By Josh Beckerman
Chinese Internet firm Sina Corp. posted higher revenue along
with a wider operating loss, reflecting higher personnel and
marketing expenses.
The company said Thursday that its popular Weibo social media
platform, which resembles Twitter, made progress in revenue and
user growth.
"Weibo's mobile strategy has continued to deliver impressive
results in both user traffic and revenue growth," the company
said.
Weibo's monthly active users were 198 million in March, up 38%
from a year earlier.
Sina was an early pioneer of the Chinese Internet, providing web
portals, news aggregation and fee-based information services. The
company has been battling with giants like Alibaba Group Holding
Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd., and has diversified into such areas
as online financial services.
Sina's portal revenue declined. The company said it is
"experiencing a critical transformative period to revamp our legacy
business and diversify our business models."
For the quarter ended March 31, Sina reported a net loss of
$10.3 million, or 18 cents a share, compared with a loss of $33.2
million, or 52 cents a share, a year earlier. The year-earlier
quarter included a $40.2 million loss from a change in fair value
of investor option liability.
Earnings excluding stock-based compensation and other items fell
to four cents a share from 15 cents a share. Revenue rose 8% to
$184.6 million.
Weibo Corp. became a separate public company in April 2014. In
its own earnings statement, the company said revenue increased 43%
to $96.3 million, above its guidance of $93 million to $96
million.
The company expects second-quarter revenue of $102 million and
$105 million, which could change depending on the timing of planned
initiatives with Alibaba.
Write to Josh Beckerman at josh.beckerman@wsj.com
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