An unexpected scene unfolded at the 2025 annual general meeting of Luzhou Laojiao Co.,Ltd. (SHE: 000568) on the afternoon of June 30th.
Held at the company's command center in Luzhou, the meeting took a surprising turn when General Manager Lin Feng took the stage.
According to shareholders present, Lin Feng read a statement specifically entrusted by Chairman Liu Miao to the hundreds of investors gathered: "Luzhou Laojiao absolutely has not engaged in situations like revising financial statements or adjusting accounting standards."
This declaration was met with roaring laughter from the audience.
To many investors, this was clearly a veiled criticism aimed at competitor Wuliangye Yibin Co.,Ltd. (SHE: 000858).
The context for this perceived jab stems from an accounting correction announcement issued by Wuliangye on April 30, 2026.
In that correction, Wuliangye drastically revised its revenue for the first three quarters of 2025 down from 60.945 billion yuan to 30.638 billion yuan, a reduction of over 30 billion yuan.
Its net profit for the same period was slashed from 21.511 billion yuan to 6.475 billion yuan, a cut of approximately 15 billion yuan, representing a 70% decline.
This massive downward revision, effectively halving revenue and severely reducing profit, caused a significant uproar in the market.
Luzhou Laojiao's public statement at its shareholder meeting, perceived as a classic case of "protesting too much," combined with the shareholders' laughter, was widely seen as mocking Wuliangye's predicament.
The fact that General Manager Lin Feng emphasized the remarks came directly from Chairman Liu Miao added weight to the interpretation.
However, from an industry perspective, some view Luzhou Laojiao's own performance challenges as making this a case of "the pot calling the kettle black."
Financial reports show that 2025 marked the first time in a decade that Luzhou Laojiao experienced a simultaneous decline in both scale and profit.
Full-year operating revenue reached 25.731 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 17.52%, while net profit attributable to shareholders fell 19.61% to 10.831 billion yuan.
Breaking down by product, revenue from mid-to-high-end products, including National Cellar 1573 and the Cellar Age series, was 22.968 billion yuan, down 16.74% year-on-year.
Revenue from mass-market products like Tequ and Touqu declined 23.93% to 2.638 billion yuan, indicating greater pressure on the sub-premium mass segment.
The annual gross profit margin saw a slight decrease of 0.91 percentage points to 86.62%.
Net operating cash flow plummeted 62.86% year-on-year to 7.123 billion yuan.
The fourth quarter became a critical window for channel inventory reduction, with single-quarter revenue plunging 62.23% year-on-year and net profit nearly zeroing out.
Entering the traditional peak season around the 2026 Spring Festival, Luzhou Laojiao's first-quarter performance decline narrowed slightly compared to the full-year 2025 figures, but profit pressure did not ease significantly.
First-quarter revenue was 8.025 billion yuan, down 14.19% year-on-year, with net profit attributable to shareholders falling 19.25% to 3.708 billion yuan.
The gross profit margin for the quarter was 85.82%, a minor decrease of 0.69 percentage points.
Given its own lackluster performance, Luzhou Laojiao's perceived mockery of a rival is seen by some as schadenfreude.
This move is unlikely to enhance goodwill among investors and clients and may instead provoke market aversion.
It is noted that Luzhou Laojiao's share price has been in a long-term downtrend, falling 32% since the start of 2026 and erasing over 50 billion yuan in market value.
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