HANGZHOU, China, Aug. 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- NetEase Cloud Music Inc. (HKEX: 9899 or the "Company"), a leading interactive music streaming service provider in China, today announced its financial results for the first half of 2025 ended June 30, 2025.

Summary of Key Financial Metrics

(RMB in thousands, unless otherwise stated)

 
 
 
                              Six months ended 30 June 
                                 2025          2024 
                             ------------  ------------ 
                             (Unaudited)   (Unaudited) 
Revenue                         3,827,117     4,070,493 
Gross profit                    1,392,485     1,425,731 
Operating profit                  844,506       599,933 
Profit before income tax        1,068,060       813,578 
Profit for the period (1)       1,882,142       809,949 
Non-IFRS Measure(2() : 
Adjusted operating profit         905,360       670,850 
Adjusted net profit             1,946,353       880,749 
 
 

Note:

(1) During the period ended 30 June 2025, the Group recognised a deferred income tax credit of RMB849.4 million which primarily arose from the recognition of deferred tax assets in respect of cumulative tax losses incurred by a wholly-owned subsidiary. These tax losses are available to be carried forward against future taxable income. Deferred tax assets relating to tax losses and temporary differences are recognised to the extent that it is probable that future taxable profit will be available against which the temporary differences or tax losses can be utilised.

(2) Adjusted operating profit and adjusted net profit are defined as operating profit and profit for the period attributable to the equity holders of the Company adjusted by adding back equity-settled share-based payments as appropriate. For details of the reconciliation of the operating profit and the profit for the period attributable to the equity holders of the Company to the adjusted operating profit and the adjusted net profit of our Group, see the section headed "Financial Review" below.

First Half 2025 Key Financial Highlights

   -- Revenue was RMB3.8 billion, a decrease of 6.0% compared with 
      RMB4.1 billion for the same period of 2024. 
 
          -- Online music services:-Revenue from online music services was 
             RMB3.0 billion, an increase of 15.9% compared with RMB2.6 billion 
             for the same period of 2024.-Revenue from sales of membership 
             subscriptions increased to RMB2.5 billion from RMB2.1 billion for 
             the same period of 2024. 
 
          -- Social entertainment services and others:-Revenue from social 
             entertainment services and others was RMB859.8 million, compared 
             with RMB1,510.8 million for the same period of 2024. The decrease 
             was mainly due to a more prudent operational approach for social 
             entertainment services, along with a focused emphasis on core 
             music business. 
 
   -- Gross profit was RMB1,392.5 million, a slightly decrease of 2.3% compared 
      with RMB1,425.7 million for the same period of 2024. 
 
   -- Gross margin improved to 36.4% from 35.0% for the same period of 2024. 
 
   -- Operating profit was RMB844.5 million, an increase of 40.8% compared with 
      RMB599.9 million for the same period of 2024. 
 
   -- Adjusted operating profit was RMB905.4 million, an increase of 35.0% 
      compared with RMB670.9 million for the same period of 2024. 
 
   -- Net profit reached RMB1,882.1 million, compared with net profit of 
      RMB809.9 million for the same period of 2024. 
 
   -- Adjusted net profit reached RMB1,946.4 million, compared with adjusted 
      net profit of RMB880.7 million for the same period of 2024. 

Business Overview

We entered 2025 with an unwavering commitment to driving quality development across our core music ecosystem. Throughout the period, we provided our community with an unparalleled music experience, successfully engaging more music lovers while enriching our unique content ecosystem and advancing the growth of original music. Our enhancements focused on premium offerings, including enhanced content, improved personalised distribution, more innovative features and reinforced community attributes, all of which boosted our appeal to users and deepened their engagement. Paired with advanced membership privileges, these initiatives also spurred growth in our subscription-based membership, improving our profitability.

We continued to engage users across our growing music-inspired community. Our total monthly active users (MAUs) maintained steady growth momentum in the first half of 2025, fuelled by an enhanced user experience and stronger brand influence. Meanwhile, our DAU/MAU ratio (daily active user/monthly active user ratio) grew steadily, consistently exceeding 30%. Users also spent more time listening to music on our mobile app, reflecting higher engagement. Our diverse initiatives focusing on premium content and user experiences, continue to attract music enthusiasts and convert them into loyal platform fans.

In the first half of 2025, we consistently enriched our unique content offerings by curating a diverse range of music tailored to our audience, while actively promoting original Chinese music. We further expanded our copyrighted content library, incorporating popular Korean music labels such as RBW and StarShip Entertainment, as well as works from renowned Chinese artists. We maintain a robust roster of independent artists and remain committed to fostering in-house music. Recently, several in-house tracks gained traction both internally and externally, such as "Liang Nan" ( ).

In terms of product focus, we consistently enhance the premium music listening experience and refine personalised recommendations to meet the needs of our users. In the first half of 2025, we further upgraded our main product to make it more visually appealing, streamlined and user-friendly. We improved music discovery and consumption with advanced personalised distribution and innovative features, such as our "Magic Light Player" ( ), for an excellent audio-visual experience. Besides, we strengthened our music-centric community by expanding and enhancing interactive scenarios that boost user activity and engagement.

During the first half of 2025, we focused on enhancing our music-centric monetisation, sustaining healthy growth. Subscription-based membership revenue increased by 15.2% compared to the same period last year, primarily driven by an increase in our subscriber base, though slightly offset by a dilution in monthly ARPPU (average revenue per paying user) due to changing subscriber mix. We rolled out various premium offerings, including expanded content and innovative features, as well as broadened membership benefits such as functional tools, social features and dress-up privileges. Notably, our rapidly growing subscriber base showed stronger engagement with higher retention rate during the Reporting Period.

We further improved our profitability during the first half of 2025. Our gross margin reached 36.4% for the first half of 2025, a notable increase from the same period in 2024, owing to our increased business scale, strong monetisation of our core online music business and ongoing cost optimisation.

Going forward, our focus will remain on delivering an even richer music experience and deepening user engagement across our platform by expanding access to high-quality content, innovating products and features, and nurturing our community. Our strategic priorities include the following initiatives:

   -- Further diversifying and enhancing our differentiated content offerings 
      with greater efficiency. We plan to deepen our collaboration with 
      copyright holders and strengthen our capabilities in independent artist 
      incubation and in-house music production, focusing on our signature music 
      genres; 
 
   -- Meeting the needs of users by optimising the music listening experience 
      and recommendation features, to deliver the ultimate music experience; 
 
   -- Nurturing our music-oriented community ecosystem and exploring innovative 
      inter-person interaction via enhancements to our comprehensive product 
      offerings, including broadening communicative scenarios and ecology; 
 
   -- Cultivating our users' willingness to pay and subscribe to premium 
      offerings by improving user experience, deepening user engagement, 
      enhancing membership privileges and broadening consumption scenarios; and 
 
   -- Improving profitability through continued cost optimisation, operating 
      efficiency enhancement and disciplined cost control. 

Comprehensive and differentiated content ecosystem

We continually expand our unique content library, including both licensed tracks and original music. By supporting independent musicians and developing in-house music, we actively promote the growth of original Chinese music. We remain focused on promoting genres that resonate with our users, such as hip-hop.

Enhancing partnerships with copyright holders

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August 14, 2025 05:37 ET (09:37 GMT)