Billionaire founder of Chinese hotpot chain Haidilao steps down as CEO

Haidilao International Holding

02/03/2022 03:37

BEIJING, March 2 (Reuters) - China's Haidilao  6862.HK ,
which operates a chain of hotpot restaurants, said its
billionaire founder Zhang Yong has stepped down as CEO and will
shift his focus to long-term strategy planning.
    The move, which comes amid efforts by Haidilao to slash
store numbers, has seen Yang Lijuan, 43, formerly deputy CEO and
chief operating officer, take the helm as of March 1.
    Li Yu, 36, was named COO of its mainland China operations
while Wang Jinping, 38, was appointed COO of its operations in
Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and overseas.
    Citi analysts said in a research note the appointments
underlined the company's commitment to overhauling management
"via bringing forward its senior management transition to
accommodate its aggressive store restructuring plan."
    Haidilao expanded store numbers aggressively in early 2020
but has since seen declines in table turnover rates and
earnings. In November, it announced it would close 300 stores.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2RZ04L
    The company warned last week it expects to report a 2021 net
loss of 3.8 billion yuan to 4.5 billion yuan ($600 million to
$710 million), most of which is due to one-off losses from the
closure of restaurants.
    Zhang, 52, who was born in China's Sichuan province but is
now a Singapore citizen, will retain the title of chairman.
    Shares in Haidilao were down 1.7% in Wednesday morning trade
compared with 0.9% decline for the Hang Seng index.
($1 = 6.3121 Chinese yuan)

 (Reporting by Sophie Yu and Brenda Goh; Editing by Edwina
Gibbs)
 ((Sophie.Yu@thomsonreuters.com; 861056692136;))