Helens’ Chinese Trademark Ruled Invalid: Stock Price, Market Cap, and Operating Transformation Pressure

Have you been to Helen’s? This Chinese pub chain, known as “young people’s first pub,” has recently lost its Chinese name. The Chinese trademarks “Helens,” “Helens Pub,” and “Helens Bigger Food Stall” were finally ruled invalid by the court.

Founded in 2009, Helens first opened in a remote storefront in Beijing’s Wudaokou, near Tsinghua and Peking University. Founder Xu Bingzhong is a post-70s veteran. In the early days, the business mainly targeted foreigners, such as overseas students. It originally used English trademarks like “Helen’s,” and applied for a batch of related English marks in 2013; its Chinese core trademarks only began to be registered in 2018.

According to reports, the trademark dispute mainly arose between Chengdu Helen Colorful Hotel Co., Ltd. and Helens. The other party had previously registered two “Helen” trademarks in 2016, covering Class 43 hotel and bar services, and filed invalidation requests with the China National Intellectual Property Administration on May 23, 2023 against the “Helens” trademark, and on August 7, 2024 against the “Helens Pub” and “Helens Bigger Food Stall” trademarks. They argued that the disputed marks were similar to their cited marks on similar services and were likely to confuse relevant consumers.

After a three-year tug-of-war, on the evening of June 25, Helens announced that its three Chinese trademarks had been finally ruled invalid by the court. The announcement said that, based on current assessment, the dispute would have no material impact on the group’s overall business, daily operations, or financial condition, because the group can continue using its undisputed trademarks in its daily business.

Reporters found that, so far, Helens offline stores and online communications still use Chinese-name-related wording. The impact has not yet reached physical stores, but the capital market—more sensitive than the stores themselves—was hit first.

After the news was released, the stock opened lower on June 26 and at one point fell more than 6% intraday. By the close that day, Helens stock had dropped to HK$1.58. At its IPO peak, Helens once had a market cap of HK$30 billion, but now it is only about HK$2 billion—shrinking by more than 90%.

“Young people’s first pub” is no longer young: low-price expansion and the pandemic shock

Helens’ earliest stores were in university areas, with foreigners and international students as the main customers. Later, founder Xu Bingzhong shifted strategy and positioned Helens as “a space for free offline social interaction for young people,” entering the market with an “ultimate value for money” approach: all bottled beers were priced below 10 yuan, and cocktails were only slightly more expensive, mostly in the 20-yuan range.

The “young people + value for money” model was successfully replicated. By the end of 2021, Helens had 782 stores and listed on the Hong Kong stock market that year, riding the halo of “the largest chain pub in China.”

According to the 2021 prospectus, Helens’ revenue from 2018 to 2020 was 115 million yuan, 565 million yuan, and 818 million yuan, respectively; net profit was 9.734 million yuan, 79.136 million yuan, and 70.072 million yuan. Although drink prices were low, the prospectus showed the gross margin on self-owned alcoholic beverages was above 70%, and self-owned drinks contributed more than 60% of Helens’ beverage revenue. At the same time, thanks to direct factory procurement and scale effects, Helens could also obtain relatively favorable purchase prices for third-party branded drinks.

One advantage was scale. But with aggressive expansion, store-opening costs surged; combined with the pandemic and other factors, Helens posted a net loss of 230 million yuan in 2021, and the next year the net loss widened to 1.601 billion yuan. After cumulative losses of more than 1.8 billion yuan, Helens began shutting stores to save itself: its financial reports show that by the end of 2023, it had 479 pubs, down 288 from a year earlier and more than 40% below the peak of over 850 stores.

At the same time, Helens began a strategic transformation, shifting from a fully self-operated model to an open-franchise model, the “Hi Beer Partner” plan. When the plan first launched, the minimum investment threshold was at least 600,000 yuan, but by 2024 the threshold for the new store format had been reduced to around 400,000 yuan.

Business under pressure amid the bistro boom: revenue decline and same-store weakness

From the 2025 earnings report, Helens’ full-year revenue was 540 million yuan, down 28.3% year over year; net profit attributable to shareholders was 33.954 million yuan, successfully returning to profit. The share of self-owned alcoholic beverage revenue and gross margin both improved year over year, and store-level gross margin rose to 73.77%, indicating a better overall operating condition than the previous year.

But declining average daily sales per store remain a harsh reality. In 2025, the average daily sales of Helens’ self-operated and franchised/cooperative same stores fell to 8,500 yuan, down more than 18% year over year; the average daily sales of a single partner store were only 4,100 yuan, with all store types declining across the board. In a dining sector where single-store daily revenue can easily exceed 10,000 yuan, Helens’ main franchise format earns relatively little; and about 70% of its stores are in third-tier cities and below, so profitability is under objective pressure.

On the other hand, there are just too many places for young people to drink. The appeal of low prices is weakening. Data shows that as many as 38,000 bars opened over the past year. From home bars, craft beer bars, and live-house-style bars to all kinds of bistros, the consumption scene is becoming more segmented and diverse.

Among them, bistros that combine food and alcohol have risen strongly in recent years. In this segment, the brand “Huanshi” has been growing rapidly, and its parent company Jiwu Thinking submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange this January. Data shows that Huanshi already has more than 100 stores in China and broke 1 billion yuan in revenue in 2024.

Compared with Helens, which opened the market with low prices and scale, Huanshi follows another route: the environment has more atmosphere, prices are higher, and average spend per customer exceeds 100 yuan. Its prospectus disclosed that for the first nine months of 2025, average daily sales per store were 29,880 yuan. Its operating hours were extended to more than 18 hours by offering brunch, afternoon tea, dinner, and late-night alcohol service, improving store utilization and operating efficiency. In the same period, drinks and beverages contributed about 45% of revenue, of which 85% were alcoholic beverages; gross margin held steady at 68.7%, above the industry average.

However, Huanshi also faces challenges: high store costs squeeze profits, and consumer complaints about food taste and quality may hurt brand reputation.

Chinese food industry analyst Zhu Danpeng believes that, like in the coffee sector, low-, mid-, and high-end brands each have their market. The same is true for pubs. Pubs are increasingly favored by younger generations and the category is in a rapid expansion phase, but overall concentration remains low. Perhaps after another five years, with capital support and consumption dividends, the market will see leading brands and a sharper competitive landscape.

He also said that product pricing is not the only key to a brand’s trajectory. The hard factors mainly include brand effect, scale effect, fan effect, supply-chain completeness, and single-store operating capability. Because every store is in a different location, strategies should differ. For Helens, how to run each store well remains the biggest challenge.