Ri Bo Fashion 1.4 Billion Restructuring Completed, Shift to New Energy Business, Renamed "Puyuan Materials" Plans 310 Million Capacity Expansion

Changjiang Business Reporter Xu Jia

The restructuring has successfully been completed, and Nippo Fashion (603169.SH) will open a new chapter of strategic transformation through a name change.

On the evening of March 11, Nippo Fashion announced that the company has completed the business registration procedures for the name change. The company plans to apply to the Shanghai Stock Exchange to change its stock abbreviation to “Puyuan Materials,” with the stock code remaining unchanged.

Changjiang Business Reporter noted that in early 2026, Nippo Fashion will be valued at 1.42 billion yuan to complete the restructuring of Sichuan Indile Materials Technology Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Indile”) and will add lithium battery binder business based on its traditional apparel operations, achieving strategic transformation. This renaming signifies that the former women’s clothing leader Nippo Fashion will fully focus on the new energy chemical materials sector.

Also on the evening of March 11, Nippo Fashion announced a capacity expansion plan. The company intends to invest 3.11 billion yuan to build Phase II, Stage II of Indile in Meishan, adding an annual capacity of 140,000 tons of lithium battery binder.

Furthermore, during the transition phase between old and new businesses, Nippo Fashion is divesting assets to raise funds and further focus on new business areas. Performance forecasts show that in 2025, Nippo Fashion is expected to achieve a net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies (hereinafter referred to as “net profit attributable to parent”) of 14 million to 21 million yuan, with gains from equity transfers reaching 35.0395 million yuan.

After the restructuring is completed, the company will be renamed “Puyuan Materials.”

The core reason for Nippo Fashion’s name change is a fundamental shift in its business structure.

As a well-known domestic women’s clothing company, Nippo Fashion was listed on the main board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange in May 2017. The company owns mid-to-high-end women’s clothing brand “Broadcast” and children’s clothing brand “Broadcute.”

However, due to external changes in consumer environment, product structure adjustments, and other factors, Nippo Fashion has faced significant operational pressure.

In August 2023, Liang Feng, the actual controller of Putailai, acquired control of Nippo Fashion from Wang Weidong through a share transfer. Liang Feng, who has extensive experience in the new energy sector, quickly initiated a restructuring and transformation after taking control.

In October 2024, Nippo Fashion launched a restructuring of Indile. According to the transaction plan, Nippo Fashion will pay 1.42 billion yuan to acquire 71% of Indile’s equity through issuing shares and cash payments, and will raise 156 million yuan from Liang Feng and his controlled Shanghai Kuoyuan by issuing shares.

The transaction is expected to complete the transfer registration by the end of 2025 and the fundraising by January 2026.

Through this restructuring, Nippo Fashion has added lithium battery binder business to its original high-end apparel operations, optimizing its business layout, enhancing sustainable profitability, and achieving a strategic transformation.

To better reflect the company’s future strategic direction and improve corporate image, Nippo Fashion has revised its articles of incorporation and changed its official name from “Nippo Fashion Group Co., Ltd.” to “Shanghai Puyuan Chemical Materials Group Co., Ltd.,” with the business registration completed.

On the evening of March 11, Nippo Fashion announced again that it plans to change its stock abbreviation from “Nippo Fashion” to “Puyuan Materials,” with the stock code remaining unchanged. This change does not require shareholder approval but must be submitted to the Shanghai Stock Exchange for approval before implementation.

Profitability improvement through equity transfer yields 35.04 million yuan

This name change marks a comprehensive reshaping of Nippo Fashion’s business layout.

With the completion of the restructuring and the advancement of business transformation, Nippo Fashion’s fundamentals are also showing signs of recovery.

Recently, Nippo Fashion released a performance forecast. The company expects to achieve a net profit attributable to parent of 14 million to 21 million yuan in 2025, with non-recurring net profit between -30 million and -20 million yuan.

In 2024, Nippo Fashion’s revenue was 866 million yuan, a decrease of 15.68% year-on-year; net profit attributable to parent and non-recurring net profit were losses of 159 million and 166 million yuan, respectively.

According to disclosures, in 2025, the company will transfer 100% of its wholly owned subsidiary Shanghai Nippo Zhisheng Industrial Co., Ltd. to Shanghai Nippo Investment Holding Co., Ltd. Based on preliminary calculations, this transfer will generate a gain of 35.0395 million yuan. This transaction will help the company further focus on its main business and reduce fixed asset investment pressure.

Regarding the significant reduction in non-recurring net profit losses, Nippo Fashion explained that there are three main reasons. First, the company optimized its product matrix and reshaped channel value, achieving a precise match between product structure and market strategy, with gross profit margin increasing by 3.6 percentage points, significantly improving profitability. Second, the company implemented cost reduction and efficiency enhancement measures, maximizing resource efficiency through systematic optimization, with period expenses decreasing by 15.37% year-on-year. Third, through dynamic inventory monitoring and tiered digestion mechanisms, inventory turnover efficiency was improved, reducing inventory impairment losses, and asset structure was optimized, with impairment losses on construction-in-progress decreasing, and related asset impairments down 62.16% year-on-year.

Additionally, in 2025, affected by the overall real estate market, Nippo Fashion’s investment properties showed signs of impairment. Based on regional and market conditions, an impairment loss of about 10 million yuan is planned for the investment properties according to relevant accounting standards.

It is foreseeable that with Indile’s consolidation and smooth transformation, Nippo Fashion will break through operational bottlenecks. The restructuring plan shows that from 2023 to the first five months of 2025, Indile achieved revenues of 503 million, 638 million, and 317 million yuan, and net profits attributable to parent of 181 million, 204 million, and 130 million yuan, respectively, with non-recurring net profits of 180 million, 207 million, and 129 million yuan.

The counterpart has also committed to performance, promising that from 2025 to 2027, Indile’s net profit will not be less than 216 million, 225 million, and 233 million yuan, respectively.

Notably, on the evening of March 11, Nippo Fashion also disclosed plans to invest 311 million yuan to build Phase II, Stage II of Indile in Meishan.

The project will be implemented in two phases. The first phase is designed to produce 60,000 tons of lithium battery binder annually and has entered trial production as of March 2026, with full production expected by May 2026. The second phase will add an annual capacity of 140,000 tons of lithium battery binder, with an investment of 311 million yuan. The total funds needed for Phase II, Stage I and II of Indile amount to 552 million yuan.

Nippo Fashion stated that this Phase II, Stage II project was approved and under construction before the acquisition. Under existing capacity constraints, this project will effectively enhance supply capacity and market competitiveness, helping to increase the company’s profitability scale.