Since the beginning of this year, the social and economic recovery has accelerated, and the film and television industry is also accelerating to seize market opportunities. The excellent works and consumers entering the cinema are growing along with the trend.
On May 31, Alibaba Pictures (01060) announced its 2022/23 fiscal year results. Thanks to the diversification of business structure and continuous improvement in operating efficiency, as of March 31, 2023, Alibaba Pictures achieved revenue of RMB The adjusted EBITA recorded a profit of RMB 295 million, a year-on-year increase of 106%.
The performance announcement shows that due to the impact of the epidemic on the film industry and the consumer market, during the reporting period, Ali Pictures’ content business revenue was 1.709 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease; the technology business revenue was 1.268 billion yuan, which was flat compared with the previous period; And commercialization revenue was RMB 544 million, a year-on-year increase of 23%.
In the 2022/23 fiscal year, in a complex and ever-changing market environment, Alibaba Pictures will continue to firmly implement the "content + technology" two-wheel drive strategy, with content as the core and deep layout of the pan-entertainment industry, driven by innovation and technology, to expand Long-term scientific and technological investment with core value promotes the coordinated and steady development of various business forms.
In the field of content business, Alibaba Pictures has continuously improved the content production capacity of movies, dramas and other categories, and has always maintained a stable content output and a high-quality content hit rate. In terms of movies, during the reporting period, Alibaba Pictures participated in the production and distribution of 26 movies, covering comedy, romance, drama, animation and other categories. Among them, "The Wandering Earth 2", the box office runner-up of the Spring Festival, the box office champion of the summer "Lonely Moon", the runner-up of the summer box office "Life Events", "Keep You Safe" and "Journey to Bell Bud", which will be released in the first quarter of 2023, etc. 12 films entered the top 20 box office in the same period. In terms of drama series, Alibaba Pictures established a close relationship with the platform, screenwriters and various partners through the mode of operating studios, and continued to create high-quality content in the industrialization of production. During the reporting period, the youth competitive drama series "Chi Dao" produced by Dunqi Studio has repeatedly topped the Weibo drama series influence list, Douyin popularity weekly crown and Youku popularity daily crown; adapted from the popular IP "Lighter and the Princess After the airing of the youth urban emotional drama series "Light Me, Warm You", Douban scored 7.5, and the related hot searches on the Weibo main list of the series exceeded 690 times. ; The suspense drama "Gate of Rebirth" was shortlisted for the 31st China TV Golden Eagle Award-Excellent TV Drama Award. After the broadcast of "Name", the audience ratings of TV broadcasts topped 1.8%, and won the weekly market share of Beacon feature films for two consecutive weeks.
At the same time, Alibaba Pictures also maintains a content reserve with diverse themes and rich works in terms of movies and drama series to drive long-term development. In terms of movies, "She Who Disappeared", "Worthwhile Trip", "Priceless Treasure", "Thirty Thousand Miles of Chang'an", "Sneaking", "Super Family", "Megalodon 2: Abyss", "Predecessor 4 : Young Marriage" and many other films that embody the values of "little people, real heroes, great feelings, and positive energy" will be released one after another or are gradually advancing according to market conditions; Life", "Fifth Fortune", "City of Dance" and others will also meet with the audience one after another.
In the field of technology business, Alibaba Pictures has increased its long-term investment in technology with core value, improved its basic layout, and continued to consolidate its core position in the infrastructure of the pan-entertainment industry. During the reporting period, the "Taomai VIP" membership system continued to grow. As of March 31, the number of members had exceeded 15 million. Based on the dual scenes of movies and performances, various benefits such as ticket discounts, fast track, and celebrity meetings have been created. Bring better consumption experience to VIP users. At the same time, Ali Pictures is also actively deploying smart digital technology, launching its first hyper-realistic virtual idol - Digital Human Lili, exploring digital business models such as virtual endorsement and digital human marketing, and promoting the application of innovative technology in the field of film and television content.
Core business sectors such as film publicity and distribution, ticketing system, and production management have developed steadily. The publicity and distribution platform "Lighthouse", the marketing full-case design "Dark Horse", and the content marketing agency "Taoxiu Light and Shadow" form a digital and intelligent platform, which provides full-case marketing services through the underlying prediction logic and publicity and distribution business models. During the reporting period, the digital intelligence platform provided exclusive planning live broadcast and content marketing services for many film and television projects such as "Lonely Walking on the Moon", "Exchanging Life", "Ignite Me, Warm You"; Phoenix Yunzhi, as the industry's leading The cloud product industry ranks first in the number of ticket-issuing theaters, helping theaters improve efficiency and reduce costs; Yunshang production crew management, shooting management, financial management and other core technologies have helped more than 300 pan-entertainment projects improve operational efficiency and save project costs .
In the field of IP derivative and commercialization business, Alibaba Pictures uses the comprehensive content of movies and dramas as the carrier to output warm and story-telling IP to create a rich, friendly and concrete product experience. During the reporting period, its trendy toy brand KOITAKE combined its own IPs "Moon White", "Jelly-Comedian", "YOKUKU" and "Lonely Walking on the Moon", "Agarwood Like Crumbs", "Ice Rain" Fire", "The Legend of Zhen Huan", "This! It is the combination of movies and dramas such as "Street Dance Five" to create trendy products with different styles, which not only show the personality of the characters, but also restore the famous scenes of the film and television drama. At the same time, Koi Naqu also cooperates with studio artists to exclusively launch the trendy works of "Spice Princess-Dunhuang Jiyue Series" and "Kara X-Madhouse Series", which enrich the content types while satisfying different needs. needs of user groups.
In addition, Ali Pictures continues to support leading merchants, helping to incubate new brands and discover emerging trends. During the reporting period, Ali Pictures Group reached an agreement with Sanrio to obtain the exclusive agency right to develop and sell derivative products of 26 images such as Hello Kitty, Melody and Gemini in mainland China for a period of five years. Cross-category specialty products and seasonal innovative products have increased the transaction scale of the Tmall Mowan category by 27% year-on-year.
According to industry analysts, with the rapid recovery of the film market and the rekindling of industry confidence, it is expected that Alibaba Pictures will enter a new growth cycle, content investment and self-control capabilities will become more stable, the advantages of the technology sector will continue to grow, and IP derivatives and commercialization businesses will continue to grow. Steady improvement, while the strategic dividend brought by the "content + technology" layout will also accelerate the release of its business momentum, and promote the continuous high-quality and healthy development of the entire business segment.
From 2023 to the present, many heavyweight films have been released or finalized during the year. As market sentiment further recovers, the performance of companies such as Alibaba Pictures may continue to improve.
Source: Hong Kong Stock Research Institute