HAITIAN FLAV (03288) has reported a new historical high in its first-quarter earnings. The company achieved operating revenue of 9.029 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.57%, with net profit attributable to shareholders reaching 2.444 billion yuan, up 10.97% compared to the same period last year. When viewed in combination with the fourth quarter of 2025, revenue and net profit showed smooth growth trends, increasing by approximately 9.8% and 11.5% year-on-year, respectively.
One factor supporting this growth is the marginal recovery in food service demand. In the first quarter of 2026, national catering revenue grew by 4.2% year-on-year, a rate higher than that of retail goods sales, indicating a continued recovery trend. For seasoning companies, the rebound in the food service sector not only boosts usage volume but also raises requirements for standardization and customization capabilities.
Against this backdrop, HAITIAN FLAV has not relied solely on recovering demand. Instead, it has actively captured incremental opportunities from the industry's revival by upgrading its product structure and capability systems. In its 2025 annual report, the company stated it is transitioning from a seasoning product supplier to a "full-scene cooking solution provider," aiming for structural growth by increasing per-customer value.
As the soy sauce market enters a phase of stock competition, growth potential for single categories has stabilized. The company is now expanding into foundational categories such as vinegar and cooking wine, as well as adjacent segments like compound seasonings, to cover a wider range of cooking scenarios and consumer needs.
The effects of this product line expansion are already visible in the first-quarter report. Structurally, the three core categories continue to form the foundation. Revenue from soy sauce, oyster sauce, and seasoning paste reached 4.751 billion yuan, 1.422 billion yuan, and 923 million yuan, respectively, with year-on-year growth of 7.48%, 4.60%, and 1.12%, maintaining overall stability.
In contrast, other categories, represented by vinegar, cooking wine, and compound seasonings, generated revenue of 1.55 billion yuan, a significant year-on-year increase of 20.32%, outpacing the overall growth rate and becoming a key driver of revenue. Compared with 2025, this segment has shown a trend of accelerating growth quarter by quarter, indicating that product line expansion is shifting from initial deployment to a volume-expansion phase.
Beyond performance, the market is also focused on the company's dividend distribution capability. In 2025, HAITIAN FLAV distributed approximately 7.95 billion yuan in cash dividends, corresponding to a payout ratio of about 113%, which is relatively high among leading consumer companies.
This capability stems from its stable cash flow foundation. On one hand, the seasoning business features high turnover and advance payment attributes, leading to efficient conversion of profits into cash. On the other hand, the company has maintained a low asset-liability ratio over the long term, standing at only about 12% in the first quarter, indicating weak leverage constraints.
Building on this foundation, the company has committed to a dividend payout ratio of no less than 80% over the next three years, further enhancing the predictability of shareholder returns. Concurrently, an employee stock ownership plan has set growth constraints—requiring the compound annual growth rate of net profit attributable to shareholders from 2025 to 2027 to be no less than 11.5%.
Whether product line expansion can continue to offset the slowdown in the core soy sauce business and support the sustainability of high dividend payments remains to be seen, pending further validation through the scaling of new categories and the quality of cash flow.
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