After shedding its home appliance company label, Haier Group Company (hereinafter referred to as "Haier") has been accelerating its expansion in the healthcare industry. Through capital operations and strategic transformation, Haier has secured control of three A-share companies in the healthcare sector: Shanghai RAAS, Haier Biomedical, and Yingkang Life, initially establishing a comprehensive healthcare industry portfolio spanning blood products, medical devices, and medical services. However, beneath this scale expansion, performance concerns have emerged. In the first half of this year, both Shanghai RAAS and Haier Biomedical delivered results showing declines in both revenue and net profit. Yingkang Life, the only company among the three to achieve net profit growth, has the smallest net profit scale of the three enterprises. Beyond immediate performance concerns, all three companies carry substantial goodwill on their balance sheets, with Shanghai RAAS holding goodwill of 8.308 billion yuan, hanging like a sword of Damocles overhead. With near-term worries and long-term concerns alike, how to integrate resources, boost performance, and resolve goodwill risks will be crucial for Haier's ability to establish a firm foothold in the healthcare "blue ocean."

**Two Companies Experience Performance Decline**

According to interim reports, in the first half of this year, among Haier's healthcare enterprises, Shanghai RAAS and Haier Biomedical both reported declining performance, with only Yingkang Life achieving net profit growth.

Shanghai RAAS is the largest in terms of net profit scale among the three companies. Financial data shows that in the first half of this year, Shanghai RAAS achieved operating revenue of approximately 3.952 billion yuan, down 7.06% year-over-year; corresponding attributable net profit was approximately 1.03 billion yuan, down 17% year-over-year. Notably, since 2019, Shanghai RAAS had maintained a trend of interim report net profit growth. The first half of this year also represents Shanghai RAAS's lowest interim net profit since 2022. Additionally, during the reporting period, the gross margin of the company's blood product production and sales business declined to 37.74%, down 3.14% year-over-year.

Haier stated in an interview that Shanghai RAAS's performance decline was mainly due to product price pressure, high-base demand decline, and reduced investment income year-over-year. Although short-term performance faces pressure from market environment impacts, the company's core advantages in plasma sources, capacity, and technology remain unchanged, and the continued implementation of the "plasma expansion + plasma separation" strategy will lay the foundation for long-term growth.

Haier Biomedical has experienced four consecutive years of declining interim net profits. Financial data shows that in the first half of this year, Haier Biomedical achieved operating revenue of approximately 1.196 billion yuan, down 2.27% year-over-year; attributable net profit was 143 million yuan, down 39.09% year-over-year. From 2022 to 2024, Haier Biomedical's semi-annual attributable net profits declined by 47.55%, 7.36%, and 15.84% respectively year-over-year.

Haier Biomedical stated in its interim report that the performance decline during the reporting period was mainly due to the comprehensive impact of external environment factors, new capacity ramp-up, and the company's proactive medium and long-term strategic investments. As industry sentiment recovers and innovative product categories accelerate volume growth, the company's overall performance is expected to improve.

Yingkang Life is the only company in Haier's healthcare portfolio to achieve net profit growth in the first half, and also has the smallest net profit scale among the three companies. Financial data shows that Yingkang Life achieved operating revenue of 843 million yuan in the first half, up 2.4% year-over-year; attributable net profit was 61.83 million yuan, up 12.82% year-over-year.

**All Carry High Goodwill Burdens**

Notably, all three companies in Haier's healthcare segment carry substantial goodwill on their balance sheets.

Shanghai RAAS has the highest goodwill scale. Financial data shows that as of the end of the first half, Shanghai RAAS's goodwill further surged to 8.308 billion yuan, compared to 5.073 billion yuan in the same period last year, representing a significant increase. According to reports, Shanghai RAAS's controlling consolidation of Zhengzhou RAAS, Tonglubio, Guangxi RAAS, Zhejiang Haikang, and Nanyue Bio formed certain amounts of goodwill in the company's consolidated balance sheet. During the reporting period, Shanghai RAAS's new goodwill was mainly due to the acquisition of Nanyue Bio.

According to Shanghai RAAS announcements, the company spent 4.2 billion yuan to acquire 100% equity in Nanyue Bio. Based on consensus between Shanghai RAAS and the target company's original actual controller Liu Ling'an, if the target company's plasma collection reaches 305 tons in 2025, the company should pay Liu Ling'an an additional contingent consideration of 50 million yuan. Nanyue Bio completed relevant industrial and commercial registration procedures in June this year. This acquisition increased the company's goodwill by approximately 3.235 billion yuan.

Shanghai RAAS directly stated that if Zhengzhou RAAS, Tonglubio, Guangxi RAAS, Zhejiang Haikang, and Nanyue Bio experience significant adverse changes in future operations, there may be goodwill impairment risks, thereby adversely affecting the company's current profit and loss.

Yingkang Life also saw significant increases in goodwill during the reporting period. Financial data shows that as of the end of the first half, Yingkang Life's goodwill balance was 1.012 billion yuan, compared to 693 million yuan in the same period last year. Additionally, Haier Biomedical's goodwill balance at the end of the first half was 759 million yuan.

The high goodwill issues of these three companies hang like the sword of Damocles over Haier's rapid expansion in the healthcare industry and cannot be ignored.

Deng Yong, Director of the Health and Healthcare Rule of Law Research and Innovation Translation Center at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, stated in an interview that all three of Haier's healthcare enterprises carry high goodwill on their books. If acquired enterprises perform poorly, it may trigger goodwill impairment, significantly impacting corporate net profits.

Haier told reporters that Shanghai RAAS, Haier Biomedical, and Yingkang Life have consistently followed strict standards when selecting acquisition targets, ensuring selected targets possess high-quality qualifications and good development prospects, conducting prudent evaluations to reasonably determine acquisition prices, controlling goodwill scale from the source, and reducing subsequent impairment risks. At the business level, they fully leverage internal group synergy advantages. At the management level, they export mature management models and excellent corporate culture to acquired enterprises, promoting standardized and digitalized management processes, improving overall operational efficiency, and ensuring stable growth in acquired enterprise performance. Additionally, they guide listed subsidiaries to focus on core businesses, clarify strategic positioning, and avoid risks from blind diversified acquisitions.

Regarding how to address goodwill risks, Deng Yong mentioned: first, strengthen business integration and collaboration, improve acquired enterprise performance, and fundamentally reduce goodwill impairment risks. Second, strengthen financial supervision and risk assessment of acquired enterprises, establish sound goodwill impairment testing mechanisms, regularly evaluate goodwill, promptly identify goodwill impairment signs and take corresponding measures. Third, enhance enterprise profitability and cash flow conditions, strengthening the enterprise's ability to address goodwill impairment risks.

**Need to Balance Capital Expansion with Stable Operations**

From the business layout of the three companies, Shanghai RAAS and Haier Biomedical face certain industry-specific challenges.

Data shows that Shanghai RAAS's main business involves producing and selling blood products, with main products including human albumin, intravenous immunoglobulin, specific immunoglobulin, and coagulation factor products. It is currently one of China's largest blood product manufacturers.

The blood products industry where Shanghai RAAS operates has become increasingly competitive. As domestic blood product enterprises continue to consolidate and expand, market competition has intensified, putting pressure on product prices. How to maintain competitive advantages in fierce competition is a challenge Shanghai RAAS needs to address.

Haier Biomedical mainly serves life science users such as pharmaceutical and biological enterprises and university research institutions, as well as medical and health users including hospitals, disease control centers, blood stations, and grassroots public health institutions, providing comprehensive digital scenario solutions covering multiple industry fields including low-temperature, laboratory, in-hospital medication, and blood technology.

The low-temperature storage equipment market that represents Haier Biomedical's main business has shown a downward trend in recent years. To counter the declining trend in low-temperature storage, Haier Biomedical has increased its layout in new industries including smart medication, blood technology, and laboratory solutions. According to the company's 2025 interim report, in the first half, the company's laboratory solutions, smart medication, blood technology and other industries maintained good growth momentum. Overall, new industries' share of revenue further increased to 47%, achieving 7.27% growth year-over-year.

Yingkang Life focuses on building a full industrial chain ecosystem platform for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation, providing tumor-focused medical services as well as research and development, innovation, and services for key scenarios and key equipment.

Haier told reporters that Haier Group's development in the healthcare industry is mainly centered on its subsidiary Yingkang Life as the core ecological brand. Yingkang Life adheres to original technology, focuses on clinical value, promotes digital-intelligent integration, and deeply cultivates three major industries: life sciences, clinical medicine, and biotechnology, constructing a technology and digital-intelligence-driven healthcare industry ecosystem.

In the view of senior industrial economy observer Liang Zhenpeng, Haier's development strategy in the healthcare field mainly revolves around industrial ecosystem construction and strategic collaboration. Through a combination of mergers and acquisitions with independent incubation, Haier rapidly enters subdivided fields such as biomedical, smart healthcare, and life sciences, forming a full-chain layout from R&D and manufacturing to services. Its core logic is to leverage its advantages in manufacturing, supply chain management, and global channels to empower the medical and health industry, while accelerating technology accumulation and market expansion through capital operations.

"Haier needs to find balance between capital expansion and prudent operations, resolving short-term challenges through refined operations and long-term strategic patience," Liang Zhenpeng said.

Notably, Haier's industrial integration in the healthcare field has not been smooth sailing. At the end of last year, Haier planned for Haier Biomedical to absorb and merge Shanghai RAAS, attempting to achieve synergistic effects through integrating the two companies' businesses. However, this merger ultimately did not succeed.