The hotpot brand’s international arm, Super Hi, is on track to post buoyant annual profits but under the surface increased competition is crimping margins
image credit: Bamboo Works
Key Takeaways:
- The company expects revenues from restaurants outside China to have risen nearly 8% in 2025, while profits are set to jump 56%, inflated by currency gains
- Restaurant-level operating margins slipped under increased cost pressure
In Vancouver shopping malls and parts of Los Angeles or New York, long lines are forming outside hotpot restaurants. And it’s not just Chinese families who are dipping their sliced meat into a shared pot of spicy broth.
The convivial hotpot is becoming a popular choice outside of China, especially with younger age groups, offering dining chains a new way to boost their takings as domestic consumption slows in a bloated Chinese restaurant market.
Leading hotpot chain Haidilao (6862.HK) has made expansion outside China a strategic priority and has tasted success in the form of rising earnings.
Super Hi International Holding Ltd. (NASDAQ:HDL) (9658.HK), which operates the chain’s overseas outlets, has projected its revenue will maintain a steady growth pace for 2025, increasing around 7.9% to at least $840 million, while net profit was estimated to leap 56% to at least $34 million.
But a closer reading of the March 2 profit outlook reveals a more nuanced picture, with currency factors inflating the earnings increase. The company made about $14 million in foreign exchange gains in 2025 after a loss of around $19.7 million in 2024. Excluding currency effects, the earnings uplift was relatively modest. The restaurant-level margin also edged lower, …