BRIEF: Kingsoft Cloud’s loss narrows as Lei Jun steps down as chairman

Cloud computing services provider Kingsoft Cloud Holdings Ltd. (3896.HK, KC.US) announced on Wednesday that its net loss narrowed 52% last year to 936 million yuan ($136 million) from a net loss of 1.97 billion yuan a year earlier.

Its revenue last year rose 22.78% to 9.56 billion yuan, driven by strong demand for AI computing and industry cloud services. Its public cloud revenue, a key growth engine, grew 32.5%. But increased investment in AI computing power pushed up its depreciation and infrastructure costs, causing its gross margin to fall from 17.2% to 15.7%.

The company’s revenue reached a record 2.76 billion yuan in the fourth quarter, up 23.7% year-on-year. Its public cloud revenue rose 34.9% to 1.9 billion yuan, while AI-related computing revenue surged 95%. Its net loss for the quarter narrowed to 163 million yuan from 201 million yuan a year earlier, though it widened on a sequential basis.

The company also announced that Lei Jun, best known as the CEO of smartphone maker Xiaomi, has resigned as a non-executive director due to other work commitments, and will no longer serve as the company’s chairman or on any of its committees. Following his resignation, Vice Chairman Zou Tao has been appointed as chairman.

Kingsoft Cloud’s stock rose 6.71% on Wednesday in New York to close at $14.80, bringing its year-to-date gains to 41.6%.

By Lee Shih Ta

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