Recently, Banu officially issued a statement stating that the Lianyungang store has not officially opened, and the store discovered that several billboards installed in the area outside the store were stolen at night. Banu said it had reported the case to the local public security agency and solicited clues from the public. It also called for healthy competition in the industry in the article. After that, Banu published an article titled "Wake Up", which mentioned, "Some people go further and further away, some things go more and more wrong, some roads get darker and darker, the sky is clear, and it's safe to turn around."
Article | "BUG" column Xu Yuanlei
Some consumers discovered that there happened to be a Haidilao store on the fourth floor of the shopping mall where the Banu Lianyungang store was located, and speculation about a "business war" between the two high-end hotpot brands heated up. Banu customer service responded that there was no investigation result after calling the police. Haidilao officials have yet to respond.
Coincidentally, the timing of this bizarre incident coincided with the expiration of Banu’s prospectus. The day after it expired, Banu quickly submitted another application. According to the latest prospectus data, Banu’s revenue and profits have shown significant growth in the first three quarters of this year, but its unit price has further declined. At the same time, Banu founder Du Zhongbing’s sudden dividend distribution and employment compliance issues before the IPO have attracted nine consecutive questions from regulatory authorities, and corporate governance and brand image have been questioned again.
New store advertisement stolen, business war "Rashomon"?
It is understood that Banu Lianyungang store is located on the 6th floor of Suning Plaza, Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province. This is Banu’s first store after entering Lianyungang. Banu’s official information shows that the store will open on December 31 this year.
According to the photos and information posted by the store manager on social media, Banu's advertising banners cover the 2-5 floors of the mall, while the "missing" advertisements are on the 4th and 5th floors. Some consumers discovered that a Haidilao restaurant was operating on the fourth floor of Suning Plaza in Lianyungang, triggering speculation about a business war between the two parties.
Netizens with knowledge of the matter commented that Banu's billboard was torn down by Haidilao employees. After negotiations with the police, Haidilao was willing to work with Suning Plaza to restore the advertisement to its original state and compensate according to the price, but Banu demanded that Haidilao publicly apologize. However, as of press time, this statement has not been confirmed by the three parties.
Dianping data shows that the aforementioned Haidilao store has been included for 7 years. Some consumers believe that Banu is "unkind", "Banu climbed up the ladder on Haidilao, and this time he posted the advertisement directly on people's doorsteps." Some consumers commented, "If there is surveillance, it will be known. Banu may want to take the opportunity to create a wave of popularity before the opening of the new store."
In fact, for a long time, Banu’s high-end hot pot industry has been extremely competitive, and Banu’s repeated “choking” of Haidilao has even become a landmark event in the industry. For example, Banu has long chanted the slogan "No excessive service". In addition, Banu's noodles promote "good noodles, no need to dance, natural and zero addition", which are regarded by the outside world as an insinuation of Haidilao.
In response to this incident, the "BUG" column called Banu's official customer service. The customer service staff said that the advertisement was published on December 12 and was discovered to have been stolen on the 13th. After the company called the police, there is currently no investigation result. When asked if they had reviewed the mall surveillance, customer service said they were "not sure of the specific situation."
Shopping mall staff responded that the Banu store involved has not yet opened. Regarding the specific progress of the mall's handling, the staff stated that they need to contact the relevant supervisor to understand, but as of press time, no further response has been received.
As the other party to public speculation, Haidilao has no official response so far.
The prospectus is submitted again, and the unit price continues to drop.
Coincidentally, the timing of this bizarre incident coincided with the expiration of Banu’s prospectus. On December 16, the prospectus previously submitted by Banu to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange expired after six months.
However, Banu did not stop. Just the day after the prospectus expired, on December 17, Banu quickly updated and submitted the prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange again, restarting the IPO journey, which shows the urgency of its determination to go public.
This updated prospectus also disclosed Banu’s latest results to the market. Data shows that in the first three quarters of 2025, the company achieved revenue of 2.077 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 24.5%, net profit of 156 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 58.46%, and adjusted net profit of 236 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 80.78%.
The improvement in profitability was mainly due to improvements in store operating efficiency. The prospectus shows that Banu's store operating profit margin has steadily increased from 15.2% in 2022 to 24.3% in the first three quarters of 2025, and the table turnover rate has also increased from 3.1 times/day in the same period last year to 3.6 times/day.
However, behind the beautiful data there are hidden worries. On the one hand, the unit price per customer that Banu is proud of continues to decline, from 150 yuan in 2023 to 142 yuan in 2024, and then to 138 yuan in the first three quarters of 2025.
On the other hand, Banu's growth still relies to a large extent on the rapid expansion of stores. Comparing the two prospectuses, it can be found that the number of its stores has increased from 145 on June 9, 2025 to 162 on December 7, a net increase of 17 stores within half a year. The company also plans to open more than 150 new stores from 2026 to 2028. This kind of "horse racing" expansion can certainly increase the revenue scale, but it also poses a huge test to the company's supply chain management, talent reserve and capital chain.
The founders received high dividends, but employees were in arrears with social security payments.
In 2001, Du Zhongbing, the founder of Banu, opened the first hotpot restaurant in Anyang, Henan. The brand name "Banu" comes from the title of trackers in Sichuan River. In 2012, the brand was officially renamed "Banu Maodu Hot Pot" and established a strategy with "Maodu + Mushroom Soup" as the core.
However, Banu's growth path is full of controversy, and the core of the controversy often points to its founder and corporate governance. The most criticized thing by the market is its surprise dividend payment on the eve of the IPO.
Information shows that Banu distributed a dividend of up to 70 million yuan in January 2025. According to its shareholding structure, Du Zhongbing and his family received more than 58 million yuan. While paying large dividends to the founders to "safeguard their pockets", they also reached out to the capital market to ask for money. This has triggered widespread doubts from supervision and the market.
This behavior also directly attracted the attention of regulatory authorities. In August this year, the China Securities Regulatory Commission launched nine consecutive questions to Banu regarding the supplementary material requirements for overseas listing filings. The regulatory authorities required Banu to explain in detail the rationality of dividend distribution, internal decision-making procedures, tax payment status, and explain its rationality in light of the company's debt situation.
In addition, complex equity structures, employment compliance, data security, etc. are also the focus of regulatory attention. According to the prospectus, Banu did not pay full social security and provident funds for its employees. From 2022 to the first three quarters of 2025, the contribution gaps are 1.6 million yuan, 1.2 million yuan, 700,000 yuan, and 500,000 yuan respectively. In this regard, the company admitted in its prospectus that it may face potential penalties as a result.
At the same time, Du Zhongbing himself has repeatedly become the focus of public opinion due to his controversial remarks. The most famous of these is his statement, "If you have a monthly salary of 5,000, you should not eat Banu", which has been widely criticized as "daddy preaching" and "discrimination against low-income groups." Although Du Zhongbing later responded that his remarks were taken out of context and his original intention was to suggest that young people should pay more attention to self-investment, it undoubtedly had a huge negative impact on the Banu brand.