BEIJING/SUNNYVALE, Calif., February 7, 2002 - SINA.com (Nasdaq: SINA), a leading Chinese media and Internet services company today announced its financial results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2002 ended December 31, 2001.
Financial Highlights:
- Quarterly pro forma net loss decreased by 22% sequentially, and an improvement of 54% as compared to the second quarter of the prior year
- Quarterly operating cash outflow decreased from $4.5 million to $0.1 million quarter to quarter,
- Revenues from e-commerce and fee-based services increased by 121% quarter over quarter and increased by 438% year over year
For the quarter ended December 31, 2001, net revenues were $6.8 million, up 12% from the previous quarter. On a GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) basis, net loss for the quarter was $4.9 million, an improvement of 8% from $5.3 million in the previous quarter and of 45% from $8.9 million in the same period of the previous year. Net loss per share for the quarter was $0.11, as compared to $0.13 in the previous quarter and $0.22 in the same period of the previous year.
Pro forma net loss for the quarter ended December 31, 2001 was $2.3 million, representing a 22% decline from $2.9 million for the previous quarter and a 54% decline from $4.9 million for the same period of the previous year. Pro forma net loss per share for the quarter was $0.05, compared to $0.07 for the previous quarter and $0.12 for the same period of the previous year. Pro forma net loss excludes non-cash charges for amortization of intangibles, stock-based compensation and losses from equity investments.
For the six-month period ended December 31, 2001, net revenues were $12.8 million, compared to $14.8 million for the same period of the previous year. On a GAAP basis, net loss was $10.2 million for the six-month period ended December 31, 2001, an improvement of 47% from a net loss of $19.1 million for the same period of the previous year.
Pro forma net loss for the six-month period ended December 31, 2001 was $5.1 million, an improvement of 51% from a pro forma net loss of $10.4 million for the same period of the previous year. Pro forma net loss excludes non-cash charges for amortization of intangibles, stock-based compensation and the losses from equity investments.
As of December 31, 2001, the total balance of SINA's cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments was $96.0 million, representing a decrease of $1.1 million from the previous quarter. For the quarter, the Company achieved nearly operating cash flow breakeven where operating cash outflow fell from $4.5 million in the previous quarter to only $0.1 million in the current quarter.
During the quarter, SINA benefited from improved returns on its fee-based services including paid e-mail, wireless short messaging services, classified advertisements and enterprise technology services. Revenues from e-commerce and fee-based services have increased by 121% quarter over quarter and it has now reached 20% of the total revenues.
"We are very pleased that we were able to continue to improve our operating efficiency in the face of a global economic slow down by growing our revenues while further reducing our operating expenses. While maintaining our leadership in online media advertising, we have managed a significant growth of our non-advertising based services," said Daniel Mao, Chief Executive Officer. "We will continue to diversify our revenue base among three key areas - technology services, online media advertising, and value-added telecommunication services."
The conference call live webcast for the second quarter of fiscal year 2002 is scheduled on February 7, 2002 at 9:00 a.m. Hong Kong time (or 5:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on February 6, 2002) and also will be broadcast at www.sina.com/corp/invest.
About SINA.com
SINA.com is a leading Chinese media and Internet services company for Chinese communities worldwide, offering on-line news, entertainment, community and e-commerce. A popular destination site for the world's largest population group, SINA.com offers a Chinese-language network of four localized Web sites that are produced and updated daily by local teams in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and North America.
To learn more about SINA.com, visit the company's corporate site at http://www.sina.com/corp/, or regional sites at http://www.sina.com, http://www.sina.com.cn, http://sina.com.hk and http://www.sina.com.tw.
Safe Harbor Statement
This company's announcement contains forward-looking statements. We may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in our periodic reports to the Securities and Exchange commission on forms 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, etc., in our annual report to shareholders, in our proxy statements, in our offering circulars and prospectuses, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by our officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about our beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current plans, estimates and projections, and therefore you should not place undue reliance on them.
Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. We caution you that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, SINA historical and future losses, limited operating history, uncertain regulatory landscape in the People's Republic of China, fluctuations in quarterly operating results, the company's reliance on online advertising sales for a significant portion of its revenues. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in SINA's prospectus, 10K, 10Q and in its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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