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Haidilao
BusinessChina Business

Haidilao’s billionaire co-founder steps down as CEO as Chinese hotpot chain flags first ever loss amid pandemic

  • Hotpot restaurant chain prepares to post its first loss since at least 2015 as pandemic forces closures, suspension in operations
  • Yang Lijuan, China’s second-richest professional female executive, has been promoted to the top job

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Co-founder and chairman Zhang Yong seen during the company’s listing in September 2018. Photo: Getty Images
Martin Choi
Zhang Yong, once Singapore’s richest tycoon, has stepped down as the chief executive of Haidilao International, as the Chinese hotpot restaurant chain prepares to report its first loss in at least six years.
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The businessman, who co-founded the chain in 1994, will relinquish the day-to-day management to his deputy Yang Lijuan, who was ranked China’s second-wealthiest professional woman manager in 2021, according to an exchange filing late on Tuesday.

Zhang will retain his role as chairman and executive director to guide and supervise the group’s operations, and to formulate its long term strategies. The group also separately appointed new chiefs for its mainland China and overseas operations in the management reshuffle.

03:31

Chinese hotpot restaurant chain adapts as coronavirus fears push communal meals off the menu

Chinese hotpot restaurant chain adapts as coronavirus fears push communal meals off the menu
Haidilao last month warned that the group will incur a net loss of 3.8 billion yuan to 4.5 billion yuan (US$713 million) for the year ended December 31, 2021, its worst results since at least 2015. Earnings slumped 90 per cent in 2020 to 309.5 million yuan as the Covid-19 pandemic forced the group to shut or suspend about one-fifth of its outlets.
Haidilao shares have risen 1.3 per cent this year. The stock crashed 71 per cent in 2021, wiping out more than US$28 billion of its market value while the Hang Seng Index fell 14 per cent. Haidilao became an index member in March last year.
Mainland-born Zhang, 51, is a former welder and a worker in a factory producing tractors in Jianyang city in southern Sichuan province, before starting Haidilao there in 1994 with his wife Shu Ping. They took up Singapore citizenship in 2019 and currently control just under 65 per cent of Haidilao through offshore family trusts, according to filings.
The pandemic has forced Haidilao to close or suspend operations of outlets, hurting income. Photo: Reuters
The pandemic has forced Haidilao to close or suspend operations of outlets, hurting income. Photo: Reuters

He was ranked the richest in the city state in 2019 by Forbes with a net worth of US$13.8 billion. The couple topped the list in 2020 with a combined worth of US$19 billion, and fourth in 2021 at US$16 billion. Li Xiting of medical devices maker Shenzhen Mindray is the current leader with US$23 billion.

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