Kuaishou sees first profit since IPO

Shares in Kuaishou, the platform going head-to-head with Douyin (TikTok) for China’s short video market, soared when the company announced its first profit since an IPO more than two years ago.

In Q1, revenue increased 19.7 percent year on year to 25.2 billion yuan (US$3.6 billion Kuaishou achieved overall group profitability for the first time since going public, with an adjusted net profit of 42 million yuan.

Advertising revenue increased 15.1 percent year on year to 13.1 billion yuan, 51.8 percent of revenue and the largest source of income.

In terms of e-commerce, GMV was up 28.4 percent to 225 billion yuan. The number of brand merchants joining increased by about 30 percent, and GMV from the brand’s own broadcasts increased by about 70 percent YoY.

In terms of users, daily and monthly active users reached new highs of 374 million and 654 million respectively. The total number of views for short videos and live streaming content also by over 10 percent.