As it races toward its IPO, Banu enters the Hong Kong market.

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Wallstreetcn has learned that recently, Banu Mala Tofu Hotpot has confirmed that its first Hong Kong store will be located in Hysan Place, the core commercial area of Causeway Bay, and is expected to open in mid-November 2026. This marks the company's first self-operated store outside Mainland China since its establishment in 2001, representing a step forward in its international business expansion.

For mainland chain restaurants, Hong Kong is often the first stop in internationalization strategies, as well as a testing ground for brand premium and supply chain resilience. Hong Kong not only has a mature dining consumer base, but its status as a free international port also provides an institutional transition for restaurant companies preparing to enter overseas markets.

Banu’s latest choice—Hysan Place in Causeway Bay—is a mature commercial landmark with high foot traffic and strong spending power. However, the Hong Kong F&B market also faces the fundamentals of high rent and labor costs. In mainland China, Banu has long positioned itself with product differentiation, keeping the per customer ticket price at around 140 yuan. However, the single-store profitability model from the mainland cannot be directly applied in Hong Kong.

In essence, Banu’s actual operations in Hong Kong will face two core tests.

First is the erosion of gross margin by high operating costs. Banu emphasizes outputting high-quality core ingredients, which requires them to establish a supply chain network covering cross-border logistics, cold chain transportation, and local warehousing in Hong Kong. Increased logistics and loss costs will largely test Banu’s pricing strategies and cost control capabilities in the Hong Kong market.

Secondly, as a mature international dining market, Hong Kong consumers are highly discerning about hotpot subcategories. Whether Banu’s brand momentum in the Mainland can be translated into a stable flow of customers and table turnover in Hong Kong still needs to be proven through actual operations.

If Banu can establish a financial model for their Hong Kong store, proving their ability to generate positive operational cash flow not only domestically but also in high-cost overseas markets, this will provide viable data support and hands-on experience for expansion into Southeast Asia and broader international markets.

One month earlier, on June 17, Banu International Holdings Limited submitted a main board listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for the third time, with CICC and CMBI as joint sponsors. Previously, Banu had submitted its prospectus twice in 2025, both of which lapsed after the six-month validity period expired.

Core data disclosed in the prospectus shows that at this stage, Banu’s revenue and profit growth still largely rely on further expansion of store scale. In 2025, Banu achieved revenue of 2.846 billion yuan, an increase of 23.4% year-on-year; adjusted profit was 317 million yuan, up 88.7% year-on-year.

This growth in performance directly corresponds to an acceleration in the opening of new stores.

From 2023 to 2025, Banu opened 25, 35, and 44 new stores, respectively, showing an increasing expansion trend year by year. By July 2026, it had more than 200 self-operated stores in 57 cities nationwide. For single-store efficiency, the annual table turnover rate in 2025 reached 3.6 times per day, up about 0.4 from the previous year, maintaining a relatively high circulation efficiency in the chain hotpot industry.

However, the asset-heavy self-operated business model and the construction of a full-link ingredient supply chain bring continuous pressure on cash flow.

In the current market environment, relying solely on endogenous profits from existing stores can hardly support its large capital expenditures for accelerated expansion into lower-tier or overseas markets in the long run. Raising funds through an HKEX IPO to supplement liquidity and strengthen the back-end supply chain has become a necessary path to maintain its expansion pace.

Combining internationalization with the IPO process, going overseas is not just about business expansion but is also a core component of the capital narrative.

At present, the boom period for the domestic hotpot industry has changed, and industry competition is moving from front-end store marketing to supply chain and refined operations at the back end.

As locations in tier-one and tier-two cities become saturated, the valuation ceiling for expanding in the domestic market alone has become apparent. The capital market demands stricter scrutiny on the long-term growth prospects of chain restaurant enterprises.

Entering the Hong Kong market at this time to launch its international strategy is also one means by which Banu aims to reshape its valuation logic in the secondary market. As it sprints toward IPO, the market will also focus on whether the company has the ability for standardized replication across regions and the capacity to resist the risks of a single market cycle.

Overall, Banu Mala Tofu Hotpot’s entry into Hong Kong and the launch of its internationalization strategy is closely connected to its third HK listing application in business logic. It seeks new performance increments and valuation space through overseas expansion, while the IPO provides capital ammunition to support its global supply chain. However, from submitting the prospectus to successful listing and then achieving stable profitability in overseas markets, all still require time for validation.

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