Miniso (HKG:9896) posted a sharply higher first-quarter profit as strong demand in China, overseas expansion, and investment gains lifted earnings.
Profit attributable to equity shareholders tripled to 1.25 billion yuan in the three months ended March 31 from 416.3 million yuan a year earlier, according to a Hong Kong bourse filing after market hours on Tuesday.
Earnings per share increased to 1.02 yuan from 0.34 yuan in the corresponding period last year, while revenue climbed nearly 29% to 5.69 billion yuan from 4.43 billion yuan.
The strong performance was driven by continued momentum in China, where Founder and Chief Executive Guofu Ye said Miniso delivered its fifth consecutive quarter of accelerating growth.
"Miniso Chinese mainland achieved a 29.6% YoY revenue growth in 26Q1, delivering a fifth consecutive quarter of accelerating growth since the March quarter of 2025, powered by another solid high-single-digit same-store sales growth," Ye said.
Meanwhile, overseas markets remained a key growth engine, with revenue increasing 21.9% on low-single-digit same-store sales growth. Top Toy revenue surged 51.4% to 514.5 million yuan amid sustained demand in the collectible toy segment.
The brand, which competes with Pop Mart International (HKG:9992), resubmitted its IPO application for the main board of the Hong Kong stock exchange in late March.
Reflecting its accelerating global expansion, Miniso's total store count rose to 8,565 as of March 31, up 797 stores from a year earlier, with overseas markets accounting for more than half of new store additions over the past 12 months.
Analysts at Jefferies said sales exceeded market expectations, although adjusted net profit missed consensus forecasts due to higher cost of goods sold, overseas expansion expenses, and foreign exchange losses.
Adjusted net profit excluding foreign exchange impacts rose 8% to 633.1 million yuan from 585.6 million yuan a year earlier, the filing showed.
"With more stores opened in North America and Europe, a higher rental and staff expense ratio should be penciled," Jefferies analysts said in a note to clients.
Looking ahead, the company plans to convert or open 400 to 500 large-format stores this year following strong franchisee demand and improving store performance, analysts said.
At the same time, Miniso is accelerating its larger-format overseas strategy in markets including the U.S., Indonesia, and Mexico.
Analysts added that the company's U.S. plaza-format stores have generated store-level operating margins above 30%.
Separately, Ye said the company will continue to expand its global footprint and strengthen its IP-driven retail strategy in the second half of 2026.
"Entering the second half of 2026, we will continue to deepen our globalization and IP strategies, driving high-quality growth through continuous product mix optimization, upgrade and expansion of our store network, and leveraging a multi-dimensional IP matrix," Ye said.
