有沒有一種戰法可以穿越牛熊市？
90% of Jintian Animation's revenue comes from IP products: actual controller holds 100% stake, operating cash flow declines
Recently, Guangdong Jintian Animation Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Jintian Animation) submitted its listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with China Merchants Securities International and China Galaxy International as joint sponsors.
With popular IPs such as Ultraman and My Little Pony, Jintian Animation has achieved rapid revenue growth in recent years. However, multiple operational risks have followed closely. The company not only faces the risk of IP licensing expiration, but also significant debt repayment pressure due to negative current assets for many years caused by accounts receivable and inventory accumulation.
90% of revenue comes from IP, showing solid performance
Tianyancha shows that Jintian Animation was founded in 2011. The company mainly operates anime-themed snacks, integrating product R&D, design, marketing operations, and sales. It has been operating the 'Tianle Cartoon King' and 'TALAS' brands for many years.
As of June 30, 2025, Jintian Animation has established five major production bases nationwide, owns 26 authorized IPs, and has over 600 active SKUs, covering five product categories: candy, biscuits, puffed snacks, chocolate, and seaweed snacks.
According to the Frost & Sullivan report, in 2024, by revenue, Jintian Animation is the largest IP toy food company and the fourth-largest IP food company in China, with market shares of 7.6% and 2.5%, respectively.
IP toy food is Jintian Animation's core business and main source of revenue. From 2022 to 2024 and January-June 2025 (hereinafter referred to as the reporting period), revenue from IP products amounted to 575 million yuan, 648 million yuan, 867 million yuan, and 442 million yuan, accounting for 96.6%, 97.6%, 98.8%, and 99.5% of revenue during those periods, with each period representing over 95%. Clearly, Jintian Animation has a significant concentration in a single business line.
Among the IP products, Ultraman, My Little Pony, and Crayon Shin-chan have notably contributed to revenue. During the reporting period, revenue from Ultraman IPs was 373 million yuan, 418 million yuan, 479 million yuan, and 195 million yuan, accounting for 62.6%, 63.0%, 54.5%, and 43.9% of revenue, respectively, showing a gradual decline.
Meanwhile, revenue from selling My Little Pony and Crayon Shin-chan IPs increased significantly. During the period, revenue from the My Little Pony IP was 4.708 million yuan, 33.127 million yuan, 150 million yuan, and 101 million yuan, accounting for 0.8%, 5%, 17.1%, and 22.8% of revenue, respectively; revenue from Crayon Shin-chan was 0, 1.349 million yuan, 31.411 million yuan, and 52.162 million yuan, accounting for 0, 0.2%, 3.6%, and 11.8% of revenue, respectively.
Regarding the rise in revenue and proportion from My Little Pony IP products, Jintian Animation stated it was mainly due to the surge in popularity of this IP and the limited supply of My Little Pony-related IP toy foods in the market.
By product category, Jintian Animation continuously expanded its licensed IP portfolio during the period and focused on direct-to-retailer sales of candy. Revenue generated from candy sales increased significantly, accounting for 23.8%, 26.8%, 33.6%, and 40.1% of revenue in respective periods. To optimize resource allocation and focus on higher-margin product categories, the share of seaweed snacks declined significantly, amounting to 13.1%, 9.7%, 5.5%, and 4.1% in respective periods.
In terms of overall financial performance, during the reporting period, Jintian Animation achieved revenues of 596 million yuan, 664 million yuan, 877 million yuan, and 444 million yuan; net profits were 36.708 million yuan, 75.222 million yuan, 130 million yuan, and 70.041 million yuan; adjusted net profits were 36.864 million yuan, 75.733 million yuan, 131 million yuan, and 70.296 million yuan.
During the same period, the company’s gross margin was 26.6%, 32.6%, 33.7%, and 34.7%; net profit margin was 6.2%, 11.3%, 14.8%, and 15.8%; adjusted net profit margin was 6.2%, 11.4%, 14.9%, and 15.8%. Return on total assets from 2022 to 2024 was 7.3%, 12.8%, and 16.5%, respectively.
Facing the risk of authorization expiration, net current assets have been negative for three consecutive years
As previously mentioned, more than 95% of Jintian Animation's revenue comes from IP-themed fun foods, making IP crucial to the company.
It is understood that Jintian Animation’s products often use snacks as carriers of popular IP elements, such as Ultraman-printed egg-shaped custom packaging, Crayon Shin-chan food containers that can be reused as pencil holders or storage jars, Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child stickers, collectible Conan cards, and Sanrio badges.
However, it has also been noticed by outsiders that all of Jintian Animation’s IPs are externally licensed. Not only that, but most licenses are non-exclusive with a duration of approximately 1-3 years, leaving the company facing uncertainty risks associated with IP expiration.
As of the last practicable date of the prospectus, the existing licensing agreement terms for Jintian Animation’s main IPs, such as Ultraman and Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child, are 12 months; for My Little Pony, it is up to 42 months; for Crayon Shin-chan, it is up to 27 months; and for other well-known IPs, it is mostly 24 months.
As of June 30, 2025, Jintian Animation’s IP portfolio includes 26 licensed IPs. During the reporting period, the company recorded IP royalty fees of 21.1 million yuan, 24.6 million yuan, 36.8 million yuan, and 20 million yuan respectively. Over the span of three and a half years, the company’s total IP royalty fees exceeded 100 million yuan, significantly eroding the company’s profitability.
In terms of sales channels, Jintian Animation primarily sells to distributors and directly to retailers. By the end of 2024, Jintian Animation began establishing e-commerce channels by opening self-operated online stores on third-party platforms.
During the reporting period, revenue from distributors was 567 million yuan, 554 million yuan, 580 million yuan, and 245 million yuan, accounting for 95.2%, 83.4%, 66.1%, and 55.1% of the period’s revenue respectively. Meanwhile, direct sales to retailers were 21.105 million yuan, 103 million yuan, 290 million yuan, and 192 million yuan, accounting for 3.5%, 15.5%, 33.15%, and 43.2% of the period’s revenue respectively.
In 2024 and January-June 2025, the company's revenue from e-commerce channels was 1.486 million yuan and 4.766 million yuan, accounting for 0.2% and 1.1% of the period’s revenue respectively, representing a relatively small proportion.
As of the end of each reporting period, the company had approximately 2,600, 2,500, 2,600, and 2,600 distributors. The company's distribution network covers over 1,700 county-level regions in China, with a county-level coverage rate of more than 60%, reaching most of China’s lower-tier markets.
In addition to the sales channel shifting from dealer sales to direct retailer sales, it is evident that Jintian Animation's own inventory scale and accounts receivable have also seen significant growth. The continuous surge in inventory levels also poses certain risks of overstock and impairment.
At the end of each reporting period, the company's inventory was 55.633 million yuan, 63.077 million yuan, 81.427 million yuan, and 76.177 million yuan respectively, with inventory turnover days being 45.1 days, 48.4 days, 45.3 days, and 48.9 days respectively.
During the same period, the company’s trade receivables were 4.091 million yuan, 10.282 million yuan, 21.394 million yuan, and 27.695 million yuan respectively, with trade receivables turnover days at 3.5 days, 3.9 days, 6.6 days, and 10 days respectively.
Moreover, the company’s own loans and borrowings are also increasing daily. At the end of each reporting period, loans and borrowings stood at 23.581 million yuan, 80.504 million yuan, 152 million yuan, and 169 million yuan respectively.
As of the end of each reporting period, Jintian Animation's net current assets were -82.383 million yuan, -102 million yuan, -50.752 million yuan, and 61.634 million yuan respectively, with net current assets remaining negative for three consecutive years. As of the same period, the company’s current ratio was 0.6x, 0.6x, 0.9x, and 1.2x respectively, while the quick ratio was 0.3x, 0.4x, 0.7x, and 1x respectively. The company faces significant short-term debt repayment pressure and has evident liquidity risk.
Regarding book cash status, at the end of each reporting period, the net cash flow generated from Jintian Animation's operating activities was 81.304 million yuan, 145 million yuan, 189 million yuan, and 59.237 million yuan respectively, with cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period standing at 35.261 million yuan, 46.315 million yuan, 34.287 million yuan, and 109 million yuan respectively.
The actual controller holds 100% stake, with some shareholders exiting before filing
Public information shows that on February 3, 2016, Jintian Animation was restructured into a joint-stock company. On August 2, 2016, Jintian Animation was listed on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (Securities Code: 838200). On January 8, 2021, Jintian Animation’s shares were delisted from the National Equities Exchange and Quotations.
As of the latest practicable date, Cai Jianchun controls 100% of the company's voting rights, including approximately 87.80% of shares held directly by himself; about 5.26% owned by Dongguan Jinle Shiyi, which he controls as general partner; approximately 4.52% owned by Dongguan Jinxi Shiyi, which he controls as general partner; and approximately 2.42% owned by Dongguan Jincheng Shiyi, which he controls as general partner. Due to the highly concentrated equity of the actual controller, this situation has drawn significant external attention regarding whether it might harm the interests of minority shareholders.
Some IPO observers believe that very rarely will companies go public with the actual controller holding 100% of shares. From the perspective of corporate governance, introducing diverse shareholders can enhance operational capabilities and avoid a situation where one person dominates all decision-making due to full ownership by the 'majority shareholder,' which would be detrimental to the protection of minority shareholder rights.
According to the prospectus, in 2023 and 2024, Jintian Animation distributed dividends of RMB 10.8 million and RMB 19.4 million respectively. It was also noted that during the reporting period, Cai Jianchun’s compensation was RMB 562,000, RMB 649,000, RMB 1,849,000, and RMB 913,000, with his 2024 compensation surging by 184.90% year-on-year, far exceeding the increase for other directors.
Tianyancha shows that as of January 10, Jintian Animation has been involved in 27 legal cases, with 51.85% of them being listed as the defendant. The case reasons include disputes over infringement of design patent rights, unfair competition disputes, trademark infringement disputes, other administrative actions, sales contract disputes, product liability disputes, copyright infringement disputes, and combined trademark infringement and unfair competition disputes.
One notable case occurred in 2019 when Jintian Animation's trademark infringement and unfair competition dispute with Orion Food Co., Ltd. garnered significant attention. In October 2020, the second-instance judgment showed that Orion's appeal lacked basis, thus upholding the original ruling, ordering Orion to compensate Jintian Animation for economic losses amounting to RMB 2 million, among other penalties.
In this IPO, Jintian Animation plans to use the proceeds mainly to enhance product development capabilities; increase brand awareness and expand the sales network and sales & marketing team; boost production capacity, upgrade supply chain and IT infrastructure; enrich its IP portfolio; pursue strategic investments and acquisition opportunities; and allocate funds toward working capital and other general corporate purposes.
As of the end of each reporting period, the company’s capacity utilization rates were 67.6%, 74.3%, 88.2%, and 85.2%, respectively, without showing any obvious saturation.
It is understood that in June 2011, Sun Jian acquired 20% of Jintian Animation shares for RMB 1 million, becoming an important shareholder of the company.
In April 2025, Sun Jian resigned from his position as a supervisor at Jintian Animation. In July 2025, Jintian Animation reduced the registered capital of Sun Jian’s 19.44 million shares for a consideration of RMB 76.693 million, paying him a total capital reduction consideration of RMB 76.693 million. After the capital reduction was completed, Sun Jianno longer holds any shares in Jintian Animation.
The feedback opinions issued by regulators also focused on the rationality of Jintian Animation’s related transactions, whether there was any transfer of benefits, and whether it affected the company’s independence. The CSRC requested the company and its sponsor institution to explain the necessity of large-scale dividend distributions and the fairness of equity transfers. (Produced by Harbor Finance)
*Port Business Observer* reporter Shi Zifu
Risk Disclaimer: The above content only represents the author's view. It does not represent any position or investment advice of Futu. Futu makes no representation or warranty.Read more
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