The power of play: Toymaker Pop Mart debuts on Hong Kong market

Chinese toymaker Pop Mart International Group is making its trading debut in Hong Kong on Friday, as its mystery toy boxes continue to charm millions of millennials.

The stock opened at HK$77.1 ($9.95), 100.26 times higher than its initial offering price of HK$38.50 ($4.97). First created in 2010, Pop Mart is the largest and fastest-growing pop toy company in China, accounting for 8.5 percent of the market share, according to a Frost & Sullivan report cited in the IPO prospectus.

As of the end of 2019, the toymaker had 114 retail stores in 33 Chinese cities and 825 roboshops across 57 cities. It plans to use the proceeds from its IPO to set up additional stores and vending machines and push toward expansion overseas.

The turnaround success of Pop Mart did not come until the discovery of Molly, the image of a little girl with button-shaped eyes created by a Hong Kong designer.

Between 2013 to 2016, Pop Mart suffered net losses, but one year after the company bought the franchise of Molly, its revenues jumped to 158,074 yuan ($24,150) in 2017, with sales of pop toys based on Molly accounting for 26.3 percent of the company's revenues.

The company quickly sought to reinvent Molly, creating new lines and adding costumes and decorations to create an endlessly replenished stream of the pouting doll.

Having one strong recognizable figure is good for Pop Mart at this stage, because all the efforts, including design, business development and public attention will center on that one single figurine, said Zhang Yi, CEO and chief analyst of iiMedia Research.

But there are also risks if the sales of Pop Mart toys depend too much on one figurine, he cautioned. For example, Molly could fall out of fashion because of rapidly changing consumer tastes.

In recent years, the company has pursued an IP diversification strategy, making IP development its core business and signing designers to create proprietary IP. It also partnered with global name brands such as Disney and Universal Studios and created pop toys based on evergreen characters such as Mickey Mouse.