--- title: "[IPO Frontline] Banu to List in Hong Kong: Can It Surpass Haidilao and Xiabuxiabu?" type: "Topics" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/topics/31597767.md" description: "Banu, which specializes in Sichuan and Chongqing hot pot, actually originated in Henan. Its founder opened the first hot pot restaurant in Anyang, Henan in 2001 and began expanding from there. Recently, Banu submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, planning to raise funds for expanding its self-operated restaurant network, improving the digitalization of business management and restaurant operations, brand building, optimizing the supply chain, and using working capital and general corporate purposes. Currently, hot pot stocks listed on the Hong Kong stock market include $HAIDILAO(06862.HK), Haidilao's overseas business $SUPER HI(09658.HK) ..." datetime: "2025-07-09T02:12:12.000Z" locales: - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/topics/31597767.md) - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/topics/31597767.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/topics/31597767.md) author: "[财华社](https://longbridge.com/en/profiles/11651030.md)" generator: "portal-rs" --- # [IPO Frontline] Banu to List in Hong Kong: Can It Surpass Haidilao and Xiabuxiabu? Banu, which specializes in Sichuan and Chongqing hot pot, actually started in Henan. Its founder opened the first hot pot restaurant in Anyang, Henan in 2001 and began its expansion from there. Recently, Banu submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, planning to raise funds for expanding its self-operated restaurant network, improving digitalization in business management and restaurant operations, brand building, optimizing the supply chain, and general corporate purposes. Currently, the hot pot stocks listed on the Hong Kong stock market include $HAIDILAO(06862.HK), Haidilao's overseas business $SUPER HI(09658.HK), and $XIABUXIABU(00520.HK), with market capitalizations of HKD 82.4 billion, HKD 10.2 billion, and HKD 860 million, respectively. Compared to the mass-market hot pot chain Haidilao and the budget-friendly Xiabuxiabu, can Banu, which positions itself as a premium hot pot brand, achieve a higher valuation in the capital market? ### **Market Positioning of Banu, Haidilao, and Xiabuxiabu** Banu's signature dishes are "tripe + mushroom soup," with an average per-customer spending of over RMB 120 (all figures in RMB unless otherwise stated). All its restaurants are company-owned. As of the end of 2024, it had 145 directly operated stores covering 39 cities nationwide, with second-tier cities accounting for the largest share at 55%. Haidilao is positioned as a mass-market hot pot chain, with an average per-customer spending of RMB 90-100. It is renowned for its service, aiming to provide customers with a comprehensive dining experience. As the industry leader, Haidilao has a vast number of stores not only across China but also in major markets worldwide. By the end of 2024, it had 1,355 restaurants in Greater China, with third-tier and lower cities accounting for the largest share at 42.9%, while first-tier cities, second-tier cities, and Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan accounted for 16.2%, 39.2%, and 1.7%, respectively. Xiabuxiabu focuses on affordable Taiwanese-style individual hot pot, with an average per-customer spending of around RMB 50. It primarily caters to cost-conscious and fast-dining consumers, offering budget-friendly set meals. By the end of 2024, Xiabuxiabu operated 757 restaurants in 115 cities across 21 provinces and autonomous regions in mainland China, as well as three municipalities. It also operated three Xiabuxiabu restaurants overseas and 181 Coucou restaurants in China, along with 16 Coucou restaurants overseas. ### **Cost Control and Profitability** Banu positions itself as a "premium hot pot" brand, focusing on signature dishes like tripe and mushroom soup, emphasizing product quality to build brand recognition. It has established an integrated supply chain platform, including five comprehensive central kitchens that handle key ingredients from pre-processing to cold-chain delivery to restaurants, and a specialized base-ingredient processing plant in Chongqing to ensure ingredient supply and quality. Haidilao offers a more comprehensive menu but lacks a standout product like Banu's tripe, which has strong differentiation. However, Haidilao excels in service, attracting significant foot traffic and often securing rent-free deals from landlords, reducing rental costs. It also started with seasonings and base ingredients, forming an efficient supply chain and achieving economies of scale, giving it an edge in cost control. In 2024, Banu's annual revenue was RMB 2.307 billion, up 9.27% year-on-year; pre-tax profit was RMB 166 million, up 18.18% year-on-year, with a pre-tax profit margin of 7.17%; net profit attributable to shareholders grew 20.87% year-on-year to RMB 123 million, with a profit margin of 5.33%; adjusted profit after excluding non-recurring items was RMB 196 million, up 36.25% year-on-year, with an adjusted profit margin of 8.49%. In contrast, Haidilao's 2024 revenue reached RMB 42.755 billion, 18.5 times that of Banu; its pre-tax profit margin was 15.49%, double that of Banu, and net profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 4.708 billion, with a net profit margin of 11.01%. Xiabuxiabu's 2024 revenue was RMB 4.755 billion, but it has faced operational challenges in recent years, with its annual net loss attributable to shareholders widening from RMB 199 million in the previous year to RMB 401 million. Here, we focus on comparing the 2024 performance of Haidilao and Banu. Haidilao's table turnover rate was 4.1 times per day, higher than Banu's approximately 3.2 times per day, as shown in the table below. Despite Banu's focus on premium ingredients, its raw material and consumables costs accounted for only 32.11% of revenue in 2024, compared to Haidilao's 37.92%. Haidilao, which excels in service, had employee costs accounting for about 33.01% of revenue in 2024, lower than Banu's 33.59%. Interestingly, while Haidilao and Xiabuxiabu's financial reports do not include advertising and promotion expenses, Banu does, and the proportion is significant, accounting for 4.37% of revenue in 2024, offsetting its advantage in lower raw material costs. Banu mentioned in its listing application that its annual advertising and promotion expenses account for 3.0% to 4.5% of revenue. In contrast, Haidilao, with its strong brand influence and extensive store coverage, has established stable consumer recognition, resulting in relatively lower spending on advertising and promotion, relying more on word-of-mouth and organic traffic. ### **Conclusion** Overall, Banu's cost structure aligns with its "premium hot pot + brand-building" phase, while Haidilao's cost structure reflects its "economies of scale + word-of-mouth-driven" mature model. This difference suggests that in the capital market, investors may focus more on whether Banu can balance scale expansion with cost optimization after sustained brand investment, and whether Haidilao can further improve single-store profitability while maintaining its service advantage. For Banu, which is about to list in Hong Kong, whether it can achieve a higher valuation through differentiation depends not only on current performance but also on market confidence in the sustainability of its "product-first" approach. Author: Mao Ting ### Related Stocks - [HDL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/HDL.US.md) - [09658.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/09658.HK.md) - [06862.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/06862.HK.md) - [00520.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/00520.HK.md) --- > **Disclaimer: This article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice.**