Bilibili reports strong gaming income increase
Shanghai-headquartered online video streaming and entertainment site Bilibili said revenue in the second quarter climbed 76 percent to 1.03 billion yuan (US$155.1 million), thanks to increased gaming income and live-streaming services.
Net losses increased to 70.3 million yuan compared with 50.4 million yuan in the same period a year ago, largely due to higher marketing expenses.
Average active monthly users climbed 30 percent from a year ago to 85 million, and active monthly mobile users were 71.4 million by the end of June.
Online gaming income climbed 61 percent to 791 million yuan, contributing 77 percent of overall revenue.
Revenue from live broadcasting and value-added services nearly tripled to 118.6 million yuan.
The app was temporarily suspended from download through the domestic android application market and Apple's app store as part of a nationwide inspection of major Internet platforms providing short video content.
Chairman Chen Rui said in a conference call after the earnings release that the one-month suspension would have a slight impact, but that he expects user growth momentum to continue in the second half.
"We remain committed to further enhancing content quality and user experience improvement and will continue sourcing and acquiring premium content as well as optimizing our monetization strategy," he said.
He also added that the suspension of new game launches would not pose a very serious problem for the company, despite short term revenue impact.
Cost of revenue, selling and marketing expenses also picked up, nearly doubling from a year ago, as summer is a peak season for online entertainment activities among users born between 1990 and 2000.
The hike in selling and marketing expenses in the second quarter was attributed to increased channel and marketing expenses for Bilibili's mobile application, as well as promotional expenses for its mobile games and an increase in selling and marketing personnel.