(Yicai) March 19 -- Meitu, a Chinese photo editor application, saw a resurgence, improving its profitability for the sixth straight year last year due to added smart features, according to the founder and chairman.

Net profit more than doubled to CNY806 million (USD111.5 million) last year from 2023 and revenue rose 24 percent to CNY3.3 billion (USD456.6 million), according to the Xiamen-based firm's annual report released yesterday. Excluding one-off gains, the adjusted net profit was CNY586 million, up 59 percent.

After a net loss of CNY190 million in 2019, Meitu has improved its profitability for six consecutive years, becoming profitable for the first time in 2020.

"Speaking of these six years, we have a sense of 'rebirth.' Meitu faced significant challenges in 2018 and 2019, when the stock price plummeted and the morale within the company was low," said Chairman Wu Xinhong.

Wu added that the speed of product innovation brought about by AI has exceeded expectations. Looking ahead, Meitu will adopt a startup mentality to actively meet challenges and seize development opportunities.

AI is still in its early stages, driving increasingly intense competition in the future, Wu said. Chinese AI startup DeepSeek's open-source model DeepSeek R1 is boosting the AI application ecosystem, and Chinese AI products hold great potential in the global scene, he added.

The key driver of profit growth last year was Meitu's core business of imaging and design products. The segment earned Meitu almost CNY2.1 billion, accounting for over 62 percent of the total, with a gross profit margin of 68.7 percent. For example, Meitu's Canva-like AI design product DesignKit, launched in 2022, brought in CNY200 million, doubled from 2023.

Meitu's success partly relies on overseas markets. Chief Financial Officer Yan Jinliang said that the platform saw rapid growth in revenue from international markets, even surpassing the mainland's growth rate. By last December, Meitu had 266 million monthly active users, and overseas users made up almost 36 percent of the total.

Meitu's stock price [HKG: 1357] fell 0.5 percent to close at HKD6.24 (US 80 cents) in Hong Kong today.

Editor: Emmi Laine