On 10 22, Wens Foodstuff ( 300498.SZ) disclosed its third-quarter report for 2026. In the first three quarters, the company recorded a net loss attributable to shareholders of the parent of 49.61亿元, compared with a profit of 52.56亿元 in the same period last year. A sharp drop in live hog prices was the main factor weighing on performance. In the third quarter alone, Wens Foodstuff recorded a net loss attributable to shareholders of the parent of 5.96亿元, narrower than in the second quarter. However, after the start of the fourth quarter, live hog prices remained low, and it will take time for industry supply pressures to ease.
Losses of nearly 50亿元 in the first three quarters; quarterly loss narrowed sequentially
In the first three quarters of this year, Wens Foodstuff generated revenue of 721.97亿元, down 4.74% year on year, and recorded an adjusted net loss attributable to shareholders of the parent of 49.99亿元, compared with a profit of 48.89亿元 in the same period last year. In the third quarter alone, revenue was 254.50亿元, down 1.88% year on year, and the adjusted net loss attributable to shareholders of the parent was 5.20亿元.
Looking at quarterly changes, losses were mainly concentrated in the first half of the year. Based on the company’s first-quarter, interim and third-quarter reports, the net losses attributable to the parent company in the first and second quarters were 10.70 billion yuan and 32.96 billion yuan, respectively. The third quarter’s loss narrowed by about 27 billion yuan compared with the second quarter, but the company still did not achieve profitability.
Monthly sales reports reflect the direct impact of hog prices on revenue. In 1 this year, Wens’s average selling price for live hogs was 12.75 yuan/kg, falling to a low of 9.27 yuan/kg in 4. In 7, 8 and 9, it rebounded to 10.80 yuan, 10.86 yuan and 10.75 yuan/kg, respectively, above the levels in each month of the second quarter. However, the price in 9 was still down 18.44% year on year.
In the first three quarters, the company sold a total of 2651.17 ten thousand live hogs, generating sales revenue of 353.94 billion yuan. In 9, it sold 298.83 ten thousand live hogs, generating revenue of 40.56 billion yuan. Although the monthly live hog price recovered somewhat from its low for the year, it remained well below its level at the beginning of the year.
Over the same period, prices for another of Wens’s main products began to recover. From 7 to 9, the average selling price of live chickens rose from 11.49 yuan/kg to 14.20 yuan/kg, while monthly sales revenue from meat chickens increased from 27.21 billion yuan to 37.31 billion yuan. In the first three quarters, the company’s cumulative sales revenue from meat chickens was 260.01 billion yuan.
Cash flow under pressure, borrowing increased significantly
Amid continued losses, operating cash flow came under significant pressure. In the first three quarters, Wens's net cash flow from operating activities was -4893.81 ten thousand yuan, compared with 81.99 hundred million yuan in the same period last year. The company explained that this was mainly due to a year-on-year decline in live hog prices and a year-on-year increase in raw material prices.
To cope with the industry's trough cycle, Wens increased its bank borrowings. At the end of the third quarter, the company's short-term borrowings rose from 7455.52 ten thousand yuan at the end of the previous year to 46.33 hundred million yuan, while long-term borrowings rose from 8.80 hundred million yuan to 74.83 hundred million yuan. Its debt-to-asset ratio increased from 49.82% at the end of the previous year to 59.15%.
At the same time, the company is also increasing its cash reserves. At the end of the third quarter, Wens had 27.51 hundred million yuan in monetary funds, up 171.44% from the end of the previous year. In the first three quarters, its net cash flow from financing activities was 58.66 hundred million yuan.
Leading pig farming companies adjust production capacity, while supply remains relatively ample in the current period
In 10 month, pig prices came under pressure again. According to data from Shengyishe, on 22 of 10 month, the benchmark price for live pigs was 9.87 yuan/kg, down 3.24% from 10.20 yuan/kg at the beginning of the month.
Amid low-price operations, leading pig companies have taken action by reducing sow numbers, phasing out inefficient capacity, and adjusting sales schedules. Muyuan, Wen’s, and New Hope have each adopted different approaches and made progress at different rates.
Muyuan Foods’ sales briefing shows that the company’s breeding sow inventory fell from 6 million head at the end of 311.3 to 9 million head at the end of 297.4. It decreased by 13.9 million head in the third quarter, a decline of approximately 4.47%. However, supply continued to be released on the commercial hog sales side: sales in 9 totaled 642.3 million head, up 15.24% year over year.
Wens Foodstuff Group Co., Ltd. replied on its investor interaction platform on 8 month 3 that its capacity adjustments involve both breeding stock and pig farms: on the breeding stock side, it is culling less efficient animals and improving herd quality; on the pig farm side, it is orderly exiting less efficient farms and concentrating resources in more competitive regions and on more efficient capacity. The company also stated that it will maintain balanced sales as planned and strictly control the destinations of commercial hog sales, and will not sell commercial hogs to customers for secondary fattening.
New Hope is adjusting its full-year sales plan. At an investor exchange on 8 month 31, the company said it would respond to capacity-control policies, with sales in 2026 year adjusted down from 2025 year to approximately 1600 ten thousand head for the full year. The company will also continue to reduce costs through health management, production management, and breeding improvements.
While leading hog producers are reducing capacity, the industry’s overall breeding capacity is also contracting. The National Bureau of Statistics reported that at the end of the third quarter, the national breeding sow inventory stood at 3602 ten thousand head, down 433 ten thousand head year on year, a decrease of 10.7%, with the decline widening by 4.2 percentage points from the second quarter. This was 96% of the normal inventory level of 3750 ten thousand head. However, the reduction in sows has not yet translated into a corresponding decline in pork supply during the current period. In the first three quarters, the number of hogs marketed nationwide reached 53739 ten thousand head, up 1.4% year on year; pork output was 4508 ten thousand tonnes, up 3.2% year on year.