(Yicai Global) April 22 -- Shares of Yuanlong Yato Cultural Dissemination rose after the Chinese marketing services provider, which counts tech giants Alibaba and Tencent among its clients, said first-quarter profit is expected to have jumped between 218 percent and 253 percent from a year earlier.

After surging by as much as 8.1 percent earlier today, Yuanlong’s stock price [SHE: 002878] ended 1.2 percent higher at CNY17.79 (USD2.74). The Shenzhen market came off 0.3 percent.

Net profit was likely between CNY90 million and CNY100 million (USD14 million and USD16 million) in the three months ended March 31, according to unaudited data the Beijing-based company released late yesterday.

Yuanlong Yato mainly attributed the performance to sales of official merchandise for the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, which were very popular during the events that were held in Beijing between Feb. 4 and Feb. 20 and between March 4 and March 13, respectively. It designed and produced more than 600 official products for the games, among which the most popular were the mascots.

Revenue from the licensed souvenirs soared 249 percent to CNY207 million in the year, Yuanlong added, noting that although the events are over, customers are still placing orders for the goods.

The firm’s clients also include ByteDance, Huawei Technologies, Xiaomi, Nestlé, Wyeth, and L'Oréal. According to its website, Yuanlong is also the official licensee for the US National Basketball Association and China Open tennis tournament.

Editor: Futura Costaglione