Record label HIM International Music Inc’s (華研音樂) shares yesterday closed 76.85 percent above its initial public offering (IPO) price on the company’s first day of trading on the GRETAI Securities Market.
HIM’s shares opened at NT$180 on its market debut, 66.66 percent higher than its IPO price of NT$108, and ended at NT$191.
The stock outperformed the benchmark GRETAI index, which gained 0.34 percent yesterday.
Photo: CNA
“Based in Taiwan, HIM aims to take Mandarin music to the world, and we will accomplish this goal and continue expanding our business by exploring markets in other Mandarin-speaking regions like China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia,” HIM general manager Linda Ho (何燕玲) said at the IPO ceremony.
Founded in 1997, HIM is a Taipei-based record label that produces music recordings and videos for 28 singers, including popular female group S.H.E., duo Power Station (動力火車), Yoga Lin (林宥嘉) and Chou Huei (周蕙).
HIM has registered a total of 1,300 music recordings and 1,200 music videos as its copyrighted works, the company said.
Revenue from concerts and musician appearances in commercials, movies and TV series are the company’s largest source of income, according to the firm.
In addition to album sales, HIM also makes money through digital content-streaming platforms such as KKBOX, to which HIM offers warranties to distribute its copyrighted songs and videos, the label said.
According to HIM’s financial reports, CD sales have been gradually decreasing since 2010 because of the rise of the Internet, which has resulted in people listening more to digitized music than CDs.
During the first three quarters of the year, CD album sales shrank to NT$31.86 million (US$1 million), accounting for only 5 percent of HIM’s total sales, much lower than the 17 percent share of revenue it CDs contributed in 2010.
By contrast, sales of digitized music recordings distributed through content-streaming sites grew to NT$164.95 million and accounted for 26 percent of HIM’s total sales during the January-to-September period.
The figure represents a 13 percent rise from three years ago.
The label’s made NT$448.13 million in revenue from live performances during the first nine months of the year, accounting for almost 69 percent of its total sales, the company said.
The record label reported a net profit of NT$84.59 million during the first three quarters of the year, with earnings per share of NT$3.13.
“HIM’s success in signing new contract singers next year is the key factor in determining whether the company can continue increasing its sales,” SinoPac Securities Co (永豐金證券) said in a note to clients yesterday.
SinoPac forecast that HIM’s sales of digitized music would see annual growth next year from this year.
In addition, SinoPac said that HIM’s concert sales are likely to stay robust through next year, supported mainly by the continued popularity of S.H.E., which contributed about 30 percent of HIM’s annual sales.
SinoPac issued a “buy” rating for HIM stock, with a target price of NT$150.
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