Want Want Chairman Warns of Major Operational Crisis as First-Quarter Profit Falls 38%
Want Want Group Chairman Tsai Eng-meng issued an open letter in early August warning employees of a "major operational crisis" at the company. The letter attributes the difficulties to years of complacency and failure to innovate, with the company relying on a few flagship products for nearly three decades. First-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders fell approximately 38% year-on-year. The letter calls for eliminating inefficient staff but does not detail specific remedial measures.
Want Want Group Chairman Tsai Eng-meng issued an open letter to all employees in early August, warning that the company faces a "major operational crisis" and calling for heightened attention from all staff. In the letter, Tsai said the company "has enjoyed nearly 30 years of good times relying on a few flagship products, without ever innovating or seeking change." As the market underwent dramatic shifts in recent years, the company's approach to cooperating with distributor clients failed to keep pace, leading to customer attrition and declining year-on-year profits from Want Want products. He said "today's bitter fruit is the result of our complacency and failure to take corrective action in a timely manner over the past few years."
On the financial front, China Want Want Group (00151. HK) reported a year-on-year decline of approximately 38% in net profit attributable to shareholders for the first fiscal quarter. The open letter did not mention specific remedial measures but explicitly called for eliminating inefficient employees. As of the time of writing, the group had not issued a formal announcement regarding the letter or the financial data.