Breaking the Curse of Diminishing Economies of Scale: Aier Eye Hospital Seeks Global Expansion in Hong Kong
After years of aggressive expansion, the leading player in the ophthalmology sector is facing the real test of diminishing scale effects.
On April 24, Aier Eye Hospital released its 2025 financial report, showing operating revenue of 22.353 billion yuan, an increase of 6.53% year-on-year.
The business foundation remains solid, with annual outpatient visits exceeding 18.8917 million, up 11.52% year-on-year; surgeries also reached 1.68 million cases, recording a 5.77% increase.
However, this has not translated into profit growth as expected. In 2025, Aier Eye Hospital’s net profit attributable to the parent company was 3.24 billion yuan, down 8.88% year-on-year.
The core of this slightly pressured report card lies in the financial squeeze caused by non-recurring gains and losses and the aftermath of expansion.
On one hand, non-recurring gains and losses have been a clear drag. Reduced government subsidies and declining gains from fair value changes directly weakened profit performance. Excluding these effects, Aier Eye Hospital’s net profit after deducting non-recurring items in 2025 was 3.141 billion yuan, a slight increase of 1.36% year-on-year.
On the other hand, the deeper logic is that Aier Eye Hospital is in a period of intensive digestion of heavy asset investments. As a large number of newly built and relocated hospitals come into operation, ongoing projects turn into fixed assets, and the resulting depreciation and amortization are eroding profit margins for the period.
Facing the profit squeeze under the heavy asset model, Aier Eye Hospital is trying to break through by improving single-store efficiency and technological premium. Over the past year, it accelerated the launch of "Aier AI Eye Hospital," introducing several "AI ophthalmologist" intelligent agents with functions including surgical suitability assessment.
At the same time, Aier Eye Hospital further deepened its focus in subspecialties such as difficult tear duct diseases and diabetic eye diseases, and introduced advanced equipment like Zeiss’s new generation femtosecond laser robot.
Obviously, internal efficiency improvements are not enough—continued external expansion is the accelerator for performance growth.
On April 24, Aier Eye Hospital announced the start of its IPO in Hong Kong, joining the massive wave of companies pursuing Hong Kong listings.
"This is to deeply advance our globalization strategy, build an international platform, and realize the linkage between industrial layout and capital structure," Aier Eye Hospital said.
Whether the Hong Kong listing can inject sufficient capital to fuel Aier Eye Hospital’s new round of expansion remains under close market attention.
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