On May 13th, Tencent Music Entertainment Group (stock codes TME on the New York Stock Exchange and 1698 on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange) released its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024. The most noteworthy changes include at least two aspects. Firstly, the company's adjusted net profit increased by 23.9% year-on-year to 1.81 billion yuan, setting a new quarterly high. At the same time, the company will distribute annual dividends for the first time.
From the dividend payout perspective, Tencent Music is expected to pay approximately $210 million in cash dividends for the fiscal year 2023, equivalent to approximately RMB 1.516 billion, to its registered shareholders as of the registration date. This is the company's first annual dividend distribution.
Specifically, for the fiscal year 2023, the board of directors of Tencent Music Entertainment Group approved the distribution of dividends of $0.0685 per common share or $0.1370 per ADS, with an expected total cash dividend payment of approximately $210 million. As of May 31, 2024, registered holders of common stock and ADS are eligible to receive dividends. The expected payment date for ordinary shareholders is on or around June 21, 2024, while the expected payment date for ADS holders is on or around June 27, 2024.
Jiang Han, a senior researcher at Pangu Think Tank, believes that the initial distribution of annual dividends reflects a sound financial foundation and good profitability. The company will only choose to distribute dividends to shareholders if it is confident that its financial condition is good and it can continue to maintain profit growth in the future.
In terms of specific financial data disclosed in the financial report, according to Tencent Music's financial report, in the first quarter of 2024, Tencent Music's content and platform "one body, two wings" strategy achieved results, and the company's adjusted net profit was 1.81 billion yuan, setting a new historical high in a single quarter; Online music service revenue increased by 43% to 5.01 billion yuan; Online music subscription revenue increased by 39.2% year-on-year to 3.62 billion yuan; The net increase in the number of online music paying users in a single quarter was 6.8 million, reaching a historic high.
According to a research report by some institutions, thanks to Tencent Music's multi-dimensional content, excellent member operation capabilities, and high retention rate, there is still a lot of upward space for net subscription users. The online music business still has considerable growth space, and Tencent Music will continue to maintain a sustainable development path in the future.
According to the financial report, the number of online music paying users on Tencent Music platform has reached 113.5 million. Most industry experts believe that compared to the international industry, there is still considerable room for user subscriptions in China's digital music industry.