Li Ning's founder returned as CEO in 2015, turning ¥3.1bn of losses into record profits

Li Ning Co, founded by the Olympic gymnast of the same name, expanded aggressively after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, then stumbled. An ill-fitting 2010 '90s-generation' rebrand alienated its core customers without winning young ones, and revenue fell from ¥9.5bn in 2010 as losses mounted: ¥1.98bn in 2012, ¥391.5m in 2013 and ¥781m in 2014, more than ¥3.1bn cumulatively. Long-time CEO Zhang Zhiyong left in 2012; the TPG-arranged chief Jin-Goon Kim departed in November 2014, and Li Ning himself stepped in as interim CEO, taking the role formally in 2015.

The founder's return paired hard restructuring — closing stores, clearing bloated inventory, rebuilding distributor ties and pushing e-commerce — with a repositioning as an 'internet + sports lifestyle' company. The company returned to roughly break-even in 2015, its first profitable year after three straight losses, and product orders grew for eight consecutive quarters.

The cultural pivot came in February 2018, when Li-Ning showed at New York Fashion Week with 'China Li-Ning' （中国李宁） emblazoned streetwear in national-flag red and yellow. The show reframed a brand once seen as dated into a guochao (national-wave) icon for young Chinese consumers, followed by a Paris Fashion Week appearance in June 2018.

The payoff showed in the accounts: 2019 revenue rose 32% to ¥13.87bn and net profit attributable to equity holders jumped 110% to ¥1.5bn from ¥715m, with return on equity at 23.2% — a full reversal from the loss years.

From roughly ¥3.1bn cumulative losses in 2012–2014 to ¥1.5bn net profit in 2019, up 110%, on ¥13.87bn revenue, up 32% — a record at the time.

The trigger was existential: three consecutive loss years totaling over ¥3.1bn and a stock worth a seventh of its 2010 peak.

Both professional CEOs had failed, leaving the founder as the only figure with the credibility to lead the reset — 'only Li Ning can save Li Ning Co,' as one expert put it.

The turnaround fused operational discipline (store closures, inventory clearing, e-commerce) with a bold brand move, the 2018 'China Li-Ning' fashion-week debut.

Results were measurable and fast: profit by 2015, then a 110% profit surge to ¥1.5bn on ¥13.87bn revenue by 2019.

When a brand is squeezed between global giants and cheap local rivals, a founder's credibility can fund the reset: cut inventory and stores, then re-win youth with a premium heritage identity.

The guochao momentum carried Li Ning through the pandemic: 2021 revenue jumped 56% to ¥22.57bn and profit soared 136% to ¥4.01bn, and in September 2021 the shares broke HK$100, valuing the company near HK$270bn — more than a tenfold rise in under two years. It launched the premium sub-brand LI-NING 1990 to capture share vacated by Nike and Adidas. The stock later cooled sharply, falling over 80% from its 2021 peak by late 2023 as growth slowed, but the company remained solidly profitable — a lasting contrast with the 2012–2014 crisis.