2011年1月30日

外企发力 战略向OTC倾斜

 OTC企业的市场集中度提升的速度很可能比医药商业还要快,因为大量的小企业仅凭超低价招商的模式路会越走越窄,而有能力进行全国市场运作和广告投放的企业能赢得更大空间,同时OTC品种也不受基药和医保降价的影响,国内市场上的仁和、康恩贝都将受益。  

    从近两年陆续发生的动向显示,外企普遍看好中国OTC市场前景并纷纷加大投资布局,这必将带来新一轮行业整合  

  在去年10月底至11月初的短短一周内,赛诺菲-安万特在中国OTC市场完成两笔重大交易,引人关注。

  2010年11月1日,赛诺菲-安万特以5.206亿美元收购了中国OTC药品生产商兼分销商美华太阳石;2010年11月3日,杭州民生药与赛诺菲-安万特组建合资公司的协议正式获得商务部批准,根据协议,21金维他将被纳入由赛诺菲-安万特控股的合资公司。

  这两笔交易将使得赛诺菲-安万特在维生素矿物质补充剂和感冒咳嗽这两个最大的中国OTC细分市场中同时占据强势地位。而此前,赛诺菲-安万特在中国并不经营OTC业务。

  赛诺菲-安万特的发力并非独此一家。从近两年陆续发生的拜耳收购“白加黑”、美国CardinalHealth收购中国永裕等动向,显示出了外企普遍看好中国OTC市场前景、纷纷加大投资布局的整体趋势,而这也必将带来新一轮的行业整合。  

  中国OTC市场增长更快

  众多药品专利期满和新药匮乏,使得外资药企在战略上加大了对OTC市场的投入。

  传统上,OTC在外资药企的业务结构和利润结构中居于从属地位,相对不为管理层所看重。根据Bernstein公司的统计,平均来说,OTC业务只占到6家最大跨国药企全球销售的16%和营业利润的14%。但近年来,跨国药企曾经倚重的处方药因为专利的陆续到期而增长疲软。

  根据调研机构IMS Health公司的数据,全球医药市场的增长率从2003年的10.2%减慢到2008年的4.8%;而处方药的表现则更为糟糕,美国处方药销售总额只增长了3.8%,为50余年来最低的增长率。低增长的罪魁祸首,是陆续到期的专利。2009年全世界销售价值3830亿美元的专利药物,在5年内将有一半专利到期,仅2010年,就有15%的专利药到期。

  专利过期后,仿制药带来的激烈竞争,会导致药品价格大幅下跌。例如,在美国,专利过期一年内的药物,价格平均下滑超过85%。面对这种局面,国际医药巨头在加紧研发新药的同时,不得不在战略上加大向非处方药的倾斜。通过将专利期已满的处方药向非处方药转换,可延长药品的生命周期,把处方药因失去专利保护、面临仿制竞争而造成的销售损失减少到最小程度。

  与国际OTC市场相比,中国OTC市场的增长更快且前景更为看好。根据中国非处方药协会的统计,过去5年中国非处方药市场平均每年增长超过11%,位居全球首位,并远远高于全球非处方药平均5.4%的增长率。另一方面,中国非处方药还有巨大的发展空间。目前OTC仅占中国医药市场总份额的10%~15%,这与美国等发达国家非处方药占全国30%~40%的比例还有很大差距。但随着消费者自我保健意识的增强,以及对轻微病症进行自我诊治能力的提高,消费者自行选购非处方药的情况将越来越普及。预计到2017年,中国OTC市场价值将超过1500亿元。

  可见,国际医药巨头竞相进军中国OTC市场,赛诺菲-安万特近期在这个自己之前没有太大作为的细分市场上的大手笔,也是应对竞争形势的需要。

  品牌和渠道的资源争夺

  从市场份额看,跨国药企发力中国OTC市场,将加大国内医药企业的竞争压力,未来OTC行业整合将进一步加剧。

  目前国内OTC行业的整体竞争格局非常分散。跨国药企占据约30%的市场份额,国内药企占70%左右,没有任何一家企业单独的份额超过10%。国内OTC生产企业中虽然有云南白药、哈药集团、江中药业、东阿阿胶等大型知名企业,但更多的却是资金和技术都相对较弱的中小型企业。

  随着外资药企加大投资和未来行业整合的加快,国内OTC企业需要在竞争观念和市场运作水平方面不断提高。从关键竞争要素看,OTC产品的特点决定了品牌和渠道是产品制胜的关键,因此具备这两个要素的企业将成为行业整合过程中被争相追逐的优质资源。

  不同于处方药市场,OTC市场无论在产品包装、价格制定、通路选择、广告促销上都有其本身的特点,相较于处方药市场,品牌和渠道对于OTC产品的市场表现更为重要。但品牌和渠道在短时间内都无法建立,对于远道而来的跨国药企尤其如此。外资药企的产品引进中国,通常国内审批的程序就长达三四年,铺设销售渠道也难。因此,未来国际巨头在发力中国OTC市场时,仍然会倚重并购或合资的方式,而其选取国内交易对象的标准将主要是品牌和渠道,正如赛诺菲-安万特的两桩收购,看中的即是21金维他在多维元素补充剂领域的号召力和美华太阳石在三、四线城市的销售网络优势。

    ----作者 中国三星经济研究院 林瑞明


http://zhishuirenshan.blog.sohu.com/166537496.html

2010年里程碑式创新药物回顾及2011年新药研发前景分析

    在过去的2010年,一些对制药公司或者制药行业具有里程碑式意义的新药研究取得的突破性进展,再次向业内传递了一个信息:坚持不懈的创新终有回报。同时,人们从中也不难预测出2011年哪些新药研发将具有里程碑式的影响力。

  2010:收获颇丰

  2010年,在重要新药物的临床研究和监管机构审评的结果中,有77%的新药是“具有积极性的”。最近,美国知名生物技术网站genengnews.com评出在2010年“基于对公司价值和/或因可以弥补不能满足现实需求品种的不足而对行业具有较强影响力的里程碑式新药”(表1)。评选终点是药物晚期阶段临床试验结果或者监管机构对药物采取的行动。

  在2010年26只具有较强影响力的新药研发事件中,有20只是获得批准和“具有积极性的”——美国食品药品管理局(FDA)咨询委员会推荐批准或者研究结果是肯定的;1只批准延后;5只是“消极性的”FDA发出了完全回应信要求提供附加临床研究资料。值得一提的是,在5只“消极性的”事件中,4只虽然成功机会下降,但还是有成功的希望的。

  在2010年初最被寄予厚望的是InterMune公司的治疗特发性肺纤维化药物Pifenidone。尽管FDA咨询委员会在2010年3月份以9票赞同3票反对通过批准这一药物,不过FDA还是向InterMune公司发出了完全回应信,要求提供附加临床研究资料为Pifenidone的疗效提供支持。当Pifenidone是否会被FDA批准还不明了的时候,InterMune公司又向欧洲药监局提出了新药申请,该药有望在今年上半年获得FDA或欧盟的批准。

  而在减肥药物领域,受到密切关注的两只药物都收到了FDA的完全回应信,尽管FDA提出了它们的安全性和疗效问题,不过其前景还是被看好。

  维瓦士药物公司的减肥药Qnexa并没有受到质疑,不过其安全性引起FDA和咨询委员会的担忧,FDA希望维瓦士药物公司提供更详细的研究资料并重新提交申请。业内预计,此药有望在今年下半年获得批准。Orexigen制药公司的减肥药Contrave虽然减肥效果不如Qnexa,但具有较好的安全性。2010年12月7日,FDA咨询委员会以13:7的投票结果支持Contrave用于治疗肥胖症。FDA决定将PDUFA日期推迟至2011年1月31日,届时FDA将审查Contrave新药上市申请。

  安进、Alkermes和礼来的糖尿病药物Bydureon的申请被FDA拒绝出乎大多数人的意料,此药的主要问题是可导致QT延长(心电图上QT间期延长)。由于研究单位的疏忽,在提交给FDA的新药申请中并没有完全说明先前对Bydureon(和此药的主要活性成分exenatide)的研究显示可引起QT延长。安进将通过完善药物对QT影响的研究,于今年年底再次提出申请,该药有望在2012年年中获得批准。

  与其他小型生物技术公司不同,Amarin公司具有开发心血管“重磅炸弹”药物的潜质,而该公司的AMR-101便具有这一潜力。

  另外,还有一些在2010年“具有积极性的”药物值得一提:

  Momenta制药公司和诺华的Lovenox仿制药enoxaparin获得批准,为未来生物仿制药获批指明了方向;

  诺华的首个多发性硬化症口服药物Gilenya获得批准;

  人类基因组科学公司和葛兰素史克的系统性红斑狼疮药物Benlysta获得了FDA咨询委员会的肯定和推荐批准;

  安进的预防骨质疏松药物Xgeva (denosumab)具有广阔的市场需求前景。

  表1 2010年里程碑式新药

  注:NDA-新药申请,BLA-生物制品申请,ANDA-简略新药申请,PDUFA日期-处方药申报者付费法案(PDUFA)日期,CRL-完全回应信。

  表2 2011年或具里程碑式新药

  注:MAA 营销授权申请

  2011:值得期待

  在2011年,制药行业希望“具有积极性的”审评结果继续达到75%以上——因为这一数字被认为是成功率的风向标。整个制药行业都会把目光放在主要的创新项目和生物制药公司取得的“新科学”成果上。

  预计在2011年大约有16只里程碑式新药,其中12只“具有积极性”,4只未知(谨慎乐观、不明或者具有副作用,见表2)。

  Inspire制药公司将会在今年年初公布囊性纤维化治疗药物Denufosol的Ⅲ期试验结果。Denufosol是一种P2Y2铁离子通道调节剂,以前的试验结果显示其具有肯定性,因此促进了对Denufosol更进一步的研究,并很有希望取得成功。

  NPS制药公司开发的小肠综合征治疗药物Gattex (Teduglutide),也将在今年年初报告Ⅲ期试验结果,现在正在进行的是此药的第二次Ⅲ期试验,以确保该药物的成功率。以前的研究表明,低剂量的Teduglutide可显著减少肠外营养的需求。NPS制药公司的另一个研究项目NPSP558(重组人甲状旁腺激素)在甲状旁腺功能减退替代治疗上具有较高的成功率,到今年年底将报告其Ⅲ期试验的结果。

  在抗生素领域,最近提出申请的新药在FDA屡屡碰壁。未来,只有具有较好的安全性和疗效的新抗生素才有可能获得批准。Optimer制药公司的治疗艰难梭菌感染药物Fidaxomicin具有较高的临床治愈率,疗效优于万古霉素,有望在今年下半年获得批准。

  美国生物基因公司(Biogen Idec)研发的多发性硬化症治疗药物Tysabri因可引起进行性多灶性白质脑病(PML),其命运令投资者担心。随着诺华公司的Gilenya作为首个口服多发性硬化症治疗药物的上市,生物基因公司的另一只多发性硬化症药物BG12也将在今年上半年公布研究结果。生物基因公司中期的BG12项目和长期的血友病项目将会继续吸引投资者的目光。

  尤其值得一提的是罗氏的CATT(Lucentis-Avastin试验)研究(比较了Avastin和Lucentis治疗湿性黄斑变性的效果)的结果将在今年第二个季度公布,在此领域,罗氏、诺华、拜耳和Regeneron制药公司将会成为主要的竞争者,而且许多医药行业的投资者也密切关注着相关的临床研究结果。

  另外,在2011年可能还有一些重要的事件值得关注:百时美施贵宝的黑素瘤药物Ipilimumab等待批准;阿斯利康的心血管“重磅炸弹”药物Brilinta等待批准;生物技术投资者正在关注的Celgene公司肺癌治疗药物Abraxane的Ⅲ期试验结果,可能在年底公布。

----作者 李勇


http://zhishuirenshan.blog.sohu.com/166607501.html

达沃斯首次举行中文专场讨论 First-Ever Mandarin Session Lauds State-Run Economy

国派出了由66人组成的有史以来最大规模的代表团参加今年的达沃斯论坛,中国不断增大的影响不仅限于火车站欢迎布告板上出现的崭新的中文字。中国举行了世界经济论坛历史上首次用汉语普通话进行的专场讨论。

Bloomberg
中国第三大港口运营商天津港集团有限公司董事长于汝民发言。
这场题为"中国企业的未来"的专场讨论吸引了众多观众,会议室被挤得满满的,就像此次世界经济论坛中大部分其他关注中国的活动一样。

不过,与会者听到的不是针对中国很多运营艰难的私营企业如何能够生存下来的宝贵建议,而是接受了一场为国有经济辩护的说教。中国的国有经济日益腐蚀着私营企业的商业机会。

中国国家发展和改革委员会副主任彭森罗列了一大堆统计数字,显示了中国私营领域的重要性:就绝对数量来讲,中国有90%的企业为私营企业;去年总投资的51%来自私营领域。不过,他没有提到在基础设施、资源、银行业和电信等中国一些最重要的行业,都是由国有企业占主导地位,甚至在很多情况下是垄断地位。彭森说,我不同意国有企业在发展而私营领域在衰弱的观点。

中国第三大港口运营商天津港集团有限公司董事长于汝民则被主持人李稻葵问到了一个笑话。李稻葵是一位教授,也是中国央行顾问,相对来说思想更开放,他提出了一个出人意料又不同寻常的笑话。

李稻葵问于汝民,有人告诉我,即使你一整个月都在打高尔夫球,让一个小孩子运营你的公司,公司仍可以赚很多钱,因为国有企业的日子实在是太容易了,你同意这种说法吗?

于汝民看起来并没有受到冒犯,不过他说,他是个非常忙的人,国有企业不像过去一样了。于汝民说,很多国有企业现在都上市了,我们按照资本市场要求的方式运营企业。

于汝民说,我们工作非常非常努力,实际上,我想假如我在私企或外企工作,我会有更大成绩。

或许天津港集团有限公司只是一个例外,不过,还有其他一些例子。举例来讲,中石油曾花人民币120万元(约合18万美元)为总部气派的大堂买了一个吊灯,而同时却运营效率低下,还发生了一系列的事故,比如有一次输油管发生了爆炸。

Shen Hong

(本文版权归道琼斯公司所有,未经许可不得翻译或转载。)


China has sent its largest-ever delegation of 66 people to Davos this year, and its growing influence isn't just limited to the brand new Chinese characters appearing on the train station's greeting sign-boards. The country has held the first session conducted in Mandarin in the history of the World Economic Forum.

The panel, titled 'The Future of Chinese Enterprises,' attracted a full crowd that packed the conference room, just like most other China-focused programs at the World Economic Forum.

But instead of hearing valuable advice on how China's many struggling private enterprises will survive, the audience got a lecture in defense of a state-run economy that is increasingly eroding business opportunities for the private sector.

Peng Sen, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, Beijing's top economic planning agency, listed a whole bunch of statistics that showed the importance of China's private sector: 90% of the country's enterprises, in terms of absolute numbers, are private; 51% of the country's total investment last year came from the private sector. But he didn't mention that the country's most important sectors, such as infrastructure, resources, banking and telecommunications are all dominated, and in many cases monopolized by state-run firms. 'I don't agree with the notion that the state-run enterprises are advancing while the private sector is withering,' Peng said.

Yu Rumin, chairman of Tianjin Port Co., China's third-largest port operator, was challenged by the relatively more liberal-minded moderator, a professor and central bank adviser, with an unexpected and unusual joke.

Li Daokui, the moderator, asked Yu: 'Somebody told me that even if you spend a whole month playing golf and letting a puppy run your company, the latter will still be able to make a lot of money, because life is simply too easy for state-run enterprises. Would you agree?'

Yu didn't seem to be offended but he argued that he was an extremely busy man, and that state-run firms aren't what they used to be. 'Many SOEs are listed companies now and we operate in the way that the capital market requires us to,' Yu said.

'We work very, very hard and, in fact, I think if I had worked for a private or foreign firm, I would have achieved much more,' Yu said.

Maybe Tianjin Port is an exception, but there are other examples like PetroChina, which once spent 1.2 million yuan (around $180,000) on a chandelier for its headquarters' grand-looking lobby and has at the same time suffered from inefficiencies and a number of accidents, such as an explosion of its oil pipelines.

Shen Hong

2011年1月29日

高频交易已成全球金融市场的系统性交易风险

高频交易已成全球金融市场的系统性交易风险
    高频交易,即一种复杂的电脑程序用数学法计算着价格的微小变动,在千分之几秒内完成证券买卖交易。绝大多数高频交易参与者坚信,物理距离的无限接近,最终将让自己的电脑系统交易速度比其他偏远地带的电脑更快10-20毫秒,这足以“操控”金融市场。

    截至2010年底,高频交易占据全球金融交易市场的约70%。只是,在高频交易重塑全球金融交易游戏规则同时,它自己同样在给全球金融市场稳定埋下一颗新的“定时炸弹”。2010年5月6日,道琼斯指数在15分钟内狂泻约700点,随后20分钟内又反弹600点,全天波动高达千点以上,为历史上第二大单日波幅。

    高频交易还发展为掠夺性算法交易,充分利用个别大型计算机服务器对交易反应速度的相对优势,将大单买卖指令先分割成众多小单指令,并以不间断的小额下单及撤单,欺骗其他高频交易电脑做出错误的下单指令。

    比掠夺性算法交易更“霸道”的,则是闪电指令交易,其操作原理是某些高频交易者借助电脑系统与交易所联网优势,比其他交易者早约500毫秒“提前”看到市场价格波动与买卖成交状况,而电脑则在20-500毫秒之间相应做出套利指令。虽然高频交易给金融市场带来较大风险,但中国对高频交易的监管手法显得及时且简洁。凡是在股指期货市场单日累计开仓数达到500手以上的投资者,都可能面临“窗口指导”,这让国内高频交易的试水者相当难受。


http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4a78b4ee010188ej.html

分析:李娜单飞的意义 Li Na serves an ace by flying solo

 

编者按:在本文见报后不久,李娜在1月29日举行的澳大利亚网球公开赛决赛中,1:2不敌比利时选手克里斯特尔斯,获得亚军。

在打入周六的澳大利亚网球公开赛决赛、并由此成为中国最成功网球运动员之前,李娜就已因她的文身而在中国名声大噪。

她文在胸上的一小朵穿心玫瑰也许在女子网球巡回赛上算不上扎眼,但在文身并不普遍的中国,这却是十足的张扬个性。以前,李娜还会用胶带把文身遮起来,但现在再也不用费这个麻烦了。

李娜在今年首项大满贯赛事中的表现,已引起人们对她另一种反叛行为的关注,而这种行为可能对中国体育的未来产生更重大的影响:两年前,李娜等四名女网运动员脱离了中国僵化的体育体制,获准自主经营职业。

“年轻时,教练和领导让我做什么我就做什么,”李娜表示。“现在我为自己打球。”

有关中国体育体制未来的争论,象征着中国社会追求张扬个性的年青一代与目前仍盛行的家长式作风之间一种更普遍的矛盾。

“我们的领导也好,媒体也好,都喜欢那种听话的、没性格的、八面玲珑的、温良恭简让的人,而李娜显然不是,”诗人赵丽华在微博中如此表示。“(我)喜欢她的随性……喜欢她的一意孤行和独孤求败。”

中国的苏联式体育体制在2008年北京奥运会时达到了顶峰——主办国在金牌榜上位居榜首。有前途的孩子在小小年纪就被挑选出来,去接受全日制训练。教练控制着运动员职业发展的方方面面,从几点起床到打什么比赛,而运动员赢得的奖金有一半以上被上层领导拿走了。

但自从2002年姚明赴美国打球以来,这一体制就一直面临着压力。不仅一些高奖金项目的运动员想留存更多的奖金收入,而且在一些运动中,遵循当前体制的结果只会令人失望。

当姚明刚到美国打球时,教练让他用扣篮来震慑对手。“他当时非常不情愿,因为扣篮被当作一种个人主义,在中国是不被认可的,”布鲁克•拉尔默(Brook Larmer)这样表示。拉尔默曾撰写过一本讲述姚明的书。后来,姚明每次拒绝扣篮后,教练就让他的队友在场内跑圈,他终于妥协了。

李娜承认,如果没有领导们的压力,她年轻时不会去打网球。但她也曾因为对中国僵化的体制不抱幻想,而告别体坛两年。

2008年,当她和另外三名顶级球员获准脱离体制、并可留存逾90%的奖金收入时,体制内的批评声音四起,尤其是一开始她们的成绩都不甚理想。

高级体育官员蔡振华当时曾表示:“从目前来看,金花们单飞之后的表现并不理想。至少我个人认为,单飞目前不适合继续推广。”

但在今年在澳网取得如此骄人的成绩之前,李娜去年就和队友郑洁用双双杀入澳网半决赛回敬了批评者。她们的成功还导致中国人——尤其是富裕的都市人——对网球运动的兴趣急剧升温。

译者/何黎


http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001036772


 

Before she became the country’s most successful tennis player by reaching Saturday’s final of the Australian Open, Li Na was almost as well-known in China for her tattoo.

The small rose and heart on her chest might not seem racy on the women’s tennis circuit, but it was a strong statement of individuality in a country where tattoos are not popular. She used to cover it up with tape, but no longer bothers.

Ms Li’s performance in this year’s first grand slam event has called attention to another act of rebellion that could have bigger ramifications for the future of sport in China. Two years ago she was one of four female tennis players who were released from the rigid structure of the Chinese sports system and allowed to manage their own careers.

“When I was young, I did what the coaches and leaders told me to do,” she says. “Now I am playing for myself.”

The tussle over the future of the sports system has become emblematic of a wider tension in Chinese society between individualistic younger generations and the paternalistic habits that still pervade.

“Our leaders and media like those who are obedient and lack character, but Li Na is definitely not like that,” poet Zhao Lihua said in a blog posting. “I like her spontaneity. I like her recklessness. I like her being so cool.”

China’s Soviet-style sports system achieved its high point at the Beijing Olympics when the host country topped the gold medal table. Promising kids are identified at an early age and funnelled into full-time training. Coaches control every aspect of an athlete’s career, from when they wake up to which matches they play, and bureaucrats take more than half the winnings.

Yet, the system has been coming under pressure since Yao Ming moved to play basketball in the US in 2002. Not only did athletes in big-money sports want to retain more of their income, but the conformity of the Chinese system was found wanting in some sports.

When Mr Yao first played in the US, his coach wanted him to intimidate opponents by slam-dunking the ball. “He was very reluctant because slam-dunking was frowned upon in China as a sign of individualism,” says Brook Larmer, author of a book about the player. He eventually relented after the coach made his teammates run laps of the court each time he refused.

Ms Li has admitted she would not have played tennis when younger without pressure from administrators, but she also left the sport for two years because of her disillusionment with the rigidity of the Chinese system.

When she and three other top players were allowed to leave the system in 2008 and retain more than 90 per cent of their earnings, there was a flurry of criticism from parts of the establishment, especially after early results disappointed.

“The players flying independent have not had an ideal performance,” Cai Zhenhua, a senior sports official said at the time. “At least so far, it is not suitable for more to break out from the system.”

But even before this year’s success in Australia, Ms Li and colleague Zheng Jie started to silence critics by both reaching the semi-finals in Melbourne last year. They have also helped galvanise rapidly growing interest in tennis, especially among well-off urbanites.


http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001036772/en

中小板成长王故事真相!

中小板成长王故事真相!

转自中小板成长王故事真相!早安华蓥
 

很多人懂微软,但却不一定懂中小板,懂“中国式的微软”。

若以5年资本增值作为评判标准,则上市公司5强分别为:苏宁电器(26倍)、双鹭药业(13倍)、华兰生物(13.3倍);科华生物(9.3倍);思源电气(8.6倍)。接下来,不妨一一解析这五大成长股的中国式路径。

 

中小板成长龙头们的模式

苏宁电器是当之无愧的成长王,自2001年以来,其平均净利润增长率接近100%。而苏宁电器的秘诀到底是什么呢?从其发展历程看,最核心的路径是:复制。轻资产公司,靠复制业务模式实现扩张。那么,苏宁电器复制的是什么模式?该模式又何以能一而再再而三的复制成功?

第一个问题的回答是,苏宁既不卖产品,更谈不上技术,后来标榜卖服务,卖服务,实质是卖服务平台,或者说,是关于家电的一种服务模式;这是苏宁不断追赶国美的重要原因:更充分去理解大卖场的服务本质,而不是销售本质。对第二个问题的回答是,苏宁诞生早,在城市化的背景下,具备了不断复制的时间和空间。苏宁的复制形态不断的借助资本市场:扩张股本——增发——再扩张。

那么,苏宁的瓶颈天然在于两点:中国城市化加速度的放缓;新的服务模式的替代性,比如淘宝网。从这两个角度看,苏宁成长神话的终结不是太长的事情。

双鹭药业、华兰生物和科华生物充分表现了医药行业的想象力。双鹭药业资产的增长幅度,显然比华兰生物要高出几倍,双鹭药业是靠什么成为成长王的呢?

双鹭药业今年以来,遭受到最严格的市场质问:为何股价一改强势,逆医药板块而动?贝科能是双鹭药业独家所有,拥有专利权,保护期为2002-2022年,在此期间公司将享有该方面市场的垄断地位,是公司的一线支柱品种,并进入了十几个省的医保目录,依靠着大包办的代理商,贝科能近年来实现了畸形的爆发式的增长,营业收入节节高升。几年的“攻城略地”后,贝科能开始面临销售瓶颈。症结在于,独家代理商海南康永在一线市场的攻伐失利,且遭到政策的种种影响。这表明,双鹭药业产品的核心竞争力仍然存在较大的可替代性。

尽管双鹭药业年研发投入一度达到销售收入的15%,产品开发层出不穷,但在覆盖基因工程、生化(多肽)药物、化学原料药和制剂的多领域中,双鹭并不专注,也不具备开拓性的能力。我们仔细去看中小板的科技股,只要是那些资产增长过快,常常意味着多元化和乱投资。

与双鹭相反,华兰生物更体现出一个技术性公司应有的特征:轻资产,重研发,高投入,深度专注血液制品在全球也就30年历史,壁垒相当高,寡头竞争的格局非常明显,从中国局部看,华兰生物确属开辟型的行业龙头,在该行业中掌握定价权。

但必须认识到的是,华兰生物的空间是政策保护的结果。与CSL贝林、百特、拜耳及新生力量奥克特珐玛等国际巨头比较,弱势地位相当明显。这意味着,华兰生物并不掌握标准权。实际上,血液制品行业并不算是一个革新性的行业,不具备颠覆性的功能,已呈现出西方产能平抑的趋势。

真正具备颠覆性意义的行业在疫苗、基因工程和工程抗体类生物制药行业,其本质在于把医药产业链的服务端口整体前移。因此,华兰生物战略上的意义,不应在血液制品,而在疫苗和基因工程领域。

科华生物与华兰生物比较则等而下之。近期以仪器带动增长,试剂呈现萎缩表明,其没有太多核心竞争力。

而思源电气则是非常值得深思的一个现象。电力设备行业某种程度上与医药有类似,细分行业多,且壁垒较高。思源近年走过的路,不是其当初拳头产品消弧线圈的扩张,而是不断融资不断扩充产品线,实质上属于以以并购为主的低成本外延式增长。


从近两年国家电网输配电设备招标情况看,思源目前的竞争优势主要集中于成本,成本领先战略是企业获取竞争优势的最基本战略,作为一个有长期期待的企业,必然要向歧异化竞争战略转移。而实际上在此等完全竞争行业,尚无行业壁垒可言。真正具备技术壁垒的如自动化和电力电子领域,思源没有任何独到优势。更进一步讲,中国电网建设的空间直接决定着思源电气的空间。

“中国没有微软”

到这里,我们再来回味一下大族激光。它被奉为创业板的一面精神旗帜,迄今为止让人欲罢不能。不少人认为它有垄断性行业优势,甚至有券商分析其为激光领域的“华为”。但事实是这样吗?

大族激光近两年频繁而不成功的多元化,甚至开始从事房地产,已经表明这家公司在产业链条上不具备较强抗风险能力。激光设备听则动听,大族激光只是在替换性的修补加工设备之一环。

大族激光和华为的根本区别在于,第一,同为产品多元化,实则迥异。华为效法思科,完整的服务和覆盖一整条产业链,从而获得部分话语权。而大族激光只是将技术优势蔓延到多个产业链中的一环,只是在填补产业链。第二,华为在服务一条新兴产业,而大族激光相反,它服务于全球落后产能转移到中国所撑起的空间,在高端领域,大族激光并不具备与国际巨头竞争的能力。

由此,我们有些残酷的揭示了所所谓“中国成长王”的面目。上述剖析证明,A股不存在原创性高科技,也不存在微软。苏宁电器、华兰生物、双鹭药业、科华生物、思源电气、大族激光,都不支持成为国际顶尖成长企业的颠覆性基因。

相反,它们身上弥漫着中国式的基因,比如三个医药公司所受惠也受制的政策保护与政策变动,思源电气受惠的国家建设,大族激光死水微澜的股价走势,至今还有人认为在偿还高溢价发行的债,但我认为,实际上它的股价和日趋萎缩的毛利,都间接证明了,中国廉价的加工贸易的国家盈利模式,走到了十字拐点。

在老一代的中小板公司中,还可以举出更多的例子,比如苏泊尔,一个良好成长的小家电公司,其被收购已经说明其在全球产业链中的势单力薄。而新和成这样周期性公司,难堪大任。

优秀成长企业的四个等级

那么,中国人要怎么去做自己得微软呢?

首先,总结世界性巨头的成长模式之后,可以得出如下层次:

一流成长公司:形成颠覆性的、垄断性技术优势或商业生态链。例如Microsoft、google、intel、apple、RIM、思科;

二流成长公司:拥有优异商业模式,例如mcdonald、starbuck;

三流成长公司:出售优异的产品,如HP,三星以及大量的日韩品牌;

进一步概括,可以认为:

一流成长公司在创造产业链。他们通过极具原创性的进步,极大的改变人类的生产力经营方式,极大的提高劳动效率,而且通过对该产业链中枢环节的控制,获取金字塔顶端的门槛。正如苹果创造了电脑产业,微软创造了软件年代;这类公司取决于壁垒。

二流成长公司在组合产业链。他们通过对产业链各元素的重新组合,形成独特的商业模式,进而局部改变利益分配机制。但商业模式的缺陷在于可复制性较强,壁垒较低,因此取决于时机和成本。

三流成长公司在改进产业链。无论是通过替代,还是以新产品面目出现,此类公司为人类提供了最优秀的产品,如同日本汽车不断改进的节能减排技术,HP不断拓展的PC外延。此类公司取决于产业链的成熟度和生命力。

当然,还有不少成长性很好的公司在进行填空产业链的工作,但我们不认为取决于行业周期和景气度、波动频繁的公司可能成为下一个“微软”。


“中国式微软”英雄谱

由此,我们也可以清晰分辨中国成长王们的谱系和路径。

最大多数的中小板公司,仍然在进行最低端的填补产业链的工作,这与中国目前在全球产业链中出于中游的位置相对称。比如新和成、华星化工、宁波华翔、伟星股份等等局域龙头,也包括思源电气。我们不排除,在创业板中会诞生下一个新和成或者思源电气,但那并非因为它们科技含量足够,而是因为中国市场空间大。在生物医药、材料化工、电气设备等领域,期待很多。

少数的公司在以更好的产品,在从事改进产业链的工作。比如上文我们讲到的双鹭药业的贝科能;大族激光则是此类公司最典型的代表。实际上,目前中国广泛鼓励的机电设备产品,大部分即属于此一范畴。这里就包含了颇受市场青睐的金风科技、大洋电机等等。

更少数的公司,在经营商业模式。从目前来看,苏宁电器是最成功的案例。在国外,纺织服装、日化用品、房地产等传统行业,均在朝商业模式创新方向靠拢。以品牌中枢整合产业链条的资源,形成轻资产重品牌的趋势。而效法耐克最早的是李宁,目前最成功的中小板公司无疑是美邦服饰,七匹狼在这条路上走得更犹豫。而这,也成为我们看好华谊兄弟的最大理由,因为它不但在不断填补中国人的文化缺氧区,而且改变了游戏方法。

商业模式,也是目前中国网络公司优胜劣汰的主要逻辑,有理由去看好模式清晰的网易、盛大、百度以及新浪。

那么,到底中国有没有可能诞生微软级别的一流公司呢?按照最顶级成长公司的标准,颠覆性和壁垒缺一不可。

谨慎的看待,创业板公司中上没有发现,或许有潜在品种尚浮于水面以下。由于中国短期内难以掌握原创高新技术,在成熟的公司谱系中,或许有这两个值得考虑:阿里巴巴、比亚迪。目前看,生物制药领域渐为创新热土,但中国离得太远,尚无明显可寄托的对象,像华兰生物已算上乘,广东的达安基因质地原本优良,但经验证明没有国有企业成为微软得先例。

值得注意的是,无论世界还是中国的成长故事都证实,他们通常必须三个条件:技术型领袖、管理层治理清晰而控制有力、民营。

 

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_628456da0100oue6.html

菲利普・费雪眼中的制药业

    在菲利普・费雪眼中,制药业被列入成长型行业。费雪认为,制药业在某种意义上类似于化工行业,因为它们都是通过化学手段来重新调整原有物质的分子排列,使之具有某种特性,或是把原子或相对较小的分子构造具有特定性质的复杂物质。因此从技术层面看,两个行业之间的边界非常模糊。

    但是对于投资者而言,虽然制药业在技术上比较接近化工类股票,但是它在价值增长速度以及内在高风险方面体现出来的特性,更接近于电子类股票。相比于化工行业,制药业为扩大市场所需要的设备投资不仅很有效,而且安装时间也很短。因此制药业既不存在化工业中高不可攀的有形堡垒,也不存在竞争性产品投产后销售额迅速衰减的可能。

    对很多大型制药公司而言,他们的产品组合对技术过时问题的防范能力往往低于我们的设想。在很多情况下,销售额中的绝大部分仅仅来自为数不多的几个关键产品。而且这几个关键产品往往也是利润的主要源泉。因此,一旦有一两个主要产品落伍,就有可能对企业的盈利能力及其股票市值产生严重的不良影响。

    大多数药品的真正市场,归根结底还是取决于国内外几十万开具处方的医生。在这个庞大的群体中,肯定有很多医生一直在寻找更好的治疗手段。因此,任何疗效更佳的药品,都会成为他们的宠儿。但是在无数医生中,也肯定有很多人深知,任何一种疗效强大的新药都蕴藏着巨大的危险。因此,他们更愿意使用更保险的旧药。有些医生因为长期使用原有药品,从而在使用这些药品的方面掌握了大量技巧。在这种情况下,不管新药多么有效,他们都会在使用这些不熟悉的新药时犹豫不决。正是这种原因,在医药行业中,很少有几种新药能在短时间内,达到其潜在的最大市场份额。而一种在技术上已完全过时的老药,尽管与市场出现新产品之前相比,可能会出现较大幅度的下降,但仍有可能在以后的多年内,继续保持非常稳定的销售额。

    还有一个因素使得制药业的技术竞争不像电子行业的某些领域那样难以遏制。医生并没有足够的时间去了解专业领域内正在出现或传闻的每一项重大进展,对任何一种新药,只能从技术报刊或医学期刊中略知一二。他们对新药的了解,甚至只能来自所谓的医药代表。而医生对销售代表所在的企业的既有看法也是一个不可忽视的因素。这些影响必将让那些声誉良好、销售组织完善的知名企业有更大的竞争优势。在一定意义上,这使得某些新药一经出现就会带来出人意料的竞争力。

    1960年代的医药行业扩张迅速,今天的扩张则更为迅速,因此这是一个缺乏内在稳定机制的市场,随时都会出现意料之外的起伏和波动。而且在这个市场的绝大部分领域,一个企业的新发明很可能会危及另一个企业的市场。那么投资者怎样才能从中受益?

    费雪认为,投资者能做的只有两件事。首先买进最优秀的大型企业股票,比如像默克那样的公司,他们不仅能把高人一等的研发组织和超群的营销能力有机地融为一体,更在整个医学界享有崇高的威望,同时又是行业内多样化水平最高的企业,不仅能够通过自我创新实现快速增长,而且还有能力抵御其他技术突破所带来的竞争压力。

    与化工业相比,在选择最优秀的企业时,两者既有可比之处,又有明显的差别。共同之处在于,无论什么时候买进,都存在着巨大的增值潜力,只要经过足够时间,都有可能带来不菲的预期利润。当然,如果投资者有足够的自制力,耐心地等待,抓住最有利的买进时机,得到的利润更可观。但是在普遍性的经济萧条中,基本上是买进最佳医药类股票最差的时机。由于医药业受总体经济形势影响相对较小,因此在其他诸多业务收益能力迅速下跌时,投资者很可能会高估医药类股票的价值。萧条并不会人医药类股票出现缩水,但其他因素却会让这个行业失去投资者的宠爱。

    由于药品与人类健康息息相关,使得很多公司享有的高利润会受到政府的干预。一旦某家医药公司的股票大跌,人们就会意识到,同样的事情可能会出现在其他公司身上,尽管这些公司的股票未必出现大跌。此时业内所有的股票都会一股脑地不被市场看好,直到其他新药品横空出世,整个市场为之振奋,便忘却过去的阴云。因此,在这个动荡起伏的领域中,如果投资者能做到波澜不惊,买进最优秀的企业,就很可能大赚一笔。  

    对于那些在医药行业研发方面知之甚少的人,同样可以拥有另一种机会,那就是,某些管理上佳的医药公司,通过开发新产品,可以在收益能力上实现突飞猛进的增长。如果能在整个金融界意识到这种新产品对企业盈利的重要性之前买进这些股票,其结果将不言而喻。即使市场已经知晓这一结果,但只要股票价格存在微弱的缩水——这是很常见的情况,纵然不能有丰厚的收获,但结果一样值得期待。

    虽然菲利普・费雪的这些研究写于1950年代末期,但是他的许多观点即使放在今天也不过时,因为这些观点在当时就是他“最具预见性的建议”。当时波涛汹涌的股市大潮中无数事实已经验证了他的基本观点。2010年A股市场的医药类股票大潮又再一次验证了他的观点。费雪说,在投资这个问题上,很多让我们信以为真的教义,很多让我们从不怀疑的哲理,只不过是一场骗局而已,而那些能火眼识真经的离经叛道者,总会因为直面真理而被厚待。
 

比尔盖茨回顾2010年中国行:中国速度让美国感到威胁吗?中英文

比尔盖茨回顾2010年中国行:中国速度让美国感到威胁吗?

本文来源于《新世纪》周刊 2011年第4期出版日期2011年01月24日 
“我相信中国经济的发展对美国的影响净值是积极的”
比尔・盖茨
 

  1990年,我因为微软的公务第一次访问中国。从那以后,我多次访华。最难忘的一次是在1995年——当时,我和我的父亲比尔、妻子梅琳达,以及好朋友沃伦・巴菲特一起来到中国。我们当时单纯是以游客的身份,花了几周时间,坐着火车去了很多地方。

  每次访问后,我都会为中国在诸多领域的进步而惊叹,尤其是经济的飞速发展。在上海、北京以及其他很多城市,一台台起重机下幢幢高楼拔地而起,让人明显感受到中国变化的速度。

  多年来,一直有分析家预测说,中国经济不可能总以每年10%的速度增长,认为一定会出现这样或那样的瓶颈。但这个预言并未实现。2010年第三季度,中国的国内生产总值又增长了9.6个百分点,而这还是一年中最慢的增长速度。即便是这个最慢的增速,还是比经济学家们之前预测的要快。今年,中国已跻身成为世界第二大经济体。

  我这次的中国之行很特别。尤其让人兴奋的是,我有机会接触到多个很感兴趣的领域。我访问了微软亚洲研究院的团队。在那里,我看到了有关搜索技术方面令人难以置信的创新。我考察了一些疫苗公司。在旅程的最后,我还和沃伦・巴菲特、查理・芒格以及伯克希尔・哈撒韦公司的其他董事会成员一起参加了一些活动。比如,我们访问了比亚迪公司——伯克希尔公司在那里拥有10%的股份。比亚迪没有辜负它的名字——“成就你的梦想”。它生产电池、电动和混合动力小汽车和巴士客车,以及许多极具创意的绿色产品。

中国疫苗工业潜力

  与疫苗公司会面,是为了探索在中国拓展新疫苗开发并进一步为全球提供服务的可能性。历史上,最重要的疫苗研发几乎都源于欧洲和美国。如今,像中国、印度和巴西这些国家,也都开始生产和提供一些重要疫苗的低成本版本。理想情况下,它们也会涉足新疫苗研发的领域。在这些国家,仍有很多人遭受重大感染性疾病的困扰,急需新疫苗来应对,而本国本土的参与会更好地帮助疫苗的推广。此外,像中国这样的国家在制造低成本疫苗方面经验丰富。因此,如果他们也加入开发新疫苗的行列,那么从研发之初就会体现出低成本制造的优势——那将是一件很棒的事!

  盖茨基金会正努力接触那些本地的新疫苗公司,看看是什么限制了它们的发展,我们又能提供怎样的帮助。这是我第一次访问这样的公司,疫苗工业发展速度之快给我留下深刻印象。他们真正懂得如何实现低成本生产,并且正努力让产品质量达到国际标准。在未来的五到十年,他们很可能有潜力研发出很多突破性的疫苗产品,并且通过降低疫苗价格来促进现有疫苗在世界上最贫穷人口中的推广。毕竟对这些穷人而言,价格是疫苗使用的重大障碍。

  具体来说,基金会正努力确保世界上每个孩子都能够接种到三种疫苗:五联疫苗(预防白喉、破伤风、百日咳、乙肝和B型流感的复合疫苗),轮状病毒疫苗(预防严重的急性肠胃炎)和肺炎球菌疫苗(预防肺炎)。这三种疫苗每年能够减少100万儿童的死亡。如果我们能降低疫苗的成本,那么即使是世界上最穷苦的孩子也能够接种上这三种疫苗。目前看来,中国能够在制造低成本的轮状病毒疫苗和肺炎球菌疫苗上有所贡献。我们在中国看到了合作的机会,如同在印度和巴西一样。

  在疫苗生产过程中,使之符合国际质量标准是个昂贵并且复杂的过程。在中国,我们参观过一条非常独特的流感疫苗生产线——科研人员在鸡蛋中培养流感病毒用于疫苗制造。不过,工厂必须购买大量的鸡蛋,并确保它们都是无菌的——这是相当大的工程。人们担心,在(流感)大规模爆发的时候,他们未必能买到足够的鸡蛋,并在短时间内培养足够的病毒来制造疫苗。我们此行还访问了科兴生物制品有限公司位于北大生物产业园的总部。他们已经脱颖而出,迅速建立起大批量生产流感疫苗的能力。这令我印象尤为深刻。

跟巴菲特呆在一起

  我喜欢找各种理由跟巴菲特呆在一起。不管是打我们俩都不大擅长的高尔夫球或者是玩我们都还算凑合的桥牌。

  我们在比亚迪的访问也很精彩。这个公司由一个电池专家创建于1995年。之后,它慢慢成长为手机电池和汽车电池领域的强者。2003年,比亚迪决定开始生产自己的汽车。目前,它已拥有中国市场大约6%的份额,并计划扩大其生产线和市场份额。比亚迪是个创新的公司,推动了电池技术、电动出租车、电动巴士客车和电子存储系统的研制等。

  比亚迪的总部设在深圳。那是一个位于中国东南部、毗邻香港的城市。深圳不仅是个经济特区,更是中国经济奇迹开始的地方。因此,如果在那里看到很多现代化的建筑以及汽车工厂,我并不会感到惊讶。但是,当听说他们盖楼的速度有多快时,我深感震惊!在美国,那几乎就是不可能达到的速度。

  我还去了中国中部的一个城市——长沙。在那里发现了更神奇的事——在这个生活着600万人口的城市,存在着每年可以生产40万辆汽车的工厂。而它从破土到竣工,整个过程不超过两年!在这个城市周围,新的高层建筑正拔地而起。可就在几年前,那里还只不过是一片片玉米地。你可能听说过(中国)10%的经济增长率,但若想有更深入全面的了解,你就必须亲临实地去切身感受——那种投资、建设和克服重重困难的强大动力。

  值得注意的是,中国不只在模仿西方,也正在做出富有创新性的贡献。举个例子,比亚迪已经研发出一种全部靠电能运转的巴士客车,使用特别的电池和电机系统驱动。公司运用创新技术降低电池成本、提高电池寿命。如果它能像设计的那样工作,那么使用者就能从燃料使用方面节约出足够的钱,用于支付巴士客车本身很大一部分费用。我们进行了试乘,并参加了一个活动。活动上,当地政府承诺购买1000辆这样的巴士。这将帮助减少中国城市的烟雾污染,甚至有助于减少二氧化碳排放量。

  中国正在以惊人的速度前进着。如果你能在那里待上六天,一定也会受到震动:他们关注关键问题并且推进改变的能力;学术界、政府以及商业之间的合作;他们对行动力的重视等等。虽然中国的人均GDP仍然只是美国的十分之一,但是他们正在以惊人的速度持续拉近这个差距。

  这让一些美国人感觉到威胁。但是,正如我过去对美国公众所说的那样——我相信中国经济的发展(如同其他国家的发展一样)对美国的影响净值是积极的。因为事实表明,这个国家的人民在购买美国的产品、科研人员在研发抗癌的药物;并且,如同其他富裕国家一样,中国在众多领域的努力也为美国人民的幸福和健康做着贡献。

  当然,对美国而言,像中国这样的国家可能被视为一个颇具竞争力的挑战。但是,竞争也会促使我们更为强大;特别是如果竞争能激发出一种应对挑战的紧迫感,来促使我们直面需要解决的问题,比如:开发出更清洁、更便宜的能源,或是建立更好的教育系统或税收体制。

  中国国内的一些政策也引发了外界一些可以理解的关注。从历史的角度而言,几乎在每个走进富裕的国家里,中产阶级的出现都会带来对社会自由的更大尊重。我相信在中国也会这样。美国社会所面对的真正重要的问题是:一方面,我们如何把积极务实的态度和关注创新的精神融合在一起;另一方面,如何细心关注个人的权利并努力照顾好每一个人?我想,那才是非常重要的挑战。而美国的优势将在于把过去最好的经验和当前的长处结合起来。

  2010年9月下旬,两个世界上最富有的人——比尔・盖茨与“股神”沃伦・巴菲特携手来华,邀请数十位中国富豪参加“巴比慈善晚宴”,其后又赴深圳、长沙参观访问。新年伊始,比尔・盖茨撰文回顾此次中国之行,并授权《新世纪》周刊独家刊发。原文标题为“中国,全速迈向未来”(In China,Speeding Toward the Future)。小标题亦为编者所加。——编者

  

In China, Speeding Toward the Future

Posted 01/12/2011
In September 2010, Bill traveled through China to visit with vaccine makers, computer scientists, energy technology companies and car manufacturers.

I travelled to China for the first time in 1990 on Microsoft business and have been back many times since. One very memorable trip was in 1995 with Melinda, my father and Warren Buffett. We rode the trains and traveled around as tourists for several weeks – it was an incredible trip and a lot of fun. 

My recent trip was unique and especially exciting, as I had the opportunity to do work that spans my various interests. I met with our team at Microsoft Research Asia, where I saw some incredible innovations in search and related technologies. I also met with a number of vaccine companies that are working with our foundation. For the last part of the trip, I joined Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger and other Berkshire Hathaway board members. Our main focus was a visit to BYD, an incredible company in which Berkshire owns a 10 percent stake. BYD fully lives up to its name, which stands for Build Your Dreams. It manufactures batteries, electric and hybrid cars and buses, and many highly innovative green products. 

The meetings with vaccine manufacturers were about the potential for expanding development of new vaccines in China for use worldwide. Historically, most important vaccines have originated in Europe and the United States. Now, countries like Brazil, India and China are providing lower-cost versions of some of them. Ideally, they’ll also get involved in inventing new vaccines. Because these countries suffer from many of the infectious diseases that we need new vaccines for, local development could help speed vaccine dissemination. Also, because countries like China have experience in making low-cost vaccines, they could be better at designing new ones in ways that make them low in cost from the very beginning. That would be wonderful. 

And so the foundation is reaching out to new vaccine companies, seeing how we can help them and what holds them back. This was my first visit with some of the companies in China. I was impressed at how quickly the industry is moving ahead. They really understand low-cost manufacturing, and they're getting their quality up to world standards. Over the next five to ten years, they have the potential to create many breakthrough vaccines, as well as to help get current vaccines to the world’s poorest people, for whom price can be a significant obstacle. 

Specifically, the foundation is trying to make sure that every child in the world gets three vaccines: pentavalent (against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B and influenza B), rotavirus (against severe acute gastroenteritis) and pneumococcal (against pneumonia). Together, these three could reduce child deaths by almost one million per year. If we can get their cost down, then we'll be able to get all three to even the poorest children in the world. It looks like China could help out on low-cost rotavirus and pneumococcal. So we have possibilities there, as we do in India and Brazil. 

Gearing up to manufacture vaccines that meet international standards is a costly and complex process. In China we saw a flu vaccine manufacturing line that is unique in that it involves growing flu virus in chicken eggs. The plant has to buy a huge number of eggs and make sure they're all sterile. It's quite a process, and people worry that, in the event of a big epidemic, they might not be able to buy enough eggs and grow the virus quickly enough. But in our visit to Sinovac Biotech, headquartered in the Beijing University Biological Industry Park, we saw that it has really distinguished itself by rapidly building up its flu vaccine capability. That was quite impressive. 

I love any excuse for spending time with Warren Buffett, whether we’re playing golf (which neither of us is very good at) or playing bridge, which we're kind of just okay at. 

Our visit to BYD was amazing. The company was started back in 1995 by a battery expert. It grew to be very strong in phone batteries and car batteries, and then, in 2003, BYD decided to make its own cars. It has about six percent of the domestic car market and plans to expand its product line and volume quite dramatically. It's an innovative company, pushing forward on battery technology, doing electric taxis, electronic buses and electric storage systems. 

BYD has created an entirely electronic bus using special batteries and a special electronic motor. The company has innovated to bring the battery cost down and the battery life up. If it works as well as planned, the operator saves enough on fuel to be able to pay quite a premium for the bus. We rode around on a prototype and participated in a ceremony where a local city committed to buy a thousand of these buses. They will be a huge help in reducing the smog in Chinese cities and could even help start to reduce CO2 emissions. 

BYD headquarters is in Shenzhen, in the southeast part of China next to Hong Kong. Shenzhen is where the Chinese economic miracle started; it was a special economic zone. So I wasn't surprised to see a lot of modern buildings and a pretty impressive car factory. But I was blown away when I heard how quickly they put up the buildings. In the U.S., you just can't build nearly as fast. 

What was even more amazing was to go to a city in the middle of China, Changsha, which has six million people, and see a new factory that will turn out 400,000 cars a year. It was built in less than two years from start to completion. Around the city, new high-rise buildings are going up where only cornfields stood just a few years ago. You hear about China’s 10-percent annual economic growth, but to fully understand you really have to see it in person. China is moving at incredible speed. 

I’ve posted several photos from the trip which you’ll find at the top of this post in the media player. Be sure to click on each number so you can see all of the photos. 

A news crew from CNBC came along on the part of the trip with Warren and other Berkshire Hathaway board members. You can view the CNBC report, including our visit to BYD, here.

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_53c8e9ab0100o91p.html

2011年1月28日

《巴伦周刊》:钱袋先生巴菲特

《巴伦周刊》:钱袋先生巴菲特

2011年01月27日16:46腾讯财经[微博]我要评论(0)
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[导读]面对伯克希尔丰厚的现金利润,坚持紧握钱袋再投资的巴菲特或将进行首次分红。不过,华尔街对伯克希尔股票反应冷淡,伯克希尔在后巴菲特时代的发展仍充满不确定性。

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《巴伦周刊》:钱袋先生巴菲特

《巴伦周刊》2011年1月24日刊封面图片

腾讯财经讯 《巴伦周刊》2011年1月24日刊发表安德鲁・巴利(Andrew Bary)署名的封面文章《钱袋先生巴菲特》,现全文摘要如下:

巴菲特的伯克希尔・哈撒韦(Berkshire Hathaway)今年吸引了大量的资金,总资产将近500亿美元。伯克希尔的A类股票现交易额在12.1万美元左右,其B类股票交易额为A股的1/1500,在81美元左右。预计2011的税后运营利润在120亿至130亿美元之间。

考虑到巴菲特在经济危机期间对高盛通用汽车的投资,伯克希尔资产或将增值200亿美元。伯克希尔现在的市值为2000亿美元,继美孚石油、苹果微软谷歌后第五大上市公司。充裕的资金可能会使伯克希尔在未来12至18个月之内开始现金分红,特别是如果巴菲特没有找到合适的“大象”企业进行收购。每股股东权益或将在今年底达到10.5万美元。

伯 克希尔的长期投资者惠特尼・提尔森(Whitney Tilson)认为公司的内在价值在每股16万美元左右,或将在年底超过17万美元。如果投资者不担心巴菲特的寿命和伯克希尔庞大的公司规模,公司或将能 够达到提尔森的目标。虽然巴菲特没有健康问题,但是五年之后他可能不再管理伯克希尔。

华尔街对伯克希尔反应冷淡,没有分析师推荐买入其股票。Riverpark/Wedgewood公募基金经理人大卫・洛尔福(David Rolfe)认为这是分析师的失误:“伯克希尔的利润在不断增长,伯灵顿收购也是一个大手笔的投资,但是市场对其反应冷淡”。现在,伯克希尔已不再是90年代的保险和投资公司,事实上保险和投资带来的利润不到总利润的一半。

一直以来,由于巴菲特出色的投资技巧,伯克希尔的股票交易显著高于其账面价值。在最近十年内,股票交易价值是账面价值的1.6倍。然而,年迈的巴菲特使得交易溢价有所减少。洛尔福说:“现在股票中没有巴菲特溢价”。

好 消息是伯克希尔拥有现金回报充足的公司,年均现金超过1350亿美元。其旗下还有伯灵顿北方(Burlington Northern)、Geino和美国中部能源(MidAmerican Energy)等一流的企业。其中Geino和美国中部能源价值超过150亿美元。此外,伯克希尔旗下还有一系列其他投资,包括Benjamin Moore、Dairy Queen和Fruit of the Loom and See's Candies。巴菲特的投资策略经常和集中投资的观点背道而驰,比如他会投资于ITT和Wendy’s/Arby’s等不相关的企业。很多投资者喜欢有 投资重点,而巴菲特并非如此。

多年来,大家一致认为索科尔(Sokol)将接任巴菲 特成为伯克希尔的首席执行官,他现在仍是共识的选择。未来掌管投资的可能是托德・科姆斯(Todd Combs),巴菲特曾在去年董事会上提到这位不知名的基金经理。事实上,后巴菲特时代投资官的作用有限,因为伯克希尔对可口可乐美国运通富国银行宝洁的股权投资难以改变。

《巴 伦周刊》的预测是,巴菲特的离开将会使得伯克希尔的股票下跌10%。不过,随着账面价值的增长,伯克希尔股价在后巴菲特时代会逐渐回升。而且,巴菲特自 1965年以来从未进行分红,他更倾向于把利润用于再投资。如果不能找到合适的企业收购,巴菲特的策略或将发生改变。而且,分红也会减少继任者投资的压 力。如果伯克希尔决定分红,预计派息率不会超过2%。

今年,伯克希尔每股利润预计在 7500美元至8999美元之间,高于2010年6700美元的水平。伯克希尔预期市盈率为15倍,和标准普尔500持平。华尔街对伯克希尔的冷淡反应的 原因是,负责伯克希尔大多是保险领域的分析员。由于保险行业处境艰难,大部分保险公司交易和账面价值持平,这难免会带来分析的偏见。(安吉)《巴伦周刊》:钱袋先生巴菲特

Mr. Moneybags

By ANDREW BARY | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR

With cash pouring in, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway may do something big this year -- maybe even pay a dividend.


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A flush Berkshire Hathaway is in its best shape ever and piling up cash so quickly that it could be sitting on close to $50 billion at its core insurance operation alone by year end, and might even begin paying a dividend. Berkshire's profit recovery, aided by some smart acquisitions and investments by CEO Warren Buffett -- notably its purchase of the Burlington Northern railroad -- has gone largely unrecognized on Wall Street, where Berkshire's Class A shares (ticker: BRKA), now trading around $121,000, haven't budged in nearly a year. Berkshire's Class B shares (BRKB) trade around $81; each equals 1/1500th of a Class A share.

Berkshire's operating profits are on track to hit a record $12 billion to $13 billion after taxes in 2011, up from an estimated $11 billion in 2010, buoyed by Burlington and many of the company's manufacturing and industrial units, whose earnings fell sharply during the downturn.

Combine that with the likely repayment of some lucrative investments in Goldman Sachs (GS),General Electric (GE) and other companies that Buffett made during the financial crisis, and Berkshire's insurance units could be holding $20 billion more by year end than the $30 billion they had on Sept. 30, 2010. (We focus on cash at Berkshire's insurance operations and not in other divisions because insurance cash is readily available for investment. Other units held about $3 billion in cash.) Berkshire's market value is $200 billion, fifth-largest in the U.S. stock market, behind only ExxonMobil (XOM), Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT) and Google (GOOG).

The flood of cash could prompt Berkshire to finally start paying a cash dividend in the next 12 to 18 months, particularly if the 80-year-old Buffett is unable to find what he calls an "elephant," or a large acquisition. Locating one could prove difficult, given rising asset and equity values, as well as Buffett's refusal to participate in corporate auctions. Buffett, who declined to comment to Barron's, also hasn't been thrilled by the stock or bond market in the past year, when Berkshire has been a net seller of stocks.

Buffett's fans think Berkshire shares look appealing, trading for a reasonable 1.3 times estimated year-end 2010 book value of $95,000 apiece, and that the stock could surpass its 2007 record of $149,000 within the next 12 months. Book value, or shareholder equity per share, may hit $105,000 by the end of this year, assuming a decent performance by Berkshire's famed equity portfolio, which was an estimated total of $62 billion at year-end 2010. Thus, the shares trade for just 1.15 times projected year-end 2011 book, providing significant downside support.

LONGTIME BERKSHIRE INVESTOR Whitney Tilson of T2 Partners pegs Berkshire's "intrinsic value" around $160,000 a share and sees it surpassing $170,000 by year end. To reach that lofty level, the stock would have to shake off investor concerns about Buffett's longevity and about Berkshire's sheer size. Intrinsic value is the discounted cash flow of Berkshire businesses.

Buffett is in good health, but he may not run Berkshire for much more than another five years -- his actuarial life expectancy is eight years. He probably will keep at it for as long as he can because he loves his job, saying he "tap-dances" to work each day in Omaha and would pay to do it. His pay remains restrained at just $175,000 a year, although his 23% stake in Berkshire is valued at $46 billion. He continues to donate stock annually to the foundation run by Bill and Melinda Gates. Berkshire is due to report its fourth-quarter results in late February.

Wall Street is lukewarm on Berkshire; no analyst has a Buy recommendation on it.

David Rolfe, chief investment officer with Wedgewood Partners in St. Louis, the manager of the new Riverpark/Wedgewood mutual fund, considers that a mistake. "Berkshire's earnings are booming, and the Burlington acquisition looks like a masterstroke, yet the market doesn't give a whit about it," he says. Rolfe sees the stock topping $140,000 this year.

Berkshire Hathaway

BRKA_Pkg
BRKA_Pkg

As its adherents regularly note, Berkshire is no longer the insurance and investment outfit it was up until the late 1990s. Insurance and investment income now account for less than half its profit.

Over the years, Berkshire often has traded markedly above its book value, getting a premium for Buffett's incomparable investment skills. The stock has averaged 1.6 times book value in the past 10 years. That premium has melted in recent years, partly reflecting Buffett's advancing age. In fact, Rolfe argues, "There's no Buffett premium in the stock now."

It's true Buffett's successors will face big challenges, both in making investments and in retaining and motivating the managers of the more than 80 businesses under the Berkshire umbrella.


The good news is that they will be sitting astride a cash-spewing conglomerate with annual revenue exceeding $135 billion and some top-notch businesses, including Burlington Northern; Geico, the No 3 U.S. auto insurer; and MidAmerican Energy, a utility conglomerate that owns U.S. and U.K. electric companies and two natural-gas pipelines.

Geico and MidAmerican could each be worth more than $15 billion.

Berkshire's insurance operations also include General Re, a large reinsurer, and the specialty-reinsurance unit run by underwriting genius Ajit Jain. It has made billions for Berkshire over the years by shrewdly handling big-ticket risks like potential damage from hurricanes and earthquakes. (It did, however, suffer losses from BP's Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.)

Berkshire also houses a grab bag of other businesses, including Benjamin Moore, Dairy Queen, Fruit of the Loom and See's Candies.

BUFFETT'S STRATEGY of steadily adding unrelated businesses runs counter to the trend in Corporate America, where companies such as Fortune Brands (FO), ITT (ITT, see Follow-Up),Wendy's/Arby's (WEN) and others are breaking apart to form more manageable businesses and eliminate "conglomerate discounts." Many investors like focused companies. Buffett doesn't buy that idea.

Then there is Berkshire's hands-off approach, with "minimal involvement" by Buffett and Berkshire's tiny corporate staff in the day-to-day activities of its businesses.

Operating units are unfettered by the head office, but this can also let problems fester before they get Buffett's attention. For example, Berkshire's NetJets unit, the leading purveyor of fractional ownership of private jets, overexpanded during the boom years of 2006 to 2008 and got stung when the recession hit, resulting in losses of $711 million in 2009. NetJets was subsequently slimmed down under the leadership of David Sokol, MidAmerican's chairman. It earned $158 million before taxes in 2010's first nine months.

For years, we've speculated Sokol will succeed Buffett as CEO, and he's now the consensus pick. It's less clear who will run Berkshire's investments after Buffett's departure, but one clear possibility is Todd Combs, the little-known money manager that Buffett brought on board last year.

The reality is that the investment role probably won't be so important post-Buffett because some of Berkshire's largest equity holdings -- Coca-Cola (KO), American Express (AXP), Wells Fargo(WFC) and Procter & Gamble (PG) -- are unlikely to be touched, owing in part to large embedded gains. That will leave the chief investment officer with the job of investing the part of Berkshire's annual cash flow that isn't going toward acquisitions and a likely dividend.

Our guess is that the stock will fall 10% whenever Buffett steps down. But it could appreciate substantially before then and resume its ascent in the post-Buffett era, as book value grows and Wall Street gets comfortable with his successors.

The Burlington deal looks like one of Buffett's best, done in November 2009, when the economy was just starting to recover and there was little competition from private-equity or other buyers. Berkshire offered a 33% premium, paying $26.4 billion for the 77.4% of the company that it didn't already own. That initially looked overly generous, at about 20 times then-current estimates of 2010 profits. Yet Burlington's earnings -- and those of the rest of the railroad industry -- surged in 2010 and are expected to increase another 15% or so this year. Burlington could earn $3 billion after taxes in 2011 -- it netted $706 million in the third quarter. So, Berkshire paid only about 11 times projected 2011 profits for Burlington. Burlington probably is worth $40 billion to $45 billion now.

BUFFETT ALSO SCORED with roughly $50 billion of investments made during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Some are likely to be repaid this year, including $5 billion of 10% preferred stock from Goldman Sachs and $3 billion of 10% preferred from GE. Both companies will pay a 10% premium to get rid of the high-cost preferred. In addition, Berkshire got equity warrants on both stocks. Those on Goldman are worth $2 billion now. Swiss Re, a European reinsurer, just repaid $4 billion to Berkshire from a very lucrative investment by Buffett. These repayments will swell Berkshire's coffers.

Berkshire also holds $7.5 billion of junk debt and preferred issued by Wrigley in connection with the gum maker's purchase by privately held candy giant Mars in 2008. Berkshire's investment income probably will decline because of the investment repayments, but that could be partly offset by higher dividend income on its equity portfolio.

Buffett hasn't paid a dividend on Berkshire shares since he took control in 1965, preferring to invest the company's profits. That's been the right move, given the 6,000-fold increase in Berkshire's stock since then. Buffett's aversion to dividends could change if cash continues to build and he can't find a big acquisition. A dividend also could take some pressure off his successors to invest the company's profits.

Berkshire's initial dividend, whenever it comes, is expected to be modest, at 2% or less.

INVESTORS GENERALLY TAKE a long view and don't pay much attention to Berkshire's quarterly results, but T2's Tilson has said a strong fourth-quarter earnings report next month could act as a catalyst by highlighting the company's earnings power. Tilson called it the "mother of all earnings reports" in a note to MarketWatch, which, like Barron's, is published by Dow Jones.

Profits this year could run at $7,500 to $8,000 per share -- or $12 billion to $13 billion -- up from an estimated $6,700 in 2010. Berkshire trades for about 15 times forward earnings, in line with the Standard & Poor's 500, which is valued at 14 times projected 2011 net. It's rare for Berkshire to trade near a market multiple rather than at a big premium.

Barclays analyst Jay Gelb sees Berkshire's fourth-quarter profit rising 43%, to almost $1,800 per Class A share, boosted by strong gains in manufacturing, Burlington Northern and other divisions. Nonetheless, he carries a Neutral rating on the stock.

One reason for Wall Street's attitude toward the stock: The analysts who cover Berkshire tend to be insurance specialists, and this may color their thinking. That's because conditions in the property-casualty insurance market are tough, with pricing in many segments under pressure.

With little revenue growth and soft pricing, most P&C insurers and reinsurers -- includingTravelers (TRV), Chubb (CB) and Ace (ACE) -- trade close to book value. To some P&C analysts, Berkshire therefore looks unexceptional at 1.3 times book.

Yet insurance underwriting is a relatively small part of the company, and Berkshire is on a roll, led by a CEO still at the top of his game. That's why its stock could hit an all-time high this year. 

E-mail: editors@barrons.com



Buffett's Berkshire Gets Big Barron's Boost

Published: Monday, 24 Jan 2011 | 1:07 PM ET
《巴伦周刊》:钱袋先生巴菲特Text Size《巴伦周刊》:钱袋先生巴菲特《巴伦周刊》:钱袋先生巴菲特

Barron's January 24, 2011 Cover: Mr. Moneybags
Shares of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway are up almost four percent at mid-day (Monday) after Barron's suggested the company could pay its first dividend since Buffett took over in the mid-1960s.

 

It's also predicting Berkshire's stock price, which "hasn't budged in nearly a year," could top its all-time high this year.

For Class A, that's about $149,000 a share.

Any close above $125,612 would be a new 2-1/4 year closing high.

At 1p ET, they're at $124,982, up 3.7 percent.

Current real-time price: [BRK.A  124300.00  《巴伦周刊》:钱袋先生巴菲特  -250.00  (-0.2%)   ]

In the cover story, Mr. Moneybags, Andrew Bary points out that Berkshire is "piling up cash so quickly that it could be sitting on close to $50 billion at its core insurance operation alone by year end."

Bary writes, "The flood of cash could prompt Berkshire to finally start paying a cash dividend in the next 12 to 18 months, particularly if the 80-year-old Buffett is unable to find what he calls an 'elephant,' or a large acquisition."

Late in 2009, Berkshire announced a stock-split for its Class B shares after years of rejecting any suggestion of a split.  Just before it was approved by shareholders the following January, CNBC's Becky Quick asked Buffett if there might be more unexpected changes.

BECKY:  Some people are asking if you are completely changing your stance on a lot of different issues.

BUFFETT:  No.

BECKY:  Some people are saying, 'Is this going to mean a dividend's coming soon, too?'

BUFFETT:  No, I don't think it means that.  It made sense in terms of the Burlington Northern acquisition.

Bary notes that a Buffett-Berkshire dividend would be unprecedented:

Buffett hasn't paid a dividend on Berkshire shares since he took control in 1965, preferring to invest the company's profits. That's been the right move, given the 6,000-fold increase in Berkshire's stock since then. Buffett's aversion to dividends could change if cash continues to build and he can't find a big acquisition. A dividend also could take some pressure off his successors to invest the company's profits.

He adds that "Berkshire's initial dividend, whenever it comes, is expected to be modest, at 2% or less."


http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_53c8e9ab0100oano.html