Old Shop Gold makes nearly 4.9 billion in profit; can Xu Gaoming's 63.5 billion withstand gold price fluctuations?

Radar Finance Produced By | Written by: Ding Yu | Edited by: Meng Shu

On March 23, as gold prices experienced a sharp correction, Laopu Gold, a high-end traditional Chinese gold brand, issued its 2025 annual performance announcement.

The financial report shows that in 2025, Laopu Gold’s sales reached RMB 31.375 billion; revenue was RMB 27.303 billion, a 221% increase year over year; and net profit was RMB 4.868 billion, up 230.45% compared to the previous year.

Meanwhile, Laopu Gold estimates that in the first quarter of this year, the company’s sales will be approximately RMB 19.0 billion to RMB 20.0 billion, revenue around RMB 16.5 billion to RMB 17.5 billion, and net profit roughly RMB 3.6 billion to RMB 3.8 billion.

This means that in just this quarter alone, Laopu Gold’s revenue has already reached at least 60% of last year’s total, with net profit exceeding 70%.

In fact, the explosive growth in Laopu Gold’s performance—beyond its strategic positioning in branding, product tone, channel deployment, and store scenarios—has been significantly driven by the surge in gold prices.

Thanks to the company’s strong performance and rising stock price, the net worth of Xu Gaoming and Xu Dongbo—the father and son behind Laopu Gold—has also increased. In the March release of the “2026 Hurun Global Rich List,” their combined wealth reached RMB 63.5 billion, a 146% increase from last year.

However, on the day Laopu Gold released its financials, gold prices fluctuated violently. Spot gold briefly fell below $4,100 per ounce, dropping nearly 9% during the day, hitting the lowest level since late November 2025.

According to Time Finance, Zhou Ting, head of the VIP Research Institute, believes that Laopu Gold’s decision to release its financial report during a period of significant gold price decline may be an attempt to offset the negative impact of falling gold prices with impressive financial results, thus buying time for its operations.

Positioned at the high end, committed to self-operated stores; annual sales per store nearly RMB 1 billion

Although Laopu Gold claims to be among the first brands in China to promote the concept of ancient-style gold and is a leading professional brand in handmade ancient-style gold jewelry, compared to established brands like Chow Tai Fook and Lao Feng Xiang, Laopu Gold is still a relatively new player in the gold jewelry industry.

Radar Finance learned from the company’s official website that Laopu Gold was founded in March 2009. That same month, its first offline store, “Laopu Gold · Wangfujing Gongmei Building Store,” officially opened.

It is understood that Laopu Gold specializes in traditional Chinese ancient-style handmade gold jewelry, with products spanning three main lines: “ancient-style gold jewelry,” “ancient-style gold (pure gold) diamond jewelry,” and “ancient-style gold ornaments,” including pendants, bracelets, rings, and earrings.

In Laopu Gold’s view, its success is rooted in distinct differences in brand positioning, product tone, channel layout, store scenarios, and customer service, which have established its competitive edge.

Notably, unlike some other gold jewelry brands, Laopu Gold has never adopted a franchise model.

As of the end of 2025, Laopu Gold operated 45 self-owned stores across 16 cities. Compared to 2024, the company added 10 new stores and optimized or expanded 9 existing ones.

However, in terms of store count alone, Laopu Gold still lags behind industry giants like Chow Tai Fook and Lao Feng Xiang.

By the end of September 2025, Chow Tai Fook Jewelry had a total of 5,663 retail outlets in mainland China; Lao Feng Xiang had 5,355 outlets.

According to Laopu Gold, all its stores are located in 34 well-known commercial centers with strict entry standards, including six in the SKP group and twelve in the MixC group.

The financial report shows that in 2025, the company’s offline stores contributed RMB 25.793 billion in sales, with revenue of RMB 22.646 billion, a 204% increase year over year, accounting for 82.9% of total revenue.

Despite the relatively small number of stores, Laopu Gold’s revenue per store is impressive. In 2025, each store in an average mall achieved nearly RMB 1 billion in annual sales.

According to Frost & Sullivan, among global luxury groups, Laopu Gold ranked first in both store sales and sales efficiency per square meter in mainland China for 2025.

Meanwhile, Laopu Gold’s online growth has been remarkable. In 2025, online sales reached RMB 5.582 billion, with revenue of RMB 4.657 billion, a 341.3% year-over-year increase, accounting for 17.1% of total revenue, up 4.7 percentage points from 2024.

Almost all of Laopu Gold’s revenue comes from gold product sales. Last year, sales of pure gold products (including pure gold jewelry and inlaid pure gold jewelry) totaled RMB 31.352 billion, with revenue of RMB 27.283 billion, representing 99.9% of the company’s total income.

Gold price surge drives “fixed-price” sales, increasing cash flow and inventory pressures

Looking at the longer-term trend, Laopu Gold’s performance has maintained rapid growth for three consecutive years, closely following the trend of gold prices.

Tonghuashun iFinD data shows that from 2023 to 2025, Laopu Gold’s revenue was RMB 3.18 billion, RMB 8.506 billion, and RMB 27.303 billion, respectively, with year-over-year growth rates of 145.67%, 167.51%, and 221%.

During the same period, net profits were RMB 416 million, RMB 1.473 billion, and RMB 4.868 billion, respectively, with growth rates of 340.4%, 253.86%, and 230.45%.

Gold prices generally rose during this period. Data from the Shanghai Gold Exchange shows that the price of Au99.99, which was just over RMB 400 per gram at the start of 2023, surged to RMB 1,256 per gram by the end of January 2024, an increase of over 200%.

Laopu Gold attributes its excellent performance last year to three key factors.

First, the continuous expansion of the brand’s influence created a dominant market advantage, significantly boosting overall revenue both online and offline.

Second, ongoing product optimization and new product launches sustained high growth in revenue across channels.

Third, the incremental revenue from new, optimized, and expanded stores in 2025 contributed to overall growth.

However, the rapid rise in gold prices acts as a double-edged sword for jewelry companies, bringing both opportunities and challenges.

Due to the sustained and rapid increase in gold prices, Laopu Gold’s gross margin last year declined from 41.16% in 2024 to approximately 37.63%.

In fact, to maintain high gross margins, Laopu Gold adjusted prices three times last year. Only after the third adjustment in October did its gross margin return to above 40%.

Benefiting from gold’s value preservation, price adjustments often attracted large crowds queuing up for purchases.

According to Securities Daily, on February 28 this year, Laopu Gold announced its first price adjustment of the year, with increases ranging from 20% to 30%.

Before this adjustment, many Laopu Gold stores experienced overnight queues of customers rushing to buy, with some stores sold out.

Consumer enthusiasm for Laopu Gold may also be closely linked to its “fixed-price” sales model.

According to China Business News, “fixed-price” refers to a sales approach that downplays weight and prices jewelry per piece, which can create a false perception of value during periods of rising gold prices.

Recently, however, the previously steady gold prices have shown signs of softening. According to 21st Century Business Herald, since March, international gold markets have experienced successive sharp sell-offs, with a “free-fall” occurring on March 23.

Wind data shows that spot gold prices broke through multiple key levels that day. For the first time since November 24 of last year, prices fell below $4,100 per ounce, dropping as much as 8.7% intraday, erasing all gains made this year.

Zhou Ting, head of the VIP Research Institute, pointed out that “Currently, Laopu Gold does not have the resilience of a luxury brand; gold price fluctuations remain the core factor affecting its performance growth. Fundamentally, it is still a gold sales brand.”

Some analysts believe that if gold prices continue to decline, it could dampen consumer enthusiasm for Laopu Gold products to some extent.

In addition to the potential impact of gold price fluctuations, Laopu Gold must also be vigilant about other risks. In 2025, its operating cash outflow reached RMB 6.848 billion, a significant increase from RMB 1.228 billion in 2024.

Meanwhile, Laopu Gold’s inventory rose from RMB 4.088 billion at the end of 2024 to RMB 16.044 billion at the end of 2025, a jump of 292.5%.

In response, Laopu Gold explained that ancient-style handmade gold items differ between jewelry and goldware; their production cycles range from 25 to 90 days. During the reporting period, rapid sales growth required increased inventory to prepare for the Spring Festival peak and market expansion, and considering processing times, additional inputs were necessary.

Additionally, Laopu Gold’s asset-liability ratio increased significantly from 38.1% at the end of 2024 to 47.8% at the end of last year.

After many twists, it finally went public, and the founder amassed a fortune of RMB 63.5 billion

Founded just over ten years ago, Laopu Gold, along with Pop Mart and Mixi, entered the Hong Kong stock market, becoming one of the “Three Little Flowers” in the market.

This achievement is closely linked to the key entrepreneurial decisions of founder Xu Gaoming.

It is known that Xu Gaoming, born in the 1960s, is a native of Hunan.

The prospectus shows that in 1984, he worked as a clerk at the Yueyang Municipal Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Bureau.

In 1988, Xu Gaoming graduated from Huazhong Agricultural University through correspondence courses, earning a junior college degree in freshwater fisheries.

In 1992, he served as general manager of the aquatic building at the Yueyang Municipal Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Bureau.

In 1995, Xu Gaoming made a bold decision: he resolutely gave up the “iron rice bowl” that many regarded as stable, and joined Yueyang Hongqiao Tourism Investment and Management Co., Ltd., serving as general manager.

He then began exploring diversification in business. In 2004, he founded Golden Treasure, mainly engaged in gold jewelry and collectibles.

Later, in 2012, he established Wenfang Culture, a company focused on cultural products, antiques, and jewelry.

As the business grew, seeking independent development of traditional ancient-style gold and streamlining the corporate structure, Laopu Gold was spun off from Golden Treasure in 2016 and began operating independently.

Looking back at Laopu Gold’s path to going public, it was quite winding. The company initially aimed for the A-share market but failed in its first attempt in 2020 and faced inquiries from the securities regulator.

The main reasons for questioning included the necessity and fairness of pricing after acquiring Golden Treasure, the high gross margin compared to peers, and the reasonableness of fund transfers among related parties, management, and processors.

After adjustments, Laopu Gold re-submitted its application in June 2023 but withdrew it less than a month later.

In 2023, Laopu Gold decided to pursue listing in Hong Kong. After multiple IPO filings, Tianyancha confirmed that Laopu Gold successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in June 2024.

Since listing, Laopu Gold’s rapid growth in performance has propelled it forward in the capital markets. Its share price soared from a few dozen HKD to over 1,000 HKD at its peak.

Along with the company’s market debut, founder Xu Gaoming’s wealth also increased significantly. In the early March release of the “2026 Hurun Global Rich List,” he and his son Xu Dongbo were listed with a combined wealth of RMB 63.5 billion, up 146% from the previous year.

However, the stock price has been volatile. As of the close on March 25, Laopu Gold’s latest share price was HKD 647 per share, a sharp decline from the earlier high above HKD 1,000.

Can Xu Gaoming continue to lead Laopu Gold to sustain its impressive growth amid gold price fluctuations? Radar Finance will continue to monitor.