Wei Fang

Wei Fang asked for further commentary on Trivago's strategy regarding brand marketing levels, specifically whether getting closer to target investment levels implies a shift in traffic strategy towards other channels.

Answer

CEO Johannes Thomas reaffirmed the strategy to substantially increase brand investment this year and in future years, but with a slower incremental growth rate. He highlighted the successful diversification into new brand marketing channels beyond linear TV, such as streaming, podcasts, and social media, over the past two years. This diversification has reduced dependency on linear TV and performance marketing channels, including search, while maintaining discipline to focus on branded traffic that offers stickiness and lifetime value.

Wei Fang from Mizuho Securities sought clarification on Trivago's commentary regarding approaching target brand marketing investment levels and whether this implies a shift in traffic strategy towards other channels.

Answer

Johannes Thomas, CEO, reiterated the strategy of continued, but less incrementally growing, brand investment, emphasizing diversification into new brand marketing channels such as streaming, podcasts, and social media, moving beyond a strong reliance on linear TV. He also noted a reduced dependency on performance marketing and search channels.

Wei Fang inquired about Trip.com Group's marketing progress in Q3, particularly regarding additional international marketing spend, and plans for the next quarter and beyond 2026.

Answer

Jane Sun, Chief Executive Officer, stated that Trip.com's marketing strategy delivered solid Q3 results, with scalable business improving marketing efficiency in key markets like Korea, Thailand, and Malaysia, which reached historical heights. She outlined plans to continue executing signature campaigns during global holidays, staying agile to emerging trends, and aiming to accelerate revenue growth and strengthen market position, including expanding the organic mobile user base.

Wei Fang from Mizuho inquired about Trip.com Group's marketing progress, particularly for its international business, and future plans for Q4 and beyond 2026, given additional marketing spend.

Answer

CEO Jane Sun stated that Trip.com's Q3 marketing strategy yielded solid results, improving efficiency, with mega-sales in key markets like Korea, Thailand, and Malaysia reaching historical highs. She mentioned empowering execution teams for long-term growth and planning signature campaigns for upcoming global holidays while remaining agile. The goal is to accelerate revenue growth, strengthen market position, and expand the organic mobile user base.

Wei Fang from Mizuho Securities asked for an update on the marketing progress for the Trip.com international brand in Q2 and the marketing strategy for the rest of 2025.

Answer

CEO Jane Sun stated that the marketing strategy has been effective, with disciplined, ROI-driven investments focused on acquiring app users. In Q2, the native mobile app accounted for approximately 70% of global orders. The strategy involves dynamic budget allocation to high-performing channels, and for the rest of the year, the company will continue signature campaigns while maintaining disciplined spending.

Wei Fang from Mizuho Securities asked for an update on the latest developments in the inbound travel business and its current revenue contribution, noting its strong growth.

Answer

CEO Jane Sun attributed the strong momentum in inbound travel to favorable policy changes, such as visa-free entry for over 40 countries and extended transit visa periods. She also highlighted Trip.com's competitive advantage, having the best inventory coverage and pricing in the domestic market, which allows for strong cross-selling to inbound visitors. Sun confirmed the business achieved triple-digit growth again in Q1.

Wei Fang from Mizuho Securities inquired about the learnings from the 90-day no-cost WOW membership promotion in Taiwan, specifically regarding customer retention after the trial period, and asked about the size and strategic takeaways from Coupang's recent sponsorship of the APEC Summit 2025.

Answer

CEO Bom Kim noted that it's only been a few months since the Taiwan WOW membership launch, but early customer response has been encouraging and similar to the early stages in Korea, with a focus on continuous improvement and value addition. CFO Gaurav Anand clarified that the APEC sponsorship is not a significant business lever but rather an opportunity to build relationships for future investment opportunities, especially given Coupang's presence in Taiwan, Japan, and globally.

Wei Fang inquired about learnings from the Taiwan WOW Membership's 90-day no-cost promotion, including retention rates after the deadline, and the impact of last-mile logistics. He also asked about the size and learnings from Coupang's recent sponsorship for the APEC Summit 2025.

Answer

CEO Bom Kim stated that the early customer response to WOW Membership in Taiwan has been encouraging, similar to early Korea experiences, and that growth is driven by customer cohort and spend expansion. He emphasized continuous improvement and value addition to the membership. Regarding the APEC sponsorship, Bom Kim clarified it's not a significant business lever or major initiative. CFO Gaurav Anand added that it serves to build partnerships and relationships for future investment opportunities rather than direct business impact.

Wei Fang from Mizuho Securities inquired about the trend of selection growth in Taiwan and the potential margin impact from introducing pickup orders for the food delivery business.

Answer

CEO Bom Kim stated that Coupang will continue to broaden selection across all categories in Taiwan for the foreseeable future. Regarding food delivery and other new initiatives, he emphasized the company's culture of small-scale testing. He explained that it's too early to discuss the impact of specific tests, as they are only scaled up if they prove to create sustainable customer and shareholder value.

Wei Fang from Mizuho Securities inquired about the trend of selection growth in Taiwan and asked how the introduction of pickup orders for food delivery might affect margin trends.

Answer

CEO Bom Kim stated that broadening selection across all categories in Taiwan remains a long-term focus. Regarding specific initiatives like food delivery pickup, he emphasized the company's culture of small-scale testing. He noted that it's too early to discuss the impact of such small tests, but successful initiatives will be scaled up while unsuccessful ones will be discontinued, with a rigorous focus on building sustainable shareholder value.

Wei Fang asked about Grab's financial services segment, specifically regarding the strong growth, sizable bad loan provisions, lessons learned from newly acquired customers, and how risk provisions are being fine-tuned.

Answer

President and COO Alex Hungate reaffirmed the goal to exceed a $1 billion loan book by end of 2025, noting the acceleration of loan dispersals to a $3.5 billion annualized run rate. He explained that increased expected credit losses (ECLs) are a natural consequence of accelerated growth and upfront provisioning, but the segment's adjusted EBITDA (excluding provisions) improved quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year. Alex Hungate highlighted Grab's data science capabilities in underwriting underbanked populations, with about one-third of customers establishing credit records for the first time, and noted that risk-adjusted returns remain comfortably above the cost of capital.

Wei Fang asked about Grab's financial services segment, specifically regarding the strong growth, sizable bad loan provisions, lessons learned from newly acquired customers in recent quarters, and how risk provisions are being fine-tuned.

Answer

President and COO Alex Hungate reaffirmed the goal to exceed a $1 billion loan book by end of 2025, noting the acceleration of loan dispersals to a $3.5 billion annualized run rate, up 56% year-on-year. He explained that increased expected credit losses (ECLs) are a natural consequence of accelerated growth and upfront provisioning. He highlighted that the financial services segment's adjusted EBITDA, excluding credit loss provisions, improved quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year, demonstrating operating leverage. He emphasized Grab's data science capabilities, using unconventional markers to underwrite credit for the underbanked/unbanked (one-third of customers previously couldn't access credit), and noted pleasing repayment records and maturing credit models across banks and GrabFin.

Wei Fang asked if the competitive landscape is intensifying in Mobility and Deliveries and inquired about the rationale for not yet integrating Mobility rewards into the GrabUnlimited subscription package.

Answer

President and COO Alex Hungate addressed the questions, stating that recent competitor exits signal ongoing market consolidation where Grab's scale provides a natural advantage. He clarified that Grab's strategy is to leverage its multi-vertical ecosystem, which single-vertical players lack. Correcting the premise of the second question, Hungate confirmed that Grab is actively expanding GrabUnlimited to include Mobility benefits and has launched a new VIP service for loyal, high-spending customers across all verticals, reinforcing its integrated platform strategy.

Wei Fang of Mizuho Securities asked for the outlook on TME's advertising business and the pipeline for offline events, as well as initiatives to expand ad verticals and optimize the ad system.

Answer

An executive expressed a positive outlook for advertising, citing strong growth from innovative incentive-based formats and a new 'online earning' model, supported by Tencent's ad system. Regarding offline events, another executive stated the focus is on improving quality, supporting artist tours, and leveraging proprietary IP events like 'QQ MUSIC FOR PASSION' to drive SVIP growth and offer a comprehensive music experience.

Wei Fang from Mizuho inquired about Bilibili's strategy for expanding its user base and enhancing brand awareness in 2025, specifically requesting more details on the partnership with the CCTV New Year's Gala.

Answer

CEO Rui Chen, interpreted by Juliet Yang, detailed the success of the CCTV partnership, which served as a model for future brand-building. He reported a 20% YoY increase in DAUs on Chinese New Year's Eve, driven by the unique experience of watching the gala with Bilibili's bullet chat feature. The event reinforced Bilibili's brand as a host for national-level content and boosted OTT viewership. The go-forward strategy involves launching similar large-scale, targeted campaigns during key periods like summer vacation to enhance brand equity and drive user growth.

Wei Fang of CLSA inquired about the progress of AirMedia's 75% equity sales deal, questioning the delay in the second payment and the updated timeline. He also asked about the privatization schedule and the status of the recent 13-E SEC filing.

Answer

CFO Richard Wu explained that the 75% equity deal's delay was caused by a slower-than-expected divestiture of non-targeted businesses due to a government system upgrade, but he anticipated closing before the end of the calendar year. Regarding the privatization, Wu confirmed the 13-E filing was submitted and that the 75% sale would likely close before the privatization process concludes.

Wei Fang of CLSA inquired about the revenue outlook for AirMedia's continuing operations for the second half of the year, the reasons for the significant quarterly decline in net income from discontinued operations, and the expected timeline for the company's privatization process.

Answer

CFO Richard Wu explained that continuing operations are primarily the gas station media business, which is expected to see flat top-line growth, and the Wi-Fi business, which is still in an investment phase with minimal revenue. Wu attributed the drop in net income from discontinued operations to a top-line decrease and a negative income tax impact. Regarding the privatization, he stated that while the company is moving forward diligently, there is no definitive timeline for completion.

Wei Fang from CLSA followed up on the sale of the advertising business, asking how much equity the company is willing to sell and if there is a preference for cash transactions. She also requested a detailed explanation for the approximate $35 million quarter-over-quarter decrease in the cash balance, seeking clarity on where the funds were allocated beyond the stated investments and loan repayments.

Answer

CFO Richard Wu confirmed that the company's board has decided to sell more than 50% of the advertising business, with a priority on receiving cash. For the cash balance decrease, he detailed that beyond the $8.1M Sinopec investment and $3M loan repayment, funds were used for a ~$6-7M inter-company loan to its Wi-Fi joint venture for deposits and fees. Additional cash was consumed by covering expenses for divested business segments with slow cash flow and a general slowdown in collections from decreasing top-line revenue.