUP has established a company, JoyKey, dedicated to IP incubation and operation, fully responsible for the incubation, development, licensing, and commercialization of IP, upgrading the IP business from a project support model to independent consumer brand operation, creating new growth poles for the enterprise. At the same time, the company integrates high-quality international resources and collaborates with the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, ranked first globally, to jointly build an "IP Narrative Laboratory."

It was revealed that the company's independent IP licensing business will officially launch this month. Taking advantage of the momentum from Zhengzhou's plan to open the Luo Jia brand operation project on Children's Day, a licensing ceremony will be held on June 1st. Previously, the naming, operational system, and standard output of the Luo Jia brand, as well as the full IP system creation, were mostly included in the overall EPC + O operating model Regarding the sales scenarios and business model issues of IP products, L&A GROUP has clearly stated that it will adhere to a light asset operation model. By the end of 2024, the company has invested over 100 million yuan to create multiple self-operated scenarios. The business trend for 2025 shows that it has successfully transitioned from heavy reinvestment to a light asset self-brand operation model, such as the Quzhou project. In the future, the company will primarily focus on the light asset model of operational output, leveraging 25 years of industry accumulation to build sales scenarios and form a "ToB-toC-toB" industrial closed loop.

Currently, domestic IP is mainly focused on the trendy toy sector. Regarding the acquisition of trendy toy companies, the company stated that acquisitions by listed companies need to be cautious, and it is currently focused on self-incubation. Influenced by Pop Mart, companies in the trendy toy sector have high valuations and face many issues. The company emphasizes content quality and innovation, maintaining a prudent attitude towards mergers and acquisitions, and will disclose any suitable targets in accordance with the law.

AI applications are another major focus for investors. It has been revealed that L&A GROUP has proactively laid out its artificial intelligence strategy and completed investments in computing power reserves. The "L&A City Cultural Tourism Renewal Large Model" integrates over 5,000 project implementation experiences, urban renewal and cultural tourism innovation expertise, its own computing power algorithm reserves, and high-quality resources such as Tencent's smart cultural tourism big data, and has assisted in planning and design in over 30 projects.

The investment in large models has evidently helped the business, reshaping the company's workflow. Planning that previously took two weeks can now be completed in just a few hours using the model.

The deep linkage between AI and IP has also achieved remarkable results. In the Guangzhou Children's Park "Luo Jia Box" project, after AI completed the basic design, the team focused on the scene embedding of IP, shortening the construction period by 60%; the Tianjin Jin Yi PARK introduced the "Luo Jia IP themed pop-up store," with foot traffic exceeding expectations by 30% in the first month of opening, fully validating the powerful chemical reaction of "technological rationality + cultural sensibility."

Good news frequently arrives, Yan Jia Yu Island may become a new cultural tourism landmark

In terms of landscape design and the incremental prospects of parent-child cultural tourism, as well as current orders, the company has frequently reported good news in the first quarter, winning multiple projects in succession, with the total signed contract amount for the entire group increasing by approximately 24% year-on-year. The B-end and G-end business cycles are long, and the company is exploring ways to improve incentive and assessment mechanisms to enhance order conversion rates.

It is worth mentioning that the ongoing EPC project for urban renewal in the Guanyin area of Luoyang Luolong District and the Yan Jia Yu Island construction project in the Quzhou Ancient City Cultural Tourism Area are expected to become new industry business cards for L&A GROUP. Especially for the Yan Jia Yu Island construction project, L&A GROUP, as the general contractor and operator, will rely on the "EPC+O" model to fully support its application for a 5A scenic area, creating a new cultural tourism landmark in the Yangtze River Delta and even nationwide.

Looking ahead to the revenue and profit outlook for 2025, the company's senior management expressed confidence, although not aggressive. The state has provided many policy opportunities for the industry, and the company will focus on its main business, leveraging its industrial chain advantages and deep industry accumulation to improve quality and efficiency based on last year.

This investor relations activity has provided the capital market with a clearer understanding of L&A GROUP's strategic layout, business development, and future planning. The innovative capabilities and development potential demonstrated by L&A GROUP in the fields of creative design, parent-child cultural tourism, and urban renewal have instilled confidence in investors and laid a solid foundation for the company's future development