Journalist China

Business news from China By Doug Young.
Doug Young, journalist, has lived and worked in China for 20 years, much of that as a journalist, writing about publicly listed Chinese companies.

He is based in Shanghai where, in addition to his role as editor of Young’s China Business Blog, he teaches financial journalism at Fudan University, one of China’s top journalism programs.
He contributes regularly to a wide range of publications in both China and the west, including Forbes, CNN, Seeking Alpha and Reuters, as well as Asia-based publications including the South China Morning Post, Global Times, Shanghai Daily and Shanghai Observer

Trouble Lurks in China Group Buying, as Gaopeng Drops Baidu 高朋停止百度的广告投放 团购行业初露窘相

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Competition appears to be getting stiff in the Chinese group buying space, with word that Groupon-invested Gaopeng is dumping its paid search spend on both Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) because they have simply become two expensive. (English article) The reports cite unnamed sources, but if true, the news is significant because it marks the lightest sign of trouble in the vibrant group buying space. It could also be an early warning sign for Baidu, which is trying to squeeze more money out of its advertisers as growth in the new sign-ups for its advertising services slows. (previous post) Regular readers will recall that group buying sites were all the rage among venture capitalists earlier this year, with three sites, Dianping, 55Tuan and Lashou raising $500 million combined, as global leader Groupon also entered the China market by forming Gaopeng together with Tencent (HKEx: 700). 55Tuan became the first company to show signs of trouble when reports emerged earlier this week that at least 3 major investment banks were refusing to underwrite its planned IPO due to accounting concerns. (previous post) This latest report on Gaopeng would seem to reinforce that group buying is not quite as big in China yet as all the hype, with Gaopeng itself only generating a relatively modest 30 million yuan per month in revenue. I wouldn’t be surprised to see one or two of these group buying sites combine within the next year as competition remains intense. Meantime, Gaopeng’s dumping of Baidu could also be an early warning sign for China’s search leader, which could start to see similar defections as companies balk at paying Baidu’s higher ad rates. Baidu said earlier this week that spending from individual customers grew by more than 50 percent in the second quarter (previous post), and clearly some customers like Gaopeng are not happy with those big increases and are looking for more cost effective ways to advertise.

Bottom line: Gaopeng’s dropping of Baidu’s paid search services reflects both intense competition in the group buying space, and also a coming wave of defections by cost-conscious Baidu advertisers.

中国团购行业的竞购看似日益激烈，有传言称，Groupon投资的高朋网因费用太高已停止在百度<BIDU.O>和谷歌<GOOG.O>的广告投放。报导援引了匿名消息人士的说法，但若真有此事，这则消息可谓重磅，因这意味着中国如火如荼的团购行业初露窘相。这可能也是对百度的一个早期预警，百度正试图向其广告客户收取更高的费用，因其广告业务的新签订单步伐放缓。经常看我博客的读者应该还记得，团购网站今年早些时候可谓风行一时，大众点评网、窝窝团和拉手网三家网站共募得5亿美元风险资金，与此同时，美国团购网站Groupon携手腾讯<0700.HK>成立了高朋网，进军中国市场。窝窝团是首家显露困境的团购网站，本周早些时候有报导称，至少三家国际投行因担心会计问题而拒绝代理其上市业务。这则关於高朋网的最新报导似乎再次说明，团购在中国的发展并非像炒作的那般声势浩大，高朋网一个月的营收也仅有3,000万元。随着竞争的白热化，倘若未来一年内有一两家团购网站合并重组，我将不会感到意外。同时，高朋放弃在百度投放广告也为百度提了个醒儿，面对百度不断上涨的广告费用，很多公司犹豫不决，百度或将开始看到类似的“倒戈”会不断出现。百度本周早些时候表示，第二季度个人客户的广告费用增加逾50%，很明显，高朋网这样的一些客户对百度大幅增加广告费用的举动很不高兴，并正寻求性价比更高的途径进行广告宣传。

一句话：高朋网放弃在百度投放广告不仅反映出团购行业的激烈竞争，而且也说明百度或面临一波广告客户“倒戈”风潮。

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ 55tuan Scraps Listing Plan After Banks Get Cold Feet 各投行临阵退缩 “窝窝团”放弃赴美上市

◙ Baidu’s One-Dimensional Growth Story Continues 百度亮丽财报难掩前景不确定性

◙ China Groupon Wannabes in Fund-Raising Frenzy 中国团购网站掀起融资狂潮

NetEase Sharpens Up Messaging in Run-Up to Portal Spin-Off 网易剥离门户网站 再度磨砺电邮服务

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Internet stalwart NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) is prettying up its popular e-mail and other messaging services as it prepares to spin off its older portal business into a separate company, bringing focus back to these services that were once its bread and butter but later became neglected as it moved its attention to online games. Chinese media are reporting that just weeks after telling the world of its plans to spin off its portal business, most likely into a separate unit that will become publicly listed (previous post), NetEase is releasing some figures for its e-mail service, once a leader in China, that still look relatively impressive. The company says it now has more than 400 million registered e-mail users, whose accounts will be integrated with its mobile, instant messaging and other platforms. (English article) It goes on to add that the e-mail business, banking on advertising and income from other value added services, is already profitable. Old timers will remember that NetEase’s 163.com and 126.com were among China’s earliest e-mail services, and at one point were nearly synonymous with e-mail in China. Of course the same can be said of AOL, which is now a shadow of its former self. But in NetEase’s case, I think these portal and messaging products never really fell from grace quite as badly as AOL and were rather just neglected. That said, I’m quite confident NetEase can revive these products without too much effort if  it tries and, if it does, create a nice “new” product to compete with old rivals Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) and Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) in an IPO that should be fairly profitable and attractive.

Bottom line: NetEase’s renewed attention to its e-mail is the latest step as it prepares its portal business for an IPO that should be quite attractive.

互联网公司网易<NTES.O>在筹备剥离门户网站、成立单独公司之际，正在装扮网易电邮与其他信息传送功能。昔日相关服务曾是网易的核心业务，但因网易後来把重点放在了网游上，这些业务被冷落。几周前网易刚刚对外公布要分拆门户业务，很可能要成立一家单独的公司，将来还可能会上市。中国媒体报导网易正公布其电邮服务相关数据，曾经电邮领域的领头羊现在表现仍算不错。公司称网易目前拥有注册电邮用户4亿人，用户的账户将与其他平台整合。而且网易还表示得益於广告与其他增值服务，电邮业务已开始盈利。老客户应该还记得，网易的163.com和126.com属中国最早的一批电邮服务，甚至一度是中国电邮的代名词。当然你也可以说美国在线(AOL)也发生过类似的事。但就网易而言，我认为，网易的门户和讯息类产品从来都没有像AOL那样跌得那麽惨，它们充其量只是被忽视了而已。可以这麽说，如果网易尝试，我相信其可以不费吹灰之力地重振这些产品，并在IPO中创建一个可以抗衡新浪<SINA.O>和搜狐<SOHU.O>的新产品。

一句话：网易重新关注其电邮服务是准备为其门户业务上市所迈出的最新一步。

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ NetEase Looks to Reinvigorate Portal 网易似要重振门户

◙ Sohu: New Media Fox or Just Another Game Player? 搜狐：新媒体巨头还是一个网游公司？

◙ Sina Gets Serious on SNS With New “Blogging Light” 新浪推出轻博客 大力进军社交网络业务

55tuan Scraps Listing Plan After Banks Get Cold Feet 各投行临阵退缩 “窝窝团”放弃赴美上市

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It seems investors aren’t the only ones getting jittery about Chinese accounting standards in the current crisis of confidence surrounding US-listed China stocks. Domestic media are reporting that up-and-coming group buying site 55tuan, which just two months ago raised $200 million from a group including Goldman Sachs (previous post) is now having to abort its plans for an IPO. But this time, 55tuan is abandoning the plan for a US listing not due to weak market sentiment, but because it was rejected by some of the biggest investment banks, including Credit Suisse, Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs itself, according to a Chinese report, citing informed sources. (Chinese article) It seems the banks are all concerned about 55tuan’s rapid growth in the last couple of years, which came on the back of a big buying spree that saw it acquire lots of smaller local group buying sites. According to the Chinese report, the investment banks are worried about lax accounting at many of the acquired companies, which could throw much of 55tuan’s own books into question. Clearly the big banks don’t want to be caught with any potential liability from shareholder lawsuits of have to answer to the SEC if they help a company list that later turns out to have crooked books. One of my sources previously told me that similar acquisitions were at the heart of the crisis that hit Longtop Financial, whose own accounting was called into question due to doubts about the books at one or more of its acquired companies. If that’s the case, companies that have grown by acquisition could be especially vulnerable as the current confidence crisis plays out.

Bottom line: Companies like 55tuan, which grew through questionable acquisitions, will find themselves under growing scrutiny in the crisis surrounding US-listed China stocks.

对於中国赴美企业正在经历的信任危机，投资者似乎并不是唯一担心其会计准则的人。国内媒体报导称，团购网“窝窝团”赴美IPO(首次公开募股)计划受阻。该网站两个月前刚从包括高盛那里募集到2亿美元。但据中国媒体引述消息人士的话报导，“窝窝团”此次赴美上市计划受阻并非因市场情绪低迷，而是因遭到瑞士信贷、美林、甚至包括高盛等多家国际大投行拒绝。看似各大投行对“窝窝团”过去一两年的飞速发展都有所顾虑。“窝窝团”依靠收购众多当地小型团购网站而迅速发展起来。根据该篇中国媒体的报导，各大投行担心“窝窝团”收购的很多公司可能存在会计问题，而这将会使“窝窝团”的会计问题遭到质疑。如果各投行帮助其上市，最终却发现公司存在会计问题，其必将面临股东诉讼，并需遭受美国证券交易委员会的质询，各投行显然不想面临这种局面。之前曾有消息人士对我说，中国赴美企业会计丑闻中的东南融通就因类似收购而导致其财务状况遭质疑，因其所收购的一个或多个公司存在会计问题。若果真如此，在当前信任危机闹得沸沸扬扬之时，那些靠并购发展的企业可能尤其易受伤。

一句话：那些像“窝窝团”一样通过并购发展的企业会发现自己在此次中国赴美企业会计丑闻中面临着更严格的审查。

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Sharks Come Out in China Stock Crisis 信任危机冲击在美上市中资股

◙ Wall Street Clean-Up Underway Amid Accounting Crisis 会计危机中华尔街展开清理行动

◙ China Confidence Crisis Separates Wheat from Chaff 中国企业信任危机 对不同公司各有利弊

Investors Feast on Sun Art 高鑫零售首日挂牌表现抢眼

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After weeks of seeing one IPO scrapped after another as market sentiment toward China listings evaporated, especially in the Internet space, it’s nice to see there’s still healthy demand for a good, solid offer like hypermarket operator Sun Art Retail Group’s (HKEx: 6808) $1 billion IPO. After pricing at the top of their range, Sun Art’s Hong Kong listed shares soared as much as 43 percent on their first trading day, in one of the best debuts this year and in sharp contrast to the many flops for Chinese companies going public in Hong Kong and the United States. (English article) Sentiment has dropped so sharply that three companies, Internet firms Xunlei, Tudou and Shanda Cloudary, have all yanked their offerings in the last week due to terrible demand as investors fret over the quality of these firms’ accounting. (previous post) Such is clearly not the case for Sun Art, which operates in a much more straightforward business running supermarkets, which also has huge potential. As China’s mid-tier and smaller cities become wealthier, supermarket operators like Sun Art, whose stores carry the RT-Mart and Auchan names, should be able to go into these areas and easily attract consumers with their stores that offer more convenience and variety to traditional food stores that now dominate most of these towns. A growing number of suburban satellite cities of major metropolises like Shanghai and Beijing should also provide good fodder for growth. Already ranking first in the hypermarket sector, just ahead of Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), China Resources Enterprise (HKEx: 291) and Carrefour (Paris: CAR), Sun Art seems in prime position to capitalize on China’s growing hunger for mega-supermarkets.

Bottom line: Sun-Art looks like a strong bet for China’s fast-growing supermarket space, with plenty of room for upside for its newly listed shares.

随着市场对中国上市企业情绪转弱，数周来各公司纷纷取消IPO计划，尤其是在互联网领域。很高兴还能看到市场对像大卖场运营商高鑫零售有限公司<6808.HK>等好企业的股票需求强劲。高鑫零售IPO价格定在招股区间上限，规模为10亿美元。高鑫零售上市首日飙升43%。是今年上市首日表现最好的股票之一，与在香港和美国上市的其他中国企业股票的下跌形成鲜明对比。市场人气急转直下，以致迅雷、土豆和盛大文学三家企业均在上周搁置上市计划，因投资者担心各公司财务问题，认购情况不好。但高鑫零售很明显未受此影响。随着中国二线和较小城市日益富裕，高鑫零售等大卖场运营商应该能打入这些地区，并能轻易地吸引消费者。北京、上海等大城市周围日益增加的郊区卫星城市也将为其增长提供机遇。作为中国国内最大的大卖场运营商，高鑫零售似乎在中国超大型超市的发展中占得了先机。

一句话：在中国快速发展的超级市场行业，高鑫零售看似非常有潜力，其股票还有很大上升空间。

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ China’s Drive to the Suburbs: A Nice Supermarket Play 中国年轻人郊区购房 超市势将获益

◙ Wal-Mart Buys Into China E-Commerce 沃尔玛进军中国电子商务

◙ Belle, Baidu See Beauty in Online Shoe Store 百度和百丽投资优购网或为明智之举

News Digest: July 28, 2011

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The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on July 28. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════

◙ Sun Art Has Strongest Debut in Hong Kong in Two Years, Defying IPO Slump (English article)

◙ 55Tuan Fails to Find IPO Underwriter – Source (English article; Chinese article)

◙ Panasonic To Sell Sanyo’s Home Appliance Business To Haier-Source (English article)

◙ Groupon’s Gaopeng Suspends Ads on Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) (English article)

◙ Simcere Pharmaceutical (NYSE: SCR) to Announce Q2 Results on August 9 (PRNewswire)

 

Nissan Jumps on China Expansion Bandwagon, Overcapacity Ahead 日产加入中国市场扩张潮 未来料产能过剩

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China seems destined for a big glut in its car-building capacity, with Nissan Motor (Tokyo: 7201) becoming the latest global auto maker to announce a major expansion in the market, with plans to spend $7.8 billion to nearly double its capacity over the next four years. (English article) This latest announcement between Nissan and Chinese partner Dongfeng (HKEx: 489), comes just weeks after Daimler (Frankfurt: DCXGn) announced a 2 billion euro expansion of its plant with Beijing-based BAIC (English article), and follows other similarly super-sized announcements by Ford (NYSE: F) and Volkswagen (Frankfurt: VOWG). The general tenor seems to be that most companies are planning to nearly double their China capacity over the next four years or so. The only problem is, growth in China’s auto market, now the world’s biggest, is slowing considerably from its turbo charged days of 2009 and 2010, when incentives from Beijing fueled the gains. With those incentives now gone and many cities actually rolling out dis-incentives for new car buying to ease congestion, most analysts are saying to look for annual growth of 10 percent at best over the next few years, and at worst little or no growth and possibly even contraction. So in a best-case scenario, we’d be looking at 40-50 percent growth in total demand over the next 4 years, while capacity will probably double over that period. The only outcome in all of this can be a massive supply glut, which could see the automakers’ China profits quickly evaporate as they are forced to lower prices to sell all those cars. I see a bit of consolidation in the cards, especially among the smaller domestic players without big foreign partners, who will most likely be forced out of business as losses mount. But the broader industry is certain to suffer overall, with China losing a bit of its luster as one of the world’s most profitable car markets.

Bottom line: Nissan’s new plan to nearly double its China capacity is part of a broader trend that will see the country end up with a major supply glut by 2015.

中国似乎是注定了要走向汽车产能大幅过剩之路。日本日产汽车<7201.T>日前加入全球其他大品牌的阵营，宣布在华扩张计划。该公司计划未来四年在华投资78亿美元，推动产能接近翻番。而就在日产与合作夥伴东风<0489.HK>宣布新计划几周前，戴姆勒<DCXGn.DE>与北汽也宣布20亿欧元的在华扩张计划，此前福特<F.N>、大众<VOWG.DE>等均有类似动作。主旨大概是：多数公司计划未来四年左右实现在华产能接近翻番。这里唯一的问题是，相对於2009年与2010年时的突飞猛进，中国车市增长速度现在正在放缓。中国当时的汽车激励政策现已不再推行，而且很多城市为了缓解交通堵塞问题，实际上实行了不鼓励购买新车的政策。为此，大多分析人士预计，未来几年中国车市最快增速为10%，差的话可能增速很低、不会增长或更甚者可能会萎缩。所以在最佳状况下，未来四年汽车总需求增速大约应为40%-50%，而同期产能则可能翻番。最後的结果只能是大幅的供应过剩，很多厂商被迫降价销售，在华利润迅速蒸发。我预计汽车行业将出现整合，尤其是那些缺少海外大牌合作的中国较小汽车厂商，亏损日增很可能最终会迫使这些企业关门大吉。而随着中国作为全球利润最丰厚车市的光环逐渐淡去，整个行业也必将在劫难逃。

一句话：日产的增产计划是随了大品牌在中国车市的产能扩张潮，这一趋势的结果应该是，到2015年中国车市供应过剩。

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ China’s Car Rebound: Price War Looming? 中国车市反弹：价格战越来越近？

◙ Cars: Less Restrictions and an Interesting Second-Hand Concept 汽车业：缓慢发展或成常态

◙ VW Motors into South China on Beijing Own-Brand Drive 大众汽车“南方战略”加速

UPS Puts Chengdu on the Global Map

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The interior city of Chengdu looks to be the next rising star on China’s tech map, receiving a major nod of recognition from global express delivery leader UPS (NYSE: UPS), which is adding the capital city of Sichuan province to its global express delivery map. (company announcement) UPS cites broader demand from that part of China, which has also seen neighboring cities like Xian and Chongqing grow quickly as China offers strong incentives for companies to set up shop in its relatively underdeveloped western interior. As a longtime tech writer, I’ve been particularly impressed with Chengdu, which seems to have a strong ability to attract some of the world’s top-tier technology names to the city with its abundance of college graduates, good transport networks and of course its tasty Sichuan food. Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) was one of the earliest players in the city when it set up a chip manufacturing plant there seven years ago, and Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) opened up shop in the city last year when it took over a plant from SMIC (HKEx: 981; NYSE: SMI). Most major PC players have also opened plants there in the last 2-3 years, including both Hewlett Packard (NYSE: HPQ) and Dell (Nasdaq: DELL), (previous post) along with Taiwanese contract manufacturer Hon Hai (Taipei: 2317). From an investor perspective, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to start seeing some interesting and dynamic tech firms coming out of this city, which offers not only a strong technology ecosystem, but also low costs and strong links to the rest of the world, which just got a little stronger with the addition of the city to UPS’ global map.

Bottom line: Look for interesting tech plays to emerge from Chengdu in the next few years, boosted by strong support from global players like Intel and logistics leader UPS.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Intel’s Move Nods to China Gadget Clout, Smells Slightly of Desperation 英特尔人事调动突显中国市场影响力

◙ Acer and Dell: One Cuts, One Pastes 宏基裁人、戴尔建厂

◙ Diageo’s China Baijiu Bid: Aiming for the Middle 帝亚吉欧瞄准中国中档白酒市场

Dajie, China’s Linked In, Breaks Out With New Funds

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While names like Renren (NYSE: RENN), Kaixin and Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) battle it out for supremacy in the mainstream social networking space, another less-known name, Dajie, has quietly popped onto the scene with a new round of funding in its drive to become China’s version of professional networking site Linked In. Chinese media are reporting that Dajie.com, founded just three years ago, has received a round of venture funding in the neighborhood of $10 million from a respectable field of investors that includes Fidelity Growth Partners Asia and leading education services provider New Oriental (NYSE: EDU). (English article) Industry watchers will note that Linked In (NYSE: LNKD), which raised $350 million in a May IPO, isn’t blocked in China, but also that it hasn’t made an especially strong effort to cultivate the China market. Frankly speaking, I think the market for a more professional-type service like Linked In in China is probably relatively small, as most people who use SNS in China tend to be quite young and like to mostly chatter on these sites. But as these same young people grow up and move into white collar jobs, sites like Dajie could easily become a hot ticket in the China Internet market, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Linked In takes a serious look at China in the next 2 to 3 years as that happens, assuming that China doesn’t lock it out the way it has with other social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. (previous post) Considering that Dajie is probably at least 2-3 years away from an IPO at the earliest, I’d say this is definitely a company to watch and one that could offer investors a good way to tap into the growing legions of young white-collar Chinese with increasing amounts of money to spend.

Bottom line: Dajie looks like a good player to watch in the underdeveloped field of SNS for professionals, and could become the country’s next Linked In following a new round of funding.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Linked In Braces for Lock Out, But Does It Really Matter?

◙ Sina Gets Serious on SNS With New “Blogging Light” 新浪推出轻博客 大力进军社交网络业务

◙ Facebook’s China Tie Up: No Big Deal Facebook能否入华？

 

Baidu’s One-Dimensional Growth Story Continues 百度亮丽财报难掩前景不确定性

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China Internet bellwether Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) has just announced its latest quarterly results, which continue to show a company with strong growth but a worrisome inability to diversify beyond its core online search business that is showing early signs of slowing. First the good news, which has clearly captured investor attention, with Baidu’s revenue up about 80 percent and profits up an even stronger 90 percent in the second quarter, thanks to surging sales for its online search advertising services. (company announcement) Furthermore, Baidu also forecast its third-quarter revenue will continue to grow in the 75-80 percent range to more than $600 million — second in China’s Internet space behind only sector leader Tencent (HKEx: 700). But those strong numbers also hide the less impressive fact that Baidu still derives 100 percent of its revenue from online marketing related to its core search business, after high-profile initiatives in a number of other areas like micro-blogging and e-commerce all ended in disappointing failures. (previous post) What’s more, its volume of online marketing customers only grew by a modest 17 percent in the second quarter, with its big revenue growth coming on the back of a sharp 50 percent jump in spending per customer. Clearly Baidu is finding ways to squeeze more money out of its customers, but that growth is likely to slow down sharply in the next year as advertisers start to reach their comfort limits over spending too much on a single marketing source, no matter how good the results. When that happens, look for Baidu’s top and bottom line growth to slow sharply — most likely in the next year or two — unless it can find some alternate new sources of growth from some of its other business initiatives.

Bottom line: Despite posting stellar Q2 results, Baidu’s top and bottom line growth will slow sharply in the next 1-2 years as its search business starts to mature and advertisers rein in their spending.

中国互联网巨头百度<BIDU.O>刚刚公布季度财报，显示其保持强劲增长势头，但令人担忧的是，百度仍严重依赖其核心的网上搜索业务，而该领域已呈现放缓苗头。首先，我们得说其强劲财报是个好消息，显然也吸引了投资者的关注。得益於在线搜索广告营收大幅增长，百度第二季营收增约80%，获利更跳升约90%。此外，百度预计第三季营收将保持75-80%的增幅，超过6亿美元，若实现该目标则在中国互联网领域仅次于腾讯<0700.HK>。但这些亮丽的数据掩盖了一个事实：百度所有营收都来自与核心搜索业务有关的网络营销，意味着其在微博和电子商务等领域的尝试均遇挫。值得注意的是，今年第一季其网络营销客户总数仅增加了17%，百度营收增长主要源自客户的平均支出跳增50%。显然，百度成功从客户处掏出了更多的钱，但未来一年其增长率可能大幅放缓，因广告客户将开始不愿意在单一营销渠道上投入太多的资金，不管广告效果有多好。到那时候，除非百度能找到其他新的营收和利润增长渠道，否则其营收和利润增长会急剧减速，这很可能在未来一两年就会发生。

一句话：尽管百度第二季财报抢眼，但未来一两年中其营收和利润增长可能大幅放缓，因其核心搜索业务开始趋於成熟，而广告客户将开始控制广告支出。

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Baidu Flounders Abroad, Wastes Time With Microsoft Tie-Up 百度海外拓展 与微软合作纯属浪费时间

◙ Baidu’s Takes a $300 Mln Spin on Travel Market 百度斥资3亿美元进军旅游市场

◙ Baidu’s Latest Botch: Microblogging 百度“微博”的倒掉

 

Sharks Come Out in China Stock Crisis 信任危机冲击在美上市中资股

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The accounting confidence crisis continues to take its toll on New York-listed China firms, with some mixed signs coming from the struggling solar sector and a very “shark-like” announcement from a US law firm looking to take advantage of the situation. The China Daily reports the crisis has already claimed Longtop Financial, ShengdaTech and China MediaExpress as victims, all of which have been delisted (English article), and last week two larger firms, AutoChina International (Nasdaq: AUTC) and CDC Software (Nasdaq: CDCS), said they were out of compliance with listing  rules for failing to file annual reports on time — a first step toward potential de-listing. Now a US law firm named Blank Rome has stepped in by generously offering to provide services to some of the more troubled firms, many of which are likely to face shareholder lawsuits due to plunging share prices on investor concerns about shady accounting. (company announcement) Of course, many of the upcoming lawsuits will probably go nowhere, as the firms will quietly de-list and retreat to China where they will be out of reach of the US legal system. Meantiime, there’s another potentially troubling sign from the struggling solar sector, which may be set for its own accounting crisis due to questionable sales, with Canadian Solar’s (Nasdaq: CSIQ) announcement that it’s replacing its CFO. (company announcement) That announcement follows recent resignations of audit committee chairs at LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK) and Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL), (previous post) though one of my sources tells me Canadian Solar’s resignation may be unrelated to accounting issues. Lastly, there’s a small piece of good news in the alternate energy sector from Ming Yang, which says it’s joined a group developing a relatively sizable 48-megawatt wind power project in south China’s Guangdong province. (company announcement) While announcements like this are encouraging and show China is stepping up to help its struggling alternate energy equipment makers, it could end up being too little too late if the sector’s rapid downward spiral doesn’t end soon.

Bottom line: The accounting confidence crisis for US-listed Chinese stocks is still playing out, and will claim more victims, potentially including some alternate energy firms, before the clean-up ends.

会计操作信任危机继续冲击在美国上市的中资股，而近期走势挣扎的太阳能板块释放出好坏参半的讯号。《中国日报》报导称，融通金融、盛大科技和中国高速频道，已沦为这场信任危机的牺牲品，均已遭摘牌或停牌。此外就在上周，汽车中国国际<AUTC.O>和中华网软件<CDCS.O>称违反了上市公司规章，未及时申报年度报告，而这或许成为走向摘牌的第一步。现在，有家名为Blank Rome的美国律所提出向一些陷入窘境的中资企业提供服务，这其中许多中资企业因会计操作疑虑导致股价重挫，可能遭股东起诉。当然，许多的官司可能最後无果而终，相关公司将悄然摘牌，退回到中国，美国司法制度可能也就鞭长莫及了。与此同时，太阳能板块传递出一些令人忧心的讯号，该领域或许也迎来一场会计信任危机。Canadian Solar<CSIQ.O>财务长近日辞职，而此前赛维太阳能<LDK.N>、天合光能<TSL.N>审计委员会主席也已辞职。不过有消息人士告诉我，Canadian Solar财务长辞职可能与会计操作无关。不过替代能源行业也有一些好消息，譬如明阳风电加入了广东一48百万瓦风电项目。虽然这类消息令人兴奋，表明中国正加大扶持替代能源设备制造商，但如果该领域快速下行的趋势不赶快结束，政府扶持可能也收效不大。

一句话：美国上市中资股面临的会计操作信任危机仍在继续，可能会有更多的中国企业中招，其中可能包括一些替代能源企业。

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Wall Street Clean-Up Underway Amid Accounting Crisis 会计危机中华尔街展开清理行动

◙ Latest Solar Audit Resignation Hints at Major Issues Ahead 中国太阳能行业再现审计人员辞职：昭示问题还在前方

◙ China Confidence Crisis Separates Wheat from Chaff 中国企业信任危机 对不同公司各有利弊

BYD Toots Electric Horn in Shenzhen 比亚迪在深圳奏响电动汽车号角

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In some ways you have to admire BYD (HKEx: 1211; Shenzhen: 002594), the Warren Buffett-backed car maker, for its ability to stay on message despite a rapid fall from grace that will likely see it post its first quarterly loss in a long time in the second quarter. (previous post) Despite all its setbacks, including a crash that has seen its Hong Kong-listed shares lose about two-thirds of their value from a 52-week high, the company is continuing to focus on its dreams of becoming the world’s first company to  make serious money from electric vehicles, as evidenced by its latest announcement that it is providing the world’s biggest EV fleet to its hometown of Shenzhen. (company announcement) At first glance the numbers look impressive: a new series of agreements have seen BYD provide Shenzhen with a fleet of 200 electric buses and 300 electric taxis. But further reading makes the numbers a little less noteworthy, as it becomes clear that a portion of these vehicles may only stay in use during the upcoming Universiade Games, and also that many pieces of this tie-up were previously announced. I’ve said before that BYD needs to get back to basics and design some good traditional gas-consuming cars that people want to buy if it wants to get back on the right track and return to profitability anytime soon. Its electric vehicle vision may indeed work out in the end, especially with the strong support it’s getting from Shenzhen, though even in this area I would only give it a 50 percent chance of success. But if it doesn’t return to the right track soon, it could soon lose support from Buffett, and could potentially even end up out of the car business completely before its electric dreams ever have time to become reality.

Bottom line: BYD is again showing off its strong support from Shenzhen in achieving its electric car dreams, but it may run out of gas before those dreams have a chance to succeed.

在某种程度上，你不得不对比亚迪<002594.SZ> <1211.HK>坚持不懈的精神表示钦佩，尽管其第二季度很可能出现长时间以来的首次季度亏损。尽管比亚迪遭遇了种种挫折，包括其香港股价较52周高点缩水约三分之二，但公司仍致力於成为世界上首家实现电动车盈利公司的梦想，这也可以从比亚迪刚刚发布的声明中可见一斑，比亚迪近日宣布，已与深圳各大公交运营机构正式签署合同，向其提供新能源汽车租赁服务。乍一看，数字确实可观。比亚迪将提供200辆电动大巴以及300辆电动出租车。但仔细研读後发现这也没什麽大不了的，因为很明显，这些汽车中有部分可能只会在即将到来的大运会期间使用，而且很多相关合作项目之前曾有宣布。我之前曾说过，如果比亚迪想重回正轨并尽快恢复盈利，它需要回到基础的东西上，设计出一些人们愿意购买的高质量传统汽车。比亚迪的电动汽车梦想或许最终会实现，特别是获得了深圳方面的大力支持，不过我认为比亚迪的成功机率只有50%。但如果比亚迪不能尽快回到正轨，它可能很快会失去巴菲特的支持，甚至在其电动汽车梦还未实现之前，便可能被完全淘汰出汽车市场。

一句话：比亚迪再次向公众表明其在实现电动车梦想方面获得了深圳方面的大力支持，但在其梦想有机会实现前，比亚迪或许已经动力不足了。

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ BYD: Running on Empty? 比亚迪：累了？

◙ China’s Car Rebound: Price War Looming? 中国车市反弹：价格战越来越近？

◙ BYD IPO: Selling Into a Skeptical Market 比亚迪IPO 市场疑虑重重