11.03亿元营收与一张“碳”的资质清单：国检集团的转型账本1.103 Billion Yuan in Revenue and a 'Carbon' Qualification List: The Transformation Ledger of the National Inspection Group

Zhuo Qiyan

1.103 billion yuan, -20.629 million yuan, over 90%. These three figures come from the 2026 semi-annual report of National Inspection Group: revenue scale, net profit attributable to shareholders, and year-on-year growth of international revenue. Revenue slightly increased while profit turned into a loss, with both increments and losses appearing at the same time—this set of accounts is worth a close read.

Let's look at the fundamentals. The semi-annual report shows that in the first half of the year, the company achieved operating revenue of 1.103 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.57%; net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was -20.629 million yuan, compared with a profit of 5.8121 million yuan in the same period last year; net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses was -39.4071 million yuan, compared with -16.9738 million yuan in the same period last year. Net cash flow generated from operating activities was -94.2723 million yuan, compared with -36.452 million yuan in the same period last year. Basic earnings per share were -0.0257 yuan, and the weighted average return on net assets was -0.98%.

The reason for the loss is largely reflected in the expenses and collection of receivables. During the reporting period, the company's financial expenses were 23.642 million yuan, an increase of 1.70% year-on-year, mainly due to higher interest expenses and additional exchange losses; R&D expenses were 91.0516 million yuan, up 1.20% year-on-year; management expenses were 163 million yuan, basically flat year-on-year, reflecting some effectiveness of lean management. Net operating cash flow declined by 158.62% year-on-year, which the company explained as being caused by a longer accounts receivable collection cycle and rigid cost payments—this is a typical structural pressure faced by service-oriented enterprises during their expansion period.

Looking at the business separately, the differentiation between traditional sectors and emerging sectors is quite obvious. The inspection and testing business achieved a revenue of 748 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.35%, with a gross profit of 249 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 3.92%, and a gross profit margin of 33.33%, down about 1.4 percentage points year-on-year. In detail, engineering testing revenue was 391 million yuan with a gross profit margin of 35.83%; materials testing revenue was 182 million yuan with a gross profit margin of 46.67%; environmental testing revenue was 120 million yuan with a gross profit margin of only 7.20%; food and agricultural products testing revenue was 54.4533 million yuan with a gross profit margin of 28.41%. The low gross profit margin of environmental testing is one of the main factors dragging down overall profitability.

The certification and metrology calibration business showed a mixed trend. The certification business achieved revenue of 45.5043 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 5.98%, with a gross profit of 13.5187 million yuan, down 9.01% year-on-year; as of June 30, 2026, the company had 33,678 valid certification certificates and 7,726 valid certified clients, including 166 foreign clients. The metrology calibration business achieved revenue of 24.3442 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.87%, but gross profit was 6.062 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 22.66%, with a significant decline in gross margin.

The real drivers of growth are two other segments. The testing instruments and intelligent manufacturing business achieved revenue of 153 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.97%; the scientific research and technical services achieved revenue of 129 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 23.59%, with a gross profit of 45.4755 million yuan, a significant year-on-year increase of 72.80%. The latter's business content is precisely comprehensive dual-carbon technical services such as carbon verification, carbon inventory, zero-carbon factory and green supply chain declarations, and energy audits. The simultaneous high growth in both revenue and gross profit indicates that the pricing power and scale effect of this business are taking shape.

What supports this business is a fairly long list of qualifications. The company possesses leading international and domestic qualifications in the field of green, low-carbon, and energy-saving, including designation as a Designated Operational Entity (DOE) for the United Nations Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects, International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC), and the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB). It has led the formulation of nearly a hundred green and low-carbon standards; has been selected as one of the first pilot institutions for national product carbon footprint labeling in industries such as wood products, steel, electrolytic aluminum, cement, and tires; and has successively issued the country’s first carbon management system certification certificates for industries such as cement and waterproofing.

Why are these qualifications valuable? Because carbon footprint accounting and carbon management system certification serve as a bridge connecting products with market rules. With the advancement of carbon footprint management systems for key products and increasingly strict international green trade rules regarding product carbon data, companies need authoritative accounting and certification results issued by third-party organizations to export, enter supply chains, or participate in green procurement. Organizations with international qualifications such as CDM and ISCC are naturally positioned to connect domestic and international rules. The threshold for this type of business lies not in equipment, but in qualifications, methodology, and an internationally recognized network, the latter requiring long-term accumulation. Internationalization is another clear growth path. During the reporting period, the company's international revenue increased by more than 90% year-on-year, continuously serving import and export in advantageous fields such as glass and photovoltaics, and promoting investment and trade facilitation cooperation in countries like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Replicating the mature domestic capabilities in photovoltaics and building material testing to markets jointly built along the "Belt and Road" is a very natural extension path for such organizations.

The layout targeted at strategic emerging industries is also progressing. During the reporting period, the company served large-scale blade inspection projects, setting a record for third-party inspection project size; won the bid for the world’s highest-altitude trough solar thermal power station inspection project; was approved for the Beijing Key Laboratory of Semiconductor High-Purity Quartz and Advanced Packaging Materials; and released 62 standards during the reporting period (31 of which are national standards), with 1 international patent granted and 27 invention patents.

From a financial perspective, the company's asset-liability ratio is 52.27%, and its asset structure remains relatively healthy. Short-term profit pressure mainly comes from the labor-intensive service model and cash collection cycle, which is a characteristic stage for the testing and certification industry. Judging the core indicators of such companies is often not about single-quarter profits, but rather the trend of changes in qualification barriers, standard-setting influence, and the proportion of revenue from emerging businesses. Whether a 'carbon' qualification list can be transformed into sustained profit recovery depends on the pace of demand release for dual-carbon services and the company's control over costs and cash collection.

The competitive landscape of the testing and certification industry also explains the other side of profit pressure. In recent years, the number of inspection and testing institutions has grown rapidly, and some niche areas have experienced homogeneous competition. A typical example is that the gross profit margin of environmental testing has dropped to single digits. When price competition pushes down the quotation for a single business, service providers respond in two ways: one is to dilute costs through scale, and the other is to move toward high value-added areas—carbon verification, product carbon footprint certification, and green supply chain services, which represent the latter direction.

Policies provide clear demand anchors for this shift path. With the advancement of the national product carbon footprint labeling certification pilot, key industries such as steel, electrolytic aluminum, cement, and tires need to establish carbon data that is accountable and traceable. Meanwhile, in the international market, rules such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism are tightening the carbon information disclosure requirements for imported products, and exporting companies must provide carbon footprint data verified by third parties. These demands all point to the same conclusion: the accounting and certification of carbon data is transforming from an "optional" task into a "mandatory" one.

From a financial perspective, the company has an asset-liability ratio of 52.27% and a relatively stable net asset scale attributable to the parent company. Short-term losses are more due to rigid labor costs and extended payment cycles rather than a contraction in business operations. Testing and certification is a typical 'invest first, gain later' industry, as laboratory construction, qualification maintenance, and personnel training all require upfront expenditures. Determining whether its transformation is successful hinges on whether the revenue share of these two emerging businesses—scientific research and technical services, and testing instruments and intelligent manufacturing—can continue to rise, and whether orders for dual-carbon services can be converted into stable cash flow.

The direction of business structure adjustment is already quite clear. From the revenue composition, traditional inspection and testing business tends to be stable, while the growth rate of scientific research and technical services, and testing instruments and intelligent manufacturing is significantly faster. This combination of maintaining established business and aggressively developing new business is a common characteristic of technology service organizations undergoing transformation: it requires stable cash flow to support qualification maintenance and laboratory investment, while also needing emerging businesses to create growth opportunities.

Labor costs are key to understanding the profit fluctuations of such companies. Inspection and certification are labor- and technology-intensive services, with personnel costs accounting for a high proportion of operating costs, making it difficult to adjust in proportion to revenue in the short term; once revenue growth slows, the elasticity on the profit side is amplified. This also explains why a company with slightly increased revenue may see profits swing from surplus to deficit. The path to improvement lies in increasing labor efficiency per unit and the added value of the business.

(Data source of this article: China Securities Journal · China Securities Network (August 21, 2026); Sina Finance "Guojian Group: 2026 Half-Year Report"; Sange Pijiang Report "Guojian Group Development Prospects: Can Emerging Industries and Internationalization Reverse Profit Decline?" (September 28, 2026); Guojian Group 2026 Half-Year Report.)

[Research Support Institutions: "China Industry News" Energy and Dual-Carbon Research Center | China Energy Industry Development Network]