After recovering for so long, have the film and television companies returned to their pre-epidemic business conditions?
text | bear
On August 31, the last film and television company announced its financial report for the first half of this year. So far, all the film and television companies’ first-half performance has been disclosed to investors. Different from previous performance for several consecutive years, most of the 13 film and television companies observed by in "TVwatching" (ID: TVwatching) have turned red in net profits, turning losses into profits. For the industry, this is really a good phenomenon. After the epidemic, the confidence of the industry has been frustrated, and the turnaround from losses to profits not only illustrates the phased results of the industry's recovery, but also proves the profitability of large companies under adversity.
Charting: Watching TV
Although listed companies may have operating differences due to various special factors, combing the financial reports of the film and television industry can reveal the overall trend of the industry in the recent period. Looking back at the film and television market in the first half of 2021, perhaps the biggest question for investors and industry players is: After has recovered for so long, have film and television companies returned to their pre-epidemic operating conditions?
The net profit of most film and television companies turned red
The highest profit increased by 35 times
From the financial report data, almost all film and television companies had a year-on-year total revenue in the first half of this year. Soaring. Among the 13 companies "watching TV", only the total revenue of Tangde Film and Television has not changed from last year. In fact, those companies that were more affected by the epidemic last year and did not perform well, often this year's year-on-year growth rate is very impressive. The two companies Hengdian Films and Jinyi Films with revenue growth rates exceeding 10 times are both theater companies.The first half of last year was a difficult period when the theater business was completely suspended. Under the premise of a small base, it is not surprising to be able to reap super-high revenue growth rates.
Screenshot of Jinyi Film and Television's financial report
Net profit is closely related to revenue. After a substantial increase in operating revenue, most companies' net profit also rose. In the 13 companies surveyed, 9 companies have positive net profits, and in the 2020 annual report, only 4 companies are profitable. A large number of companies have begun to make money, which proves that the industry has indeed emerged bit by bit from the shadow of the epidemic.
"Don't be afraid of losing money, you are afraid of not living" is the truth of business operation. As long as the company can operate normally, it will be able to overcome difficulties through capital turnover, and the idleness of funds and personnel is the big taboo of business operations. Both 's revenue and net profit growth mean that all companies have their projects restarted in an orderly manner, and film and television companies have "worked". The project is gradually started, produced, and broadcast, so that film and television companies gradually become active.
The company with the most eye-catching net profit growth rate is and light media , . The company’s net profit in the first half of this year was 480 million, a year-on-year increase of 2255.45%. Net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses was 460 million, a year-on-year increase of 3567.2%, close to 36 times. At this time last year, Enlight Media was also one of the few profitable companies. At that time, the company's net profit attributable to its parent was only over 20 million yuan. The huge profit this year can be achieved is due to the company's project operations this year.
Screenshot of Guangray Media’s financial report
The financial report mentioned that the total box office of Guangguang Media during the reporting period was about 1.697 billion yuan, and the box office income from this year was 1.675 billion yuan, which has become an important part of its profitability. pillar. The financial report also strongly pointed out: "The film project " your wedding " invested and released by the company has achieved good returns.It once again proved that the company has mature experience and control advantages in similar types of low-cost and high-return films. "Perhaps, is using Xiaoboda's dark horse work to achieve brilliant and huge profits in financial reports.
Among many profitable companies, Huayi Brothers and Hualubaina are more special. Exist, their net profits are positive, but these net profits do not come from operating the main business, which means that the deduction of non-net profits from the main business is negative. Huayi Brothers has a net profit of 106 million, and the deduction of non-net profits is -227 million. The difference of more than 300 million is mainly due to the company's sale of part of its equity in Huayi Tencent Entertainment Co., Ltd. and disposal of some non-current assets. Similarly, Hualu Baina also relied on " transactional financial Asset "has a profit of more than 9 million-you know that its net profit attributable to its parent is only 8.3 million.
Screenshot of Huayi Brothers financial report
It can be seen that the film and television company is trying to divest those that have nothing to do with its own business. , But the revenue prospects are not very clear. For film and television companies that have just recovered from the winter, selling some idle businesses can not only exchange for more monetized assets, thereby reducing operating pressure, but also symbolizing a kind of survival
Film and television companies return to
Have they returned to their operating conditions before the epidemic?
In the past two years, the film and television industry has experienced a lot of ups and downs. It has been caused by policy tightening and capital withdrawal. Film and television’s cold winter", until the new crown epidemic has exacerbated the survival dilemma of enterprises, has become a "winter nightmare" in the film and television industry in the past two years. After the epidemic, work and production are gradually resumed, and the film and television industry is looking forward to recovering to the operating conditions before the epidemic as soon as possible. However, the data shows , Most companies have not reached this goal.
According to the comparison of operating income in 2021 and the first half of 2019,Only , Huace Television, Mango SuperMedia, Hualu Baina, and Hengdian Film and Television have increased year-on-year. Wanda Films barely managed to tie this year with the year before, and the revenue of the rest of the companies has not yet returned to the epidemic. The previous level.
Charting: Watching TV
For these companies, the term "back" seems a little inappropriate. After all, many of them have achieved continuous growth in operating income despite the epidemic.
is a typical example of Huace Television. In the first half of last year’s epidemic, its operating income increased by 20.37% year-on-year. By this year, the company’s revenue increased by 98.77% again, reaching a staggering 2.2 billion yuan . It is the title of the "first TV drama" circulated in the market. The company’s financial report mentioned that in the first half of this year alone, 13 TV series were broadcast on the entire network; the film " assassinated novelist " with a box office of over 1 billion during the Spring Festival is also the main cast and control of the company. Across multiple business areas such as TV dramas, movies, animation, advertising, and brokerage, Huace Film and Television has almost created a film and television empire, and every business is profitable. This has allowed it to save 3.507 billion in currency funds this year, which is the highest level in the company's history, and therefore has a strong ability to resist risks.
Screenshot of Huace Film and Television's financial report
Mango SuperMedia does not need to mention that it is in a period of rising growth. In the previous article ("Youai Tengmengbee's midfield battle: giants are struggling with bottlenecks, can the video industry pattern be rewritten?"), we have analyzed its advertising and membership business, which is its relationship with other production companies. Compared with the more special Internet genes.
In fact, Mango SuperMedia also has strong content production capabilities. The financial report mentioned that the company has 20 high-quality variety show self-made teams, 24 film and television production teams and 30 "Xinman Plan" strategic studios. In the first half of the year, Mango SuperMedia created ": Sister Riding the Wind and the Waves 2 ", "Celestial Detective 6", " Granny and Mother 2 ", "'s Wife's Romantic Travel 5 ", ": Our Newcomers to the Workplace" Waiting for online variety shows,It also pioneered the new track of " monsoon theater ", which specializes in short dramas, and offers plays such as "The Wolf Hunter", "The True Detective of Lies", and "I'm Very Good in a Foreign Country". There are new hotspots every year, which greatly improves the stickiness of users to Mango TV and its self-made content, and also enables its performance to grow rapidly in recent years. Today, it has become the highest operating income among A-share film and television companies.
Both Hengdian Film and Television and Wanda Film are both expanding their business to the upper reaches of the industrial chain and setting foot in the film and television production sector. Wanda movies are originally giants. This year’s "Small Columns under the Sea: Cup of Fire" and " Chinatown Detective 3 " have Wanda figures behind them. At the same time, "Mom is waiting for you" and " trumpeter in place" TV series such as ": Goose Returning to the West Window" and "Liu Li" have also been produced by the new media company Eslite, a subsidiary of Wanda Films. Hengdian Film and Television participated in the production of films such as "Send You A Little Red Flower", "Hello, Li Huanying", "Bear Infested Wild Continent", " My Sister", and also participated in such films as " Song Palace Ci_ "span44span", " the big country flying" and other TV series.
Wanda Films Financial Report Screenshot
It can be seen that most of the companies that can return to the performance level before the epidemic are companies that have projects and can function normally. Fundamentally speaking, projects are the lifeblood of film and television companies.
The performance of Tang De Film and Television which is not satisfactory is the representative of no project. Since the unsuccessful broadcast of " Baqing Biography ", the company has been in a state of stagnation, and the status of the film and television projects in production shown in the financial report has hardly changed. lost nearly 80 million in the first half of this year.The net profit attributable to the parent is very close to the deduction of non-net profit, which proves that there is no over-the-counter assistance to help it out. Fortunately, "The Secret of the Secret" produced by Tang De will be broadcast recently and may be shown in the performance of the second half of this year.
The film and television works produced by Tang De Film and Television
The artist also implicated Beijing Culture , which is now called "ST Beiwen" on the stock market. According to reports, "A Chinese Ghost Story" starring Zheng Shuang is controlled by him. Now the show is clearly unavailable, and the huge cost is difficult to cover, so that the company that has produced such an explosive work as "Hello, Li Huanying" The appearance of a loss. It should be noted that the box office revenue of "Hello, Li Huanying" is not included in the performance of the first half of this year, and it is not known whether the company's situation will improve after it is actually included.
Independent directors of Beijing Culture even raised objections to the company's financial report
Relatively speaking, more film and television companies have failed to return to normal operating levels due to the epidemic. Recently, policies in the field of entertainment have been introduced one after another. Strict policy restrictions require film and television production companies to more carefully grasp the standards of creation and the selection of artists. Film and television companies may still have a difficult time in the second half of this year.
After the reshuffle, the gross profit margin decreased
Is the film and television industry still a profiteering industry?
Since 2015, hot money in the film and television industry has surged. Almost all the rich have to get involved in the film and television industry, treating it as an asset-light, high-return profiteering industry. After 2018, the film and television industry has entered a period of adjustment, a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises are difficult to survive the cold wave, and the industry is reshuffled. experts believe that most of the companies that stay in the industry should be conscientious enterprises focusing on content, and the film and television industry should also burst the bubble and return to profit margins. normal.
After the release of the new quarterly earnings report,We have collected 20 quarters of core financial indicators of the "TV program production" industry in the Wind financial terminal. It can be seen from the graph that the gross profit margin of the TV program production industry has fallen from more than 30% in 2016 to less than 20%, which is basically the same as the average gross profit margin of the manufacturing industry.
Graphics: Watching TV
The financial reports of Huace Film and Television and Ciwen Media both show that the company’s gross profit margin in the film and television sector in the first half of this year has been much lower than that of the first half of 2017. Media's gross profit margin for film and television this year is only 13.58%. Although Huace Film and Television has built a huge empire, its most profitable business is artist brokerage, with a gross profit margin of 53.01%.
Huace Film and Television's main business composition
The same thing also happened to Huanrui Century. Four of the top five main business incomes were artist income, which accounted for more than 64% of total income. %. sits on Yang Zi, Ren Jialun , Cheng Yi , Zhang Yuxi and other well-known artists. The income structure of Huanrui Century seems to be changing from a film and television company to an artist agency. And this has become a trend in the first half of this year-artist brokerage is often a more profitable business.
Screenshot of Huanrui Century Financial Report
But after such quick money, I am afraid it will not be easy to make a profit. In recent times, first-line artists have taken turns in thunderstorms, and sky-high prices, yin and yang contracts, and tax evasion have become public targets. The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and the Central Propaganda Department have successively issued articles, which have put forward higher requirements on the actors' artistic ethics and entry barriers. Under strong supervision, related businesses will inevitably receive strict supervision.
It can be said that today's film and television industry is no longer a gold rush.Although we can still see financial successes such as the " mountain river " explosion that has brought Ciwen Media’s performance growth, it also requires a keen sense of the content market and high-level production capabilities. In other words, it is possible. The few moments that are unforgettable. More often than not, the film and television industry has worked hard on the normal business track, and is careful to prevent various risks.
Screenshot of Ciwen Media’s financial report
Returning to the financial report for the first half of this year, the drama of getting rich overnight is no longer staged. Instead, a large number of companies have failed to reap normal operating profits and are still in a difficult recovery period. As the old saying goes, "the bones and muscles are injured in a hundred days." For the film and television industry, how can the bones and muscles injured by the epidemic and cold winter be healed in a hundred days?
From the comparison of operating income this year and the first half of 2019, it can be seen that even for the top film and television companies that are listed, a divergence is taking place. And this is probably the "post-cold winter era", a self-healing competition for film and television companies. What the industry and investors are looking forward to is the rapid recovery of the industry as a whole, which will make up for the shortfalls of these years. Of course, this is only a good expectation.
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