Meitu announces its interim results: The total revenue has reached RMB 1.261 billion, a year-on-year increase of 29.8%, and the net profit has surged to RMB 151 million, a year-on-year increase of 320.4%

On August 28, 2023, Meitu (1357.HK) officially disclosed its interim results. Meitu achieved a total revenue of RMB 1.261 billion, a year-on-year increase of 29.8%. The adjusted net profit attributable to owners of the company was RMB 151 million, a year-on-year increase of 320.4%. It has achieved a monthly active user count of 247 million, representing a year-on-year growth of 2.5%.

During the six-month period ending June 30, 2023, Meitu, with the support of AIGC strategies, achieved a significant milestone by surpassing 7.2 million VIP members. This achievement has contributed to the company's remarkable financial performance. The revenue generated from photo, video and design products, primarily driven by VIP subscriptions, reached RMB 602 million, representing a substantial year-on-year increase of 62.2%. Additionally, the beauty industry solutions business generated RMB 286 million in revenue, reflecting a notable year-on-year growth of 31.1%. In the advertising sector, Meitu achieved RMB 349 million in revenue, indicating a steady year-on-year growth of 28.2%. Finally, revenue from other business segments amounted to RMB 23.09 million.

Revenue from photo, video and design products increased by 62.2% year-on-year and the number of VIP members achieved a significant milestone by surpassing 7.2 million

During the first half of 2023, Meitu experienced a notable increase in revenue from its photo, video, and design products, reaching RMB 602 million. This 62.2% year-on-year growth played a crucial role in driving the substantial increase in adjusted net profit attributable to owners of the company. The primary revenue driver for this business remains the VIP subscription model.

Meitu's ongoing commitment to innovation in photo, video, design, and more, with AIGC at its core, has resulted in a substantial rise in revenue from VIP subscriptions. As of June 30, 2023, the number of VIP members exceeded 7.2 million, a year-on-year increase of 44%.

In the first half of 2023, Meitu experienced a positive financial transformation, thanks to the AIGC strategies and VIP subscriptions. Under the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the company's attributable net profit to the owners of the company amounted to RMB 228 million, turning the loss into a profit compared to the same period last year. The adjusted net profit attributable to the owners of the company was RMB 151 million, a year-on-year increase of 320.4%, mainly impacted by the main businesses such as photo, video and design products, as well as the advertising business.

The revenue from the beauty industry solution business increased by 31.1% year-on-year, driving the digital upgrade of the industry

In the first half of 2023, Meitu achieved a year-on-year revenue growth of 31.1% to RMB 286 million by leveraging the beauty industry solutions business to promote the digital transformation in the industry.

Meitu offers AI skincare and SaaS solutions through MeituEve to skincare brands, medical beauty institutions, and beauty salons worldwide. MeituEve products are currently installed in over 3,600 stores globally and have established strategic partnerships with renowned brands such as Christian Dior, Shiseido, Avon, and Fawawa.

One of Meitu's joint-venture companies, Meidd, is providing Enterprise Resource Planning ("ERP") and supply chain SaaS solutions for over 10,000 cosmetic stores in China, which effectively optimize purchasing decisions for cosmetics and help in expanding market share.

Self-developed AI vision model facilitates image production from all aspects

In the first half of 2023, Meitu completed its service scope evolution from lifestyle scenarios to productivity scenarios. On June 19, Meitu released its self-developed AI vision model, MiracleVision, and took the lead in exploring its application scenarios and business models. The latest iteration, MiracleVision 2.0, has been successfully launched on WHEE and the Meitu App.

Six new image products launched together with the AI vision model, including photo, video, design, and AI digital humans, have achieved impressive results.

Since the lauch, the visual creation inspiration tool WHEE has generated over 2 million creations, drafting the outline of a creator ecosystem. AI talking video production tool ACTION has witnessed more than 200,000 MAU. Desktop AI video editing tool WinkStudio is acknowledged by over 10,000 creators. The X-Design contributes a lot to commercial design for about 1 million small and medium-sized merchants. AI assistant RoboNeo was launched for alpha testing in the Meitu App in July. The virtual human production tool DreamAvatar features AI Presenter and AI Actor, which were released seperately on August 25 and 26.

In addition, more than 30,000 commercial photography studios and over 1 million users have chosen to use Meitu AI Photo Editing to enhance photo editing efficiency.

The number of monthly active users increased by 2.5% year-on-year to reach 247 million, achieving remarkable results in global expansion

As of June 30, Meitu's monthly active user count reached 247 million, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 2.5%. This figure comprises approximately 173 million monthly active users within the domestic market and approximately 73.69 million monthly active users in global markets.

According to data.ai, in the first half of 2023, Meitu ranked fourth on the list of China's non-game companies regarding revenue from overseas markets. The Meitu App and BeautyCam have achieved top rankings in numerous countries' app stores.

Based on QuestMobile data, during the first half of 2023, the Meitu App was the leading image beautification application in the Chinese market in terms of user scale. Additionally, BeautyCam secured the top spot in the photo and camera category.

R&D expenses increased by 10.8% to RMB 294 million, with impressive achievements in scientific and technological innovation

In the first half of 2023, Meitu's R&D expenses reached RMB 294 million, a year-on-year increase of 10.8%.

Since the establishment of its R&D hub, MT Lab, in 2010, Meitu has made significant progress in the AI field. Currently, Meitu holds 451 registered patents and 192 software product copyrights, and has achieved numerous accolades and breakthroughs in AI.

In the first half of 2023, Meitu's "Key Technologies and Industrialization of Compact Computer Vision Analysis" won the second prize of the Ministry of Education Technology Invention Award. MT Lab has published 48 academic papers in top international conferences such as ACM MM 2023. MeituEve and the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health CAS established the Joint Lab for Skin Analysis and Digitalization, and released the cutting-edge research results on the key phrases of skin aging. Meitu AI Open Platform continues to provide the industry with market-proven professional AI algorithm services and solutions.

Gary Ngan, the chief financial officer and company secretary of Meitu said, "In face of the challenges from the macro environment in the first half of 2023, the adjusted net profit attributable to owners of the company still recorded a significant growth, representing a 320.4% year-on-year increase, and also achieved net profit under IFRSs. With the support of AIGC, Meitu's monthly active users and VIP members continued to grow, the photo, video and design products business transitioned from key monetization to subscriptions, and revenue reached new highs, making significant contributions to profit. At the same time, Meitu is targeting the huge demand in the digital content creation market and focusing on the demands of those creators, providing various productivity tools based on different scenarios, successfully expanding the products portfolio. Looking ahead, with strong brand recognition among 247 million monthly active users and providing a visually creative product portfolio driven by AIGC, Meitu is confident in capturing even greater market opportunities. "