Sina Posts Q2 Loss, But Tops View; Shares Up

(RTTNews) - Chinese online media company Sina Corp. (SINA), Monday slipped to a loss in the second quarter from a profit last year, hurt largely by a one-time charge.

Adjusted earnings, however, surged and easily beat Street expectations, driven primarily by higher revenues and improved margins. Following the news, Sina shares rose five percent in after-hours trade.

Shanghai, China-based Sina's loss for the second quarter was $11.5 million or $0.17 per share, compared to a profit of $33.2 million or $0.49 per share last year.

Results for the quarter included a one-off charge of $27.1 million related to the investment from the Alibaba Group in Weibo Corp. In April, Chinese eCommerce firm Alibaba Group acquired 18 percent stake in micro-blogging service Weibo from its parent company Sina by investing $586 million.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings rose to $0.21 per share from $0.05 per share last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.12 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Sina's revenues for the quarter grew 20 percent to $157.5 million from $131.6 million a year ago. Adjusted revenues rose to $152.8 million from $126.9 million last year. Analysts expected revenue of $145.18 million for the quarter.

Advertising revenues grew 17 percent to $120.6 million.

Chief Executive Charles Chao said, "Although the macro-economic conditions in China remain uncertain, our strategy to diversify SINA's revenue stream to beyond big-brand advertisers and to leverage Weibo's continued traffic growth to develop social and mobile advertising as well as value-added services is placing SINA in a good position for more profitable revenue growth while making heavy investments for the future."

Gross margin for the quarter improved to 54 percent from 53 percent last year.

Looking forward to the third quarter, Sina expects adjusted revenues of $176 million to $180 million. Analysts currently expect revenues of $165.46 million for the third quarter.

SINA closed Monday's trading at $80.35, up $2.29 or 2.93%, on the Nasdaq. The stock further gained $4.40 or 5.48% in after hours trade.