Sina Q1 Loss Narrows - Update

(RTTNews) - Chinese online media company Sina Corp. (SINA), Thursday reported a loss for the first quarter that narrowed from a year ago, driven by higher advertising revenues, with both earnings and revenue coming in ahead of Wall Street estimates.

Sina-controlled Weibo Corp. (WB) also reported a smaller loss for the first-quarter, driven largely by advertising revenues. Sina had spun off Weibo last year, however, continues to hold a majority stake.

Shanghai, China-based Sina's first-quarter loss narrowed to $10.3 million or $0.18 per share from last year's loss of $33.2 million or $0.52 per share. Excluding items, adjusted earnings dropped to $0.04 per share from $0.15 per share a year ago. On average, 11 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated a loss of $0.01 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Sina's revenues for the quarter rose 8 percent to $184.6 million from $171.5 million last year. Adjusted revenues rose 9 percent to $182.0 million from $167.3 million a year ago. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $180.7 million for the quarter.

Advertising revenues grew 11 percent year-over-year to $150.4 million, driven by an increase of $27.3 million in Weibo advertising and marketing revenues. Meanwhile, non-advertising revenue dropped to $34.2 million from $35.8 million last year.

Gross margin for the quarter improved to 58 percent from 60 percent last year.

SINA closed Thursday's trading at $42.71, down $0.46 or 1.07%, on the Nasdaq. The stock, however, gained $0.63 or 1.48% in the after-hours trade.