VNET Group Incorporated Q4 2025 Earnings Call - Wholesale-led AI Surge: 404 MW Delivered in 2025, 2026 Revenue Guided to CNY 11.5-11.8bn

Operator: Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by for the fourth quarter and full year 2025 earnings conference call for VNET Group Incorporated. After management’s prepared remarks, there will be a question and answer session. Please note the Chinese line is in listen-only mode. If you wish to ask questions, please dial in through the English line. Participants from our management include Ms. Sharon Xiao Liu, Rotating President, Mr. Peter Zhihua Zhang, SVP of Operational Finance, and Ms. Xinyuan Liu, Head of Investor Relations for the company. Please note that today’s conference call is being recorded. I’ll now like to turn the call over to the first speaker today, Ms. Xinyuan Liu. Please go ahead.

Edison Lee, Analyst, Jefferies0: Thank you, operator. Hello, everyone, and welcome to our fourth quarter and full year 2025 earnings conference call. Our earnings release was distributed earlier today, and you can find a copy on our IR site as well as on newswire services. Please note that today’s call will contain forward-looking statements made under the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from our current expectations. For detailed discussions of these risks and uncertainties, please refer to our latest annual report and other documents filed with the SEC. VNET does not undertake any obligations to update any forward-looking statements, except as required under applicable laws. Please also know that VNET’s earnings press release and this conference call include the disclosure of audited GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures.

VNET’s earnings press release contains a reconciliation of the audited non-GAAP measures to the audited GAAP measures. A summary presentation, which we will refer to during this conference call, can be viewed and downloaded from our IR website at ir.vnet.com. Next, I’d like to alert you that we will be utilizing text-to-speech technology powered by NewLink.ai to deliver this quarter’s prepared remarks by Ms. Sharon Xiao Liu, our Rotating President, and Mr. Peter Zhihua Zhang, our SVP of Operational Finance. The management team will join the Q&A session in person. Additionally, this conference is being recorded. A webcast of this conference call will also be available on our IR site at ir.vnet.com. Now, let’s get started with today’s presentation. Ms. Liu, please go ahead.

Sharon Xiao Liu, Rotating President, VNET Group Incorporated: Good morning and good evening, everyone. Thank you for joining our call today. I’ll start with an overview of our major accomplishments during the fourth quarter and full year of 2025. Before we dive into the key figures, I want to underscore that 2025 was an exceptional year for VNET. Our effective dual-core strategy and Hyperscale 2.0 framework empowered us to capture surging AI demand and deliver impressive results. Let’s turn to slide 4. On the operational side, our wholesale IDC business continued to grow significantly, driven by robust customer demand and our rapid delivery capabilities.

As of December 31, 2025, our wholesale capacity in service grew to 889 megawatts, an increase of around 107 megawatts quarter-over-quarter, bringing our total deliveries for the full year of 2025 to a record high 404 megawatts, in line with our full year delivery plan. Wholesale capacity utilized by customers rose to 623 megawatts, an increase of around 41 megawatts quarter-over-quarter, driven by continued strong customer demand and our solid execution. Customers moved into 270 megawatts over the full year, bringing the utilization rate to 70.1%. Our retail IDC business continued to progress smoothly, benefiting from growing AI-driven demand. In the fourth quarter, our retail MRR per cabinet was RMB 9,420. Retail utilization rate was stable at 64.0%.

On the financial side, our total net revenues increased by 19.6% year-over-year to CNY 2.69 billion for the fourth quarter. Wholesale revenues remained the key growth driver, reaching CNY 978.1 million, a significant year-over-year increase of 47.1%. Our adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter also increased by 11.6% year-over-year to CNY 805.1 million, driven by the rapid growth of our wholesale IDC business. Excluding the one-off impact of asset disposals in the fourth quarter of 2024, adjusted EBITDA increased by 39.3% year-over-year.

For the full year of 2025, our total revenues grew significantly by 20.5% to RMB 9.95 billion, and adjusted EBITDA grew 22.6% to RMB 2.98 billion, both significantly outperforming our 2025 guidance. We continue to advance our capital recycling strategy in 2025 and achieved meaningful results. In November 2025, we successfully issued an RMB 860 million holding type real estate green asset-backed security. Also, in March 2026, two of our private REITs projects were listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange with a total offer size of approximately RMB 6.36 billion. Moving into 2026, customer demand for our wholesale IDC business remains strong. Meanwhile, our ongoing operational efficiency gains are providing increasingly robust support for this business’s high-quality growth.

We expect our full year 2026 revenue to be in the range of CNY 11.5 billion-CNY 11.8 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of 15.6%-18.6%. Adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of CNY 3.55 billion-CNY 3.75 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of 19.2%-25.9%. Moving on to our new order wins on slide 5. Order momentum remained strong in the fourth quarter, largely fueled by brisk demand from customers. During the quarter, we secured 5 wholesale orders totaling 135 MW. Specifically, in addition to the 32 MW order mentioned on our last call, we won a 12 MW order from internet customer for a data center in the Yangtze River Delta.

Meanwhile, we also won a 56 MW order from a cloud service provider, and a 25 MW order from an intelligent driving customer, and an 11 MW order from another internet customer for our data centers in the Greater Beijing area this quarter. Furthermore, bolstered by AI-driven demand, we secured a combined capacity of approximately 2 MW in new retail orders across multiple retail data centers from customers in the intelligent driving, local services, AIOT, and financial services sectors. China’s IDC industry continues to thrive, driven by strong market demand as well as supportive policies. At the national level, authorities have rolled out a series of systematic and actionable policies, sustaining their support for the digital economy and computing infrastructure.

At the industry level, accelerating AI adoption and enterprise digital transformation, along with increasingly clear and sustained investment commitments from large and mid-size customers, particularly leading internet companies and cloud service providers, are fueling strong visible demand for high-quality IDC services. Market demand is further shifting toward large scale, clustered, and highly reliable data center infrastructure. While rising requirements for delivery certainty, long-term scalability, and green operations are tightening effective supply. Our industry-leading delivery performance, premium IDC services, and scalable data center clusters continue to strengthen VNET’s competitiveness in this market environment. Guided by our dual-core strategy and Hyperscale 2.0 framework, we are well-positioned to capture growth opportunities and expand market share in an increasingly AI-driven infrastructure landscape. Now let’s delve into our business updates, starting with our wholesale business on slide seven.

Our wholesale business maintained strong growth momentum, with capacity in service increasing by around 107 MW quarter-over-quarter to 889 MW, and utilization rate at 70.1%, mainly attributable to rapid deliveries at our NOR Campus 02A and NHB Campus 03, and fast move-ins at our NOR Campus 02A. Our mature capacity utilization rate also reached 93.1%, a relatively high level. We have a clear growth path for our wholesale data center capacity. Let’s move on to slide 8. As of the end of the fourth quarter, our total wholesale resource capacity was around 2.2 GW. Specifically, our capacity under construction was around 452 MW.

Capacity held for short-term future development was around 513 megawatts, and capacity held for long-term future development was around 327 megawatts. These secured resources represent a significant advantage in light of the IDC industry’s limited effective supply and are in line with our optimistic view of AI-driven demand’s long-term growth potential. Moving to our retail IDC business on slide 9. Our retail business progressed smoothly in the fourth quarter. Retail capacity in service decreased to 49,863 cabinets from 52,288 cabinets last quarter. Mainly because the target retail data center under our private REITs project was excluded from the group’s consolidated capacity. The utilization rate was stable at 64.0%.

As of the end of December, our MRR per retail cabinet increased slightly to RMB 9,420 this quarter from RMB 8,948 last quarter. Driven by the increasing adoption of value-added services amid vast AI-driven demand. Turning to our delivery plan on slide 10. As I mentioned before, leveraging our efficient delivery capabilities, we successfully delivered a total of around 107 megawatts in the fourth quarter of 2025, bringing our total deliveries to around 404 megawatts as of the end of December this year. We currently have 7 data centers under construction, with 6 in the Greater Beijing area and 1 in the Yangtze River Delta. We plan to deliver 450-500 megawatts of capacity over the next 12 months to meet the strong demand from our wholesale customers.

In conclusion, our robust fourth quarter and full year 2025 results validate our operational excellence, growth strategy, and our ability to identify and capture market demand in the AI era. As we move into 2026, we will continue to advance our dual-core strategy and Hyperscale 2.0 framework, developing our scalable, high-performance, and energy-efficient data centers to seize growth opportunities while empowering China’s digital economy for sustainable growth. Now, I will turn the call over to our SVP of Operational Finance, Peter, for further discussion of our operating and financial performance. Thank you, everyone.

Peter Zhihua Zhang, SVP of Operational Finance, VNET Group Incorporated: Good morning and good evening, everyone. Before we start the detailed discussion of our financial performance, please note that unless otherwise stated, all the financials we present today are for the fourth quarter and the full year of 2025 and are in renminbi terms. Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, all the growth rates I am reviewing are on a year-over-year basis. Let’s turn to slide 12. In the fourth quarter, we continued to pursue high-quality business. Our total net revenues increased by 19.6% to RMB 2.69 billion, mainly driven by the rapid growth of our wholesale business. Our adjusted cash gross profit rose by 23.1% to RMB 1.14 billion, while our adjusted EBITDA also grew year over year by 11.6% to RMB 805.1 million.

Meanwhile, excluding the one-off impact of asset disposals in the fourth quarter of 2024, our adjusted cash gross profit and adjusted EBITDA increased significantly by 31.1% and 39.3% respectively year-over-year. For the full year, our total net revenues were RMB 9.95 billion, increasing by 20.5%, and adjusted EBITDA reached RMB 2.98 billion, reflecting an impressive 22.6% increase from the prior year, both exceeding the raised guidance we issued in the third quarter. Let’s look more closely at our top line. As you can see on slide 13, in the fourth quarter, wholesale revenues, our key revenue growth driver, increased significantly by 47.1% to RMB 978.1 million, mainly attributable to activity at the NOR Campus 02A.

For the full year, our wholesale revenues increased significantly by 77.4% to CNY 3.46 billion, driven by rapid customer move-in pace this year. Retail revenues increased by 7.6% to CNY 1.04 billion for the fourth quarter and increased by 3.5% to CNY 3.96 billion for 2025. Our non-IDC business revenues increased by 8.8% to CNY 670.8 million for the fourth quarter and increased by 1.8% to CNY 2.52 billion for 2025. During the fourth quarter, we maintained solid margins thanks to our ongoing efficiency improvements. As shown on slide 14, our adjusted cash gross margins improved modestly to 42.3% from 41.1% in the same period last year.

Our adjusted EBITDA margin was largely stable at 30.0%. Moving on to liquidity on slide 15, we maintained robust and healthy liquidity, bolstered by a net operating cash inflow of CNY 546.4 million during the fourth quarter, bringing our net operating cash inflow for this year to CNY 1.92 billion. If the CNY 231.0 million of income tax from one-off asset and equity disposal were excluded, the net operating cash inflow for this year was CNY 2.15 billion. Our cash position remains solid, with total cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, and short-term investments reaching CNY 6.58 billion as of December 31, 2025. Next, let’s take a look at our debt structure on slide 16. We maintained our prudent approach to debt management.

As of December 31, 2025, our net debt to the adjusted last quarter annualized EBITDA ratio was 4.3, and total debt to the adjusted last quarter annualized EBITDA ratio was 6.2, both remaining at healthy levels. Our adjusted trailing 12 months EBITDA to interest coverage ratio was 6.7. We prioritize long-term debt maturity planning in our debt and strategic management to ensure the security of debt repayment. Currently, the company’s short and medium-term debt maturing in 2026 to 2028 comprises 46.6% of our total debt. Turning now to CapEx spending. As you can see on slide 17, for full year 2025, our CapEx was RMB 8.24 billion, with the majority allocated to the expansion of our wholesale IDC business.

Actual CapEx came in below our prior full year guidance, primarily due to cost efficiencies from economies of scale and enhanced supply chain management. We expect our CapEx for the full year 2026 to be in the range of RMB 10 billion-RMB 12 billion, mainly to support our planned delivery of 450-500 megawatts in 2026. We made meaningful progress in advancing our asset monetization strategy this year. In November 2025, we successfully issued a holding type green real estate asset-backed security under one of our private REIT programs, the first of its kind in China’s IDC industry. The offering totaled RMB 860 million with equity consideration of around RMB 800 million, implying a valuation of approximately 13x EV to EBITDA.

Notably, this project has received a G1 rating from an authoritative third-party evaluation institution, the highest possible rating in the relevant evaluation system. VNET is consolidating the project for financial reporting purposes. However, as the issuer and originator for the private REIT project, VNET will remain responsible for the IDC project’s operation to ensure its healthy long-term development. More recently, in March 2026, two of our private REIT projects were successfully listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, with a combined offering size of approximately CNY 6.36 billion and an EV to EBITDA multiple of around 13x-14x. Looking ahead, we will continue to execute capital recycling initiatives to further unlock the value of our existing IDC assets. Proceeds from these initiatives will be reinvested into new project development and incremental business expansion, supporting our long-term growth strategy.

Additionally, they will effectively reduce leverage and optimize the company’s capital structure, ultimately creating long-term value for shareholders. Now moving to our full year guidance for 2026 on slide 19. As we expect strong demand from our wholesale IDC customers and ongoing operational efficiency gains throughout 2026, we expect total net revenues to be in the range of CNY 11.5 billion-CNY 11.8 billion, a year-over-year increase of 15.6%-18.6%. Adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of CNY 3.55 billion-CNY 3.75 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of 19.2%-25.9%. Before I conclude, I’d like to briefly update you on our ESG efforts, building on our constant dedication to sustainability. VNET Group continues to receive recognition from leading global rating institutions.

We have been included in the global edition of the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook 2026 for a second consecutive year, reflecting the consistency of our ESG practice. In addition, VNET earned a B rating in CDP’s 2025 climate change questionnaire, underscoring strong performance across key environmental metrics. Looking ahead, we will continue to strengthen our ESG framework, embedding sustainability more deeply into our operations and business strategy to support our sustainable growth and value creation. To sum up, our strong fourth quarter performance capped 2025 and laid a solid foundation for 2026. We will continue to reinforce our core strengths, optimize resource allocation, and proactively capture opportunities arising from AI adoption and enterprise digital transformation. We remain dedicated to delivering high-quality growth that creates long-term value for all stakeholders. This concludes our prepared remarks for today. We are now ready to take questions.

Operator: Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. If you wish to ask a question, please press star then one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star two. If you are on a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before asking your question. For the benefit of all participants on today’s call, please ask your question to management in English and then repeat in Chinese. First question today comes from Tom Tang at Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.

Tom Tang, Analyst, Morgan Stanley: Thank you management for the opportunity to ask questions. Again, congratulate on a very strong result and a very solid full guidance for the year of 2026. I have two questions. First of all, we heard that there has been some big customers starting tender on their 2026 and 2027 data centers in the beginning of the year. Just wondering have we been participating in those tender and what has been our current progress? Secondly, we know that our fourth quarter total resource on hand had almost 400 MW increase quarter-on-quarter. Just wondering what are the regions for our new resources? Do we have any outlook for our new resources for the year? 我来简单翻译一下，就是首先还是感谢管理层给我这个提问的机会，非常恭喜一个强劲的业绩，以及一个比较稳健的2026年的展望。我这里有两个问题，第一个问题是没有了解到年初市场上有些大客户已经开展了比较大规模的招标工作，所以想请教一下我们这里的参与以及进展如何。那么第二个问题是看到我们第四季度总资源数有接近400兆瓦的一个增加，所以了解一下这些新资源的主要分布是在什么区域，以及对2026年新增资源的一个展望。谢谢。

Sharon Xiao Liu, Rotating President, VNET Group Incorporated: Tom，谢谢你的问题，我来回答一下你的两个问题。一个是我们确实注意到，今年年初的时候，我们的客户有很多这个招标的动作，那世纪互联作为这个国内 Tier 1 的 supplier，也都参与了招标，那后续如果招标有什么进展，我们会在我们的 earnings 里面去做披露，大家可以关注一下公司未来的一个披露。第二个呢，我们的确是在 Q4 的时候，在整个的 overall 的资源上有一些比较大的进展，那这个增量主要集中在这个环京地区，那一个是在乌兰察布地区，还有一个就是在北京周边的地区。那未来的话，公司在资源上，第一个我们还是会看整个环京的区域，包括内蒙和北京周边。另外一个我们在长三角也会继续地在我们存量资源的基础上去拓展资源。那公司整体上我们会去看一些这个能源相对，能源成本相对较低的区域，网络时延也相对较低的区域，来给客户提供一个综合的服务。谢谢。

Edison Lee, Analyst, Jefferies0: Thank you Tom for your question. Let me take your two questions. We did notice that at the beginning of the year, some of our key clients have already hosted the meetings or tenders. As the Tier 1 IDC service provider in China, we have also participated in these meetings. However, we are going to update on the market in terms of the progress and also the wins in our future earnings release. Please do follow our latest updates on this related matter. With regard to the second question, indeed we have notably increased our resource reserve in Q4, and a majority of these resources are located in the Greater Beijing Area, specifically in Ulanqab and also the area surrounding Beijing. Going forward, we will strategically, you know, value our resources reserve in the Greater Beijing Area, particularly Inner Mongolia and its surrounding regions. On top of that, we are also, on top of the existing resources we have in the Yangtze River Delta Region, actively acquiring resources, expanding our reserve in that region. Just a quick point, we are actively looking for areas or regions where there are favorable utility conditions, so we would also actively deploy in these areas so as to provide a service which features low latency to meet our customers demand.

Sharon Xiao Liu, Rotating President, VNET Group Incorporated: Next question please.

Operator: Thank you. Your next question comes from Edison Lee at Jefferies. Please go ahead.

Edison Lee, Analyst, Jefferies: Hi, thank you for taking my questions and congrats on the results as well. I have three questions. Number one is: out of the 450 MW-500 MW of capacity addition guidance this year, what percentage has been locked in already? What do you think is the progress over the next few quarters? Number two is: on CapEx, RMB 10 billion-RMB 12 billion guidance this year, what percentage of that guidance is actually for 2027 growth? Thirdly, can you explain how you’re going to finance this RMB 10 billion-RMB 12 billion CapEx? 我有三个问题，首先恭喜你们的这个业绩非常好，第一个就是你们今年这个450-500兆瓦的一个新增的这个项目的 一个指引，你现在其实有多大的比例是已经锁定，然后未来几个季度你觉得这个就是进展是怎么样的？第二个就是今年这个100-120亿的CapEx投资，能讲一些就是到底有多大的比例是为了2027年的增长，就不是为了2026年的增长。而第三个是一个融资的问题，就是你们打算怎么去融资这个100-120亿的CapEx。谢谢。

Sharon Xiao Liu, Rotating President, VNET Group Incorporated: Hi Edison，谢谢你的问题，我先来回答第一个问题吧。对第一个问题，其实公司在我们的presentation里也有公布，截止到目前，在公司在建的452个兆瓦里，有156个兆瓦是已经预签约的客户的容量，那后面也像我们回答第一个问题一样，随着我们在客户招标，包括MOU合同签订，我们会陆陆续续地去公布这个预签约的总容量，所以在后面每个季度里您可以看到这个预签约总容量的增加。总体来说，公司对于2026年的预签约率还是会比较有信心的。对，第二个问题我pass给Peter。

Edison Lee, Analyst, Jefferies0: Let me answer your first question. Thank you, Edison Lee. In our presentation slides we have actually disclosed we have locked in 150 megawatt out of the 450 megawatt, planned. We are going to disclose these capacity that’s already secured in our future earnings call, as we participate in the biddings, assigned MOUs, as well as the contracts that’s being signed. Please do follow these announcements from our future earnings calls quarter by quarter. Overall, the company is very highly confident in the capacity to be locked in, for 2026. Now I’ll pass it over to Peter Zhang for the second question.

Peter Zhihua Zhang, SVP of Operational Finance, VNET Group Incorporated: 你好。对，关于2026年的CapEx讨论，其实咱们内部做这个测算，大部分是为了支持2026年的交付计划，在2027年的那个相对比较少。对，很直观地跟您做一个回馈吧。

Edison Lee, Analyst, Jefferies0: We have run some numbers internally, and majority of the CapEx for 2026 is to deliver the capacity in 2026. Few of that CapEx or very little of that CapEx is going to be used for the capacity expansion and delivery in 2027. Hopefully that answers your question.

Sharon Xiao Liu, Rotating President, VNET Group Incorporated: 好的。第三个问题是关于公司CapEx的融资，还是我这边来回答。整体上的话，其实从项目层面，我们主要还是用项目贷来去支持项目层面的融资，因为公司现在在国内也可以拿到非常好的条件的更长期的更低成本的一个项目贷。那其他的部分，其实公司还是会有非常多样化的途径，包括我们净经营的现金流，每年也会有二十亿左右，然后包括其实公司也是走通了私募REITs的这种方式，然后包括其实我们也会在上市公司层面和项目层面做一些不同层次的股权融资来支持公司未来业务的扩张吧。同时我们也会平衡好这个公司的财务杠杆，在这个股权和债权融资中间找到一个平衡点。谢谢。

Edison Lee, Analyst, Jefferies0: I’ll take your question on the financing channels. Predominantly, we are tapping into the project loans to finance our project. Given our current condition, the company is able to secure favorable and long term loans with very low interest rates. On top of that, we are also exploring diversified means of financing channels. On top of that, we can finance these CapEx with our cash flow. Each year, we’re generating around CNY 2 billion cash, so that can support our CapEx. In addition to all of these, we have successfully conducted or implemented the private REIT, so that is also another financing channel. Additionally, we are also going to tap into private equity as well as other means as a public listed company to finance our CapEx. All in all, we are going to maintain a, you know, fine balance between our debt and equity financing amount. So we would maintain our leverage ratio within a reasonable range with prudent approach, you know, being implemented along the way.

Sharon Xiao Liu, Rotating President, VNET Group Incorporated: Next question please.

Operator: Thank you. Your next question comes from Daley Li at BofA Securities. Please go ahead.

Daley Li, Analyst, BofA Securities: Hi management, thanks for taking the question. Firstly, congrats on the strong results and the solid guidance. I have two questions here. Number one is about our utilization rate in the Q4 last year, since quarter-on-quarter dropped a bit. Could you update us on what’s the underlying reason and how do you see the future clients moving progress in the following quarters? And do we have a target for the full year utilization rate?

Edison Lee, Analyst, Jefferies0: My second question is about the CapEx. It seems that last year the CapEx number is behind our target, which seems a good thing, in the view of investors. For this year, do we see upsides for the more delivery given we have, you know, more CapEx for this year?

Daley Li, Analyst, BofA Securities: 好的，我这边可能翻译一下。谢谢，谢谢管理层的提问。我这边有两个问题，第一个问题是关于我们的utilization rate利用率，就是四季度同比还是很不错，然后环比这边有略微的下降，然后想问一下这个背后的原因，然后未来几个季度，我们对未来这个的趋势是怎么看的，我们对全年是否有一个目标？第二关于我们这个资本支出，去年资本支出的数字其实比我们的预期，之前目标是低的，对投资来讲可能是一个好的事情，花了比较少的钱，然后还交付了比较强的一个目标。想问一下这个背后的原因，然后对2025年我们这个CapEx其实数字同比还是增速挺高的，然后这个对这个可能这个交付的成本这边，今年跟去年有什么不同？好，谢谢。

Sharon Xiao Liu, Rotating President, VNET Group Incorporated: Ellie，谢谢你的问题，我先来回答第一个关于上架率，对，确实从Q4披露的数字来说，我们上架率稍微有一点点波动，这个还是和上架率的计算有关，因为Q4的交付还是集中在年尾，所以它在整个季度的影响来说，就整体上会拉低了。但是如果我们Q1交付的少，其实utilization rate还是会回升的。那整体上utilization rate每个季度我们披露的数字其实是两部分组成，一个是我们成熟机房，其实它会在一个90到95的一个水平。另外还有就是我们这个季度ramp up的机房的一个客户的上架的比例。对，在我们每个季度交付量比较大的季度，其实UR都是会有一个小幅的波动，我们认为这个都是一个正常的波动了。所以从整个2026年来说，公司对于上架也是比较有信心的，我们认为它还是会维持在一个70到75的这个range之内，那季度可能会有不同的波动。对，关于CapEx的问题，我先交给Peter。

Edison Lee, Analyst, Jefferies0: Let me take your question on the utilization rate. Thanks for your question. Indeed, as we have disclosed in our presentation, the Q4 utilization rate did fluctuate. However, to clarify, majority of the deliveries happened in the end of the year, hence the fluctuation out there. Actually, our utilization rate can be specifically broken down into two parts. One is the utilization rate for the mature capacities we have in place.

Right now that’s in the 90%-95% range. However, for the ramp up, capacities, that’s another portion of the utilization rate. We see these fluctuations as perfectly normal. Overall, the company is confident in the utilization rate, in 2026, we’re confident to maintain that within 70%-75%. However, admittedly, there is going to be fluctuations quarter by quarter. Hopefully that answers your question. Now I’ll pass it over to Peter for the second question.

Peter Zhihua Zhang, SVP of Operational Finance, VNET Group Incorporated: 你好。

Sharon Xiao Liu, Rotating President, VNET Group Incorporated: 你好。

Peter Zhihua Zhang, SVP of Operational Finance, VNET Group Incorporated: 关于第二个问题，我将会回应一下。那第一个是2025年的CapEx，实际上我们最终是支出82亿。那相比之前来讲，一方面主要是基于我们整个规模，因为2025年比2024年的整个的投资是大幅增加，在这个情况下，整个规模产生的成本优化或者效应，这是一方面。第二来讲，对于整个供应链的管控能力，我们也在持续的优化和升级。所以整体来讲，我们是2025年是82亿。那2026年来讲，还是基于比较强的客户需求，我们还是维持在100到120亿的这个CapEx投入的指引，保持客户的交付和我们整个的投入的意愿，持续的增长。谢谢。

Edison Lee, Analyst, Jefferies0: On the CapEx question, in 2025, our CapEx expenditure was RMB 8.2 billion. Actually, that compared to 2024 was a significant increase. However, nevertheless we saw some economies of scale because of the significant increase in the CapEx. Meanwhile, we are also enhancing our capacity along the supply chain management, that also gives us some tailwinds. Looking ahead to 2026, our CapEx guidance is around RMB 10-12 billion, majority of is going to be used to deliver the capacities as well as to fuel our continuous expansion.

Sharon Xiao Liu, Rotating President, VNET Group Incorporated: Next question please.

Operator: Thank you. Your next question comes from Timothy Zhao at Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.

Timothy Zhao, Analyst, Goldman Sachs: 好的，感谢管理层给我提问的机会，也非常祝贺非常强的四季度的业绩和稳健的2026年的展望。

那我这边有两条问题，第一条是关于我们的26年的guidance，那可我请管理层帮我们拆解一下，26年对于批发型数据中心、零售型数据中心以及非数据中心业务的这个收入的增速目标，以及关于这个EBITDA的增速有没有更详细的一个拆解。那第二个问题是关于我们的价格，那我们看到在四一度，在零售型的数据中心的价格上，似乎有一些波动，但同时零售型的数据中心在价格又有一个非常强劲的增长，那可我请管理层帮我们拆解一下批发和零售型的价格，四一度的波动的原因。Thank you management for taking my question and congrats on the solid results and outlook.

I have two questions here, one is on the breakdown of your 2026 outlook, just wondering if you can provide more detailed guidance in terms of the revenue growth outlook between the wholesale IDC, retail IDC and non-IDC business. Any color on the EBITDA growth between different segments will be quite helpful. Secondly, is on the pricing trend. I note that for your wholesale business in the fourth quarter there was some pricing fluctuation. However, for the retail business, the pricing trend seems to be more robust. Just wondering if you can share any color on the pricing fluctuation between wholesale and retail business in the fourth quarter. Thank you.

Peter Zhihua Zhang, SVP of Operational Finance, VNET Group Incorporated: 你好，关于你两个问题我先回应一下。那第一个问题关于整个2026的指引，那分三个模块给您一个反馈吧。第一个是城市型的IDC，这个较2025年来讲也会有一定幅度的增加，这里面肯定来自于我们零售业务。第二个是基地型的业务，还是会保持比较高的一个增长幅度。拿IDC的业务来目前来讲也相对比较平稳。对，我从三个维度，给您做个基本信息汇报。那关于第二个问题来讲的话，就是您刚提到的，您说业务的这个价格的波动，其实刚才也提到了，整个零售业务，因为客户对于零售业务的一些需求其实一直来都比较强劲，所以整体来讲，整个需求，整个的单价，是要增长的，以及这里面单机柜的密度也在提高。那随着高密度这种需求的持续，未来我们预计整体来讲，您说MRR会还会保持一个比较平稳近的持续的增长的趋势。对。谢谢。

Edison Lee, Analyst, Jefferies0: With regard to the guidance for 2026, I would like to break it down according to the three segments. For retail IDC, it’s going to continue to grow compared to year-over-year. That is also true for our wholesale IDC services. We’re going to witness significant growth. Whereas for our non-IDC business, it’s going to be stable. Moving on to the pricing trend, indeed for our retail IDC service, we have seen the MR continue to trend up, that comes from several drivers. Number one, our customers have a stronger demand for our value-added services. Number two, our unit price per cabinet is also increasing. Also the high power density cabinets we have also yield higher MR. Overall that is going to contribute to a stronger MR going forward in 2026.

Next question please.

Operator: Thank you. Your next question comes from Ethan Zhang at Nomura. Please go ahead.

Ethan Zhang, Analyst, Nomura: Okay, thanks management. Two questions from me. First, it’s a follow-up on the guidance, so could you give us some color on the gearing ratio for this year? For example, the net debt to EBITDA for guidance for this year. And if we are seeing continued or further higher demands than expected, any chances that we could further increase our gearing ratio? And my second question is regarding the Ulanqab project. We noticed some tailwinds, policy tailwinds in terms of the coordination of computing and power. Just wonder, could management give us some color on the, you know, building the in-house green energy in the Ulanqab project, any progress in terms of building your own solar, wind power and self-sufficiency rates etc.

Peter Zhihua Zhang, SVP of Operational Finance, VNET Group Incorporated: 那我翻译一下。首先恭喜管理层，Q4的业绩和指引都很强劲。那两个问题，第一个就是想问一下我们的这个财务杠杆有没有一个指引，就是如果说后续我们看到市场的需求持续旺盛的话，有没有机会，就是我们这边可能会增加自己的杠杆来适应，来获取市场上更多的订单。那第二个问题是看到这个算力协同有一些政策上的比较好的发展，想问一下我们在乌兰察布这个项目上的云网合一的这种建设的一些进度吧，可不可以给我们一些更新，谢谢。你好，那第一个问题我先给您一个回应。其实从已经披露的数据看得到，就是2025年我们的净负债跟EBITDA的倍数大概是4.3倍。这个还属于比较稳健的水平。那后续来讲，我们也会继续地平衡资本支出节奏与业务扩展的需求。包括刚刚前面也提到，就是我们也会搭建多元化多层次的融资渠道。整体来讲还是保证我们的融资结构的稳定和财务杠杆的稳定吧。这是第一个问题给您回应，谢谢。

Edison Lee, Analyst, Jefferies0: Let me take your first question on the leverage ratio. As we have disclosed, in 2025, the net debt to EBITDA ratio was 4.3, which is within a robust level. As we see more demand from the market, we will seize these opportunities. Again, we will try to balance the cadence, our financing, as well as the demand from the market. Like I said, we are going to tap into various means of financing channels. The key is to maintain our leverage ratio within a stable range.

Sharon Xiao Liu, Rotating President, VNET Group Incorporated: 对，我接下来去回应一下我们的这个绿电算力一体化的项目。就从世纪互联的战略上来讲，我们还是会长期地聚焦于源网荷储，还有这个为客户提供一些绿电的保障。所以在乌兰察布呢，我们也会去有具体项目的落地。那在我们整个内蒙的大基地呢，我们也会去启动我们的源网荷储，尽快地去投产并网。后续有这方面的进展的话，我们也会在季报上去做披露。谢谢。

Edison Lee, Analyst, Jefferies0: With regard to the green power or AI energy integrated projects, that is actually one of the key strategies for the company to provide integrated power and AI services for our clients. We do value the provision of clean power to our customers. We have the Ulanqab project advancing steadily, and that is going to be put into service by the end of the year, and we are going to disclose the further progress in our future earnings calls. Thank you.

Next question, please.

Operator: Thank you. Your next question comes from Sheng Chen from CICC. Please go ahead.

Sheng Chen, Analyst, CICC: Thank you for taking my questions. Congratulations on the strong earnings. I have two questions. First, with the rapid development of the AI agent, the inference demand is expected to go up, and in the long term, will you not adjust the plans for energy and land quotas, particularly in terms of regional structure? My second question is, in last quarter, you net won large orders, including customers from internet, cloud and smart driving. Looking at customer structure, what changes do management expect in 2026?

谢谢管理层接受我的问题。恭喜这个非常强劲的业绩。我有两个问题。第一个就是我们看到随着现在AI agent的快速发展，推理需求预计是快速地会起量的。考虑到这个因素来看，我们如果说从长期的角度上来看，公司在获取能耗指标和土地指标的计划上是否会有一些对应的调整，尤其是在地域结构上的。我的第二个问题是公司在25年的四季度获得了非常大额的订单，我们也看到客户的结构上有来自于互联网的、云厂商的和智能驾驶的等等的客户。那从客户的结构上来看，公司预计在2026年会有一个怎么样的变化？以上是我两个问题，谢谢。

Sharon Xiao Liu, Rotating President, VNET Group Incorporated: 好的，谢谢您的问题。我想肯定行业整个都看到了一个推理需求的增长，公司也看到了。其实我们现在的客户对于通算、智算，对于算力以及推理的需求，其实都在不断地增加。那我们目前的数据中心也是在支持这几个方面的客户需求。从市场布局的角度来说，实际上在区域上，就像刚刚介绍的，我们目前还是会重点地去看环境以及长三角的地区。就像大家知道的，世纪互联其实我们也有城市型的数据中心，那我们也在积极地探讨未来是不是有边端的推理的需求。所以对于城市型的数据中心，我们也是给客户积极地提供这种增值的服务，来满足这个边缘的推理的计算的需求。 第二个问题，实际上世纪互联在批发业务的客户上还是非常丰富的。像您提到的，我们有通算、智算的客户，包括互联网的客户，也包括云的客户，也包括AI云的客户。当然我们在整个的城市型的数据中心里也会有自动驾驶、金融类的客户。我们预计接下来这一年还是这样一个非常多样化的客户构成，我们给客户提供一个一揽子的服务。谢谢。

Edison Lee, Analyst, Jefferies0: Thank you for your question. Indeed, the industry as a whole has witnessed an increase of demand for inferencing. Currently the customers that we serve has demand for generic computing, smart computing or intelligent computing as well as inferencing. Our current data centers are actually accommodating these demands. In terms of the geographic resource deployment, the top priority for us is the Greater Beijing Area, as well as the Greater Yangtze River Delta region. As you know that VNET has retail city data centers, which is intended to provide inferencing and computing services for clients. That is usually in the case of edge computing. These type of value-added services are in high demand among our clients.

Going forward, actually, like I said, we have a variety of customers in terms of the mix of our customers. Some of them are leading internet giants, hyperscalers as well as AI cloud providers. Like I said, we are going to provide a comprehensive solution that is going to meet the demand of all kinds of customers. Like I mentioned, the edge computing service that’s needed by some autonomous driving companies as well as financial companies. We are using our retail IDC to accommodate these type of need. We believe we are going to provide a full-scale, one-stop solution to our customers. Next question, please.

Operator: Thank you. Your next question comes from Sara Wang at UBS. Please go ahead.

Sara Wang, Analyst, UBS: Thank you for the opportunity to ask a question. Again, congratulations on the solid results. I have two questions. First of all, I think last year, the central NDRC imposed a window guidance on new power quota release. May I have an update on the latest data? Whether with the process of acquiring new power quota, are we still under window guidance from the central government? Second question is on competition. Given the strong demand, how shall we think about the rental fee trend? Do we expect the rental fee to increase? Or, in other words, usually in previous up cycle when the demand is quite strong, there could be some new entrants.

Just wondering what’s the latest observation from the management’s perspectives. Thank you, Sara.

Edison Lee, Analyst, Jefferies0: Thank you, Sarah, for your question. We actually view the window guidance from NDRC as a favorable policy for us, because that is going to affect the supply and demand dynamics in the market. However, as the Tier 1 data center provider, I think the window guidance is favoring us. As we did notice that the approval rate from NDRC was quite low. On the good side, we have successfully got the approval for our data center application in our Greater Beijing area by the end of Q4. We are going to continue to apply for new power quotas according to our own rhythm.

Looking at the rental costs, I think, as the Tier 1 player, you know, we are well-positioned because we have developed a very stronger relationship with our existing customers, and we can anticipate and learn about their needs and match their needs with our resources. That is. We’re well positioned in that regard. I would say the overall rental cost is stable. But as we see the supply and demand dynamics continuing to tighten up, we might see the prices begin to stabilize first and then eventually to rise. Overall, that is my optimistic view on the overall trend. Again, overall, we are bullish on the future development.

Sara Wang, Analyst, UBS: Thank you.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect your lines.