BEIJING, March 2  (TMTPOST)— American depositary receipt (ADR) of Bilibili erased about 1.5% losses in the morning trading and settled around 9.7% higher on Thursday despite the mixed quarterly results the popular Chinese video and live streaming platform reported.

Source: Visual China

Bilibili posted net revenue of RMB6.1 billion (US$890.6 million) with a 6% year-over-year (YoY) growth in the quarter ended December 31, missing the analyst consensus of RMB6.618 billion, while the adjusted basic and diluted net loss per share narrowed from RMB4.22 in the same period of 2021 to RMB3.31 (US$0.48), better than the estimated loss of US$0.51.

Thanks to robust growth in previous quarters, the annual revenue increased 13% to RMB21.9 billion. The quarterly net loss was RMB1.5 billion, narrowed 29% from a year ago, and the annual net loss amounted to RMB7.5 billion, compared with RMB6.8 billion in the prior year.

The Shanghai-based company maintained double-digit growth of users in the fourth quarter. Average daily active users (DAUs) reached 92.8 million, a 29% increase from the same period in 2021. Average monthly active users (MAUs) jumped 20% YoY to 326.0 million and Average monthly paying users (MPUs) climbed 15% to 28.1 million.

Cost of revenues grew to RMB4.9 billion with a yearly increase of 4%, which was mainly attributable to higher revenue-sharing costs and content costs. Revenue-sharing costs, a key component of cost of revenues, were RMB2.5 billion, also increasing 4% from a year earlier.

All but one business booked significant negative growth in the past quarter, the financial results showed. Revenue from mobile games decreased 12% YoY to RMB1.1 billion, mainly attributable to the lack of new games launches, according to Bilibili. Sales of value-added services (VAS) gained 24% YoY to RMB2.3 billion owing to enhanced monetization efforts, led by an increased number of paying users for the company’s value-added services, including live broadcasting services, premium membership program, and other value-added services. Advertising generated RMB1.5 billion that quarter, roughly flat compared with RMB1.6 billion in the same period of 2021. Revenue from e-commerce and others increased 13% Y/Y to RMB1.1 billion, mainly due to increased revenue from e-sports copyright sub-licensing.

“We ended 2022 with solid DAU growth, improved gross margin and narrowed losses in the fourth quarter,” said Bilibili CEO Rui Chen. He noted the average daily time spent per user reached 96 minutes in the quarter, driving the total time spent4 on his platform up by 51% from the same period 2021. In order to increase adaptability to the changing market environment, Biliili has taken steps to tighten our expenses and streamline its organization to further prioritize commercialization, according to Chen. Bilibili reduced sales and marketing expenses by 28% YoY, and cut the aggregate principal amount of its outstanding convertible senior notes by US$932 million from last October to January 2023 through convertible senior notes repurchases, the chief financial officer Sam Fan pointed out. Fan pledged to maintain strict cost control measures as his company continues to improve margins and further narrow our losses.

Looking forward, Bilibili expects net revenues to be between RMB24.0 billion and RMB26.0 billion for the year 2023, representing an increase range between 9.6% and 18.7% from 2022. It cautioned the outlook is subject to various uncertainties, including those related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.