Hua Xia Shi Bao·2025-08-28 14:52Core Viewpoint - The dairy market is experiencing a prolonged downturn, with leading companies like Mengniu reporting declining revenues and facing challenges in recovering from the low milk price cycle that began in 2021 [2][6]. Group 1: Financial Performance - Mengniu's revenue for the first half of 2025 was 41.57 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 6.9%, with both sales volume and average prices showing low single-digit declines [2]. - The liquid milk segment, which constitutes a significant portion of Mengniu's revenue, saw a revenue drop of over 10% to 32.1917 billion yuan, reducing its share of total revenue from 81.2% to 77.4% [3]. - The net profit attributable to shareholders decreased by 16.4% to 2.0455 billion yuan, influenced by losses from its joint venture, Modern Dairy, which reported a net loss of 913.5 million yuan [4]. Group 2: Market Dynamics - The dairy industry is currently facing an oversupply of raw milk and slower-than-expected demand recovery, particularly affecting the ambient milk segment [3][6]. - The average price of fresh milk in major producing provinces was 3.02 yuan per kilogram, down 5.6% year-on-year, reflecting a nearly 30% decline from the peak in September 2021 [6]. - The current cycle of low prices is prolonged due to the presence of large-scale farms that can sustain operations during downturns, leading to a slower adjustment in supply [6]. Group 3: Strategic Adjustments - Mengniu is focusing on diversifying its product offerings to mitigate the pressures from the liquid milk market, with ice cream and cheese segments showing significant growth [9]. - The ice cream business generated 3.8785 billion yuan in revenue, up 15% year-on-year, while the cheese segment grew by 12.3% to 2.3739 billion yuan [9]. - The company is also investing in high-value products and expanding its international market presence, with a focus on technological innovation and product diversification [10][11].