BEIJING, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Glory Star New Media Group Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: GSMG) ("Glory Star" or the "Company"), a leading mobile and online digital media and entertainment company in China, today announced its financial results for the full year ended December 31, 2020. 

Full Year 2020 Operating Highlights

• Downloads of the CHEERS App1 was approximately 169 million as of December 31, 2020, compared to 85 million as of December 31, 2019.

• Average daily active users ("DAUs")2 of the CHEERS App increased to approximately 5.4 million from 1.9 million for the full year of 2019.

• The Company's e-Mall carried 24,975 Stock Keeping Units ("SKUs") in total as of December 31, 2020. Gross merchandise value ("GMV") of the Company's CHEERS App was approximately US$132 million, compared to US$19.4 million in the full year of 2019.

Full Year 2020 Financial Highlights

• Revenues for the full year of 2020 increased by 88.2% to US$123.8 million from US$65.8 million for the full year of 2019. Revenues from the Company's CHEERS App Internet Business increased by 195.3% to US$83.6 million for the full year of 2020, from US$28.3 million in the full year of 2019, and represents 67.5% of total revenues. Revenues from the Company's Traditional Media Business increased by 7.2% to US$40.2 million for the full year of 2020 from US$37.5 million for the full year of 2019, and accounts for the remaining 32.5% of total revenues.

• Income from operations for the full year of 2020 increased by 14.3% to US$30.7 million, from US$26.8 million for the full year of 2019.

• Operating margin was 24.8% for the full year of 2020, compared to 40.8% for the full year of 2019.

• Net income attributable to Glory Star's shareholders increased by 11.2% to US$29.3 million for the full year of 2020, from US$26.3 million for the full year of 2019.

• Net margin was 23.6% for the full year of 2020, compared to 40.1 % in the full year of 2019.

                                            
1. Glory Star defines this metric as the total number of downloads of the CHEERS App as of the end of the period.
2. Glory Star defines daily active users, or DAUs, as a user who has logged in or accessed Glory Star's online video content and/or its e-commerce platform using the CHEERS App, whether on a mobile phone or tablet. Glory Star calculates DAUs using internal company data based on the activity of the user account and as adjusted to remove "duplicate" accounts.

Mr. Bing Zhang, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Glory Star, commented, "We concluded the full year of 2020 with strong operating and financial performances as a result of our business resiliency and visionary growth strategies. During the period, we remained focused on optimizing our internally developed products, expanding our product use cases, growing our partnership base, and enriching our catalogue of high-quality content. As a result, we not only augmented the breadth and depth of our product and content offerings, but also enhanced our paying user count and user retention rate. Looking ahead, we will continue to enrich peoples' lives, forge win-win partnerships, and develop our business segments. Moreover, as the economy continues to gradually recover and technology evolves, we will also capitalize on those new opportunities which emerge to fuel our growth engines."

Mr. Perry Lu, Chief Financial Officer of Glory Star, added, "Despite the macro uncertainties and ongoing presence of COVID-19, we delivered solid financial results in the full year of 2020. During the year, we grew our revenues by 88.2% year over year while also increasing our net income attributable to shareholders by 11.2% year over year. Such positive trends in revenues and profitability continue to validate our business initiatives, growth strategies, and long-term development trajectory. Going forward, our abundant cash reserves, sufficient liquidity, and healthy financial performance should continue to serve as significant competitive advantages, allowing us to increase our market share and deliver lasting shareholder value over the long-term."

Full Year 2020 Financial Results

Revenues increased by 88.2% to US$123.8 million for the full year of 2020, from US$65.8 million for the full year of 2019, mainly due to the successful development of the Company's self-owned mobile CHEERS application allowing users to access the Company's online video content, live streaming shows, online games and shopping, and an increase in the average price of advertisements types. Advertising revenues increased by 116.3% to US$104.7 million for the full year of 2020, as compared to $48.4 million for the full year of 2019. CHEERS e-Mall marketplace service revenues increased by 126.4% to US$1.5 million for the full year of 2020 from $0.7 million for the full year of 2019. The Company continues to attract active users to its platform by developing engaging short-form videos, live streaming events, games, and network dramas. Following the restriction of outdoor activities caused by COVID-19, increases in online entertainment and shopping continued to stimulate growth in advertising revenues as well as CHEERS e-Mall marketplace service revenues.

Total operating expenses for the full year of 2020 increased by 139.1% to US$93.1 million from US$38.9 million for the full year of 2019.

• Cost of revenues increased by 20.6% to US$38.5 million for the full year of 2020, from US$31.9 million for the full year of 2019. The increase was mainly attributable to the increase of production cost associated with content to improve diversity, quantity and content richness and bandwidth cost.

• Selling and marketing expenses for the full year of 2020 were US$43.8 million compared to US$3.2 million for the full year of 2019. As a percentage of revenues, selling and marketing expenses for the full year ended December 31, 2020 were 35.4% as compared to 4.8% for the same period of 2019. The increase was due to the increase in advertising fees, as well as an increase in marketing and user acquisition activities to attract new customers for the Company's CHEERS application and CHEERS e-Mall.

• General and administrative expenses for the full year of 2020 were US$10.1 million compared to US$3.1 million for the full year of 2019. As a percentage of revenues, general and administrative expenses for the year ended December 31, 2020 were 8.2% compared to 4.8% in the full year of 2019. This increase was mainly attributable to increases in share-based compensation for Company's employees in management functions and other professional service fees related to the Company's business combination.

• Research and development expenses for the full years of 2020 and 2019 were US$0.7 million and US$0.7 million, respectively.

Income from operations for the full year of 2020 increased by 14.3% to US$30.7 million from US$26.8 million in the full year of 2019. Operating margin in the full year of 2020 was 24.8% compared to 40.8% for the full year of 2019.

Net income attributable to Glory Star's shareholders for the full year of 2020 increased by 11.2% to US$29.3 millionfrom US$26.3 million in the full year of 2019. Net margin in the full year of 2020 was 23.6% compared to 40.1 % for the full year of 2019.

Basic and diluted net income per share for the full year of 2020 were US$0.54 and US$0.50, respectively. In comparison, the Company's basic and diluted net income per share for the full year of 2019 were US$0.64 and US$0.57, respectively.

As of December 31, 2020, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of US$17.7 million, compared to US$6.9 millionas of December 31, 2019.

Conference Call

The Company's management will hold a conference call on Monday, March 29, 2021, at 9:00 P.M. U.S. Eastern Time (or Tuesday, March 30, 2021, at 9:00 A.M. Beijing Time) to discuss the financial results. Listeners may access the call by dialing the following numbers:

The replay will be accessible through April 5, 2021, by dialing the following numbers:

A live and archived webcast of the conference call will also be available at the Company's investor relations website at http://ir.yaoshixinghui.com.