Meitu (01357) announced 19-year results, and the net loss narrowed to 397 million yuan: Meitu (01357) announced that the annual operating income for 19 years was 978 million yuan (the same as the same below), up 3.19% from a year earlier. Among them, online advertising revenue increased by more than 20%, advanced subscription services and in-app purchase revenue increased by 5.18% to 860 million yuan, and gross profit margin increased by 19.6% to 71.5%. The loss attributable to shareholders is 397 million yuan (18 years: loss 1.255 billion yuan), and the loss per share is 0.09 yuan (18 years: loss 0.3 yuan). No final interest. During the period, excluding the discontinued mobile phone business, shareholders attributable to the continuing business of the net adjusted loss of 191 million yuan, (18 years: loss of 857 million yuan). In terms of operating data, the number of monthly active users of Meitu fell 7.8% to 282 million in 19 years, of which the number of monthly active users of "Meitu" fell 0.9% to 116 million. The group pointed out that last year, the average daily use time of "Meitu" social users rose from 12.5 minutes in the first half to 13.6 minutes in the second half of the year. After the outbreak of COVID-19, the group said that some brand advertisers have become cautious about the advertising budget, and their advertising business will be negatively affected to a certain extent. As mainlanders may continue to stay at home, Meitu's remote dermatologist consultation service launched in the second quarter may benefit from it.

02858.HK Group (Yixin) turned from loss to profit in 19 years, for the first time since it went public at the end of 17 years: Yixin's revenue in 19 years increased 5% to 5.8 billion yuan compared with the same period last year, benefiting from the increase in core business income, improved gross profit margin, business scale expansion and improved operating efficiency. During the period, gross profit margin rose 3 percentage points year-on-year to 48%. In 19 years, the net profit was 30.94 million yuan (18 years: a loss of 167 million yuan), and for the first time since listing at the end of 2017. Adjusted net profit rose 27% year-on-year to 440 million yuan. No dividend. The impairment loss of financial assets in the provision for expected credit losses, accounts receivable and other receivables impairment increased by 66 per cent to 1.11 billion yuan compared with the same period last year. Yi Xin explained that mainly because of the stricter regulatory environment in collecting consumer arrears since the second half of 1919, lawsuits began to be taken as the main solution for collection. However, the longer processing time has a negative impact on the efficiency of debt recovery, and the ratio of non-performing debts and the provision for expected credit losses of financial lease receivables have increased. The Group expects that the provision for impairment of accounts receivable will decrease in the future.

COVID-19 also affects Amazon.Com Inc's e-commerce sales: COVID-19 affects all kinds of industries, even e-commerce is not immune. Taking into account the impact of the epidemic on e-commerce sales, Amazon.Com Inc (Amazon) decided to extend the repayment period for e-commerce sellers until April 30, with no interest, Reuters reported. As the world's largest e-commerce platform, Amazon.Com Inc has launched the AmazonLending program since 2011, providing loans ranging from US $1000 to US $750000 to platform merchants so that they can have sufficient funds to search for goods, expand product lines and place advertisements on Amazon.Com Inc platform. It has been reported that the loan is of a short-term nature with a repayment period of 12 months. according to the data of Fundera, the SME financing comparison platform, the loan interest rate of the Scheme is not higher than 16%, but Reuters reported that the interest rate should be between 6% and 19.9%. By the end of 2019, the amount to be repaid by merchants was about US $863 million. In response to the global pandemic of lung disease, governments of various countries have promulgated isolation measures to varying degrees to reduce the risk of virus transmission, which would have been conducive to the rise of e-commerce business, but as the supply chain and logistics of goods are also hindered by the epidemic, affecting the purchase and delivery of goods by merchants, on the one hand, it puts pressure on cash flow, and on the other hand, it also increases the risk of losing customers. Last week, Amazon.Com Inc announced that the company's warehouses in Europe and the United States would stop receiving non-essential goods and hope to concentrate resources on medical care, infant supplies, health and household necessities.

The speed of the Internet in as many as 88 cities in the United States has slowed significantly: the epidemic in the United States continues to worsen and people are forced to stay at home to prevent the virus from spreading. According to a report by broadband analytics website BroadbandNow, as many as 88 cities in the United States have seen a marked decline in Internet speed in the past week, raising questions about whether the Internet is slowing down because too many people work from home or live at home to relieve boredom. Using the median internet download speed as a parameter, the BroadbandNow report surveyed the top 200 most populous cities in the US and compared the data for the period from March 15 to 21 with the previous 10 weeks and found that as many as 88 cities experienced a decline in Internet speed, of which 27 cities fell by at least 20 per cent, while Austin in Texas, Oxnard in California and Winston Salem in North Carolina fell by more than 40 per cent. The report stresses that Internet speeds in most cities in the United States are stable and are still sufficient for telecommuting or online learning. However, the broadband speed in some areas is lower than the 25Mbps standard set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), such as Anchorage, Alaska's largest city, whose average Internet speed is about 17.77Mbps, which is significantly lower than the standard. Local telecommunications service providers in the United States have agreed to abolish the data excess surcharge, the report said. In Europe, where the epidemic is also severe, film and television streaming platforms YouTube, Netflix and Amazon PrimeVideo have successively downgraded the film resolution in the European Union, and YouTube announced a few days ago that it will reduce the global film preset resolution to standard definition in order to relieve the bandwidth pressure on the hardware industry.

Counterpoint Research pointed to a year-on-year decline in global smartphone sales in February. 14%:Counterpoint Research data show that global smartphone sales fell 14% in February from a year earlier, and sales are likely to decline further as the COVID-19 epidemic continues to worsen in many regions. Counterpoint Research pointed out that the epidemic led Apple Inc and other smartphone makers to close their stores in China last month. Sales in the mainland smartphone market were estimated to have fallen 38% in February from a year earlier, and sales showed signs of recovery as several stores reopened in the middle of this month. Jean Park, a senior analyst at Counterpoint, said smartphone sales in South Korea had also recovered, but for the rest of the world, "the worst is yet to come". Smartphone makers are facing new supply chain disruptions as more countries implement city closures, it said. In addition, (Nikkei Asian Review) reported that a global pandemic could hit demand and affect the product development schedule, and Apple Inc had discussed postponing the release of 5G iPhone by several months. It is also mentioned that Apple Inc faces a variety of challenges due to the impact of the epidemic on its supply chain. At present, the demand for consumer upgrading of mobile phone users is not high, so that the demand for high-end mobile phones is facing uncertainty. Apple Inc declined to comment.

SHKP (01686) applied to lease the site of Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate for the construction of a data centre, but the application was not accepted: SHKP (00016) applied to the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park (01686) to lease the site of Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate for the construction of a data centre in 2012, but the application was not accepted. Xinyi later questioned that the Science and Technology Park connived at illegal subletting by data center operators who cheaply leased the land concerned, so it filed a judicial review last year, asking the court to order the Science and Technology Park to enforce the terms of the lease to crack down on the sublease for profit. The court issued a verdict yesterday, ruling that Xinyi lost the case and had to pay legal costs.

Communication industry

HKT Trust and HKT (06823) introduced VR K-pop content for CSL Mobile 5G users: HKT Trust and HKT (06823), PCCW Media and South Korean mobile network operator LG U+ announced the exclusive introduction of virtual reality (VR) K-pop content for Hong Kong CSL Mobile 5G users, enabling mobile users to enjoy a revolutionary mobile entertainment experience in the 5G generation. Starting from April 1, 5G users of CSL Mobile will be able to enjoy "The Show" and other VR content through the newly launched "csl.5G VR Application App". Tsai Weijian, president of the pay TV business of PCCW Media Group, said that Hong Kong is about to enter the 5G era, and new technologies, including VR, will push the audio-visual experience to another level. PCCW Media has extensive experience in providing innovative features for its pay TV and OTT users, and the partnership with LG U+ further highlights the company's commitment to providing the best viewing experience to viewers in Hong Kong and other markets in the region. Lin Guocheng, Managing Director of CSL Mobile's personal mobile communications business, pointed out that with the ultra-high speed and low latency characteristics of 5G, it has opened a new page for VR applications, and K-pop is very popular among Hong Kong users, the combination of the two will certainly bring 5G users an immersive experience.