Leading video sharing site Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) has just released its first earnings report since its formation through the merger of the nation’s top 2 players, and the results aren’t impressing anyone too much. The numbers themselves are a bit messy, which is often the case with a newly merged company where accounting differences need to be resolved and year-ago comparisons are difficult. (results announcement) But what these results seem to show is that Youku may have overpaid significantly for Tudou. What’s more, the results also show that Youku Tudou remains highly dependent on advertising for the big bulk of its revenue, a bad sign as China’s ad market shows signs of significant slowing.
Tag Archives: Youku Tudou
News Digest: November 30 报摘： 2012年11月30日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 30. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- Prudential Financial (NYSE: PRU), Fosun Int’l (HKEx: 656) Launch China Life Insurance JV (Businesswire)
- Bank of China (HKEx: 3988) Completes Issue of 39 Bln Yuan in Subordinated Bonds (HKEx announcement)
- Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) Debuts Music Search Service (English article)
- Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Acquires Video Search Company Jinwan Kan Shenme – Source (Chinese article)
- Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) Announces Q3 Unaudited Financial Results (PRNewswire)
Advertising Winter Enters Deep Freeze 中国广告行业进入严冬
Leading Chinese media company CCTV has been trumpeting the results of its annual advertising auction for 2013 held over the weekend, which saw spending increase by 11.4 percent despite the recent slowdown that has hit the sector. But from my perspective, these results look very gloomy indeed for reasons I’ll explain shortly, meaning advertising-dependent Internet leaders like search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), web portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) and video sharing site Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOUKU) won’t have much to cheer about in 2013.
Baidu’s Video Buy-Out: Xunlei Tie-Up Ahead? 百度收购私募所持爱奇艺股份 为战略入股迅雷前奏？
Fresh on the release of disappointing quarterly results, online search giant Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) is providing yet another news bit that looks like a disappointment on the surface but could be paving the way for an interesting new tie-up in the fast-growing online video space. Company watchers will know I’m talking about Baidu’s latest aborted partnership outside its core search business, with word that the company is buying out Providence Equity Partners from their online video partnership called iQiyi (company announcement; Chinese article).
News Digest: November 3 报摘： 2012年11月3日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 3-5. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Acquires Providence Equity Partners’ Stake in iQiyi (PRNewswire)
- Nestle (Switzerland: NESN): Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) Baby Food Deal Cleared By China (English article)
- AutoTrader Buys 22 Pct of Chinese Car Site Bitauto (NYSE: BITA) For $58.5 Mln (English article)
- LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) Sues Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) for IPR Infringement (English article)
- ZTE (HKEx: 763) Sees Over 40 Percent Rise In 2013 Smartphone Shipments (English article)
- Latest calendar for Q3 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)
Xunlei: Preparing For New IPO Try? 迅雷：准备尝试新的上市？
The year 2012 will easily go down as the worst for New York IPOs by Chinese firms since the global financial crisis, though there’s still some hope we could see one or 2 offerings in the next couple of months by cash-starved Chinese firms. A social media website named YY surprised many when it made a preliminary New York IPO filing earlier this month (previous post), and now video and music sharing site Xunlei is also emitting signals that indicate a filing could be near for its own stalled public offering.
Xiaomi Explores Internet TV 小米开发电视盒
Homegrown smartphone sensation Xiaomi is looking more and more like a Chinese version of global tech giant Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) these days, following the latest reports that the company is preparing to launch an Internet TV product. I’m sure that Xiaomi’s marketing-savvy founder Lei Jun loves the comparisons his company is getting to the world’s biggest tech company, which of course would include the inevitable comparisons to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Perhaps Lei will even change his company’s English name to “Little Rice”, which is what Xiaomi means in Chinese, to play on Apple’s own food-related associations.
Baidu Turns Up Anti-Piarcy Tune 百度展开反盗版行动
Internet search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) made plenty of noise last year when it announced a series of landmark licensing agreements with major Hollywood music labels, trumpeting the move as part of its drive to wean itself from the trading of pirated material on its platforms. But while it tooted its horn over the deals with Universal, Warner Music (NYSE: WMG) and Sony Music (previous post), it also quietly continued to operate its controversial music swapping platform that was the source of much of the earlier criticism. Now in an interesting move, Baidu is being much more low-keye in what looks like its attempt to quietly de-emphasize and perhaps eventually phase out the controversial music swapping service.
7 Days to Privatize, Who’s Next? 7天连锁酒店股东团提出私有化要约
In a theme that is rapidly gaining momentum, yet another US-listed Chinese firm has announced a new privatization bid to capitalize on valuations that have been pushed to rock-bottom levels amid a broader investor confidence crisis. The newest management-led buyout offer from 7 Days Group (NYSE: SVN), the smallest of China’s 3 publicly listed budget hotel operators, follows a string of similar moves that have seen other US-listed Chinese companies, including Shanda Interactive and Focus Media (Nasdaq: FMCN), make similar moves. So perhaps the more interesting question is: who are the most likely companies to launch similar privatization bids, as investors can clearly make some quick money if they can answer this question correctly.
No Buyers for China Mobile Games IPO 中国手游上市无买家
A major catalyst is clearly needed to thaw the current frigid market for US-listed Chinese stakes, but unfortunately the newly listed China Mobile Games (Nasdaq: CMGE) was not what investors were seeking. Meantime in other Internet news, video sharing leader Youku Tudou’s (Nasdaq: YOKU) first major strategy announcement since closing its historic merger a month ago has also failed to inspire investors, who are already running out of patience with the company.
Sohu Video, Qunar in IPO Marches 搜狐视频、去哪儿网加紧上市步伐
The latest news bits indicate the video sharing unit of web portal Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) and online travel services firm Qunar are both marching rapidly towards overseas IPOs, with both companies positioning themselves to move quickly if and when the current market freeze ever eases. Sohu has been saying for much of the last year that it wants to spin off its video unit into a stand-alone company for an eventual overseas listing, and now the company has formally separated the unit’s sales force into a separate entity. (Chinese article) Meantime, domestic media are also quoting a top executive of Qunar, which is backed by online search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), as saying his company has passed industry leader Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) in air ticket sales, in what sounds like a drive to raise the company’s profile in the run-up to its own IPO. (English article; Chinese article)
