(Yicai Global) Nov. 29 -- Zhang Li, the president and a board member of China Quanjude Group, a restaurant chain renowned for its Peking duck, has resigned for work reasons and will hold no post after leaving, the Beijing-based firm said in a statement yesterday.

Zhang, who was previously vice president at Chinese auto transport services supplier Beijing Shouqi Group, joined Quanjude in September 2016. His term would have expired on Jan. 20, 2022.

A steady downturn in Quanjude's business performance forms the backdrop to his departure as the firm battles upstart rivals like the trendier Da Dong Roast Duck and a shift away from leisurely sit-down dining to quick takeaway.

The company's shares [SHE:002186] rose 0.10 percent this morning to CNY9.90 (USD1.48) at opening and hovered there throughout the morning.

The firm's business revenue reached about CNY1.2 billion (USD170.2 million) in the first three quarters in an annual 12.6 percent drop and its net profit was only CNY52.6 million (USD7.5 million) in the period, down about 60 percent from last year. Quanjude's net profit for this whole year is projected to fall by from 40 to 70 percent, per the third-quarter earnings report it released last month. Its market cap is CNY3.08 billion, the highest of any duck stock in the country, public information shows.

Quanjude pledged to take measures to cope with this decline and actively adjust its management and operations, per the statement.

The company, which has been in existence since 1864, is one of China's 'time-honored brands,' so if it does go dodo, this would hold profound implications for other traditional firms and indicate how shifting tastes and consumption patterns spare no firm, however venerable, that is unable to shed its staid and even dowdy image and evolve to adapt to modern currents.
Editor: Ben Armour