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Zhejiang's state publishing group, covering K-12 textbook publishing, general books, printing and provincial bookstore retail.
Zhejiang's state publishing group, covering K-12 textbook publishing, general books, printing and provincial bookstore retail.
Textbooks are close to a captive, recurring income: the province's schools order books each term at prices set under government guidance. General books and bookstore retail are more competitive and exposed to online sellers. The company is state-owned and its textbook position rests on a provincial licence.
In one line: A Chinese state-owned publisher/bookstore chain.
Moat: narrow (regulatory licence, distribution). Provincial textbook publishing licence plus a dedicated bookstore distribution network.
Headquarters: Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China · Employees: 6,282
Size Zhejiang Publishing & Media (601921.SS) is a China Communication Services company (Publishing: Books/Magazines) with a market value of $2.71B, the 948th largest of 4,839 China companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at CN¥8.13 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 7.0%, against +2.5% for the median peer and -16.4% for the China market (cap-weighted) — 8th highest of 21 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue fell 7.5% over the last twelve months (peer median -2.4%); the operating margin is 9.6% (peer median 8.5%).
Valuation It trades at 14.0× forward earnings against a peer median of 15.4× (9th cheapest of 20).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about -13% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +1%, so the hurdle is -14 pp: the price already allows for a slowdown.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 20.3 points above its cost of capital (6.0% WACC).
Next results Next results expected around 29 Apr 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | CN¥10.0B | CN¥10.5B | CN¥11.2B | CN¥11.7B | CN¥11.8B |
| Revenue growth | — | -6% | -4% | -1% | — |
| Gross profit | CN¥3.16B | CN¥2.89B | CN¥2.92B | CN¥2.93B | CN¥3.12B |
| EBITDA | n/a | CN¥1.17B | CN¥1.17B | CN¥1.05B | CN¥1.16B |
| Net income | CN¥1.27B | CN¥1.29B | CN¥1.08B | CN¥1.51B | CN¥1.41B |
| Free cash flow | CN¥976M | CN¥799M | CN¥623M | CN¥1.21B | CN¥2.03B |
| Capital expenditure | CN¥183M | CN¥211M | CN¥207M | CN¥284M | CN¥221M |
| Total debt | CN¥142M | CN¥84.2M | CN¥100M | CN¥82.6M | CN¥477M |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zhejiang Publishing & Media 601921.SS | $2.71B | +7% | -7% | 10% | 14.0× | -12.6% |
| Jiangsu Phoenix Publishing & Media 601928.SS | $3.60B | 0% | -13% | 7% | 15.4× | -7.9% |
| China South Publishing & Media 601098.SS | $3.11B | +2% | -1% | 11% | 13.6× | -20.2% |
| Anhui Xinhua Media 601801.SS | $1.72B | -3% | -16% | 4% | 13.6× | n/a |
| Shandong Publishing & Media 601019.SS | $2.41B | +3% | -8% | 8% | 12.2× | -14.1% |
| Chinese Universe Publishing & Media 600373.SS | $1.57B | -6% | -5% | -4% | 26.0× | n/a |
| Changjiang Publishing & Media 600757.SS | $1.67B | +6% | -3% | 11% | 9.9× | -9.5% |
| Southern Publishing & Media 601900.SS | $2.09B | +27% | -3% | 16% | 11.6× | -10.2% |
| Xinhua Winshare Publishing & Media 601811.SS | $2.52B | +26% | -4% | 7% | 15.2× | -11.4% |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | 601921.SS | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +9.1% | +5.5% | 10th highest of 21 |
| 6-month return | +7.0% | +2.5% | 8th highest of 21 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -9.6% | -12.3% | 9th highest of 21 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | -7.5% | -2.4% | 6th lowest of 21 |
| Operating margin | 9.6% | 8.5% | 10th highest of 21 |
| Forward P/E | 14.0× | 15.4× | 9th cheapest of 20 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | -12.6% | 0.5% | 4th least demanding of 19 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +1.5% | +1.1% | 9th highest of 19 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | -14.0 pp | -4.4 pp | 5th least demanding of 19 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | +20.3 pp | +4.0 pp | 2nd highest of 21 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zhejiang Publishing & Media 601921.SS | China | $2.71B | +7% | -7% | 10% | 14.0× | -12.6% | +1.5% |
| John Wiley & Sons WLY | United States | $2.55B | +21% | 0% | 18% | 10.5× | 0.3% | -2.9% |
| Central China Land Media 000719.SZ | China | $2.91B | +5% | -10% | 13% | 10.5× | -8.9% | -0.5% |
| Kadokawa 9468.T | Japan | $3.02B | -2% | +3% | 2% | 101.9× | 25.1% | +6.1% |
| Shandong Publishing & Media 601019.SS | China | $2.41B | +3% | -8% | 8% | 12.2× | -14.1% | +2.9% |
| China South Publishing & Media 601098.SS | China | $3.11B | +2% | -1% | 11% | 13.6× | -20.2% | +3.8% |
| China Science Publishing & Media 601858.SS | China | $2.31B | -23% | 0% | 10% | 31.4× | 25.2% | +3.6% |
| China Literature 0772.HK | Hong Kong | $3.18B | -9% | +12% | 2% | 34.3× | 40.8% | -3.6% |
| Southern Publishing & Media 601900.SS | China | $2.09B | +27% | -3% | 16% | 11.6× | -10.2% | +4.7% |
| Jiangsu Phoenix Publishing & Media 601928.SS | China | $3.60B | 0% | -13% | 7% | 15.4× | -7.9% | +0.5% |
| Changjiang Publishing & Media 600757.SS | China | $1.67B | +6% | -3% | 11% | 9.9× | -9.5% | +1.2% |
| China Publishing & Media 601949.SS | China | $1.64B | -2% | -10% | 3% | 15.9× | 6.3% | -2.1% |
| Chinese Universe Publishing & Media 600373.SS | China | $1.57B | -6% | -5% | -4% | 26.0× | n/a | n/a |
| Springer Nature AG & Co. KGaA SPG.DE | Germany | $4.80B | +10% | +3% | 22% | 13.0× | -6.5% | +3.4% |
| Heilongjiang Publishing & Media 605577.SS | China | $1.03B | +37% | +2% | 7% | n/a | 3.2% | -0.5% |
| Storytel STORY-B.ST | Sweden | $1.01B | +37% | +9% | 12% | 20.2× | 12.0% | +12.5% |
| Citic Press 300788.SZ | China | $958M | -6% | -2% | 1% | 42.0× | 26.8% | -2.1% |
| Time Publishing & Media 600551.SS | China | $761M | -5% | -25% | 4% | 11.7× | -21.0% | +0.7% |
| Bloomsbury Publishing BMY.L | United Kingdom | $722M | +9% | -7% | 9% | 14.1× | 0.7% | +12.0% |
| Pearson PSON.L | United Kingdom | $10.4B | +18% | +3% | 15% | 18.4× | 0.9% | +1.0% |
| Scholastic SCHL | United States | $685M | -7% | -3% | 1% | 20.8× | n/a | n/a |