FAST NEWS: Pop Mart profit soars on overseas sales surge

The latest: “Blind box” collectible toy seller Pop Mart International Group Ltd. (9992.HK) announced Tuesday its net profit for the first half of 2023 jumped 42.3% year-on-year to 477 million yuan ($66 million).

Looking up: The company’s revenue from Mainland China increased by 15.9% during the period, while revenue from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and other global markets surged by 140%. Those combined to boost the company’s overall revenue by 19.3% to 2.81 billion yuan for the period.

Take Note: Pop Mart’s distribution and selling expenses in the first half rose 26.7% to 878 million yuan, growing faster than its overall revenue, mainly due to a 43.6% surge in employee benefit expenses and a 36.3% increase in depreciation of right-of-use assets.

Digging Deeper: Founded in Beijing in 2010 as a trendy grocery store, Pop Mart gradually transformed into a “blind box” collectible toy seller in 2015 after taking on the role as an agent in China for the Japanese character doll Sonny Angel. The company was listed on Beijing’s thinly traded National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ) market in 2017 but delisted two years later, then moved to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in November 2020 in an IPO that raised about HK$5 billion ($640 million). While its revenue from China has continued to grow during the pandemic over the past three years, the growth rate is beginning to slow. To regain some of its earlier momentum, the company has begun to expand overseas in recent years, including through its recent acquisition of British partner Mogic Ltd.

Market Reaction: Pop Mart shares – and then rose – on Wednesday morning, closing up 2.9% at HK$22.75 by the midday break. The stock now trades in the middle of its 52-week range.

Translation by A. Au

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