Shennong Group (Stock Code: 605296) announced on the evening of September 23 that it had received notice from its controlling shareholder and actual controller, He Zuxun, regarding a divorce dispute case filed against him by Luo Wanyu, which has been officially accepted for filing by the Guandu District People's Court in Kunming. The plaintiff is requesting the court to dissolve the marriage with He Zuxun and divide the shared property.

As of the announcement date, both parties have agreed to proceed with mediation under the court's coordination first. Currently, He Zuxun directly holds 261 million shares of the company, representing 49.60% of the total share capital. Based on the closing price of 33.60 yuan per share on September 23, the corresponding market value is approximately 8.77 billion yuan.

He Zuxun is the founder and core figure of Shennong Group. Public records show he was born in 1965 and graduated from South China Agricultural University with a degree in veterinary medicine. In his early career, he worked as a livestock veterinarian at the Luliang County Animal Husbandry Bureau in Yunnan, before moving south to Shenzhen to join Chia Tai Conti. He returned to Yunnan to start his own business in 1994, and in 1999 founded Shennong Feed, the predecessor of Shennong Group.

Beyond his roles as controlling shareholder and actual controller, He Zuxun currently also serves as the chairman and general manager of Shennong Group. With more than two decades of deep involvement in the pig industry chain, he has built Shennong Group into the only listed company in Yunnan Province's animal husbandry sector, as well as one of the industry's earliest enterprises to achieve a full industry chain layout spanning "from farm to table."

In response to this divorce lawsuit, Shennong Group stated in its announcement that the litigation only involves the controlling shareholder's personal equity interests in the company and is unrelated to the company's production and operations, with no significant impact on its business. However, market attention is focused on the core issue that if subsequent property division involves the redistribution of He Zuxun's shareholdings, the company's ownership structure may face adjustments. The case has not yet gone to trial, and the final outcome remains uncertain.

While the actual controller's personal matters have drawn attention, Shennong Group's own operational performance also deserves scrutiny. From a business structure perspective, Shennong Group started with its feed business, expanded into pig farming in 2002, and entered the slaughtering sector in 2005. It has now formed a full industry chain pattern with three major segments working in synergy: feed processing, pig farming, and pig slaughtering, with the pig farming business dominating revenue.

In terms of farming scale, Shennong Group does not rank among the top listed pig enterprises. In the first half of 2026, the company's commercial pig market supply reached 1.724 million head, ranking ninth among listed pig enterprises that have disclosed data. However, the company is known for its cost control capabilities and is widely regarded as a "cost management top performer" within the industry. During the first half of 2026, the company's average full cost of pigs dropped to 12.0 yuan per kilogram, further optimized to 11.9 yuan per kilogram in June alone. The core production indicator PSY reached 31 head, and the feed conversion ratio improved to 2.46.

However, the cost advantage failed to offset the impact of falling pig prices. In the first half of 2026, Shennong Group achieved revenue of 2.489 billion yuan, down 11.02% year-on-year, while net profit attributable to shareholders posted a loss of 809 million yuan, turning from profit to loss compared to the same period last year. The company disclosed that the losses were mainly attributed to two factors: first, the average selling price of commercial pigs was approximately 9.90 yuan per kilogram, down about 32% year-on-year; and second, based on the principle of prudence, inventory impairment provisions were made for consumptive biological assets. Excluding the impact of the impairment, the actual operating loss was approximately 500 million yuan, with the second-quarter single-quarter loss narrowing significantly quarter-on-quarter.

In a recently disclosed institutional investor research briefing, Shennong Group stated that in the face of the industry downturn, the company adheres to a prudent financial strategy, resolutely implements national regulatory policies, strictly controls capital expenditure, and prioritizes cash flow safety. The slaughtering segment is expected to see annual slaughter volume grow by more than 10% in 2026, with an increased proportion of self-operated slaughtering. Meanwhile, the company is accelerating the building of its "Shennong Safe Meat" brand, advancing antibiotic-free pork certification, and is expected to gain brand premium over the long term. As of the close on September 23, Shennong Group's share price stood at 33.60 yuan per share, down 1.55%, with a total market value of 17.68 billion yuan.