HONG KONG, Aug. 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Haichang Ocean Park Holdings Ltd. ("Haichang Ocean Park" or the "Company", together with its subsidiaries, the "Group", Stock Code: 2255), a leading developer and operator of theme parks in China, announced the interim result for the six months ended 30 June 2016 ("the Period").
During the Period, the Group recorded revenue of approximately RMB663.1 million, representing an approximate 24.6% increment compared with the corresponding period of last year. The substantial increase in revenue was attributable to the significant increase both in revenue from park operations and ancillary commercial property sales. Revenue generated from park operations of the Group increased by approximately 10.5% compared with the corresponding period of last year to approximately RMB501.6 million. Among which the revenue from the non-ticket business considerably increased by 49.7% compared with the corresponding period of last year to approximately RMB141.0 million. Innovative business income accounted to RMB22.8 million. The Group's gross profit increased by approximately 40.0% compared with the corresponding period of last year and consolidated gross profit margin improved by 5pts to 45.3%. In addition, the gross profit margin of the Group's park operations improved to 47.1%, representing an increase of 3pts compared with the corresponding period of last year. After deducting the gains or losses on change in the fair value of investment properties and the effect of the corresponding income tax, the Group's core net profit amounted to RMB41.3 million, representing a significant increase of RMB51.8 million compared with the corresponding period of last year.
Mr. Wang Xuguang, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Haichang Ocean Park Holdings Ltd., said, "In recent years, the State has attached unprecedented importance to tourism. Under the support of favourable government policy and the rising consumption led demand, the theme park industry in China has achieved prosperous market momentum. In the first half of 2016, the Group achieved steady growth with profitability continuing to increase. In particular, the revenue of the non-ticket business experienced a rapid increase. The innovative asset-light business has also undergone rapid development, both in terms of revenue and profit contribution. During the Period, the Group actively implemented the strategy of building regional tourism and leisure destinations and continued to innovate according to customer demand. The Group continuously optimized, integrated and upgraded the products of our parks focusing on delivering experiences for all of the five senses including vision, touch, hearing, taste and smell, so as to comprehensively provide visitors with endless surprises and ubiquitous themes as well as enhancing brand influence and reputation of 'Haichang'."
In regards to existing projects, the Group actively promoted the strategy of developing existing projects into regional tourism and leisure destinations through upgrading and modification as well as the optimization and integration of ancillary commercial property. Meanwhile, the Group continued to upgrade and enhance innovation of the products and services in existing theme parks on both the hardware and software side. The Group also optimized the development and sales of in-park consumption products, and continuously promoted interactive entertainment products with higher profitability, as well as carried out innovative marketing strategy, effectively driving the growth in the non-ticket business scope. At the same time, the Group continued to enhance its core competitiveness related to animal conservation and related education, and successfully bred five species, 83 large and rare polar marine animals and sharks, recording a historical breeding number in the same period and forming the biggest collection in Asia in terms of number of animal.
During the Period, the Group's innovative asset-light business sped up, developing under the mandate of continuous systemization, scaling and marketization of related businesses. Currently, the Group has established a development model based on three main business lines, namely management output, interactive technological children's entertainment and cultural intellectual properties. Along with the expansion of business scale, the related business brands have been gradually been recognized by the market as well. Firstly, the management output business has effectively achieved a full service integrated chain system for project advisory, with nine management output projects being conducted or completed in the first half of 2016. In respect of the interactive technological children's entertainment business, combining with market demand and company status, the Group has further enriched and optimized its product portfolio. Meanwhile, the Group's second embedded children's interactive entertainment project, namely "Mermaid Dreamland", successfully opened in Chengdu in June this year, which linked synergetically with existing traditional park products. In addition, the Group focused on optimizing mobile caravans tour products and successfully launched in Daqing in June. In regards to cultural intellectual properties, the Group set up a cultural foundation on intellectual property, conducted innovative research on interactive technology products and actively sought the integration with high-tech multimedia products. The 4D cinema animated film "Light of Ocean -- Battle for Defending Pearls" will soon be screened inside existing theme parks, which marks a significant step for the cultural foundation development of Haichang Ocean Park in terms of intellectual property.
In the first half of 2016, the Group's two flagship projects also proceeded as planned. The overall design planning of Shanghai Haichang Polar Ocean Park was approved and fully stepped into the basic engineering construction stage. Simultaneously, the Group has secured funds for subsequent capital expenditure through syndicated financing. The opening of Shanghai Disney Resort has driven a sharp increase in tourism consumption across the industry chain, and a cluster effect has begun to gradually appear. Additionally the overall positioning and conceptual design planning proposal of Sanya Haichang Dream World was approved and the design planning of phase one has been confirmed. The project is expected to enter the construction stage in the second half of 2016.
Mr. Wang Xuguang, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Haichang Ocean Park Holdings Ltd., concluded, "Looking ahead to the second half of 2016, the Group will continuously improve business scale and the operational efficiency of existing parks within the existing development strategy framework. Meanwhile, the Group will speed up the construction of its new projects and strategic cooperation with well-known and reputable upstream and downstream enterprises across the industry chain. This will further optimize the business model and development path of the innovative asset-light business and continuously generate new value. Furthermore, as a constituent stock of Hang Seng Small Cap Index, we believe Haichang will benefit from the launch of Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect, and gain wide attention from the capital markets. The Company will also continue to enhance its fundamentals and create greater returns for the shareholders and community."
About Haichang Ocean Park Holdings Ltd.
Listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in March 2014, Haichang Ocean Park Holdings Ltd. is the leading developer and operator of theme parks in China. With over a decade of experience in animal breeding and conservation, marine theme park development and operation, the Company has consistently ranked as one of the top ten theme park operators worldwide for consecutive years. The Company's theme parks provide a one-stop sightseeing, entertainment, leisure, dining and shopping experience to its customers through both the in-park offerings and complementary services offered by the ancillary commercial properties adjacent to the theme parks. The Company currently operates eight theme parks located in Dalian, Qingdao, Tianjin, Yantai, Wuhan, Chengdu and Chongqing respectively, which including six ocean theme parks, one adventure theme park, and one water world. In addition, there are two major flagship projects under construction in Shanghai and Sanya. China's theme park industry possesses enormous growth potential. For the twelve months ended 31 December 2015, the admission attendance of the eight theme parks of the Group increased to 12.31 million visitors. Haichang Ocean Park has had approximately 100 million visitors since 2002.
Haichang Ocean Park is currently included as a constituent of the Hang Seng Family of Indexes, and has been included by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) as a constituent of the MSCI Global Small Cap Indexes.
