董事长余惠勇言论持续发酵，百果园回应：系“断章取义”

Core Viewpoint - The controversy surrounding the chairman of Baiguoyuan's remarks highlights the company's focus on educating consumers rather than simply catering to their price sensitivity, emphasizing the importance of quality over low prices [2][5]. Group 1: Company Performance - Baiguoyuan's 2024 annual revenue was 10.273 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 9.8%, primarily due to a reduction in store count [7]. - The total number of Baiguoyuan stores decreased from 6,093 in 2023 to 5,127 in 2024, resulting in a net closure of 966 stores, a decline of 15.9% [7]. - The gross profit for Baiguoyuan in 2024 was 764 million yuan, a significant drop of 41.9%, with the gross margin falling from 11.5% in 2023 to 7.4% in 2024 [7]. - The company reported a net loss of 386 million yuan in 2024, marking a 206.7% decline year-on-year, which is the first annual loss since its IPO in 2020 [7]. Group 2: Market Position and Strategy - The chairman, Yu Huiyong, stated that while it is easy to create a perception of low prices, true quality fruits are often in short supply, justifying their higher prices [5]. - Baiguoyuan is committed to optimizing costs without compromising on quality, aiming to provide high-quality products at reasonable prices [5][8]. - As of August 11, Baiguoyuan's stock price fell from a peak of 6.98 HKD per share at its IPO to 1.74 HKD, resulting in a market capitalization decline of 75%, now approximately 2.7 billion HKD [8].