-=YY (YY) reported earnings on Mon 4 March 19 (a/h)

YY beats by $0.04, beats on revs; sees Q1 revs +23.4-28% y/y

• Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $1.87 per ADS, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of $1.83; revenues rose 21.2% year/year to $675 mln vs the $651.56 mln S&P Capital IQ Consensus.
• For the first quarter of 2019, the Company expects net revenues to be between RMB4.01 billion and RMB4.16 billion, representing a year-over-year growth of 23.4% to 28.0%, without giving effect to the acquisition of Bigo Inc.
• Co announced its recent acquisition of the remaining approximately 68.3% of all the issued and outstanding shares of Bigo from the other shareholders of Bigo, including Mr. David Xueling Li, Chairman and acting CEO of YY, for an aggregate purchase price of US$1,452,778,383, comprising of US$343,061,583 in cash, 38,326,579 Class B common shares of YY issued to Mr. Li and 313,888,496 Class A common shares of YY issued to Mr. Li and other selling shareholders of Bigo.

At highest levels since August after beating consensus on Q4 EPS and revs (of US$675.0 mln) and guiding for net revenue growth of +23.4-28.0% year/year for Q1. Live streaming revenues increased +30.4% year/year in the quarter, driving total revenue growth. Co also announced its recent acquisition of the remaining approx. 68.3% of shares of Bigo for an aggregate purchase price of US$1.45 bln in cash and shares, and in its earnings press release, co noted its recent entrance into a strategic partnership with Shanghai Chuangsi, owner of one of China's leading game platforms; under the agreement, co will obtain 30% equity interest of Shanghai Chuangsi by injecting its online game business into Shanghai Chuangsi. Leads generally strong performance among Chinese mid-cap stocks.