Friend Co Ltd

Friend Steel released its 2026 interim report. The company achieved operating revenue of 5.357 billion yuan, up 2.72 percent year on year. Net profit attributable to the parent company was 160 million yuan, up 4.46 percent. Non-GAAP net profit was 158 million yuan, up 4.70 percent. However, net cash flow from operating activities was negative 957 million yuan, swinging from a net inflow of 191 million yuan in the same period last year to a net outflow, mainly because the proportion of notes in sales collections increased and cash payments for procurement rose. Total external sales volume reached 1.0704 million tonnes, up 1.81 percent year on year, of which sales to the automotive industry were 730,000 tonnes, giving the company a market share of about 12 percent in China's passenger car steel and aluminium sheet market. The company is expanding along the new energy vehicle supply chain, advancing construction of new processing bases in Changzhou, Jiangsu and Yibin, Sichuan, and successively bringing into production new process lines for integrated aluminium die casting, aluminium extrusion and laser tailor-welded blanks, though the newly commissioned projects face capacity ramp-up pressure. During the reporting period, the company distributed cash dividends totalling about 196 million yuan.