Operator
Good morning and good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by and welcome to Chaji's fourth quarter 2025 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. We will be hosting a question and answer session after management's prepared remarks. Please note that today's event is being recorded. With that, I will now turn the call over to the first speaker today, Ms. Alicia Guo, Investor Relations Director of the company. Please go ahead, Madam.
Thank you. Hello, everyone, and welcome to Chagik's fourth quarter 2025 earnings call. With us today are Mr. Junjie Zhang, our CEO, Mr. Dong Fengying, our COO, Global Executive President and CEO of Greater China Region, and Mr. Aaron Huang, our CFO. The company's financial and operating results were released by the newsware earlier today and are currently available online. Before we continue, I refer you to our safe harbor statements in the earnings price release, which was applies to this call. Any forward-looking statements that we make on this call are based on assumptions as of today, and Chaji does not undertake any obligations to update these statements. Also, this call includes discussions of certain non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to our earnings release, which contains a reconciliation of non-GAAP measure to GAAP measure. With that, I will turn a call to our CEO, Mr. Junjie Zhang. Please go ahead, sir. Hello everyone. Thank you all for joining Chaji's fourth quarter twenty-twenty-five earnings conference call. over the past few months, the market has a very significant volatility, and the competitive landscape has grown even more complex. As a new-listed young company, we indeed encountered some ups and downs on our 2025 journey, took a few detours, and a time-faced moment of uncertainty in our decision-making.
The management team has conducted a deep review and a reflection on these, reviewing them as vital nourishment to drive the company's evolution and build long-term competitiveness. 回顾公司的发展历程,2023到2024年,我们中国区处处于高速的扩展期,核心策略是高质量的门店扩张,目标是快速占领中国各大山圈的核心点位,借助标准化的商业模式迅速铺开。 这一策略取得了显著的成效 我们在全国拥有7000多个核心 山铺的点位 凭借博牙决嫌这款百亿级的大当品 成功定义了原液煎奶茶品类 累计了近2.4亿的会员 这些都构成了我们坚实的竞争壁垒 Looking back at our journey 2023 to 2024 were a period of ripe expansion in Greater China markets.
Our primary strategy was quality seahouse expansion with the core objectives of securing prime location across major commercial districts nationwide, leveraging a standardized business model to achieve rapid scale. This strategy delivered significant results. We now have over 7,000 core seahouse locations across mainland China and through Boya Tea Latte, our Broadbuster product, we successfully pioneered the fresh tea leaf category and accumulated a total of nearly 240 million members registered with our membership program. These achievements have formed the foundation of our durable competitive mode.
一边是消费线级的极致性价比, 另一边是产品服务升级的极致体验, 而外卖大战也加剧了这一份态势的分化。 对茶几而言, 我们在极致体验上本来是有明显的优势基础的, 但很可惜啊, 过去我们并没有在这里深耕细作, 我们拥有的七千多个最核心的线下体验空间, 同时, 基本款的原液线奶茶产品线
through superior products and service. The ongoing price war among the third-party delivery platforms has further intensified this divergence. For Chagi, we have a strong foundation in premium experiences with over 7,000 prime offline locations, a core fresh team lead by pay, driving over 90% of revenue, and a loyal membership base. We underinvested here before. Now we are ready to expand categories and fully unlocked our offline potential. 包括组织架构的优化、商业模式的更新、切换,并战略性地放缓了我们的新品推出的节奏,这客观上影响了我们部分的收入。
与此同时 我们确实也低估了外卖平台的价格战对线下业态造成的冲击 但我们依然坚持长期主义 不瞒目跟随 坚持自身的战略定理 今天我更希望和大家分享我们从这些经历中沉淀下来的清晰认知 以及基于此制定的更具确定性的战略方向与2026年的策略 Last year,
Translator Foundation solidified and reentered high quality development. We recognize that Expansion-based inertia no longer met the demands of refined management and operational excellence. Starting the second half of 2025, we advanced a series of internal adjustments, including organizational restructuring and business model transitions, while strategically slowing down the pace of new product launches. This had immeasurable impact on our revenue. We also underestimated delivery platform price wars on offline sales. We stay true to our long-term strategy, avoiding short-term trends. Today, I would like to share the clear insights from these experiences and our definitive 2026 direction. We believe a team that faces problems head-on learns from them and sharpens its thinking delivers long-term trust.
In this way, we aim to deliver enduring value to our shareholders, our consumers, and society at large. 现在我可以充满信心的告诉大家 我们内部调整已经基本完成 经营节奏和经营的秩序已经回归稳健 展望2026年 我们的核心战略 坚定不移的坚持高价值品牌定位 聚焦用户价值 用心打磨好与用户相关的每一件事情 I can now share with confidence that our internal realignment is largely complete, and we have returned to state operations and order.
Looking ahead to 2026, our core strategy will remain centered on high-value brand positioning and consumer value, with full focus on refining every detail that shapes the consumer experience. Specifically, we will focus on five key areas, brand upgrade, product innovation, scenario expansion, experience enhancement, and organizational improvement. These initiatives will bring us closer to our customers and support sustainable high quality growth.
But the consumer can truly feel the unique beauty of the brand.
At the brand level, we will launch new formats for regular and personalized tea houses, complemented by varied product lines to suit diverse occasions and emotions. We will elevate the offline experience, creating a true third space that connects emotionally with customers and showcases Chaggy's unique charm. The product will stay true to the logic that products equal people. We will innovate across categories by anchoring our 18 to 30 demographics core demands and develop new offerings in special deals, tea lattes and more, aligning our portfolio with consumers' multi-scenario lifestyle. We will penetrate new scenarios with morning and evening specific products, such as energizing morning Morning tea lattes and evening low-caffeine drinks. To complete our all-day lineup, we will also grow into workplaces, celebrations, birthdays, schools and weddings, leveraging scenario marketing to win lasting mindshare and wave tragedy into everyday and special occasions.
Thank you for joining us. 以用户需求驱动服务升级. based on real consumer input. for the previous users' value of value.
Strong organizational capability is essential to delivering our core strength strategic growth. In 2026, we will advance digital tools, optimize processes, and standardize best practices in operation, R&D, supply chain, and beyond. This will create a leaner, more agile structure perfectly linked with our brand's expansion and consumer needs.
We know that the growth of the growth is a need to be aware of the long-term care process. We must continue to do the long-term care process. In the 2026 year, all of the strategy and investment and funding will be surrounded by the value of the value of the value of the value of the value of the value of the value of the value. We believe that only with the real knowledge of users, and the value of users, and the value of users, that the company can be successful. We also期待 with all of the partners to be able to implement all of the strategy to achieve a better life-changing plan. for the long term.
In 2026, all of our strategic execution and resource by location was centered on consumer value. We believe that only by truly understanding consumers, meeting their needs and creating value that exceeds their expectations, can a brand achieve long-term steady development. We also look forward to working with all partners to advance these strategies and build on an even more vibrant Chagi. Over eight years, Chagi extended from one T-house to 7,453. This growth reflects the strength of our sustainable business model, adaptive organization, and commanding brand equity. 这确实是2025年我们面临的最大的挑战 但我想请大家关注的不仅仅是数字本身 同时也是我们在短期业绩压力下
并没有去做短期的动作 而是依然牢牢守住的长期主义的底线 2026年近期国内铜电销售数据 已经呈现环比改善的趋势 这让我们对上半年起稳 下半年修复的全年节奏充满信心 长期来看 我们的目标始终清晰 让中国市场进入高质量可持续发展阶段 海外业务持续探索 从长期角度 我们坚信全球化将成为茶几增长的重要抓手 把八丸茶几打造成一个真正源于中国 属于世界的茶饮品牌
这是我们一直坚定不移的目标 In 2025, due to the comprehensive organizational adjustments in the second half of the year and a deliberate pausing new product launches, we experienced a slower growth in top line Our same store sales in the fourth quarter declined 25.5% year over year This was indeed our biggest challenge in 2025, but what I want to emphasize is not just this number, but also the fact that despite short-term pressure, we did not resort to short-term tactics. Instead, we held firmly to our long-term principles. In 2026, recent domestic same-store sales show sequential improvement, bringing forth our confidence in a full-year trajectory of stabilizing in the first half and improving in the second. From a long-term perspective, we will continue to make overseas operations a powerhouse, growth driver, and we are unwavering in our goal to evolve Chaji into a global key leader, originating from China but resonating universally. With that, I will now turn the call over to our CFO, Aaron, who will provide detailed insights into the financials. Thank you.
Thank you, Ginger. And hello, everyone. Thank you for joining our earnings call today. today, and as Ginger outlined, we have gained a valuable clarity from 2025. That position as well for 2026 execution. I will focus on remarks on the metrics that support this outlook. Before we begin, please note that all amount are in RMB, and all comparisons are on year-over-year basis unless otherwise stated for the full year 2025 total gmv reached 31.6 billion representing a 7.2 percent increase from 29.5 billion in the 2025 2024 in the fourth quarter total gmv was 7 322.9 million reflecting the challenging environment in our home mark home market but also strong growth momentum overseas as of december 3rd 1st 2025 our tea house network totaled 7453 locations across greater china and overseas a 15.7 increase from 6440 a year ago specifically our Our franchisee teahouse accounts for $6,838 compared to $6,971 in the third quarter, while company-owned teahouse reached $615, representing a net increase of $248 sequentially. This change was primarily because we converted some of our franchisee teahouse into company-owned ones in China. In Greater China, average monthly GMV per tea house was $337,000 in fourth quarter of 2025 and $387,000 for the full year, consistent with the same store and the mixed dynamic that Junjie discussed. At the same time, overseas GMV for the fourth quarter grew 84.6% year-over-year to $371.9 million and for the full year our international market made it and made an increasing meaningful contribution to overall growth on the revenue line first quarter 2025 net revenue were 2974.5 million compared to 3 334.4 million in the same quarter of 2024 for the full year 2025 net revenue increased by 4 percent to $12.9 billion. In the fourth quarter, net revenues from franchisee to teahouses were $2,434.9 million, representing 81.9 percent of total net revenues, compared to $3,095.9 million a year ago. This reflects the cadence of the new product launch and the impact of subsidy competition on the delivery platform. Net revenue from the company-owned the teahouse were $539.6 million, up 126.2% from $238.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, mainly as a result of our delivery development of the company-owned house network in both greater China and overseas markets turning to margin our gross profit calculated by excluding cost of material storage and the logistical from net revenue which is the 1,581.9 million this quarter resulting in a gross margin of 53.2 percent this marks an improvement from 51.6 percent last year. The margin improvement results primarily from low packaging material costs, equipment, and the supply chain costs. On operating expenses, share-based compensation expenses this quarter were 66.1 million. This reflects our commitment to long-term employee engagement and aligning their goal with stakeholders. To provide greater clarity on underlying operational performance, we will reference non-GAAP operating results with four reconciliations available in our early release in the Form 6K. We recorded an operating loss of $35.5 million compared to operating income of $642.5 million last year. based on management accounts the operating loss was mainly attributable to the operating operational change in the fourth quarter with an impact of approximately 320 million which includes organizational structural optimization and business model transition costs. Excluding share-based compensation expenses, non-GAAP operating income was $30.5 million, representing a 1% margin. The above-mentioned margin differences reflects over a step-up investment in talent recruitment for global expansion, including brand building to support new product launches, R&D to enhance our offering, and the digital infrastructure to elevate customer experience. Operating costs for company-owned teahouses were $376.8 million, up 130.8% from $163.2 million a year ago. As of December 31st, 2025, we operated 615 company-owned the teahouses, up from $169 at year-end 2024. Other operating costs increased by 26.9 percent to $231.4 million, largely due to high payroll supporting the expansion of our global teahouse network. On a non-GAAP basis, other operating costs accounts for 7.6 percent of revenue, compared to 5.5 a year ago. Sales and marketing expenses for the quarter were $373.6 million, down 5.6% from $395.7 million a year ago. On a non-GAAP basis, sales and marketing expenses representing 12.2% of revenue compared to 11.9% a year ago. General and administrative expenses reached $635.6 million, up 89% year over year from $336.3 million. This includes costs associated with targeted organizational restructuring to position the company for more efficient, leaner operation going forward. However, the higher GNA reflects our continued investment in global corporate infrastructure and this to support international expansion, alongside costs associated with ongoing initiatives to optimize internal process and the resources allocation. On a non-GAAP basis, GNA expenses represented 19.7% of revenue compared to 10.1% a year ago. Beyond the operating income, we generated a positive financial income, reflecting interest earned on our current cash and investment balance, as well as a positive other income, which was mainly compromised of government grants largely in line with prior year period. On a non-GAAP basis, excluding share-based conversation, our four-year 2025 tax rate was 18.4%. Importantly, we delivered another profitable quarter on both GAAP and non-GAAP basis, marking our 12 consecutive quarter of profitability at the net income level, even though this transitional period. Gap net income was $33.9 million. Non-gap net income, excluding $66.1 million of share-based compensation expenses, was $100 million, with a non-gap net margin of 3.4% compared to 9.3% last year. For the full year 2025, GAAP net income was $1,186.3 million, and the non-GAAP net income was $1,909.9 million. For the fourth quarter, basic and diluted net income per ordinary share were both RMB 0.15 yuan. On a non-GAAP basis, basic net income per ordinary share was RMB 50 cents and the diluted net income per ordinary share was RMB 49 cents. For the full year 2025, basic net income per ordinary share was RMB 6.27 yuan, and diluted was RMB 6.18 yuan. On a non-GAAP basis, basic was RMB 10.21, and diluted was RMB 10.07. cents. Turning to liquidity, we ended the quarter with $7,892.4 million in cash and the cash equivalent, restricted cash and time deposits, up from $4,868.7 million at year-end 2024. This robust balance sheet provides ample flexibility to execute our gross investment while delivering shareholder return. In closing, our fourth quarter and the full year 2025 results demonstrate our durable profitability and our commitment to returning value to shareholders through distributing capital allocation. This positions us strongly as we execute our 2026 priorities. With that, I will turn the call back to the operator to begin the Q&A. Operator, please go ahead.
Operator
Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, you will need to press star 1-1 on your telephone. To remove yourself from the queue, you may press star 1-1 again. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question comes from the line of Lillian Liu of Morgan Stanley. Your question, please, Lillian.
Thank you for the opportunity to ask for this question. Thank you for the opportunity to share with us today. My question is about a company. It's a big展望 for the year of 2016. So, this is a big展望, that we have already had confidence in the process. it's a big growth growth year, and it's a big growth year. just to say, we have already had a new growth year, it's a big growth year, as a researcher, I think that the big goal is to be able to get to the numbers, 也就是说从24年的四季度到25年的四季度整个的铜电一直都是处于一个下滑的一个状态 那么从刚才这个态势上看我们怎么看26年每个季度这个铜电的一个转折
而且呢在铜电上我们有什么具体的举措把铜电修复 谢谢 好的谢谢你的问题啊 非常感谢 对于铜电销售持续下滑的事情 我们肯定内部还是进行深度的 这个深刻的复盘 这个这背后 既有外部的很多环境的挑战 这个更多还是我们内部 自己策略调整节奏的这个原因 就如刚才提到 我们在2025年的这个组织调整 首先第一件事 确实是我们低估了茶几 已经成为了一家 这个3400多人管理团队的
那这样的背后在组织调整上面 我们确实是低估了它的复杂性 和这个时效性 所以坦率地告诉大家 我们在2025年基本是耽误了半年的时间 至此也想跟大家抱歉 这个是对25年 那到二 谢谢
谢谢 谢谢 谢谢 谢谢 谢谢 谢谢 谢谢 谢谢 谢谢 谢谢 谢谢 We have a deep review of our same sort of performance, and we think it reflects both external challenges and our internal strategy adjustment pace. As you mentioned, we underestimate the complexity of a company who has over 3,000 employees, which has delayed our strategy rolling out for the year of 2025. For that, I apologize, or I feel sorry for the market.
对 所以2025年的市场内卷确实超出了我们的预期 外卖平台价格大战对线下的冲击也确实是我们也低估了 这是个客观事实 所以我们短期的很多应对策略是不够完善的 也是响应效率是不够的 在激烈的价格战里边 虽然我们选择了不盲目的去进行参战和低价竞争 但是实际上我们是可以做出很多举措的 外卖平台价格大战对线下的冲击 也确实是我们也低估了 这是一个客观事实 所以我们短期的很多应对策略是不够完善的 也是响应效率是不够的 在激烈的价格战里边 虽然我们选择了不盲目的去进行参战和低价竞争 但是实际上我们是可以做出很多举措的 但当时基于组织的调整 确实让我们错过了很多时机 所以这个 但当然也有一个好事呢 是茶几至今依然还是 守住了我们高价值的这个 价格毛 同时也进行了一系列的这个 内部调整
当然这个 短期也给我们带来了这样的这些 悲量的压力 但我们也坚信啊 基于健康的商业模式的增长 才是可具备 可持续性的
The market competition in 2025 exceeded our expectations. The intense third party platform competition impacted offline operations and our short-term market tactics were not as strong as they needed to be. In this environment, we chose not to chase low-priced traffic blindly. Instead, we stuck to our premium brand positioning. At the same time, we were very focused on internal adjustments and slowed our new product cadence, which did create short-term pressure on cap volume. Even so, we believe growth based on healthy business models is sustainable. Meanwhile, we are reflecting on how to actively adapt to market changes with flexible short-term tactics while maintaining our high-value brand positioning.
So,坦率讲,虽然之前我们走了这样的一些弯路啊,也没有及时响应到这样的变化, 但这些教训呢,确实让我们更加清醒了。 So we must keep in touch with the market, we must keep in touch. Now, in this year, we have a簽問活動 in the 2nd month. The chat is also fast-forwarding. And in this活動, we should have a lot of satisfaction. This is also the case. The chat team is returning to our original quality.
Honestly, we took some detours in new product launch, rhythm, and marketing execution. and we did not fully keep pace with how fast the market was moving. The positive side is that these lessons have made us more alert and agile. You can already see this in our Tianwen campaign in February, where we reached quickly and captured the opportunity, which shows the team's agility has getting back to the normal level. For 2026, we're not going to pursue growth for its own sake. We want to get back to a cycle of higher quality operations with same sort of recovery as our top KPI. We'll focus on four things, store operation, consumer experiences, product innovation, and organizational efficiency.
Thank you so much for joining us.
First, on operations, we will focus on existing teahouses, slow new openings. We will moderate this year's expansion pace and prioritize healthy operations at current teahouses. For underperforming ones, we will keep optimizing and upgrading, and in parallel, we're building a full chain quality management system from sourcing all the way to after sales to lay a solid foundation for long-term operation. Second, on consumer experience, we are focused on enhancing brand value. We won't trade price cuts for traffic. Instead, we are attract consumers through high quality product and innovation and superior in store services experiences.
What is the meaning of this? It means that in the past few months, there are a month of customers and customers and customers in this product. At the same time, the entire GMV is the same size of the GMV and is the same size of the GMV and is the same size of the GMV. This is the same size of the GMV So it can be seen that our product is very big, the product is also showing that it can be able to over the周期, to improve the product of the market. The other part is a lot of the experience of the product, including the product of the company, the wedding, the wedding, the wedding, and the product of the product, and to improve the product of the product. and temperature. members who hadn't consumed the previous month, it was 15.2 weeks over week in the
launch week, significantly exceeding the historical average for all new products. This example proves that our product innovation capability is our core driver for navigating cycles. on the one hand on the other hand we are exploring more consumer scenarios such as gathering wedding birthday and other moments and extending to all the occasions to deepen the brand's warmth and texture in consumer's life
第四呢 是组织效率部分 当前我们的重大组织调整 已经完全干完了 已经调整完成 Last on efficiency, we have now completed the major organization adjustments, and we will continue to refine the structure so that we can maximize efficiency. 我相信通过上述调整,2026年将是专注高质量增长的一年 我们不瞒目追求规模的迅速扩展,回归到高质量的发展 我们预期2026年公司在收入和利润跟2025年基本会保持一个持平的态势 那么持平上下吧 同时在运营层面上 我们也会看到 铜电的增速会逐步 直跌 齐稳 下半年也会有一个更健康的指数 会开始逐渐体现 但当然这个里面也有一个关键 就是我们在 市场份额和利润两者 产生冲突的时候 我们还是会坚定不已的 保障我们的市场份额 以及我们的门店健康经营指数 这是我们的 坚定的决策
Overall, we expect 2026 to be a year where we're very focused on high-quality growth rather than rapid expansion for scale, and our goal is to keep revenue and profit broadly flat year-over, year-on-year, while seeing same-store growth trend stabilize at the operating level. And we believe in the second half, the overall same-store sales and operation will be healthier. And also we want to focus that our priority for this year is to secure the market share rather than for the net profit. So if we have a conflict, if we see a conflict between market share versus profitability, we will choose the former one. So to come up, the priority for this year, 2026 is to both elevate the user experiences and to keep those things for ourselves getting back to the healthy level. Operator, next question, please.
Operator
Thank you. Management asks that all who ask their questions in Chinese, please translate your questions to English for the convenience of everyone on the call. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Xiaopo Wei of Citi. Your line is open, Xiaopo.
Hi, you're welcome. Hi, I'm the founder of Hwaqq. Thank you, Aaron. Thank you, Aaron and Aaron. My question is, in Prepare Remarks and Hwaqq. and Hwaqq. what we're doing. What's the reason and what's the result? What's the result? Let me translate. In your preparing remarks, you briefly touched base on the business model transition, and could you share with us what has been motivating you to execute such a business model transition, and could you give us some more update on the status of the transition? Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you for the question. If you have a question, we would like to ask our CEO, Yinzong Tung, to answer.
Thank you. Our model transition has one core motivation, that is to build true shared risk, shared reward, strategic partnership with franchisees. Last year, industry price was in wars intensified. Franchisees face the dual pressure of sales decline and rising cost. The old model offered insufficient buffer in downturns. So we restructured incentives, shifting from traditional supply relations to a GMV-based revenue sharing model.
In the new model, the market has been the best for the market. But we also have another two.
In a new model, brand fees do go up slightly, but there's a lot of money. Those fees come with two strong offsets. First, we offer enhanced discount management through marketing intelligence and targeted campaigns. Second, we cut raw material cost ratio at franchisees and sharply. Now our revenue moves up and down with their GMV sales. When they succeed, we succeed. from 2026 we fully roll out in the new model this unites our interest and goals we look forward to even tighter collaboration to drive sustained uh gme growth thank you operator uh next question please.
Operator
Our next question comes from the line of CJ Lin of CICC. Your line is open CJ.
Thank you, management. My question is that can you provide an update on the performance of our overseas markets and what are your expansion plans in 2020 domestic and overseas markets? Thank you.
Thank you for your question. Let me start with our overseas performance in 2025. In the fourth quarter, our international markets showed strong and healthy growth. We added a net 83 teahouses, bringing the total to 345 in the overseas markets. GMV grew 23.9% quarter over quarter and 84.6% year over year. More importantly, the average monthly GMV for teahouse for overseas teahouses outperformed the domestic one. preliminarily moving with some replica capability and strong the vitality of our business model overseas In 2025, we entered a lot of new markets such as Indonesia, America, Vietnam, Philippines and the four markets currently, the foreign-to-face world has covered in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand India, Vietnam, Philippines, America 等七个国家。
So in the first 3 days, the new product was reached 38.3%. The product value also reached the first product. These results will allow us to make sure that the product is able to pass over the world.
In 2025, we entered four new markets. Indonesia, the United States, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Currently, our overseas footprint covers seven countries. Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, and the United States. In Vietnam, our first teahouse opening generated over 20,000 cups across three teahouses in the first three days. With Brent Voice rapidly climbing to second in the local tea category, at year-end 2025, our Hello Kitty IP co-branded Coco Oolong launched across five Southeast Asian countries, achieving a 75% new product sales shared on launch day in Thailand in 38.3% in the Asia-Pacific region over the first three days. Topping regional tea brand voice. These achievements have demonstrated that Chaiji's brand power can transcend broader.
So, in 2016, our開店 strategy is mainly divided into two parts. 首先是国内市场,我们主要还是聚焦在存量的这个优先质量,那么今年我们适当会放缓国内的一些扩电节奏吧,将重心提升在铜电的增长上,保障这个门电存量的健康度。 那2026年国内 我们的这个新增门店的计划 这个只是在我们必要性的 有这个战略意义的 这个点位上新增单百家电 那么这个数字本身不是目的 我们更关注的是 让每一家电都有 更加健康的盈利状况 那么同时也能保障 存量门店的这个铜电增长 包括门店调优和关键点位资源的补充 此外我们也会根据业务表现 and strategy-性的来调整一些开店的策略 locations in mainland China.
The number is not the goal. We prioritize healthy profitability for each new tea house while supporting existing same sort of growth through optimizing and reinforcing key location resources. Additionally, we may make strategic adjustments to our expansion pace based on our performance this year.
对 那我们回到海外 海外市场我们将稳步扩张 2025年第四季度 我们在马来西亚 印尼 泰国 越南 新加坡等核心的市场 保持了文件的竞争展 分别竞争21家 19家 13家 12家和11家盟店 进入到2026年 我们的扩张步伐仍在继续 我们的泰国盟店已经从曼谷走向清迈 韩国手电也计划于2026年的二季度正式亮相 即使我们将进入第八个海外市场 2026年是我们海外驻基年 这个海外的计划每年应该叫海外计划新增的门店 我们在2026年大概是200家店上下 但当然这个数字只是一个指向性目标 最终我们还是会根据实际情况来动态调整 更重要的是我们会在每一个已进入的国家 跑通并憨使我们的营运模型 为未来的规模化开店 建立可复制的办事
Overseas expansion will continue at a steady pace. In the fourth quarter, we added 21 tea houses in Malaysia, 19 in Indonesia, 13 in Thailand, 12 in Vietnam, and 11 in Singapore. This momentum carries into 2026. Thailand is now expanding from Bangkok to Chi Mai, and our career debut is planned for the second quarter, making it our eighth overseas market. 2026 is our foundation building year. We target about 200 net new teahouses overseas.
More importantly, in every market we enter, we will continue to refine business model and build replicable template for future scale. 最后我对国际市场还是想给大家一个我们对于全球化这件事情的根本性看法 首先全球化在茶几核心管理团队来看这是一件茶几必须做的事 是一件难的事 但我们相信它是无比之正确的事 又同时是需要长期时间来积累的事 茶几对于全球化的投资我们是以十年的周期来看待这件事 它不是一个短期的快速的爆发性增长 而是一个长期的有耐心的持续生耕 持续优化的一个状态 所以对于全球化 茶几投资的是下一个十年的增长引擎 我们会持续不断的对全球化市场进行投入 那当然我们会不断的去优化我们的模式模型 让国际市场的单店模式变得更加优秀 更加可持续 其中也有一个关键市场 就是我们的美国 那坦率讲 美国市场我们一直认为 这是一个除中国市场以外 全球最大的第二大市场 但对于美国市场呢 今天茶几是走了一条最 可以说叫最难的路 这里可能想跟投资者 多分享两句 其实我们进入美国 在整个行业里边 大家有非常多的选择 通过license franchisee的商业模式 进行在地化加盟 这是最简单的道路 去到美国 开在华人区 开在大学城 这是最便捷的方式 开一家挣一家的钱 可是茶几不想在美国 只是开出几十家 几百家店 我们就作为一个海外的品牌商 我们更希望 茶会变成未来 美国人民的每一天 会跟Starbucks一样 成为美国人民的一种生活方式 如同星巴克进入中国也是一样的 他们也走了一条漫长而正确的道路 所以茶几去美国 我们走了一条 确实在前期可能会有非常多的资金投入 可能也会犯很多错误 可能也会踩很多坑 但我们赌的是下一个十年 是否会在美国在西方世界 宣起一阵从中国而来的一片茶叶的风 能够让西方世界喝茶也成为他们的一种新的生活方式 所以因此这件事我们是笃定的 也希望所有的投资者对于茶几对美国的长期注资和长期的做这些难而正确的事的这种决策
多给我们一些包容理解和耐心 谢谢 Lastly, in terms of globalization, I have to add on a little bit of touch. We are doing something that is a must, and this is something we have to do, but it's difficult. So we're not only investing the overseas market in the next several years, we're actually investing in the next decades, especially the U.S. market. And so we're not talking about a short-term sprint, but a long-lasting marathon for our global expansion. And I believe the priority for our overseas market is to refine the business model as we go. And also the priority is to keep a healthy and unique economic, especially for the U.S. market, which is the second largest market except for China. So we believe there are a lot of business models that we can adopt, like license or franchisee, but we choose the hard way to bring it out because we not only want to open thousands or hundreds of stores in the U.S., but we want to bring the drinking habits of tea into the U.S. market like Starbucks has been doing for the past several years when they entered into the Chinese market. So we chose a road that is more difficult and requires higher CapEx and we might make mistakes.
But I'm here to ask for the capital markets to give us more confidence and understanding about our overseas market expansion. 最后啊 我想跟所有的投资者做一个补充性的一个分享 坦率讲茶几呢 在这个行业里面确实走了一条不太一样的路 我们一直相信啊 中国在茶这个领域上面 在全世界范围内一定会诞生出一家以高价值品牌为导向的茶几 那这样的茶几诞生之后呢 首先短期来看它可能是一些增长也好 这个收入也好 利润也好 但长期来看它是打开一个全新的品类 这个品类不仅仅是在限制限售这个产景下去开店 它逐渐会衍生到下一个产景 家庭办公甚至是便利店RTD的饮料 但这背后离不开的就是一件事 我们到底是在做一个 以品牌价值为导向的 不断在注入资产的品牌 还是以当下快速流量 每个季度业绩为第一导向的销售 所以确确实实 茶几走了一条比较艰难的路 我们也希望有一天 我们可以构建出一家 从中国起源 走向世界的茶几品牌 不仅仅在限制限受这个领域 而能够衍生到世界人民的生活的多个方面 多个场景和多个时段 这也是我们的理想 也希望投资者们能够长期给我们更多的支持 但短期我们做的不足的地方 也请大家多多批评指正 我们也迅速响应 迅速调整 谢谢 Lastly, to add on a little bit, Chaggy is not adopting the normal way to grow, especially as a listing company, but we believe we want to bring the higher value and make Chaggy
a high-value branding-oriented company in the future. In the short term, we believe most of the capital markets or investors is focused on long-term, Chagi wants to grow the company as a new category pioneer, which not only provides freshly brewed drinks to our customers, but also to bring a new lifestyle to our customers, such as RTV and also different scenarios of consumption. So in the short term, we might see volatility from our financial performance, but in the long term, we believe Chagi has the possibility to evolve from a freshly-brewed maker to a lifestyle changer worldwide to the global consumers. So hopefully, we have all the investors' long-term support. And we welcome your comments and your advices as well. Thank you. Operator, next question, please.
Operator
Our next question comes from the line of Jesse Xu of JP Morgan. Your line is open, Jesse.
Speaker 8
Thank you very much. Thank you for taking my question. Jesse Xu from Morgan. 2025 was a tough year, but I think it's fair to say that the most difficult time seems already behind us. Investors had been looking forward to a marginal improvement in same-store sales trend, and I think 4Q print already provides some reasons for investors to turn more positive from here. Management mentioned cost reduction initiatives on the earnings call last quarter so could the management introduce the you know concrete measures what did we do how it's progressing and any initial feedback or efficiency gains from these initiatives and lastly how should we think about the opex ratio for this year thank you okay uh thank you Thank you for your question.
Are cost reduction and efficiency efforts are not short-term fixes for a single-quarter performance. They're part of a bigger long-term push to make the organization healthy overall. Things are moving forward well, and we're already seeing some early results.
So we have a lot of different groups of组织建设 is to create a new system. Like I said just in the last 20 years, we have a new system in 2023 and in the last 20 years. We have a new system in China, it has been over 800 number of countries. So the whole system will be second-order. For example, like I said in the 2026, we have a stronger system than the other people could be with more resources in the way. For the number of people to take the rest of the world, and strengthen our implementation and implementation speed. This is not a simple thing, but it is through the framework to adjust the community, and to adjust the community, that we can really make our new new strategy better.
On the organization side, we've wrapped up Phase 1. That means combining mid and back office functions and cutting out duplicate work. As Junjie just mentioned, we opened a lot of new stores during the year of 2023 and 2024. And in 2025 alone, we opened more than 800 stores as well. So now we are focusing on the same store sales and shifting more resources to the front lines for better execution and faster response. This is not about a smarter structure, not just the training headcount. For expenses, we've put in a stricter controls and better budgeting. It covers everything from targeted marketing spending down to daily operation. Looking at 2026, we expect our overall fees rates to stay stable, especially for self-marketing, we'll keep investing in this area, and also we'll keep at investing in efficiency and controls without hurting core growth areas. The game is better quality inputs, leading to stronger outputs, no matter the environment. For the GNA expenses, our goal is to keep optimizing the overall efficiency with the precondition that without, in fact, our overseas market expansion.
Operator, next question, please.
Operator
Thank you. As there are no further questions, I'd like to hand the conference back to management for closing remarks.
Thank you again for joining our call today. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us or request us through our IR website. We look forward to our next call with everyone. Have a great day ahead.
Operator
This concludes today's event. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.
