(Yicai) Feb. 22 -- Perfect World will sell assets linked to Hollywood studio Universal Pictures for USD164 million after the Chinese entertainment giant’s earnings shrank last year.

Perfect Universe Investment, a unit of the film, television, and video games producer, will sell its Universal Pictures-linked equity to ACA World, an affiliate of Atlanta-based Domain Capital Group, expecting to earn a profit of USD13 million, its parent company said yesterday. Perfect World expects to complete the deal this month. 

Since February 2016, PUI has invested in 51 Universal Pictures movies such as The Mummy, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, which still generate revenue when shown through various media channels and if redeveloped into authorized derivative works.

The developer of games such as Chronicle of Infinity and New Forsaken World said the sale is intended to help the Beijing-based firm integrate and optimize its resource allocation and asset structure, while the proceeds will be used for future operations.

Contributing 82 percent of revenue in the first half of last year, games are Perfect World's main business. Movies and TV series accounted for 17.2 percent.

So due to a downturn in gaming earnings, Perfect World expects net profit to have slumped by as much as 67 percent last year to somewhere between CNY450 million and CNY530 million (USD62.6 million and 73.7 million), it said on Jan. 26.

Gaming earnings could have sunk by 67 percent to 70 percent, while its movie and TV business  may have lost about CNY70 million (USD9.7 million) after deducting nonrecurring items.

Perfect World’s shares [SHE: 002624] closed up 1.4 percent at CNY10.83 (USD1.50) each today. The Shenzhen market gained 0.8 percent. Since hitting a record high of CNY23.16 last May, Perfect World’s stock has more than halved in value.

Editor: Emmi Laine