Zhujian Catering Group's net loss expanded to 139 million yuan in the first half of the year, closing stores faster than opening stores

In recent years, Chikuma has rapidly shrunk its front lines, closing stores faster than opening them. (File photo)

[Reporter Gao Jiahe/Reporting from Taipei] Chikujian Restaurant Group, once known as the first "hot pot stock" in Taiwan, has grown from one pot of stone hot pot to more than 200 stores worldwide at its peak. However, its aggressive expansion strategy has incurred the cost of trial and error with multiple brands. The huge Fixed costs and operating expenses have eroded profits. The net loss in the first half of this year reached 139.18 million yuan, nearly double the 49.97 million yuan in the same period last year. In recent years, it has rapidly shrunk its front line, closing stores faster than opening them, and there are about 168 stores left in the world.

In the past few years, Chikuma has actively deployed overseas. In the Hong Kong market, Chikuma originally had high expectations and introduced three major brands: "Chikuma Happy Pot", "Yakiniku Smile" and "Chikuma Pickled Fish". However, due to the sluggish local consumption momentum and operating efficiency that did not meet expectations, it had to completely withdraw from Hong Kong in November 2025, and all three of its stores turned off the lights. In August this year, Chikuma further announced that it would terminate the operations of its Japanese subsidiary and close the Yakiniku store opened in Osaka at the end of 2024.

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The consolidated financials for the first half of 2026 show that the Hong Kong subsidiary (Jhu Jian HK) recognized an investment loss of 4.71 million yuan in the current period; the Japanese subsidiary (Japan Tsukuma Co., Ltd.) also recognized an investment loss of 3.33 million yuan; the "significant post-period events" in the financial report also clearly stated that the board of directors had resolved on August 12 this year to plan for the dissolution and liquidation of the subsidiary Japan Tsukuma Catering Co., Ltd. for future operating planning.

The domestic market is also facing pressure to eliminate the weak and retain the strong. In mid-2026, "Zhujian Happy Hotpot" successively withdrew from its bases in Okayama, Zuoying and other locations. For some stores that continued to lose money, it also recognized impairment losses of 9.41 million yuan on real estate, factories and equipment in the first half of the year based on the recoverable amount.

Judging from the overall profit and loss performance, the "trial and error" of simultaneous expansion of multiple brands at home and abroad has cost Zhujian a very high price. The consolidated comprehensive income statement for the first half of 2026 shows that the operating gross profit was 919.9 million yuan, a significant decline from the 1.17355 million yuan in the same period last year; in terms of operating expenses, the total sales and management expenses were as high as 1.04089 million yuan. The huge fixed costs and operating expenses seriously eroded the profit margin, resulting in the final net loss for the current period as high as 139.18 million yuan, which was nearly 2 times higher than the same period last year.

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