BEIJING, Nov. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Bitauto
Holdings Limited ("Bitauto" or the "Company") (NYSE: BITA), a
leading provider of Internet content and marketing services for
China's fast-growing automotive
industry, today announced its unaudited financial results for the
third quarter ended September 30,
2012(1).
Third Quarter 2012 Highlights
- Revenue in the third quarter of 2012 was RMB276.4 million (US$44.0
million), a 56.4% increase from the corresponding period in
2011.
- Gross profit in the third quarter of 2012 was
RMB202.3 million (US$32.2 million), a 64.2% increase from the
corresponding period in 2011.
- Operating profit in the third quarter of 2012 was
RMB34.8 million (US$5.5 million), a 54.7% increase from the
corresponding period in 2011.
- IFRS profit in the third quarter of 2012 was
RMB32.7 million (US$5.2 million), a 35.2% increase from the
corresponding period in 2011.
- Non-GAAP profit in the third quarter of 2012 was
RMB36.6 million (US$5.8 million), a 26.6% increase from the
corresponding period in 2011.
- The Company had 8,615 subscribers of EP (known as Easypass
prior to August 31, 2012), its online
marketing platform for new cars, and 2,118 used car dealer
customers, as of the nine months ended September 30, 2012.
"We saw encouraging results in the third quarter with
year-over-year revenue growing 56.4%," commented Mr. William Li, chairman and chief executive officer
of Bitauto. "During the third quarter, we focused on improving our
EP platform and enhancing its integrated online marketing and CRM
services. As of the end of August, we had successfully transferred
all of our new car customers, which were previously serviced on the
Easypass platform, to our EP platform. In the third quarter, the
dispute over the Diaoyu Islands between China and Japan also had a negative impact on the online
spending of our Japanese automobile customers and this had a minor
impact on Bitauto's performance during the quarter. Going forward,
we will continue to closely monitor the impact of the dispute on
China's auto industry."
Mr. Li continued, "On November 2,
we announced that certain of Bitauto's early shareholders entered
into definitive agreements with AutoTrader Group, Inc., operator of
the largest digital automotive marketplace in the United States, as well as Bitauto's senior
management team. The transactions are expected to close this month,
subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. We are
delighted to welcome AutoTrader Group as an important strategic
investor in Bitauto. AutoTrader Group's industry leadership in
the United States makes them an
ideal partner for Bitauto. We are confident that this cooperation
between AutoTrader Group and Bitauto will create significant
opportunities and drive long-term shareholder value by bringing
together leaders in the two largest automobile markets in the
world."
"We delivered solid growth in the third quarter thanks to our
sustained focus on improving the offerings of our business segments
and raising awareness of our brands," said Andy Zhang, chief financial officer of Bitauto.
"Our strong top line performance helped drive a healthy increase in
operating profit of 54.7% from the corresponding period in 2011.
Our commitment to investing in the core growth drivers of our
business continues to generate good results. Going forward, we will
maintain our focus on our core growth strategies to further improve
profitability. "
Recent Updates
As of September 30, 2012, the
Company had a total of 41,640,890 ordinary shares, with 24,862,527
ADSs issued and outstanding. Each ADS represents one ordinary share
of the Company. Basic and diluted per ADS figures for the third
quarter of 2012 were calculated using a weighted average of
39,432,710 and 40,124,988 ADSs, respectively.
Third Quarter 2012 Results
Revenue by Business
Segment
|
RMB000s
(unaudited)
|
Three months
ended
|
|
September 30,
2011
|
% of Total
Revenue
|
September 30,
2012
|
% of Total
Revenue
|
% Change
|
bitauto.com
business
|
125,228
|
70.9%
|
222,895
|
80.7%
|
78.0%
|
taoche.com (formerly
ucar.cn) business
|
7,960
|
4.5%
|
5,024
|
1.8%
|
(36.9%)
|
Digital Marketing
Solutions
|
43,534
|
24.6%
|
48,492
|
17.5%
|
11.4%
|
Total revenue
|
176,722
|
100.0%
|
276,411
|
100.0%
|
56.4%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cost of Revenue by
Business Segment
|
RMB000s
(unaudited)
|
Three months
ended
|
|
September 30,
2011
|
% of Total Cost
of Revenue
|
September 30,
2012
|
% of Total Cost
of Revenue
|
% Change
|
bitauto.com
business
|
25,319
|
47.3%
|
44,934
|
60.6%
|
77.5%
|
taoche.com (formerly
ucar.cn) business
|
10,857
|
20.3%
|
8,663
|
11.7%
|
(20.2%)
|
Digital Marketing
Solutions
|
17,326
|
32.4%
|
20,516
|
27.7%
|
18.4%
|
Total cost of
revenue
|
53,502
|
100.0%
|
74,113
|
100.0%
|
38.5%
|
Gross profit
margin
|
69.7%
|
|
73.2%
|
|
|
Bitauto reported revenue of RMB276.4 million (US$44.0
million) for the third quarter of 2012, representing a 56.4%
increase from the corresponding period in 2011. The increase in
revenue was primarily attributable to the growth of the bitauto.com
business.
Cost of revenue for the third quarter of 2012 was
RMB74.1 million (US$11.8 million), representing a year-over-year
increase of 38.5% from RMB53.5
million (US$8.5 million). Cost
of revenue as a percentage of revenue in the third quarter of 2012
was 26.8%, compared to 30.3% in the corresponding period in
2011.
Gross profit for the third quarter of 2012 was
RMB202.3 million (US$32.2 million), representing a 64.2% increase
from the corresponding period in 2011.
Revenue from the bitauto.com business for the third
quarter of 2012 was RMB222.9 million
(US$35.5 million), representing a
78.0% increase from the corresponding period in 2011. The increase
was attributable to an increase in dealer subscription revenue, as
well as an increase in advertising revenue resulting from better
brand recognition of the bitauto.com website.
Cost of revenue for the bitauto.com business for
the third quarter of 2012 was RMB44.9
million (US$7.2 million),
representing a year-over-year increase of 77.5% from RMB25.3 million (US$4.0
million). This increase was mainly due to the purchase of
handheld devices, which support our digital point-of-sales system,
on behalf of our auto dealer customers of Bitcar. Cost of revenue
as a percentage of revenue in the third quarter of 2012 was 20.2%,
same as in the corresponding period in 2011.
Gross profit from the bitauto.com business for the third
quarter of 2012 was RMB178.0 million
(US$28.3 million), representing a
78.1% increase from the corresponding period in 2011. The increase
was mainly due to enhanced sales efficiency and scalability of the
bitauto.com business.
Revenue from the taoche.com business for the third
quarter of 2012 was RMB5.0 million
(US$0.8 million), representing a
36.9% decrease from the corresponding period in 2011. This decrease
was the result of sales policy adjustments.
Cost of revenue for the taoche.com business for the third
quarter of 2012 was RMB8.7 million
(US$1.4 million), representing a
year-over-year decrease of 20.2% from RMB10.9 million (US$1.7
million). This was mainly due to a decrease in fees paid to
partner websites to distribute dealer customers' used automobile
listing information.
Gross loss from the taoche.com business for
the third quarter of 2012 was RMB3.6
million (US$0.6 million),
compared to a gross loss of RMB2.9
million (US$0.5 million) in
the corresponding period in 2011.
Revenue from the digital marketing solutions business for
the third quarter of 2012 was RMB48.5
million (US$7.7 million),
representing an 11.4% increase from the corresponding period in
2011, which reflects an increase in spending on advertising and
events by customers.
Cost of revenue for the digital marketing solutions
business for the third quarter of 2012 was RMB20.5 million (US$3.3
million), representing a year-over-year increase of 18.4%
from RMB17.3 million (US$2.8 million). The increase was mainly due to
higher-direct-cost services accounting for a larger percentage of
services provided to digital marketing solutions customers.
Gross profit from the digital marketing solutions
business for the third quarter of 2012 was RMB28.0 million (US$4.5
million), representing a 6.7% increase from the
corresponding period in 2011.
Selling and administrative expenses were RMB151.9 million (US$24.2
million) for the third quarter of 2012, representing an
increase of 64.5% from the corresponding period in 2011. This
increase was primarily attributable to an increase in expenses
related to the Company's search engine and navigation site
marketing efforts, as well as an increase in selling and
administrative headcount and employee salaries and benefits.
Product development expenses were RMB15.5 million (US$2.5
million) for the third quarter of 2012, an 85.6% increase
from the corresponding period in 2011. The increase was primarily
due to an increase in research and development personnel-related
expenses and an increase in product development headcount.
Share-based payment expenses, which were allocated to
related operating expense line items, were RMB3.8 million (US$0.6
million) in the third quarter of 2012, compared to
RMB4.7 million (US$0.7 million) in the corresponding period in
2011. The decrease was mainly due to the use of the accelerated
amortization method for allocating share-based payment
expenses.
Operating profit in the third quarter of 2012 was
RMB34.8 million (US$5.5 million), representing a 54.7% increase
from the corresponding period in 2011. The increase was primarily
due to business scalability.
Income tax expense in the third quarter of 2012 was
RMB5.1 million (US$0.8 million), compared to an income tax
expense of RMB5.3 million
(US$0.8 million) in the corresponding
period in 2011.
IFRS profit in the third quarter of 2012 was RMB32.7 million (US$5.2
million), a 35.2% increase from the corresponding period in
2011. Basic and diluted profit per ADS, each representing one
ordinary share, in the third quarter of 2012 amounted to
RMB0.83 (US$0.13) and RMB0.82 (US$0.13),
respectively.
Non-GAAP profit in the third quarter of 2012 was
RMB36.6 million (US$5.8 million), a 26.6% increase from the
corresponding period in 2011. Non-GAAP basic and diluted profit per
ADS in the third quarter of 2012 amounted to RMB0.93 (US$0.15)
and RMB0.91 (US$0.14), respectively.
As of September 30, 2012, the
Company had cash and cash equivalents of RMB506.4 million (US$80.6
million). Cash from operating activities,
cash used in investing activities such as capital
expenditures, and cash used in financing activities in the
third quarter of 2012 were RMB29.1
million (US$4.6 million),
RMB8.6 million (US$1.4 million), and RMB0.3 million (US$0.04
million), respectively.
Gross billings(2) in the third quarter of 2012 was
RMB398.4 million (US$63.4 million), compared to RMB312.6 million (US$49.7
million) in the corresponding period in 2011.
Bills Receivables, representing short-term notes
receivable issued by financial institutions that entitle the
Company to receive the full face amount from the financial
institutions at maturity, which generally range from three to six
months from the date of issuance, was RMB45.7 million (US$7.3
million) as of September 30,
2012, compared to RMB74.5
million (US$11.9 million) as
of December 31, 2011.
Trade receivables was RMB585.8
million (US$93.2 million) as
of September 30, 2012, compared to
RMB433.8 million (US$69.0 million) as of December 31, 2011. This increase was due to an
increase in gross billings.
The number of employees totalled 1,913 as of
September 30, 2012, representing a
25.0% increase from the same period in 2011. The increase in
headcount was primarily due to the year-over-year expansion of the
Company's sales network from 92 to 132 locations.
Fourth Quarter 2012 Outlook
Bitauto currently expects to generate revenue in the range of
RMB310.0 million (US$49.3 million) to RMB320.0 million
(US$50.9 million) in the fourth
quarter of fiscal year 2012, representing a 36.1% to 40.5%
year-over-year increase. Bitauto currently expects non-GAAP diluted
earnings per ADS, each representing one ordinary share, to be
approximately RMB1.10 (US$0.17) to RMB1.22 (US$0.19) in the fourth quarter of 2012.
This forecast takes into consideration seasonality factors in
Bitauto's business, and excludes any impact of foreign currency
fluctuation. It reflects management's current and preliminary view,
which is subject to change.
Conference Call Information
Bitauto's management will hold an earnings conference call
today, November 8, 2012 at
8:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time
(9:00 PM Beijing/Hong Kong time).
Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as
follows:
US:
|
+1-718-3541-231
|
Hong Kong:
|
+852-2475-0994 or
800-930-346
|
China:
|
400-6208-038 or
800-8190-121
|
International:
|
+65-6723-9381
|
Conference
ID:
|
44091522
|
A replay of the conference call may be accessed by phone at the
following numbers until November 15,
2012:
US:
|
+1-866-2145-335
|
International:
|
+61-2-8235-5000
|
Conference
ID:
|
44091522
|
Additionally, a live and archived webcast of this conference
call will be available at http://ir.bitauto.com.
About Bitauto Holdings Limited
Bitauto Holdings Limited (NYSE: BITA) is a leading provider of
Internet content and marketing services for China's fast-growing automotive industry. The
Company's bitauto.com and taoche.com (formerly ucar.cn) websites
provide consumers with up-to-date new and used automobile pricing
information, specifications, reviews and consumer feedback. The
Company also distributes its dealer customers' automobile pricing
and promotional information through its partner websites, including
major portals and search engines operated by Tencent, Netease, and Baidu, as well as social
networking websites Renren and Kaixin.
Bitauto manages its businesses in three segments, namely
bitauto.com business, taoche.com business and digital marketing
solutions business. The Company's bitauto.com business provides
subscription services to new automobile dealers that enable them to
list pricing and promotional information on the Company's
bitauto.com website as well as partner websites and search engines.
The Company also provides advertising services to dealers and
automakers on its bitauto.com website. The Company's taoche.com
business provides listing services to used automobile dealers that
enable them to display used automobile inventory information on the
Company's taoche.com website and partner websites. The Company also
provides advertising services to used automobile dealers and
automakers with certified pre-owned automobile programs on its
taoche.com website. The Company's digital marketing solutions
business provides automakers with one-stop digital marketing
solutions, including website creation and maintenance, online
public relations, online marketing campaigns and advertising agent
services.
For more information, please visit ir.bitauto.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These
statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S.
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as
"will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans,"
"believes," "estimates," "confident" and similar statements. Among
other things, the outlook for fourth quarter of 2012 and the
quotations from management in this announcement, as well as
Bitauto's strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking
statements. Bitauto may also make written or oral forward-looking
statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission, in its annual report to shareholders, in press
releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by
its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements
that are not historical facts, including statements about Bitauto's
beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and
uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to
differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking
statement, including but not limited to the following: our goals
and strategies; our future business development, financial
condition and results of operations; the expected growth of the
automobile industry and the Internet marketing industry in
China; our expectations regarding
demand for and market acceptance of our services and service
delivery model; our expectations regarding enhancing our brand
recognition; our expectations regarding keeping and strengthening
our relationships with major customers, partner websites and media
vendors; relevant government policies and regulations relating to
our businesses, automobile purchases and ownership in China; our ability to attract and retain
quality employees; our ability to stay abreast of market trends and
technological advances; competition in our industry in China and internationally; general economic
and business conditions in China;
and our ability to effectively protect our intellectual property
rights and not infringe on the intellectual property rights of
others. Further information regarding these and other risks is
included in Bitauto's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including its annual report on Form 20-F. Bitauto does
not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking
statement as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise, except as required under applicable law. All information
provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the
date of this press release, and Bitauto undertakes no duty to
update such information, except as required under applicable
law.
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Bitauto's management supplements the data it receives regarding
IFRS profit with non-GAAP profit, which excludes from IFRS profit
the charges relating to share-based payments. This non-GAAP
financial measure provides Bitauto's management with the ability to
assess its operating results without considering the impact of
non-cash charges resulting from share-based payments. Furthermore,
this non-GAAP financial measure eliminates the impact of item(s)
that Bitauto does not consider indicative of the performance of its
business.
The use of non-GAAP profit has certain limitations. Share-based
payments have been and will continue to be incurred and are not
reflected in the presentation of the non-GAAP profit. This non-GAAP
financial measure should be considered in addition to results
prepared in accordance with IFRS, and should not be considered a
substitute for or superior to IFRS results. In addition, non-GAAP
profit may not be comparable to similarly titled measures utilized
by other companies since such other companies may not calculate
such measures in the same manner as Bitauto does.
Reconciliation of this non-GAAP financial measure to the most
directly comparable IFRS financial measure is set forth at the end
of this release.
(1) This announcement
contains translations of certain amounts in Renminbi into U.S.
dollars at specified rates solely for the convenience of the
readers. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from Renminbi to
U.S. dollars are made at a rate of RMB6.2848 to US$1.00, the
effective noon buying rate as of September 28, 2012 in The City of
New York for cable transfers of Renminbi as certified for customs
purposes by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
|
(2) For the advertising
agent services the Company provides, the Company acts as an agent
in placing advertisements on the websites of the media vendors on
behalf of the automaker customers. The Company receives fees in the
capacity of an agent for assisting automaker customers in placing
advertisements on media vendors' websites, and therefore, records
the fees on a net basis in its consolidated financial statements.
The net fees recognized from each such transaction amount to a
relatively small percentage of the related trade receivables or
payables recorded on a gross basis. For the advertising services
the Company provides, the Company acts as the principal in the
arrangement and records revenues on a gross basis in its
consolidated financial statements. Revenues are recognized only
after the amount has been contractually agreed with the customers,
the advertisements have been published and when the collectability
is reasonably assured. For both the advertising agent services and
advertising services provided, the Company enters into publishing
schedule agreements with its automaker and automobile dealer
customers, and related advertising agreements with the media
vendors who are then obligated to place the advertisements
according to the Company's customers' publishing schedule
agreements. At such time, the Company records receivables from the
customers and, in the same amount, corresponding payables due to
the media vendors on a gross basis. Such payments are conducted
through the Company. Gross billings include the gross value of
advertisements placed by the Company's customers that correspond to
the gross payables recorded due to the media vendors.
|
For investor and media inquiries, please contact:
China
IR Department
Bitauto Holdings Limited
Tel: +86-10-6849-2145
ir@bitauto.com
Rachael Layfield
Brunswick Group LLP
Tel: +86-10-5960-8600
bitauto@brunswickgroup.com
San Francisco
Patricia Graue
Brunswick Group LLP
Tel: +1 (415) 671 7676
bitauto@brunswickgroup.com
SELECTED CONSOLIDATED
FINANCIAL DATA
|
|
|
|
|
Consolidated
statements of comprehensive income data
|
|
|
For the Three Months
Ended
|
|
|
September
30,
2011
|
|
September
30,
2012
|
|
|
Unaudited
|
|
Unaudited
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Revenue
|
|
176,722,174
|
|
276,410,654
|
Cost of
revenue
|
|
(53,502,348)
|
|
(74,112,815)
|
Gross
profit
|
|
123,219,826
|
|
202,297,839
|
|
|
|
|
|
Selling and
administrative expenses
|
|
(92,334,498)
|
|
(151,919,477)
|
Product development
expenses
|
|
(8,372,574)
|
|
(15,540,651)
|
Operating
profit
|
|
22,512,754
|
|
34,837,711
|
|
|
|
|
|
Other income
|
|
6,815,327
|
|
3,851,247
|
Other
expenses
|
|
(942,907)
|
|
(1,855,295)
|
Interest
income
|
|
1,116,030
|
|
1,708,348
|
Interest
expense
|
|
-
|
|
(531,894)
|
Changes in fair value of
financial assets
|
|
-
|
|
(165,783)
|
Share of profit of an
associate
|
|
(54,168)
|
|
(549)
|
Profit before
tax
|
|
29,447,036
|
|
37,843,785
|
|
|
|
|
|
Income tax
expense
|
|
(5,250,556)
|
|
(5,123,125)
|
Profit for the
period
|
|
24,196,480
|
|
32,720,660
|
Total comprehensive
income for the period
|
|
14,385,495
|
|
33,934,296
|
|
|
|
|
|
Other Financial Data
(unaudited)
|
|
|
|
|
Non-GAAP profit for the
period
|
|
28,893,956
|
|
36,568,606
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reconciliation of
IFRS profit to non-GAAP profit
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For the Three Months
Ended
|
|
|
September
30,
2011
|
|
September
30,
2012
|
|
|
Unaudited
|
|
Unaudited
|
Profit for the
period
|
|
24,196,480
|
|
32,720,660
|
Share-based
payments
|
|
4,697,476
|
|
3,847,946
|
Non-GAAP profit for
the period
|
|
28,893,956
|
|
36,568,606
|
SELECTED CONSOLIDATED
FINANCIAL
DATA
|
|
|
|
|
Consolidated
statements of financial position data
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
December
31,
2011
|
|
September
30,
2012
|
|
|
Audited
|
|
Unaudited
|
|
|
|
|
|
Assets
|
|
|
|
|
Trade
receivables
|
|
433,782,917
|
|
585,773,683
|
Bills
receivables
|
|
74,539,413
|
|
45,681,204
|
Cash and cash
equivalents
|
|
601,377,150
|
|
506,446,773
|
Other current
assets
|
|
49,500,055
|
|
83,836,518
|
Non-current
assets
|
|
142,120,417
|
|
185,788,217
|
Total
assets
|
|
1,301,319,952
|
|
1,407,526,395
|
|
|
|
|
|
Liabilities
|
|
|
|
|
Trade
payables
|
|
201,125,551
|
|
225,873,024
|
Other current
liabilities
|
|
204,635,161
|
|
247,132,453
|
Non-current
liabilities
|
|
9,697,740
|
|
7,893,146
|
Total
liabilities
|
|
415,458,452
|
|
480,898,623
|
Total
equity
|
|
885,861,500
|
|
926,627,772
|
Total liabilities and
equity
|
|
1,301,319,952
|
|
1,407,526,395
|
SOURCE Bitauto Holdings Limited