Baidu Net Rises 79 Percent After Winning China Users (Update2)
By John Liu
Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Baidu.com Inc., operator of China's most used Internet search site, reported profit and sales that topped analysts' estimates after new services helped win users from rival Yahoo! Inc. The shares rose in extended trading.
Fourth-quarter net income rose 79 percent to 219.8 million yuan ($30.5 million), or 6.32 yuan per American depositary receipt, from 122.8 million yuan, or 3.54 yuan per ADR, a year earlier, Baidu said today in a statement. Sales more than doubled to 571.1 million yuan.
Chief Executive Officer Robin Li lured users away from Yahoo and Sohu.com Inc. in the second-largest Internet market by introducing services for finding celebrity news, financial data and online videos. To further spur growth, Baidu started a service in Japan and plans to open a consumer trading site this year to compete with Alibaba.com Corp.
``Baidu is the dominant search company in China, and no rival is near to overtaking them,'' Eric Wen, an analyst at BNP Paribas in Shanghai, said before the announcement. He advises investors to buy the shares. ``That Baidu, with this lead, is also looking at how to expand and improve its business says a lot about their company culture.''
Analysts had estimated profit of 184.1 million yuan, according to the average of seven estimates compiled by Bloomberg. They projected sales of 548.3 million yuan, based on 12 estimates.
Shares Gain
Baidu rose $12.88, or 4.9 percent, to $273.97 in U.S. after-hours trading following the earnings announcement. The ADRs, which each represent one Class A share, climbed $15.66 to $261.09 today in regular Nasdaq Stock Market trading.
The company expects first-quarter sales of 533 million yuan to 548 million yuan, according to the release. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was 566.7 million yuan.
Development spending in the fourth quarter more than doubled to 46.5 million yuan after the company added workers, Baidu said. Sales and administrative expenses rose 86 percent to 132.2 million yuan as Baidu expanded its direct sales staff.
China added 73 million Internet users in 2007, increasing its tally to 210 million, second only to the U.S., according to the government-backed China Network Information Center.
Market Share
Baidu's share of the Chinese search market rose to 60 percent in the fourth quarter from 58 percent a year earlier, according to Analysys International. Google Inc.'s share climbed to 26 percent from 17 percent, while Yahoo's fell to 9.6 percent from 13 percent. Sohu's share dropped to 1.2 percent from 5 percent, the Beijing-based research firm said.
Yahoo's China unit, operated by Alibaba, said last month it will trim jobs. Fewer than 100 workers will be cut, Alibaba said.
Yahoo, which rejected a takeover bid from Microsoft Corp. this week, became Alibaba's single biggest shareholder in 2005. Alibaba owns China's biggest trading Web sites for individuals and businesses.
Baidu plans to introduce a service in 2008 that will compete for users with Alibaba's Taobao.com, a Web site where individuals sell goods to one another. Alibaba.com Corp. is the parent of Hong Kong-listed Alibaba.com Ltd., which lets businesses exchange goods. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=adhDzIq8N1mc&refer=home
Genzyme Turns To Profit In Q4 On Strong Drug Sales; Guides Q1, FY08 - Update [GENZ]
2/13/2008 10:50:53 AM Wednesday morning, biotechnology company Genzyme Corp. (GENZ) reported a profit for the fourth quarter, compared to net loss in the year-ago quarter. Results for the latest quarter were boosted by strong drug sales, in addition to acquisition-related charges in the prior-year period. Adjusted earnings per share for the quarter climbed 18%. In addition, the company provided earnings outlook for the first quarter, and earnings as well as revenue outlook for fiscal year 2008.
Fourth Quarter Results
The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company's net income for the fourth quarter was $78.90 million, or $0.29 per share compared to net loss of $268.23 million, or $1.02 per share in the same quarter of the prior year.
On a non-GAAP basis, the company's net income grew 19% to $249.2 million from $209.0 million in the prior-year quarter, while non-GAAP earnings per share increased 18% to $0.91 from $0.77 a year ago. On average, nineteen analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial expected earnings of $0.92 per share for the quarter.
The company's total revenues for the quarter were $1.04 billion, up 21% from $854.24 million in the same quarter last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $1.01 billion for the quarter.
Total operating costs and expenses for the quarter declined to $920.03 million from $1.24 billion in the previous-year quarter. Of this, selling, general and administrative expenses rose to $307.63 million from $266.56 million in the year-ago period. Research and development expenses increased to $191.59 million from $166.39 million in the prior-year quarter. Purchase of in-process research and development in the quarter was $106.35 million, compared to $552.90 million a year ago.
Operating income for the latest quarter was $116.73 million, compared to operating loss of $383.55 million in the year-ago quarter.
Genzyme reported a provision for income taxes of $53.77 million in the quarter, compared to income tax benefit of $96.72 million a year ago.
Product wise, sales of Gaucher disease treatment Cerezyme rose 15% in the quarter to $301 million from $262 million a year ago, while sales of Pompe disease treatment Myozyme more than doubled in the fourth quarter to $62 million from $30 million in the year-ago period. Sales of Aldurazyme, which is indicated for the treatment of mucopolysaccharidosis I, increased to $34 million from $26 million in the previous-year quarter. Fourth quarter sales of Thyrogen surged 26% to $31 million from $25 million in the year-ago quarter, while sales of Renagel rose 23% to $167 million from $135 million in the prior-year quarter. Sales of the company's Fabry disease treatment Fabrazyme increased 18% to $114 million from $97 million in the same quarter last year.
Fiscal Year 2007 Results
For Fiscal year 2007, the company's net income was $480.19 million, or $1.74 per share, compared to net loss of $16.80 million, or $0.06 per share last year.
Non-GAAP net income for the year increased 27% to $939.93 million from $742.7 million a year ago, while earnings per share climbed 25% to $3.47 from $2.77 in the prior year. Analysts expected earnings of $3.47 per share for the year.
Total revenues for the year increased 20% to $3.81 billion from $3.19 billion a year ago. Wall Street analysts expected revenues of $3.78 billion for the year.
Playboy Expects 30 Percent Ad Revenue Decline Playboy magazine expects a 30 percent decline in advertising revenues in the first quarter of 2008, the company told investors today during its fourth quarter earnings call. The company reported $85.9 million total net revenue, down $1.1 million compared to the same period in 2006.
Playboy’s publishing group reported $24.7 million in revenue, a $1.5 million segment loss for the quarter. Flat newsstand revenues and lower subscription revenues led to a five percent decline in total circulation revenues to $12.6 million. Advertising revenues declined three percent in the quarter to $8 million.
The publishing group’s net revenue in 2007 was $93.8 million, down from $97.1 million in 2006.
The grim advertising projection comes on the heels of its Fas-Fax audit statement, released Monday, which shows single copy sales of the magazine fell 35.8 percent during the second half of 2007. Overall, total circulation fell from 3,001,723 to 2,700,262—a 10 percent drop.
The overall earnings report included a $1.9 million charge due to the sale of the Andrita television studio, a deal the company expects to be completed in March 2008.
Net income for Playboy Enterprises totaled $4.9 million in 2007, more than double the $2.3 million reported in 2006. The company attributed the growth, in part, to its licensing group, which was up 18 percent (to $10.5 million) from $8.9 million the year before. http://www.foliomag.com/2008/playboy-expects-30-percent-ad-revenue-decline
DirecTV Q4 earnings edge down on higher interest LOS ANGELES - DirecTV Group Inc. said Wednesday higher interest payments on its debt sent fourth-quarter earnings down 2 percent, but the satellite TV operator's revenue jumped 17 percent on strong subscriber growth and the lowest rate of U.S. customer defections in eight years.
Its stock rose 52 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $24.40 in early trading.
The El Segundo, Calif., company earned $348 million in the quarter compared with $356 million a year ago. Per-share income rose to 30 cents from 29 cents because the company had more shares outstanding in the latest period.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were looking for profit of 29 cents per share.
Revenue rose 17 percent to $4.88 billion, exceeding Wall Street's estimate for $4.77 billion.
Revenues were driven mainly by net subscriber growth in the U.S. and Latin America and higher average revenues per subscriber, which rose 8.3 percent to $87.40 due to higher prices for programming, high-definition and digital video recorder, and equipment fees.
DirecTV added 474,000 net subscribers during the quarter, including 275,000 in the U.S., closing out the period with a total of 16.8 million subscribers, up 6 percent from 15.9 million at the end of the same quarter in 2006.
The company's monthly churn rate in the U.S., or the pace of customer defection, fell during the most recent quarter to 1.42 percent, the company said. http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_8250236
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