Source: Wall Street News

Driven by the advertising business,$BILIBILI-W (09626.HK)$/$Bilibili (BILI.US)$Revenue in the first quarter surpassed expectations, but net loss increased significantly. Daily active users broke the 100 million mark in the first quarter, and monthly active users reached a record high.

On Thursday afternoon, Bilibili released financial reports showing that total revenue for the first quarter increased 12% year on year to RMB 5.665 billion (US$785 million), slightly exceeding market estimates of 5.61 billion yuan; gross profit was 1,605 billion yuan, up 45% year on year; and gross margin reached 28.3%, up 21.8% from the same period last year.

Net loss for the first quarter was $765 million, up 21.4% from loss of $630 million in the same period last year (the year-on-year increase was mainly due to revenue of RMB336 million from debt offsetting recorded in the first quarter of 2023); adjusted net loss was RMB 456 million, a decrease of 56% year-on-year.

Furthermore, operating cash flow for the first quarter was RMB 638 million, and operating cash outflow for the same period last year was RMB 630 million, with little change.

Regarding the first quarter results, Chen Rui, Chairman and CEO of Bilibili, said:

We had a great start to 2024. In the first quarter, our community grew healthily across the board, while our financial performance improved. We are particularly encouraged by the development of the advertising business, which saw a 31% year-over-year increase in advertising revenue in the first quarter.

Looking forward to the future, we will further improve our commercialization capabilities and continue to advance towards our profit goals. At the same time, we will always maintain our original intention and continue to work hard to achieve our vision: providing a platform for content creators and creating popular communities for users.

Bilibili US stocks fell more than 2% in the premarket.

Advertising revenue increased 31% year over year, and daily active users surpassed the 100 million mark

By business, the advertising business performed the most prominently. Value-added services continued to grow steadily, and the mobile gaming and IP derivatives business shrank:

The advertising turnover was 1,669 billion yuan, an increase of 31% over the previous year, due to the optimization of advertising products and the improvement of advertising efficiency;

The turnover of value-added services was $2,529 million, an increase of 17% over the previous year, due to the increase in the turnover of live streaming and value-added services;

Mobile game revenue was RMB 983 million, down 13% year on year, mainly due to a decrease in the turnover of old games;

The turnover of IP derivatives and others was RMB 484 million, down 5% from the same period in 2023.

The number of daily active users reached 102.4 million, an increase of 9% over the previous year. The number of monthly active users increased 8% year over year to 341.5 million, a record high. Users continued to be highly active, and the average daily usage time of users reached 105 minutes, which also reached a record high.

Revenue sharing costs increased 13% year over year

Operating costs and operating expenses were generally stable compared to the same period last year.

Operating costs for the first quarter were RMB 4,059 billion, an increase of 2% over the same period in 2023, mainly due to higher revenue sharing costs. Revenue sharing costs were RMB 2,238 million, an increase of 13% over the same period in 2023.

Total operating expenses were RMB 2,424 million, a decrease of 2% compared with the same period in 2023. Among them:

Sales and marketing expenses were RMB 927 million, up 5% year on year; general and administrative expenses were RMB 532 million, down 7% year on year, mainly due to reduced rent related expenses.

R&D expenditure was RMB 965 million, down 6% year on year, mainly due to a decrease in the number of R&D personnel.

editor/tolk