A-share film and cinema sector companies showed significant performance divergence in the first half of the year, with Beijing Enlight Media and Wanda Film recording net profit growth exceeding 3.7 times, while Bona Film posted a net loss of 1 billion yuan and Huayi Brothers' revenue was halved.
Recently, all A-share film and cinema sector companies have released their first-half 2025 financial results. A review of 10 film and cinema companies' performance covers major players across the film industry chain, including production, distribution, and cinema operations.
Overall, first-half performance among film and cinema companies showed clear divergence. Specifically, Wanda Film (002739.SZ) and Beijing Enlight Media (300251.SZ) delivered outstanding results, with both companies achieving net profit growth exceeding 3.7 times. Beijing Enlight Media's net profit of 2.229 billion yuan surpassed the combined net profits of the other nine companies.
Meanwhile, China Film (600977.SH) and Huayi Brothers (300027.SZ) reported losses during the period. Bona Film expanded its net loss to over 1 billion yuan, making it the sector's biggest loss-maker, while Beijing Culture (000802.SZ) saw its net loss widen to 233 million yuan.
From an industry perspective, data released by the National Film Administration on July 1 showed that China's box office revenue reached 29.231 billion yuan in the first half of 2025, with 641 million moviegoers, representing year-on-year increases of 22.91% and 16.89% respectively. Domestic films accounted for 91.2% of total box office revenue. "Ne Zha: The Devil Child's Sea Adventure" (referred to as "Ne Zha 2") led with 15.446 billion yuan in box office receipts.
Regarding first-half film market performance, many companies mentioned in their interim reports that after the explosive growth during the Spring Festival period, the market cooled in the latter half, creating an uneven hot-and-cold situation. Wanda Film stated frankly in its interim report: "While overall cinema box office scale recovered somewhat in the first half, it has not yet returned to 2019 levels, and cinema operations continue to face challenges."
Maoyan Entertainment market analyst Lai Li previously told reporters that following the Spring Festival boom, the film market has remained relatively subdued. Despite strong performance driven by "Ne Zha 2," the first half of 2025 ranked third historically for the same period and marked the best performance since 2020, but the market still faces significant challenges.
Production and Distribution Companies Show "Ice and Fire" Performance
Among companies specializing in film production and distribution, Beijing Enlight Media achieved a net profit of 2.229 billion yuan in the first half, up more than 3.7 times year-on-year. Shanghai Film posted a net profit of 53.76 million yuan, down over 20% year-on-year. China Film, Bona Film, Beijing Culture, and Huayi Brothers all reported varying degrees of net losses, with Bona Film's net loss exceeding 1 billion yuan and Beijing Culture's exceeding 200 million yuan.
As the core producer and distributor of "Ne Zha 2," Beijing Enlight Media achieved record-high revenue and net profit in the first half, both exceeding its full-year 2024 performance. The first-half net profit of 2.229 billion yuan nearly matched the sum of net profits from the past seven years (2.297 billion yuan).
According to the interim report, Beijing Enlight Media's film and related derivative business revenue reached 3.102 billion yuan in the first half, up 218.54% year-on-year. Films the company invested in, distributed, and counted toward the reporting period's box office include "Ne Zha 2" and "One and Only," while films released in 2024 with partial box office carried forward to the reporting period include "Xiao Qian," with total box office reaching approximately 15.463 billion yuan by the end of the reporting period.
China Film's main businesses include creation, distribution, screening, technology, services, and innovation across six major segments, essentially covering the entire film industry chain. The company's first-half revenue fell nearly 20%, with a net loss of 110 million yuan, turning from profit to loss year-on-year. The interim report explained this was mainly due to imported film box office being lower than the same period last year, and the company's major investment and control films underperforming expectations, leading to decreased revenue in creation and distribution businesses.
Film creation is the company's core business, generating 120 million yuan in revenue in the first half, down 56.99% year-on-year. During the reporting period, the company led or participated in producing and releasing 14 films, achieving cumulative box office of 6.082 billion yuan, accounting for 22.97% of domestic film box office. The top five films by box office were "Detective Tang in 1900," "Boonie Bears: Back to Earth," "The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Great Hero," "Mystery of Jiangyuan Lane," and "Blooming Sunflower." In film distribution, first-half revenue was 651 million yuan, down 27.48% year-on-year.
Bona Film showed "increased revenue but decreased profit" in the first half, with revenue of 673 million yuan, up 5.09% year-on-year, but net loss expanding to 1.056 billion yuan, widening by 661.93% year-on-year. Its interim report noted that revenue growth was mainly due to the company's cinema business benefiting from the Spring Festival boom, while profit decline was mainly due to some film and television projects the company invested in and assisted with promotion being affected by market performance fluctuations, causing the company's periodic financial performance to decline. During the reporting period, the company invested in and assisted with promoting 3 films, with combined box office of 441 million yuan, including "Operation Leviathan" with 393 million yuan.
Huayi Brothers saw its first-half revenue halved and net profit turn to loss. The interim report explained this was mainly due to reduced revenue from the film and entertainment business during the reporting period. Films the company co-invested in during the period included "Blooming Sunflower" and "The Ex-File 4: Marriage Plan."
Beijing Culture's first-half revenue increased 1944.24% year-on-year, mainly due to increased film revenue, while net loss expanded to 233 million yuan. During the reporting period, the company's major investment and control project "Creation of the Gods II: Demonic Confrontation" achieved cumulative box office of 1.238 billion yuan.
Box Office Recovery Helps Cinema Giants Boost Net Profits Significantly
Driven by blockbuster films like "Ne Zha 2," the first-half film market recovery directly benefited cinema companies focused on film screening. Wanda Film's net profit increased more than 3.7 times, Hengdian Entertainment doubled its net profit, while Jinyi Cinemas and Joy Spreads turned from loss to profit.
Wanda Film stated in its interim report that during the reporting period, the company's domestic directly-operated cinemas achieved box office of 4.21 billion yuan (including service fees), up 19.2% year-on-year, with 82.39 million moviegoers, up 9.6% year-on-year, and cumulative market share of 14.4%. Average revenue per moviegoer was 41.77 yuan, up 14.78% year-on-year. Additionally, the company leveraged IP's comprehensive value to build a complete chain of "offline experience - online promotion - derivative sales." During non-peak periods, continuous IP scenario operations drove consumption conversion, helping boost the company's box office, derivative revenue, and gross margin.
China Film's interim report disclosed that in film screening, the company achieved first-half revenue of 521 million yuan, up 9.98% year-on-year. As of the end of the reporting period, the company's controlled and participating cinema chains and controlled cinemas covered a total of 24,856 screens and 3.0958 million seats nationwide, with the company's screen market share at 31.27%.
Hengdian Entertainment's interim report indicated that performance growth was mainly due to increased profits from film screening and related derivative businesses. Benefiting from continued industry recovery, the company's film screening and related derivative business achieved operating revenue of 1.312 billion yuan, up 29.42% year-on-year. As of June 30, 2025, the company's cinema chain operated 528 cinemas, including 449 directly-operated cinemas. Direct cinema box office ranked second among national cinema investment companies, with box office market share (excluding service fees) of 3.91%.
Shanghai Film's main businesses are film distribution and screening. As of the end of the reporting period, Lianhe Cinema Chain had 839 affiliated cinemas with 5,352 screens, achieving cumulative box office of 2.212 billion yuan (including service fees), up 26.10% year-on-year, with market share rising to 7.57%.
Additionally, Bona Film's first-half cinema business revenue was 544 million yuan, up 7.75% year-on-year. Jinyi Cinemas' film screening revenue during the reporting period was 532 million yuan, up 11.96% year-on-year. Joy Spreads' film and derivative business revenue during the reporting period was 351 million yuan, up 12.17% year-on-year.
Exploring IP Value, Expanding Non-Box Office Revenue
A review of interim reports found that seeking growth in non-box office revenue such as IP derivatives has become a common consensus among film companies.
Beijing Enlight Media mentioned in its interim report that the company's first-half derivative business mainly revolved around the "Ne Zha" IP, covering over 30 categories and more than 500 products. Beyond making "Ne Zha" IP operations routine, work on other IPs such as "Big Fish & Begonia" and "Zhang Binzhi and Wang Huanjun" has also begun. In terms of channels, the company has begun preparing for trial operations of online e-commerce channels. For gaming business, the company has jointly established a gaming company with relevant partners, with current team size exceeding 50 people, and the first AAA game is in production. Regarding theme parks, after multiple rounds of communication and consultation, the company is currently conducting in-depth negotiations with several key regions.
At the opening forum of the 27th Shanghai International Film Festival held in June this year, Beijing Enlight Media Chairman Wang Changtian pointed out that "Ne Zha" derivatives in just one product category could generate tens of billions in sales. Currently, derivative developers, manufacturers, and sellers are reaping significant market dividends, along with extensive piracy. It's estimated that "Ne Zha" derivative sales could reach hundreds of billions.
Shanghai Film possesses classic IPs including "Havoc in Heaven," "Calabash Brothers," "Black Cat Detective," "Secret of the Heavenly Book," and "Chinese Tales of Mystery." In the first half, the company comprehensively promoted full-chain commercial development of IP operations. The company focused on expanding "Boonie Bears: Guardian Code" commercial licensing and derivatives, reaching cooperation with over 40 well-known companies, with IP derivative product SKUs reaching over 800, covering multiple industry sectors. Additionally, the company innovatively explored "AI + Film & TV" and "AI + IP."
Wanda Film also mentioned in its interim report that while current film market box office revenue still dominates, with changes in copyright holders, platforms, and consumer trends, the commercial value of film IP is expected to continuously improve, facilitating China's film market transformation from single box office-driven to diversified revenue structure.
Bona Film's interim report indicated that the company is promoting cross-industry integration of film and TV IP, building a new quality industrial ecosystem of "film & TV + consumption + cultural tourism + technology." Through diversified operations including derivative sales, introducing performance activities, and expanding advertising, the company aims to increase the proportion of non-box office business revenue. Currently, subsidiaries are focusing on developing Sanxingdui IP series content. Additionally, "Sanxingdui: Future Past" (tentative title) has entered final production stages, with project approval work proceeding simultaneously. This film is expected to become China's first AI-native theatrical release.
In the recently concluded summer season, according to National Film Administration statistics, total box office for the 2025 summer season was 11.966 billion yuan, with 321 million moviegoers, representing year-on-year increases of 2.76% and 12.75% respectively. The top 3 films by box office were: "Successor" with 2.89 billion yuan, "Boonie Bears: Guardian Code" with 1.455 billion yuan, and "Decoded" with 879 million yuan.
Among these, "Successor" was mainly produced by China Film, with production companies also involving listed companies Joy Spreads, Wanda Film, and Shanghai Film. "Boonie Bears: Guardian Code" was mainly invested and controlled by Shanghai Film Group, with production involving Shanghai Animation Film Studio, Shanghai Film Yuan, China Film, and China Film Distribution Co., Ltd. Shanghai Film Yuan is a controlled subsidiary of Shanghai Film. "Decoded" involved production companies including iQiyi Pictures and Shanghai Taopiaopiao Film & TV.
According to Great Wisdom VIP, as of the close on September 2, Wanda Film closed at 11.29 yuan per share, down 3.01%; Beijing Enlight Media closed at 19.04 yuan per share, down 4.18%; China Film closed at 14.10 yuan per share, down 5.37%; Hengdian Entertainment closed at 15.99 yuan per share, down 3.79%; Bona Film closed at 5.27 yuan per share, down 3.13%; Jinyi Cinemas closed at 9.56 yuan per share, up 1.59%; Joy Spreads closed at 17.23 yuan per share, down 3.47%; Shanghai Film closed at 30.45 yuan per share, down 4.40%; Beijing Culture closed at 4.73 yuan per share, down 1.66%; Huayi Brothers closed at 2.68 yuan per share, down 1.47%.
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