IPO Preview | Master Bronze: Bronze Cultural and Creative Leader, What Capital Story Does the Billion-Level Circuit Hide?

The casting wisdom of Shangzhou bronze spans thousands of years, stirring up new market opportunities in the current wave of consumption upgrades.

Zhitong Finance App learned that on May 9, 2025, Hangzhou Tongshifu Cultural and Creative (Group) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Master Copper”) submitted a listing application to the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and CMB International acted as the sole sponsor. As the number one brand with a 35% market share for copper cultural and creative craft products in China, Master Copper has handed over annual revenue of over 500 million yuan, gross margin of over 30%, and average customer unit price of more than 750 yuan, yet it also faces the double pressure of the industry ceiling and homogenized competition.

This IPO was not only a key move by Master Copper to seek breakthroughs in growth, but also provided an observation sample for the integration of the copper cultural and creative industry with the capital market. How to explore sustainable commercialization paths within a limited market space has become a core issue facing the company.

The number one brand of copper cultural and creative craft products in China

According to the prospectus, Master Copper was founded in 2013. The company uses copper as the core material. The products cover various categories such as copper cultural and creative products, plastic trendy games, silver cultural and creative products, and gold cultural and creative products. Among them, copper cultural and creative products are the core of the product matrix. In 2022 to 2024, revenue from copper cultural and creative products accounted for 95.4%, 96.3% and 96.6% of total revenue for the same period, respectively.

According to Frost & Sullivan's report, for the year ended December 31, 2024, the company ranked first in the Chinese copper cultural and creative craft products market in terms of total revenue, with a market share of 35%.

In terms of business model, Master Tong has built a vertically integrated system from research, design, development, production to sales. As of 2022, 2023, and the year ended December 31, 2024, the company's SKUs were 2,137, 2,296 and 2,485, respectively, of which 464, 382 and 574 new SKUs were launched each year, respectively.

In terms of sales channels, most of the company's revenue comes from online direct sales on domestic third-party e-commerce platforms. Online direct sales (mainly from flagship stores such as Tmall, JD, Douyin, etc.) accounted for 70.6%, 69.9% and 70.5% of total revenue respectively in the same period. Combined with online dealer sales, online channel revenue accounted for 80.9%, 79.2% and 77.2% of total revenue during the same period. At the same time, the company is also expanding offline channels. As of December 31, 2024, it operated 9 direct-run stores, and 54 authorized offline dealers operated 68 stores.

According to financial data, in 2022, 2023 and 2024, the company's revenue was 503 million yuan, 506 million yuan and 571 million yuan respectively; gross margin for the same period was 32.2%, 32.4% and 35.4%, respectively; net profit for the same period was 569.38 million yuan, 44.131 million yuan, and 78.982 million yuan respectively.

Low ceiling for core business growth

Although Master Tong has a leading position in the segment with a vertically integrated business model, the inherent limitations of the industry are hampering its further expansion.
Although the scale of China's cultural and creative handicraft market has surpassed 354 billion yuan in 2024, the copper handicraft segment is characterized by being “small but sophisticated”. According to the Frost & Sullivan report, the size of China's copper cultural and creative craft products market in 2024 is only about 1.6 billion yuan, accounting for less than 0.5% of the cultural and creative market. Although the market size is expected to grow to $2,282 billion by 2029, the scale of growth is relatively limited. Although Master Bronze is the industry leader with a market share of 35%, its revenue volume over the past three years has always been around 500 million yuan, which is clearly limited by track capacity.

According to the Frost & Sullivan report, the penetration rate of the copper cultural and creative craft products market in the city in 2024 was only 2.34%, and the penetration rate in rural areas was even lower than 1.4%. Even by 2029, the urban penetration rate is expected to increase to only 2.58%. In contrast, the trendy game market, which also focuses on cultural attributes, will exceed 70 billion yuan in 2024. Through a rich product matrix and a user-friendly price system, it has achieved coverage of all age groups of consumers, further highlighting the natural shortcomings of copper cultural and creative products in terms of audience breadth and market penetration.

In a limited market space, the competitive situation in the industry tends to be severe. According to the prospectus, there are about 1,000 enterprises specializing in the production of copper cultural and creative craft products in China, including well-known national brands and small and medium-sized enterprises and workshops in various regions. Many small and medium-sized manufacturers take advantage of cost advantages and use low price strategies to seize the middle and lower end markets. In the high-end sector, silver and gold cultural and creative products compete as an alternative to copper crafts due to scarcity of materials and higher added value. This “up and down” market pattern makes it more difficult for Master Bronze to achieve breakthrough growth within existing tracks.

Faced with industry size limitations and competitive pressure, Master Tong planned a multi-dimensional game-breaking path for product innovation, capacity upgrading, and market expansion in the prospectus.

On the product side, relying on the R&D team, the company has built a “tradition+trend” innovation system. On the one hand, explore traditional cultural resources; on the other hand, strengthen the IP co-branding strategy to expand the reach of young customers. At the same time, continuing the pace of launching more than 400 new products per year from 2022 to 2024, we plan to maintain a high frequency of updates and enrich the product matrix in 2025-2027.

On the production and operation side, the company plans to upgrade production capacity at the Hangzhou plant through equipment updates and manpower expansion. According to the prospectus, new production equipment will be procured and installed, and about 250 additional production personnel will be hired and trained to enhance contract flexibility and long-term supply capacity.

On the market expansion side, adopt a parallel strategy of globalization and localization. In 2025, we will take the lead in setting up the Hong Kong, Japan and Italian markets through exhibitions, etc., and gradually expand to Western Europe and North America; the domestic market will focus on offline channels. Over the next three years, we plan to add 30 new direct-run stores in high-end business districts in core cities, and implement digital management upgrades to existing stores to strengthen terminal service capabilities.

In summary, in the context of limited scale and fierce competition on the racetrack, Master Tong's strategic implementation results in product innovation, capacity upgrading, and market expansion have become the key to breaking through barriers to growth. If the plan can be effectively implemented, the company is expected not only to achieve breakthroughs in performance, but also to provide a viable path for commercializing traditional processes. However, the market environment is complex and changing. Factors such as fluctuations in raw material prices, iterative consumer demand, and overseas market risks may all affect the effectiveness of strategy implementation and capital operation. Master Tong's future development still requires continuous attention.