FAST NEWS: Bilibili Bans Minors From Livestreaming During Summer Holiday

The latest: Bilibili Inc. (BILI.US; 9626.HK), a Chinese live video-sharing platform, said Saturday it has launched a two-month special campaign to regulate the online environment for minors in the summer of 2022, including banning minors under the age of 16 from participating in livestreaming and related rewards, as well as prohibiting minors from “irrationally” following celebrities.

Looking up: As China’s leading livestreaming platform, Bilibili has been in the eye of the country’s regulatory storm and is now proactively cooperating with the official “cleaning the internet” policy to help avoid official intervention.

Take Note: Since the implementation of the program coincides with the summer vacation of Chinese students, banning them from participating in livestreaming may have a negative impact on Bilibili’s revenue.

Digging Deeper: Since its listing on the Hong Kong stock market last year, Bilibili, a livestreaming platform for the Chinese Z+ generation (born in 1985-2009), has been unable to shake off its long-term losses. Although the company’s revenue rose 30% year-on-year to 5.05 billion yuan ($750 million) in the first quarter of this year, its net loss widened to 2.28 billion yuan due to a 43% increase in operating costs to 4.25 billion yuan, reflecting significant room for improvement in controlling expenses. The company’s CFO, Sam Fan, said it will continue to take more cost-control measures in the coming quarters.

Market Reaction: The Hong Kong shares of Bilibili sank on Monday, closing 4.3% softer to HK$197.70 at the midday break, close to the low of the past 52 weeks.

Translation by Jony Ho

To subscribe to Bamboo Works free weekly newsletter, click here