BEIJING, March 24 (TMTPOST) — Chinese hot pot chain Haidilao’s revenues in the fiscal year of 2021 were 41.11 billion yuan, registering year-on-year growth of 43.7%, according to its 2021 fiscal year financial report released on Wednesday.

Despite strong growth in revenues, it reported a net loss of 4.16 billion yuan in 2021. The company said that the losses were caused by a 54% rise in staff costs and higher spending on materials and consumables during their rapid expansion.

The Chinese hot pot brand also shut down 276 restaurants due to a lack of customers and poor performance in 2021. Haidilao’s founder Zhang Yong said that they were too confident about the expansion and stepped down earlier this month amongst projected losses.

See also: Haidilao Suffers Another Setback in Business Expansion

In 2021, the table turnover rate at Haidilao’s restaurants was three times per day on average.

Haidilao announced in 2021 that it would adjust its expansion strategy considering the current performance of its operation and shut down a number of restaurants to reduce costs. In 2021, Haidilao opened 421 restaurants and shut down 276 restaurants. 16 restaurants were closed because their leases were expired. As of December 31, 2021, Haidilao has 1,443 restaurants across the globe, with 1,329 restaurants located in mainland China and 114 restaurants operating in other regions.

The company launched its “Woodpecker Initiative” in November 2021, announcing a series of measures to improve market performance. Measures in the initiative include streamlining the number of restaurants, improving restaurant management, enhancing different functions at the company, building up its corporate culture and improving staff training.

The hot pot chain was hit by controversy in late February as consumers discovered that Haidilao staff would give labels to them based on their appearance and dining preferences.

See also: Chinese Hot Pot Chain Haidilao Embroiled in Controversy for Labeling Customers