China’s ‘Moutai of funeral services’ posts first loss in a decade as consumers stay cautious

China’s largest cemetery operator and funeral services provider, Fu Shou Yuan, reported its first loss in more than a decade, becoming the latest casualty of sluggish consumer spending in the country.

For the first six months of this year, the 31-year-old Shanghai-based company posted a net loss of 261 million yuan (US$36.6 million), its first loss since 2010, according to interim results released on Friday.

Total revenue plunged 44.5 per cent to 610.9 million yuan. Revenue from burial services, primarily involving the sale of burial plots, fell 47 per cent to 477 million yuan, while funeral services experienced a 34 per cent decline, totalling 122 million yuan.

The company attributed its struggles to various external challenges that had dampened consumer demand. “In this economic environment, customers seem to be more cautious in their spending on death care services, while competition within the industry has shown signs of intensifying,” it said.

Fu Shou Yuan initially experienced a surge in business after China lifted its strict Covid-19 restrictions in late 2022. In the first half of 2023, net profit jumped 78 per cent to 464.7 million yuan, driven by soaring burial plot prices, particularly in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai, where prices sometimes increased at a rate faster than residential properties.