The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on September 16. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Alibaba To Expand IPO, May Raise Upper Price Range To $70 – Source (Chinese article)
Huayi Bros (Shenzhen: 300027) To Invest $130 Mln In New US Subsidiary (Chinese article)
13 Workers At Foxconn (HKEx: 2038) Shenzhen Plant Get Leukemia, 5 Dead (Chinese article)
Cellular Tower Operator To Finish Formation By Year End, Seek Private Money (Chinese article)
NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) Invests 28 Mln Yuan In Recruiting Site Jobtong (English article)
Big privatization deals are never easy, as we’re seeing with signs that a buyout plan launched by the controlling shareholder of online game firm Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME) is rapidly unraveling. Shanda Games’ parent, Shanda Interactive, launched the plan back in January, as part of a broader wave of similar privatizations for undervalued US-listed Chinese companies. Shanda Interactive is saying the buyout is still alive, though other shareholders are clearly growing skeptical, based on Shanda Games latest stock price. Read Full Post…
The busiest day of the second-quarter earnings season has just come and gone, with online gaming leaders Tencent (HKEx: 700) and NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES), top telco China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL), leading PC maker Lenovo (HKEx: 992) and e-commerce high-flyer Vipshop (NYSE: VIPS) all reporting results in the same 24-hour period. I’ll give quick reviews of individual companies shortly, but the bigger picture based on stock reactions seems to be a massive yawn from investors. Most of the stocks were either unchanged or moved slightly downward in response to the earnings reports, meaning most results continued recent company trends.
The lackluster response also hints at some investor fatigue, following a wave of euphoria during a flood of new Internet IPOs in New York in the first half of this year. All that said, let’s take a quick look at each of the reports and what they say about current and future trends. Read Full Post…
Big stock moves for veteran online travel agent eLong (Nasdaq: LONG) and newly listed mobile game firm Ourgame (HKEx: 6899) are shining a spotlight on the need for consolidation in many of China’s online sectors, where these smaller players lack the resources to thrive over the longer term. Shares of eLong suddenly soared more than 20 percent in the latest session on trading volumes not seen for years, which will inevitably lead to speculation of a looming buyout offer. Meantime, Ourgame shares tanked 17 percent on their first trading day in Hong Kong, as investors yawned at the chance to buy into yet another mid-sized Chinese gaming firm. Read Full Post…
New data is showing an acceleration in the decline of text messaging (SMS) in the new age of over-the-top (OTT) services like WeChat, underscoring the urgency for China’s 3 telcos to find new replacements for this important revenue generator. The decline of SMS isn’t new, and has been discussed by all 3 of China’s state-run telcos at one time or another over the last 2 years. The issue was also at the center of a high-profile dispute between China Mobile (HKEx: 941) and Tencent (HKEx: 700) in late 2012, involving the rapid rise of WeChat. But the latest figures do point to an acceleration of the decline, which will lead to hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue for the big telcos. Read Full Post…
Another US-traded Chinese online game firm could be headed for de-listing, after shares of China Mobile Games (Nasdaq: CMGE) tanked on reports of a major bribery scandal. China Mobile Games’ woes are just the latest in a growing list for US-traded online game makers, which have earned the official title of “no respect” from Wall Street investors. Two of the sector’s biggest players, Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME) and Giant Interactive (NYSE: GA), are in the process of privatizing, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a buyout offer emerge for China Mobile Games following this new scandal. Read Full Post…
Hong Kong has always been a distant second to New York for Chinese technology stocks, which prefer more mature US investors to a less predictable environment in Asia. But the market could be quietly gaining some important momentum in the gaming space, with word of 2 new listing plans from the sector. The first of those has game developer Ourgame filing for a listing to raise up to 750 million yuan ($120 million) in Hong Kong, while the latter has media reporting that privatizing Giant Interactive (NYSE: GA) may also be eying a listing in the former British colony. Read Full Post…
The web clean-up that began in April with a relatively innocuous-looking crackdown on Sina’s (Nasdaq: SINA) video sites is showing signs of becoming a major movement, with word that regulators in Beijing are investigating 52 website operators for violent and pornographic content, including giants Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU). News of this new clean-up comes after similar reports emerged last week that online game operators were coming under similar scrutiny, and indicates the current crackdown could last for the next few months. Read Full Post…
China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA) is quickly becoming a company to watch, with new signals indicating it will soon receive a 4G license for its FDD-LTE technology as it searches for private partners to co-develop new services. These 2 news bits actually come from separate sources, but they collectively show that China Telecom could be poised to gain some market share over its larger and more bureaucratic rivals China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) and China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU). Regular readers will know that I’m relatively bullish on China Mobile and China Telecom, though I’m far less enthusiastic about the schizophrenic Unicom. Read Full Post…
The online game industry has just gotten a small hint of potential consolidation, with word that mid-sized player Perfect World (Nasdaq: PWRD) is buying a stake of rival Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME), which is in the process of privatizing. The tie-up that will see Perfect World buy about 6 percent of Shanda Games’ shares comes as both companies confront sagging profits, and could kick off a period of consolidation for the highly fragmented industry. I’ve incorrectly predicted such consolidation before, but a recent wave of M&A in China’s Internet and other recent trends could mean that such an overhaul could finally be coming to online games. Read Full Post…
Tencent cash pile to double with new mega bond plan
In writing my final post of the week, I’ve just come to the realization that all 3 of my daily posts this Friday mention leading Internet firm Tencent (HKEx: 700), which has just announced a massive bond issuing program almost certainly aimed at future M&A. Perhaps it’s not surprising that Tencent’s name is showing up in almost everything related to the Internet in China these days, since the company is quickly becoming the nation’s dominant online company alongside leading e-commerce firm Alibaba and search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU). Read Full Post…
