On March 14th, Zhiwen Group (Nasdaq: MOMO) announced its unaudited financial performance for the fourth quarter and full year of 2023. According to the financial report, in the fourth quarter of 2023, Zhiwen Group had a net revenue of 3.0029 billion yuan, which was not measured according to US GAAP. The net profit attributable to Zhiwen Group was 514.7 million yuan; For the entire year of 2023, Zhiwen Group's net revenue was RMB 12.0023 billion, which was not measured in accordance with US GAAP. The net profit attributable to Zhiwen Group was RMB 2.2247 billion.
From a business perspective, the revenue of live streaming services in the fourth quarter of 2023 was 1.5239 billion yuan; The revenue from value-added services was 1.4249 billion yuan. Value added service revenue includes virtual gift service revenue and member subscription service revenue; Mobile marketing revenue is 44.9 million yuan; The revenue from mobile games is 5.4 million yuan.
The cost and expenditure for the fourth quarter of 2023 was 2.4318 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 11.2%. Regarding the reduction in costs and expenses, Zhiwen Group stated that this is mainly due to the decrease in revenue sharing between live streaming service providers on Momo App and Tantan App, as well as the decrease in revenue sharing between virtual gift recipients on Momo App and virtual gift services. The increase in revenue sharing between independent new Apps and virtual gift recipients partially offset these reductions; The continuous optimization of personnel costs by the company and the decrease in compensation expenses and option reward expenses due to the lower fair value of newly granted options; Exploring the reduction in marketing and promotion expenses caused by the strategy of reducing investment control, as well as the reduction of inefficient channel marketing expenses by Momo.
In terms of stock repurchase, as of March 14, 2024, the company has repurchased approximately 16.2 million American Depositary Shares (ADSs) in the public market based on the plan, totaling approximately $86.1 million, with an average payment price of $5.31 per ADS.
Meanwhile, on March 14, 2024, the board of directors of Zhiwen Group approved the revision of the "Stock Repurchase Plan", extending the duration of the "Stock Repurchase Plan" to June 30, 2026; Expand the scale of the stock repurchase program to repurchase up to a total value of $286.1 million in stocks.
In terms of dividends, the board of directors of Zhiwen Group announced a special cash dividend plan of $0.54 per ADS, or $0.27 per common share. These cash dividends will be paid to shareholders who are still registered after the end of the trading day on April 12, 2024, on April 30, 2024. The ex dividend date is April 11, 2024. The total amount of cash distributed this time is approximately 103 million US dollars, which will be paid with the company's surplus cash.
Tang Yan, Chairman and CEO of Zhiwen Group, said, "2023 is a year of busyness and achievements. Faced with many external environmental changes and challenges, our team has made good progress in executing various strategic priorities. With the steady improvement of cost efficiency, we can effectively enhance the company's profitability to cope with economic headwinds. I am also pleased to see our innovative products beginning to achieve results in overseas markets, which gives us more confidence to invest more resources and make bolder attempts to explore broader overseas markets."