36Kr - Q3 2023
December 7, 2023
Transcript
Operator (participant)
Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by for 36Kr Holdings, Inc.'s Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. After management's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. Today's conference call is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to your host, Jianan Ding, IR Manager of the company. Please go ahead, Jianan.
Jianan Ding (IR Manager)
Thank you very much. Hello, everyone, and welcome to 36Kr Holdings Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. The company's financial and operational results were released earlier today and have been made available online. You can also view the earnings press release by visiting the IR section of our website at ir.36kr.com. Participants on today's call will include our Co-chairman and CEO, Mr. Dagang Feng, and our Chief Financial Officer, Ms. Lin Wei. Mr. Feng will start the call by providing an overview of the company and performance highlights of the call in Chinese, followed by an English interpretation. Ms. Wei will then provide details on the company's financial results before opening the call for your questions. Before we continue, please note that today's discussion will contain forward-looking statements made under the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements involving health risks and uncertainties. As such, the company's results may be materially different from the views expressed today. Further information regarding this and other risks and uncertainties is included in the company's prospectus and other public filings as filed with the U.S. SEC. The company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required under applicable law. Please note that 36Kr's earnings press release and this conference call include discussions of unaudited GAAP financial measures as well as unaudited non-GAAP financial measures. 36Kr's earnings press release contains a reconciliation of the unaudited non-GAAP measures to the unaudited GAAP measures, and please note that this all amount numbers are in RMB. I will now turn the call over to our Co-chairman and CEO, Mr. Dagang Feng. Da, please go ahead.
Dagang Feng (Co-Chairman and CEO)
谢谢，大家好！感谢大家参加我们2023年第三季度的业绩电话会议。
Jianan Ding (IR Manager)
Thank you. Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining our Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call.
Dagang Feng (Co-Chairman and CEO)
本季度，公司各种业务实现稳健发展，总收入同比增长2.5%。我们持续丰富，持续丰富内容生态，不断寻求产品及服务的多元化扩展，并在生成式AI和大语言模型等前沿技术的发展迭代下，深化AI技术与业务的融合应用，赋能我们的商业化发展，进一步提高运营效率，在整个公司层面实现了正向功效。
Jianan Ding (IR Manager)
During the third quarter of 2023, we achieved solid progress across all of our business segments, propelling a year-over-year increase of 2.5% in total revenue as we consistently enrich our content ecosystem and so to diversify and expand our product and service offerings. We also depend on the integration of AI applications across our business in the evolution of generative AI and large language models. These synchronized endeavors have empowered great strides in our commercialization and further elevate our operating efficacy, effectively reducing overall costs and improving efficiency company-wide. I'd like to begin with a discussion of the quarter's content initiatives and advancements, followed by a more detailed look at our commercialization progress across each of our business segments.
Dagang Feng (Co-Chairman and CEO)
优质的原创内容是公司的核心竞争力。多年来,我们持续打造并积累了众多的优质垂直领域媒体,构建了覆盖多个垂直赛道和用户千层的内容栏目,助力新经济参与者洞察行业动向和市场趋势。本季度,我们持续保持高质量输出,爆款文章层出不穷,阅读量10万以上的文章达到110多篇。与此同时,我们继续布局全网渠道,构建多平台跨媒体的传播矩阵。截至本季度末,公司全网粉丝数突破3200万,同比增长20%,充分体现了36Kr品牌的影响力,进而带动业务进一步增长。
Jianan Ding (IR Manager)
36Kr's core competitive edge lies in our exceptional content creation prowess. Through years of dedicated effort, we have cultivated an extensive portfolio of premier subvertical media. Our multidimensional content matrix covers a broad array of trending topics and fields to connect with diverse user demographics, offering deep insights into industry trends and market dynamics for new economy participants. During the third quarter, we maintained a continuous flow of high quality content, with blockbuster articles emerging back to back. More than 110 articles achieved over 100,000 page views. We also continue to expand our footprint across various channels, crafting a multi-platform across media circulation matrix. As of the end of the third quarter, the number of our followers surpasses 32 million, rising 20% year-over-year. This achievement reflects 36Kr's substantial market influence and sets the stage for greater business development.
Dagang Feng (Co-Chairman and CEO)
除了图文内容在本季度持续取得亮眼表现以外，我们在短视频、长视频等内容形式上的发展也迎来了新的突破。短视频方面，我们不断提升平台价值，为行业发展创作出更具标杆性和引领性的优质内容。本季度，我们成功推出全新栏目《头号玩家》，首批内容讲述了乐高这家近百年巨头公司的兴衰和重振，收获了极多......
众多用户的转发和点赞。... 此外，我们的垂直子媒体36Kr汽车持续发力，内容量和内容获赞数均呈现增长趋势，粉丝数也持续走高。短视频是我们开拓客户群体和加深用户粘性的重要手段。截至本季度末，短视频全网粉丝数已突破850万，其中B站粉丝数突破215万。
Jianan Ding (IR Manager)
In addition to the solid performance of our text and image-based content portfolio, we also achieved new breakthroughs in content variety during the third quarter, spanning short videos, long videos, and podcasts. Let me start with short videos. We have consistently enhanced the value of our short video lineup, creating trend-setting and pioneering content that drives development industry-wide. This quarter, we launched an all-new short video series, The Pioneers. The debut episode, which recounts the rise, fall, and potent comeback of the almost 20-year-old car industry giant, Volkswagen, garnered numerous shares and likes by users. Our sub-vertical medium, 36Kr Auto, also continued to thrive, gaining momentum in content quality and engagement, with growth in the number of both likes and followers. Overall, short video is pivotal for broadening our customer reach and enhancing user engagement and stickiness.
As of the end of the third quarter, we had over 8.5 million short video followers, among which more than 2.50 million were daily video users.
Dagang Feng (Co-Chairman and CEO)
在长视频方面，我们的首档访谈节目，看见2033，迎来了第二季的开播。在本季中，我们将内容呈现更加具体化，设置了人物速写、时代迷思、十年漫谈、路径论述和快问快答等五大板块，并将播出时长由原来的30分钟延长到了40分钟。在嘉宾方面，我们不仅邀请到，前港交所CEO和Micro Connect创始人李小加、蔚来汽车创始人李斌、携程集团创始人梁建章、京东方集团董事长陈延顺等进行面对面的交流，还成功邀请了Wired杂志创始主编Kevin Kelly进行深度对谈。同时，该节目在微信视频号、优酷和北京广播电视台等多平台播出，这不仅巩固了我们在长视频创作领域的领先地位，也进一步体现了36Kr在业界强大的品牌影响力。
Jianan Ding (IR Manager)
Moving on to long videos. Our first long video show, Seeing 2033, returned for its second season. This season, we extended each episode from 30 to 40 minutes and elevated the narrative with greater detail across 5 segments, including a deep dive into the guest's profile, a review of the historical backdrop, a thought-provoking analysis of the era shaping their business success, key takeaways and insights, and an engaging Q&A session. We hosted stimulating conversations with Charles Li Xiaojia, the former Chief Executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and founder of Micro Connect, William Li Bin, founder of NIO, James Liang, founder of Trip.com Group, and Chen Yanshun, Chairman of BOE. We also had the privilege of sitting down with Kevin Kelly, the founding executive editor of Wired Magazine, who is widely recognized as the father of the Silicon Valley spirit, for an inspiring session.
This flagship initiative was live streamed across various platforms, including WeChat Channels, YouTube, and the Beijing Radio and Television Station. It not only cements our standing as an innovator in long video production, but also showcases 36Kr's robust brand influence across the industry.
Dagang Feng (Co-Chairman and CEO)
此外，公司持续探索音频内容的创新。我们首档直播播客节目收工大吉，依托三十六氪优质的内容储备，为听众带来更加多样化、个性化的音频体验。同时，我们的多档音频内容栏目，如快讯播联播、商业情报局、科创大师殿等，也在喜马拉雅科技频道同步播出，以丰富的内容体验驱动用户量增长，进一步打造完整的内容生态闭环。
Jianan Ding (IR Manager)
In addition, we continue to broaden the horizons of our innovative audio content lineup. Our first live podcast, Get Off Work, Have Fun, fully leveraged our high quality content assets and delighted our listeners with a more diverse and personalized audio experience. Additionally, several of our audio content programs were featured on Himalaya's Tech Channel, including News Flash Briefing, Business Intelligence Hub, and the 36Kr Breaking News. By driving user growth through an enriched content experience, we made solid progress in crafting our comprehensive closed-loop content ecosystem.
Dagang Feng (Co-Chairman and CEO)
AI技术的蓬勃发展，为我们的业务带来了历史性的发展机遇。公司积极把AIGC技术与内容生态相融合，应用在图片生成、视频生成、脚本编辑和资讯整理等方面，进一步提升公司在内容生产方面的运营效率。此外，我们在硅谷建立了首家无人媒体实验室，持续探索财经行业大语言模型的应用创新和发展。
Jianan Ding (IR Manager)
The vibrant innovation in AI technology is creating intriguing growth opportunities for 36Kr. As we diligently integrate AIGC technologies throughout our ecosystem, we further enhanced our content production efficiency through AI applications of image generation, video creation, script editing, and data collection. Additionally, we launched the 36Kr Media Lab in Silicon Valley, our first unmanned initiative to further explore the innovative application and development of large language models in the financial industry.
Dagang Feng (Co-Chairman and CEO)
与此同时，我们也和百度、商汤、科大讯飞等领先的头部公司合作，探索AIGC的深入应用，例如AIAI财报解读和AI的一级市场报道等。通过AI的技术手段，为更广泛的企业提供更全面、更快捷、更优质、更具性价比的报道。...
类似地，我们也在整个公司层面进行全面的AI化改造，对众多的服务和产品进行AI化升级，如企服点评和创作平台等，进一步降低运营成本，提高效率。
Jianan Ding (IR Manager)
Furthermore, we joined hands with top-tier industry players, including Baidu, SenseTime, and iFlyTek, to deepen AIGC applications, including AI-powered deep dive into financial reports and the dynamic of the primary market. Harnessing AI-powered technical tools, we have delivered more comprehensive, more agile, higher-quality offerings to a broader spectrum of companies while optimizing our report value for money. Similarly, we also implemented a comprehensive AI-driven transformation company-wide, launching AI-driven upgrades for a wide array of services and products such as the 36Kr enterprise solution platform and our venture capital platform, further reducing operating costs and elevating efficiency.
Dagang Feng (Co-Chairman and CEO)
另外值得一提的是，继上季度率先打造全网首家AI电商店铺后，我们再次深入探索AI功能，运用AI技术成功打造小红书亚运攻略博主，仅一个月便收获了海量的关注和点赞。以上种种举措，进一步印证了我们在AI创新和应用领域的领先地位。
Jianan Ding (IR Manager)
I'd also like to specifically highlight our foray into AI empowerment during the quarter. Following our pioneering AI-powered e-commerce store earlier this year. This quarter, we applied AI technology to create a virtual blogger for the Asian Games on Xiaohongshu, which garnered significant visibility and engagement in just one month. Initiatives like this stand as a resounding testament to our leadership and consistent excellence in AI innovation and application.
Dagang Feng (Co-Chairman and CEO)
在丰富的内容生态和AI技术的加持下，我们的内容和产品矩阵日益丰富，客户群体逐渐多元化。稳定优质的客户资源体现公司强大的市场影响力的同时，也为公司业绩的持续稳定奠定了良好基础。接下来，我将与大家分享一下各种业务的商业化进展，以及AI如何推动业务创新和场景应用。
Jianan Ding (IR Manager)
Thanks to our enriched content, ecosystem and AI empowerment, our content and product matrix remain robust with an ever broadening array of offerings. Furthermore, we continue to diversify our customer dynamics. Our stable, high quality customer base not only reflected the company's substantial market influence, but also laid the ground for consistent and steady growth in key performance metrics. Next, I'd like to share a more detailed business update on each of our segments, highlighting the role of AI application in driving business innovation across various scenarios.
Dagang Feng (Co-Chairman and CEO)
首先，广告收入同比增长11%，我们充分發揮了内容和渠道方面的优势，实现了较高的用户触达和营销转化率。在我们的持续的服务创新之下，本季度客单价同比增长20%。通过多年的发展，36Kr已经积累了包括TMT、消费、汽车、地产、先进制造以及新能源等多个行业丰富的广告服务经验，能够满足不同行业广告主差异化的营销需求。例如，我们为海尔全能Space发布会带来了全案整合营销方案，从前期的预热海报和IP视频，到现场发布会的定制直播，再到文案和话题的全渠道传播，全网曝光量突破794万。同时，我们还为百度智能云打造了多元化的现场内容，通过图文技术解读、企业采访、视频等形式，在新媒体矩阵进行全网传播，高效触达用户，获得客户，客户的广泛好评。内容优势、用户特征以及商业化内容的高转化率特性，将会持续吸引广告主进行内容投入。我们的广告业务将继续保持增长。
Jianan Ding (IR Manager)
First, let's look at advertising, where our revenue increased by 11% year-over-year, fully leveraging our strength in content and distribution channels, effectively engage target audiences and achieve the high marketing conversion rate. Furthermore, our continuous service innovation drove our ARPU up by 20% year-over-year during the quarter. Through years of development, 36Kr has accrued extensive advertising service experience spanning multiple industries including TMT, consumer goods, automotive, real estate, advanced manufacturing, and new energy. As such, we are well positioned to accommodate the distinct market preference of advertisers across a broad spectrum of industries. For example, we provided a full service integrated marketing campaign for the launch event of Haier's Wet Dry Space Smart Robot Vacuum Cleaner. From pre-event teaser posters and ID views to customized offerings and live broadcast during the event.
Our choreography of omni-channel content dissemination and created topics resulted in total online exposure of over 7.94 million views. We also crafted a variety of marketing materials of Baidu AI Cloud, utilizing infographics and videos of on-site tours to vividly present its capabilities. We broadcasted this content across our new media matrix to efficiently reach the target audience, receiving widespread acclaim. Given our premium content, profound insights into user trends and preferences, and the high conversion rate of commercialized content, we expected to attract an increasing number of advertisers for content promotion going forward, as well as achieve sustained revenue growth in advertising.
Dagang Feng (Co-Chairman and CEO)
在短视频方面，随着我们的内容在B站、小红书等平台不断破圈，我们吸引了更多不同品类的广告主，覆盖智能科技、消费生活、文化娱乐等众多领域。我们持续释放优质内容，协助阿里云打造小红书AI亚运会博主视频，凭借新颖的角度，在B站播放量达到162万，并登上微博热搜榜单前30名。...
正如刚才所述，我们在垂直自媒体三十六氪汽车品牌力持续爆发，与宝马、奔驰在内的众多知名车企达成全新合作。同时，我们前往慕尼黑、广州、成都等车展，以图文、短视频、直播等多元化的内容形态，为用户带来一手车展前沿信息，也为公司持续加大对汽车领域的拓展与合作。
Jianan Ding (IR Manager)
In terms of short video advertising, as our content continues to gain traction on platforms like Bilibili and Xiaohongshu, we have attracted a more diverse range of advertisers spanning intelligent technology, consumer lifestyle, culture and entertainment, and other sectors. This quarter, we build on our track record of producing premium content by crafting a compelling video in collaboration with Alibaba Cloud about our AI driving Asian Games blog on Xiaohongshu. Filled with unique perspective, the video garnered 1.62 million views on Bilibili and ranked 30th on Weibo's trending topics list. Also, as I mentioned previously, our sub-vertical medium, 36Kr Auto, continue to amplify brand influence, fostering new partnerships with renowned auto manufacturers, including BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
Dagang Feng (Co-Chairman and CEO)
同时 -
Jianan Ding (IR Manager)
We attended the 2023 IAA Mobility event in Munich, and also showed spending in major cities, including Guangzhou and Chengdu, delighting users with firsthand insights into the latest auto market dynamics through the wide variety of content displays formats, including images, texts, short videos, live streaming, and more, while further expanding our reach and partnerships in the auto market.
Dagang Feng (Co-Chairman and CEO)
同时，在 AI 技术的加持下，我们率先布局数字人营销领域，在淘宝店铺宣布启用数字人直播带货。这一创新也激发了很多客户的关注和合作意向。此外，我们正在推动 AI 技术的多元化场景应用，依托底层技术在视觉效果、图片创意等方面优势，为客户提供多元化的 AI 营销解决方案，驱动公司业绩高效发展。
Jianan Ding (IR Manager)
Meanwhile, empowered by AI technology, we set trends in digital human marketing by pioneering live streaming sales sessions featuring digital humans in our Taobao store, an innovative initiative that has attracted the interest of many clients in addition to cooperation. In addition, we continue to expand and deepen AI applications across diverse scenarios, capitalizing on our underlying technology's advantages in real-time interaction, visual effects, creative graphics, and other features to offer our users diversified AI marketing solutions, propelling the company's efficiency and sustainable growth.
Dagang Feng (Co-Chairman and CEO)
企业增值服务方面，本季度我们持续提供优质服务，与更多企业及政府客户达成合作。我们举行了向绿而升36碳可持续价值大会、维塔百业万企数字创新行等深入垂直行业的峰会活动。其中，向绿而升36碳可持续价值大会，邀请了国内外专业机构、专家学者、投顾平台以及各大消费头部企业到场，共同探讨低碳消费发展新趋势、政策新动向以及前沿新实践，全网总曝光达8000万，充分体现了三十六氪作为新经济服务平台连接各方的属性和价值。上周，我们的年度旗舰大会WISE大会在北京圆满落幕。此次大会主题紧扣商业化和AI前沿技术，邀请到李开复、张亚勤、孔庆友等来自商业和经济领域的300多位知名专家、学者、企业家、投资人参加大会并发表演讲。并且我们还将大会名称重磅升级为商业之王，将会议涉及赛道覆盖到全商业领域，吸引了很多大型的传统企业到场，如西贝、九牧王、圣迪乐等。他们的参与不仅丰富了大会的多样性，也为我们提供了更加广泛的商业视角。本次大会总曝光量超过13.3亿，进一步彰显了三十六氪全平台的影响力。
Jianan Ding (IR Manager)
With respect to enterprise value-added services, in the third quarter, we remain committed to providing high-quality services, leading to collaborations with additional corporate clients and government institutions. We hosted several industry-specific summits during the quarter, including 36Kr Carbon Summit: Sustainable Value for Green Horizons, and the Vita Digital Innovation Tour, deepening our engagement in these sub verticals. Notably, at our 36Kr Carbon Summit: Sustainable Value for Green Horizons, experts, scholars, and stakeholders representing professional institutions, top-tier platforms, and leading consumer goods companies from China and around the world gathered together to dive into the latest trends shaping low carbon consumption, policy dynamics, and pioneering practices. The summit achieved total online exposure exceeding 80 million views, underscoring 36Kr's pivotal role in fostering valuable connections amongst stakeholders in the new economic sector. Another recent highlight was our annual flagship WISE Conference, which successfully concluded last week in Beijing.
This year's theme centered on commercialization and cutting-edge AI technologies. While WISE was previously focused solely on new economic participants, this year, we broadened the conference range to cover the entire business sector and updated its title accordingly to WISE 2023 King of Business. We hosted over 300 distinguished commercials and economic experts, scholars, business elites, and investors, including Kai-Fu Lee, Yaqin Zhang, and Qingyou Guan, sparking ideas through thought-provoking discussions. Quite a few of China's traditional industry icons also joined us at WISE 2023, including Xibei, JOEONE, and Sundaily, enriching the event's diversity and offering fresh industry perspectives. WISE 2023 amassed over 1.03 billion views, further showcasing 36Kr's brand influence.
Dagang Feng (Co-Chairman and CEO)
...除了线上活动外，咨询等企业增值服务也在本季度持续发力。三十六氪研究院继续深化行业洞察能力，通过行业研究报告持续提升口碑。在商业化上，与广州、重庆、杭州、惠州等多级政府机关，以及联想、贝壳、优尼康、太平洋等多家知名企业达成咨询服务的合作。
Jianan Ding (IR Manager)
Beyond our offline events, our consulting services and other enterprise value added services continue to gain momentum during the quarter. 36Kr Research Institute further deepened its industry insights, elevating our reputation through the publication of industry research reports. On the commercialization front, we forged a collaborative consulting partnerships with government institutions in prominent cities such as Guangzhou, Chongqing, Hangzhou, and Huizhou, among others, as well as with industry giants including Lenovo, Ke Holdings Inc., Unicorn Tech, and Pacific Insurance, among others.
Dagang Feng (Co-Chairman and CEO)
同时，我们不断深入区域业务拓展。在迎新大会上，与杭州西湖区政府联合举办人工智能产业发展高峰论坛，AI西湖，持续探索AI技术的创新应用。此外，我们推出了全新栏目招商线索，凭借三十六氪在大公司、传统企业、创新企业的资源积累，助力区域强链补链，加速产业生态融合。高质量的内容输出为我们吸引了更多新用户的关注。
Jianan Ding (IR Manager)
Furthermore, we have made consistent, meaningful progress in our regional business expansion. We co-hosted an AI industry development summit titled AI West Lake with the Government of West Lake District, Hangzhou, at the Apsara Conference 2023 to further explore innovative AI applications. Additionally, we launched Connecting the Dots Along Investment Trails, a strategic initiative capitalizing on our extensive resources across large scale, traditional, and innovative companies. This program aimed to strengthen regional industry chains, address relevant shortfalls, and expedite the integration of industrial ecosystems. Our production of high quality content for this program has significantly increased user attention and engagement.
Dagang Feng (Co-Chairman and CEO)
值得一提的是，我们看到人民币基金的崛起和政府引导基金的发展，也为新经济企业提供了更多选择。三十六氪凭借前沿的品牌优势和优质的资源对接能力，与母基金展开合作，不断深入区域市场，帮助更多企业寻求适合自己的融资渠道和方式。近期，我们旗下的基金管理公司已经顺利通过管理者备案登记，这也为公司持续链接市场化投资机构以及产业机构，挖掘新的产业合作机会提供了新的契机，并助力公司业绩迎来新的增长点。
Jianan Ding (IR Manager)
It's also worth mentioning that with the rise of RMB funds and the evolution of the guided funds, stakeholders in the new economic sector enjoying a plethora of investment options, maximizing the benefits of our robust brand advantages and adept resource alignment capabilities. We forged partnerships with some of the funds, expanding our reach into regional markets to identify optimal financing channels and approaches for a broader spectrum of enterprises. In addition, I'd like to highlight that our fund management subsidiary was recently successfully registered as a fund manager. This strategic move unleashed fresh opportunities for us to facilitate deeper connections among industry stakeholders and investment institutions, while exploring innovative possibilities for industry-wide cooperation, steering the company towards a new phase of growth.
Dagang Feng (Co-Chairman and CEO)
在订阅服务方面，本季度在课程内容多元化和高效的获客策略推动下，订阅服务收入达到 CNY 1,151 万元，同比增长 62%。除了继续升级融资加速营等传统课程服务以外，我们也继续推进高质量的学位型课程的开发和拓展。近期，我们与牛津大学基博尔学院合作推出的博士后研究班取得了良好的进展，推动收入的进一步增长。同时，我们持续引入新课程，积极与更多国际知名学府建立合作关系，打造高价值培训体系，帮助更多的中国地区高级管理人员开拓国际视野。
Jianan Ding (IR Manager)
Regarding subscription services, revenue from subscription services increased by 62% year-over-year to RMB 11.61 million during the quarter, bolstering our diversified course offerings and efficiency customer acquisition strategies. In addition to upgrade the core of our traditional training courses such as Founding Acceleration Camp, we forge ahead with the development and expansion of high quality, degree-based programs. For example, we made great progress on the postdoctoral research program we rolled out in collaboration with Keble College of the University of Oxford, further driving our revenue growth. In the meanwhile, we continue to add new courses to our portfolio and with a can-do spirit, partnered with top universities worldwide to cultivate a high value added training ecosystem, providing China based senior executives with avenues to expand their careers globally.
Dagang Feng (Co-Chairman and CEO)
与此同时，随着人工智能技术的广泛应用和产品智能化的不断创新，市场需求日益迫切。为了拥抱这一趋势带来的商机，我们正在积极与更多AI领域的公司携手，拓展人工智能相关领域课程，联合搭建AI加培训、创新性的人才培养和行业大模型的合作框架，携手打造人工智能行业人才培养的新标杆，进一步助力企业数字化发展需求。
Jianan Ding (IR Manager)
Moreover, with the widespread application of AI and unsteady innovation in product intelligence, market demand for AI expert is growing increasingly urgent. We are actively embracing the business opportunities arising from this trend in collaboration with more AI-focused partners to expand and enrich our course offerings and training system with AI-related courses. Our strategic partnerships cover AI plus training and innovative talent development, as well as industry-specific large language model solutions. Together with our partners, we are setting a new benchmark for talent development in artificial intelligence, propelling the digital transformation of a wide range of enterprises… In macroeconomic uncertainties, there has been a sustained increase in user demand for self-enrichment. Consequently, the training sector outperformed market trends in a countercyclical fashion.
Aligned with the wisdom of the old saying: "To do a good job, one must first sharpen his tools." Our users' self-improvement has translated into overall enhancement of their performance and efficiency in corporate workplaces. We are confident that as a company, we invest in the training field, we will further enrich our course offerings, constantly enhance our training system, and continuously expand our consumer base. We expect a significant growth potential for our subscription services as we move forward. In short, we maintain encouraging growth momentum in the third quarter of 2023. Our total revenue increased by 2.5% year-over-year to RMB 97 million, with revenue from our advertising business up 11% year-over-year, outpacing market trends.
Notably, revenue from our subscription services surged by 52% year-over-year, and our gross margin remained high at 56%, a compelling testament to the resilience and the vibrance of our business as we adeptly navigating macro challenges. In the meantime, we redoubled our efforts across content formats, including images, texts, short and long videos, audio, podcast, and live streaming, among others, fostering a sophisticated full spectrum content matrix. The number of our followers surpassed 32 million, extending its growth streak for a tenth straight quarter. Looking ahead, building on our peerless content, formidable brand influence, and keen sense of innovation, we will actively forge new partnerships with global industry leaders, while resiliently exploring innovative AI applications, propelling the company enduring excellence and sustainable growth.
With that, I will now turn the call over to our CFO, Ms. Lin Wei, who will discuss our key financial results. Please go ahead, Lin.
Lin Wei (CFO)
Thank you, [Jianan]. Now I'd like to walk you through more details of our third quarter 2023 financial results. Please note, all amount numbers are in RMB, unless otherwise stated. Total revenues increased by 2.5% year-over-year to CNY 97 million in the third quarter of 2023, up from CNY 94.6 million in the same period of last year. Online advertising services revenues increased by 11% to CNY 71.2 million in the third quarter of 2023, compared to CNY 63.9 million in the same period of last year. The increase was primarily attributable to more innovative marketing solutions we provided to our customers. Enterprise value added services revenues were CNY 14.2 million in the third quarter of 2023, compared to CNY 23.6 million in the same period of last year.
The decrease was mainly due to the negative impact of macroeconomic uncertainties. Also, our offline events are not scheduled evenly throughout the year, and it turned out there were relatively fewer events during the third quarter. Subscription services revenues increased by 62% to $11.5 million in the third quarter of 2023, compared to $7.1 million in the same period of last year. The increase was primarily attributable to our continuous efforts to offer high quality subscription products and training programs to our subscribers. For example, in the third quarter, we rolled out the postdoctoral research program that we collaborated with the University of Oxford, which was well received by our high-end subscribers and helped boost our subscription revenues growth during the quarter.
Cost of revenues was $42.3 million in the third quarter of 2023, compared to $35.5 million in the same period of last year. The increase was primarily due to higher fulfillment costs and content costs. Gross profit was $54.6 million in the third quarter of 2023, compared to $59.1 million in the same period of last year. Gross profit margin was 56% in the third quarter of 2023, compared to 62% in the same period of last year. Operating expenses were $77.5 million in the third quarter of 2023, compared to $62.1 million in the same period of last year.
Sales and marketing expenses were $32.4 million in the third quarter of 2023, an increase of 1% from $32.2 million in the same period of last year. The slight increase was largely due to the increase in payroll-related expenses, partially offset by the decrease in marketing-related expenses. G&A expenses was $36.9 million in the third quarter of 2023, a 123% increase compared to $16.6 million in the same period of last year. This fluctuation was primarily attributable to certain one-off expenses, including severance payments as we optimized our organization and office lease termination fees incurred in the quarter, as well as an increase in allowance for credit losses.
Research and development expenses were $8.3 million in the third quarter of 2023, a decrease of 38% from $13.4 million in the same period of last year, as we continued to proactively embrace AI technology and streamlined our research and development teams, resulting in a decrease in payroll-related expenses. Share-based compensation expenses recognized in cost of revenues, sales and marketing expenses, research and development expenses, as well as G&A expenses, totaled $1.4 million in the third quarter of 2023, compared to $2.6 million in the same period of last year. Other income was $4 million in the third quarter of 2023, compared to $5.7 million in the same period of last year.
Net loss was $18.9 million in the third quarter of 2023, compared to net income of $2.5 million in the same period of last year. Non-GAAP adjusted net loss was $17.5 million in the third quarter of 2023, compared to non-GAAP adjusted net income of $5.1 million in the same period of last year. Net loss attributable to 36Kr ordinary shareholders was $18.9 million in the third quarter of 2023, compared to net income attributable to 36Kr ordinary shareholders of $1.7 million in the same period of last year. Basic and diluted net loss per ADS were both $0.45 in the third quarter of 2023, compared to basic and diluted net income per ADS of $0.04 in the same period of last year.
As of September 30, 2023, the company had cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments of $116 million, compared to $136.5 million as of June 30, 2023. The increase was mainly attributable to small-sized long-term investments in certain new economy entities were made in the third quarter of 2023, as well as net cash outflow from operating activities. If we exclude the previously mentioned one-off payments relating to the optimization of our organization and moving our headquarters office, which altogether amounted to over $25 million during the third quarter, our cash position actually would have increased quarter-over-quarter. This concludes all of our prepared remarks today. We will now open the call to questions. Operator, please go ahead.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. If you would like to ask a question, please press star then one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question from the queue, please press star then two. For the benefit of all participants on today's call, if you wish to ask your question to management in Chinese, please immediately repeat your question in English. Today's first question comes from Shan Zhao with CICC. Please go ahead.
Shan Zhao (Analyst)
Hi, congratulations to the solid performance in the third quarter. How does the management view the fourth quarter and next year's advertising revenue trend? Thank you.
Dagang Feng (Co-Chairman and CEO)
Hello, thank you, Shan Zhao. Congratulations.
Lin Wei (CFO)
The third quarter brought sustained and robust growth momentum in our advertising business, with year-over-year revenue growth of 11%. As the market gradually stabilized, we noted an encouraging rebound in demand for advertising compared with previous months. Our branding and performance-based, a one-stop advertising solutions, have earned a substantial trust and support from clients, sparking steady growth. Our advertising consumer base includes internet giants and Fortune Global 500 companies, as well as China's traditional industrial icons such as Xibei, JOEONE, Sundaily, and Bosideng. Steady growth of advertisement placement by these companies propelled a year-over-year increase in our ARPU of 20%. Meanwhile, we also offered flexible and versatile services to emerging industry players, catering to their diverse advertising and marketing needs with graphics, texts, and long and short videos, among other formats.
For the fourth quarter, we maintain a cautiously optimistic outlook for our advertising business. To drive continued growth in our advertising business, we will further enhance our content influence, strengthen our in-depth cooperation with advertisers, and actively explore AI marketing and other new marketing channels to create more growth opportunities for advertising.
Thank you. Next question, please.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. As a reminder, ladies and gentlemen, it is star then one to ask a question. Our next question comes from Lingyi Zhao with SWS Research. Please go ahead.
Lingyi Zhao (Retail Chief & eCommerce Analyst)
Congrats with the good results, and I have two questions. The first one was, both long and short video segments recorded robust growth on a sustained basis. What plan do you have to in place to unlock further growth potential? And my second question is, the company's growth margin remained fairly high in Q3. What has the company achieved in cost reduction and efficiency enhancement? Thank you. Xiexie. Congrats with the good results, and I have two questions. The first one was, both long and short video segments recorded robust growth on a sustained basis. What plan do you have to in place to unlock further growth potential? And my second question is, the company's growth margin remained fairly high in Q3. What has the company achieved in cost reduction and efficiency enhancement? Thank you. Xiexie.
Lin Wei (CFO)
Hi, Ling Yi. Thank you for your question on gross margin and the financials. This is Lin. I will take your question. So first of all, we continue to take a rigorous cost control measures and optimize our cost structure. That's why we were able to maintain our gross margin at a relatively high level, which is 56% level in the third quarter. And on top of gross margin, actually, I want to highlight further that we are also taking initiatives to improve our operating margin as well. So to cut our spending, actually, in the third quarter, we have taken several measures. For example, we moved our headquarter office to a relatively lower rental building in the third quarter.
Secondly, we continue to embrace AI technology, which enables us to streamline our R&D team, and which resulted in some cost savings in the payroll side as well. So, if you take a look at our operating expenses in Q3, although there were temporarily some one-off impacts in Q3, because we have to pay some severance compensation as well as, you know, terminating the old lease contract, we need to pay some compensation expenses. So that hit our third quarter, but that's temporary, and that's only a one-off issue. And if you take a long-term view at our these initiatives, those two measures altogether will give us you know, a spending cut of at least CNY 30 million R&D on a annual basis.
So that's quite a, you know, improvement on our operating margin. And going forward, on one hand, we will continue to grow our revenues, and on the other hand, we will continue to, you know, embrace AI technology to more, you know, diversify the business scenarios, so to cut our costs and further cut our spending. So, also overall, we will improve our gross margin as well as operating leverage. Thank you.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. Our next question comes from Peipei Qiu, with Industrial Securities. Please go ahead.
Peipei Qiu (Equity Research Analyst)
Hey, 好的，老师好，魏总好。谢谢，这是我的问题。然后咱们前面也提到很多，就是AI帮助我们来提升，不管是内容还是我们运营的一些生产效率，那我们同时其实也很关注增长的这个维度，就是直接带来的这些商业化的机会，因为咱们有很多像创业公司资源，会不会做类似类A的，就在AI这个赛道的业务，或者是AI差异化的论坛，或者是广告位的机会等等，看能不能跟我分享更多，跟AI商业化更直接相关的一些情况和部署吧。Thank you, management, for taking my question.
As you already explained how AI played a very important role in improving efficiency, but could you share more details about how eventually AI help make money? So could you share like your monetization plans in this area? Thank you.
Dagang Feng (Co-Chairman and CEO)
好的，谢谢Peipei。36Kr在生成式AI领域，其实我觉得一直表现得比较敏感的。上个季度我们率先运用AI技术开设淘宝店，并且首先提供了数字人直播带货。那本季度我们又与阿里云合作，利用阿里云的通义大模型技术，打造了小红书亚运会博主，同样收获了很多的关注和点赞。在广告方面，我们正在积极探索并运用AI技术，提升营销效果和创意策略，包括个性化的广告内容生成、投放，以及基于数据分析的智能决策等方面。我们将继续通过AI营销领域，为我们的客户提供更智能、高效、创新的营销解决方案。同时，我们与百度、商汤、科大讯飞等头部公司合作，探索AI技术的...
AIGC技术的深入应用，例如AI财报解读和AI即时、异地报道。我稍微解释一下，比如说今天我们市场中还有大量的公司是没有被好的财经媒体或者好的财经分析师去覆盖，去服务的，那我们认为说过去没有提供服务的主要原因是成本原因。我们今天正在探索，用一个AI的方式来，为这些公司提供服务，它们会大幅地降低我们的成本，然后大幅度提高我们的效率，使过去不可能服务的客户变成了可能。再比如说我们的AI市场报道，其实直至今天，我们依然有，绝大多数的报道是免费的，这种，这个异地报道，它是36氪整个内容体系的核心，也是整个36氪商业模式的核心。但是，这个今天，大量的寻找36氪新闻报道的公司，我们其实今天并没有人力去覆盖，所以今天我们正在探索，用AI的模式来去向他们提供一种标准化的服务，这个也是跟刚刚说的逻辑一样，它有这样的需求，但是过去我们没有这样的能力去服务，但是AI给了我们这样的能力，其实我们也在探索这样的方式，我想很快会推出。那么总的来说，就是我们上个季度和上上个季度，我们也在讨论AI的事情，那过去的两个季度，我们更多的是在做一些，降本增效的事情。接下来的，两个季度中，我们更希望我们所说的这些AI，特别是AI内容型的产 品，会形成一个产品，然后会有自己的客户和市场，然后给公司带来增收的目的。所以谢谢Peipei。
Lin Wei (CFO)
36Kr has clearly demonstrated its vision and keen humor with respect to generative AI. Following last quarter's pioneering AI-powered live streaming sales sessions featuring digital humans in our Taobao store. During the third quarter, we collaborated with Alibaba Cloud and leveraged its large AI model, Tongyi, to create our Asia Games blogger on Xiaohongshu, garnering significant visibility and engagement. On the advertising front, we are actively exploring and applying AI technology to enhance marketing effectiveness and craft innovative strategies.
This includes personalized advertising, content generation, and advertising placement, as well as intelligent decision-making based on data analytics. By consistently extending our footprint in AI marketing, we seek to provide our clients with marketing solutions that are smarter, more efficient, and more innovative. Additionally, we joined hands with top-tier industry players, including SenseTime and iFlyTek, to deepen AIGC application in analyzing financial statements, as well as reporting on the primary market. Delivering more comprehensive, more agile, higher quality offerings to a broad spectrum of companies at exceptional cost to benefit ratio. Thank you.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. And our next question comes from Ruqi Lu with Sealand Securities. Please go ahead.
Ruqi Lu (Equity Research Analyst)
各位领导好，我这边就是想问一下，关于这个公司的这个订阅服务业务，它增长得比较快，那么这个具体是什么原因呢？以及未来就是咱们对这一块业务有什么一个新的这个增长的策略？然后我翻译一下: What specific factors contributed to the rapid growth in company subscription services? Any new growth strategies in plan for this segment? 谢谢。
Dagang Feng (Co-Chairman and CEO)
好的，好的，谢谢，瑞琪。订阅式服务增长的主要原因是，因为我们的这个高价值学位型的课程的推出。本季度，我们与牛津大学的基博尔学院携手，推出了全新的学位型课程，使我们的课堂价大幅增长，突破到了CNY 6.8万元。同时，我们也得持续打磨创造课堂、龙族加速营等精品课程，通过丰富的课程设计，给学员带来更多的丰富的知识体验，受到广泛的欢迎。未来，我们将继续增加与全球的名校的合作，包括英国牛津大学、英国的利兹大学、英国的伦敦玛丽女王大学、英国的安格利亚鲁斯金大学、法国的INSEAD高等商学院等世界知名院校达成合作，推出全新的国际MBA项目，帮助更多的中国地区高级管理人员开拓国际事业。同时，随着AI技术的蓬勃发展，我们会注意到人们对AI技术的学习和应用的的需求会逐渐增加，我们也会积极地与国内领先的AI的顶级公司合作，共同推出AI相关的培训，来帮助学员在掌握AI技术，掌握这个AI的理论和指导方面获得进一步的提升。谢谢。
Jianan Ding (IR Manager)
The rapid growth in our subscription services was primarily propelled by the launch of our high value degree-based programs. This quarter, we joined hands with the Saïd Business School of the University of Oxford, and co-launched a new degree-based program, vastly boosting our ARPU to over RMB 6,000-RMB 8,000. Meanwhile, we continue to enrich the high quality training courses offered through our venture capital class and founding acceleration camp. Our diverse and engaging course offerings brought top-tier learning experiences to users, drawing extensive praise. Looking ahead, we aim for additional partnership with top universities worldwide on more international MBA programs such as University of Oxford, University of Leeds, Queen Mary University of London, Anglia Ruskin University in the U.K., and INSEAD Business School in France, providing China-based senior executives with avenues to expand their careers globally.
Moreover, with the vibrant advancement of AI innovation, we noticed an increase in people's demand for learning and harnessing AI technology. To address this demand, we are actively working with the leading AI companies based in China to jointly develop AI for the training programs, enabling participants to have a better grasp of AI technology and practical skills. Thank you.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. As there are no further questions, I'd now like to turn the call back over to the company for closing remarks.
Jianan Ding (IR Manager)
Thank you once again for joining us today. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact the 36Kr investor relations through the contact information provided on our website. Thank you.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. This concludes the conference call. You may now disconnect your lines and have a wonderful day.