[ET Net News Agency, 16 April 2018] Alibaba Pictures Group (01060) expects that the
group to record a net loss attributable to the owners of the company for the 15 months
ended 31 March 2018 to be between RMB1.6 billion and RMB1.7 billion, compared with
RMB950.26 million for the 12 months ended 31 December 2017 and RMB958.58 million for the
year ended 31 December 2016.
It said the Chinese New Year holiday period (CNY Period) is usually a peak season for
box office in the PRC. February 2018 saw the highest box office number ever recorded for
the CNY period, which the group viewed as a strategic time window to exert its promotional
effort to strengthen Tao Piao Piao's market-leading position.
Significant resources were spent in the CNY Period of 2018 to provide pricing incentives
to consumers to further promote Tao Piao Piao's brand. Due to increased marketing
expenses, the group expects to record a net loss for the 15 months period. Given the
current competitive landscape, the group does not expect such pricing promotion to be a
consistent trend, but may change from time to time depending on industry dynamics. (KL)