After listing, the ironic entertainment magazine "100Mao" Mao Ji Kwai Chung (01716) spent another full fiscal year, and the picture of ringing the bell still appeared vaguely.

In sharp contrast to Bilibili Inc., who went public on the same day, none of the founders and employees of the HKEx wore leather shoes that morning, and some even saw slippers. It was not the three founders who spoke on behalf of the company, but Mao Ji's artist Dickson, who took the stage as a spokesman and gave an interview to the media on behalf of the company.

At the bell ringing scene, Dickson wore a baggy blue T-shirt and jeans and carried a black schoolbag. When answering a reporter's question, Dickson's answer was also elusive. When asked what would happen after the company went public, he said that someone would clean up the moldy food in the refrigerator. When asked about Mao Ji's performance, he said, did the company have any performance? He usually poured into the water when he was free in the company and helped people fix the computer, and then he said he didn't have to worry too much about performance.

From the "maverick" at the time of listing to the words and deeds of the spokesman and between the lines, it all reveals the nonsense and absurdity of the company. Whether it is the humorous and perceptual criticism of the pseudo-literary magazine "Black Paper" or the parody of "100 Mao" and "Mao Ji TV", cynicism and sarcasm seem to be synonymous with it.

Dickson, a spokesman and expert, also posted on his personal page after the launch ceremony: "I didn't get enough sleep when I watched the game the night before. I'm sorry for the general analysis in the morning."

The share price of such a listed company with a strange existence in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has also undergone a very different transformation from an "overbought king" to a "overbought king". Now it seems that the company's soaring share price is more like an over-the-counter bookmaker fanning the flames and has now returned to the level of an entertainment media.

Gross profit margin declined after listing

According to the company's recent results, for the year ended March 31, 2019, the company pulled back last year's declining growth rate, achieving a 15.8% year-on-year increase in revenue and a 14.2% year-on-year drop in gross profit. However, the profit attributable to the owners of the company reached HK $15.555 million, up 124.9 per cent from a year earlier.

Zhitong financial APP learned that the company's gross profit decreased rather than increased, which was mainly related to a sharp increase in sales costs, up 47.6% from a year earlier, resulting in a 14.2% decline in gross profit. The company noted in its earnings report that it was mainly due to increased production costs, including fees paid to third-party production companies, artists and a social media platform to promote original dynamic messages, as well as the cost of preparing props.

Affected by this, the company's overall gross profit margin also dropped from 51.3% to 38%. If further compared with the gross profit margin of more than 60% in the previous three years, the company's gross profit margin has been declining in the past two years.

In fact, according to the observation of Zhitong Financial APP, the company's cost of sales has been increasing in the past five years, even in the past few years. However, the decline in gross margin only in the past two years is mainly related to the lack of momentum for income growth. Compared with nearly 100% growth in the previous three years, the company's overall revenue growth slowed sharply after listing.

In addition, the profit attributable to company owners increased by 124.9%, mainly related to the reduction in administrative expenses and income tax expenses. Among them, the reduction in administrative expenses is mainly due to the fact that it is no longer affected by non-recurrent listing expenses arising from listing.

From the perspective of business performance, advertising revenue is the main source of profit for the company. Zhitong Financial APP learned that the print media services business accounted for 82.5 per cent of revenue in the year ended March 31, 2019. Among them, the company's advertising is mainly placed in "100 Mao", Mao Ji TV, signed artist fan pages and other self-operated, third-party platforms and other operating carriers. However, the pre-tax segment profit of this major business fell 39 per cent in the fiscal year compared with the same period a year earlier.

In addition, due to the overall consumer preference to shift from print media to digital media, the company's print media service revenue decreased by 36.5% year-on-year. The segment profit before tax is still at a loss, but the overall loss has narrowed significantly. Profits from other media services before tax rose 105.1 per cent year-on-year to HK $203000.

Is it a long-term solution to live on popularity?

Overall, Mao Ji Kwai Chung's revenue is still dominated by advertising, which is essentially a company that depends on "popularity" for a living.And the core of its popularity is the previously mentioned, its implementation in all its content brands-unreasonable, absurd parody spirit.

For a long time, parodies with slight banter and irony, like Japanese funeral culture, have been regarded as a kind of youth subculture. However, the content and style of "100 Mao" has been widely welcomed among young people in Hong Kong, and the popularity of characters such as the mainland, Wanhe Tianyi team, and even Li Xia precisely reflects that this kind of culture is becoming more and more popular in today's times. it has even become a mainstream culture among young people.

Young people always want to break the rules, and people show their "self" in the process of liking programs that criticize the evils of the times in a nonsensical and absurd way. It's like Camus watching Sisyphus:PeopleFound the meaning of life in the process of rebelling against one's own destiny with contempt.. The author believes that this may be the reason why Mao Ji is popular with young people in Hong Kong.

Mao Ji imitates the regular TVB content program, adds the element of parody and banter, forms a sharp contrast with the traditional serious way of news broadcasting, sells counter-tradition, sells unexpectedly, and accurately locates the preferences of the younger generation in Hong Kong.

However, parody and irony are often radical, sometimes like acrobatics on the tip of a knife, which is particularly important for the scale. Carelessness may be counterproductive and annoy netizens. Behind their cynical gestures, successful comedians often have a value system accumulated through experience, or a consistent style. For example, what Dickson wears when ringing the bell on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is actually a costume of his popular image of a poisonous man.

In the long run, the taste of the audience is changeable, and humor also needs innovation on the way to attract popularity. For the current Mao Ji, in the absence of business model transformation, in order to further attract popularity, what is needed is continuous talent loved by the audience. However, popular artists always grow old, and audiences' tastes change all the time. How to keep the content excellent or mode transformation is the most important issue for the company at present.