Seven Listed Dairy Firms Post 4.7% Revenue Growth in H1 2026, Net Profit Falls 11.3%

Yili Industrial, Mengniu Dairy, Miaokeland, China Feihe, Bright Dairy, Sanyuan Foods, and Beingmate have disclosed their interim results for the first half of 2026. The seven listed dairy companies generated combined operating revenue of approximately RMB 138.425 billion in the period, up about 4.7% year on year, while attributable net profit totaled approximately RMB 9.625 billion, down about 11.3% year on year.

By company, Mengniu Dairy, Miaokeland, and Sanyuan Foods achieved growth in both revenue and net profit; Yili Industrial and China Feihe saw revenue rise but profit decline; Bright Dairy reported lower revenue but higher attributable net profit; and Beingmate posted declines in both revenue and net profit.

Yili Industrial recorded operating revenue of RMB 64.331 billion in the first half, up 4.13% year on year, with attributable net profit of RMB 5.759 billion, down 20.02% year on year. Yili made asset impairment provisions on related assets, with goodwill impairment being an accounting loss that does not involve cash outflows and does not affect the company's operating cash flow or normal production and operations; it falls under non-recurring items. Excluding one-time effects, the company's core operating profit was RMB 8.38 billion, up 10% year on year, with a core operating margin of 13%, up 66 basis points year on year. By segment, liquid milk revenue was RMB 36.590 billion, up 1.28% year on year; milk powder and dairy products revenue was RMB 16.845 billion, up 1.61% year on year; and cold drinks revenue was RMB 9.073 billion, up 10.26% year on year.

Mengniu Dairy reported revenue of RMB 44.795 billion in the first half, up 7.8% year on year, with operating profit of RMB 3.68 billion and attributable net profit of RMB 2.37 billion, up 15.9% year on year. By segment, all of Mengniu's product categories achieved growth, with fresh milk, milk powder, and cheese each growing more than 30%. Cheese business revenue rose 32.6% year on year to RMB 3.148 billion.

China Feihe generated revenue of RMB 9.362 billion in the first half, up 2.3% year on year, while profit attributable to owners of the parent fell 16.3% to RMB 837 million. Selling and distribution expenses rose 7.9% year on year to RMB 3.425 billion, with a selling expense ratio of about 36.6%. Data cited in the financial report show that the number of infants aged 0-3 in China fell from about 41.9 million in 2020 to about 26.5 million in 2025. According to data from the National Health Commission, the number of newborns in China dropped to 7.92 million in 2025.

Beingmate reported first-half revenue of RMB 1.292 billion, down 4.63% year on year, with attributable net profit of RMB 71 million, down 3.60% year on year. Affected by weak macro consumer demand, poor overall prosperity in the infant formula industry, and a decline in the number of traditional maternal and child stores, business expansion faced pressure, with the number of distributors at the end of the reporting period down 334 from the beginning of the year. By product, milk powder revenue was RMB 1.067 billion, accounting for 82.54% of total revenue, down 11.75% year on year.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, national dairy production in the first half of 2026 was 15.184 million tonnes, up 5.8% year on year. The liquid milk market has relatively ample supply, while the production capacity and market share of high-value-added deep-processed products such as cheese and butter remain at low levels. Some dairy companies are expanding into higher-value-added product areas: Yili is developing customized cream, cheese, and butter products for baking, tea drinks, and Western cuisine scenarios, with its new intelligent deep-processing benchmark base mainly producing original mozzarella cheese, fresh cheese, and cheddar cheese; Mengniu mentioned in its financial report that revenue from middle-aged and elderly milk powder grew strongly, with adult milk powder market share rising year on year and ranking first in online market share for middle-aged and elderly milk powder; Yili's adult milk powder brands, including Xinhuo and Beichang, both achieved double-digit growth. Feihe is developing products such as youth cheese, adult milk powder, fresh-extracted whey protein nutrition powder, and slow-fermented cheese, covering infants, adolescents, adults, and the middle-aged and elderly.

In overseas business, Bright Dairy's subsidiary Synlait mainly produces and sells industrial milk powder, infant formula, cheese, and liquid milk, with products sold in New Zealand and around the world. In the first half of 2026, Synlait's revenue reached RMB 4.075 billion. Mengniu's overseas ice cream business, Aice, continued to expand its market, while its overseas infant formula business, Bellamy's, saw revenue grow more than 60% in the first half. Yili's cold drink business in the Indonesian market grew about 20% year on year, and its Philippine market revenue doubled year on year; its infant goat milk powder business increased market share in major Middle East markets and accelerated expansion in countries such as Eastern Europe.