Hangzhou Robam Appliances Co.,Ltd. recently released its 2025 annual report, revealing its poorest financial performance on record. The report showed full-year revenue of 10.116 billion yuan, a decrease of 9.78% year-over-year, while net profit attributable to shareholders dropped by 20.38% to 1.256 billion yuan. This marks the company's first revenue decline since its listing in 2010 and the first time net profit has fallen by more than 20%.
The disappointing results were primarily driven by a collective downturn in the core range hood and gas hob product lines, which historically contributed over 70% of revenue. Additionally, secondary growth businesses such as steam ovens, ovens, dishwashers, and integrated stoves experienced significant declines, further dragging down overall performance.
Following the report's release, significant salary reductions were disclosed for key executives who held important roles during the company's "New Three-Year Strategy (2023-2025)." Among them was Ren Fujia, son of the company's founder and seen as the successor, whose compensation was cut by half.
Core business stagnation and secondary growth failures Since its listing on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on November 23, 2010, Robam had maintained consistent revenue growth, with annual increases around 30% prior to 2016. However, growth began to slow thereafter, eventually falling to single-digit percentages before turning negative in 2025.
In 2025, sales of range hoods and gas hobs fell by 8.62% and 9.76% respectively. Meanwhile, integrated stoves, steam ovens, ovens, and dishwashers—products intended to drive future growth—plummeted by 57.56%, 48.29%, 52.95%, and 14.10% respectively.
Market share for Robam's key product bundles and range hoods, while still leading, also contracted significantly in online channels. The company's two-piece range hood and hob set, kitchen appliance sets, and range hoods held market shares of 18.82%, 17.57%, and 19.57% respectively in 2025—down 8.07, 7.89, and 1.84 percentage points from the prior year.
An industry insider commented that the simultaneous decline in core products and potential growth drivers has left the company in a difficult transitional phase.
High sales expenses dwarf R&D spending Despite a slight recovery in the broader kitchen appliance market, Robam's range hood sales fell by 8.62% in 2025. The company's heavy reliance on the real estate sector has been cited as a key constraint. Since 2009, Robam has supplied products to major property developers such as Evergrande, Country Garden, and Vanke. At its peak, engineering channel sales accounted for 54.54% of revenue. However, as real estate projects have declined, so has Robam's performance.
In 2025, the number of new fully-fitted residential projects fell by 22.1%, further confirming the challenging environment.
Notably, Robam's R&D spending fell by 11.05% to 368 million yuan in 2025, accounting for only 3.6% of revenue—well below the industry average of 4.8%. In contrast, sales expenses reached 2.923 billion yuan, nearly eight times the R&D budget. The company also reduced its workforce by 186 employees, with technical staff seeing the largest cuts.
Executive pay cuts amid generous dividends Despite previously announcing ambitions to "create a new Robam" by 2025 through a focus on "digital kitchen appliances," the company delivered its worst-ever annual results.
Senior executives, including Vice Chairman and General Manager Ren Fujia, saw their salaries sharply reduced. Ren's compensation was cut by 51.97%, while other executives saw reductions of 60.22% and 29.39%.
In contrast, the company proposed a generous dividend payout of approximately 945 million yuan, representing a payout ratio of 75%. With its nearly 50% stake, major shareholder Hangzhou Robam Industrial Group stands to receive around 473 million yuan. This has raised questions among investors about whether the company is prioritizing shareholder returns or facilitating cash-outs for specific stakeholders.
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