“Eating Hotpot at Home” Supports a “Listed Company”: Guoquan Foods Passes Hearing at Hong Kong Stock Exchange

Shanghai Stock Exchange News: Guoquan Foods Passes Hearing at Hong Kong Stock Exchange
(Reporter Tang Yifei) An enterprise that has made a name for itself by selling hotpot ingredients, Guoquan Foods (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Guoquan Foods”), is about to go public. On October 10, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) website showed that Guoquan Foods had recently passed its hearing and is set to be listed on the main board of the HKEX. Huatai International and CICC are acting as joint sponsors.
On October 6, Guoquan Foods disclosed its post-hearing information pack. Established in 2015, Guoquan Foods is a one-stop brand for at-home dining products. According to Frost & Sullivan, Guoquan Foods ranked first among all domestic retailers in 2022 in terms of retail sales of at-home dining products, holding a 3.0% market share in China. In 2022, Guoquan Foods was the largest home hotpot and barbecue brand in China by retail sales.
Guoquan Foods’ performance has grown rapidly over the past three years. The prospectus shows that its total revenue from 2020 to 2022 was 2.965 billion RMB, 3.958 billion RMB, and 7.174 billion RMB, respectively. In the first four months of this year, Guoquan Foods achieved total revenue of 2.078 billion RMB.
However, Guoquan Foods’ net profit has been unstable, with net profits of -43 million RMB, -461 million RMB, and 241 million RMB from 2020 to 2022, respectively. In the first four months of this year, the net profit was 120 million RMB. The company’s gross profit margin has shown an overall upward trend, being 11.1%, 9.0%, and 17.4% from 2020 to 2022, respectively. In the first four months of this year, the gross profit margin was 21.1%.
Guoquan Foods has also rapidly expanded its store network. The prospectus shows that the number of new franchise stores was 2,883, 2,762, and 2,631 from 2020 to 2022, respectively. As of April 30 of this year, Guoquan had 9,978 stores.
Mr. Yang Mingchao, Mr. Meng Xianjin, and Mr. Li Xinhua are acting in concert. Additionally, Mr. Yang Mingchao controls Guo Xiaocircle Enterprise Management and Guo Xiaocircle Technology. These shareholders collectively hold 48.64% of the shares.
Guoquan Foods boasts a strong shareholder base, including IDG Capital, CMB International, Sanquan Foods, Wumart Investment, GGV Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, TPG, Tiantu Capital, Focus Media, Lighthouse Capital, Risong Capital, and Moutai Fund, among others.
Industry insiders believe that the competition in the fresh food e-commerce platform market is fierce. Platforms such as Hema, Meituan, and Dingdong Maicai are also focusing on hotpot ingredients and have launched hotpot ingredient sections. JD Supermarket and Pupu Supermarket are also increasing their efforts in the pre-made food sector. Guoquan Foods needs to enhance its competitiveness in the supply chain, product categories, or operations. Currently, the market concentration in the fresh food e-commerce sector is still relatively fragmented.

Cited from https://news.cnstock.com/news,bwkx-202310-5132623.html