Net profit declines for the first time in five years, with the controlling shareholder planning to take 1.7 billion yuan in dividends. What's going on with the "small home appliance leader" Supor?

Ask AI · Controlling shareholder dividends exceed 1.7 billion yuan, how to balance shareholder returns and innovation investment?

This article source: Times Weekly Report Author: Zhu Chengcheng

On April 3rd, small home appliance leader Supor (002032.SZ) disclosed its 2025 annual report.

The company achieved operating revenue of 22.77B yuan for the year, a year-on-year increase of 1.54%; net profit of 2.1B yuan, a decrease of 6.58% year-on-year. With revenue remaining basically flat, profit declined for the first time in five years.

From the business structure perspective, growth momentum is not clearly differentiated. Cookware revenue was about 6.97B yuan, up 1.89% year-on-year; electrical appliance revenue was about 15.49B yuan, up 1.23% year-on-year. By region, domestic sales revenue was 15.17B yuan, up 2.77%, still the main support; foreign trade revenue was 7.34B yuan, down 0.98%, showing signs of weakening.

Supor attributed domestic sales growth in the annual report to “continuous innovation” and channel advantages, claiming that core categories maintain a leading market share online and offline; but in terms of exports, affected by a reduction in orders from major export clients, operating income slightly declined compared to the same period.

It is noteworthy that while Supor emphasizes “continuous innovation,” its R&D investment intensity has not significantly increased. In 2025, R&D investment accounted for 2.09% of operating revenue, remaining at a relatively low level over the long term.

Along with the annual report, a controversial cash dividend plan was also released. Supor stated in the report that it plans to distribute a cash dividend of 26.30 yuan (including tax) for every 10 shares to all shareholders, totaling 2.1B yuan. This is roughly equal to the net profit for 2025.

As of the end of March this year, Supor’s A-share shareholder count was 24.4k. However, as the controlling shareholder, France’s SEB Group holds up to 83.16% of Supor’s shares. According to the dividend plan, it will receive over 1.7 billion yuan in dividends. Supor will hold a shareholders’ meeting on April 23 to review proposals on profit distribution and other matters.

Slowing revenue growth, pressure from external demand, and restrained R&D investment coexist. This traditional small home appliance leader is gradually moving from a growth model driven by scale and channels to a stage where it needs to re-verify the quality of growth.

On April 3rd, Times Weekly reporter tried to contact Supor regarding these issues but was unable to get through. Subsequently, the reporter sent an interview letter to the company’s public email, but as of press time, no reply has been received.

Revenue growth rate below industry level

The kitchen small appliance industry is still growing, but the growth mode has changed.

According to AVC full-channel data, the total retail sales of kitchen small appliances in 2025 reached 63.3 billion yuan, up 3.8% year-on-year, with an average price of 242 yuan, up 11.4% year-on-year. AVC believes that future growth will depend on precise exploration of segmented demands and substantial breakthroughs in product value.

Against this background, differentiation among companies is rapidly widening.

In 2025, Beiding Co., Ltd. achieved operating revenue of 950 million yuan, up 26.13% year-on-year; net profit attributable to parent was 114 million yuan, up 63.35%; net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses was 110 million yuan, up 74.59%. Xiaoxiong Electric’s performance quick report also shows that in 2025, total operating revenue was 24.4k yuan, up 10.02%; net profit attributable to parent was 401 million yuan, up 39.17%.

In comparison, Supor’s revenue growth is below the overall industry level, and profits have declined. Ding Shaojiang, chief analyst at GKURC Economic Think Tank, believes this performance is not universal. “In 2025, the small home appliance industry basically shows a K-shaped differentiation. Some leading and emerging companies achieve both revenue and profit growth, while some rely on exports or low-margin OEMs under performance pressure. The causes are mainly structural issues, with cyclical fluctuations as a secondary factor. Weak export demand combined with high sales expenses results in order structure and cost strategy problems, with costs and demand cyclically dragging performance down.”

Supor also admits in the annual report that the domestic home appliance market has shifted from a purely incremental era to an era of coexistence of incremental and stock, showing a polarized trend.

Specifically, as the cookware and home appliance markets polarize in consumption, on one hand, high-end brands continue to deepen channels and adjust their products and pricing strategies to seize market share; on the other hand, intensified price competition brings sales shocks, and it is expected that price-performance competition will intensify in the future.

“Innovation” narrative needs to be tested

Industrial Securities Research pointed out that the domestic small home appliance industry has entered a stage of stable development. Although there is a lack of explosive growth potential, it has good cyclical resistance and a stable market pattern, and also faces structural opportunities for domestic industry upgrading and global market expansion. Among them, domestic market segmented categories are trending towards differentiated upgrades. Kitchen small appliances are evolving towards health and integration, with demand shifting from basic cooking to quality cuisine.

Meanwhile, technological variables are changing consumption entry points. AVC believes that AI technology is disrupting traditional consumption decision-making models. Users move from precise searches for single products (like air fryers) to “fat-reduction appliance recommendations” and other broad demand questions for inspiration; AI is also upgrading from an auxiliary tool to a core content entry and decision-making starting point, reshaping industry traffic distribution rules.

Under such industry changes, Supor repeatedly emphasizes “innovation” in its annual report. Supor states that the company fully collaborates with internal and external innovation resources, continuously builds an open innovation platform, and keeps abreast of new technologies and new categories inside and outside the industry, constantly introducing new processes and new materials.

In terms of R&D, Supor says it is consumer demand-oriented, developing differentiated products that meet kitchen needs and local dietary habits. Supor emphasizes R&D investment, actively promotes technological innovation, and further expands product categories and adds value.

However, from the perspective of resource allocation, this innovation narrative still shows some divergence from resource deployment.

From 2021 to 2025, Supor’s R&D expenses were 450 million, 416 million, 431 million, 470 million, and 476 million yuan respectively; during the same period, R&D expense ratios were 2.09%, 2.06%, 2.02%, 2.09%, and 2.09%, generally maintaining around 2%, with limited variation.

In contrast, sales expenses continued to rise. From 2021 to 2025, the company’s sales expenses were 1.91 billion, 5.24B, 2.08 billion, 2.16B, and 2.18B yuan respectively. In 2025 alone, sales expenses increased by 227 million yuan year-on-year, while R&D expenses increased by only 6 million yuan, with the former’s increase being over 30 times that of the latter.

This resource allocation tilt may reflect a growth logic that relies more on channels, advertising, and brand reach rather than technological breakthroughs.

“Technological R&D is one of the core competitiveness of home appliance companies. R&D investment and efficiency will determine the company’s development height in the medium and long term,” Ding Shaojiang believes. Ignoring technological R&D could lead to increased product homogenization, such as slow iteration of smart and health-oriented products, falling behind in AIoT and scenario-based competition, and losing young users; insufficient R&D may also hinder product premiumization, putting pressure on gross margins in price wars, with profits squeezed by costs and expenses.

On April 3rd, Supor closed at 45.96 yuan per share, up 2.11%, with a total market value of 2.41B yuan.