Customer unit price decreases, but profits double. Meet Xiaomian and review the first-year financial report | Hot Finance

On March 27, 2026, temperatures in Guangzhou gradually warmed up. For Meet Xiao Mian, the “first Chinese-style noodle shop stock,” this freshly released “report card” was hotter than the weather.

Less than half a year after listing, this dining brand, which began in Guangzhou, has turned in its first annual performance results. The most striking thing about this financial report is a set of seemingly contradictory figures: the average ticket size fell, the average daily orders per store rose, and profits doubled instead.

At a time when the catering industry is widely stuck in anxiety over “price wars” and “increasing revenue without increasing profits,” Meet Xiao Mian seems to have found a solution different from the traditional path of dining businesses—rather than simply raising prices to generate profit, it builds a moat of “value for money” through standardization and scale effects.

The “add and subtract” method of a bowl of noodles

How can price cuts and efficiency gains coexist?

When you look at the core data in the financial report, in 2025 Meet Xiao Mian’s operating revenue reached 1.622 billion yuan, up 40.5% year over year. Even more eye-catching is that the adjusted net profit reached 135 million yuan, soaring 111.9% year over year. Net profit growth far outpaced revenue growth—this points to a qualitative change in operating efficiency.

To explore the logic behind this, the reporter noticed a key detail: the company actively lowered menu pricing. The data shows that in direct-operated restaurants, the average order value decreased from 32.1 yuan in 2024 to 29.9 yuan, and in franchise restaurants it also fell from 31.8 yuan to 28.8 yuan. This is a move that usually takes courage in capital markets—cutting prices often means pressure on gross margins.

But Meet Xiao Mian did not fall into the trap of “thin profits.” On the contrary, the average daily order volume per direct-operated store surged from 386 orders to 406 orders, and franchise stores increased even more—from 390 orders to 412 orders. This “healthy feedback loop” of “the average ticket size drops by 1 yuan, while orders rise by 20 per day” forms the core engine behind its performance surge.

The “add and subtract” method works out because of its “system capabilities” behind the scenes. The financial report reveals that in 2025 the company optimized three key cost metrics across the board: the proportion of raw materials and consumables fell from 34.3% to 32.4%, the employee cost proportion dropped from 23% to 21.9%, and the share of rent expenses decreased from 18.2% to 17%.

At a Meet Xiao Mian store in Zhujiang New Town in Guangzhou, the reporter observed that during the lunch peak, from scanning to order to serving food, the average time did not exceed 5 minutes. Behind this efficiency is a complete management system covering products, service, staffing, and expansion. When the scale reaches 500 stores, the bargaining power of the supply chain, the utilization rate of the central kitchen, and the reach of digital management all enter a new order of magnitude.

The critical point of 500 stores

From “Guangzhou flavors” to a global narrative

For chain catering brands, 300 stores are often the first bottleneck, while 500 stores is the key milestone on the path toward a thousand-store scale. On December 29, 2025, with the opening of the first Singapore store on 313@Somerset, Meet Xiao Mian’s global store network broke through the 500-store threshold in one leap.

This is not only a jump in numbers, but also an upgrade in strategic dimension. The financial report shows that by the end of 2025, the company had a total of 503 stores, net adding 143 stores, an increase of nearly 40%. And in the first two months of 2026, it opened 20 more stores, with another 76 stores in the pipeline. This poised, forward-looking state confirms that the “1,000-store target” proposed in its prospectus is not just talk.

It is worth noting that the layout of these 500 stores shows a clear “three-dimensional” character. In the early days, Meet Xiao Mian mainly clustered in core commercial districts in first- and second-tier cities—mall stores. Now, the network has extended to street-front stores, stores in nearby suburbs of cities, and even 15 stores in Hong Kong, China, as well as an overseas first store in Singapore.

A “scarce sample” in Hong Kong-listed catering

Returning to shareholders + large-scale buybacks

In the Hong Kong stock market, catering stocks often see significant price fluctuations, and market sentiment can easily be swayed by same-store data in a single month. Meanwhile, alongside releasing this impressive financial report, Meet Xiao Mian carried out two moves that are worth pondering.

First, cash rewards for shareholders with real money. The board recommended distributing a final dividend of HKD 0.03 per H share in RMB terms. Although the absolute amount is not very large, “dividends in the first year after listing” is not common in the Hong Kong catering sector. This indicates that the company’s cash flow is healthy, and that management is willing to share the growth dividends with shareholders.

Second, large-scale share buybacks. As of February 28, 2026, the company had used HKD 17.30 million in its own funds to buy back H shares. This combination of “dividends + buybacks” typically appears in mature companies with excellent cash flow, while Meet Xiao Mian is currently in a rapid growth phase. This seemingly “contradictory” capital operation, in fact, sends a strong signal: management believes the current share price is undervalued, and the company’s value has not yet been fully unlocked.

Looking back at this financial report, it is not hard to see that Meet Xiao Mian is trying to break the curse of Chinese noodle-shop chains being “a product category without a brand.” It does not place its hopes on the accidental breakout of foot traffic at a single store; instead, it bets on a system validated by 500 stores. When this system can support a business logic of “cutting prices and still making money,” perhaps all that remains between it and the thousand-store target is time.

Text, photos | Reporter Sun Qiman