The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Operational decision · 2013–2025
Bonjour Holdings went from HK$1.8B revenue to a winding-up order in a decade
Hong Kong's biggest beauty retailer lost its core subsidiary to a court-ordered winding-up, its share price fell 99%, and it survived on emergency share issues.
Bonjour Holdings · 2023-01
What happened
Bonjour Holdings, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since 2003, built a 39-store chain selling skincare, cosmetics, perfumes and health products across Hong Kong, Macau and Guangzhou. At its peak in the 2013 fiscal year, revenue approached HK$1.8 billion. But the business model — high-rent street-level shops selling discounted imported beauty products to mainland Chinese tourists — was fragile.
After 2014, mainland visitor numbers fell and online competitors eroded foot traffic. Bonjour's operating income turned negative, and the company began a long slide. In January 2023, the Hong Kong High Court ordered the winding-up of Hop Fung Lung Limited, Bonjour's core wholesale and retail subsidiary. By October 2025, its auditor raised a going-concern doubt. The share price had fallen to HK$0.055, down more than 50% year-to-date.
Bonjour survived through a series of emergency fundraisings: a HK$97 million rights issue in October 2025, further share placements in February and March 2026 raising HK$11.3 million and HK$6 million respectively. The company shuffled its leadership repeatedly and signed non-binding cooperation agreements with new investors, but the core retail business continued to shrink.
Why it happened
- The business model depended on mainland Chinese tourist foot traffic, which fell sharply after 2014 and never fully recovered.
- High-rent street-level locations in Causeway Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui became unsustainable as sales per square foot declined.
- Online beauty retail and cross-border e-commerce eroded Bonjour's price advantage on imported products.
- Management responded to declining revenue with cost-cutting and share placements rather than a credible pivot to a new model.
The lesson
A retail model built on a single customer flow — tourist foot traffic — has no resilience when that flow stops. Rent obligations turn a demand shock into a solvency crisis within a few lease cycles.
Aftermath
Bonjour Holdings remains listed but operates at a fraction of its former scale. The company continues to issue shares to fund operations and has signed cooperation agreements with new investors, but the auditor's going-concern doubt remains unresolved.
Sources
- MarketScreener — Hong Kong High Court Orders Bonjour's Unit's Winding-Up (2023)
- HKEX filing — Bonjour Holdings announcement (2025)
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