SHENZEN, China (Chinese music streaming giant Tencent Music Entertainment Group announced that the company’s co-president and director Guomin Xie has abruptly resigned due to personal reasons, with his resignation effective as of June 6th.
“On behalf of Tencent Music, I would like to thank Guomin for his contribution to our growth and development over the years. We wish him the best in his future endeavors,” stated Mr. Cussion Pang, CEO of the Company.
“Zhenyu’s extensive experience and expertise in technological innovation make him an ideal leader to spearhead our efforts in advancing technology to further improve our services. In regards to the new positions of Linlin and Lixue, we have complete confidence in their abilities to leverage their extensive management experiences accumulated through their prior roles. They are both well-suited to lead Kugou and Kuwo to the next level of growth,” Pang added.
Tencent did not disclose who would replace Guomin Xie but the news of his forthcoming departure echoes the recent exit of Vice President, Andy Ng, who in April, announced he was also leaving for personal reasons.
Other changes in the shakeup include the appointment of Zhenyu Xie, who is currently co-president and a board member, to the role of chief technology officer. Tencent Music has also appointed Ms. Linlin Chen, a group vice president, to oversee the Company’s Kugou streaming platform. Lixue Shi, a group vice president, to oversee the Company’s Kuwo business, which is also a streaming platform.
On Tuesday, Tencent also released their unaudited financial results for the first fiscal quarter of 2019, reporting revenue of RMB1.62 billion, or 39.4%, to RMB5.74 billion (US$855 million) from RMB4.12 billion in the same period of 2018.
According to Tencent’s filing, revenue from digital music increased by 28.0% to RMB1.61 billion (US$239 million) for the quarter, up from RMB1.25 billion in the same period of 2018. Tencent attributed the results to increased revenue from subscriptions, and from sublicensing music content to other companies, including third-party music platforms and Tencent Group, as well as sales from digital albums.
Breaking out subscription revenue, Tencent reported RMB710 million (US$106 million) for the first quarter of 2019, up from RMB565 million in the first quarter of 2018.
Net profit for the quarter RMB987 million (US$147 million), compared to RMB841 million in the same period of 2018.
Tencent also revealed some of their usage statistics, reporting that monthly actives increased 4.6% for the quarter from 625 million in Q1 2018 to 654 million in Q1 2019. Paid account monthly actives increased by an impressive 27.4%, with 28.4 million across their platforms in Q1 2019.
