HK Stock Market Move | MEITU (01357) opens more than 12% lower, major shareholder Cai Wensheng reduces holdings by 128 million shares, company founder says will increase holdings at the right time.

MEITU (01357) opened more than 12% lower, as of the time of writing, it has fallen by 12.12%, trading at 5.44 Hong Kong dollars, with a turnover of 27.4557 million Hong Kong dollars. On the news front, MEITU announced that a major shareholder, Cai Wensheng, sold 128 million shares of the company, accounting for approximately 2.81% of the company's total issued shares, from February 17 to February 21, 2025. The board of directors was informed by the company's founder, chairman, and CEO, Wu Zeyuan, that he is confident in the company's future business prospects and intends to further increase his holdings of the company's shares at an appropriate time after the release of the company's annual performance announcement and the end of the lock-up period (after March 18, 2025). Previously, MEITU announced a profit increase, expecting a year-on-year adjusted net profit growth of about 52% to 60% for the year 2024. This growth is mainly attributed to the rapid growth of revenue from the core business of image and design products driven by AI technology, which has a high gross profit margin and continues to increase its share in overall revenue, driving both the overall gross profit and gross profit margin to increase year-on-year. Additionally, despite significant increases in R&D expenses related to AI technology and products, the company's comprehensive operating expenses increased at a lower rate than gross profit, further enhancing its profitability.