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Auch SINA stark!!!!! Alles gut für ISTEELASIA!!! Reuters UPDATE - Sina posts strong Q2 profit, raises Q3 outlook Thursday July 24, 12:54 am ET By Juliana Liu and Eric Auchard (Adds quotes, details, previous NEW YORK) BEIJING/NEW YORK, July 24 (Reuters) - Chinese Internet media company Sina Corp (NasdaqNM:SINA - News) reported a record quarterly profit on Thursday, buoyed by a surge in text messaging during the SARS epidemic, and hoisted its outlook for the third quarter. ADVERTISEMENT Sina said it expected further growth in mobile text messaging and online advertising sales, two areas that have powered a comeback for Sina and competitors Sohu.com (NasdaqNM:SOHU - News) and NetEase.com (NasdaqNM:NTES - News), and forecast 10 percent third-quarter revenue growth. The online media group reported a second-quarter net profit of $7.1 million, or 14 cents per share, compared with a loss of $1.89 million, or four cents per share, a year ago. "June quarter 2003 is by far the best quarter Sina has had since the company went public more than three years ago," Wang Yan, the firm`s chief executive, told analysts in a conference call. "We had record revenue, record profits and record growth rates," he said. The result met the firm`s revised guidance in late June, when it said it expected profits of 13 cents to 15 cents per share, much higher than the eight to nine cent level it had signaled in April for the quarter ending June. That forecast helped boost shares in all three Nasdaq-listed Chinese online media firms, which are now three of Asia`s most valuable Internet companies behind Yahoo Japan Corp (4689.Q). Sina shares catapulted to above $29 after the June earnings forecast from $17. They now trade about 15 times higher than levels a year ago when Internet firms were seen as has-beens. Its shares fell in New York ahead of the results, dragged down by a muted outlook from Sohu on Wednesday, but shot up 9.1 percent in after hours trade to as high as $29.37 after the earnings report. Shares in Sohu, which shed nine percent on its guidance, also partly rebounded after hours, gaining $1.17 to $37.47. Q3 GROWTH Sina`s second-quarter revenue tripled to $25.98 million, while fee-based revenue, which includes subscription services such as text messaging, skyrocketed six-fold to $16.5 million. Advertising sales climbed 63 percent to $9.5 million for the quarter from $5.8 million a year ago. Analysts say Sina benefitted from the spring outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which killed some 340 people in China and infected more than 5,000, as people used its text messaging services to stay in touch with friends and family. "SARS apparently helped overall Internet usage...and it doesn`t seem like a one-time event for them," said Safa Rashtchy, a California-based analyst with broker Piper Jaffray. Because more of Sina`s customers signed up for services through the Web than Sohu, its results were better, he said. Sohu`s customers more often buy services through indirect affiliates such as Internet cafes, which were closed as part of China`s SARS public health restrictions, Rashtchy said. He said Sina and Sohu were likely to outperform the market, but rated NetEase as "neutral" in stock performance terms. Sina, China`s biggest portal by revenue, said it expected third-quarter revenue of $28.5 million to $29.3 million, with fee-based revenue making up $18.0 million to $18.5 million. Chief Financial Officer Charles Chao told analysts a halt to marketing its services through its online partners, some of whom sell pornography, would not affect the third quarter because it gets less than one percent of revenue from such sources. It forecast third-quarter profit of 16 cents to 18 cents per diluted share. Three analysts polled by Reuters Research expected an average of 15 cents per share, with estimates ranging from eight cents a share to 16 cents a share. |
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| aus der Diskussion: | ISTEELASIA: 1000%???????? |
| Autor (Datum des Eintrages): | Wallgrekk (24.07.03 13:53:16) |
| Beitrag: | 1,061 von 3,716 (ID:10212100) |
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