About SINA.com.hk | PressRoom

SUNNYVALE, Calif. ( April 24, 2001) - SINA.com (Nasdaq: SINA), a leading Internet media and services company for Chinese communities worldwide, today announced its results for the third quarter fiscal 2001 ended March 31, 2001.

SINA reported net revenues of $6.1 million for the third fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2001, representing an increase of 68% compared to net revenues of $3.6 million for the third quarter fiscal 2000. Advertising revenues for the third fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2001 amounted to $5.4 million, representing an increase of 76% compared to advertising revenues of $3.1 million for the third quarter fiscal 2000. Pro forma net loss for the third fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2001 was $5.6 million or $0.14 loss per share compared to pro forma net loss of $6.7 million or $0.20 per share for the same period of the previous year. Pro forma net loss excludes non-cash charges for amortization of intangibles and stock-based deferred compensation. Including the non-cash charges, net loss for the third fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2001 was $9.0 million or $0.22 loss per share compared to net loss of $12.1 million or $1.41 loss per share for the same period of the previous year.

Net revenues for the nine months ended March 31, 2001 were $20.9 million, representing an increase of 148% over net revenues of $8.4 million for the same period of the previous year. Pro forma net loss was $17.0 million or $0.42 loss per share for the nine months ended March 31, 2001 compared to $18.2 million or $0.60 loss per share for the same period of the previous year. Including the non-cash charges, net loss was $28.1 million or $0.70 loss per share for the nine months ended March 31, 2001 compared to $38.9 million or $4.77 loss per share for the same period of the previous year.

According to the audited results by ABC Interactive, an international firm specializing in online traffic audit and whose client base includes many global leading Internet companies, SINA's page views totaled 2.2 billion for the month of March 2001, representing an increase of 47% over the total page views of 1.5 billion for the month of December 2000. In addition, SINA's registered users reached 22.6 million at the end of March 2001.

As of March 31, 2001, SINA's cash and short-term investment balance was $116 million.

"While China's economy maintains its strong momentum, the slow down in global economy has made growth challenging for industry leaders including SINA," said Zhidong Wang, Chief Executive Officer of SINA. "As a company operating in four key Chinese market inclusive of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and North America, SINA has been affected by the current global market condition. We believe the current slow down in our growth is short term and we are confident that our unique position to serve as a virtual gateway between China and the international business community will pay off with China's expected entry into the World Trade Organization."

In the third fiscal quarter 2001, while SINA has continued to provide high quality content and services to its audiences worldwide, it underlined its focus on developing and delivering new online advertising solutions to its customers. In February 2001, SINA has introduced innovative online advertising formats with well reception by our customers, inclusive of large screen, pop-up and picture-in-picture. In addition, SINA has started to sell online advertisements based on time slots to make the online advertising measurement more in line with the traditional media. SINA also entered into a partnership relationship with Research International, one of the world's leading marketing research firms to create an online marketing survey platform to serve large advertising clients. SINA's leadership in China's Internet market has been further distinguished in January 2001 when it became the first commercial enterprise in China to receive the government approval to publish news online and to operate an Internet content business.

"We have performed a comprehensive review of our operational plan during the quarter to enhance our core competence and expand near-term businesses," stated Daniel Mao, Chief Operating Officer of SINA. "As online-offline media convergence continues, Sina is increasingly leveraging its strength as the leading Chinese online network to create win-win opportunities with our key offline media partners. Additionally, Sina has further extended its platform into the business communities. Given Sina's strong software development capabilities, we have been able to supply our corporate clients with "one-stop shopping" solution that satisfies both their technical and media needs. Consequently, SINA has been chosen as a trusted business partner not only by leading multinational companies but also by domestic leaders."

SINA.com is a leading Internet media and services company for Chinese communities worldwide, offering on-line news, entertainment, community and e-commerce. A popular destination site for the world's largest population group, SINA.com offers a Chinese-language network of four localized Web sites that are produced and updated daily by local teams in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and North America. As of March 2001, SINA.com enjoyed 2.2 billion page views and 22.6 million registered users and 25 million unique users.

To learn more about SINA.com, visit the company's corporate site at http://www.sina.com/corp , or regional sites at http://www.sina.com.cn, http://sina.com.hk and http://www.sina.com.tw

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, SINA.com's historical and future losses, limited operating history, uncertain regulatory landscape in the People's Republic of China, fluctuations in quarterly operating results and our reliance on advertising sales for revenue. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in SINA.com's prospectus dated April 12, 2000, in its 10-K filing and in its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

| Back to Press Release |