Four Years of Losses Totaling 1 Billion Yuan, Yet Capitol Online Executives' Total Compensation Continues to Increase Annually, with 16% Growth Last Year

The company has been losing money year after year, yet executive and director salaries continue to rise.

On the evening of March 19, Capital Online (300846) disclosed its 2025 annual report, which shows:

In 2025, the company’s operating revenue was 1.237 billion yuan, a decrease of 11.47% year-over-year; net profit attributable to shareholders was -170 million yuan, a 43.91% increase; and net profit after non-recurring gains and losses attributable to shareholders was -186 million yuan, up 37.09%.

From a business structure perspective, IDC service revenue was 498 million yuan, a sharp decline of 35.51% year-over-year, which was the main drag on revenue; cloud hosting and related services revenue reached 681 million yuan, an increase of 18.57%, becoming the core support for business growth.

Industry-wise, revenue from the large model and AIGC industry was 261 million yuan, a significant increase of 65.88% year-over-year, the highest growth among all segments, indicating the company’s strategic layout in intelligent computing is beginning to pay off; meanwhile, e-commerce industry revenue was 57 million yuan, a sharp drop of 60.68%, clearly affected by industry demand fluctuations.

It is worth noting that Capital Online has been losing money for four consecutive years. From 2022 to 2024, the company’s net losses attributable to shareholders were 189 million yuan, 340 million yuan, and 303 million yuan, respectively. Including 2025, the company has accumulated a total loss of 1.002 billion yuan over four years.

Despite ongoing losses, the total compensation of Capital Online’s senior management has increased year after year. In 2022, the pre-tax salaries of directors and senior managers totaled 12.1337 million yuan; in 2023, 14.3917 million yuan; in 2024, 14.7992 million yuan. By 2025, their total compensation reached 17.1747 million yuan, a 16% increase from the previous year.

The company’s 2025 Compensation Plan for Directors, Supervisors, and Senior Management, released on April 1, 2025 (hereinafter referred to as the “2025 Compensation Plan”), states that independent directors receive an annual director’s allowance of 150,000 yuan, while non-independent directors are paid an annual salary: salary = basic annual salary + performance bonus.

According to the 2025 Compensation Plan published on April 1, 2025, the chairman Qu Ning’s basic annual salary is 936,000 yuan; CEO Yao Wei’s basic annual salary is 3 million yuan; Secretary Yang Liping’s basic annual salary is 1.0023 million yuan; Director Zhao Yongzhi’s basic annual salary is 1.2546 million yuan, with performance bonuses awarded based on evaluation results.

The 2025 annual report shows that the salaries of the company’s directors and senior management are determined based on company performance, their roles, responsibilities, and individual performance, and are paid in strict accordance with the decision-making procedures and basis for director and senior management compensation. Qu Ning’s pre-tax total compensation was 1.9952 million yuan; Yao Wei’s was 6.6196 million yuan; Yang Liping’s was 2.0732 million yuan; Zhao Yongzhi’s was 2.882 million yuan.

Capital Online’s 2025 annual report

It can be seen that in 2025, despite declining revenue and reduced losses, the company still awarded substantial performance bonuses to most directors and senior executives. In March 2025, the company appointed Jiang Ping as Vice President, with an annual salary of 2.2098 million yuan.

The company explained that the overall increase in senior management compensation compared to the previous year was mainly due to the continued narrowing of losses, gradual improvement in operational quality, and a positive trend in overall business performance. According to the company’s compensation management system, senior management’s pay is linked to operational performance; last year’s performance did not meet targets, so performance bonuses were minimal. This year, with performance meeting targets, bonuses were fully paid out, leading to higher compensation levels.

Notably, compared to 2024, Yang Liping and Yao Wei saw significant salary increases—Yang Liping’s salary rose by 770,000 yuan, and Yao Wei’s by 3.4753 million yuan.

Capital Online’s 2024 annual report

Public information shows that Capital Online is a leading domestic neutral third-party cloud service provider, offering intelligent computing products, computing services, and IDC services to clients across industries such as large models and AIGC applications, internet-related sectors (including gaming, audio/video, e-commerce), government, finance, education, and media. The company was listed on the Growth Enterprise Market on July 1, 2020.

On March 19, Capital Online also released an announcement regarding ongoing litigation and arbitration cases. As of the disclosure date, the total amount involved in litigation and arbitration over the past twelve months was approximately 101,228,669.65 yuan, accounting for 11.88% of the company’s most recent audited net assets. Of these, 27% involved the company and subsidiaries as plaintiffs or applicants, while 73% involved the company and controlling subsidiaries as defendants or respondents.

On March 20, the stock price of Capital Online opened lower and declined throughout the day, closing at 31.43 yuan per share, down 5.95%, with a market value of 15.806 billion yuan.

(This article does not constitute any investment advice. Please operate at your own risk.)

Editor: Sun Zhicheng, Xiao Ziqi, based on publicly available information and other sources

Reviewer: Feng Lingling