(Yicai Global) March 10 -- Shares of Huayi Brothers Media rallied after the Chinese entertainment firm said it is preparing to launch into e-commerce livestreaming, following in the successful footsteps of Hong Kong broadcaster Television Broadcasts.

Huayi Brothers Media [SHE: 300027] closed up 12.3 percent at CNY2.93 (42 US cents) a share in Shenzhen today, having surged by the bourse-imposed limit of 20 percent in the morning.

Holding unit Huayi Brothers Fashion Group kicked off preparations to open a live broadcast studio on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, at the end of last year, Huayi Brothers revealed through the Shenzhen Stock Exchange’s investor interactive platform late yesterday.

It will feature people in the fashion, culture and entertainment industries sharing their daily lives, the Beijing-based company said. It will also provide brands with a number of services, including celebrity endorsement, model selection, and social media exposure, the firm said, without disclosing a specific launch timeline.

Hong Kong-based Television Broadcasts announced on March 3 that a unit had reached an e-commerce livestreaming cooperation deal with Alibaba Group Holding’s online marketplace Taobao. Its first on-air streaming show on March 7 attracted over 3.2 million viewers, with merchandise sales exceeding CNY23.5 million (USD3.4 million).

After announcing its foray into the popular live commerce business model, shares of TVB [HKG: 0511] rose sharply, but they closed down 4 percent at HKD10.94 (USD1.40) today. The stock is up nearly 200 percent so far this month.

Founded in 1994, Huayi Brothers is a leading film production company that has been losing money in recent years. It expects a net loss of between CNY875 million and CNY1.3 billion (USD125.7 million and USD186.8 million) for last year, according to the firm’s earnings forecast released at the end of January. That compares with a CNY246 million loss in 2021.

Editor: Peter Thomas