Lao Feng Xiang Co.,Ltd. (600612.SH) released its 2025 performance report on the evening of March 6. Data indicates that this leading jewelry enterprise is facing significant operational challenges: annual operating revenue reached 52.823 billion yuan, a decrease of 6.99% year-over-year. Net profit attributable to shareholders was 1.755 billion yuan, down 9.99% compared to the previous year. The decline in net profit excluding non-recurring items widened further to 11.92%. By the end of the reporting period, the company's total assets had decreased by 8.82% from the start of the period to 20.726 billion yuan, and basic earnings per share correspondingly fell to 3.3548 yuan. This performance stands in stark contrast to gold prices repeatedly hitting record highs in 2025, revealing the deep-seated difficulties the gold and jewelry industry faces on the consumer side.
In its announcement, Lao Feng Xiang attributed the performance changes to the combined impact of multiple factors. Throughout 2025, domestic consumer market growth remained sluggish, while gold prices experienced a rapid upward trend, continually setting new historical highs. The implementation of new gold tax policies further contributed to a complex operating environment for the industry. Statistics from the China Gold Association support this trend: China's gold consumption in 2025 was 950.096 tons, a decline of 3.57% year-over-year. Within this, gold jewelry consumption saw a sharp drop, falling 31.61% to just 363.836 tons. High gold prices significantly dampened end-consumer purchasing willingness, particularly for price-sensitive gold jewelry, leading to a structural shift towards investment products like gold bars.
Lao Feng Xiang acknowledged that despite efforts to stabilize the market by establishing regional subsidiaries, opening directly operated stores, and continuing to develop themed stores such as "Cang Bao Jin" and "Feng Xiang Xi Shi," the expansion of its retail network still fell short of expectations. By the end of 2025, the total number of domestic and international marketing outlets reached 5,355. This included 213 directly operated stores, a net increase of 16 from the beginning of the year, and 5,142 franchised stores, a net decrease of 499. This substantial contraction in the franchised channel directly reflects how operational pressures at the retail level during an industry downturn are being transmitted upstream to the brand owner, posing a severe challenge to the traditional growth model reliant on franchise expansion.
While Lao Feng Xiang faces growth bottlenecks due to weak gold jewelry consumption, how have other listed companies in the main gold consumption sector performed? A performance forecast released on January 13 by China Gold Group Gold Jewelry Co., Ltd. (600916.SH) indicated that the company expects its 2025 net profit attributable to parent company owners to be between 286 million yuan and 368 million yuan, representing a sharp decrease of 55% to 65% year-over-year. The company explained that both its primary investment-grade and consumer-grade gold product sales were impacted by the gold market and new policies, leading to reduced customer traffic in retail stores. Furthermore, the rapid rise in gold prices outpaced inventory turnover, resulting in temporary negative impacts on profits from fair value changes associated with gold leasing activities. This explanation reveals that even companies focused on investment gold bars face dual pressures from financial measurement and physical sales during periods of sharp gold price volatility, with the benefits of a gold bull market not translating into corporate profits as expected.
In stark contrast, Guangdong CHJ Industry Co., Ltd. (002345.SZ) and Beijing Caishikou Department Store Co., Ltd. (605599.SH) reported growth against the trend. A performance forecast released by CHJ on January 12 projected its 2025 net profit attributable to shareholders to be between 436 million yuan and 533 million yuan, an increase of 125% to 175% year-over-year. The company attributed this growth to enhanced brand power, refined operations, and omni-channel integration. By the end of 2025, the total number of CHJ jewelry stores reached 1,668, with a net increase of 163 stores during the year, demonstrating strong expansion momentum. On January 29, Caishikou Department Store issued its 2025 annual performance forecast, anticipating net profit attributable to parent company owners to be between 1.06 billion yuan and 1.23 billion yuan, an increase of 47.43% to 71.07% compared to the previous year. The company cited similar reasons: fully leveraging the advantages of its direct-operated model, enhancing coordination across sales channels, and continuously improving brand influence. The performance of these two companies demonstrates that even under overall industry pressure, enterprises with strong brand power, refined operational capabilities, and control over their channels can still capture market share and achieve counter-cyclical growth.
Through Lao Feng Xiang's performance report and the forecasts of its peers, the true picture of the 2025 gold and jewelry industry becomes clear. This is not a simple narrative of rising gold prices leading to universal industry growth, but rather a scenario of deep-seated divergence driven by changing consumer habits, tax policy adjustments, and extreme gold price fluctuations. The contraction of Lao Feng Xiang's franchise network highlights the vulnerability of traditional expansion models under cyclical pressure, while China Gold's anticipated profit decline underscores the complex interplay between financial management and physical sales in extreme market conditions. Conversely, the counter-trend growth of CHJ and Caishikou Department Store proves that industry competition has shifted from merely comparing outlet numbers back to a contest of internal strength, focusing on brand value, refined operations, and omni-channel synergy.
As the 2025 financial reporting season fully unfolds, the market will scrutinize each company's risk resilience and endogenous growth capacity more carefully. In this tide of industry divergence, the real test may no longer be the rise and fall of gold prices, but a more fundamental question: Why are consumers buying? As gold transitions from a wedding necessity to an everyday accessory and from a safe-haven asset back to its essence as a commodity, the connection between brand and consumer is no longer defined solely by weight and purity. And when gold prices eventually calm, which brands will leave a more lasting impression in the consumer's mind than gold itself?
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