China Literature Limited (“China Literature” or “Yuewen”, stock code: 0772), a leading online literature and intellectual property (“IP”) incubation platform in China, today announced the unaudited consolidated results for the six months ended June 30, 2024.
The Company’s total revenues increased 27.7% year-over-year to RMB4,190.9 million (USD588.1 million). Revenues from IP operations and others increased 73.3% year-over-year to RMB2,250.6 million (USD315.8 million) due to solid growth from our IP operations businesses across the board, driven primarily by an increase in the release of blockbuster drama series, film, and animated series, the expanded licensing of our IP for adaptation to business partners, as well as the significant growth of new initiatives. The profit attributable to equity holders of the Company increased 16.4% year-over-year to RMB702.1 million (USD98.5 million), and its margin was 16.8%, compared to 18.4% in the first half of 2023.
Mr. Hou Xiaonan, Chief Executive Officer of Yuewen（“China Literature”）, commented, “During the first half of 2024, we continued to execute our high-quality content strategy and made significant progress in maximizing the potential of our premium IPs across the industry value chain. We delivered an exceptional performance, especially in our live action TV and film business. Our film YOLO (热辣滚烫) continues to lead nationwide box office sales in 2024 so far, while the drama series The Legend of Shen Li (与凤行), Joy of Life 2 (庆余年第二季) and The Tale of Rose (玫瑰的故事) were all released to critical acclaim. These success stories set a strong foundation for what we anticipate will be a ‘blockbuster year’ for China Literature’s content business. In the first half of 2024, our total revenues increased 27.7% year-over-year with revenues from IP operations in particular surging 75.7% year-over-year. Operating margin expanded to 10.8% from 9.5% in the same period last year, and the non-IFRS profit attributable to equity holders of the Company increased by 16.4% year-over-year.
Throughout the period, we continued to strengthen our IP incubation and foster the flourishing of our content ecosystem by nurturing high-quality writers and literary works, and further optimizing and upgrading community operations. With this enhanced content and operational framework, monthly paying users grew steadily on a sequential basis to 8.8 million during the first half of the year. We have made solid progress in IP visualization with the launch of several premium titles. Notably, Joy of Life 2 (庆余年第二季), adapted from our renowned IP, achieved phenomenal success both domestically and internationally, and became the most watched mainland Chinese TV series on Disney+, setting a new benchmark for the global reach and appeal of Chinese film and television content. We have also taken an important step in the commercialization of our IP. Merchandise based on Joy of Life (庆余年) and our other popular comics, animation and drama related IPs have gained widespread popularity, expanding the reach and value of our IP portfolio.”
Mr. Hou Xiaonan said, “We have long maintained the conviction that innovation is the key to driving growth and making breakthroughs. Therefore, we are accelerating the deployment and integration of AI technologies across our diverse businesses. We continue to refine our ‘Smart Pen’ Large Language Model (LLM), empowering writers to boost their productivity, and leverage AI translation technology to drive rapid growth in the number of translated works on our overseas platform. At the same time, we are actively exploring the integration of AI with various IP content formats including audiobooks, animation, videos, and merchandise. Looking forward, we will continue to embrace the new opportunities that technological advancements bring to revitalize the industry, uphold our foundational values of ‘content, platform, and IP’, and keep committed to creating good stories that will live forever.”
In 2024, the TV drama “Joy of Life Season 2,” after airing on CCTV-8, topped the national real-time ratings for 18 consecutive days, far surpassing other shows in the same period and becoming the most popular series ever on Tencent Video. The movie “YOLO”(热辣滚烫) produced by Yuewen broke the box office record with 3.5 billion yuan, leading nationwide box office sales in 2024 so far. YOLO (热辣滚烫) was distributed by Sony Pictures globally and is currently the highest-grossing Chinese-language film overseas this year. The TV drama “The Legend of ShenLi” (与凤行)was released in over 180 countries and regions worldwide, and had been translated into over 16 languages. The TV drama The Tale of Rose (玫瑰的故事) had also been translated into over 12 languages.
In the first half of 2024，15 of the top 20 most watched online animated series in China were adapted from Yuewen’s IPs. Meanwhile, the total GMV for Yuewen’s IP-based collectible cards reached approximately RMB100 million.
Hou Xiaonan said, sales of the blind boxes of “Joy of Life” exceeded 200,000 units, while the collectible cards generated over RMB20 million in GMV before the drama’s release, making them the all-time best-selling collectible cards in the drama-themed category.
