Forgame Announces FY2014 Interim Results, Consolidated its Business Foundation Actively Invests in Mobile Games

Publish Date:2014-08-26 source:Forgame

(Hong Kong, 26 August 2014) – Forgame Holdings Limited (“Forgame” or the “Group”) (stock code: 484), a leading developer and publisher of webgames in China, today announced its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2014 (“1HFY2014” or “Review Period”). During the Review Period, the Group has proactively restructured the business and optimised the business development strategy with the aim to lay a stronger foundation to capture the enormous opportunities in the mobile games market.
 
The Group has recorded a total revenue of RMB337.5 million in the 1HFY2014, declining by 41.2% compared to the corresponding period in 2013. The decrease was primarily attributable to the existing webgames entered the mature stage, the lower-than-expected performance of the newly launched webgame titles and the strategic decision to leave more time for R&D of several new webgames to enhance the quality. Revenue from the games product segment was RMB232.2 million (1HFY2013: RMB379.5 million) and accounted for 68.8% of total revenue (1HFY2013: 66.1%). Revenue from the game platform segment amounted to RMB105.2 million (1HFY2013: RMB194.3 million) and accounted for 31.2% of total revenue (1HFY2013: 33.9%). Gross profit was RMB250.5 million (1HFY2013: RMB509.6 million). Adjusted net loss amounted to RMB3.447 million (1HFY2013: Profit RMB153.6 million).
 
During the Review Period, the Group operated 36 self-developed webgames and 9 mobile games. Out of the 9 mobile games, 4 are self-developed and 5 are exclusively licensed. The average monthly paying user (“MPU”) of the games product segment was approximately 502,000 while the monthly average revenue per paying user (“ARPPU”) was RMB77. As at 30 June 2014, the Group’s webgame publishing platform, 91 wan has more than 220 million registered players, a growth rate of 23% compared to corresponding period last year. During the Review Period, 91wan platform had distributed 105 webgames in total, among which, 21 are self-developed and 84 are licensed from third party developers. The average MPUs of the game platform segment was approximately 61,000 and the monthly ARPPU of the game platform segment has remained stable at RMB287.
 
Mr. Dongfeng Wang, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Forgame, said, “As the webgames market is rapidly maturing, players are becoming more demanding about innovation and the quality of the games. To tackle these challenges, the Group has continued to optimise its development direction and focused more on quality rather than quantity, launching games with more diversified themes; and while striving to optimize our cost base and spend strategically on areas that potentially generate better returns. Meanwhile, we will continue to capture the enormous opportunities in the mobile game market, and speed up our business transformation. On top of investing in areas such as restructuring our development teams to redeploy the resources from web to mobile and building a mobile game publishing team to operate licensed games, we also proactively make investments in mobile game incubators and innovative development studios, leveraging popular TV and online literature intellectual property (“IP”) rights to augment the popularity of the games that we launch, as well as marketing the mobile games we publish. We believe that these initiatives can consolidate our development in the mobile games market.”
 
For webgames, the Group expects to launch seven new titles in the second half of 2014. In August 2014, Forgame has launched one of the key titles “Charmed Swordsman” (醉武俠) with encouraging initial results. Another key title, “Wind of Contrail” (風色軌跡), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter of 2014. This turn-based RPG is a combination of several innovative elements, which will enable the Group to broaden the international reach. At the same time, the Group is developing action fighting and strategy games, and is also experimenting with “custom-made” games for third party webgames platforms with organic traffic to diversify games themes.
 
For mobile games, the Group expects to further launch two self-developed mobile games and four licensed mobile games in the second half of 2014. The Group is currently beta testing two self-developed games, “In Fever of Combat” (熱血格鬥), a side-scrolling action fighting game and “Sword and Fire” (劍與火之歌), an action card game with strategy elements. The Group has also obtained authorization to develop mobile games that are adapting from certain popular TV series and online literature IP rights, including “Boonie Bears” (熊出沒), a highly popular animated series among kids and teenagers in China. Apart from self-development, the Group’s publishing team will closely monitor and identify licensing opportunities for high quality games. The Group has established an office in San Francisco during the first half of 2014, it plans to publish mobile games in North America in late 2014 or early 2015 so as to expand its geographical reach.
 
Furthermore, the Chengdu Companion Fund that the Group has co-founded has been actively investing in innovative mobile game studios, some investments have started to score notable successes. The Group has invested an additional RMB32 million in the Fund during the Review Period.
 
Mr. Wang concluded, “The Group is still in the cultivation period which is inevitable in investment. While we gradually implement the well-defined development plan and effective business strategies, Forgame is set to expand in the mobile games business sector to create a new growth driver. As a leading webgames developer and publisher, we have confidence that we can leverage our unique edge and the stable contribution from our existing businesses to capture the exciting development opportunities in the mobile games market, thus delivering promising returns for our shareholders in the long run.”
 
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About Forgame Holdings Limited (stock code: 484)
Listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on October 3, 2013, Forgame Holdings Limited is a leading developer and publisher of webgames in China with a fast-growing mobile games business. Since its establishment in 2009, the company has successfully developed and launched more than 40 popular games. Its publishing platform, 91wan, has released 105 self-developed and licensed webgames and had attracted over 220 million registered players as at June 30, 2014.