Bilibili Shows Strong Performance in Q1 2020

Chinese video hosting service Bilibili released its Q1 2020 financial results on May 19. The platform’s average monthly active users (MAUs) reached 172.4 million, and mobile MAUs reached 156.4 million, an increase of 70% and 77%, respectively, from the same period in 2019, while daily active users (DAUs) stood at 50.8 million, soaring 69% year on year. The company saw considerable gains in monthly paying users with those growing by 134% to 13.4 million.

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Bilibili’s total net revenue reached 2.315 billion yuan ($327 million), a 69% increase from the same period in 2019. The mobile games segment grew 32% from last year, earning the company 1.15 billion yuan ($162.5 million). Value-added services (VAS) (formerly known as Live broadcasting and VAS) grew even more significantly by a whopping 172%, garnering 793.6 million yuan ($112.1 million) in revenues.

Advertising made Bilibili an additional 214.3 million yuan ($30.3 million), while e-commerce and other business activities generated 157.1 million yuan ($22.2 million), primarily attributable to the sales of products through the company’s e-commerce platform. 

Nonetheless, as revenues grew, company losses also piled up. Bilibili’s net loss in Q1 2020 was 538.6 million ($76.1 million), a noticeable increase from 195.6 million yuan in the same period of 2019. Loss from operations reached 544.2 million yuan ($76.9 million), compared to 306.7 million yuan in the same period of 2019, which can be attributed to the growth of the company’s business. 

“Our strong user metrics have laid a solid foundation for our financial growth. Our MPUs grew 134% to a record 13.4 million, demonstrating our platform’s strong monetization capabilities,” said Sam Fan, CFO of Bilibili. “Total net revenues once again exceeded our guidance, reaching 2.3 billion yuan, representing a 69% increase year-over-year. As our top line grows, our gross margin continued to expand for the fourth consecutive quarter reaching 23% in the first quarter of 2020, showing improving operational efficiency. Looking ahead, we will continue to execute on our growth strategies with a focus on quality.” 

Bilibili currently expects its net revenues in Q2 to surge to the level of 2.50 – 2.55 billion yuan, basing its outlook on current market conditions and the company’s preliminary estimates, which are, however, “all subject to various uncertainties, including those related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.” 

The video-sharing site entered into a share purchase agreement with the Sony Corporation of America (SCA) on April 9, 2020. SCA subscribed for 17,310,696 newly issued Class Z ordinary shares of Bilibili with the company receiving a total consideration of approximately $400 million. As a result, SCA currently owns approximately 4.98% of Bilibili’s total issued and outstanding shares. The companies plan to deepen their partnership in anime and mobile games.