The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on July 14. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════
China’s Wanda Buys Britain’s Odeon Cinema Group for $1.2 Bln (English article)
BYD (HKEx: 1211) Loses Bulk of $270 Mln Electric Bus Order in China (English article)
Huawei, Midea (Shenzhen: 000333) Team Up in Smart Home Devices (Chinese article)
Ku6 Media (Nasdaq: KUTV) Announces Completion of Merger (PRNewswire)
Aluminum Distributor Fubang Jingye to Buy Mobile Game Firms Crimoon, Skymoons (English article)
Bottom line: China Logistics’ IPO could rise 5-10 percent in its trading debut, while AirAsia could list in Hong Kong by year end and online lender Qufenqi could follow with an IPO in the first half of 2017.
AirAsia Eyes Second listing in HK
Hong Kong IPOs continue to heat up as we head into the heart of summer, with word of a major new listing from China Logistics Property and reports that budget carrier AirAsia may also be eyeing an offering in the market. Meantime, Qufenqi, the hot online lender that targets students, has just raised a hefty 3 billion yuan ($450 million) in new funding, in a prelude to what could become one of next year’s hottest IPOs. All of this comes against the backdrop of a looming mega offering by China’s Postal Savings Bank, whose $8 billion fund-raising target would make it the world’s biggest IPO since Alibaba’s (NYSE: BABA) blockbuster $25 billion offering 2 years ago. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Coolpad’s latest loss forecast shows it is struggling due to intense competition, and will need to sell more of itself to LeEco in the next 6 months to keep funding its operations.
Coolpad falls sharply into the red
The woes continue to mount for former smartphone high-flyer Coolpad (HKEx: 2369), which has just announced a profit warning that will see it drop sharply into the red in the first half of this year. The move was almost inevitable due to the overheated state of China’s smartphone market, as Coolpad finally ran out of tricks to hide its mounting losses. The company did admit its sales were plunging in its last earnings report for the year 2015, even as its profit quadrupled that year. But this latest profit warning for the first half of 2016 shows the company is now squarely in the loss column. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on July 12. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════
Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) Face Profit Hit From New Search Ad Rules (English article)
AirAsia Eyes HK Kisting as It Expands in North Asia (English article)
Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Opens Experience Center in Shenzhen, China Homecoming Signal? (Chinese article)
China Has Too Many Mediocre Electric Carmakers, Researcher Says (English article)
Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) Secures 6.2 Bln Yen Green Solar Financing in Japan (PRNewswire)
Bottom line: Telefonica is likely to finalize its divorce with Unicom in the next 2 years, following the latest halving of its holdings in its Chinese partner to 1 percent as part of a sell-down of non-core assets.
Telefonica dumps more Unicom shares
For some reason that’s not completely clear to me, Spanish telco Telefonica (Madrid: TELF) doesn’t want to admit that its decade-long marriage with China Unicom (HKEx: 763; NYSE: CHU) was a dud and is headed for divorce. That’s my latest assessment, following reports that the Spanish carrier has further sold down its stake in its Chinese partner, leaving it with a miniscule 1 percent of Unicom’s shares. This particular sale was probably driven mostly by a need for cash. But I really don’t understand why Telefonica didn’t just completely dump the rest of its shares and finally end this marriage that never produced anything useful for either side. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Wanda’s first half report shows that entertainment continues to be the company’s focus going forward, and could hint at an eventual IPO for the entire group similar to Alibaba’s record offering 2 years ago.
Wanda’s Commercial Property unit posts H1 decline
The fast-rising but privately held Wanda Group has just released first-half results in English for the first time that I can recall, in a report that has plenty of room for improvement due to its highly selective disclosure. But the report does provide some color on Wanda’s overall makeup, including the fact that its original real estate business now accounts for just half of overall revenue. One intriguing footnote to this new reporting trend is the company’s growing efforts to reach an international audience, which could hint at plans for an eventual IPO by one of China’s largest privately owned groups. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on July 9-11. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════
Installment Plan E-tailer Qufenqi Raises 3 Bln Yuan in Pre-IPO Funding (English article)
Telefonica Raises $364 Mln from China Unicom (HKEx: 762) Share Sale: Sources (English article)
Striking Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) Workers in China Return to Work – For Now (English article)
China Logistics Said Poised to Price $433 Mln IPO at Top End (English article)
Bottom line: HNA’s bid for a major aircraft lessor and purchase of a top airline catering firm extend a buying spree that could top $10 billion and position it as a major global player for travel-related products and services.
HNA chases aircraft lessor, buys Swiss caterer
The recently acquisitive HNA Group is continuing its global buying spree, with reports that it’s a leading contender to buy one of the world’s leading aircraft lessors, and that it’s agreed to purchase a top global airline caterer. The first deal has HNA bidding for the aircraft leasing business of CIT Group (NYSE: CIT), which is valued at $3-$4 billion; while the second has HNA agreeing to buy Gategroup for $1.5 billion. These latest deals come just months after HNA has made major investments and purchases in the travel sector in Australia, South America and Europe. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Huawei’s new lawsuits against Samsung in China and T-Mobile in the US are designed to show the company is now a major global player, and could also be preemptive to deflect attention from upcoming bad news.
Huawei files new suits against Samsung, T-Mobile
China’s latest smartphones superstar Huawei is suddenly getting quite aggressive in the courtroom, with word the company has filed new lawsuits against global leader Samsung (Seoul: 005930) and US wireless carrier T-Mobile (Nasdsaq: TMUS). Those reports are coming as new data show that Huawei boosted its position as China’s leading smartphone brand with 17.3 percent of the market in the second quarter. (English article) Huawei’s sales surge continues an ongoing trend, though the sudden courtroom aggression is relatively new for the company, which was more used to getting sued in the past than suing other companies over patent violations. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on July 8. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════
McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) Said to Narrow Bids for $2 Bln China Rights (English article)
Huawei files with Second China Court in Samsung (Seoul: 005930) Patent Suit (English article)
Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) Gets $3 Bln Loan to Support Privatization (Chinese article)
HNA, Li Ka-shing Firm Short-Listed for CIT Plane Leasing Unit Sale: Sources (English article)
Bottom line: Skepticism by Nevada’s treasurer could kill LeEco’s plans for a $1 billion car plant in the state, and such doubts are justified due to the company’s lack of transparency and reliance on an inflated stock price to raise money.
Nevada treasurer wary of LeEco car plant financing
Plans by online video superstar LeEco (Shenzhen: 300104) for a new energy car plant in Nevada have hit a speed bump, with word that the state’s treasurer is skeptical of using loans backed by the company’s stock to finance the $1 billion project. The fact that LeEco is hitting this resistance in Nevada is somewhat ironic, since the state is famous for its embrace of gambling. But in this case I do have to applaud Nevada treasures Dan Schwartz for his skepticism, since I personally think LeEco has built its sudden entertainment empire on a hugely speculative pile of debt and hype about China’s Internet. Read Full Post…
