TOKYO, June 9 (Reuters) - Asian Internet firm Chinadotcom
(NASDAQ:CHINA) plans to invest $150 million to expand its operations
in Japan, targeting the fast-growing market for e-business
consulting, chief executive officer Peter Yip said on Friday.
Yip said the company aims to expand its own operations in
Japan and to fund joint ventures the company launched with
Japanese firms earlier this year.
"I set aside something like $150 million for Japan
expansions and system operations," Yip told Reuters Television
in an interview. He did not specify a time frame for the
spending.
The Hong Kong-based company, which offers online advertising
networks and has an e-business unit as well as a
Chinese-language Internet portal, has been operating in Japan
for about a year.
He expects his company's Japan operation to expand rapidly
from about 100 employees at present to 350 to 400.
In April, Chinadotcom agreed to set up a venture with
Softbank Investment International (Strategic) Ltd, a unit of
Japanese Internet investor Softbank Corp (TOKYO:9984) to provide
business and technology consulting services to Internet firms
seeking to expand in Asia.
The company also agreed to launch a similar venture with
another Japanese Internet company, Trans Cosmos Inc (TOKYO:9715), in
February.
Yip said he had no additional immediate projects in mind for
Japan, but he will continue to look for business opportunities
including possible acquisitions.
"We are looking at projects from time to time, and it's good
that the market is in a downturn as the kind of quality projects
we see...have much more reasonable valuations given the
conservative outlook (of the industry) for the time being," Yip
said.
"We see some good value, potential acquisitions. There will
be some really good synergistic companies that will strengthen
our core positioning, strengthen our leadership in the market,
and integrate our overall pan-Asian strategy," he said.
Yip reiterated his confidence that his company will turn
profitable sometime next year as it continues to enjoy strong
revenue growth.
"We believe we will be one of the first Asia-Pacific
Internet companies to become profitable next year."
Earlier this month, the company said it earned a
first-quarter net profit as total revenues doubled amid growth
in page views and advertising revenues.
On an operating basis, the company, which went public last
July, said its loss widened to $18.1 million from a loss of
about $16 million in the fourth quarter. Total revenues,
including results from its advertising network and portal,
climbed 84 percent to $20 million from $11 million in the fourth
quarter.
tokyo.newsroom@reuters.com))
Copyright 2000, Reuters News Service
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