Ninetowns Tech Group (NINE) research, news, and more from GeoInvesting

Company description

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Ninetowns Digital is a PRC software company that enables enterprises and trade-related PRC government agencies to streamline the import/export process in China. Through its scalable enterprise software products, Ninetowns' clients have the ability to automate import/export processing over the Internet, which is a more cost-effective and efficient alternative to the traditional paper-based method.

Comments & Business Outlook

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Second Half 2012 Financial Results

Total net revenues were RMB46.5 million (US$7.5 million), representing a 7% increase compared to RMB43.3 million for the second half of 2011.
Net income was RMB13.2 million (US$2.1 million) compared to net loss of RMB1.6 million for the second half of 2011.
Basic and diluted net income per ADS (each ADS represents one ordinary share) were RMB0.35 (US$0.06) andRMB0.32 (US$0.05), respectively, compared to basic and diluted net loss per ADS of RMB0.04 and RMB0.04 for the second half of 2011.

Mr. Shuang Wang, Chief Executive Officer of Ninetowns, commented: "We are pleased to report an increase in revenue and net income for the second half and full year 2012. Decreased sales of our iDeclare software package and services we provided to our pay per transaction users resulting from the lower level of import/export activity in Chinathroughout 2012 was partially offset by an increase in sales of iDeclare service contracts as well as continued growth in our B2C e-commerce business. We have continued to effectively manage our enterprise software segment in the face of macroeconomic headwinds, with a focus on maintaining existing customers while seeking to attract new customers. We believe that the growth in iDeclare service contracts sold during the year demonstrates our commitment to providing best-in-class solutions and services to our customers. However, we expect to face continued challenges in our enterprise software segment in the year ahead in light of the tepid economic and trade outlook forChina."

"Despite the challenges we face in our enterprise software segment, we are encouraged by the continued progress in our newer business initiatives. In terms of our B2C e-commerce business, we are pleased to report the fourth consecutive year of growth for this business segment, driven by steady customer demand for our fresh foods and household products backed by our 'guaranteed fresh' delivery service. Our B2C e-commerce business has benefited from increasing awareness of and interest in healthy, organic and local food products by consumers throughout our target market areas in Beijing. The growth in demand has resulted in this segment accounting for approximately 26% of our total net revenues for the full year, a considerable achievement in a relatively short period of time. We plan to continue to focus on expanding the product offering with the goal of increasing our customer base and driving continued revenue growth. Finally, we expect to continue to focus our time and resources on the advancement of our property development initiatives. As previously reported, we currently have four projects in the development pipeline, and we are working to move these projects through the development process. Together, we believe these two new business initiatives provide us with a platform for future growth, supported by the continued contribution from our core enterprise software segment."

Mr. Tommy Fork, Chief Financial Officer of Ninetowns, commented, "Our improved financial performance in 2012 positions us well to continue investing in and growing our newer business initiatives while maintaining a stable performance within our core enterprise software segment. We plan to continue to invest prudently in our new initiatives while maintaining a focus on cost controls in an effort to build a sustainable platform for profitable growth."

Comments & Business Outlook

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Second Half 2012 Results

Total net revenues were RMB43.9 million (US$6.9 million), representing a 38% increase as compared to RMB31.9 million (US$4.9 million) for the first half of 2011.
Net income was RMB55.3 million (US$8.7 million), as compared to net income of RMB5.2 million (US$0.8 million) for the first half of 2011.
Basic and diluted net income per ADS (each ADS represents one ordinary share) were RMB1.47 (US$0.24) and RMB1.35 (US$0.21), respectively, compared to basic and diluted net income per ADS of RMB0.14 (US$0.02) and RMB0.13 (US$0.02) for the first half of 2011.

Mr. Shuang Wang, Chief Executive Officer of Ninetowns, commented: "We are pleased to report healthy results for the first half of the year, with a significant year-over-year increase in revenue and net income. Despite the challenging global macroeconomic environment, which continues to impact our core enterprise software segment, our financial results benefited from our broadened services to existing customers and consistently enhanced marketing efforts.While we experienced a decrease in demand for our iDeclare software packages and services contracts, we continue to remain focused on maximizing customer retention and further expansion of our client base. Although we are pleased to see a return to growth on a year-over-year basis, we believe that our core enterprise software segment will continue to face headwinds as a result of the global economic slowdown in the near to mid-term."

"Given the limited prospects for sustainable long-term growth in our core B2G segment, we continue to focus our efforts on our newer initiatives, including our food-related business and our new property development initiative. We are pleased with the progress that we have made to date on both initiatives. Our food-related business continues to grow at a steady pace, supported by the breadth and depth of our product offerings and our continuously improving operational platform. Having established a stable and loyal customer base, we are now focused on improving the profitability of this segment through the introduction of higher quality and higher margin products while further optimizing our sourcing, transport, distribution and customer interface. We believe these efforts will help us to maintain the steady and prudent pace of growth that we have achieved to date. Finally, we continue to make progress on our property development initiative, however this effort remains in a fairly preliminary stage. We continue to monitor the government's policies relating to real estate while further developing our existing projects. While much work remains ahead, we believe that the long-term opportunities in this segment remain substantial and we will continue to allocate our time and resources to this effort accordingly."

Mr. Tommy Fork, Chief Financial Officer of Ninetowns, commented, "Our improved top and bottom line performance in the period further bolsters our stable financial position. Our balance sheet and cash position remain healthy, providing us with the necessary resources to continue our investments in our new growth initiatives. We remain focused on maintaining a strong financial position and effectively managing our costs to maximize our strategic flexibility in the second half of the year."

Going Private News

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING , Oct. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Ninetowns Internet Technology Group Company Limited (NASDAQ: NINE) ("Ninetowns" or the "Company"), one of China 's leading providers of online solutions for international trade, today announced that its Board of Directors has received a preliminary non-binding proposal letter, dated October 12, 2012 , from certain directors and officers of the Company, including Mr. Shuang Wang , Ms. Min Dong , Mr. Xiaoguang Ren , Mr. Kin Fai Ng , Mr. Bolin Wu , Mr. Zhonghai Xu , Mr. Tommy Siu Lun Fork and affiliates of some of these directors and officers (together, the "Consortium Members"), that proposes a "going-private" transaction involving the acquisition of all of the outstanding ordinary shares of the Company not already owned by the Consortium Members at a price per share in the range of US$1.80 to US$2.00 in cash (the "Transaction"). Each American depositary share of the Company represents one ordinary share.

According to the proposal letter, the Consortium Members will form an acquisition vehicle for the purpose of pursuing the Transaction, and the Transaction is intended to be financed with a combination of cash from the resources of the Company, its subsidiaries and the acquisition vehicle to be formed by the Consortium Members, as needed. A copy of the proposal letter is attached hereto as Exhibit A.

The Company's Board of Directors has formed a special committee of independent directors (the "Special Committee") consisting of Mr. Martin Cheung , Mr. Da Chun Zhang and Mr. Mark Ming Hsun Lee to consider the Transaction. The Special Committee is authorized to retain financial, legal and other advisors to assist it in its review of the Transaction. Paul Hastings LLP is acting as the Company's U.S. counsel and Ropes & Gray is acting as U.S. counsel to the Consortium Members.

The Company cautions its shareholders and others considering trading in its securities that the Board of Directors has just received the non-binding proposal from the Consortium Members and no decisions have been made with respect to the Company's response to the proposal. There can be no assurance that any definitive offer will be made, that any agreement will be executed or that this or any other transaction will be approved or consummated. The Company does not undertake any obligation to provide any updates with respect to the Transaction or any other transaction, except as required under applicable law.

Comments & Business Outlook

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Second Half 2011 Financial Highlights

Total net revenues were RMB43.3 million (US$6.9 million), representing a 7% increase compared toRMB40.5 million (US$6.1 million) for the second half of 2010.
Net loss was RMB1.6 million (US$0.3 million) compared to net income of RMB19.3 million (US$2.9 million) for the second half of 2010.
Basic and diluted net loss per ADS (each ADS represents one ordinary share) were RMB0.04 (US$0.01), compared to basic and diluted net income per ADS of RMB0.53 (US$0.08) and RMB0.51 (US$0.07), respectively, for the second half of 2010.

Mr. Shuang Wang, Chief Executive Officer of Ninetowns, commented, "We concluded 2011 with continued growth in our core enterprise software segment, achieved through our strengthened marketing efforts and our determination to maintain existing customers and attract new customers. However, we expect to face continued headwinds in our core business in light of the muted growth expectations for China's economy in the year ahead. Nevertheless, we remain committed to the execution of our strategy to retain customers and develop our client base through flexible pricing, continuous product updates and focus on high quality nationwide service and support.

"While our core enterprise software segment continues to be our main revenue driver in the near- to mid-term, we are placing increasing focus on our newer business initiatives, which include our e-grocery business and our property development business. We are pleased to report continued revenue contribution from our e-grocery business, which accounted for 9% of total net revenues in the second half of 2011. The progress we have made thus far has confirmed the viability of this business concept, and our focus will now shift to expanding the scope and reach of our products and services. We are also making progress on our property development business, having expanded our development pipeline with the projects in Dalian, Huainan, Binzhou and Beijing. In addition, we have commenced development of our mixed-use project in Dalian. For the remainder of 2012, our strategic focus will be on construction of our existing projects and the marketing of projects in the development stage. While still in an early phase, we believe the long-term prospects for this business segment remain favorable, given the continued demand and opportunity in China's third- and fourth-tier cities for innovative property development projects."

Mr. Tommy Fork, Chief Financial Officer of Ninetowns, commented, "The stable performance of our enterprise software segment continues to provide us with the necessary financial platform upon which we are building our newer business initiatives. Our balance sheet remains healthy, with sufficient cash on hand to fund our growth while maintaining our leadership position in our enterprise software segment. We will continue to invest prudently in our new initiatives while maintaining a focus on cost controls in an effort to build a sustainable platform for profitable growth."

Deal Flow

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, April 24, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Ninetowns Internet Technology Group Company Limited (NASDAQ: NINE) ("Ninetowns" or the "Company"), one of China's leading providers of online solutions for international trade, today announced that the 2011 Zhongcheng Trust Huainan Ninetowns Investment Trust Plan (the "Investment Trust Plan") offered by Zhongcheng Trust Co., Ltd. ("Zhongcheng") to provide financing to our real estate project in Huainan, China, was terminated as of February 9, 2012.

As previously announced in July 2011, Zhongcheng organized and offered the Investment Trust Plan in June 2011 to finance the costs and expenses related to the Company's "Smarter Town" project in Huainan, China. Pursuant to the terms of the Investment Trust Plan, Zhongcheng issued (i) 150,000,000 preferred trust units for RMB150 million to certain investors and (ii) 160,000,000 ordinary trust units to Beijing Ninetowns Ports Software and Technology Co., Ltd. ("Ninetowns Ports"), a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of the Company, in exchange for the assignment of certain creditor's rights for RMB160 million. Zhongcheng and Ninetowns Ports entered into a capital increase agreement pursuant to which Zhongcheng made a capital investment of RMB150 million to Huainan Ninetowns Suitable Estate Co.,Ltd. ("Huainan Ninetowns"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ninetowns Ports and the sole shareholder of Huainan Huacheng Estate Co., Ltd. ("Huainan Huacheng"), the project company of the "Smarter Town" project. Huainan Ninetowns further injected the funds into Huainan Huacheng. As a result of such investment, Zhongcheng obtained 90% of the equity interest of Huainan Ninetowns.

In February 2012, Ninetowns Ports proposed to terminate the Investment Trust Plan due to the delay in development schedule of the "Smarter Town" project. The termination of the Investment Trust Plan was approved at the meeting of the investors who subscribed to the preferred units of the Investment Trust Plan and Ninetowns Ports held on February 3, 2012. As a result of such termination, Zhongcheng transferred its equity interests in Huainan Ninetowns to Ninetowns Ports for no consideration. Huainan Huacheng repaid the outstanding creditors' rights of RMB160 million and interest payments of approximately RMB13 million to Zhongcheng, of which approximately RMB150 million came from proceeds received by Huainan Huacheng from the Investment Trust Plan and approximately RMB23 million came from Ninetowns Ports' operating income, injected by Ninetowns Ports through Huainan Huacheng.

Ninetowns intends to continue the development of the "Smarter Town" project and may seek other alternative financing options in the future.

Acquisition Activity

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, November 1, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Ninetowns Internet Technology Group Company Limited (NASDAQ: NINE) ("Ninetowns" or the "Company"), one of China's leading providers of online solutions for international trade, today announced that Beijing Ninetowns Ronghe Zhihui Network Software Services Co., Ltd. ("Ninetowns Ronghe Zhihui"), an indirect subsidiary of the Company, has entered into a partnership agreement with Shouchuang Huaxia (Tianjin) Equity Investment Fund Management Co., Ltd. ("Shouchuang Huaxia") and Shouchuang Caifu Gengyin (Tianjin) Equity Investment Fund Limited Partnership ("Shouchuang Gengyin"). Pursuant to the partnership agreement, Ninetowns Ronghe Zhihui and Shouchuang Gengyin, as the limited partners, and Shouchuang Huaxia, as the general partner, will establish Shouchuang Caifu Ninetowns (Tianjin) Equity Investment Fund Limited Partnership (the "Fund"), which is a limited partnership to be based in Tianjin, China.

The Fund's total initial subscription amount is expected to be RMB110 million. Shouchuang Gengyin is expected to subscribe for RMB10 million. Shouchuang Huaxia is expected to subscribe for RMB10 million. Ninetowns Ronghe Zhihui is expected to subscribe for a total of RMB90 million, of which RMB53 million, as per Ninetowns Ronghe Zhihui's obligation, is expected to be contributed to by October 31, 2011 and the remaining RMB37 million, as Ninetowns Ronghe Zhihui's option but not obligation, is expected to be contributed by Ninetowns Ronghe Zhihui and/or one or more than one of its affiliates designated by Ninetowns Ronghe Zhihui by October 31, 2013.

The Fund intends to acquire 100% of the equity interest in Binzhou Ruichen Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. (the "Project Company"), a limited liability company established in Binzhou, Shandong Province, China. The Fund will provide loans to the Project Company. The Project Company intends to develop a piece of land consisting of approximately 79,139 square meters for residential use located in Binzhou, Shandong Province, China (the "Project"). The land use rights will expire in 70 years. The funding of the Project will be mainly secured by the Project Company through commercial bank loans. The Fund has the right, but not the obligation, to provide further funding to the Project Company.

The Fund intends to grant one of the current shareholders of the Project Company the right to repurchase 100% of the equity interest of the Project Company. This right is exercisable in the next two years.

The Project Company has signed the land grant contract and paid the associated land premium. The land use right certificate is expected to be issued by January 2012

Comments & Business Outlook

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, October 21, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Ninetowns Internet Technology Group Company Limited (Nasdaq: NINE) ("Ninetowns" or the "Company"), one of China's leading providers of online solutions for international trade, today reports its financial results for the six-month period ended June 30, 2011.

Financial Highlights:

Total net revenues were RMB31.9 million (US$4.9 million), representing a 17% decrease as compared to RMB38.4 million (US$5.7 million) for the first half of 2010.
Net income was RMB5.2 million (US$0.8 million), as compared to a net loss of RMB7.0 million (US$1.0 million) for the first half of 2010.
Basic and diluted net income per ADS (each ADS represents one ordinary share) were RMB0.14 (US$0.02) and RMB0.13 (US$0.02), respectively, compared to basic and diluted net loss per ADS of RMB0.20 (US$0.03) for the first half of 2010.

Mr. Shuang Wang, Chief Executive Officer of Ninetowns, commented: "We are pleased to see an improvement in our core enterprise software segment on a year-over-year basis driven by increased demand for our iDeclare software packages and service contracts. We continue to remain focused on maximizing customer retention and further expansion of our client base by leveraging our flexible pricing structure, continuous product updates and enhancements and our nationwide service and support. Nevertheless, we believe that the greatest opportunity for our long-term growth lies in our newer business initiatives, including our e-grocery business and our property development business. Both of these segments leverage our fundamental strength in e-commerce and technology innovation, and provide us with potential new revenue streams over the long-run that will mitigate the challenges we face in our enterprise software segment."

"We continue to anticipate that the majority of our revenues in the near-term will come from our enterprise software and food related businesses, and expect to generate a substantial portion of our revenue in the near to mid term from these business segments. However, we are focusing significant resources on our new property development initiative. Despite recent initiatives by the PRC government to cool China's rapidly expanding real estate market, we believe that both growth potential and opportunity in China's third- and fourth tier cities for innovative property development projects remains strong, supported by powerful macro-economic trends. These drivers, coupled with the increasing usage of cloud computing and the Internet of Things, underpin our investment vision for our property development initiative. We remain well capitalized and financially sound, and are committed to our strategy to deliver long-term value for our shareholders."

Mr. Tommy Fork, Chief Financial Officer of Ninetowns, commented, "Despite a decline in our top-line results, we are pleased to report improving bottom-line results on a year-over-year basis. We continue to maintain a strong balance sheet and a healthy cash position, which enable us to maintain our competitive advantages in our enterprise software segment while also investing prudently in our newer initiatives. Looking ahead, we will continue to focus on cost controls as we work to establish our next phase of growth."

Notable Share Transactions

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, August 30, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Ninetowns Internet Technology Group Limited (Nasdaq: NINE) ("Ninetowns"), one of China's leading providers of online solutions for international trade, today announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program, effective immediately.

Under the program, Ninetowns is authorized to Deprepurchase up to US$5 million of its American ositary Shares ("ADSs"), each ADS representing one ordinary share of the Company, in the next two years. The repurchase of the ADSs will be made in the open market depending on market conditions and other factors as well as subject to relevant rules under United States securities regulations. The repurchases are intended to qualify for the safe harbor provided by Rule 10b-18 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The program does not obligate Ninetowns to acquire any particular number of ADSs and may be suspended, modified or discontinued at any time. The share repurchase program will be funded by the Company's available working capital.

Mr. Shuang Wang, CEO of Ninetowns, commented, "We have very clear visibility on our business in the coming quarters and are confident in our long-term growth prospects. Given the current capital market conditions, we believe that the share repurchase program is a prudent investment and will ultimately benefit our shareholders."

Liquidity Requirements

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT

The GeoTeam believes that NINE may be eying the capital markets to raise capital:

2009 20F:

We believe that our available cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to meet our capital needs for at least the next 12 months. Except for our net cash provided by operating activities, we currently have no plans to seek additional sources of liquidity in the near future.

2010 20F

We believe that our available cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to meet our capital needs for at least the next 12 months. Except for our net cash provided by operating activities, we may seek additional sources of liquidity in the near future for our businesses, especially our real estate development business.

Comments & Business Outlook

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Second Half 2010 Financial Highlights

Total net revenues were RMB40.5 million (US$6.1 million), representing a 2% decrease as compared to RMB41.2 million for the second half of 2009.
Net income was RMB19.3 million (US$2.9 million) as compared to a net loss of RMB1.6 million for the second half of 2009.
Basic and diluted net income per ADS (each ADS represents one ordinary share) were RMB0.53 (US$0.08) and RMB0.51 (US$0.07), respectively, compared to basic and diluted net loss per ADS of RMB0.05 for the second half of 2009.

Full Year 2010 Financial Highlights

Total net revenues were RMB78.9 million (US$12.0 million), representing a 1% decrease as compared to RMB79.6 million for 2009.
Net income was RMB12.3 million (US$1.9 million), as compared to net income of RMB1.3 million for 2009.
Basic and diluted net income per ADS were RMB0.34 (US$0.05) and RMB0.33 (US$0.05), respectively, compared to basic and diluted net income per ADS of RMB0.04 for 2009.

Mr. Shuang Wang, Chief Executive Officer of Ninetowns, commented: "Our results for the year were in-line with expectations, as we continued to focus on maximizing customer retention and the expansion of our customer base. We delivered a more diversified revenue mix for the full year, with a greater share of total revenues coming from our software development services and food related business. Nevertheless, the operating environment in our core enterprise software segment remains challenging. As such, we have worked diligently to identify and develop new growth areas for the Company, and we believe that our new real estate initiative provides us with such an opportunity.

Looking ahead to 2011 and beyond, we will continue to operate the enterprise software and food related businesses, and expect to generate a substantial portion of our revenue in the near to mid-term from those business segments. However, we believe our new real estate development initiative will provide us with a new long-term growth opportunity. The real estate market in China's third and fourth-tier cities remains strong, supported by powerful macro-economic trends including rising GDP, increasing urbanization and growing disposable income. In addition, we have seen a growing worldwide trend towards increasing usages of cloud computing and the Internet of Things. We believe that these underlying drivers, coupled with our extensive IT industry experience, provide us with a new and unique growth opportunity. With a strong balance sheet and a clear strategy in place, we believe we are well positioned to capitalize on this opportunity to deliver long-term value for our shareholders."

Mr. Tommy Fork, Chief Financial Officer of Ninetowns, commented, "We are pleased to report an improved performance for both the second half and full year. Despite continued operational headwinds, we remain focused on maximizing our existing revenue streams by leveraging our flexible pricing structure, continued product updates and enhancements and our nationwide service and support. We ended the year with a strong balance sheet and healthy cash position, which we believe will help support our new real estate initiative. We will continue to maintain a strict focus on cost controls, while prudently investing in our future growth."

Notable Share Transactions

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 04:00:00 GMT

On March 29, 2011, Ninetowns' Board of Directors approved and authorized the Company to adopt a share repurchase plan that allows the Company to purchase up to US$5 million its outstanding American Depositary Shares within the next two years.

Comments & Business Outlook

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Siix-month period ended June 30, 2010 Financial Highlights:

Total net revenues were RMB38.5 million (US$5.7 million), which remained relatively stable compared to RMB38.4 million (US$5.6 million) for the first half of 2009.

Net loss was RMB7.0 million (US$1.0 million), as compared to a net income of RMB3.0 million (US$0.4 million) for the first half of 2009.

Both basic and diluted net loss per ADS (each ADS represents one ordinary share) were RMB0.20(US$0.03), compared to basic and diluted net income per ADS of RMB0.08(US$0.01) for the first half of 2009.

Mr. Shuang Wang, Chief Executive Officer of Ninetowns, commented: "We continued to face a challenging operating environment for our core enterprise software and services as a result of continued soft demand from our customers in China's import/export sector. As the overall economic environment improves, our focus will remain on maximizing customer retention and further expansion of our client base by leveraging our versatile pricing structure, continued product updates and enhancements and our nationwide service and support.

"We are, however, pleased to see continued progress on our e-grocery initiative. The completion of the initial trial phase of the platform and services in the TTY Community proves that this is a viable operation with significant growth opportunity. The demand for fresh and healthy food products in China is growing, and our convenient and efficient online ordering system and delivery model will allow us to tap into this growing market opportunity. As we roll out the second trial phase, with expanded food options and the targeting of a more affluent customer market, we remain confident in our ability to grow this segment into a meaningful revenue contributor over time. We will continue to invest time and resources into the development of this initiative, and believe that our unique positioning, qualified sales and satisfaction guaranteed services will enable us to create long-term shareholder value."