BEIJING, March 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Maoyan Entertainment ("Maoyan" or the "Company", 1896.HK), a leading platform providing innovative Internet empowered entertainment services in China, today announced its audited consolidated results for the year ended December 31, 2024. The Board has proposed a final dividend of HKD 0.32 per share for 2024, underscoring the company's strong commitment to shareholder value and confidence in its future business growth and performance.
Full Year 2024 Financial Highlights
Revenue was RMB4,082.2 million, compared with RMB4,757.4 million in 2023.
Profit was RMB181.9 million, compared with RMB907.8 million in 2023.
Adjusted net profit[1]was RMB309.6 million, compared with RMB1,029.0 million in 2023.
[1] We defined adjusted net profit as net profit for the year adjusted by adding back share-based compensation and amortization of intangible assets resulting from business combinations.
BUSINESS REVIEW
According to the data released by the China Film Administration (國家電影局) for 2024, the total box office nationwide reached RMB42.502 billion, representing a decrease of 22.6% compared to 2023. The offline performance market maintained its growth trend, with commercial performance box office revenue nationwide reaching RMB57.954 billion for the full year, reflecting a year- on-year increase of 15.37%, according to the National Performance Market Development Briefing for 2024 (《2024全國演出市場簡報》) released by the China Association of Performing Arts (中國演出行業協會).
During the Reporting Period, the number of released movies in which the Company was involved and their box office performance continued to rank at the top among industry leaders. With our enhanced promotion and distribution service capabilities, the movies for which we acted as a lead distributor reached record highs at the box office contribution. Our live entertainment business continued to outperform the overall market in both revenue and GMV growth, further strengthening our market competitiveness. By continuing to optimize the revenue structure, the Company maintained its profitability.
Entertainment Content Services
As a leading promoter and distributor of domestic movies, as well as a premier movie producer and self-developer in China, we actively serve the industry and contribute to the distribution, production and development of various genres of domestic movies. In 2024, we were involved in a total of 63 released domestic movies, achieving a cumulative box office of approximately RMB23.2 billion, with both the number of films we participated in and the market share reaching historic highs for the same period. We also increased the number of top-tier movies we participated in and deepened our presence. Out of the top 10 domestic films in terms of box office in 2024, Maoyan was involved in the production/distribution of 8 movies, including 6 movies for which we acted as a lead distributor.
During the Reporting Period, we continued to refine our promotion and distribution capabilities and methodologies, while maintaining a keen sense of market conditions and project evaluation. From early-stage insights into themes, release dates, and evolving user demands to refined operations, we continued to improve and streamline our promotion and distribution capabilities, product systems, and organizational development. We also further standardized our promotion and distribution processes, covering various areas including pre-release marketing, short videos, materials, and collaborative promotion and distribution coordination. At the same time, we persisted in iterating and optimizing our product promotion and distribution capabilities, embraced new technologies and capabilities, and continued exploring synergies among various industries. For instance, we collaborated with mainstream platforms including Baidu, Tencent, and Douyin on AI technology applications in a number of movies, effectively enhancing the movies' promotional effects and user engagement.
Leveraging our high-quality promotion and distribution services, as well as our long-standing and ever-growing movie selection and data capabilities, during the Reporting Period, we participated in the promotion and distribution of 60 domestic movies, among which we acted as a lead distributor for 36 domestic movies, setting new records in terms of both the number of movies and the box office. Many of these movies performed exceptionally well in the following release periods:
During the 2024 New Year, Shining For One Thing (一閃一閃亮星星), Johnny Keep Walking! (年會不能停!) and The Goldfinger (金手指), for which we acted as a lead distributor/producer ranked among the top three in box office for the release period.
During the 2024 Labour Day Holiday, The Last Frenzy (末路狂花錢), for which we acted as the lead distributor/producer ranked second in box office for the release period.
During the 2024 Dragon Boat Festival, Be My Friend (我才不要和你做朋友呢), for which we acted as a lead distributor/producer ranked No. 1 in box office, respectively for the release period.
During the 2024 summer movie season, Successor (抓娃娃) and A Place Called Silence (默殺), for which we acted as a lead distributor/producer ranked first and second in box office for the release period.
During the 2024 National Day, The Volunteers: The Battle of Life and Death (志願軍: 存亡之戰), for which we acted as a lead distributor/producer ranked first in box office for the release period.
Moreover, several of the aforementioned movies won or were nominated for awards at the Hundred Flowers Awards (大衆電影百花獎), the China Golden Rooster Awards (中國電影金雞獎), the Changchun Film Festival (長春電影節), the Hong Kong Film Awards (香港金像獎), the Asian Film Awards (亞洲電影大獎), and the Tokyo International Film Festival (東京國際電影節).
In particular, during the last five consecutive Spring Festivals, from 2021 to 2025, movies for which we acted as a lead distributor achieved outstanding performances and claimed the top two spots in the corresponding film seasons, including DETECTIVE CHINATOWN 1900 (唐探1900) in 2025, Pegasus 2 (飛馳人生2) in 2024, Full River Red (滿江紅) (ranking No. 7 in China's movie history) in 2023, Too Cool To Kill (這個殺手不太冷靜) in 2022, and Hi, Mom (你好，李煥英) (ranking No. 4 in China's movie history) in 2021. These successes again demonstrated our consistent and reliable ability to identify and capture high-quality content.
We continued to focus on self-production and creation, strengthened our own IP development, and enhanced our ability to develop and produce excellent content achieving further breakthroughs in the production domain. During the Reporting Period, we successively released several self- produced movies including A Place Called Silence (默殺), The Umbrella Fairy (傘少女), Go For Broke (重生), Panda Plan (熊貓計劃), and Honey Money Phony ("騙騙"喜歡你). Many of these movies achieved outstanding box office performance and reputation, including:
A Place Called Silence (默殺) grossed RMB1.351 billion at the box office, making it the second-highest grossing film of the 2024 summer movie season, and received multiple awards and nominations at the 37th Tokyo International Film Festival (第37屆東京國際電影節) and the 19th Changchun Film Festival (第19屆長春電影節).
Panda Project (熊貓計劃) is the best family bonding movie for the National Day season.
Honey Money Phony ("騙騙"喜歡你) achieved outstanding box office performance during the 2024 New Year's Eve and 2025 New Year's Day seasons, ranking the third-highest box office revenue in both periods.
Furthermore, we remain committed to the animated film industry with a long-term, patient approach. To date, we have made strategic investments and taken concrete steps in talent development, deep collaboration with content creators, IP incubation and growth, technological innovation, and capacity expansion. This year, Endless Journey of Love (時間之子), the first 3D animated movie that we self-produced, is set to meet the audience on May 30, 2025. Furthermore, we involve in the production/distribution of animated movies that have either already been or are about to be scheduled, such as Nobody: Lang Lang Ago (小妖怪的夏天). Moving forward, we will continue to invest and remain committed to creating long-term value in animation movies.
Currently, a series of movies for which we acted as a distributor/producer are already released, such as, The Dumpling Queen (水餃皇后), A Gilded Game (獵金游戲), Endless Journey of Love (時間之子), The Litchi Road (長安的荔枝) and Panda Plan 2 (熊貓計劃2). Furthermore, we continue to maintain a diverse and abundant pipeline of movie content covering varied themes. An array of movies in our pipeline are steadily progressing, such as, De Xian Jin Zhi (得閑謹制), Malice (惡意), Intercross (人•魚), VANISHED PEOPLE (消失的人), The Adventure (奇遇) and Nobody: Lang Lang Ago (小妖怪的夏天), as well as several of our self-produced films, such as Running In The Rain (千金不換), and Casual Revenge (即興謀殺).
Online Entertainment Ticketing Services
Since 2024, the offline performance market has maintained rich supply and strong demand. We have consistently invested in and developed our offline performance ticketing business, further enhancing our market competitiveness. During the Reporting Period, the total revenue and GMV of our offline performances reached new highs compared to the same period in previous years. As for large-scale performance events, in addition to continuing to provide ticketing services for several top-tier domestic artists' tours, including Jacky Cheung, Eason Chan, and Jay Chou, we also provided high-quality ticketing and on-site services for various top-tier international artists' concerts in China, including Kanye West and Mariah Carey. During the Reporting Period, the GMV of concerts for which Maoyan provided ticketing services grew by approximately 90% year-on-year. For local performance events, our market share continued to increase, and the category coverage of our services continues to grow and evolve. For instance, we actively promoted the online penetration of local Quyi shows, with their GMV increasing by approximately 90% year-on-year. We also supported cultural activities organised by local governments by distributing millions of consumption vouchers, driving GMV growth of over RMB10 million. In overseas regions, in addition to support services for various performances in Hong Kong through the Urban Ticketing System (城市售票網), we continued to expand the performance lineup of our self-operated ticketing platform, UUTIX, in the Hong Kong and Macau regions, serving multiple performances, including Macau 2049 (澳門2049) directed by Zhang Yimou (張藝謀) and ComplexCon Hong Kong. We have also established long-term ticketing business partnerships with several entertainment groups in Macau. In addition, we have actively explored cooperation opportunities in multiple regions, including Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, and have established in-depth cooperation with several apps in these local regions. We will continue to strengthen our partnerships in the performance business going forward.
In 2024, we continued to provide high-quality movie ticketing services to the industry, maintaining our market-leading position and continuously strengthening our competitiveness. During the Reporting Period, we continued to enrich our product offerings with "Cloud Block Booking" (雲包場) and other services, exploring and satisfying our users' diverse needs. In addition, we proactively expanded into new ticketing scenarios by leveraging emerging formats such as live streaming and merchandise promotions to broaden our user service coverage. Furthermore, we continued to enhance our service capabilities for film festivals and government cultural activities. During the Reporting Period, Maoyan served as the official ticketing platform for the 14th Beijing International Film Festival (第十四屆北京國際電影節) for the fourth consecutive year. We also provided ticketing and special promotions for multiple film festivals, including the 49th Hong Kong International Film Festival (第49屆香港國際電影節), the 11th Silk Road International Film Festival (第11屆絲綢之路國際電影節), and the 6th Hainan Island International Film Festival (第6屆海南島國際電影節). Furthermore, we conducted various public welfare activities at the provincial, municipal, and district levels across the country, including movie ticket discounts, a combination of movies and performance, and "savoring food through movies" (跟著電影品美食) campaigns.
Advertising Services and Others
In terms of promotional and marketing services, we fully leveraged our resource integration capabilities and deepened cooperation with a number of internet platforms. Leveraging our strategic foresight and advantages in products and resources, we expanded our audience reach to lower-tier markets and provided rich advertising promotions for films. During the Reporting Period, we upgraded our comprehensive live streaming marketing services, further diversifying our commercial offerings to boost online film promotions. These efforts generated over RMB10 million in commercialization revenue. To date, our content matrix has attracted a total number of more than 80 million fans.
We continue to serve the movie industry with our "technology + big data" approach, while also keeping abreast of the integration of AI technology into the film and television industry. During the Reporting Period, we independently developed AI film creation software, designed to perform intelligent script analysis, intelligent character creation and other functions, effectively enhancing the efficiency of front-end script creation and communication processes. At the same time, we collaborated with multiple AI companies in the industry to jointly explore and advance the application of AI technology in animation production and visual storytelling.
Maoyan Pro (貓眼專業版) continues to update and iterate its tool products, leading to a steady increase in industry influence, with the daily average visits reaching a historic high during the 2025 Spring Festival season. Maoyan Pro's global box office data service was further upgraded with more accurate and timely global box office data. This service currently covers major markets including North America, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and Australia, offering the industry a comprehensive and precise reference for global box office performance. As the first authoritative data and information platform in the industry to provide information on domestic movies' overseas release and box office performance, Maoyan Pro has become a key resource for the domestic film and television industry to gauge market performance abroad. Furthermore, during the Reporting Period, we officially launched Maoyan Pro's PC Professional Edition, providing multi-dimensional and scenario-based data query combinations. This upgrade helps our industry partners better formulate their promotion and distribution strategies.
Maoyan Research Institute remains committed to leveraging precise and scientific data analysis to provide in-depth, systematic data services for films at every stage of their lifecycle, by closely monitoring market trends, audience preferences, and consumption habits. During the Reporting Period, Maoyan Research Institute published an array of data insights and analysis reports on audience profiles, viewing demands, and audience sentiments during multiple key seasons. Concurrently, Maoyan Research Institute actively expanded its early-stage user research, furnishing concept testing and IP research services for movie projects in development. This helps to keep the industry informed of audience feedback, thereby influencing content creation at its source.
OUTLOOK
As of March 26, 2025, the total box office for the domestic film market in 2025 had exceeded RMB24.2 billion. Notably, six movies, including NE ZHA 2 (哪吒之魔童閙海), were released during the Spring Festival season. Their total box office reached RMB9.51 billion with 187 million movie viewers, both setting new records for the Spring Festival season.
As a key participant in China's film industry, we will adhere to the core development strategy of "Technology + Pan-entertainment" to deepen our presence in the pan-entertainment industry. With a firm commitment to improving our core competitiveness and profitability, we will uphold our original aspiration of serving the entire entertainment ecosystem, while driving high-quality development in the cultural and entertainment industry and making positive contribution to the development of a culture powerhouse.
We will continue to strengthen our strategic investment in the entertainment content business, further solidifying our leading advantages and capabilities in movie promotion and distribution. We will also deepen our participation in the distribution and production of blockbusters. Moreover, we will remain committed to the long-term development of animated movies, as well as value creation.
Live entertainment remains one of our Company's strategic development priorities. We will closely track market trends while continuing to increase our long-term investment in our performance business, enhancing our infrastructure and service capabilities to further strengthen our market competitiveness. At the same time, building on our existing platforms and business collaborations in Hong Kong and Macau, we will further expand commercial cooperation in these regions and beyond as we seek new growth opportunities and possibilities for the Company's development.
Furthermore, we will continue to explore and expand innovative business opportunities, such as the integration of AI technology into film creation and new collaborative scenarios with cinemas and other partners.
Last but not least, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to all of our colleagues, shareholders, and industry partners for their trust and support. Let us forge ahead together and propel the high-quality development of the film industry, advancing China's transformation into a cinematic powerhouse.
About Maoyan Entertainment
Maoyan Entertainment (1896.HK) is a leading technology-driven entertainment company providing diversified services and valuable industry insights in China's pan-entertainment industry. The Company's mission is to make it easy to create, deliver, and enjoy great entertainment. Based on its core development strategy of "Technology + Pan-Entertainment", the Company has grown from an online movie ticketing service provider into an innovative one-stop platform with comprehensive entertainment services. For more information, please visit https://ir.maoyan.com/.
Piacente Financial Communications Helen Wu Email: maoyan@tpg-ir.com Tel: +86-10-6508-0677
Non-IFRS Financial Measures
To supplement the consolidated results of the Company prepared in accordance with IFRS, certain additional non-IFRS financial measures (in terms of, operating profit, operating margin, profit for the period, net margin, profit attributable to equity holders of the Company, basic EPS and diluted EPS), have been presented in this press release. These unaudited non-IFRS financial measures should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, measures of the Company's financial performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. In addition, these non-IFRS financial measures may be defined differently from similar terms used by other companies.
The Company's management believes that the non-IFRS financial measures provide investors with useful supplementary information to assess the performance of the Company's core operations by excluding certain noncash items and certain impact of M&A transactions. In addition, non-IFRS adjustments include relevant non-IFRS adjustments for the Company's material associates based on available published financials of the relevant material associates, or estimates made by the Company's management based on available information, certain expectations, assumptions and premises.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to the business outlook, forecast business plans and growth strategies of the Company. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to the Company and are stated herein on the basis of the outlook at the time of this press release. They are based on certain expectations, assumptions and premises, some of which are subjective or beyond our control. These forward-looking statements may prove to be incorrect and may not be realized in future. Underlying the forward-looking statements is a large number of risks and uncertainties. Further information regarding these risks and uncertainties is included in our other public disclosure documents on our corporate website.
