Original link: https://www.latepost.com/news/dj_detail?id=1813
Bilibili continues to reduce losses, and at the same time lowers its annual revenue forecast
After reducing losses by more than 1.6 billion yuan in the first quarter by reducing expenses, Station B continued to tighten its belt and handed over performance to appease investors.
According to the company’s disclosure, in the second quarter, Bilibili realized operating income of 5.304 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.05%. In the case that the company’s book loss was 492 million yuan due to changes in fair value, the net loss was still reduced by 462 million yuan compared with the same period last year, which caused the company’s US stock market to rise by more than 7% before the market.
Looking at various indicators, the single quarter of the second quarter:
- Advertising revenue was 1.573 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 35.84%. Mainly boosted by performance advertising. The advertising business has contributed the most incremental revenue to Bilibili for two consecutive quarters, accounting for 29.7% of the total revenue, which is the highest value since the company’s US stock listing. Management expects full-year advertising revenue growth of 25%-30%.
- Game revenue was 891 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 14.82%. This is because while Bilibili lacks new games, the revenue of some released games has declined. In the second half of this year, there will be 7 games on station B, among which the company CEO Chen Rui expects the game “Shining! “You Handsome Girl” will be tested at the end of August.
- Revenue from value-added services (live streaming and premium membership) was 2.302 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.46%. The company explained that it was due to the increase in revenue generated by a single paying user. Due to the stable price and number of big members at station B, the increase in income is more likely to come from live broadcast rewards and commissions. The company also opened more channels for rewarding anchors in the second quarter.
- IP derivatives and others (formerly known as “e-commerce and others”) revenue was 539 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 10.3%. This was mainly attributable to the decrease in revenue from the resale of rights to live eSports events. Previously, the company also stated that it would take the initiative to shrink non-profitable non-main businesses.
- Operating costs decreased by 2.3% year-on-year, and sales, management, and R&D expenses decreased by 21.67%, 13.74%, and 7.51% year-on-year, respectively. Together, the company’s operating loss rate narrowed to 24.1%, a decrease of 20.54 percentage points year-on-year.
- The number of daily active users (DAU) increased by 15% year-on-year to 96.5 million, and management expects DAU to reach the 100 million mark in the third quarter.
While showing the operating results, in the second quarterly report, Station B lowered its annual revenue forecast for 2023 from 24 billion to 26 billion yuan at the beginning of the year to 22.5 billion to 23.5 billion yuan, corresponding to a year-on-year growth rate of 2.7% to 7.3%. It will be the slowest growth rate since public data is available.
The management’s explanation is that “delays in the release of some games and lower-than-expected revenue contributions from non-core businesses (such as comics and membership purchases) are not changes in fundamentals.”
But the market doesn’t seem to care about that. After all, the colleagues whose revenues have risen sharply in the past few quarters at Station B have suffered even more losses. The market and Station B are currently focusing on profitability. This is probably why after Station B lowered its revenue forecast, US stocks rose by more than 4% before the market.
When communicating with investors before, Bilibili had given a guideline of reducing losses by about 3 billion for the whole year, of which 2/3 relied on increasing gross profit and 1/3 relied on reducing expenses.
If the latest revenue guidance range is followed, it means that Bilibili has achieved a gross profit margin of 24.89%. In the second quarter and the first half of the year, the gross profit margin of Bilibili was 23.15% and 22.47%, respectively. Loss reduction has to be faster.
One solution is to improve the profitability of each business. “Wandian Finance” learned that the balance of the performance evaluation of the live broadcast business at station B has shifted from turnover to profit, and the original fixed salary for the main broadcast has also decreased. In the process of inventorying IP derivatives and other businesses, businesses with lower gross profit margins will also be terminated.
A higher percentage of revenue from the high-margin advertising business will also help. At the performance meeting, the company’s COO Li Ni said that by optimizing the advertising strategy of the game and e-commerce industries, the marketing investment of the two industries in station B increased by more than 40% and 140% year-on-year in the second quarter respectively. In the second half of the year, station B will focus on Polish advertising products in industries such as FMCG and 3C digital.
In addition to the iteration of vertical industry advertising products, Li Ni also expects that this year’s advertising revenue related to delivery will reach 10% to 20% of the total advertising revenue. In the next few months, the “Member Shopping” Tab in the Bilibili App will also be upgraded to the “Shopping” Tab, but she did not disclose further details.
Mainly due to the impact of the repurchase of convertible bonds, the available funds of station B in the second quarter decreased by 5.1 billion yuan to 14.3 billion yuan from the previous quarter. However, the cash flow generated by the company’s operating activities has almost turned positive in the second quarter, and there may no longer be large cash expenditures in a short period of time. The next convertible bond repurchase date is next April, when the company could face repurchases requiring principal amounts of up to $500 million — if the stock price doesn’t rise fast enough. (Intern Sun Haining)
Kuaishou’s reduction of ranks has been brewing for nearly 9 months
Chinese Internet companies that cut costs and increased efficiency together last year are doing another thing together this year——adjusting the rank system.
In addition to the planned Tencent, ByteDance’s Douyin Group, and Alibaba’s Taotian Group, on August 17, Kuaishou officially adjusted its rank system through the cadre meeting plus a letter from all employees:
- Cancel the professional K sequence and the management M sequence, and enable the single-sequence rank system “E”;
- There are 10 grades in total from E6 to E15. Originally, the K sequence was divided into 6 large files and 14 small files, and the M sequence was divided into 4 large files and 9 small files;
- According to the new promotion mechanism of the rank system, if the school recruits and enters the job, if they continue to perform well, they can be promoted from E6 to E10 in 3.5 years at the earliest.
“Wandian Finance” exclusively learned that Kuaishou started this rank adjustment in December last year. After several rounds of industry research, nearly 200 internal employees were interviewed, and many discussions were held at the level of the economic management committee. A person close to Kuaishou said that one of the core purposes of the adjustment is how to make excellent employees grow faster.
Similar to the purpose of rank adjustments in most companies, Kuaishou’s new rank system also points to clearer military exploits and talent orientation. On the one hand, it accelerates the growth of outstanding talents; on the other hand, it has higher requirements for managers. “Partial”.
For example, by turning two ladders into one ladder, talents with outstanding professional ability no longer need to entangle in the management line and professional line; another example is by letting low-level students “run in small steps” to obtain growth feedback at high frequency.
Kuaishou launched the K-sequence and M-sequence at the beginning of 2019, which was growing rapidly. At that time, the company’s revenue exceeded 20 billion yuan and its valuation was 100 billion yuan. It requires employees to be self-driven, make contributions beyond the rank standard, and get richer returns from it. And each rank promotion may mean unlocking several times or even dozens of times of “equity”, which is the best driving force catalyst.
After that, Kuaishou experienced a sharp rise and fall in valuation after listing. Amid various doubts in the market, several major organizational adjustments were made, and the roles of the two founders also changed.
After no longer pursuing all-round benchmarking against Douyin, the main operating data of Kuaishou has turned warmer. At the end of July, they estimated that they would achieve at least 560 million yuan in net profit in the first half of the year, which was a sharp turnaround from the 9.43 billion yuan net loss in the same period last year. (Gong Fangyi, Gao Honghao)
Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s profit soared in the first half of the year, relying on investment instead of IPO
Although the number of IPOs and fundraising on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange dropped sharply in the first half of the year, its net profit rose by 31% during the same period, and its profit scale of HK$6.312 billion ranked the second highest in history, second only to 2021.
- HKEx’s revenue in the first half of the year was HK$10.575 billion, an increase of 18% year-on-year;
- However, after excluding investment-related income, its main business income as an “exchange” fell by 10.5% year-on-year to HK$7.858 billion;
- Net profit was HK$6.312 billion, a year-on-year increase of 31%;
- The EBITDA margin was 75%, up 3 percentage points from the same period last year.
The main sources of income for the Hong Kong Stock Exchange are listing fees for the listing of derivatives businesses such as stocks and futures, as well as transaction fees formed during the transaction process, transaction system usage fees, and settlement fees. Those revenues fell across the board in the first half. Public information shows that the IPO fundraising amount of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has fallen out of the top three in the world. According to China Business News, the average daily turnover of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange fell by 17% during the same period.
However, driven by futures and derivatives transactions, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange achieved excess investment returns of HK$5.774 billion. After deducting the rebate of HK$3.098 billion, the net investment income still reached HK$2.676 billion (HK$89 million in the same period last year), accounting for 37.64% of the pre-tax profit.
Investment is not the main business of HKEx, and its style is relatively conservative. The investment principal comes from the margin and clearing house funds retained in the settlement business, as well as the company’s own funds. The former mainly comes from the aforementioned futures and derivatives transactions, and has higher liquidity and security requirements, so it mainly allocates cash, bank deposits and bonds, and the yield is generally around 1%. Affected by the interest rate hike cycle of the world’s major central banks, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has achieved far higher yields than before. (Intern Hong Chenyi)
OTHER NEWS
China Huarong’s estimated loss in the first half of the year was 4.6 billion to 5 billion yuan, and the loss was reduced by about 70%.
According to China Huarong’s announcement, the substantial reduction in losses was mainly due to the year-on-year increase in gains and losses from changes in the fair value of equity assets under the influence of the recovery of the capital market, and the recognition of corresponding income from some major investments and asset allocation.
China’s central bank said the yuan exchange rate “will not depreciate unilaterally”.
According to the second quarter China monetary policy implementation report released by the central bank:
Regardless of external factors or internal factors, the RMB exchange rate will not depreciate unilaterally, but will maintain two-way fluctuations… In the past few years, the exchange rate of the RMB against the US dollar has broken through 7 three times, and returned to within 7 three times. In the process of dealing with multiple rounds of external shocks, the People’s Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange have accumulated rich experience and have sufficient reserves of policy tools. They are confident, qualified, and capable of maintaining the smooth operation of the foreign exchange market.
The lowest point of the spot exchange rate of offshore RMB against the US dollar fell below the integer mark of 7.33 this month.
Lenovo said that within three years, smartphones will rank among the top three in the market outside China.
According to Lenovo Group’s announcement and the Beijing News report, Lenovo Group achieved revenue of 90.3 billion yuan and net profit of 1.33 billion yuan in the fiscal quarter ended June, declining to varying degrees. Chairman Yang Yuanqing specifically talked about his views on the smartphone business at the media communication meeting, saying that in the next three years, it will grow into the top three in the global market in markets other than the Chinese market. Given the context and market data, what should be said here is market share. At present, Lenovo’s mobile phones have a 10% share in the North American market, ranking second.
The unemployment rate in Hong Kong, China has further dropped to 2.8% in the past three months.
According to data from the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, the unemployment rate in Hong Kong, China, recorded 2.8% from May to July, compared with the previous value of 2.9%, and the underemployment rate remained unchanged at 1.1%. In terms of industries, the unemployment rate in most industries such as retail, catering, accommodation, transportation, real estate, and communications has declined. The relevant person in charge said that as the economy recovers, the labor market should improve further. At the bottom of the official announcement page, job seekers are also provided with detailed information about upcoming large-scale job fairs.
In the second quarter, Atour Group’s housing prices and occupancy rates exceeded those before the epidemic.
In the second quarter of this year, Atour Group’s revenue increased 1.1 times year-on-year to 1.093 billion yuan, and net profit increased 3.1 times to 249 million yuan. During the period, the average daily room rate was recorded at 475 yuan, and the occupancy rate was 77.1%, both higher than before the epidemic. The company also mentioned that in July this year, due to the increase in summer travel, the average daily room rate exceeded 500 yuan, and the occupancy rate exceeded 84%, a monthly record high. “Wandian Finance” has previously introduced that the reduction in supply and the explosion of superimposed travel demand have jointly promoted hotel prices.
Walmart raised its fiscal year profit forecast.
In the fiscal quarter ended July, Wal-Mart achieved revenue of US$161.632 billion and net profit of US$7.891 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5.74% and 78.91%, respectively. Management said that consumers have strong demand for low-priced daily groceries, food and health products. At least in the short term, Americans are not worried about spending power, but rising energy costs and student loan repayments that resumed in October may affect The consumption power of relevant people in the next one to one and a half years. In the announcement, Wal-Mart raised its earnings per share forecast for the fiscal year to $6.36 to $6.46, higher than the previous forecast of $6.1 to $6.2.
DJI may secretly develop Ebike, which will target overseas high-end markets.
According to 36 Krypton reports, Dajiang Innovation is secretly developing electric bicycles (Ebike), positioning high-end models, and focusing on overseas markets. It is reported that the price of the relatively high-end Ebike is concentrated at around 4,000 US dollars (currently about 29,240 yuan), and it has higher requirements for motors and batteries. The project, which is still under wraps, is being led by Alex Jia, a senior engineer who was in charge of DJI’s Ronin stabilizer product line. The Ebike launched by DJI may complement DJI’s main product drones and photography and camera products in terms of use scenarios and electronic control technology.
Insurance agencies have paid 2.54 billion yuan to 16 disaster-stricken areas including Hebei.
According to People’s Daily Online, as of August 15, 16 disaster-stricken areas including Hebei had reported 266,000 insurance cases, with an estimated loss of 9.76 billion yuan, and a total of 145,000 claims and pre-payments worth 2.54 billion yuan. Among them, Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Fujian 6 severely affected areas reported 245,000 insurance cases, with an estimated loss of 9.05 billion yuan, and a total of 133,000 claims and pre-payments, totaling 2.4 billion yuan.
Three international law firms scaled back their operations in China.
According to sources quoted by the media, Latham & Watkins, one of the world’s highest-paid law firms, has closed its Shanghai office. The company’s official website shows that there are 10 lawyers in its Shanghai office; another international law firm, Ropes & Gray, plans to shrink its Shanghai office In terms of scale, only 4 employees will be retained, and another 10 or so employees will be relocated to Hong Kong. In addition, Dacheng Law said in an email sent to clients that it plans to divest its business in China this month.
The price of gallium has risen more than 50% since China’s export controls.
Gallium prices have risen more than 50% since China announced measures to curb exports in early July to a 10-month high, according to metals price tracker Fastmarkets. On July 3, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs issued an announcement stating that export controls on items related to gallium and germanium will be implemented. If exporters want to start or continue exporting, they need to apply for a license from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and report in detail on overseas purchases. home information. The regulation came into effect on August 1, 2009.
Rents in Hong Kong have risen for seven consecutive months after the intensive introduction of a group of mainland talents.
Rents in Hong Kong have rebounded for seven consecutive months, reaching their highest level in more than a year, according to Midland Realty. The real estate agency further predicts that the rent increase in Hong Kong this year will reach the largest in 11 years, to 10%. An important factor supporting the rise in rent is the introduction of talents from the mainland. Hong Kong Gaocaitong plans to provide two-year work visas to applicants with an annual income of at least 2.5 million Hong Kong dollars and undergraduate graduates from top 100 universities in the world.
The number of inbound tourists to Japan in July rose to a new high since the epidemic.
According to data from the Japan National Tourism Administration, the number of foreign tourists entering the country in July was 2.32 million, a month-on-month increase of 12%, which was the first time since January 2020 that the number of foreign tourists exceeded 2 million. However, compared to the same period in 2019, the figure is still 22% less. Among them, tourists from mainland China increased by 45% to 313,000 person-times.
OpenAI acquires AI design studio Global Illumination.
Founded in 2021, Global Illumination is a company that uses artificial intelligence to create creative tools, infrastructure, and digital experiences. OpenAI did not disclose the exact terms of the acquisition, but said that “the entire team” from Global Illumination has joined the company to participate in the development of core products including ChatGPT.
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