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Journalist China
Business news from China By Doug Young.
Doug Young, journalist, has lived and worked in China for 20 years, much of that as a journalist, writing about publicly listed Chinese companies.
He is based in Shanghai where, in addition to his role as editor of Young’s China Business Blog, he teaches financial journalism at Fudan University, one of China’s top journalism programs.
He contributes regularly to a wide range of publications in both China and the west, including Forbes, CNN, Seeking Alpha and Reuters, as well as Asia-based publications including the South China Morning Post, Global Times, Shanghai Daily and Shanghai Observer
As a Shanghai resident, it’s been interesting to watch the sudden flurry of changes blowing through the local media industry that has suddenly entered a state of crisis amid plunging advertising sales. The newest change has seen a major restructuring for Shanghai Media Group (SMG), the city’s dominant broadcaster and China’s second largest traditional media company. Just 2 or 3 years ago I would have called SMG China’s second largest media company, but I suspect it has been passed in value over that period by more nimble and fast-growing new media firms like Tencent (HKEx: 700), Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and possibly even Internet stalwart Sina (Nasdaq: SINA). Read Full Post…
Earlier reports that the founder of online entertainment company Shanda was looking to sell his empire have taken an interesting twist, with word that a buyer has emerged for the company’s struggling Ku6 Media (Nasdaq: KUTV) online video unit. News that Shanda will sell 41 percent of Ku6 sent the unit’s shares soaring 43 percent, as investors bet the company would get privatized. The move adds weight to previous reports that Shanda founder Chen Tianqiao wants to sell off the various pieces of his online entertainment empire, with leading e-commerce firm Alibaba named as a potential buyer. Read Full Post…
One of China’s 2 major meltdowns in the solar panel sector has taken a big step forward with word that trading in shares of LDK (NYSE: LDK) has been suspended and the de-listing process formally begun as the company liquidates. Meantime, word of a missed interest payment by a building materials maker is sending the latest signal that China will let more companies in ailing sectors default on their debt rather than pay off their creditors. That’s an important signal for the solar sector, which relies heavily on such debt to finance its operations and where many smaller players are in danger of similar defaults. Read Full Post…
Media are buzzing about the newly released annual results from telecoms equipment giant Huawei, though everyone is taking a different angle on the latest figures. Some are focused on the company’s return to strong profit growth, while others are highlighting its aggressive plans for the next 5 years. But my favorites are the headlines that trumpet Huawei’s ascendance to become the world’s biggest telecoms equipment maker, since it officially passed Sweden’s Ericsson (Stockholm: ERICb) in revenue terms last year. Read Full Post…
E-commerce leader Alibaba clearly has far too much cash and doesn’t know what to do with it. That’s my best explanation for its purchase of a stake in department store operator Intime Retail (HKEx: 1833), the latest acquisition in a supercharged buying spree over the last year. I’m personally quite puzzled by this latest deal, as it seems to contradict Alibaba’s mantra that it’s different from all of its rivals because it doesn’t own any actual retail businesses. Instead, the company has risen to prominence by operating online shopping malls that are populated by other retailers, which pay rent and other fees to Alibaba.Read Full Post…
New York investors lost another China play last week, when former IT outsourcing high-flyer Camelot Information Systems (NSYE: CIS) formally completed a privatization that will result in the imminent de-listing of its shares on the New York Stock Exchange. (company announcement) Camelot was just the latest in a steady stream of Chinese firms to recently abandon New York, where their shares stagnated for years due to lack of investor interest. New York’s losses could easily become China’s gains, as many Chinese investors might like to buy shares of these locally based companies that are both profitable and have strong growth potential. Read Full Post…
Two of this year’s biggest IPOs are both in the headlines, kicking off what’s likely to become a steady flow of news surrounding upcoming listings for e-commerce leader Alibaba and Citic Group, one of China’s oldest and most successful conglomerates. Citic is the more interesting in this latest pair of news bits, since this is the first time we’ve heard about the group’s plans to go public via a backdoor offering through its Hong Kong-listed Citic Pacific (HKEx: 267) unit. Meantime, media are reporting that investment banks are so eager to underwrite Alibaba’s IPO that they’re offering to accept record low fees for their services. Read Full Post…
We’re getting a glimpse of where future priorities may lie for smartphone makers ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) and TCL Communications (HKEx: 2618; Shenzhen: 000100), with the former hinting at a move into wearable devices and the latter placing big bets on China’s homegrown 4G technology called TD-LTE. ZTE isn’t exactly known for setting new market trends, but I would certainly like its decision to test its luck in wearable devices like wrist watches and glasses sooner rather than later. Meantime, TCL’s TD-LTE gambit looks like a 50-50 bet to me, as this notoriously boom-bust company tries to find a sustainable formula for success. Read Full Post…
In a move that was long overdue, Yum Brands (NYSE: YUM) is taking the bold step of relaunching its KFC brand in China in a bid to reverse sinking sales as bird flu season heats up. Yum might like to blame its recent woes for KFC in China on a bird flu scare last year, or on a minor food safety scandal that briefly tarnished its image. But the reality is that the brand is showing signs of age, and really is in need of this kind of a major overhaul. Read Full Post…
News that high-end hotel operator Hyatt (NYSE: H) is launching 2 more brands in China is drawing attention to the market’s growing saturation, boding poorly for all operators as the nation’s economy slows. Hyatt and most of the other big western brands don’t disclose separate operating figures for China, but leading budget brands Home Inns (Nasdaq: HMIN) and China Lodging (Nasdaq: HTHT) act as good indicators for the market. And their latest quarterly results don’t paint a very rosy picture for the industry in the year ahead. Read Full Post…
Internet leader Tencent (HKEx: 700) has just announced a major purchase involving a Korean game maker, in what would normally be leading news on the Chinese Internet. But instead, the company is making bigger headlines on talk that it’s nearing a deal to buy 20 percent of leading online video firm Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) for a smaller amount. The 2 deals collectively would be worth about $1 billion, which these days doesn’t seem like big news anymore for China’s rapidly consolidating Internet. Read Full Post…
