Vividthree posts net loss of S$829,063 for FY2020

VIVIDTHREE Holdings on Monday posted a net loss of S$829,063 for the financial year ended March 31, 2020 as its content production segment took a blow from the Covid-19 pandemic. The group had turned a net profit of S$3.27 million for the previous financial year.

Revenue was down 33.9 per cent to S$6.14 million. Content production revenue slumped 61.2 per cent to S$2.62 million due to travel restrictions and safe distancing measures in China and South-east Asia.

The Catalist-listed virtual reality, visual effects and computer-generated imagery production studio said several of its immersive tour shows have been rescheduled, resulting in a decline in sales contribution from the segment.

The post-production segment saw a growth of S$0.98 million to S$3.52 million. This was mainly due to the completion of larger scale projects, including a short animation series and a few post-production movie projects during the second half of FY2020.

Cost of sales was up 45.7 per cent to S$4.08 million, with additional costs coming from full-year depreciation and amortisation charges on production equipment and content development.

Gross profit fell 68.3 per cent year-on-year to S$2.05 million. With the higher-margin content production segment suffering, gross profit margin fell to 33.5 per cent from 69.8 per cent the year before.

Other income decreased by 72.4 per cent to S$0.12 million mainly due to the absence of an one-off income of S$0.29 million in FY2019.

Loss per share amounted to 0.25 Singapore cent for FY2020, compared with 0.98 Singapore cent a year ago.

Vividthree said it remains optimistic that interest in its flagship Train to Busan show will pick up after the pandemic has come under control.

The group said that as the world enters a new digital normal during the pandemic, it is working on strengthening digital platforms and its portfolio of intellectual property (IP).

It entered into a binding term sheet in February with Darkbox Studios to acquire all IP rights, all published and unpublished works for a web comic series called Silent Horror. Plans to monetise the IP, including merchandising and media production spin-off, are underway.

The group's over-the-top (OTT) comic video platform ComicVid, launched in December, has seen an increase in users over the last two months by over seven times to more than 70,000 users as at April 2020. The group sees potential opportunities from the creation of new comic IPs and will explore ways to monetise the platform.

Shares of Vividthree closed at 4.9 Singapore cents on Friday, down 0.1 Singapore cent or 2 per cent.

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