GUMING Holdings (01364.HK) announced on November 14, 2025, that its board had resolved to propose and pay a special dividend of HK$0.93 per ordinary share, totaling approximately HK$2.212 billion.
The special dividend will be paid in cash on December 29 to shareholders registered on December 12.
For a company that only went public in Hong Kong in February 2025—the "third new tea beverage stock"—such an aggressive dividend payout has drawn widespread market attention. The funds are sourced from retained profits of subsidiaries and share premium in capital reserves as of December 31, 2024, just nine months after GUMING's listing.
**Behind the Massive Dividend: Fulfilling Promises and Market Controversy** GUMING’s dividend distribution was not a sudden decision but a pre-listing plan.
According to its IPO prospectus, the company intended to declare and distribute a special dividend of no less than RMB 2 billion before December 2025, based on retained profits from subsidiaries and share premium in capital reserves as of December 31, 2024.
Interestingly, the total special dividend of HK$2.212 billion is nearly equivalent to the net proceeds of HK$1.813 billion raised from GUMING’s global offering.
In other words, the capital raised from the IPO is now being returned to shareholders via dividends—with the majority flowing into the pockets of the company’s founders and executives.
Shareholding structure reveals that GUMING’s four founders—Wang Yun’an, Qi Xia, Ruan Xiudi, and Pan Pingping—indirectly hold about 72.78% of the shares through overseas family trusts. Based on this ratio, approximately HK$1.61 billion from the special dividend will go to the founders’ offshore trust accounts.
This is not GUMING’s first large dividend payout this year. Before listing, the company had already distributed a dividend of RMB 1.74 billion to existing shareholders.
Two massive dividend payouts totaling nearly HK$4 billion within a year are rare among newly listed companies.
**Growth Drivers and Hidden Challenges: GUMING’s Present and Future** GUMING’s ability to implement such a large-scale dividend is closely tied to its strong performance in the first half of 2025.
Interim results for 2025 show that GUMING achieved revenue of RMB 5.663 billion, up 41.2% year-on-year, and net profit attributable to shareholders of RMB 1.625 billion, surging 121.5%—even surpassing last year’s full-year figure (RMB 1.479 billion).
This stellar performance was driven by three growth factors: aggressive store network expansion, improved per-store efficiency, and supply chain and digitalization enhancements.
As of June 30, 2025, GUMING’s total store count reached 11,179, a net increase of 1,663 from 9,516 in the same period last year.
Among them, 81% of stores are located in second-tier and lower-tier cities, with 43% penetrating township markets, demonstrating the success of its low-tier market strategy.
GUMING’s revenue structure clearly reflects its business model—95.8% of total revenue comes from franchise stores.
Sales of goods and equipment contributed RMB 4.496 billion, up 41.8% year-on-year and accounting for 79.4% of total revenue, while franchise management services generated RMB 1.159 billion, up 39.2% and making up 20.5%.
This structure confirms that GUMING is essentially a "water seller" relying on its supply chain, ensuring stable revenue from raw material and equipment sales to franchisees regardless of their operational performance.
GUMING’s supply chain is its core competitive advantage. The company operates 22 warehouses with a total floor area of about 230,000 square meters and cold storage capacity exceeding 61,000 cubic meters.
98% of stores receive cold-chain deliveries every two days, with delivery costs accounting for less than 1% of GMV—a leading efficiency in the industry.
However, behind the impressive results, GUMING faces multiple challenges.
In the first half of 2025, store closures rose to 305 from 250 in the same period last year, showing an upward trend. Bank borrowings increased from RMB 121 million to RMB 178 million, with an additional RMB 1.488 billion in "interest-bearing other borrowings."
More concerning is that GUMING’s high growth heavily relies on short-term factors like food delivery subsidies.
During the "Zero-Yuan Purchase" campaign in July, daily orders reached 2-3 million, with same-store GMV growth exceeding 20%, but net profit per order was only RMB 4-5. Founder and CEO Wang Yun’an admitted during the earnings call that, in the long run, subsidy wars are detrimental to franchisee operations and industry sustainability.
Coffee, as a new growth driver, is now available in over 8,000 stores, contributing 15%-20% of total GMV.
Yet, whether GUMING’s coffee business can sustain growth compared to specialized brands like Luckin remains uncertain.
The market often wavers between short-term gains and long-term value. Wang Yun’an once stated that subsidy wars are ultimately harmful to franchisees—a sentiment that may reflect broader market concerns about GUMING.
Investors now face a choice: take the HK$0.93 per share special dividend or trust GUMING to create longer-term value with these funds.
GUMING’s case serves as a mirror for Hong Kong’s stock market, reflecting the tension between short-term profit-seeking and long-term value creation in the consumer sector.
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