The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on March 15. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════
The following press releases and news reports about China companies were carried on March 12-14. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════
Huawei Enterprise Unit Achieves Profitability in 2015 (Chinese article)
Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) Reports Q4 and Full Year Results (PRNewswire)
Alibaba’s (NYSE: BABA) Cainiao Logistics Arm Targets Colleges (English article)
Huayi (Shenzhen: 300027), Tencent (HKEx: 700) Prepare Vehicle for Hollywood, Korea Deals (English article)
Ant Financial’s Sesame Credit Starts Beta Testing of Enterprise Credit Service (English article)
Bottom line: Xunlei’s performance and stock price could come under pressure over the next year due to stiff competition in China’s consolidating online video market and lack of support from struggling strategic partner Xiaomi.
Xunlei swings to quarterly loss
As rumors swirl of a potential merger between the online video services of Tencent (HKEx: 700) and Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU), smaller rival Xunlei (Nasdaq: XNET) has just announced its latest quarterly results that show why it may be difficult for the company to remain independent in the rapidly consolidating sector. Xunlei swung to a loss in the quarter and saw its revenue contract — hardly encouraging signs for a company that’s already quite a small player in China’s fiercely competitive online video market.
The big “elephant in the room” in this instance is struggling former smartphone sensation Xiaomi, which purchased 30 percent of Xunlei around the time of its 2014 IPO for a reported price of about $200 million. Xiaomi went on to form a content distribution service with Xunlei last summer, leading me to predict that it could make an offer to buy the company outright. (previous post) Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Sohu is likely to combine its online video service with Tencent’s in an ongoing consolidation of the Chinese sector, and the tie-up could presage a Tencent-backed privatization bid for Sohu later this year.
Sohu, Tencent in video merger?
More consolidation could be coming in China’s online video sector, with word that web portal Sohu(Nasdaq: SOHU) may soon sell a major stake in its video service to social networking giant Tencent (HKEx: 700). The move would follow a similar tie-up between this pair in the online search space, and might lead some to wonder if Tencent may even be preparing an eventual bid for Sohu itself. I’ll end the suspense on that matter by saying such a sale seems unlikely, for reasons I’ll explain later. But the pair could still ultimately do more deals together
This particular tie-up would mean that China’s online video sector is firmly consolidating around the country’s 3 biggest Internet companies and a handful of others. Leading search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) is closely associated with Qiyi.com, a leading player, while Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) last year purchased Youku Tudou, another leader. The other major player is LeEco (Shenzhen: 300104), formerly known as LeTV, and state-owned broadcasters in Shanghai and Hunan are also making big pushes into the space. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and news reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 11. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════
China to Ease Commercial Banks’ Bad Debt Burden Via Equity Swaps (English article)
The following press releases and news reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 10. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════
iMeigu Submits Proposal to Acquire Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) (PRNewswire)
Huawei Rolls Out Huawei Pay in Bid to Shake Up Mobile Payments Market (Chinese article)
China Smartphone Supply Chain Facing Pressure From Rising Costs – IDC (Chinese article)
Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) Set to Close $4 Bln Bank Loan – Reports (Chinese article)
Ourpalm (Shenzhen: 300315) to Buy 19 Pct of Korea’s Webzen for 1.1 Bln Yuan (English article)
The following press releases and news reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 9. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════
ZTE (HKEx: 763) Urges Suppliers to Seek US Export Licensee: Source (English article)
Smartphone Maker Dakele Shuts Down as Backers Sever Ties (Chinese article)
ReneSola (NYSE: SOL) Announces Q4 and Full Year 2015 Results (PRNewswire)
Bottom line: Cautionary comments from Caixin and Ele.me about investments from Alibaba and its affiliates reflect a growing wariness from companies at accepting money and yielding control to the e-commerce giant.
Alibaba’s Ant invests in Caixin
The voracious Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) is in 2 new M&A headlines as we head into the end of the week, led by word that its Ant Financial affiliate was an investor in a new fund-raising round in Caixin, one of China’s best respected financial media. A second headline has take-out dining pioneer Ele.me denying reports that Alibaba, which is already one of its biggest shareholders, will devour the company completely. Instead, Ele.me is saying it will continue working closely with Alibaba’s own take-out delivery service called Koubei.
Both headlines reflect a growing resistance by founders of these companies to outright ownership by Alibaba-related companies. In the first case, Caixin was quick to issue a statement saying Ant was only one of several new investors in its new funding round. Ele.me’s case is similar, quashing earlier speculation that it would ultimately get swallowed up by its cash-rich backer. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Vipshop looks like a strong bet due to its position as a focused e-commerce leader among consumers who are most interested in bargains and less concerned about famous brands.
Vipshop trives on bargain focus
So far this series on my favorite Chinese stocks has focused on big names like Tencent(HKEx: 700) and Fosun International (HKEx: 656), which are sector leaders with strong, focused management. But hiding behind these giants are a field of lesser-known second- and third-largest players in their sectors offering even better growth potential because they are far smaller and at an earlier stage in their development.
One such name is Vipshop (NYSE: VIPS), which has carved out a place as China’s third largest e-commerce company by honing in on shoppers who are more interested in bargains and less concerned with big-name brands. While some may call this area a niche, it’s really more of a focus since it encompasses quite a large segment of the Chinese shopping population. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and news reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 3. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════
Qualcomm (Nasdsaq: QCOM) Fined $7.5 Mln in US for Bribery in China, Denies Charges (Chinese article)
Jack Ma’s Ant Financial Said to Be in Talks for Caixin Stake (English article)
Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Reports Q4 and Fiscal Year Results (PRNewswire)
Deadline Expires for Minsheng Bank (HKEx: 1988) in Talks for HK Broker Quam Stake (HKEx announcement)
Ele.me Says Working with Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) on Take-Out Dining, Denies Merger (Chinese article)
Bottom line: Qiyi’s new tie-up with Universal Music could presage its purchase of Baidu’s music unit, while Qihoo’s new video campaign is likely to stumble due to intense competition from existing players.
Qiyi ties with Universal Music
A couple of new reports are casting a spotlight on the rapid colonization of the video and music spaces by new media companies. The most intriguing of those has Qiyi.com, the online video site affiliated with search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), taking a major step into the music space through a tie-up with global entertainment giant Universal Music. The second has the aggressive Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) making a late but big push into the online video space via a major new hire.
Both of these stories reflect the big challenge that private companies are now posing to traditional TV and radio stations, as they rapidly challenge a state-owned establishment that held a monopoly on China’s entertainment sector for decades. The resulting boom in video and music services has been great for consumers. But in usual Chinese fashion the explosion has sparked another cycle of hyper-competition that has pushed everyone deeply into the red, and is almost certain to end with the typical bust in a few years. Read Full Post…
