The Zhitong Finance App learned that Guotai Junan released a research report stating that it maintained the “buy” rating of Maoyan Entertainment (01896) and raised the revenue forecast for entertainment content services by 2.5%, 2.4% and 3.4% for 2023-2025, with a target price of HK$13.17. In 2023, the number of films participating in the distribution and production of Maogan, a subsidiary of Maogan, was 56 (the number of films distributed by Maogan as the main distributor was 24), a significant increase from 2022 (the number of films distributed and produced in 2022 was 32).

The report quoted data from Cat's Eye Professional Edition. As of December 26, 2023, the total box office of Chinese movies in 2023 (including online ticketing service fees) was RMB 53.6 billion. Compared with the record high of RMB 64.1 billion in 2019, there is still huge room for improvement. It is worth mentioning that the total number of movies screened in 2023 is basically the same as in 2019, indicating that offline movie viewing activities have basically returned to the level of 2019. However, the total number of movie viewers in 2023 was only 73.6% of 2019. The bank believes this aspect is due to the fact that in the first year after the epidemic is lifted, people will prioritize offline activities such as travel and travel over activities such as going to the cinema. On the other hand, the average ticket price for movies has risen sharply, from RMB 36.6 in 2019 to RMB 41.4 in 2023. The bank believes that there is still huge room for improvement in the box office performance of Chinese movies in 2024, mainly driven by the increase in the total number of movie viewers.

The bank said it has mainly adjusted revenue forecasts for online entertainment ticketing services and entertainment content services. In terms of online entertainment ticketing services, as of December 26, the total number of movie viewers in 2023 was 1.27 billion, in line with the bank's previous forecast of 1,300 billion. The bank assumes that Maoyan Entertainment's share of the Chinese movie ticketing service market remains at 60%. Considering that the average ticket price in 2023 increased by 13.0% compared to 2019, the bank raised the single ticket revenue for ticketing services. As a result, the bank raised its 2023-2025 online entertainment ticketing service revenue forecast by 1.2%, 1.1%, and 1.1%, respectively.