Share price movement in B2B media companies involved in Asia

Figure 1: BSG B2B Media Index vs. All Tracked B2B Stocks (price movement over past 12 months)

Figure 2: BSG B2B Media Index vs. All Tracked B2B Stocks (price movement since January 2020)

UFI releases new research as part of its “Global Recovery Project”

Paris/London, 27th August: Last week, UFI, The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry released new research as part of its “Global Recovery Project” which is a collaborative effort between UFI and live events research specialist, Explori. The research shows that visitors and exhibitors overwhelmingly prefer live events, but that digital event elements have a role to play in serving segments of the audience going forward.

The study compiled more than 9,000 responses from 30 countries. It was conducted by Explori in partnership with UFI and supported by SISO, the Society for Independent Show Organizers.

800+ brands at inaugural South China Beauty Expo

Shenzhen/Chengdu, 1st September: Co-organized by Informa Markets, BolognaFiere and Shanghai Baiwen Exhibition Company, the inaugural South China Beauty Expo (SCBE) was held at the Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center (SZCEC) concluding on 1st August 2020. The event featured more than 800 brands and exhibitors.

Occupying an exhibition area of 22,500 m2, the organiser notes that SCBE provides new industry information, leading industry solutions and creative content to participants. Approximately 20,000 professional visitors attended. Key participant categories included wholesale agents, retailers, beauty salons and nail salons, cross-border e-commerce platforms, social e-commerce platforms and manufacturers.

SEEC Media narrows 1H loss

Hong Kong, 31st August: SEEC Media Group, a Hong Kong-listed media company, recently announced its financial results for the first half of 2020. Revenues in the six-month period were just US$4.8 million, an increase of 3.7% year-on-year. The company reduced its loss from US$6.5 million in the first half of the previous year, down to US$4.4 million in the first half of 2020.

Provision of advertising services was its largest source of income, amounting to US$1.7 million, which represents 35% of SEEC’s total revenues. This segment dropped 8.3% year-on-year. The next largest segment, money-lending business, generated revenues of just over US$1 million and accounted for 22% of total revenues. This business segment grew 27% compared to the previous year.

Made-in-China.com’s revenues up 10% in 1H

Nanjing, 27th August: Last week, Shenzhen-listed Focus Technology, which owns and operates B2B trading platform, Made-in-China.com, announced its financial results for the six months ended 30th June 2020. Revenues were US$75 million, a year-on-year increase of 10%.

However, net income in the first half dropped 57% compared with the previous year, down to US$6.7 million. Diluted earnings per share in the first six months of 2020 were RMB 0.16 (US$0.023). The company attributed the increase to higher membership fees collected and income from its value-added services in the period.

Quick takes

B2B marketing without events

Ruth Stevens, a Business Information Industry Association (BIIA) director, offers her take on the best marketing strategies for businesses adapting to life without events.

HK book fair will try again in December

The SCMP reports that 140 companies have registered for the Hong Kong Book Fair, which has been postponed from its original dates in July to December. Last year the fair attracted 680 exhibitors.

International service industry fair opens in Beijing

At the other end of the spectrum is the annual China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS), which organisers anticipate will attract more than 100,000 visitors.

China’s president Xi Jinping is expected to speak at the opening on Friday as China attempts to showcase its economic recovery from COVID-19.

The Economist forecasts China GDP up 1.7% in 2020

China’s economy is expected to grow by 1.7%. China will be the only major economy in 2020 to record economic expansion driven largely by better than expected export figures. The U.S. economy is forecast to contract by 5.3%.

Malaysian border may stay closed until Q2 2021

After second and third waves of COVID-19 infections in markets such as Hong Kong, Japan and Korea, the Malaysian government reconsiders its plan to open its borders. But the country has reopened to essential travel from its neighbour, Singapore.

Quick takes

Alibaba puts investments in Indian startups on hold

It began with TikTok and WeChat being drawn into China-U.S. trade tensions. Now, it seems technology is becoming politicised in China-India relations. Separately, but along the same lines, Taiwan is ordering a divestment of an Alibaba subsidiary.

ANT Group IPO set to be world’s largest

Meanwhile, Jack Ma will set records once again with the upcoming listing of the ANT Group, which will raise US$30 billion and value the company at more than US$200 billion. Politically savvy Ma is by-passing U.S. markets and listing the group in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

TCEB unveils additional “MICE cities”

The team at TCEB in Thailand continue their mission to diversify MICE activities outside of Bangkok adding two more cities to their priority list.

Zhejiang Netsun’s profits and revenues down in 1H

Hangzhou, 27th August: Shenzhen-listed Zhejiang Netsun, a B2B e-commerce platform, reported revenues of US$19 million in the six months ended 30th June 2020. This represents a year-on-year decrease of 13% compared with the same period last year. Profits in the six-month period also fell – declining 27% to US$1.7 million. Diluted earnings per share in the first half of 2020 were RMB 0.05 (US$0.0064).

The Hangzhou-based company’s management attributed the decreases in both revenues and profits to a weak performance on its sourcing and trading platform and to a substantial decrease in revenues from its exhibition business. Overall, management pointed to disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic as the primary cause of its poor results.

HC Group’s revenues down 27% in first half

Hong Kong, 25th August: Earlier this week, Hong Kong-listed HC Group released its interim results for the six months ended 30th June 2020. The company’s revenues fell 27% in the first half of the year, down to US$705 million. The company also posted a large loss of US$40 million in the first half, compared with a loss of US$24 million in the same period last year.

Management attributed the decrease in revenues to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in extensive nationwide disruptions to all of the HC Group’s business operations – especially its exhibitions and meetings activities.

SPH conducts media business review

Singapore, 18th August: Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), a media group, unveiled plans to restructure its media sales and magazines operations as part of its overall “media transformation roadmap.” Management also noted that the group’s advertising revenue has been significantly impacted by COVID-19 pandemic.

Beginning late last year, SPH’s management conducted a strategic review of its media business with the aim of providing SPH’s advertisers with more effective marketing solutions. In addition, according to the company, it has reviewed its costs, cut back on discretionary spending and instituted pay cuts for senior management (since the COVID-19 outbreak). Beginning in March, the company’s directors, the CEO and other senior managers took pay cuts of between 5% and 10%.

Alibaba’s revenues up 34% in Q1

Hangzhou, 20th August: Last week, Alibaba Group, China’s largest e-commerce company, announced its results for the quarter ended 30th June 2020. The company recorded revenues of US$22 billion, up 34% year-on-year. Net income jumped 124% over last year reaching US$6.7 billion.

More than 86% of Alibaba’s total revenues were generated from its core e-commerce business amounting to US$18 billion. In terms of its B2B business, just 4.3% of total revenues were generated from Alibaba’s B2B platforms. Revenues from Alibaba’s China B2B business, primarily generated through 1688.com, grew by 16% to US$493 million; while the international B2B business, primarily from Alibaba.com, generated revenues of US$454 million, a 43% increase year-on-year.

BSG forecast unprecedented 75% drop in net space sold in 2020

Hong Kong, 28th August: UFI and BSG have released the 16th edition of our annual report on the Trade Fair Industry in Asia. The report, researched and compiled by BSG, the covers actual performance of the industry in 2019, as well as forecasts for the years 2020 and 2021.

BSG estimates that Asia will record an unprecedented 75% drop in net space sold in 2020 compared to 2019 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Net space sold in Asia is expected to fall from the 24.5 million m2 recorded in 2019 down to just 6.8 million m2 in 2020.

This diminished result depends heavily on the trade fair market in China – which now accounts for nearly 60% of net space sold in Asia. If China avoids a large second or third wave of infections, 6.8 million m2 sold across Asia in 2020 is achievable. If China experiences another outbreak and returns to lockdown, the actual results in 2020 will be significantly lower.

In 2021, BSG’s forecast for the Asia Pacific region is net space sold in the range of 50% to 60% of 2019 levels – with China expected to outperform all other markets. In 2021, China is expected achieve 70% to 75% of net space sold in 2019 – barring a significant new outbreak of COVID-19.

The full report is available for purchase on the BSG website. UFI members are entitled to receive an executive summary of the research and to purchase the full report at a substantial discount. Details can be found on the UFI website.

Share price movement in B2B media companies involved in Asia

Figure 1: BSG B2B Media Index vs. All Tracked B2B Stocks (price movement over past 12 months)

Figure 2: BSG B2B Media Index vs. All Tracked B2B Stocks (price movement since January 2020)

Pacific World folds after 40 years in the industry

Hong Kong, 18th August: Pacific World, a global destination management company, will cease operations in November after 40 years in the business. A note was recently sent to clients and partners outlining plans to close down the Hong Kong office in September and wind-up the business before the end of the year.

The company had been operating in Hong Kong since 1981 and has operations in 30 countries. The decision to cease operations was entirely due to the COVID-19 disruptions to the “global tourism industry in the past few months.” According to various media reports, its offices in Thailand have already closed and more of its Asian operations will follow in the coming weeks.

Quick takes

Shanghai Lansheng’s revenues down 16%

The Shanghai-based event organiser reports that revenues fell 16% down to US$186 million in the second quarter.

U.S.-China trade war now targets tech

CNN takes a look at the likelihood that WeChat and Alibaba could be next after the Trump administration finishes with TikTok.

This is not a U.S.-China cold war

In an interesting, thought-provoking article, Foreign Policy magazine argues that the comparisons with the U.S.-Soviet Union cold war are misguided.

U.K. debuts a new socially distanced live music venue

This is better than nothing, but not much better. Let’s hope this pandemic passes soon because this is far from ideal.

Share price movement in B2B media companies involved in Asia

Figure 1: BSG B2B Media Index vs. All Tracked B2B Stocks (price movement over past 12 months)

Figure 2: BSG B2B Media Index vs. All Tracked B2B Stocks (price movement since January 2020)