Bitauto (BITA) Tops Q1 EPS by 22c, Beats on Revenues

Bitauto (NYSE: BITA) reported Q1 EPS of $0.14, $0.22 better than the analyst estimate of ($0.08). Revenue for the quarter came in at $346.1 million versus the consensus estimate of $308.48 million.

Bitauto First Quarter 2018 Highlights

• Revenue in the first quarter of 2018 was RMB2.17 billion (US$346.1 million), a 52.3% increase from the corresponding period in 2017.
• Gross profit in the first quarter of 2018 was RMB1.35 billion (US$215.2 million), a 34.3% increase from the corresponding period in 2017.
• Loss from operations in the first quarter of 2018 was RMB313.3 million (US$50.0 million), compared to a loss from operations of RMB10.9 million (US$1.7 million) in the corresponding period in 2017. The increased loss was mainly due to the increased expenses relating to the Company\'s marketing efforts and provision for credit losses of finance receivables.
• Non-GAAP income from operations in the first quarter of 2018 was RMB8.0 million (US$1.3 million), compared to a Non-GAAP income from operations of RMB223.1 million (US$35.6 million) in the corresponding period in 2017.
• Net loss in the first quarter of 2018 was RMB288.3 million (US$46.0 million), compared to a net loss of RMB50.1 million (US$8.0 million) in the corresponding period in 2017.
• Non-GAAP net income in the first quarter of 2018 was RMB37.1 million (US$5.9 million), compared to a Non-GAAP net income of RMB156.9 million (US$25.0 million) in the corresponding period in 2017.
• Basic and diluted net loss per ADS in the first quarter of 2018 was RMB2.34 (US$0.37) and RMB2.35 (US$0.37), respectively.
• Non-GAAP basic and diluted net income per ADS in the first quarter of 2018 was RMB0.88 (US$0.14) and RMB0.84 (US$0.13), respectively.

Mr. Andy Zhang, chief executive officer of Bitauto, said, "We had a strong quarter to start the year with total revenue growing 52.3% year-over-year to RMB2.17 billion. Transaction services revenue continued to expand rapidly at over 100% year-over-year to reach RMB1.17 billion, supported by robust growth in transaction volume. At the same time, in line with our revamping efforts as set out in 2017, our advertising and subscription business continued its steady growth with revenue up 16.3% year-over-year to RMB787.5 million."

"In the quarter, we remained dedicated to executing on our three strategic focuses and have made encouraging progress across all these areas: synergies between Bitauto and Yixin, integration of content and user communities, and technology and big data enabled enhancements. We are confident that by building on these competitive advantages, we will further strengthen Bitauto as China\'s top online auto media and transaction services ecosystem."

"Given the recent intensifying industry competition, Yixin has entered into a set of agreements with Yusheng, which is principally engaged in used automobile transaction business. We believe that Yixin\'s cooperation with and investment in Yusheng, together with support from strategic investors such as Tencent and JD.com, will enable Yusheng to increase its competitiveness more quickly and be better positioned to benefit from the growth potential of China's used automobile market. At the same time, Yusheng will give Yixin preferred cooperation rights for used car financing, which will strengthen Yixin's core competency in financed auto transactions business."

Ms. Cynthia He, chief financial officer of Bitauto, said, "Given Yixin's scale and significance to Bitauto, we have provided a set of Yixin's first quarter operating highlights as supplemental information. With regard to provisions for credit losses of finance receivables, the current U.S. GAAP standard applicable to Bitauto follows an "incurred loss" model while IFRS 9, the newly effective IFRS standard applicable to Yixin, follows an "expected loss" model for its stand-alone consolidated financial statements; the latter is expected to yield more stringent results than the former, as it requires the assessment of provision for all finance receivables, including those that have not become past due. As of March 31, 2018, our balance of provision for credit losses under U.S. GAAP was RMB275.0 million and a total of RMB179.4 million was recorded as expenses in the first quarter of 2018. While under IFRS, based on our current estimate, which is subject to further changes, the balance of provision for credit losses was RMB416.0 million as of March 31, 2018, and a total of RMB130.0 million was recorded as expenses in the first quarter of 2018. As a result of the adoption of IFRS 9 in 2018, the retrospective impact as of December 31, 2017 would be recorded in equity on Yixin\'s consolidated balance sheet."

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Bitauto (BITA) click here.

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