Gree Electric's Q3 profit falls 43%, and it says it held prices steady

Gree Electric Appliances' net profit attributable to shareholders fell 43.31% year on year to CNY 3,996.2m, or about CNY 4.0bn, in the third quarter of 2026, according to the third-quarter report, which it posted on cninfo on the evening of 26 October 2026, Beijing time, and which is dated 27 October 2026. Total operating revenue slipped 7.90% to CNY 36.87bn, and basic earnings per share fell 42.86% to CNY 0.72. Excluding non-recurring gains and losses, which added a net CNY 300.0m in the quarter, attributable profit was CNY 3,696.2m, down 44.32%. Weighted average return on equity for the quarter was 2.67%, 2.39 percentage points lower than in the same period of 2025.

Gree attributes the third-quarter decline mainly to lower sales in its consumer-appliance business. Citing ChinaIOL (产业在线) data, the report puts China's household air-conditioner industry sales at 150m units for January-September 2026, 8.4% fewer than a year earlier, with the year-on-year fall deepening each quarter: 2.8% in the first quarter, 9.3% in the second and 15.1% in the third. These are industry-wide figures, not Gree's own. Gree concentrates on the mid-to-high end, which it says reduced its revenue somewhat. And with raw-material prices high, it kept selling prices relatively stable under its "卷品质不卷价格" approach (report), roughly, to compete on quality and not on price, which it says had some effect on profit.

In January-September 2026, total operating revenue declined 8.07% to CNY 126.54bn, and attributable net profit fell 19.51% to CNY 17.27bn from CNY 21.46bn a year earlier. Basic earnings per share came to CNY 3.09, against CNY 3.86 a year earlier. Net cash from operating activities fell 47.38% to CNY 24.06bn. Gree says movements in operating restricted funds, such as deposits held against bills and letters of guarantee, reduced that figure by CNY 13.62bn year on year. Excluding them, operating cash flow was down CNY 8.05bn, or 24.71%, which the company puts mainly down to less cash received from sales of goods and services.

Gree's board approved a 2026 interim profit distribution plan at a meeting on 26 October 2026, a separate filing shows. It proposes a cash dividend of CNY 10 for every 10 shares, before tax, on 5,553,435,881 shares, which is the total share capital minus 47,969,860 shares in the company's repurchase account. That comes to CNY 5,553,435,881, or about CNY 5.55bn. No bonus shares or conversion of reserves into capital are planned, and the plan still has to be put to shareholders. The filing says Gree paid CNY 11.20bn in cash dividends earlier in 2026.