New Media Lab Limited (“New Media Lab” or the “Group”, Stock Code: 1284.HK), a renowned digital media flagship group in Hong Kong, today announced the details of its share offer (the “Share Offer”) and proposed listing on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (“SEHK”).
New Media Lab is offering a total of 150 million new shares under the Share Offer, comprising 135 million placing shares for subscription by investors and 15 million shares for subscription by the public in Hong Kong (the “Allocation”), representing 90% and 10% of the total number of the offer shares, respectively. The Allocation of the offer shares is subject to reallocation, whereby part of the placing shares will be re-allocated to the public offer in case of a certain level of over-subscription in the public offering.
Emperor Corporate Finance Limited and Lego Corporate Finance Limited are the Joint Sponsors of the Group’s listing. Emperor Corporate Finance Limited and Lego Securities Limited are the Overall Coordinators. Emperor Securities Limited, China Galaxy International Securities (Hong Kong) Co., Limited and Lego Securities Limited are the Joint Coordinators, Joint Bookrunners and Joint Lead Managers. BOCOM International Securities Limited, Guotai Junan Securities (Hong Kong) Limited and Soochow Securities International Brokerage Limited are the Joint Bookrunners and Joint Lead Managers.
The offer price (the “Offer Price”) is expected to range between HK$0.84 and HK$0.92 per share. Assuming an Offer Price of HK$0.88 per share, being the mid-point of the indicative Offer Price range, the net proceeds from the Share Offer (after deducting related costs payable for the Share Offer) are estimated to be approximately HK$95.0 million. The net proceeds will be used for (1) expanding and enhancing product lines, as well as data collection and analytical capabilities; (2) mergers and acquisitions and/or strategic alliances with other media or e-commerce market players; (3) constructing in-house media content management platform; (4) general working capital; and (5) repayment of bank borrowings.
The public offer will open on 30 June 2023 (Friday) and close on 5 July 2023 (Wednesday). The allotment results will be announced on 14 July 2023 (Friday). Dealings in the shares of the Group will commence on the Main Board of SEHK on 17 July 2023 (Monday) under the stock code 1284. Shares will be traded in board lots of 5,000 shares each.
New Media Lab is a digital media flagship group, providing one-stop integrated advertising solutions to brand owners and advertising agencies through a number of digital media platforms. The Group has established its online business since 2011, and currently operates nine media brands, including “Weekend Weekly”, “Oriental Sunday”, “Economic Digest”, “New Monday”, “More”, “GOtrip”, “Sunday Kiss”, as well as two brands more recently introduced – “SSwagger” and “Madame Figaro”. Each brand has its dedicated content pillars covering dining and local attractions, gourmet and gastronomy, fashion and beauty, travel, entertainment news, kids and parenting, electronic gadgets and gaming, finance and investment, as well as designer and luxury labels.
Mr. Royce Lee, Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer of New Media Lab, said, “With our strong digital media presence, we have recorded over 7.4 million and over 1.2 million followers on 10 Facebook’s fanpages and 9 Instagram’s profiles respectively as of 31 December 2022, both of which are third party social media platforms. Besides, for the year ended 31 December 2022, our 9 websites recorded unique visits of over 219 million. Our engaging contents and effective social media strategy have provided an ideal platform for advertisers, thereby propelling our business.”
The Group offers a wide spectrum of advertising products and integrated services on different media platforms to advertisers, including display banners, advertorial and reviews, social platforms newsfeeds, creative and production and strategic services such as SEO and segment marketing, formulating comprehensive and tailor-made advertising solutions. The Group possess a diversified and strong audience base, enabling it to reach and attract different types of audience, and in turn generates value for its advertisers.
For the year end 31 December 2022, the Group’s total revenue was HK$240.7 million, in which revenue from the digital advertising accounted for 95.2% of the total revenue; adjusted net profit (excluding listing expenses) was HK$43.6 million. According to the Euromonitor Report, the Group ranked second amongst online advertising companies in Hong Kong in terms of revenue, in three consecutive years between 2020 and 2022, fully reflecting its leadership position in the market.
Looking forward, the Group will (1) pursue growth through mergers and acquisitions and/or strategic alliances with other media or e-commerce market players; (2) further expand product lines and client base and explore opportunities in specific industry verticals such as online finance or banking, in order to cater for diversified needs of different advertisers; (3) strive to enhance data collection and analytical capabilities through the development of e-commerce solution platform to increase the varieties and dimensions of the data that the Group can collect; (4) develop and implement a media content management system to enhance the Group’s productivity and unleash its potential; and (5) apply AI and machine learning models in the back-end operations of its platforms to strengthen technological infrastructure, and continue to invest in its technological infrastructure and recruit talent.
Mr. Lee concluded, “We have been engaging in the media business in Hong Kong for more than two decades, and have established an extensive customer network through our early entry into the digital marketing business. The increasing number of younger customers and popularisation of digital platforms as well as the pandemic have led to a significant and rapid change in lifestyle and consumption habits; plus the rapid shift of retailers to utilise online platforms to enhance their sales channels, we are optimistic about the outlook of the online advertising industry. After the completion of the Share Offer, we will actively pursue our expansion strategy and optimise our overall capital structure, in order to capture growth opportunities and enhance our market position.”
Offering Details
Number of offer shares: 150,000,000 new shares
Number of placing shares: 135,000,000 new shares
Number of public offer shares: 15,000,000 new shares
Offer Price: HK$0.84 to HK$0.92 per share
Market capitalisation*: HK$504,000,000 to HK$552,000,000
Estimated net proceeds**: HK$95,000,000
Stock code: 1284.HK
*Based on the Offer Price of HK$0.84 and HK$0.92 per share, respectively
**Based on the mid-point of the indicative Offer Price range as HK$0.88 per share
Financial Summary
HK$’000(Audited) For the year ended 31 December
2020 2021 2022
Total revenue 211,589 245,199 240,678
Digital advertising revenue 180,252 231,858 229,169
Adjusted net profit * 41,168 42,405 43,556
Adjusted net profit margin * 19.5% 17.3% 18.1%
* Exclude listing expenses
About New Media Lab Limited
New Media Lab is a digital media flagship group, providing one-stop integrated advertising solutions to brand owners and advertising agencies through a number of digital media platforms. The Group currently operates nine media brands, including “Weekend Weekly”, “Oriental Sunday”, “Economic Digest”, “New Monday”, “More”, “GOtrip”, “Sunday Kiss”, as well as two brands recently introduced – “SSwagger” and “Madame Figaro”. Each brand has its dedicated content pillars covering dining and local attractions, gourmet and gastronomy, fashion and beauty, travel, entertainment news, kids and parenting, electronic gadgets and gaming, finance and investment, as well as designer and luxury labels. For more information, please visit its website: www.NewMediaLab.com.hk.
Investor/ Financial Media Enquiries
Ms. Anna Luk
Group Investor Relations Director
Emperor Group
Tel: +852 2835 6783
Email: annaluk@emperorgroup.com
Ms. Janice Au
Group Investor Relations Manager
Emperor Group
Tel: +852 2835 6799
Email: janiceau@emperorgroup.com
Topic: New Listing on Exchange