(Yicai) Feb. 29 -- IQiyi, a leading Chinese video streaming site operator, said profit soared 121 percent last year thanks to blockbuster dramas and cost-cutting.

Based on non-generally accepted accounting principles, iQiyi had a net profit of CNY2.8 billion (USD390 million) in the 12 months ended Dec. 31, the Beijing-based firm's earnings report showed yesterday. Revenue jumped 10 percent to CNY31.9 billion (USD4.4 million).

Operating revenue from membership services rose 15 percent to CNY20.3 billion and exceeded that from advertising to become iQiyi's most important source of income, the firm noted. Ad income jumped 17 percent to CNY6.2 billion.

Blockbuster drama series were a key driver of membership revenue. Last year's The Knockout was the site's top-grossing and most influential television show since the company was set up more than 13 years ago. 

After The Knockout aired, iQiyi membership reached 129 million in the first quarter of last year, bringing in revenue of CNY5.6 billion. The company logged its best financial performance in the January to March of 2023. The site had 101.1 million members as of the end of last year.

IQiyi's goal this year is still to grow earnings, founder and Chief Executive Gong Yu said on an earnings conference call yesterday, adding that profit will likely rise faster than operating revenue.

The streaming site is focusing on new businesses and trying its best to cultivate a second growth curve in overseas business, intellectual property value, and technology innovation from artificial intelligence-generated content, Gong noted. AIGC will cause big changes in video-making, costs, and personnel structure due to AIGC in the next three to five years, he added.

IQiyi brought in AIGC-assisted screenplay evaluation and used AI in content pitches, creative design, and publicity last year, according to a senior executive. The click rate and play time of posts created by AI are better than man-made ones, the person noted, adding that AI can extract detailed plot intros from videos, which has been used in more than 3,000 drama series.

Shares of iQiyi [NASDAQ: IQ] ended unchanged at USD3.67 apiece yesterday, after earlier surging by as much as 7.1 percent.

Editor: Martin Kadiev