Fuyao Glass's "Second Generation" Delivers Its First Report Card: Record-Breaking Performance with Slowing Growth

After the “second generation” took over, Fuyao Glass (600660.SH) achieved record-high revenue and net profit since its listing, but the growth rate has slowed down.

According to the annual report released on the evening of March 17, in 2025, Fuyao Glass achieved revenue of 45.787 billion yuan and net profit of 9.312 billion yuan, both hitting new highs. The year-over-year growth rates were 16.65% and 24.20%, respectively, slightly lower than the growth rates in 2024.

This is the first annual performance report since Cao Hui, the “second generation,” took over. In his speech in the annual report, Cao Hui stated that the company will initiate a “second entrepreneurial venture,” fully deepen digital and intelligent transformation, reshape production and management models, and build a truly “digital Fuyao.”

Compared to continuous performance growth, Fuyao Glass’s stock price reached a historical high of 73.62 yuan per share on September 18, 2015, but has since been volatile and declining. As of the close on March 18, the stock price fell by 2.33%, closing at 57.75 yuan per share.

Performance Reaches Historic High

In 2015, Fuyao Glass’s revenue and net profit hit the highest records since its listing. The company was listed on June 10, 1993.

According to the annual report, in 2015, Fuyao Glass achieved revenue of 45.787 billion yuan, a 16.65% increase; total profit of 11.162 billion yuan, up 24.15%; net profit of 9.312 billion yuan, up 24.20%; and earnings per share of 3.57 yuan, an increase of 24.39%.

Quarterly, revenue increased each quarter, with Q4 revenue reaching 12.486 billion yuan, up 14.15% year-over-year and up 5.32% from the previous quarter. Net profit remained in the range of 2 billion to 2.775 billion yuan, with the lowest in Q1 and the highest in Q2.

The company stated that the increase in revenue was mainly due to intensified marketing efforts and a higher proportion of high-value-added products.

After consecutive declines in 2019 and 2020, Fuyao Glass’s performance turned around in 2021, with revenue and net profit growing for five consecutive years. Revenue increased from 23.603 billion yuan in 2021 to 39.252 billion yuan in 2024, surpassing 40 billion yuan in 2025. Net profit rose from 3.164 billion yuan in 2021 to 7.498 billion yuan in 2024, exceeding 9.3 billion yuan in 2025, both reaching new highs since listing.

While performance has continuously hit new heights, the growth rate has slowed. From 2021 to 2024, the company’s YoY revenue growth was between 18.02% and 19.05%, but in 2025, the YoY growth was 16.65%, down 1.72 percentage points from 18.37% in 2024. Net profit growth was more volatile over the past five years, ranging from 18.37% to 51.16%, with the highest in 2022. In 2025, the YoY growth was 24.20%, down 9 percentage points from 33.2% in 2024.

Fuyao Glass stated in the annual report that in 2025, the global economy faced significant headwinds amid multiple uncertainties, with growth notably slowing. Trade policy uncertainties and ongoing geopolitical conflicts have put severe pressure on global supply chains. In this macro context, the global auto industry generally faced sluggish growth, with challenges such as weakening demand and rising costs. China’s auto industry, under policy-driven momentum, showed positive signs of accelerating new and old kinetic energy conversion but still faced issues like insufficient effective demand and increasing industry competition.

Fuyao Glass’s main business is providing safety glass and comprehensive solutions for various transportation vehicles, with most revenue coming from design, supply, and service of auto glass. In 2025, auto glass revenue was 41.889 billion yuan, float glass revenue was 6.48 billion yuan, with gross margins of 31.32% and 39.64%, respectively.

From 2022 to 2024, domestic revenue growth outpaced foreign revenue growth, but in 2025, foreign revenue growth exceeded domestic growth by 4.23 percentage points. In 2025, domestic revenue was 24.241 billion yuan, up 14.58% YoY, while foreign revenue was 20.857 billion yuan, up 18.81%. Relatively, domestic gross margin was higher at 40.39%, compared to 32.64% abroad.

“Second Generation” Takes Over to Launch “Second Entrepreneurship”

The 2025 annual report is the first performance report after Cao Hui, the “second generation,” took over Fuyao Glass.

On October 16 last year, Fuyao Glass announced that founder Cao Dewang resigned as chairman, and his son Cao Hui succeeded as chairman.

The 2025 report shows Cao Hui is 55 years old, serving as executive director and chairman, with a pre-tax salary of 1.6195 million yuan. Cao Hui joined Fuyao Glass in November 1989, starting from grassroots positions; he served as general manager from September 2006 to July 2015; vice chairman from August 2015 to October 2025, then became chairman. Cao Dewang, now 79, has been executive director and lifelong honorary chairman since October 2025, with a pre-tax salary of 7.7619 million yuan, holding 314,828 shares as of the end of 2025.

Fuyao Glass has built industry barriers and competitive advantages, but in the new phase of industry transformation, Cao Hui still faces many challenges.

The company noted in the annual report that the complex global economic and political landscape, along with risks and uncertainties, will pose challenges to operations. In the information age, customer response speed demands are increasing, requiring higher levels of service, management, intelligence, and collaboration. The trend toward automotive intelligence and integration, along with new technologies incorporated into auto glass, raises new requirements for product upgrades and technological development, posing challenges to the company’s technological progress.

Cao Hui also stated in his speech that 2026 will mark the 50th anniversary of Fuyao’s founding. Facing ongoing global economic uncertainties and complex domestic and international situations, the company will initiate a “second entrepreneurial venture.”

He outlined three specific measures: first, fully deepen digital and intelligent transformation to reshape production and management, aiming to build a truly “digital Fuyao”; second, promote lean and intelligent upgrades across the entire value chain, build an efficient, collaborative, and transparent supply chain system, and optimize potential while controlling losses; third, develop a dual-track talent system combining “business experts + AI application experts,” deeply integrating AI into R&D, production management, market analysis, and customer service, to drive intelligent business upgrades and achieve a comprehensive leap from professional empowerment to technology-driven growth.

In recent years, Fuyao Glass’s R&D expenses have continued to increase. After surpassing 1 billion yuan in 2022, R&D spending rose to 1.913 billion yuan in 2025, a 14.03% YoY increase, accounting for 4.18% of revenue. The company stated that the increase was mainly due to strengthening R&D project management, continuous innovation, and technological upgrades to enhance product value.

Additionally, Fuyao Glass continues its tradition of dividend distribution. According to the announcement, the company plans to distribute a cash dividend of 1.20 yuan per share (tax included) to A-shares and H-shares shareholders. As of December 31, 2025, the total shares were approximately 2.61 billion, so the total cash dividend would be about 3.132 billion yuan (tax included). Including the interim profit distribution for 2025, the total cash dividends for the year amount to 5.48 billion yuan, representing 58.85% of net profit.

Since its listing in 1993, the company has distributed a total of 38.815 billion yuan in cash dividends (including the 3.132 billion yuan mentioned above) and 1.406 billion yuan in stock dividends to investors.

(This article is from First Financial)