The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on June 10. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on June 4. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) To Invest 1.2 Bln Yuan In Financial Newspaper CBN (Chinese article)
BYD (HKEx: 1211) To Raise Up To 15 Bln Yuan Through New A-Share Issue (HKEx announcement)
LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) to Invest HK$6 Bln in Hong Kong TV Market (English article)
Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) Says No Longer Wants M&A With Qunar (Nasdaq: QUNR) (PRNewswire)
European Business Lobby Slams China’s Draft National Security Law (English article)
Bottom line: Qunar’s latest quarterly results show it will continue to spend aggressively and post big losses as it competes with Ctrip, and reflect the fact that its biggest asset is its majority ownership by the cash-rich Baidu.
Qunar spurns Ctrip, raising cash
China’s highly competitive online travel landscape is rapidly shaping up as a two-horse race, with one group centered on industry leader Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) and the other on up-and-comer Qunar (Nasdaq: QUNR), which is controlled by leading search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU). After Ctrip announced a flurry of major new tie-ups last week, Qunar is fighting back with new fund-raising announcements that include a nearly $1 billion cash injection through the issue of new stock and bonds.
Qunar announced the fund-raising the same day that it released its latest quarterly results, which contained the surprise disclosure that it was approached by Ctrip last month about a merger. It added that it rebuffed the advance, but it clearly needs new funds as its own cash pile remains relatively small and its losses balloon due to aggressive spending. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Priceline’s new China foray with Ctrip will get off to a positive start, but will run into problems and ultimately collapse due both sides’ inability to gain much from the partnership.
Ctrip boosts Priceline alliance
Just days after global online travel giant Expedia (Nasdaq: EXPE) announced its withdrawal from China, rival Priceline (Nasdaq: PCLN) is moving in the other direction with a significant boost to its partnership with local sector leader Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP). I’ve previously been quite skeptical of this particular partnership, after previous similar tie-ups failed due to the fiercely independent nature of Ctrip’s top management. I’m still quite skeptical, though a string of other major tie-ups by Ctrip recently seem to show it’s realizing it needs to be more flexible to fend off the growing threat from fast-rising local rival Qunar (Nasdaq: QUNR). Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on May 30-June 2. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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IMAX China Files For HK IPO, Betting on Booming Film Demand (English article)
Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) Says Outage Due to Staff Error, Not Hack (English article)
Solarworld (Frankfurt: SWVK) Gains EU Probes of Possible China Duty Evasion (English article)
Alibaba (NYSE: BABA), Yahoo Japan (Tokyo: 4689) To Open Tmall Japan Pavillion (Chinese article)
Vipshop (NYSE: VIPS) Comes Under New Short Seller Attack, Shares Drop 6 Pct (Chinese article)
Bottom line: Thursday’s hacking attack on Ctrip brings a sour end to its week of major new tie-ups, but isn’t too unexpected for a company of its size and should have a relatively limited impact on its operations and reputation.
Ctrip shut down by hackers
I’ve been writing a lot about leading online travel agent Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) these last few days after it signed a couple of major deals, so it seems fitting that we end the week with news of a major hacking attack that took the company offline for most of Thursday. I’m a longtime user of Ctrip and am generally a big fan of the company, whose good management and focus on its core travel business have allowed it to maintain its market-leading position for a decade despite numerous challenges.
Against that backdrop, this hacker attack seems like a relatively minor issue, though one that could be potentially worrisome as it exposes one of Ctrip’s biggest vulnerabilities. Then again, Ctrip is certainly not the only company to come under such attacks, and many much larger and more experienced western giants like US retailer Target (NYSE: TGT) and Hollywood studio Sony Pictures (Tokyo: 6753) came under much higher-profile and more damaging outside assaults last year. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on May 29. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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China’s Top Online Travel Agent Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) Taken Offline By Hackers (English article)
BOC Hong Kong (HKEx: 2388) Said to Narrow Bids for $6.8 Bln Nanyang Bank (English article)
Alibaba’s (NYSE: BABA) Online Bank Secures Launch Approval (English article)
HK Securities Regulator Confirms Investigation of Hanergy (HKEx: 566) (Chinese article)
Shanghai may be famous for its entrepreneurial spirit, but its track record isn’t quite so stellar when it comes to nurturing top entrepreneurs. That could be starting to change, however, with word that Dalian Wanda Group, one of China’s most dynamic companies, plans to move its headquarters to Shanghai from its current location in Beijing.
As a longtime foreigner living in Shanghai, I’ve always been surprised by the relatively small number of major private companies for a city of our size. We should certainly be proud of some of our city’s most outstanding entrepreneurs, with names like Guo Guangchang of Fosun Group and Spring Airlines (Shenzhen: 601021) Chairman Wang Zhenghua as 2 outstanding examples. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on May 27. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) to Raise 7.5 Bln Yuan Through Private Placement (English article)
Bottom line: The strong reception for Huaitai Securities’ Hong Kong IPO reflects growing international investor appetite for Chinese stocks, which could help to lift shares of New York-traded Chinese companies like newly listed Baozun and eHi.
Baozun turns in choppy IPO
A flurry of IPO news is reflecting the growing attraction of listing closer to home for Chinese firms, whose New York-traded shares have languished these days due to lack of familiarity by local investors. Two new US-based listings have performed reasonably well but not spectacularly, led by modest gains for newly listed shares of web design services firm Baozun (Nasdaq: BZUN) in their trading debut. At the same time, recently listed rental car company eHi (NYSE: EHIC) raised a modest amount of money in a secondary offering, again reflecting tepid investor interest in its story.
While those 2 listings got so-so receptions, the response was far stronger for Huatai Securities, China’s fourth largest brokerage, whose shares priced at the top of their range as Hong Kong investors scrambled to buy into the mainland’s ongoing stock market boom. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Ctrip’s purchase of a controlling but minority stake in eLong is the latest in a string of similar equity tie-ups by the company, none of which looks very exciting because these new partners aren’t interested in working closely with Ctrip.
Expedia sells eLong stake
A longtime but largely empty cross-border Internet partnership has finally come to an end, with word that US online travel agent Expedia (Nasdaq: EXPE) has dumped its stake in Chinese laggard eLong (Nasdaq: LONG). In an interesting twist to the story, the group buying eLong includes Chinese industry leader Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP), which seems to be buying small stakes in many of its rivals these days without buying anyone outright.
Personally speaking, I don’t see much reason to get excited about Ctrip’s latest buy, even though investors seemed to think differently. eLong is a perfect example of a company that had huge advantages due to its early arrival to the online travel market and longtime partnership with Expedia. And yet it failed to parlay any of that into a market leading position, and instead has become an afterthought as it got overtaken by younger, more innovative companies like Tuniu (Nasdaq: TOUR) and Qunar (Nasdaq: QUNR). Read Full Post…
