Operator
各位好,欢迎参加网易2023年第一季度财报电话会议。今天的会议正在录音中。现在,我将会议转交给网易高级投资者关系总监石美玲女士。请开始。
Operator
Good day, and welcome to the NetEase 2023 First Quarter Earnings Conference Call. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Margaret Shi, Senior IR Director of NetEase. Please go ahead.
Margaret Shi
谢谢主持人。请注意,今天的讨论将包含与公司未来业绩相关的前瞻性陈述,这些陈述旨在符合美国《私人证券诉讼改革法案》确立的安全港条款。此类陈述并非对未来业绩的保证,并受制于某些风险、不确定性、假设和其他因素。其中一些风险超出公司的控制范围,可能导致实际结果与今天新闻稿和本次讨论中提及的内容存在重大差异。关于可能影响网易业务和财务业绩的风险因素的一般性讨论,包含在公司向美国证券交易委员会提交的某些文件中,包括其20-F表格年度报告以及在香港交易所网站上的申报公告。除非法律要求,公司不承担更新其前瞻性信息的义务。在今天的电话会议中,管理层还将讨论某些非公认会计准则财务指标,仅用于比较目的。有关非公认会计准则财务指标的定义以及公认会计准则与非公认会计准则财务结果的调节表,请参阅今天早些时候发布的2023年第一季度财报新闻稿。提醒一下,本次会议正在录音中。此外,本次电话会议的投资演示文稿和网络直播回放将在网易公司网站ir.netease.com上提供。今天参加电话会议的网易高级管理层包括首席执行官丁磊先生和首席财务官杨昭烜先生。我现在将电话转交给杨昭烜先生,他将代表丁磊先生宣读准备好的讲话。
Margaret Shi
Thank you, operator. Please note the discussion today will contain forward-looking statements relating to future performance of the company and are intended to qualify for safe harbor from liability as established by the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, assumptions and other factors. Some of these risks are beyond the company's control and could cause actual results to differ materially from those mentioned in today's press release and in this discussion. A general discussion of the risk factors that could affect NetEase's business and financial results is included in certain filings of the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 20-F and the announcement of the filings on the website of Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company does not undertake any obligation to update its forward-looking information, except as required by law. During today's call, management will also discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures for comparison purposes only. For a definition of non-GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial results, please see the 2023 first quarter earnings news release issued earlier today. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. In addition, an investor presentation and a webcast replay of this conference call will be available on NetEase corporate website at ir.netease.com. Joining us today on the call from NetEase's senior management is Mr. William Ding, Chief Executive Officer; and Mr. Charles Yang, Chief Financial Officer. I will now turn the call over to Charles, who will read the prepared remarks on behalf of William.
Charles Yang
翻译中...
Charles Yang
Thank you, Margaret, and thank you, everyone, for participating in today's call. Before we begin, I would like to remind everyone that all percentages are based on RMB. We kicked off 2023 with an impressive performance from our game portfolios that drove our total net revenues to RMB25 billion in the first quarter, up 6% year-over-year. Our net income attributable to NetEase shareholders increased 54% year-over-year to RMB6.8 billion. Revenue from our Fantasy Westward Journey Online series flagship titles once again grew steadily in the first quarter. This franchise continues to captivate Chinese audiences and enjoyed another quarter of impressive performance, thanks to a variety of immersive passive activities and engaging new expansion packs, particularly during the spring festival period. Our flagship games have remained incredibly popular with users for almost two decades now, due to the sustained in-game user connections and continuous iterations we release every few months to keep our users engaged and content. Our newer titles are also showing impressive results. Eggy Party became China's most downloaded game on iOS in the first quarter, further solidifying its leading position in the casual game arena. Eggy Party's accomplishment is a testament to NetEase content innovation and operational know-how that keep players engaged through the consistent addition of fresh and exciting content updates, new gameplay features, tournaments and crossover events. Following its successful launch, we've been taking significant steps to solidify Eggy Party's distinct game ecosystem, including upgrading our creative incentive schemes and game additives. Our users can now design more sophisticated mini games with more flexibility and versatility, making the game more engaging and self-sustaining. We've seen new generative technology as a great tool for users to create content more easily, and we will develop and offer more of these features in our game editor to encourage more people to participate in this creative process. Eggy Party is approaching its first year anniversary this weekend. With our comprehensive UGC ecosystem, our user community has been creating more than 1 million apps per week, providing players with continued fresh and enjoyable content. As a key focus of our Eggy Party operational strategy, we will be further strengthening our UGC offerings to help ensure the longevity for Eggy Party that we see in many of our other games. Following its success in China, we are testing its potential on the global stage as well. We've already soft-launched Eggy Party in Southeast Asia and we received valuable feedback. We are working to bring Eggy Party to global audiences in the near future and believe that players worldwide will enjoy the engaging gameplay and unique UGC experience that Eggy Party has to offer. Another good example of our casual games showing longevity is Identity V, our five-year old asymmetrical Battle Arena game. In the first quarter, Identity V achieved record-high net revenues, driven by a successful Crossover campaign with Bungo Stray Dogs, a famous Japanese anime series. Moving on to our game pipeline. We have a very busy summer planned ahead for this year with Justice mobile game successful launch on June the 30th and many other titles such as Badlanders and Racing Master ready for the Chinese mainland market. We are also planning for Harry Potter: Magic Awakened to make its international market debut. As our next-generation MMORPG, Justice mobile game is dedicated to creating a unique game experience that will set a new bar for the MMO market. Differentiating itself from traditional MMOs, Justice mobile game caters to the preferences of younger generations, offering a wide variety of cosmetic items. The game also provides players with a fair playing ground, ensuring a sense of equality and fostering a more balanced game experience. Justice mobile game is one of the first pioneers to apply machine-learning technology in the games creation and development. Such technologies have further enhanced our development process and enabled us to greatly enrich the open world experience in Justice mobile game, including new gameplay, storyline and maps. In addition, through innovations like computer-driven non-player characters that allow players to chat and have them interact in unique ways that impacts game storyline, Justice mobile game provides players with more personalized gaming experiences that add to users' enjoyment of the game. Badlanders, our next-generation looter shooting mobile game, is scheduled for launch on June the 8th with close to 20 million pre-registered users. In our recent round testing, Badlanders had shown strong player attraction. As an exciting addition to NetEase's roster of shooting games, we are hopeful that Badlanders will help us tap into new territory with its brand-new escape mechanism and exciting battle experience. Next in the pipeline is Racing Master, a new car racing game that we will be bringing to players on June 20th, which has also had over 20 million pre-registered users. The Racing Master boasts AAA quality and the most authentic experience possible for a racing simulation game with dynamic car handling and performance that allows players to fully immerse themselves in the thrilling world of racing cars. We are happy to announce that the highly-anticipated global launch of Harry Potter: Magic Awakened is nearly here. Our dedicated team has been working hard to enhance and refine the gameplay of this long waited game for both mobile and PC, ensuring that players around the world get the most authentic and thrilling experience of the wizarding world. This summer, Harry Potter: Magic Awakened will be distributed in most regions across the globe. NetEase is primarily responsible for the Asian market, while Warner Bros. Games will handle distribution in other geographies, including Europe, the Americas, Africa and Oceania. We believe that our efforts will pay off and that this addition to the beloved Harry Potter IP will be worth the wait. We are excited to release this game to a global audience and hope that players will enjoy it as much as we do. We continue to make solid progress in our globalization strategy. During the quarter, we were pleased to announce the establishment of Anchor Point Studios which is led by Paul Ehreth. With over 20 years of experience in game design and direction for PC and console, PC -- Paul has an impressive track record that includes making essential development contributions to hit titles such as Control and Halo. Anchor Points Studios is dedicated to developing action, adventure games that pushed the boundaries of entertainment and also players' unique and surprising gameplay experiences. We are also excited to welcome Bad Brain Game Studios to the NetEase game family, which we announced earlier this week. Bad Brain Game Studios is a new game studio, located in Canada, led by Sean Crooks, an experience producer who has worked on the Watch Dogs franchise, and Driver: San Francisco. In addition to his own franchise experiences, Sean Crooks assembled a veteran team who also work on many other major franchises, such as Army of Two and Splinter Cell. The studio is developing an ambitious new game franchise based on the story-driven action adventure theme built with Unreal Engine 5. After years of strategic planning, we now have over 10 proprietary NetEase games studios overseas spanning Japan, the U.S., Canada and Europe, which prepare us for our next stage of international growth. Moving forward, we remain committed to attracting, investing and supporting our international talent, giving them full economy over game creation and development. We hope that soon NetEase games will be -- will not just be a household name in China, but also globally associated with fresh, engaging and long-lasting gaming franchises. Now let's move on to Youdao. Youdao resumed its growth trajectory of STEAM courses and other key business lines despite a challenging environment in January due to the pandemic. Our STEAM courses continues to show solid growth as we further improve and enrich their content. The recent launch of our Champion Class in the fourth quarter of last year yielded exceptional results, which we saw as our course participants won the Youth Group Championship at the British Youth Go Open in January. Additionally, the gross billings of Youdao Fun Reading, our digital online reading service for children, powered by advanced natural language processing capabilities, increased by nearly 40% year-over-year in the first quarter. Youdao Fun Reading provides tailored reading content based on users' age and reading behavior, enabling a personalized experience for each user. We are dedicated to continuously improving our smart devices and providing users with better experiences. As an industry pioneer, in the first batch of product standard tests conducted by the Chinese Academy of Information and Communications Technology, our Youdao Dictionary Pen X5 and P5 achieved a 100% accuracy rate in 12 complex online and offline application scenarios. Moreover, the applications available on our Youdao Dictionary Pen operating system are continuously expanding to provide users with a diverse range of options. Our Smart Learning Pad has also been upgraded, utilizing computer-powered technology to offer specialized world training and help students plan their learning strategies more effectively. Looking ahead, we will continue to focus on technological innovation and leverage our cutting-edge technology to ensure the long-term success of our smart devices and learning services. Turning to our Cloud Music business. In the first quarter of 2023, Cloud Music continued its ongoing efforts to enrich its music-centric ecosystem and expand its unique content offerings, resulting in a thriving communities with high user engagement. Our online music MAUs continued to show steady growth, while our membership paying ratio remained solid at around 20%. Our online music has continued to show solid growth momentum on a year-over-year basis, while our social entertainment revenue has declined as we enhanced the listening experience of more dedicated music fans and adjusted our focus to improve profitability in a sustainable manner. In the first quarter, total net revenue declined 5% year-over-year to RMB2 billion, reflecting this mixed results. However, we continued our initiatives to drive margin expansion. They have paid off with gross margins reaching above 20% for the first time and further reinforcing our bottom line performance. This has been achieved through the ongoing optimization of our copyright cost structure and improved revenue-sharing strategy. To expand our content offering and ensure access to important copyrighted music, we continue to work with music labels that help us grow our music library. Following our licensing agreement for rights to digital music from B'in Music's rich library of C-Pop stars, we renewed our agreement with Rock Record, deepening our strategic partnership. We also broadened our music content with the addition of music licensing contract with CoMix Wave Films, an anime film studio known for its critically acclaimed Makoto Shinkai movies. Support for independent artists remains a top function of our Cloud Music platform. By the end of March, NetEase Cloud Music was home to a cumulative 630,000 registered independent artists. And we continue to foster new talent with an environment founded upon creativity and an increasing suite of supportive tools. We have recently launched several support programs, such as a new voice power project and project Cloud Ladder 2023 with the aim of discovering and nurturing music talent. We offer a range of valuable resources to independent artists, including professional training, traffic referrals and enhanced incentives and assistance for promoting independent artists' music. With these offerings, we are seeing more independent artists joining our Cloud Music platform, leveraging our services and realizing their commercial value. Going forward, we will continue to foster our music-centric ecosystem, further grow our community and drive healthy long-term monetization for NetEase Cloud Music. Now on to NetEase Yanxuan, our private-label consumer brand. On April 11th, Yanxuan celebrated its seventh anniversary. Committed to delivering quality products to our users, Yanxuan has further deepened supply chain model, particularly in top categories such as pet food and supplies and home cleaning. Furthermore, we have taken a comprehensive approach to ensure the best possible user experience. For instance, we had established independent production line to help maintain consistent product quality and we have partnered with suppliers and vendors to enhance our innovative capabilities through joint laboratories. In the first quarter, Yanxuan realized significant year-over-year sales growth from categories including pet supplies as well as home cleaning, home furnishing, bedding and mattresses. Top-selling products during the quarter also include cat food, bathroom fragrance, coffee cookies, suitcases and jelly blankets. It remains our mission to provide consumers with more high-quality original designed products that promote a relaxed and enjoyable lifestyle. Lastly, we would like to touch upon our ESG initiatives and achievements. We placed significant emphasis on the ongoing development of our ESG practices and the continued improvement of our ESG regulatory framework. Our asset has been widely recognized and we have been achieved leading scores in authoritative ESG evaluations, such as MSCI, DJSI, CSA and Sustainalytics with scores that consistently improved. In late April, we released our 2022 ESG Annual Report, which showcases our ESG accomplishment for the last year. In terms of corporate governance, we have optimized the composition of our Board of Directors to promote diversity with female representation comprising 40% of our Board right now, leading the average international level. We are also committed to reducing our carbon footprint and implementing energy-saving and emission reduction measures. In 2022, we decreased our greenhouse gas emissions per unit of net revenue by 5%. We have also started our own IDC construction and incorporated low-carbon concept into our design. Furthermore, talent development is critical for our success and we are proud to have been recognized by Forbes as one of the World's Best Employers for the fifth consecutive year. We actively promote diversity, equity and inclusion, and are also proud to have a high percentage of female employees, again leading the industry average. We also placed great importance on career development, offering comprehensive employee development programs that provide a wide range of opportunities to support employee growth, training and maximizing our employees' potential. In summary, NetEase's next wave of growth will be driven content innovation across all of our business lines. This has always been a core value and driving force at NetEase. And we will continue to bring more diverse product experiences to our users in gaming, Youdao, Cloud Music and Yanxuan. Our goal is to delight and elevate our community, both domestically and abroad, while creating value for our company and stakeholders. This concludes William's comments. I will next provide a brief review of our 2023 first quarter financial results. Given the limited time on today's call, I will be presenting some abbreviated financial highlights. We encourage you to read through our press release issued earlier today for further details. Total net revenues for the first quarter were RMB25 billion or $3.6 billion, representing a 6% increase year-over-year. Total net revenues from our games and related value-added services were RMB20.1 billion, up 8% year-over-year. Growth was primarily due to increased revenue contribution from mobile games, including our strong legacy titles such as the Fantasy Westward Journey series and our newly-launched games, such as Eggy Party. Net revenues from our mobile games accounted for approximately 72% of our total net revenues from online games operation. Youdao's net revenues were RMB1.2 billion, a year-over-year decrease of 3%. The primary reason for the decrease in net revenues was the challenging environment due to the pandemic in China, particularly in January. Net revenues from Cloud Music were RMB2 billion, which represented a 5% decline compared to the same period last year. In the first quarter, Cloud Music introduced a number of measures to its live-streaming services to enhance the listening experience of more dedicated music fans and reinforced risk controls by reducing the in-app exposure of certain live streaming function and lower revenue-sharing ratio to broadcasters and agencies. These measures led to a decrease in net revenues from Cloud Music's social entertainment services, but improvement in its margin profile. Net revenues for innovative businesses and others were RMB1.9 billion, up nearly 13% year-over-year mainly due to increased contribution from Yanxuan. Our total gross profit margin was 59.5% in the first quarter compared with 54.5% in the first quarter of last year. Looking at our first quarter margin in more details, gross profit margin was 66.7% for our games and related value-added services segment, compared with 62.2% in same period of last year. The growth was primarily driven by the termination of certain licensed games with comparatively lower gross margin as well as more revenue contribution from our organic channels. Our GP margin for Youdao was 51.7% compared with 53.1% in the same period of last year. The year-over-year decline mainly resulted from the reduction in net revenues. Gross profit margin for Cloud Music continued to improve in the first quarter, climbing to 22.4% versus 12.2% in the same period a year ago. Margin improvement mainly resulted from our optimized revenue-sharing strategy as well as continuous improvement in cost control measures. Our innovative businesses and others line GP margin was 25.4% compared with 21.7% last year. The increase was mainly due to the result of increased revenues from Yanxuan. Total operating expenses for the first quarter were RMB7.7 billion or 31% of our total net revenues. Taking a closer look at our expense composition. Our selling and marketing expenses as a percentage of total net revenues were 11.6% in the first quarter and remained relatively stable year-over-year. Our R&D expenses as a percentage of total net revenues also remained stable year-over-year at 15% in the first quarter. As an innovative content and technology-driven company, our commitment to investing in content creation and product development is ongoing. We are also seeing leverage in our R&D investments in the longer term. Other income was RMB1.1 billion for the first quarter, which is up quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year mainly due to the mark-to-market value appreciation of certain publicly-traded securities in our investment portfolio during the first quarter. As per applicable accounting standards, we are required to reflect these fair value changes in our P&L. The effective tax rate was 19.5% for the first quarter. As a reminder, the effective tax rate is presented on an accrual basis and the tax credit deferred from each of our entities at different time periods depending on applicable policies and our operational results. Our non-GAAP net income attributable to our shareholders for the first quarter totaled to RMB7.6 billion or $1.1 billion. Non-GAAP basic earnings per ADS for the quarter was $1.71 or $0.34 per share. Additionally, our cash position remains strong with net cash of approximately RMB95.1 billion as of March end 2023, which is approximately the same level as that at the end of last year. In accordance with our dividend policy, we are very pleased to report that our Board of Directors have approved a dividend of $0.093 per share or $0.465 per ADS. Lastly, under our current $5 billion share repurchase program starting in mid-January this year, approximately 3.1 million ADS has been repurchased as of the first quarter end for a total cost of approximately $267 million. Thank you for your attention. We would like now to open the call to your questions. Operator, let's go to the Q&A.
Operator
我们的第一个问题来自花旗集团的Alicia Yap。请提问。
Operator
Our first question will come from Alicia Yap of Citigroup. Please go ahead.
Alicia Yap
您好,谢谢。晚上好。感谢回答我的问题。管理层是否因宏观消费疲软而观察到网易计划中的任何疲弱迹象?您是否看到有玩家实际缩减了虚拟物品支出?您认为游戏行业整体是否已经或将会受到中国宏观疲软的影响?管理层对未来几个季度现有游戏的增长预期如何?谢谢。
Alicia Yap
Hi, thank you. Good evening. So, thanks for taking my questions. So have management experienced any of the weakness in the NetEase scheme because of the macro consumption weakness that you're seeing? And have you seen any gamers actually scaling back on their virtual item spending? And then do you think gaming in general has been or will be affected by the macro weakness in China? And then what is management's expectation for the gaming growth in the -- for the existing title in the next few quarters? Thank you.
William Ding
到目前为止,我们尚未在游戏业务中看到任何宏观疲软的影响。我们非常有信心能够为不仅是中国市场,也包括全球市场提供高质量的游戏。谢谢。
William Ding
So far, we've not seen any effect from the macro weakness not in game. We are very confident that we are going to be able to provide high-quality games, not just for the China market, but also for the global market. Thank you.
Margaret Shi
请下一个问题。
Margaret Shi
Next question, please.
Operator
下一个问题来自中金公司的张雪晴。请提问。
Operator
The next question comes from Xueqing Zhang of CICC. Please go ahead.
Xueqing Zhang
晚上好,管理层。感谢回答我的问题,并祝贺强劲的业绩。我的问题与《Justice》手游相关。管理层能否提供《Justice》手游的最新反馈?我们已在多个方面应用了AI技术,如创作、NPC对话和玩家外观。对于未来游戏中的AI创新,我们应该期待什么?谢谢。
Xueqing Zhang
Good evening, management. Thanks for taking my question and congratulations on the strong results. My question is related to Justice mobile. Can management provide an update on the recent feedback for Justice mobile? We have implemented AI technology in various aspects, such as the creation, NPC dialog and the player looks. What should we expect for future games coming out of AI innovations? Thank you.
William Ding
让我快速翻译一下。我们刚刚完成了两轮——最后一轮测试。我们提到我们扩大了测试用户基础,覆盖了不同的下载渠道。我们很高兴看到我们能够吸引不同游戏环境的用户,不仅是MMO,也包括其他游戏类型。即使在两周的测试期内,我们也收到了一些非常积极和良好的反馈。在接下来的一两个月里,我们将继续调整和优化游戏。希望在6月30日之前,我们的用户能够看到他们最终认可的游戏。谢谢。正如您所注意到的,我们一直在游戏中应用大量AI技术。我认为在测试期间,用户给予了我们非常积极的反馈。以前我们是在游戏中应用AI技术,现在我们将游戏应用于AI。从构建这款游戏的最初阶段开始,我们就一直在使用深度学习技术。我认为有很多令人兴奋的地方。用户将会看到许多令人兴奋的功能出现在游戏中。谢谢。
William Ding
Let me just do the quick translation. So we just finished two -- the last rounds of testing. And so, we mentioned we expanded our testing user base across different downloads. So we're pleased to see we were able to attract users for the different game environment, not just MMO, but other games along with as well. So even with two weeks of testing period, we received some very positive and good feedbacks. And over the next month or two, we will continue adjusting and multiplying the game. So by June the 30th, and hopefully, our users should be able to see a game that they approved in the last. Thank you. So, as you've noticed that we have been applying a lots of AI technologies into the games. And I think during the testing period, users have given us very positive feedback. And previously, you were -- we were applying AI technology in games and now we are applying games onto AI. So, for the very beginning of constructing the game, we -- this game, we've been using deep learning and technology. So I think there is a lot of excitement. The users will be seeing a lot of exciting functions coming up to the game. Thank you.
Margaret Shi
请下一个问题。
Margaret Shi
Next question, please.
Operator
下一个问题来自瑞银的Felix Liu。请提问。
Operator
The next question comes from Felix Liu of UBS. Please go ahead.
Felix Liu
感谢管理层回答我的问题,并祝贺第一季度强劲的业绩表现。我的问题是关于《蛋仔派对》。管理层能否分享更多关于该游戏在第二季度至今的趋势信息?在第一季度表现出色后,管理层如何看待今年剩余时间的国内和用户趋势以及游戏的变现潜力?最后,能否提供更多关于该游戏海外战略的细节?谢谢。
Felix Liu
Thank you, management, for taking my question, and congratulations on the strong first quarter results. My question is on Eggy Party. Can management share more color on the game's trend so far in second quarter? After its strong performance in the first quarter, how does management see the domestic and user trend from rest of this year and the games monetization potential? And lastly, what is your -- more details on the overseas strategy for this game? Thank you.
William Ding
是的。关于《蛋仔派对》,自该游戏推出以来,我们已经看到了非常强劲的表现。我们相信在未来两到三年内,我们将能够在《蛋仔派对》的基础上,通过持续的游戏创新,打造一个可持续的家庭派对游戏。今年夏季,你们——我们也看到网易游戏产品线中还有其他一些令人兴奋的游戏即将推出。显然,我们也有《蛋仔派对》的海外计划。总的来说,我们非常有信心网易将继续为用户提供有趣、高质量的游戏。谢谢。
William Ding
Yes. So, Eggy Party, we've seen very strong results since the launch of this game. And we are confident over the next two to three years, we are going to be able to build a sustainable family party game on top of Eggy Party with the continued innovation within the game. During this summer you -- also we're seeing a number of other exciting games coming out of NetEase game pipeline. And obviously, we also have overseas plans for Eggy Party. So overall, we have very strong conviction that NetEase will continue to deliver fun, high-quality game for our users. Thank you.
Margaret Shi
请下一个问题。
Margaret Shi
Next question, please.
Operator
下一个问题来自瑞士信贷的Kenneth Fong。请提问。
Operator
The next question comes from Kenneth Fong of Credit Suisse. Please go ahead.
Kenneth Fong
感谢管理层回答我的问题。能否提供关于海外游戏工作室投资计划的最新情况,包括研发投资和发展阶段?谢谢。
Kenneth Fong
Thank you, management, for taking my questions. Can you provide an update on the overseas game studio investment plan, including like R&D investment and development stage? Thank you.
William Ding
是的。目前我们在海外市场已经有大约10多家——接近——工作室。我们很高兴能够引进来自世界各地不同市场的游戏行业资深人才。希望从明年或后年开始,市场将看到这些工作室推出一些重磅——热门游戏。我们认为与这些有才华的个人、有才华的制作人合作对网易来说是双赢的局面。我们——我们将非常乐意与这些制作人分享网易二十年的运营——我们的运营经验。谢谢。
William Ding
Yes. So we have about 10-plus - closer to already now in the -- in overseas markets. We will be pleased to bringing all those great talents of gaming veterans from different markets around the world. And hopefully beginning from next year or the year after, the market will see some of those block -- hit titles be produced from those studios. And we think that collaborating with those talented individuals, talented producers will be a win-win situation for NetEase. We are -- we will be very happy to be showing the two decades of operational -- our operational know-how within NetEase with those producers. Thank you.
Margaret Shi
请下一个问题。
Margaret Shi
Next question, please.
Operator
下一个问题来自美国银行证券的Lei Zhang。请提问。
Operator
The next question comes from Lei Zhang of Bank of America Securities. Please go ahead.
Lei Zhang
感谢管理层回答我的问题,并祝贺强劲的业绩表现。管理层能否详细阐述AI beta战略及其对我们游戏设备和投资的影响,以及相关的成本节约?谢谢。
Lei Zhang
Thanks management for taking my question and congrats on the strong set of results. Can management elaborate more on AI beta strategy and its impact to our game device and investments as well as related cost savings? Thank you.
William Ding
在过去两年中,我们看到基础模型下有各种不同的应用被使用。对我们来说,最重要的是为不同产品选择适合的应用场景来应用这些基础模型。我们认为未来研发成本将变得更加高效。我们将找到节约成本的方法。所以——但我认为基础模型将大致相似。对我们来说最重要的是为我们的产品选择合适的基础模型。谢谢。
William Ding
So what we have seen in the past two years is we've seen various different applications being used under the foundation model. So for us, the most important thing is choosing -- for different products, choosing the right scenarios for the application of those foundation models. We think that going forward, the R&D cost will be coming more efficient. We'll find ways to save cost. And so -- but I think that the foundation models will be pretty much similar. But the most important thing for us is choosing the right one for our products. Thank you.
Margaret Shi
请提下一个问题。
Margaret Shi
Next question, please.
Operator
下一个问题来自高盛的林肯·孔。请提问。
Operator
The next question comes from Lincoln Kong of Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Lincoln Kong
我的问题是关于新游戏竞争。今年审批流程会开始正常化吗?市场上已经有很多新游戏发布。管理层能否评论一下中国新游戏市场的竞争格局?我们看到旗舰游戏有任何趋势变化吗?能否谈谈如何加强像《蛋仔派对》这类游戏长期前景的能力?谢谢。
Lincoln Kong
So my question is about the new game competition. Will be this year approval process start to normalize? There has been a lot of new games released into the market. So, can management comment around the competition landscape of the new game market in China? Do we see sort of any of the changes in the trend for the flagship titles? And can we have some sort of thoughts around how to strengthen the ability of long-term prospects of the games such as Eggy Party or ? Thank you.
William Ding
是的,您说得对。过去四到五年,我们看到市场上出现了更多新游戏。但归根结底,消费者只会选择质量最高的游戏。因此网易将继续通过创新引领市场。无论是通过游戏玩法创新还是全新技术的应用,我们完全有信心保持在这个行业的竞争优势。例如,MMO游戏是我们历史上最强的领域之一。我们看到在这个类型中实际上很少有能与网易竞争的对手。比如,我们的MMORPG手游《逆水寒》将于6月30日上线。开发团队拥有超过十年的研发经验。因此,我对这款游戏的成功非常有信心。同样,在6月,您还将看到其他类型的游戏上市。所以,我们相信市场将看到网易推出各种不同的产品,这些产品将像《蛋仔派对》或《FWJ》一样强大。谢谢。
William Ding
So, yes, you're right. Over the last four to five years, we've seen a lot more new games in the market. But at the end of day, consumers only choose the one of the highest quality. So NetEase will continue to lead the market through innovation. Whether it's through gameplay innovation or application of brand-new technology, we have full confidence that we have -- we'll maintain our competitive edge in this industry. For example, MMO games, that's one of our historically strongest suites. We've seen there is actually very little competition in this upper -- in this genre against NetEase. So for example, our MMORPG mobile game, Justice mobile, will be launched on June 30th. The development team has over decades -- one decade of R&D experience. And so, I'm pretty confident in the success of that game. Similarly, in June, you will also see games with other genres being launched to the market. So, we are confident that the market will see a variety of different products coming up on NetEase that's just strong as games like Eggy Party or FWJ. Thank you.
Charles Yang
林肯,再补充一点。除了我们持续创新和成功推出新游戏外,网易在长期运营老游戏方面的优势也应在此强调。例如,《梦幻西游》手游是我们最早的手游之一,在第一季度创下了历史最高增长。《第五人格》在其第五年,同样在第一季度创下历史最高增长。这些老游戏的可持续性确实令人印象深刻,它们作为现金牛为我们的创新投资和致力于打造更好、更伟大的新游戏提供了支撑。
Charles Yang
And Lincoln, just to add one more point. In addition to our continuous innovation and launching of successful new games, the NetEase strengths in the long-term operating of our legacy titles should also be emphasized here. For example, Fantasy Westward Journey mobile, one of our earliest mobile games, has a record-high growth in the first quarter. Identify V in its fifth year, again, record-high growth in the first quarter. The sustainability of these legacy titles are truly impressive, which add -- which serves as sort of the backbone cash cow to further stimulate our investment and dedication into innovation into making even better and greater new games.
Lincoln Kong
很好。谢谢。谢谢。
Lincoln Kong
Great. Thank you. Thank you.
Margaret Shi
谢谢。
Margaret Shi
Thank you.
Operator
下一个问题来自摩根士丹利的Alex Poon。请提问。
Operator
The next question next comes from Alex Poon of Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Alex Poon
谢谢管理层回答我的问题。我的第一个问题与我们的游戏毛利率有关,达到了七年来的高点,接近67%。管理层能否分享这一高利润率背后的原因?我的第二个问题与我们的股息支付率有关。今年或明年是否有提高的可能性?非常感谢。
Alex Poon
Thanks, management, for taking my question. My first question is related to our games gross margin, which is a seven-year high, close to 67%. Can management share the reason behind this very high margin? And my second question is related to our dividend payout ratio. Is there any possibility of increasing it this year or next year? Thank you very much.
Charles Yang
好的。Alex,为了节省时间,让我直接用英语回答你的问题。首先,关于我游戏业务的毛利率,我认为一个主要驱动因素是我们规模的持续增长,随之而来的是运营杠杆效应。我们一直在推出新游戏,并实现了稳定增长,过去多年保持了一致的增长势头。其次,众所周知,我们从今年1月开始终止了某些授权游戏。这些游戏相对来说利润率要低得多,因此这种快速的业务组合转变有利于实现更高的利润率。第三,我们一直在有意识地持续优化渠道成本——平均渠道成本,努力在iOS、Android渠道以及我们的官方渠道之间寻求良好的平衡。因此,所有这些持续的努力以及一些一次性收入组合影响,共同促成了我们近年来创纪录的高毛利率。 现在第二个关于股息的问题。目前,我们维持30%的股息支付率,这使得网易实际上成为全球范围内极少数持续支付常规股息超过10年的科技公司之一,不仅在中国如此。我们将股息支付和股票回购作为工具——一套组合工具,来分享增长,分享我们持续的增长,并将价值回报给股东。我们致力于此。我们会不时重新审视——例如,我们将股票回购计划从最初的5亿美元扩展到10亿美元、20亿美元、30亿美元。目前,我们的董事会已批准了一项50亿美元回购的总体计划。股息支付率方面,我们几年前也从25%提高到了30%。展望未来,随着我们继续实现持续增长,我们会不时审查和重新评估,以确定回报股东价值、与长期股东分享持续增长和价值创造喜悦的最佳方式。
Charles Yang
Sure. Alex, in the interest of time, let me answer your question directly in English. Firstly, on the gross profit margins of my gaming segment, I think one big driver for that is our continued growth of my scale and comes with the scale is the operating leverage. We've been introducing new games and steady growth, consistent growth over the last many years. Secondly, as we all know, we have terminated certain licensed games starting January of this year. Those games comparatively speaking of much lower margins, so the rapid mix shift is favorable to a higher margin. And thirdly, we've been making conscious effort of continuously optimizing the channel cost -- average channel cost by trying to strive a fine balance between the iOS, Android channels as well in our official channels. So putting all these continuous effort and some of these one-off revenue mix implications, that's why we achieved a record-high gross profit margin in the recent many years. Now the second question on the dividend. Right now, we are paying 30% dividend payout ratio, making NetEase actually one of the very, very few tech companies, not only in China, but globally, that we've been paying a regular dividend for the last 10 years. We use dividend payment as well as share buyback as a tool -- a combination of tools to share the growth, to share our sustained growth and return value to our shareholders. And we are committed to be that. From time-to-time, we will revisit the -- for instance, we extend our share buyback program from our originally $500 million to $1 billion, $2 billion, $3 billion. And right now, our Board has approved a master plan of $5 billion buyback. Dividend payout ratio, we've also raised from 25% to 30% a few years back. Going forward, as we continue to achieve sustained growth, from time-to-time, we will review and revisit to see what is the optimal and best way to return value to our shareholders to share the joy of a sustained growth and value creation to our long-term shareholders.
Margaret Shi
好的。谢谢。接线员,我们时间只够再问一个问题——最后一个问题,请。
Margaret Shi
Okay. Thank you. Operator, we have time for just one more -- one last question, please.
Operator
下一个问题来自海通国际的Natalie Wu。请提问。
Operator
The next question comes from Natalie Wu of Haitong International. Please go ahead.
Natalie Wu
谢谢回答我的问题。我的问题与网易云音乐相关。我想知道网易云音乐直播功能分成比例降低背后的考虑是什么?另外您提到减少了某些直播功能在应用内的曝光度,请问这是由于某些监管要求还是其他原因?此外,排除这一影响,我们应该看到什么样的同比增长?在当前条件下,您预计网易云音乐收入何时能恢复正增长?谢谢。
Natalie Wu
Thanks for taking my question. My question is related with the Cloud Music. Just wondering what's the consideration behind a lower shared ratio for live streaming function on Cloud Music. And also you mentioned that you reduced the in-app exposure for certain live streaming function, just wondering is it due to certain regulators' requirements or what? And also excluding this impact, what kind of the year-on-year growth should we be seeing? And when do you expect revenue of Cloud Music to return positive growth on the current condition? Thank you.
Charles Yang
为了节省时间,让我直接用英语回答这个问题。云音乐的收入构成主要来自两个方面。一是在线音乐服务,在付费用户持续扩张的支撑下,保持了逐年稳步增长的趋势。社交娱乐服务板块则出现了同比下降。正如我们在电话会议中提到的,我们更加注重业务增长的健康和可持续盈利能力,而不仅仅是关注收入增长。因此,我们有意识地调整资源分配,将更多资源投入到我们认为更专注于音乐爱好者、更具可持续性的直播服务,而不是那些要求极高收入分成比例的机构。因此,您可能看到我们的收入同比下降,但与此同时,我们的毛利率状况已显著改善,从一年前的12%提升至本季度的22.4%。我们认为我们正走在实现更可持续、更健康利润率状况的正确道路上,只要我们坚持并自律地执行这一路线图,这将带领我们在未来实现现金流盈亏平衡,并最终实现损益平衡。
Charles Yang
In the interest of time, let me answer this question directly in English. The revenue composition of Cloud Music mainly comes twofold. One is the online music services, which continued its steady growth trajectory year-over-year underpinned by the continuous expansion of the paying users. The social entertainment services sector has experienced year-over-year decline. And as we previously mentioned in the call, we've been turning more conscious to focus on the healthy and sustainable profitability of the business growth rather than just looking at the top-line growth. As a result of that, we've been making some conscious effort of diverting resources to what we think are broadcasting services that's more dedicated to the music fans to -- in a sustainable manner rather than some of the agencies which commands a much, much higher revenue-sharing asks. So as a result of that, you are seeing possibly decline in our revenue year-over-year, but at the same time, our gross profit margin profile has significantly improved from 12% one year ago to right now 22.4% in this quarter. We think we are on the right way to achieve a more sustainable and healthy margin profile, which as long as we are committed and disciplined in doing so, this roadmap should bring us to a cash flow breakeven and ultimately an P&L breakeven in the coming future.
Natalie Wu
谢谢。
Natalie Wu
Thank you.
Margaret Shi
接线员?
Margaret Shi
Operator?
Operator
问答环节到此结束。现在请玛格丽特·史女士做最后的总结发言。
Operator
That does conclude the question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Margaret Shi for any additional closing remarks.
Margaret Shi
再次感谢大家今天的参与。如果您有任何进一步的问题,请随时直接联系我们或Piacente Financial Communications。祝您有美好的一天。谢谢。
Margaret Shi
Thank you once again for joining us today. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us directly or Piacente Financial Communications. Have a great day. Thank you.
Charles Yang
谢谢。
Charles Yang
Thank you.
Operator
电话会议现已结束。感谢您参加今天的演示,您现在可以断开连接了。
Operator
The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation and you may now disconnect.