Bloomberg's article on Weibo's results--
Weibo Loss Widens in Chinese Microblog’s First Results Since IPO
By Bloomberg News May 21, 2014 5:25 PM ET
Weibo Corp. (WB), the Chinese microblogging service controlled by Sina Corp. (SINA), posted quarterly loss that widened in its first financial results since an initial public offering last month.
First-quarter net loss was $47.4 million, compared with a loss of $19.2 million a year earlier, the Beijing-based company said in a statement today. The loss matched the preliminary estimate of $47.4 million provided in its listing prospectus.
Weibo, which also counts Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. among its backers, has seen a 37 percent surge in daily active users as China’s 618 million Internet users migrate toward content on their smartphones and tablet computers. Weibo Chief Executive Officer Wang Gaofei is investing in marketing and product development to attract new users and fend off competition from Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s WeChat messaging application.
“WeChat’s overwhelming popularity and heavy user traffic will significantly constrain the amount of time that mobile users spend on Weibo,” Yue Yao, an analyst with Morningstar Inc., wrote in a May 11 report. “This, in turn, will hamper Weibo’s business expansion over the long haul.”
Sales more than doubled to $67.5 million from $25.9 million a year earlier, the company said. That compared with the $67.5 million preliminary estimate in its prospectus.
For the second quarter, Weibo sees net revenue of $74 million to $76 million, according to the filing.
Weibo, which raised $285.6 million in an IPO in April, operates a social media website similar to Twitter Inc.’s that allows users to post short messages. Twitter’s service is blocked by China’s government censors.
The daily active users of Weibo rose to 66.6 million at the end of March from 48.6 million a year earlier, the company said last month.
Sina remains the controlling shareholder of Weibo after the public offering, holding 59.8 percent of outstanding ordinary shares representing 81.7 percent of total voting power, according to the prospectus released last month. Alibaba holds 32 percent of the ordinary shares, the filing showed.
Sina today reported a net loss of $33.2 million for the quarter ended March.
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Edmond Lococo in Beijing at elococo@bloomberg.net |
