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

On April 3, the small appliance leader Supor (002032.SZ) released its 2025 annual report.

For the full year, the company reported operating revenue of RMB 22.77B, up 1.54%, while net profit was RMB 2.1B, down 6.58% year over year. With revenue basically flat, profit fell for the first time in five years.

In terms of business structure, growth momentum is not showing a particularly clear split. Revenue from the cookware business was about RMB 6.97B, up 1.89%; revenue from the electrical appliances business was about RMB 15.49B, up 1.23%. By region, domestic sales revenue was RMB 15.17B, up 2.77%, and it remains the main support; export revenue was RMB 7.34B, down 0.98%, and has shown signs of weakening.

In its annual report, Supor attributes domestic growth to “continuous innovation” and channel advantages, and says that core product categories maintain a leading position in market share across both online and offline markets. However, on the export side, it said that due to the impact of fewer orders from major overseas customers, operating revenue is slightly lower than in the same period.

Notably, while Supor emphasizes “continuous innovation,” its R&D spending intensity has not increased significantly. In 2025, R&D spending as a percentage of operating revenue was 2.09%, remaining at a low level over the long term.

Along with the annual report came a controversial cash dividend proposal. In the annual report, Supor stated that it plans to pay all shareholders a cash dividend of RMB 26.30 per 10 shares (including tax), for a total cash dividend of RMB 2.1B. This is basically in line with the company’s 2025 net profit.

As of the end of March this year, the number of A-share shareholders of Supor was 244,000. However, as the controlling shareholder, the French SEB Group holds as much as 83.16% of Supor’s shares; under the dividend plan, it will receive more than RMB 1.7 billion in dividends. Supor will hold a shareholders’ meeting on April 23 to review proposals including profit distribution.

With slowing revenue growth, pressure on overseas demand, and restrained R&D spending all coexisting, this traditional small-appliance leader is gradually moving from a growth model that previously relied on scale and channel drivers into a stage where it needs to prove the quality of its growth again.

On April 3, the reporter from the Securities Times contacted Supor by phone about related issues, but was unable to get through. The reporter then sent an interview letter to the company’s public email address; as of the time of publication, no reply had been received.

Revenue growth lags the industry level

The kitchen small appliance industry is still growing, but the way it grows has already changed.

AVC (All Channel Retail Data) from Oviyunwang shows that in 2025, the overall retail sales of kitchen small appliances totaled RMB 63.3 billion, up 3.8% year over year, and the average selling price was RMB 242, up 11.4% year over year. Oviyunwang believes that future growth will depend on accurately tapping into demand in sub-segments and making a real breakthrough in product value.

Against this backdrop, the divergence among companies is unfolding quickly.

In 2025, the company Beiding achieved operating revenue of RMB 951 million, up 26.13%; attributable net profit to shareholders was RMB 114 million, up 63.35%; and non-recurring items attributable net profit was RMB 110 million, up 74.59%. A performance quick report from Bear Electric also shows that in 2025, it recorded total operating revenue of RMB 24.4k, up 10.02%; attributable net profit was RMB 401 million, up 39.17%.

By comparison, Supor’s revenue growth rate is below the industry overall level, and profit has declined. Ding Shaojiang, Chief Analyst at GKURC Industry Economics Think Tank, believes that this performance is not representative. “In 2025, the small appliance industry basically displayed a K-shaped split: some leading and emerging enterprises achieved both revenue and profit growth, while enterprises that rely on exports or low-margin OEM production faced pressure on performance. The reasons are mainly structural problems, with cyclical fluctuations as a secondary factor. Export weakness combined with rapid growth in selling expenses—this is essentially an issue of order structure and expense strategy. Cost and demand weakness are cyclical drags.”

Supor also acknowledged in its annual report that the domestic home appliance market has moved from a pure incremental growth era into an era where both increments and stock coexist, and the market is showing a trend of polarization.

Specifically, as consumer demand in the cookware and home appliance markets becomes increasingly polarized, on the one hand, high-end brands are continuously pushing channel penetration downward and adjusting their product and pricing strategies to seize market share; on the other hand, intensifying price competition is bringing selling pressure, and it is expected that competition based on value for money will become even more intense going forward.

“Innovation” remains to be tested

Citi Research said that China’s small appliance industry has entered a stage of steady development. Although it lacks explosive growth potential, it has relatively good anti-cyclical attributes and a stable market pattern, while also presenting structural opportunities for domestic industrial upgrading and global market expansion. Among them, sub-segments in the domestic market are showing a trend toward differentiated upgrades. Kitchen small appliances are evolving toward healthier and more integrated directions, and demand is shifting from basic cooking to high-quality meal preparation.

Meanwhile, technological variables are changing the consumer entry point. Oviyunwang believes AI technology is disrupting traditional consumer decision-making models: users move from precise searching for a single product (such as air fryers) to asking broader demand questions like “recommendations for fat-reduction appliances” to obtain purchase inspiration. AI is also upgrading from an assistant tool to a core content entry point and the starting point for decisions, reshaping industry traffic allocation rules.

In such industry changes, Supor repeatedly emphasizes “innovation” in its annual report. Supor said that the company fully coordinates internal and external innovation resources, continues to build an open innovation platform, timely captures developments of new technologies and new categories inside and outside the industry, and continuously introduces new processes and new materials.

In terms of R&D, Supor said it takes consumer needs as the orientation, developing differentiated products that meet kitchen demands and align with local dietary and lifestyle habits. Supor pays attention to R&D investment, actively promotes technological innovation, and further expands product categories while increasing product added value.

However, looking at the allocation of inputs, this innovation narrative still shows some disconnect from resource allocation.

From 2021 to 2025, Supor’s R&D expenses were RMB 450 million, RMB 416 million, RMB 431 million, RMB 470 million, and RMB 476 million, respectively. In the same period, the R&D expense ratio was 2.09%, 2.06%, 2.02%, 2.09%, and 2.09%, respectively; overall, it has remained around 2% with limited change.

By contrast, selling expenses have continued to rise. From 2021 to 2025, the company’s selling expenses were RMB 5.24B, RMB 1.91B, RMB 2.16B, RMB 2.08B, and RMB 2.18B, respectively. Only in 2025, selling expenses increased by RMB 227 million year over year, while R&D expenses increased by only RMB 6 million year over year—so the incremental amount for selling expenses is more than 30 times that of R&D expenses.

The tilt in resource allocation may reflect a growth logic similar to this: relying more on channels, placements, and brand reach rather than technology-driven product breakthroughs.

“Technological R&D is one of the core competitive strengths of home appliance companies. R&D investment and R&D efficiency will determine the level of a company’s development in the medium to long term,” Ding Shaojiang said. “Ignoring technological R&D could lead to increasing product homogeneity—for example, slower iteration of smart and health-oriented products—causing a company to fall behind in AIoT and scenario-based competition, and leading to the loss of younger users. In addition, insufficient R&D could also make it difficult for products to command higher premiums; in a price war, gross margin would come under pressure, and profits would be easily squeezed by fluctuations in costs and expenses.”

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

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