Tencent Music posts quarterly and annual revenue growth following public listing

Tencent Music Entertainment released its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year of 2018. For the quarter, total revenue grew 50.5% on-year to 5.40 billion yuan ($785 million). Revenue from online music services rose 45% to 1.52 billion yuan ($221 million). The music company’s net loss for the quarter was 876 million yuan ($127 million), with the loss mostly credited to an accounting charge related to Tencent’s equity issuance to Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, compared with net income of 534 million yuan in the year-ago period.

In the 2018 fiscal year ending December 31, revenue for Tencent Music reached 18.99 billion ($2.76 billion), up 72.9%. Annual net profit totaled 1.83 billion ($267 million) following a one-off share-based accounting charge of 1.52 billion yuan to music label partners.

“Our initial public offering in December 2018 has launched us onto the international stage, elevated the global recognition towards our brand, and endorsed our successful track record,” CEO Cussion Kar Shun Pang said. “During the fourth quarter of 2018, we recorded strong growth across our business lines, including both online music and social entertainment services, and solidified our market leadership. To fuel our growth for the years to come, we are firmly committed to continue investing in premium content offering, innovative products and proprietary technology. Going into 2019, we will continue executing relentlessly our mission to use technology to elevate the role of music in people’s lives.”