Sichuan Swellfun Co.,Ltd. has announced the departure of its General Manager, marking the seventh leadership change within eleven years. According to the company's announcement, Hu Tingzhou has resigned from his positions as Director and General Manager for personal reasons. Zhou Zhiming, the Chief Strategy Officer, will temporarily assume the duties of General Manager.
Hu Tingzhou's resignation follows the release of two consecutive disappointing financial reports. The company's revenue for 2025 plummeted by 41.77% year-on-year, while its net profit suffered a severe blow, dropping by nearly 70%. The downward trend continued into the first quarter of 2026 with double-digit declines.
Despite the steep decline in performance, Hu Tingzhou's compensation did not decrease. In 2024, his total remuneration was 6.2339 million yuan. In 2025, a year when net profit fell by nearly 70%, his pay package instead rose to 9.9644 million yuan, representing a significant increase of approximately 60%.
Speculation arose externally that Hu Tingzhou might have been dismissed due to the deteriorating performance. However, it has been clarified that his departure was not initiated by management but was indeed for personal reasons. Following his resignation, Hu Tingzhou will not hold any position in the company's subsidiaries.
The company's recent financial reports did not elaborate extensively on its low-alcohol products. It is understood that Sichuan Swellfun launched a new low-alcohol beverage this year, primarily targeted at regions with a preference for such products, and its current sales performance is reported as acceptable. However, when compared horizontally with competitors, the brand power and reputation of Sichuan Swellfun's related products are still far behind offerings like Shede's "Zizai" or Wuliangye's "Yijianqingxin."
Net Profit Nosedives by Nearly 70% Recently, Sichuan Swellfun, one of the "Six Golden Flowers" of Sichuan liquor, disclosed its 2025 results: operating revenue reached 3.038 billion yuan, a decrease of 41.77% year-on-year; net profit was 406 million yuan, a sharp decline of 69.73%.
A longer-term view reveals that the downturn in Sichuan Swellfun's performance was foreshadowed earlier. As far back as 2022, after achieving a high growth rate of 54.1% year-on-year the previous year, the company's revenue growth rate sharply decelerated, ending the year with a mere 0.88% increase. In both 2023 and 2024, Sichuan Swellfun's performance saw only single-digit growth.
The year 2025 marked a period of genuine distress for the company. On a quarterly basis, apart from a slight year-on-year increase in revenue and net profit in Q1—attributed to concentrated payments from distributors—the second, third, and fourth quarters all showed severe declines. Notably, revenue in Q3 and Q4 fell by over 50% year-on-year, with net profits of 221 million yuan and 80 million yuan, representing declines of 75.01% and 63.02%, respectively.
In explaining the significant performance drop, Sichuan Swellfun stated in its announcement: "In 2025, the baijiu industry entered a phase of deep adjustment under the combined influence of macroeconomic cycles, industry adjustment cycles, and policy adjustments. The recovery of traditional consumption scenarios such as business banquets and banquets was relatively slow, and overall industry inventory remained at a high level."
The company has yet to emerge from this downturn in the first quarter of this year. According to the announcement, Q1 2026 revenue was 816 million yuan, down 14.92% year-on-year, with a net profit of 171 million yuan, a decrease of 10.12%.
Accelerated Exodus of Distributors Over the past year, Sichuan Swellfun continued to launch new products, such as "First Workshop · Crystal Lion," "Swellfun · Jing 18," and "Swellfun · Zhenniang Master." Concurrently, in terms of inventory control, the company halted shipments of its core product, Zhenniang No. 8 (500ml), across all channels in an attempt to restore channel confidence and reduce stockpiles. The company announced it would significantly increase human and material resources to promptly investigate and retrieve products circulating in violation of regulations, committing to a principle of "collect all that should be collected" to reclaim cross-regional and cross-channel goods from the market.
Despite these frequent measures, the impact on performance has been unfavorable. The company's product situation appears grim, with not only premium product sales declining sharply but also mid-range products failing to support overall performance. According to the 2025 annual report, revenue from premium products, including the First Workshop brand series and Swellfun brand series, was 2.687 billion yuan, down 43.59% year-on-year. Revenue from mid-range products, including Tianhao Chen and series liquors, was 174 million yuan, a decrease of 34.33%.
It is noteworthy that the annual report did not elaborate much on low-alcohol products, merely mentioning the launch of the low-alcohol product "Swellfun · Zhenxin Zhenyi · Qingyang 29°."
It is understood within the industry that Sichuan Swellfun has a long history with low-alcohol beverages and launched a new product this year, mainly distributed in regions with a preference for low-alcohol options, where sales are currently acceptable. However, a horizontal comparison shows that whether it's Shede's new low-alcohol "Zizai" or Wuliangye's "Yijianqingxin," both have invested substantial resources and achieved certain results. The brand power and reputation of Sichuan Swellfun's related low-alcohol products still lag far behind.
Furthermore, Sichuan Swellfun faces challenges with its premiumization strategy, particularly for its "Diancang" and First Workshop series, which often struggle to compete against the offensives of nationally renowned brands. Industry insiders reveal that brands other than Moutai have strong substitutability, with vague positioning in consumers' minds regarding brand resources and price expectations, making them easily replaceable. For instance, brands like Sichuan Swellfun, Shede, and Jiannanchun have seen severe price erosion.
In Q1 2026, sales for both of Sichuan Swellfun's main product tiers continued to decline. Revenue from premium products was 754 million yuan, down 11.39% year-on-year, while mid-range product revenue was 31 million yuan, a decrease of 36.39%.
The Q1 report also indicates that Sichuan Swellfun may be facing a crisis of mass exodus among its distributors, with 43 distributors lost in just three months. Compared to the 94 distributors at the beginning of the year, this represents a steep decline of 45.74%.
Sichuan Swellfun has long employed a channel model combining "major distributor partnerships" with "manufacturer-distributor collaboration." Last year, rumors circulated that the company's largest distributor in Henan province, Henan Yunfei Wine Co., Ltd., would not renew its contract. At that time, inquiries to Yunfei Wine went unanswered. Now, ordinary distributors are also accelerating their departure.
Resignation Following Earnings Release? Sichuan Swellfun recently issued an announcement regarding the General Manager's resignation. It stated that effective May 6, 2026, Hu Tingzhou resigned from his positions as Director, General Manager, member of the Strategy Committee, and member of the Nomination Committee for personal reasons. Chief Strategy Officer Zhou Zhiming will temporarily perform the duties of General Manager.
Hu Tingzhou's original term was set to expire on June 4, 2027. His departure coincides with the seventh day after the release of the 2025 annual report and the 2026 Q1 report. External speculation suggests he might have been "dismissed" due to worsening performance. From a performance standpoint, this inference is not without merit. Reviewing the two years under Hu Tingzhou's leadership, Sichuan Swellfun's performance declined year after year, from a revenue of 13.41 billion yuan when he took over in 2024 to just 4.06 billion yuan in 2025.
However, during this period of declining performance, Hu Tingzhou's compensation did not suffer. In 2024, his remuneration was 6.2339 million yuan. In 2025, when revenue fell by nearly 70%, his pay instead increased to 9.9644 million yuan, a substantial year-on-year rise of 60%.
It has been clarified that Hu Tingzhou's departure was not a dismissal by management but was for personal reasons. After resigning as General Manager, he will not hold any position in the company's subsidiaries.
The position of General Manager at Sichuan Swellfun has become known for its remarkably short tenures. With Hu Tingzhou's exit, the company has seen seven leadership changes in nearly eleven years, with average tenures lasting less than two years and the longest tenure being only three years. In 2015, Fan Xiangfu took office; in 2019, professional manager Wei Yongbiao succeeded him; in July 2021, Zhu Zhenhao assumed the role; in March 2024, Ian announced his departure, with Jiang Leifeng acting as General Manager; in August of the same year, Hu Tingzhou was appointed General Manager; and in May this year, Zhou Zhiming temporarily took over. The frequency of personnel changes, from nearly one per term initially to one per year recently, has significantly impacted the continuity of Sichuan Swellfun's corporate strategy.
Despite constant changes in management, what consistently attracts executives to Sichuan Swellfun is the high compensation. In 2021, the total compensation for the senior management team reached 22.021 million yuan. In 2022 and 2023, it remained around 14 million yuan. In 2024, a year with only marginal performance growth, compensation did not decrease but instead rose to 17.2851 million yuan. For 2025, total compensation stood at 15.8246 million yuan.
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