China's first listed snack chain closed ~500 stores in a year, loss ¥161M

Laiyifen, founded in Shanghai in 1999, listed in 2016 as China's first snack-chain stock, running thousands of mostly company-operated stores selling premium snacks at premium prices. By mid-2024 the network stood at 3,472 doors. Then the market changed format: discount snack chains — Mingming Henman, Wanchen's Haoxianglai — spread at prices around 30% below, signing dozens of new franchise stores a day on margins under 15%.

The pioneer cracked first. In 2024 Laiyifen swung to a ¥75.26 million loss and its network shrank by roughly 600 stores. The first half of 2025 got worse even where revenue grew: sales rose 8.21% to ¥1.94 billion, but gross margin fell 8.67 points and the company lost ¥50.68 million. The store count fell from 3,472 to 2,979 in twelve months — 493 doors gone, 90 of them company-operated. Management called it an active adjustment of store formats and structure; the arithmetic was a retreat.

The full-year report landed April 28, 2026: revenue up 13.31% to ¥3.819 billion, gross margin down 9.84 points to 28.98%, attributable loss ¥161 million — more than double 2024's — and no dividend. The year ended with 2,818 stores, down 267, and the network majority now franchised: 1,774 doors, 63%. The company is repositioning as a 'chain management service plus supply chain platform,' piloting 172 'life stores' that sell fresh food and daily necessities alongside snacks. The premium snack store it pioneered is being repriced by discounters it cannot follow into low margins.