On September 24, Angel Yeast Co.,Ltd. (600298) announced a plan to issue convertible corporate bonds with total fundraising not exceeding 3.5 billion yuan.
Notably, this financing comes less than four months after the company issued 1 billion yuan in corporate bonds in June of this year. Combined with a bond issue in July 2025, the company has raised a total of 2 billion yuan through the bond market in just over a year.
In terms of fund usage, more than half of the proceeds are directed toward yeast protein projects, with planned new capacity reaching several times the existing scale. Against the backdrop of a continuously rising debt-to-asset ratio and mounting financial pressure, can Angel Yeast Co.,Ltd. (600298) win this bet?
Angel Yeast Co.,Ltd. (600298) Launches 3.5 Billion Yuan Financing to Double Down on Yeast Protein
According to the announcement, Angel Yeast Co.,Ltd. (600298) plans to publicly issue no more than 3.5 billion yuan in convertible corporate bonds, of which 1.845 billion yuan (52.7%) will be invested in yeast protein-related projects, including Phase II of the Baiyang Biotechnology Park and the Yichang Yeast Protein Core Technology Research Project; 775 million yuan will go toward the Kokdala annual 20,000-ton yeast products project; 200 million yuan will be allocated to the park factory's annual 60,000-ton food ingredient flexible intelligent manufacturing and supporting project; and the remaining 680 million yuan will be used to supplement working capital.
The company positions yeast protein as its third major growth curve after yeast and yeast extracts. Currently, Angel Yeast Co.,Ltd. (600298) has 16,000 tons of yeast protein capacity, operating at full production and full sales, with initial capacity planning already reaching 100,000 tons.
Yeast protein is a microbial protein made from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In the short term, the sharp rise in global whey protein prices has provided a basis for yeast protein substitution. In the long term, downstream applications are expanding from traditional health products (protein powder, protein bars, meal replacements) to food industry sectors such as baking, meat products, and dairy products, significantly amplifying the market space.
However, new capacity requires time from planning and construction to actual production, and Angel Yeast Co.,Ltd.'s (600298) expansion of yeast protein in the food sector remains at an early stage. If downstream market penetration falls short of expectations or industry competition intensifies, the company will face pressure to absorb future capacity.
It is worth noting that the Baiyang Biotechnology Park Phase II project, the core fundraising project of this convertible bond, underwent significant adjustments just half a year after the announcement: total investment was raised from 797 million yuan to 1.061 billion yuan, while the expected investment return rate was lowered from 12.12% to 10.74%. The substantial changes in project estimates within a short period raise questions about whether preliminary feasibility studies were sufficiently thorough and whether decision-making was prudent.
From a financial performance perspective, in the first half of 2026, Angel Yeast Co.,Ltd. (600298) achieved operating revenue of 9.187 billion yuan, up 16.3% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders was 881 million yuan, up 10.21% year-on-year; and non-recurring net profit was 794 million yuan, up only 7.02%, with profit growth clearly lagging revenue growth.
Financial expenses surged to 172 million yuan, including exchange losses of 85.59 million yuan, compared to -58.52 million yuan in the same period last year. Although molasses procurement costs declined somewhat, rising costs for auxiliary materials, packaging, freight, and energy offset the benefits of lower molasses prices.
Yeast is a typical heavy-asset industry, and Angel Yeast Co.,Ltd. (600298) has long followed a path of capital expenditure-driven performance growth. At the beginning of each capacity expansion cycle, depreciation expenses from increased fixed assets temporarily压低 gross and net profit margins; as capacity utilization improves and sales scale expands, economies of scale gradually emerge, and profits enter a release channel—this cycle typically takes 2 to 3 years.
The previous expansion cycle began in 2020. From 2020 to 2024, the company's fixed assets grew 89% to 9.816 billion yuan, but due to high depreciation and cost fluctuations, net profit once stagnated, with the net margin dropping to 8.9% in 2024, down 7.02 percentage points from 2020. It was not until 2025 that profits began to gradually recover, as earlier capacity utilization improved, depreciation pressure peaked, and raw material costs declined.
The completion of this 3.5 billion yuan convertible bond fundraising means that Angel Yeast Co.,Ltd. (600298), after a brief profit recovery period, is once again launching a new expansion cycle—its fixed assets have now reached 11.626 billion yuan, and as projects such as Baiyang Phase II are gradually transferred to fixed assets, depreciation pressure will rise again.
Financial Pressure Mounts Under Intensive Expansion
In fact, the convertible bond fundraising is only part of Angel Yeast Co.,Ltd.'s (600298) current expansion plans. The company currently has numerous projects under construction or in progress. As of the first half of 2026, there were 14 construction projects on the books, with a total budget of approximately 4.545 billion yuan. These include both domestic projects and overseas projects in Indonesia, Egypt, and elsewhere.
Such intensive capital expenditure places high demands on the company's fundraising and financial stability. From a cash flow perspective, the company's own operating cash generation capacity is no longer sufficient to cover its continuous expansion capital expenditure.
In the first half of 2026, Angel Yeast Co.,Ltd.'s (600298) net cash flow from operating activities was only 200 million yuan, down 24% year-on-year, forming a clear divergence from its net profit attributable to shareholders of 881 million yuan for the same period, while net cash outflow from investing activities was 740 million yuan.
Over a longer time frame, this trend has persisted for years: from 2021 to 2025, the company's cumulative net operating cash flow was 7.836 billion yuan, while cumulative net cash outflow from investing activities reached 9.957 billion yuan, a gap of over 2.1 billion yuan, indicating long-term reliance on external financing.
Under continuous expansion, Angel Yeast Co.,Ltd.'s (600298) debt-to-asset ratio has been rising, reaching 49.34% in 2025, up 1.52 percentage points year-on-year, a new high in recent years. Total interest-bearing debt has continued to swell, reaching 8.146 billion yuan in 2025, up 27% year-on-year, and further climbing to 8.883 billion yuan in the first half of 2026 (short-term borrowings of 3.589 billion yuan + non-current liabilities due within one year of 996 million yuan + long-term borrowings of 2.304 billion yuan + bonds payable of 1.995 billion yuan), while monetary funds during the same period were only 2.318 billion yuan.
The scale of interest-bearing debt is relatively large, and the debt structure is primarily short-term, so short-term repayment pressure cannot be ignored.
Hidden risks on the operational side also deserve vigilance. In the first half of 2026, the company's accounts receivable reached 2.291 billion yuan, a record high, and credit impairment losses surged year-on-year to 23.8201 million yuan. Inventory increased from 4.622 billion yuan in the same period last year to 5.062 billion yuan, remaining at a high level. Raw materials and finished goods each accounted for approximately 39%. Compared with the same period in 2025, the proportion of finished goods increased significantly.
Such a large scale of inventory ties up substantial funds, intensifying the company's reliance on external financing, and the impairment risk involved should not be overlooked.
Comments