Bestore Co., Ltd. (603719) is facing mounting challenges as store closures, revenue declines, and widening losses compound its struggles.
At its Q3 2025 earnings briefing on December 11, management addressed performance issues, store reductions, and equity disputes. The company reported Q3 revenue of 1.311 billion yuan, down 17.72% year-on-year, while net profit attributable to shareholders plunged to a loss of 28.7671 million yuan, deepening its deficit. Over the first three quarters, revenue fell 24.45% to 4.14 billion yuan, with net losses hitting 122 million yuan—a staggering 730.83% drop from the previous year.
Bestore attributed the profit slump to the closure of underperforming stores, which reduced sales volume, coupled with rising online traffic costs. In Q3, the company aggressively adjusted its store network, opening just 65 new locations while shuttering 283, resulting in a net reduction of 218 stores. As of September 30, only 2,227 stores remained, with 18 signed but unopened locations offering limited near-term relief.
CEO Yang Hongchun stated that the company is strategically optimizing low-efficiency stores while refining single-store models to improve channel efficiency.
As a leading snack retailer, Bestore saw declines across all sales channels. Franchise sales dropped 25.58% to 377 million yuan, with gross margin down 4.56 percentage points. Direct retail sales fell 19.83% to 374 million yuan, with margins contracting 2.67 points. While e-commerce and group sales saw relatively smaller declines of 14.02% and 3.58%, respectively, group sales margins eroded by 5.04 points, squeezing profitability further.
Overall gross margin for the first nine months dipped 1.88 points to 24.96%. CFO Xu Ran emphasized efforts to optimize product mix, reduce supply chain costs, and enhance lean management to improve margins.
Regionally, sales in East China, Southwest, North China, and Northwest all fell over 30%, with East China leading the downturn at 36.33%. Inventory turnover days also worsened, rising 10.84 days to 45.97 days despite flat inventory levels.
Earlier this year, Bestore attempted to sell a 21% stake to state-owned Changjiang Guo Mao, which would have transferred control to Wuhan’s SASAC. However, the deal collapsed after Guangzhou Light Holdings, another state-owned firm, sued Bestore’s major shareholder over a prior failed acquisition attempt, freezing the shares involved.
Investors pressed management on whether equity transfer efforts would resume and the status of the Guangzhou Light dispute, but executives deferred to future disclosures without elaboration.
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