Mingming was very busy last year with higher income, Wanchen Group was more profitable but closed more stores.

Why does the number of store closures increase despite stronger profitability for Wanchen Group and AI?

Two snack retail listed companies have successively released their annual financial reports.

On March 31, Mingming Very Busy released its first annual financial report since going public. Meanwhile, on the previous day (March 30), Wanchen Group updated its Hong Kong IPO prospectus. Last year, Mingming Very Busy’s revenue scale was significantly higher than Wanchen Group’s, and its net profit attributable to shareholders was far higher than Wanchen Group’s; however, Wanchen Group’s profitability was stronger. It was just that more than 40% of the money it earned went into the pockets of minority shareholders of its subsidiaries, causing profits actually enjoyed by shareholders of the listed company to be reduced substantially.

The financial report shows that in 2025, Mingming Very Busy’s revenue was 66.170 billion yuan, up 68.19% year-on-year; net profit was 2.329 billion yuan, up 180.91% year-on-year.

An A-share financial report shows that in 2025, Wanchen Group’s revenue was 51.459 billion yuan, up 59.17% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 1.345 billion yuan, up 358.09% year-on-year. The Hong Kong IPO prospectus shows that in 2025, Wanchen Group’s net profit was 2.427 billion yuan, up 297.21% year-on-year. There is a huge gap between the net profits in the two reports, mainly because Wanchen Group’s minority shareholders took away 1.079 billion yuan.

The Hong Kong financial report and Hong Kong IPO prospectus show that in 2025, Mingming Very Busy’s gross profit margin was 9.83%, while Wanchen Group’s was 12.18%. After excluding the impact of share-based payments and listing expenses, in 2025, Mingming Very Busy’s adjusted net profit was 2.692 billion yuan; after excluding the impact of share issuance expenses, Wanchen Group’s adjusted net profit was 2.574 billion yuan. In 2025, Mingming Very Busy’s net profit margin was 3.52%, and its adjusted net profit margin was 4.07%; Wanchen Group’s net profit margin was 4.72%, and its adjusted net profit margin was 5.00%.

From the above data, it can be seen that Wanchen Group has stronger cost control and profitability. However, although Mingming Very Busy’s net profit margin is somewhat lower, all the money it earns belongs to the parent company, whereas Wanchen Group’s minority shareholders take away 44.46% of its net profit, so the true profitability results of its core business are clearly much weaker.

Both companies’ core revenue comes mainly from selling snacks through franchise stores. Mingming Very Busy has two value-for-money snack retail brands, “Zhao Yiming Snacks” and “Snacks Very Busy”; Wanchen Group has two major snack brands, “Hao Xiang Lai” and “Wife’s Big,” and it also has 0.2% of revenue coming from the edible fungi business. Last year, Mingming Very Busy’s total number of stores still remained ahead, while Wanchen Group’s rate of opening stores slowed significantly, and the number of store closures increased noticeably.

Specifically, in 2025, Mingming Very Busy opened 7,813 new stores and closed 265 stores. As of the end of December 2025, Mingming Very Busy had 21,948 stores, a net increase of 7,554 stores. Compared with the net increase of 7,810 stores in 2024, the pace of store openings slowed slightly.

In 2025, Wanchen Group added 4,720 new stores and closed 602 stores. As of the end of 2025, its total number of stores was 18,314, a net increase of 4,118 stores. Compared with 2024, when it opened 9,776 new stores and closed 306 stores, Wanchen Group’s store opening dropped significantly last year, and the number of store closures also increased noticeably.

Both companies’ stores are mainly franchised stores. In 2025, the proportion of franchise stores at Mingming Very Busy was about 99.9%, while at Wanchen Group it was 99.8%.

Previously, a reporter from Nandu Bay Finance and Media learned from Wanchen Group that, in terms of store openings, last year Wanchen Group tended to choose locations more precisely, so that franchise stores could operate well, and it did not set a specific target for store openings for the whole year. Regarding the increase in the number of store closures last year, on April 1, the reporter contacted the relevant person from Wanchen Group to learn more, but did not receive a clear reply.

Besides the slowdown in store openings, Wanchen Group’s GMV per store also declined last year. The prospectus shows that Wanchen Group’s GMV last year was 73.316 billion yuan, up 72.12% year-on-year; the average monthly GMV per store declined 7.28% year-on-year to 382,000 yuan. However, Wanchen Group stated that in the second half of 2025, its average monthly GMV per store had improved, rising from 371,000 yuan in the first half to 392,000 yuan. Mingming Very Busy did not disclose its average monthly GMV per store; its full-year GMV was 93.569 billion yuan, up 68.50% year-on-year.

Written by: Nandu · Bay Finance reporter Zhan Danqing