GHY Culture & Media, which listed on the Mainboard of the Singapore Exchange (SGX) on Dec 18, 2020, has reported earnings of $38.1 million for the FY2020 ended December, more than three times higher than earnings of $12.4 million reported in the FY2019.
The media production company raised some $121.7 million in proceeds from its initial public offering (IPO) in December 2020. At its offer price of 66 cents per share, the group was estimated to have a market value of $708.7 million.
Revenue for the FY2020 nearly doubled to $127.1 million, 93% higher than FY2019 revenue of $66 million. The higher revenue was thanks to an increase in revenue contribution from the TV Program and Film Production business segment of some $47.9 million from six dramas sold and completed during the year. GHY also had two dramas and one online short-form video series filming in progress as at Dec 31, 2020, and one film series completed and broadcasted in FY2020.
Furthermore, GHY registered higher revenue from the Concert Production business segment of $13.5 million due to two concerts held in Singapore during the 12-month period.
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The total revenue derived from GHY’s China-affiliated entities stood at $88.3 million, which made up 69.4% of the group’s total revenue.
Gross profit for the FY2020 more than tripled to $55.7 million from $18.8 million, while gross profit margin (GPM) improved from 28.5% to 43.8% in FY2020.
The overall improvement in GPM was due to the higher gross profit in the TV Program and Film Production business segment.
Other income grew 47% y-o-y to $9.7 million due to the $3.1 million gain on disposal of its associate Beijing Honghaier Film & Culture Co, and offset by the decrease in government grants during the year.
The group’s administrative expenses increased by $5.8 million to $10.9 million in the FY2020 due to some $4.7 million incurred for its IPO, as well as higher employee benefits expenses.
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Excluding IPO expenses, earnings – or profit for the year – would have been $42.7 million.
Earnings per share (EPS) for the FY2020 more than tripled to 4.15 cents from 1.36 cents in FY2019.
As at end-December, cash and cash equivalents stood at $111.9 million.
For the FY2020, a final dividend of 1.07 cents per share has been declared, bringing the total payout for the year to 2.17 cents per share, representing 30% of the group’s full-year net profit after tax.
“Capitalising on its competitive strength of end-to-end production capabilities, GHY has oversight and control over the entire production process and can maximise operational efficiencies across its entire business value chain. This has translated into overall cost savings and an enhanced gross profit margin, with a y-o-y 15.3 percentage point improvement to 43.8% in FY2020,” says the group in a Feb 26 statement.
“The emergence of online video platforms and the proliferation of the internet and mobile-related intelligence devices continues to support the growth of China’s web series market, which is expected to record an 11.1% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) to RMB30.5 billion ($6.27 billion) from 2019 to 2024. Together with increased innovation and monetisation opportunities, investment into drama series on online video platforms is expected to increase at 9.1% CAGR to RMB43.5 billion from 2019 to 2024,” it adds.
“Content innovation remains our core foundation and the reason for our successful commercial track record. This positive financial performance is a testament to the strong management bench strength and experienced talent across our production teams,” says executive chairman and group CEO Guo Jingyu. “Together, we will be able to leverage on our expertise and capabilities across the business value chain to capture the growth opportunities in the Asia Pacific region. With our proven revenue models across the business segments, we are encouraged by our pipeline of upcoming dramas and films to sustain our growth trajectory and create long-term stakeholder value,” Guo adds.
Shares in GHY closed 0.5 cent lower or 0.7% down at 73 cents on Feb 26.
