Xunlei Limited

Q4 2021 Earnings Conference Call

3/17/2022

spk02: Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for your patience. You've joined Chinle's fourth quarter and fiscal year 2021 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in the listen-only mode. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to your host, Investor Relations Manager, Ms. Luan Tang.
spk03: Thank you. Thank you, everyone, and good day, everyone, and thank you for joining Shunlei's fourth quarter and FESCO year 2021 earnings conference call. As of now, our earnings release is available on our IR website, which is intended to supplement our prepared remarks during today's call. On the call with me today are Eric Zhou, Chief Financial Officer, and Li Wu, Senior Vice President of Finance. For today's agenda, I will first read a prepared remark by our chairman and CEO, Mr. Jim Gourley, on the highlight of our fourth quarter operations and strategies for 2022. Then Mr. Eric Zhou, our CFO, will walk you through the details on the financial results and wrap up with our guidance for the first quarter of 2022. We'd like to welcome any questions from you after the management's remarks. Before we get started, I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that the discussion today will contain certain forward-looking statements made under the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Security Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based on management's current expectations under current market conditions and are subject to risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict, which may cause actual results to differ materially from those made in the forward-looking statement. Please refer to our SEC filings for a more detailed description of the risk factors that may affect our results. Finley assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable rules. On this call, we will be using both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures, a conciliation of non-GAAP Some comparable gap measures can be found in our earnings press release. Please note that all numbers are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated. Now, the following is the prepared statement by Mr. Jim Worley, Chairman and CEO of Schenley Limited. Thank you for joining us today. In 2021, we made some important progress in our major business segments. Our total revenue grew 28.3% to $239.6 million and achieved a net profit of approximately $1.1 million, a dramatic improvement over a net loss of $14.1 million in 2020. Even though we coped with challenges due to the COVID-19 and the evolving governmental regulations that affected our operating environment, we were able to conduct our business effectively and markedly improved our performance as compared with last year. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank our employees for their diligence and dedication to serve our customers during a trying period of time. Because of their agility, resilience, and dedication, we're able to start fiscal year 2022 with a solid foundation. In particular, I'd like to express my gratitude to the team responsible for our membership subscription business, which generated significant cash flows to fund our innovation efforts. I'm also appreciative and proud of the outstanding performance our cloud computing colleagues achieved during 2021. And lastly, I'd like to thank the employees in our corporate development and innovation departments for their outstanding efforts that created new growth opportunities that are expected to produce potentially exciting results in the days to come. Back to our fourth quarter of 2021, the total revenues for the fourth quarter reached $71.1 million, an increase of 18.6% from previous quarter, exceeding the revenue guidance we provided in the third quarter. The performance was driven primarily by the sequential growth of our cloud computing products and other internet value-added services. Now, I'd like to provide some details on operating results. Starting with our largest revenue growth driver, cloud computing and other internet value-added services contributed $4.7 million in revenue, which accounted for approximately 62.9% of total revenue. representing 26.9% quarter-over-quarter growth in the fourth quarter. Cloud computing revenue alone reached $28.2 million, representing a 12.8% quarter-over-quarter increase, streaming by increased customer demand and bandwidth capacity expansion. Finlay has a unique competitive edge in its shared cloud computing business, which enjoyed uninterrupted growth for a number of years, and the growth was driven by rising demand for the bandwidth for short video clips and live streaming products. And we're optimistic that high demand for live streaming products may persist into 2022. In the second half of 2021, we began to explore new markets for our live streaming services, and we're pleased to see our efforts begin to yield encouraging results For the fourth quarter of 2021, revenue from our other internet-available added services, which mainly consists of live streaming services, reached $16.4 million and grew 61.6% as compared with the third quarter of 2021. And we expect the growth momentum will continue into 2022. Now, turn to our subscription business. Membership subscription contributed $23.7 million in revenue, accounting for approximately 33.3% of total revenue. Subscription revenue grew 4.3% from the previous quarter. The increase was mainly due to the newly added Cloud Storage function, which helped user retention as well as year-end marketing activities. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, number of subscribers reached 4.39 million and was up approximately 5.8% as compared with that at end of the third quarter. Further, it's encouraging that our premium membership subscription continues to gain popularity. Now, turn to our online advertising. Even though the online advertising went through a challenging time due to competition and involving governmental regulations, we still saw a 33.1% sequential growth in revenue last quarter. This was partially attributable to our efforts to enrich user experiences and improve operations, and partly to a recovery from an especially hit hard third quarter. Going forward, we'll continue to follow regulations on internet advertising and try to mitigate their impact by delivering more user-friendly features and increasing customer loyalty. Before I conclude my remarks, I'd like to say that despite the up and flow of the capital market, we intend to remain focused and do what we are good at. And I trust our efforts will be rewarded. With that, I will hand the call over to Mr. Eric Zhou, our Chief Financial Officer. Eric will cover our financial results in detail and share our outlook.
spk06: Thank you, Rohan, and hello, everyone, and thank you again for joining Shunlei's fourth quarter and year 2021 earnings conference call. I will now go through the details of our financial results and wrap up with our revenue guidance for the first quarter of 2022. For the fourth quarter of 2021, total revenues were $7,000. $1.1 million, representing an increase of 18.6% from the previous quarter. The increase in total revenues was mainly attributable to increased revenue from cloud computing and other IBS business. Revenues from cloud computing and other IBS were $44.7 million representing an increase of 26.9% from the previous quarter. The cloud computing revenues was $28.2 million, representing a 12.8% sequential increase. The live streaming revenue was $14.5 million, compared with $8.35 million in the previous quarter. The increase of cloud computing and other IVS revenues was mainly driven by increased demand for cloud computing and new live streaming products. we launched in the second half of 2021. Revenues from subscription were $23.7 million, an increase of 4.3% from the previous quarter. The number of subscribers was 4.39 million as of December 31st, 2021, compared with 4.15 million as of September 30th, 2021. The average revenue per subscriber for the fourth quarter of 2021 was RMB 34.3, compared with RMB 35.4 for the previous quarter. Revenues from online advertising were $2.8 million, representing an increase of 33.1% from the previous quarter. The increase of online advertising revenues was largely due to business recovery and our marketing efforts during the fourth quarter. Cost of revenues was $37.6 million, representing 52.8% of our total revenues, compared with $30.4 million, or 50.7% of the total revenues in the previous quarter. The increased cost of revenues was mainly attributable to increased sales of our cloud computing and other IDS services. Bandwidth cost is included in cost of revenues were $22.8 million, representing 32.1% of our total revenues, compared with $21.7 million, or 36.2% of the total revenues in the previous quarter. The increased bandwidth costs were mainly due to increased demand for cloud computing products, which were consistent with the increased cloud computing revenue. The remaining cost of revenues mainly consisted of costs related to the revenue sharing costs for live streaming products and depreciation of servers and other equipment. Gross profit for the fourth quarter was $33.3 million, representing an increase of 13.3% from the previous quarter. Gross margin was 46.7% in the fourth quarter, compared with 48.9% in the previous quarter. The increase in gross profit was mainly due to increased cloud computing and other IBS revenues. The decrease in gross margin was mainly due to decreased portion of subscription revenues to total revenues, which has a high gross margin, and increased portion of live streaming revenues to total revenues, which has a lower gross margin. Research and development expenses for the fourth quarter were $16.6 million, representing 23.3% of our total revenues, compared with $16.8 million or 28% of our total revenues in the previous quarter. Sales and marketing expenses for the fourth quarter were $6.6 million, representing 9.3% of our total revenues, compared with $6.8 million, or 11.3% of our total revenues in the previous quarter. General and administrative expenses for the fourth quarter were $11.1 million, representing 15.6% of our total revenues, compared with $11.4 million, or 19% of our total revenues in the previous quarter. The decrease was primarily due to the decreased legal and consulting expenses. Operating loss was $1.7 million, compared with an operating loss of $5.7 million in the previous quarter. The decrease in operating loss was primarily due to increased growth project, as discussed above. Other income was $1 million, compared with other income of half a million dollars in the previous quarter. Net loss was half million dollars, compared with the net loss of $5.1 million in the previous quarter. Non-GAAP net income was $1.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared with the net loss of $3.1 million in the previous quarter. The decreased net loss and increased non-GAAP net income were primarily due to increase in revenues of each business line and improved gross profit as discussed above. Our rooted loss per 8 years in the fourth quarter of 2021 was approximately $0.01, as compared with a loss of $0.08 in the third quarter of 2021. As of December 31, 2021, the company had cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments of $239 million, compared with $228.3 million as of September 30, 2021. Now, I'd like to walk you through the financial results of fiscal year 2021. Total revenues were $239.6 million, representing an increase of 28.3% on a year-over-year basis. The increase in total revenues was mainly attributable to an increase in revenues from all cloud computing and live streaming business. Revenues from cloud computing and other IBS were $136.2 million, representing an increase of 52.7% on a year-over-year basis. The revenue of cloud computing business was $94.8 million, representing a 47.4% year-over-year increase. The increase in cloud computing and other IBS revenues was mainly attributable to the increased sales of cloud computing services as a result of our expanded service capacities and increased demand from our customers. Revenues from subscription were $91.2 million, representing an increase of 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. The increase is mainly due to the number of subscribers increased from 3.83 million in 2020 to 4.39 million in 2021. Revenues from online advertising were $12.3 million, representing a decrease of 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. The reduction was primarily due to lower advertising placements starting the second quarter of 2021 as a result of evolving regulations of the Chinese internet industry that negatively affect our advertising business. Cost of revenues was $118.6 million, representing 49.5% of our total revenues in 2021, as compared with $92.6 million and 49.6% of the total revenues in 2020. The increase was mainly due to increased sales of cloud computing products and revenue sharing costs, for a live streaming business. Bandwidth cost, as included in cost of revenues, were $80.7 million, representing 33.7% of our total revenues, compared with $62.4 million, or 33.4% of the total revenues, in the previous year. The increase was mainly due to the increased sales of our cloud computing service. The remaining cost of revenues mainly consisted of costs related to revenue sharing costs for large streaming products and appreciation of servers and other equipment. Gross profit for the year was $120.2 million, representing an increase of 28.2% on a year-over-year basis. Gross margin was 50.2%, same as the one in the previous year. The increase of gross profit was mainly due to increased revenue from cloud computing and live streaming business. Research and development expenses for the year were $61.9 million, representing 25.8% of our total revenues, compared with $55.5 million, or 29.7% of our total revenues in the previous year. The increase The increase was primarily due to the increase in employee-related cost. Sales and marketing expenses for the year were $24.6 million, representing 10.3% of our total revenues, compared with $18.1 million, or 9.7% of our total revenues in the previous year. The increase was primarily due to increased marketing and promotional activities incurred for Mobile Xunlei and a new live streaming business during this year. General and administrative expenses for the year were $36.9 million, representing 15.4% of our total revenues, compared with $33.9 million, or 18.2% of our total revenues in the previous year. The increase was mainly due to increased amortization expenses regarding newly awarded restricted share units under the company's 2020 share incentive plan. Impairment of assets net of recoveries for the year was $1.2 million, comprising a one-time write-off of certain receivables and prepayments based on impairment assessment, compared with $5.1 million in the previous year. The decrease was largely due to a one-time write-off of certain receivables and prepayments in relation to our cloud computing business accrued in the previous year. Operating loss was $4.3 million, compared with a operating loss of $18.8 million in the previous year. The decrease was mainly due to increased gross profit from cloud computing, subscription business, and live streaming business, as discussed above. Net income was $1.1 million in 2021. compared with net loss of $14.1 million in the previous year. Non-GAAP net income was $7.3 million in 2021, compared with a loss of $11.8 million in the previous year. Diluted earnings per 8 years in 2021 was 2 cents, as compared with a loss of 21 cents in the previous year. Turning to our revenue guidance, for the first quarter of 2022, Xinglei estimates total revenues to be between $77 million and $80 million, and the midpoint of the range represents a quarter-over-quarter increase of approximately 10.4%. This estimate represents management's preliminary view as of the date of the release, which is subject to change, and any change could be material. We are now ready to take questions.
spk02: Thank you. To ask a question, you will need to press star 1 on your telephone. To withdraw your question, press the pound key. Stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Once again, to ask a question at this time, please press star then 1 or your touch-tone telephone. The next question comes from George Tang with Private Investor. Your line is open.
spk05: Hello, everyone. I would like to know more about the future development strategy of the media. What are the key points of future business development? Thank you.
spk06: Basically, his question is, you know, management of the company, please share with us Shunlei's future growth strategies and priorities of business development. Let me try to, you know, explain to you, you know, in the short term, you know, through our persistent efforts, we have made some progress, narrowing our net loss to half a million in the fourth quarter of last year and achieving you know, a net profit of $1.1 million for the full year of 2021. Furthermore, most of our business were improving, and we are seeing continued momentum. We will strive for greater improvement by increasing operating efficiency, optimizing expenses, and exploring and focusing on areas of significant growth potential. And in the long term, we will maintain Xunlei's competitive edge while seeking more long-term and sustainable growth opportunities, as well as exploring more exciting products and services. Our strategic acquisitions and expansion of our live streaming business last year have shown initial and encouraging signs of progress, which contributed to a significant portion of total revenues in 2021. And we expect that momentum of growth will continue. Thank you for your question.
spk03: Let me translate it for you. In the short term, we have been working hard to make continuous progress under the goal of turning losses into profits. Our loss in the fourth quarter has been reduced to $500,000. In 2021, we achieved the goal of turning losses into profits and achieved a net profit of $1.1 million. We are also improving each business model. We have also seen a continuous trend. We want to make greater improvements. by improving the efficiency of the business, optimizing the cost, developing and gathering the potential for growth. In terms of the long-term, we have been maintaining the core technology development, seeking more long-term and sustainable development opportunities, as well as more exciting products and services. But last year's strategic acquisition and business expansion also showed us some potential in the field of live broadcast and audio. The business is also very strong. 我们也希望这样的势头可以继续的保持下去。 谢谢您的提问。 谢谢,我还想了解一下, 我们第四季度亏损较三季度有大幅减少, 那管理层对未来季度的盈利状况是如何预测的? 谢谢。 His question is, we saw net loss in the fourth quarter declined significantly.
spk06: as compared with the third quarter, and what is your profit forecast for the coming quarters? Thanks for the question. The significant reduction in net loss in the fourth quarter is a result of our rapid business growth and expense optimization. But we usually do not provide guidance on net income or losses for the coming quarters. That being said, we are hopeful that we will improve both top line and the bottom line in the coming quarters. By the way, in the fourth quarter earnings release, we provided a guidance of our anticipated total revenue for the first quarter of 2022. which is in the range of between 77 million and 80 million, which represents a sequential quarter-over-quarter increase of about 10%. Thanks for your question.
spk03: But the scale of the company's sales is also increasing. We hope that when our income level reaches a certain level, the company can enter a stable profit state. But in fact, you have already seen what we published this morning, this evening, in 2020, in our quarter report, which is a forecast of the income of the first quarter of 2020, it is about 77 million dollars to 80 million dollars. Our next question is from Sydney Song with Private Investor. Your line is open. 我想问一下我们公司最近有投资饮食创新科技公司。
spk00: I would like to ask, how is the progress of Shunlei's application for an IPO? Shunlei invested in a company called Shunlei Innovation Technology Company. The company is applying for an IPO.
spk06: and he wants to know the status of the IPO and also he wants to know the investment amount we made and what would be the expected rate of return on investments. And we invested approximately 60 million RMB in Sui Innovation Technology Company Limited in around 2016. The company is also known as Insta360. Xunlei has about 8.73% equity ownership in the company. Insta360 submitted application for IPO at the or Science and Technology Innovation Board at the Shanghai Stock Exchange last year. And the Stock Exchange has approved the application. And now, China Securities Regulatory Commission is reviewing the case. That's all we know today. And it's really hard to predict the rate of return on investment at this time. If the IPO is approved and the company's performance remains strong, and the stock market will be in a bull market in the next couple of years, Our return on investment would be substantial. Thank you.
spk03: 运雷大约是在2016年左右的投资了6000万人民币给饮食创新科技股份一间公司。 目前这个公司也被叫做Insta360。 运雷大约持有8.73%的股份。 Insta360去年已经向科创板提交了上市的申请。 The Shanghai Exchange has also agreed to their application. The current stage is waiting for a review by the Chinese Regulatory Commission. This is what we know so far. Speaking of investment returns, it is difficult for us to predict an accurate investment return. But if the launch of Insta360 is estimated, and the company maintains a strong performance in the next few years, and the market is also a bull market, then we believe this investment return is very feasible. Thank you for your question.
spk02: Thank you. I'm going to ask a question at this time. Please press star then 1. Our next question comes from Billian Tan with Private Investor. Your line is open.
spk01: Hi. Hello.
spk06: Yeah, hello. Yes.
spk01: Okay, go ahead. Sorry. Okay, hi. Oh, that was a great presentation. Thank you. And I have some questions about the Xunlei headquarters building. So first of all, What's the total investment of this building so far? And when do you expect to move in? And another question will be that, will Xun rent out some office space for rental income? And that's it for my question, and thank you.
spk06: And so far, we have spent approximately 300 million renminbi, and the total budget is for the building is approximately 450 million RMB, or about 70 million US dollars. The construction area of the building has about 65,000 square meters, and the building has 26 stories. We have completed the construction of the Xunli Headquarters buildings And we anticipate to move in around June this year if the impact of the COVID-19 won't last long. People probably know right now we are facing some challenges again due to COVID-19. And we expect the completion of the headquarters building will not only reduce our operating costs, but also generate some rental income. Because the building has not started operations, the rental income information is not available now. I'd like to say the building is mainly for self-use. Thank you for your question. 刚刚这位投资人的问题是我们的训维大厦
spk03: What is the current investment? When can it be used? Do we need to rent a part of the office to rent? The total area of our building is 6.5 million square meters. There are 26 floors in total. Our total investment is about 4.5 billion RMB, which is about $70 million. We have completed the attack. If the epidemic does not affect the situation, we are expected to be in June. Everyone may have heard that we are also facing a lot of epidemic challenges recently. The construction of the building will not only bring us some reduction in operating costs, but also create some income. But now the building has not officially started operating, and the business situation is still unable to provide. Thank you.
spk02: And I'm showing no further questions. I'd like to turn the call back to Eric Zhao for closing remarks.
spk06: Thank you again for your time and participation. And if you have any questions, please visit our website at irxinglei.com. or send us email to our investors' relations. Have a good day. I'll pray that we conclude today's conference call. Thank you.
spk02: Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.
Disclaimer

This conference call transcript was computer generated and almost certianly contains errors. This transcript is provided for information purposes only.EarningsCall, LLC makes no representation about the accuracy of the aforementioned transcript, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the information provided by the transcript.

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