Chinese restaurant chain Haidilao International said it will swing to a profit in the first half of the year, but the company’s stock still dropped almost 17% after revealing that its performance fell short of management’s expectations.
Zhang Yong, cofounder and chairman of the Sichuan hotpot chain, saw his net worth plunge $2.4 billion in just one day. His net worth currently sits at $12.7 billion, according to Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List. Zhang’s fortune is derived from his majority stake in Haidilao and and its subsidiary condiment maker Yihai International, which dropped almost 12% on Monday.
Haidilao said it expects to record a net profit of about 80 million to 100 million yuan ($12.3 million to $15.4 million) in the first half, compared to a net loss of approximately 965 million yuan the same period a year earlier, the company said in…