Ali Pictures's New Half-Year Earnings Released on 22.12

Originally published on tech.sina.com.cn, 19/12/14 (Full Chinese article here)

December 19. Today, Ali Pictures (01060.HK) released their un-audited, half-year earnings (ending June 30th). The company reported first-half revenues of $113 million HKD (around $14 million USD). Compared with last year's $474 million, revenues are down 76%. Net income attributable to shareholders took a $444 million net loss, a significant 334% on last year's $133 million.

In the first half of 2014, Ali Pictures lost 5.05 cents per share, compared with basic earnings of 1.72 cents per share. Net value of shares were 0.37 per share as of December 31 last year, compared to 0.21 now.

However, Ali Pictures has adjusted some of the data on its half-year earnings, and the new numbers will be announced on December 22 at 9:00AM, when their trading is set to officially resume. Earlier, on August 15, Ali Pictures announced the suspension of trading in order to conduct self-examination into its financial issues, which were published last week.

According to the announcement, this suspension was related to content display, as Ali Pictures changed its name in August and the board and management team took on new members to improve business and get the company on track. Moving forward, Ali Pictures will continue focusing on film markets in 2015.

In addition, the company is currently working with Wong Kar-wai and Stephen Chow to discuss the details of cooperation.

This financial announcement is among the first for Ali Pictures in terms of disclosing information on its business positioning systems, collaborative strategies and corporate development. This is also the first time that the company has disclosed information to investors about the company's new management team.

Alibaba Holding Group said that Ali Pictures's financial position and strength makes it a viable partner. Thanks to its media resources, it it can channel investment and expand upon existing business opportunities. At the time of the report's release, Ali Pictures held nearly 6.5 billion HKD in reserves.

In Hong Kong, Ali Pictures has become a flagship for the Alibaba Group's culture and entertainment businesses -- the two sides have cooperated on resources and operational synergies.

As for business strategy, Ali Pictures's announcement shows the company will use Alibaba Group's Internet expertise and resources to further expand its media business online in order to transform traditional culture and entertainment industries with the help of big data, ultimately building a cultural industry franchise.

Alibaba Group, as a mature ecosystem, has already accumulated a lot of resources -- accordingly, there is a great framework for Ali Pictures to build on.