BYD shares fall on profit warning

13 July 2011 Last updated at 05:22 GMT BYD has been trying to boost its sales by introducing new electric and hybrid car models Shares of the Chinese car and battery maker BYD have fallen at the stock exchanges in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, after the company issued a profit warning.

BYD said its profit for the first half of the year could plunge by as much as 95% because of a drop in car sales.

BYD's shares dipped by as much as 6.7% in Hong Kong.

The company said the end of tax incentives for small cars in China had hit demand for its vehicles.

BYD revealed that its profit for the first six months of the year is likely to be between 121m yuan ($18.7m; ?11.7m) and 363m yuan, compared with 2.4bn yuan during the same period last year.

Uncertain times?

BYD's problems are not just confined to falling car sales, its other business units have also witnessed a recent slump.

The company said that sales of components that it makes for mobile telephone handsets and its assembly business also declined during the first half of the year, as one of its major customers deferred orders.

Last month, BYD reported that its first quarter profit dropped by 84%, compared to the same period last year.

Analysts said that given the company's recent performance, there may be more tough times ahead.

"It's below my expectation and there is a chance that they make a loss in the second quarter," said Steven Man of Samsung Securities.

Billionaire US investor Warren Buffett's company MidAmerican Energy, holds a 9.9% stake in BYD.

The renowned American investor, who made his fortune from the investment firm Berkshire Hathaway, is dubbed the Sage of Omaha.

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Blackberry firm shares fall 20%

17 June 2011 Last updated at 22:18 GMT RIM has had problems with product delays Shares in Blackberry manufacturer Research in Motion (RIM) have fallen by more than a fifth since it announced disappointing results on Thursday.

The company said that it had missed even its lowered expectations and reduced its profit forecasts.

RIM's net profit was $695m (?430m) in the three months to 28 May, down from $769m in the same period last year.

It warned in April that its profits would be low because of lower shipments of its Blackberry phones.

Share fall

RIM shares closed down by 21.4% on the Nasdaq exchange in New York.

The company has announced a cost-cutting programme, which will include job cuts.

"Fiscal 2012 has gotten off to a challenging start," said Jim Balsillie, joint chief executive of RIM.

"The slowdown we saw in the first quarter is continuing into Q2, and delays in new product introductions into the very late part of August is leading to a lower than expected outlook in the second quarter."

Immediately after the results were announced on Thursday company's shares fell sharply in after-hours trading and had to be suspended briefly.

"The guidance was just awful. The devices are receiving less shelf space and less support from carriers," said Peter Misek at Jefferies and Co in New York.

"People are not waiting. They're going to other platforms."

Delay

Research in Motion is struggling against new handsets produced by Apple or rivals using Googles Android operating system.

The company admitted that the release of its new devices would be delayed until later in the year.

Analysts were extremely critical of its performance.

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It doesn't replace a smartphone and it doesn't replace a laptop, it's quite a tough sell to the consumer to buy one of these”

End Quote Adam Leach Ovum "Bottom line, we believe RIM has no short-term fixes to improve its product proftolio, brand perception, to reinvigorate share gains, revenue growth and profitability," Citigroup analysts said in a note to investors.

Playbook

Industry observers say the firm may have become distracted with new products, especially its new tablet device, the Playbook.

In its results, the firm said it had shipped 500,000 Playbooks, but failed to give detailed sales figures.

"They've had a large focus on the Playbook internally, that launched this month. The company has been focusing on the Playbook that delayed them on getting new smartphones out to market," says Adam Leach from industry analysts Ovum.

Blackberry is not the only tablet manufacturer to have struggled recently.

Taiwanese PC manufacturer Acer announced this month that it was to cut 300 jobs as it reduced its shipment targets for tablets by 60%.

The world's second biggest PC manufacturer also cut its revenue forecast.

"It doesn't replace a smartphone and it doesn't replace a laptop, it's quite a tough sell to the consumer to buy one of these," said Mr Leach.

Blackberry is also working on the release of a new operating system for its smart phones based on its Playbook software.

Mr Leach says the market may be overreacting to the bad news.

"I do think they are they have a quite strong business, the last few quarters have been very strong for them," he says.

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LinkedIn shares double on debut

19 May 2011 Last updated at 17:04 GMT LinkedIn executives rang New York's opening bell on Thursday Shares in business networking website LinkedIn have more than doubled on their trading debut in New York, having been priced at $45 each.

Its share price hit $108 at one point in the sort of debut rally not seen since the dotcom bubble of the late 1990s.

The initial sale price was already at the top of an increased range.

LinkedIn sold 7.84 million shares at $45 each. At $100 a share the company is worth about $10bn.

LinkedIn is the first US social network site to get a share listing.

Some analysts believe its strong debut is down to investors' over-enthusiasm for social media stocks.

"The price we're seeing for LinkedIn shares has nothing to do with the value of the company," says Paul Kedrosky, angel investor and senior fellow at the Kaufman Foundation.

"It's just an indication of how much appetite and interest there is for social media stocks."

"LinkedIn is the only trading vehicle for this type of stock. It's the equivalent of trying to funnel thousands of people through a single door".

"Every investor I know is currently scouring around for a social media company to take public. They think it's worth selling at this stage, but not necessarily buying the stocks," he added.

Continue reading the main story Rory Cellan-Jones Technology correspondent, BBC News

$4bn looks a very fancy price for a company with revenues last year of $243m and profits of $15.4m.

That looks modest compared with the figures of $50bn and more being bandied around for Facebook's valuation.

Both price tags will look dumb to those sceptics who see Facebook as an ephemeral craze for people with poor social skills and LinkedIn as little more than a glorified Rolodex

There have been concerns that social networking sites are creating a new stock market bubble.

Shares in one of China's biggest social networking sites Renren rose sharply on their debut in New York earlier this month.

Renren's shares were priced at $14, and in their first day of trading peaked at $21.93 before closing at $18.01.

Facebook and Twitter are both expected to seek stock market listings in the next few years.

On Wednesday, the price range for LinkedIn's initial public offering was lifted from $32 to $35 a share to a range of $42 to $45.

Before shares in LinkedIn started trading, this new price range had valued it at about 17 times its earnings from 2010.

But at $100 a share the company is worth 25 times its 2011 revenue, assuming first-quarter sales are matched over the next three quarters.

Google, which went public in 2004, has a market value of about six times its annual revenues.

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MGM China shares rise 2% on debut

3 June 2011 Last updated at 11:43 GMT Rising gambling revenues in Macau have driven up the profits of casino operators in the territory MGM China has made its debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange as investors continue to bank on Macau's gambling boom.

The shares ended the day up 2% at HK$15.62. During the session, the company's shares rose as much as 6%.

MGM China is one of only six companies that have licences to operate casinos in Macau.

The company priced its stock at HK$15.34 per share, the top end of its expected range, raising $1.5bn (?912m).

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[Young people] know they will get a job in a casino and have a pretty good life. There's less drive to compete”

End Quote Ricardo Siu University of Macau Gambling revenues in Macau have been rising, turning it into the world's biggest gambling market.

Booming market

Major Asian economies are witnessing robust growth, which has helped revenue and profits of Macau's casino operators rise substantially.

Gambling revenue in Macau surged 57% in 2010 to $23.5bn (?14.4bn).

As a result, investors have made a beeline for shares of the leading operators in the territory.

Shares of SJM Holdings, the largest casino operator in the territory, have risen by 240% in the past year.

Galaxy Entertainment, which runs six casinos in Macau, has seen its stock price surge by 380%.

Analysts say that as the profile of Macau keeps rising, investors are betting on the operators in a bid to grab a share of the success.

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