Cost analysis and countermeasures of sewage treatment industry in China

First, sewage treatment cost calculation and analysis

After screening, 8 listed companies in the sewage treatment industry with good information disclosure in Shanghai and Shenzhen A-shares were identified as research samples. According to the annual report of sewage treatment business related costs and sewage treatment business volume and other information, the unit cost of sewage treatment is estimated. From 2017 to 2019, the average unit cost of sewage treatment of listed companies was 1.1855 yuan/cubic meter, of which the average treatment cost was 0.8984 yuan/cubic meter, accounting for 75.78% of the complete cost, and the average period cost was 0.2609 yuan/cubic meter, accounting for 22.00% of the complete cost. Taxes and surcharges average 0.0263 yuan/cubic meter, accounting for 2.22% of the full cost.

The processing costs and period expenses show an increasing trend year by year, accounting for the proportion of full costs is relatively stable, and the tax and additional changes in 3 years, accounting for the proportion of full costs slightly decreased year by year. In the composition of processing costs, the largest proportion of the cost item is depreciation and amortization, with an average of 0.3284 yuan/cubic meter, accounting for 36.56% of the processing cost.

According to the distribution of sewage treatment capacity of the study sample, the annual sewage treatment capacity was divided into three sections: less than 500 million cubic meters, 5-10 million cubic meters and more than 1 billion cubic meters. It is estimated that for the total sewage treatment of less than 500 million cubic meters, the three-year average sewage treatment cost in 2017-2019 is 1.2272 yuan/cubic meter, the total sewage treatment of 5-10 million cubic meters is 1.2325 yuan/cubic meter, and the total sewage treatment of more than 1 billion cubic meters is 1.1088 yuan/cubic meter.

2. Comparative analysis of sewage treatment cost, sewage treatment fee and sewage treatment service fee

According to the "average water price of sewage treatment plate" disclosed by the listed company, the sewage treatment service fee can be sorted out. In 2019, the average sewage treatment service was 1.74 yuan/cubic meter, with the highest sewage treatment service fee level in Southwest China at 2.28 yuan/cubic meter, and the lowest in Northwest China at 0.89 yuan/cubic meter. Compared with the full cost of sewage treatment of listed companies in the sewage treatment industry of 1.30 yuan/cubic meter in 2019, each cubic meter of sewage treatment has an average profit margin of 33.8%. Taking the sewage treatment fees of 36 large and medium-sized cities in the country as an example, the average fee for residential water and sewage treatment fees is 1.0 yuan/cubic meter, the average fee for non-residential water and sewage treatment fees is 1.52 yuan/cubic meter, and the average fee for special water and sewage treatment fees is 2.0 yuan/cubic meter. The water use structure is not the same in different places, and on the whole, the sewage treatment fees in 36 large and medium-sized cities are less than the sewage treatment service fee level represented by listed sewage treatment companies. Sewage treatment is a basic public service area, and the Government bears the responsibility to cover the cost of sewage treatment services. According to the field investigation of sewage treatment costs previously organized by us, the relevant departments of local governments generally said that there is pressure on sewage treatment revenue and expenditure.

The above situation shows that there is still an imbalance and unreasonable between the sewage treatment fee charging standard and the sewage treatment service fee payment standard based on the sewage treatment cost. The task objectives of "the (sewage treatment fee) fee standard should compensate the operating costs of sewage treatment and sludge disposal facilities and make a reasonable profit" and "the urban sewage treatment fee standard is roughly equivalent to the sewage treatment service fee standard" have not been achieved.

Third, countermeasures and suggestions

1. Improve the practicality of cost information disclosure of listed sewage treatment companies. Although the information disclosure content of listed companies is more abundant than before, the information disclosure related to the main business operation is still insufficient, especially the information about the operation, cost and income, and business volume of different industries, products and regions is not enough. There is still a lack of sewage treatment cost information such as differentiating between different daily treatment capacity, technical routes, effluent standards, etc. In order to enable report users to have a more comprehensive understanding of the relevant situation of listed companies, efforts should be made to strengthen the practicability of information disclosure, reduce or avoid subjective descriptions, and more specific financial and business indicators should be listed to enrich the information dimensions of business disclosure.