A new report on big investment plans in digital media by Hunan Satellite Television is shining a spotlight on this aggressive company in interior China, and its potential to become an important consolidator as Beijing looks to revamp the stodgy traditional media sector. According to that report, Hunan Satellite is planning to invest 1 billion yuan ($160 million) in its Mango TV service, which delivers video over the Internet and other digital platforms and competes directly with private sector firms like Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) and Baidu’s (Nasdaq: BIDU) iQiyi. Read Full Post…
iKang Growth Steady, A Long-Term Play
Let’s take a break from the usual tech and trade war chatter today to look at the healthcare sector, focusing on the newly released maiden results from private clinic operator iKang (Nasdaq: KANG). The results look relatively solid but unspectacular, though that didn’t stop investors from dumping iKang’s shares in after-hours trade after the report came out. Even if that 17 percent sell-off holds in regular trading on Tuesday, iKang’s shares are still up about 40 percent from their IPO price back in April. Read Full Post…
Qualcomm, IBM Try Conciliation In China Clashes
After months of hostile exchanges, accusations and negative publicity, the tone in a series of disputes between Chinese and foreign companies and governments abruptly shifted late last week with new signs of conciliation from both the foreign companies and Chinese government. One case involved leading global smartphone chip maker Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) , which is being probed by Beijing for anti-competitive behavior. The other involved computing giant IBM (NYSE: IBM), whose hardware could soon be shunned by many state-owned banks after Beijing warned of national security concerns earlier this year. Read Full Post…
News Digest: August 26, 2014
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on August 26. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- German Car Parts Suppliers Asked To Form JVs In China: Stuttgarter (English article)
- Taobao, Vanke (HKEx: 2202) In Property Selling Initiative (Chinese article)
- China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Announces Interim Results (HKEx announcement)
- Hunan Satellite TV Spends 1 Bln Yuan To Support Mango TV (Chinese article)
- MIIT Issues Third Batch Of VNO Licenses To 6 Recipients (Chinese article)
- Latest calendar for Q2 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)
Xiaomi Ties With Ouya, Tangles With Pirates
You know a company is starting to mature when it becomes the subject of headlines beyond its control, which is what we’re seeing in the case of 2 of the latest news bits involving smartphone sensation Xiaomi. In the brief 4 years since its founding, Xiaomi has proven itself a master of marketing, able to keep its name constantly in the headlines through a strategic series of news leaks, sensational sales figures and other media savvy tactics. The latest headlines themselves are relatively benign, one involving a new gaming tie-up and the other involving a minor scandal related to pirated products. Read Full Post…
Qihoo At Search Milestone, Revenue Elusive
Rising online search star Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) has reached a major milestone, winning 30 percent of China’s traffic for the first time just 2 years after the launch of its So.com search engine. Despite that huge achievement, Qihoo’s newly released quarterly results show it’s having a harder time monetizing its search business, which may partly explain why its shares are down 20 percent since a peak in the spring. From the perspective of an observer, these latest signs still look quite encouraging and might even prompt a Qihoo skeptic like myself to consider buying the company’s stock at its current price. Read Full Post…
Amazon In Shanghai, Wal-Mart In Drugstores
Two of the world’s biggest retailers are in the e-commerce headlines, led by a move into Shanghai’s new pilot free trade zone by global giant Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN). At the same time, Wal-Mart-controlled (NYSE: WMT) Yhd has become China’s first e-commerce firm licensed to operate online drugstores, giving it a potential edge over other rivals also eying the space. Both of these stories highlight how the big international names are trying to use their clout and global connections to carve out a space in China’s fast growing but highly competitive e-commerce space, which is now dominated by the domestic pair of Alibaba and JD.com (Nasdaq: JD). Read Full Post…
News Digest: August 23-25, 2014
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on August 23-25. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- Regulator Says Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) Seeks To End Anti-Trust Probe (English article)
- US Game Designer Ouya Scores Xiaomi Partnership To Take Games To China (English article)
- Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) 1-day Search Traffic Share Exceeds 30 Pct – CNZZ (English article)
- BYD (HKEx: 1211) Reports Interim Results (HKEx announcement)
- IBM (NYSE: IBM) Sets Aside Rivalry To Partner With China’s Inspur (English article)
- Latest calendar for Q2 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)
Private Equity In Focus With New Firm, Fosun Bank
An exciting trend is building momentum on China’s private equity scene, with a new generation of more entrepreneurial firms taking shape to compete on the global stage with traditional giants like Carlyle (Nasdaq: CG), KKR and TPG. One of the most active of those firms is the privately owned Fosun, which has become a regular headline maker due to its recent string of global acquisitions. Now the company is in the news once more, with word that it may soon become one of only a handful of companies in China to get a license to operate a private bank. In other private equity news, the highly anticipated launch of a major new player with strong ties to Shanghai’s financial community has finally come with the formal debut of China Minsheng Investment Corp (CMIC). Read Full Post…
Cruise Operators Steam Into China
I often write about the travel and leisure industry in this space, with special focus on hotels and online travel agents that are reaping big profits from China’s fast growing middle class with plenty of money to spend on vacations. But another less visible group set to profit from the boom is the cruise industry, which is rapidly discovering a Chinese fondness for traveling aboard vacation palaces at sea. A new report on the trend seemed like a good opportunity to focus on the market, which looks set to offer big growth potential for industry leaders Carnival Corp (NYSE: CCL) and Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL). Read Full Post…
Profit Leaps At 58.com, Loss Soars At Qunar
A look at the latest earnings from online travel agent Qunar (Nasdaq: QUNR) and online classified ad site 58.com (NYSE: WUBA) made me feel like I was living in a parallel universe where everything was the opposite of what it should be. Qunar, China’s second largest online travel agent backed by leading search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), saw its loss soar 10-fold as its costs grew far faster than revenue. And yet investors welcomed the results, bidding up the company’s stock by 6 percent. Conversely, the profitable 58.com saw its earnings more than double, and yet it’s stock tanked nearly 8 percent on the report. Read Full Post…
