During its peak, the retail giant boasted over 1,000 stores and a market capitalization exceeding 100 billion yuan. Surprisingly, it sought guidance from Pang Donglai, a regional non-listed company with only about a dozen stores. This widely watched transformation attempt has now yielded a projected loss after a year and a half.
On January 12, Yonghui Superstores announced that it expects its 2025 net profit attributable to shareholders to be negative. Although the specific loss range was not disclosed, the outcome of a loss did not come as a surprise to the market.
Looking back at the first three quarters of 2025, Yonghui Superstores had already incurred a loss of 710 million yuan. Several brokerages' research reports estimated the company's annual loss would exceed 900 million yuan.
Under the shadow of losses, Yonghui Superstores is also urgently awaiting a private placement for a capital infusion.
In July 2025, Yonghui Superstores disclosed a private placement plan aiming to raise 3.992 billion yuan, which was later adjusted to no more than 3.114 billion yuan, with the majority intended for store upgrades and renovations. According to a regulatory inquiry response letter, this proposed fundraising scale still falls short of the company's projected funding gap of 3.552 billion yuan for the future period.
According to the plan, Yonghui Superstores aims to complete the "Pang Donglai-style revamp" of all its existing stores by 2026. Therefore, this private placement is considered crucial "emergency" funding for its transformation journey.
Currently, this private placement by Yonghui Superstores has not yet been finalized. Whether Ye Guofu, who leads this transformation, will take the lead in increasing his stake has become a key suspense point affecting market confidence and the transformation process.
The full-year projected loss raises the question: How high is the cost of the "Pang Donglai-style tuition"?
When mentioning Yonghui Superstores, many people's first impression is of a leading domestic chain supermarket. Founded in 2001, the company initially focused on fresh agricultural products as its core feature, pioneering the "farm-to-supermarket" model and becoming one of the first benchmark enterprises in China to introduce fresh produce into modern supermarkets.
In 2010, Yonghui Superstores listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, earning the title "the first fresh produce stock." At its peak, it operated over 1,000 stores, generated annual revenues exceeding 90 billion yuan, and was the first domestic retail giant to surpass a market cap of 100 billion yuan.
However, since 2020, under the dual pressures of intensified online and offline competition and changing consumption patterns, Yonghui Superstores has faced continuous pressure on both revenue and profits.
Specifically, from 2020 to 2024, the company's revenue dropped from 93.199 billion yuan to 67.574 billion yuan; its net profit attributable to shareholders turned negative starting in 2021 and remained so for four consecutive years, accumulating total losses of 9.5 billion yuan.
While Yonghui Superstores was mired in operational difficulties, Pang Donglai, with its mere dozen or so stores nationwide, presented a different picture. It became a benchmark in the retail industry through exceptional reputation and service, even turning into a "hotspot" for tourists visiting Henan.
Facing its challenges, Yonghui Superstores chose to set aside its pride and learn from Pang Donglai, undertaking systematic adjustments in areas including employee salaries, working hours, store layout planning, product restructuring, supply chain, price optimization, and service enhancement.
Transformation is not a low-cost trial-and-error process, and the "tuition" paid by Yonghui Superstores has been substantial. In the first three quarters of 2025, the company's revenue was 42.434 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 22.21%. Its net loss attributable to shareholders was 710 million yuan, a sharp decline of 811.60% year-on-year, and its net loss after deducting non-recurring items was 1.502 billion yuan, down 126.96% year-on-year.
Now, with the expectation of another negative net profit for 2025, Yonghui Superstores has once again laid bare its long-evident profitability challenges.
Following the release of the Q3 2025 report, several brokerages issued performance forecasts. Huatai Securities, Guosheng Securities, and others estimated the company's full-year loss would be between 900 million and 1.5 billion yuan.
Regarding the losses, Yonghui Superstores also pointed out the underlying difficulties: store renovations require processes involving temporary closures for refurbishment, equipment investment, asset write-offs, reopening expenses, and staff skill upgrades; closing hundreds of loss-making stores incurs costs such as lease and employee compensation, inventory clearance, and asset write-offs; simultaneously, supply chain reforms are underway, involving the upgrade or replacement of a large number of suppliers and products.
As of September 30, 2025, Yonghui Superstores had completed the renovation of 222 stores. The total number of stores was reduced to 450, a net decrease of 325 stores compared to the end of 2024.
Store renovations are a major component of the "cash-burning" process.
Last June, Wang Shoucheng, Vice President of Yonghui Superstores and head of the national store renovation project, stated publicly that the investment for renovating a single Yonghui store currently ranges from 5 million to 8 million yuan.
Just one month later, the disclosed private placement plan revealed an even more staggering scale of investment.
In July last year, Yonghui Superstores' private placement announcement indicated that the company planned to invest 5.597 billion yuan in a store upgrade and renovation project. This specifically involved the "Pang Donglai-style" renovation and upgrade of 298 stores, covering construction engineering investment, equipment purchase and installation, initial stock, and other expenses. Averaging it out, the renovation cost per store for these 298 stores amounts to 18.78 million yuan.
Currently, Yonghui Superstores' "Pang Donglai-style revamp" transformation is in a critical攻坚 phase. The company expects to complete the adjustment of all existing stores by 2026. This means Yonghui Superstores will still bear significant cost pressures this year.
The substantial upfront investments have yet to translate into profitability, while subsequent renovations require continuous "capital infusion." Against this backdrop, whether the private placement fundraising推进 by Yonghui Superstores can be successfully completed has become a core variable determining the success or failure of this transformation.
The proposed private placement amount was reduced by 800 million yuan and remains pending. Whether Ye Guofu will increase his stake has become a key悬念.
This private placement plan by Yonghui Superstores was first announced in July 2025. By September, the company had adjusted the plan: reducing the proposed fundraising amount from 3.992 billion yuan to 3.114 billion yuan, adjusting the total investment for the "Store Upgrade and Renovation Project" from 5.597 billion yuan to 3.979 billion yuan, and reducing the number of stores slated for renovation and upgrade from 298 to 216. The company plans to use its own funds for the remaining stores' renovations.
Although this 3.1 billion yuan fundraising scale is not particularly high compared to Yonghui Superstores' past private placements, it is the most urgent and critical one.
Since its listing in 2010, Yonghui Superstores launched private placement plans in 2012, 2014, and 2015, raising 1.016 billion yuan, 5.692 billion yuan, and 6.459 billion yuan, respectively.
During those years, Yonghui Superstores was in a phase of rapid growth, maintaining double-digit revenue growth, annual net profits exceeding 500 million yuan, and a debt-to-asset ratio controlled between 39% and 60%, indicating overall sound financial health.
In contrast, the Q3 2025 report shows Yonghui Superstores' revenue declined by 22.21%, with a loss of 710 million yuan, and a debt-to-asset ratio of 88.96%, standing at a historical high.
Funding pressure is even more imminent. In its response to the regulatory inquiry, Yonghui Superstores calculated that its funding gap for the future period (Q4 2025, 2026, and 2027) is 3.552 billion yuan, which is higher than the total 3.114 billion yuan raised in this placement.
Nearly 80% of this 3.1 billion yuan private placement is intended for store upgrades and renovations. It can be said that the smooth progression of this transformation highly depends on the successful execution of this placement.
For Yonghui Superstores, this transformation is not an option but a necessity. Ye Guofu is a staunch admirer of the Pang Donglai model. He has stated that the Pang Donglai model is superior to American models like Sam's Club and Costco: "Yonghui Superstores must undergo this revamp. The Pang Donglai model is the only way out for Chinese supermarkets. Without this revamp, it's 'certain death'."
Ye Guofu is widely known to the public as the founder of Miniso. What is his connection to Yonghui Superstores?
It turns out that in September 2024, three months after Yonghui Superstores announced the "Pang Donglai-style revamp", a subsidiary of Miniso acquired a 29.4% stake in Yonghui Superstores for 6.27 billion yuan, becoming its largest shareholder.
At the market close on January 16, 2026, Yonghui Superstores' stock price was 4.71 yuan, with a total market capitalization of 42.74 billion yuan. The 29.4% stake held by the Miniso subsidiary corresponds to a market value of 12.5 billion yuan, representing a significant appreciation from the acquisition cost of 6.27 billion yuan, resulting in substantial paper gains for Ye Guofu.
Although Ye Guofu's name does not appear among the listed management of Yonghui Superstores, he effectively holds the主导权 over the "Pang Donglai-style revamp". In March 2025, Yonghui Superstores established a reform leading group to oversee the company's reform and transformation, with Ye Guofu serving as the head of the group.
Beyond formulating the renovation plan, whether Ye Guofu will take the lead in increasing his stake has become a key variable affecting the placement's success and stabilizing market confidence. If he were to lead an increase in stake, it could not only alleviate Yonghui Superstores' funding pressure but also signal confidence in the transformation to the market.
Currently, Yonghui Superstores' private placement plan is still in the推进 stage, with specific issuance targets yet to be determined. The latest announcement indicates that the placement matter completed the response to the regulatory review inquiry on December 30, 2025, and its finalization remains to be seen.
Public information shows that some of the renovated Yonghui Superstores stores have seen significant improvements in customer traffic and sales. The outcome of this transformation is not only crucial for the future of this veteran retail giant but will also provide a highly valuable reference case for the transformation path of China's supermarket industry.
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