Shanghai Fushouyuan Industrial Group Co., Ltd. (Fushouyuan) recorded a net loss of 261 million yuan (RMB, same below) in the first half of this year, turning from profit to loss. This marks the first loss for the company since it went public in Hong Kong in 2013.
According to the “Interim Performance Announcement for the six months ended June 30, 2025” released by Fushouyuan, the company achieved revenue of about 611 million yuan in the first half of 2025, a decrease of 44.5% year-on-year. The net loss amounted to 261 million yuan, compared to a profit of 298 million yuan in the same period last year.
Fushouyuan attributed the loss to a decline in cemetery business sales. As of June 30, 2025, cemetery service revenue was around 477 million yuan, down 47.35% year-on-year, accounting for approximately 78% of total revenue. The revenue from operating graves, the company’s main product, decreased by about 400 million yuan in the first half of the year, a 51% decrease, with the average selling price dropping sharply from 120,000 yuan to 63,000 yuan.
Based in Shanghai, Fushouyuan’s cemetery and funeral service revenue in the first half of the year was only 240 million yuan, a decrease of 54.2% from the same period last year; the decline in Henan, Heilongjiang, and other regions also exceeded 50%.
In fact, in 2024, Fushouyuan’s attributable net profit fell to 373 million yuan, a 52.8% decrease year-on-year, laying the groundwork for this year’s loss.
In China, not only Fushouyuan, but several funeral companies also experienced revenue declines or losses in the first half of this year.
According to China News Weekly on September 14, Wan Tong Yuan, headquartered in Nanjing and listed on the Hong Kong stock market in 2015, reported a revenue of only 11.06 million yuan in the first half of the year, a 54% year-on-year decrease, shifting from profit to loss. In addition, companies like Anxian Yuan and China Life Group also indicated pressure on funeral income in their semi-annual reports.
Guo Wanfen, the marketing director of Chongqing Ling’an Cemetery, revealed the changes in the funeral industry in China in recent years. Guo said that in Chongqing, the storage volume of remains has been noticeably increasing in recent years. In the past, customers would choose immediate burials, completing the funeral within three days of the deceased’s passing, during which they would select a burial plot with ease. However, in the last two years, many customers she has dealt with choose to store the remains first, with an annual storage fee of less than 300 yuan, extending the burial period indefinitely, rendering the quick sales pitch ineffective.
Some practitioners in the funeral industry stated that with economic transformations, the attitudes of many middle-class individuals towards buying cemetery plots have changed. Former customers believed that buying a burial plot was necessary and were willing to pay high prices, but nowadays, many prefer to adopt a wait-and-see approach.
Established in 1994, Fushouyuan is one of the earliest privately-owned companies to enter the funeral service industry in China. The company’s business includes cemetery sales, funeral services, etc. Starting from Shanghai, it has expanded to more than 40 cities nationwide, mainly targeting middle to high-end customer groups.