New Hope Dairy files for listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange: 9.7% market share in low-temperature liquid milk, accounts receivable of 648 million yuan

In recent days, New Hope Dairy (abbreviated as “New Dairy”) has officially submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with JPMorgan and CITIC Securities serving as the joint sponsors.

According to the application documents, New Hope Dairy’s development began in 2001. It was incubated by the New Hope Group founded in 1982 by Liu Yonghao, the former top tycoon in Sichuan. In January 2019, it was listed on the main board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. As a dairy platform separated from the New Hope Group, the company is jointly controlled by Liu Yonghao and his daughter, Liu Chang. If this IPO is completed smoothly, New Dairy will become the first dairy company in mainland China to achieve listings in both A-shares and H-shares.

Low-temperature liquid milk market share: 9.7%

New Hope Dairy’s main businesses are liquid dairy products and milk powder products. Liquid dairy products include low-temperature fresh milk, low-temperature yogurt, and room-temperature dairy products.

The application documents show that from 2023 to 2025, New Hope Dairy’s operating revenue increased from RMB 10.987 billion in 2023 to RMB 11.234 billion in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 1.1%. Net profit increased from RMB 438 million in 2023 to RMB 755 million in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 31.3%. In addition, New Dairy’s net profit margin also rose from 4.0% in 2023 to 6.7% in 2025. It cites a report by Frost & Sullivan stating that since 2024, it has remained consistently above the industry average.

In its application documents, New Dairy states that the significant growth in net profit was mainly due to the effective implementation of the “Fresh Cubes Strategy.” The strategy centers on fresh dairy products, especially low-temperature liquid dairy products. The company steadily increases the proportion of such products in its sales mix, continues to launch products with higher profit margins, and improves operational efficiency across the entire value chain.

The prospectus shows that, based on the retail sales value of low-temperature liquid dairy products in 2025, New Dairy ranks fifth in China’s low-temperature liquid dairy products market. Moreover, from 2024 to 2025, among China’s top five dairy companies, it had the fastest growth rate in the retail sales value of low-temperature liquid dairy products. In 2025, measured by retail sales value of low-temperature liquid dairy products, the combined market share of China’s top five dairy companies in the low-temperature liquid dairy products market was 64.3%, of which New Dairy’s market share was 9.7%, still leaving a gap with leading players.

From the development history, it started in the Southwest and carried out its first round of acquisitions, acquiring a number of dairy companies including Kunming Xuelan, Sichuan Huaxi, Anhui Baidi, Hangzhou Shuangfeng, and Qingdao Qinpai, thereby establishing a layout in the Southwest, East China, and North China regions. Through independent development of these local brands, New Dairy gradually built a comprehensive dairy production and sales system.

Starting in 2015, New Dairy again expanded its footprint through acquisitions, acquiring four dairy brands: Nanshan, Shuangxi, Asahi Weipin, and Sanmu. This further deepened its presence in the Southwest and East China markets and filled the blank in the Central China market.

After years of development, according to New Dairy’s official website, it currently has 48 controlling subsidiaries, more than 20 major dairy product brands, 17 dairy processing plants, and 12 self-owned farms.

Acquisition activities have also increased the scale of goodwill. As of December 31, 2025, its goodwill was RMB 992.5 million, accounting for 10.86% of the company’s total assets.

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of 2025: RMB 355 million

The application documents show that New Hope Dairy secures the supply of fresh milk by using its own farms, strategically cooperative farms, and third-party large-scale commercial farms.

Data show that in 2025, it purchased 66.18 thousand tons of fresh milk from its own farms and strategic cooperation farms, accounting for 58.4% of the total fresh milk supply. The remaining milk sources are supplemented through stable cooperation with third-party large commercial farms.

In terms of sales channels, New Hope Dairy mainly covers three major channels: retail merchants, institutional customers, and direct-to-consumer. Retail merchants include supermarkets, e-commerce platforms, small retail stores, and so on. Institutional customers include enterprises, educational institutions, and catering merchants such as milk tea shops and bakery shops. The direct-to-consumer channel includes offline stores, home-delivery ordering, and its own self-operated e-commerce. From 2023 to 2025, the revenue contribution of these three major channels increased from 50.9% to 63.8%.

Data show that as of December 31, 2025, New Hope Dairy’s accounts receivable was RMB 648 million, which increased compared with 2024.

In terms of debt, as of February 28, 2026, New Hope Dairy’s short-term borrowings were approximately RMB 445 million. Non-current liabilities due within one year were RMB 1.413 billion. Meanwhile, as of December 31, 2025, New Hope Dairy’s cash and cash equivalents were only RMB 355 million, and the total amount of current assets was RMB 2.057 billion.

In terms of the equity structure, as of the last date of actual practicability, according to the acting-in-concert agreement, Liu Yonghao and his daughter, Liu Chang, jointly control 76.48% of the voting rights of New Hope Dairy.

For this Hong Kong stock offering, New Hope Dairy plans to use the net proceeds for four major core directions: (1) to improve brand positioning and expand the sales network; (2) to enhance product innovation and biotechnology and digital capabilities; (3) to upgrade and expand supply-chain infrastructure; and (4) to use for working capital and other general corporate purposes.

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