Sa Sa International Holdings, a Hong Kong-based cosmetics retail chain, issued a profit warning on Wednesday, noting that sales fell 28 percent year-on-year in August. It further warned that sales in September have remained weak.

The company attributed its losses to Hong Kong's unrest and other factors, an explanation that netizens from the Chinese mainland said didn't give the whole picture. They pointed out that its relationship with Hong Kong secessionists was the main reason and called for a boycott.

The company said the main reason for the declining revenue was the unsatisfying sales performance in its core market—the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Sa Sa noted that Hong Kong's continuous "social activities," escalation of the China-US trade war and the yuan's depreciation have been deterring customers from the mainland to visit Hong Kong.

Such a decline in sales is an inevitable result for companies that have relationships with Hong Kong secessionists, and the decline will continue, netizens said on China's social media platform Weibo.

Sa Sa went public in 1997 in Hong Kong. Currently it has more than 270 retail stores in Asia. The daughter of its president Simon Kwok Siu Ming is married to the son of Hong Kong barrister Martin Lee Chu-ming, who has been criticized for using "freedom" and "democracy" as a cover to mobilize young students for illegal rallies and violent protests, according to media reports.

"The company thought its losses were due to a weaker yuan, how na?ve. Do they live in dreams?" another netizen said. Some noted that Sa Sa has no idea of mainland residents' purchasing power and called for a boycott.

According to the profit warning, its revenue stood at HK$3 billion ($383 million) in the first five months of its fiscal year (April 1-August 31), down 15 percent year-on-year. Sales in China's Hong Kong and Macao regions decreased 17 percent year-on-year.

On September 3, Sa Sa posted a statement on its official Weibo account, saying that the company and its founding family always support "one country, two systems" policy, and have never involved in any activities which might damage interests of the nation.

The statement did not stop calls for a boycott from Chinese mainlanders. The company's share price closed at HK$1.73 on Thursday, down from HK$2.74 on April 4.

"I've noted the statement of Sa Sa, but why would I take the risk of supporting Hong Kong secessionists-related companies, since we cannot monitor where the profits go," a Beijing resident who had been a regular customer of Sa Sa, told the Global Times on Thursday on condition of anonymity.

There are multiple alternatives for cosmetics consumers, so it is not hard to avoid one of them, she said.

Sa Sa is not the only company in Hong Kong that is under operating pressure. The embattled Cathay Pacific Group saw a decline both in passenger and cargo traffic in August against the background of the Hong Kong riots, and the group said it will cut capacity for the upcoming winter season.