FAST NEWS: Maoyan profit surges on post-pandemic rebound
The latest: Online movie ticketing platform Maoyan Entertainment (1896.HK) reported Thursday its profit rose 7.7 times to 908 million yuan ($126 million) in 2023, in line with its previous estimate last month for a profit of 880 million yuan to 930 million yuan.
Looking up: Revenue for the company’s two core businesses, entertainment content and online ticketing services, both more than doubled last year, fueling a 105% jump in overall annual revenue to 4.76 billion yuan.
Take Note: The company’s cost of revenue jumped 82.6% to 2.37 billion yuan last year, due to higher content production, promotion and distribution costs.
Digging Deeper: Maoyan and its peers bounced back sharply last year after China ended its tough pandemic restrictions. The company has gradually shifted its focus in recent years from simple movie ticketing to include production, distribution and promotion of movies, in a bid to diversify its revenue. Last year, its revenue from entertainment content services accounted for 48.4% of its total, while ticketing was roughly equal at 47.5%. Of the top 10 films at the Chinese box office last year, Maoyan was lead distributor for four and lead producer for five.
Market Reaction: Maoyan shares fell on Friday, closing down 7.3% to HK$9.9 at the midday break. It now trades in the middle of its 52-week range.
Translation by A. Au
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