stlplaceI noticed they usually offer some discount during Chinese New Year. Because by tradition majority of people will stay with families (at home). Here are some promotions:
English reservation pages:
Surprisingly Rujia doesn’t have English for reservation, although I did see foreigners when I stayed there. I think telephone is more common used (compared to web) for reservation in China.
I bought some Crocs stocks (CROX) a while ago; actually I looked at Under Armour (UA) at the same time and I am glad I made the correct decision (so far). Besides the difference of PE ratio, CROX is 42, UA is 76 (supposedly the lower PE means the price is cheaper). I made this decision more based on the business prospects.
From my observation, Crocs are sold in a lot more stores than Under Armour, which are only sold in Sporting Good stores. In other words, Crocs have a wider distribution channel. This is very important for consumer goods. By the same token, I found Crocs have a wider appeal to consumers, especially kids. Under Armour has made efforts to reach women and kids but they are not there yet.
I wrote about Chatea, a Chinese fast food company a while ago. I have been there in my China trip last year. Apparently they are expanding all these years and they just announced a new round of funding. GGV (together with IDGVC, SIG, Neil Shen, TECO and FMCG) invested $10.68 m for 20% stake. Note Neil Shen (co-founder of Ctrip and Home Inns) is on the list again. As suggested in the article, once the estimated market capital reaches $100 m, they will go for IPO (most likely 2008). So stay tuned.
This is another good play for “emergence of Chinese middle class consumers”.
(Update 02-11-2023) It looks like all Chatea restaurants are closed now.
It appears that Mindray started new offering today. I read its SEC filings here. The insiders will sell 9,827,220 shares and the underwriter will have option to buy additional 1,474,083 shares from selling share holders. That alone won’t have dilution effect.
Separately, the company filed S1 form for stock options registration. That will dilute the stocks if option being excercised.
One thing I am not 100% sure is the difference between secondary offering and insider selling after lock up period (usually 180 days after IPO). I think this one belong to “secondary” because it’s not 180 days after its IPO yet (Sept 26, 2006).
(Update 01Feb07) FinanceAsia has more details about this selling.
From The Standard:
“China Huiyuan Juice Group, the mainland’s largest fruit juice maker, is forecast to post 222 million yuan (HK$223.08 million) in net profit in 2006, up 106 percent over a year ago. The company recorded 108 million yuan in net profit in 2005, up 486 percent from the previous year.
Huiyuan is seeking to raise US$250 million (HK$1.95 billion) through an initial public offering next month as it seeks capital for expansion.
…Its peers, milk producer China Mengniu Dairy (2319) and Tingyi Holdings (0322), are trading at 33.8 times and 36.7 times 2007 earnings respectively.”
Comments: like everything else in China, the growth is astonishing. Don’t expect to make quick money on this one though. The expectation will be reflected on the price when it debuts…
The ticker symbol is 1886.HK.
I saw this when I was doing some research on Amazon (AMZN). They are giving away $5 for overnight shipping. This is very ineresting because normally the online merchants will do free shipping. But Amazon is always innovative.
On serious note, I think Amazon is interesting because people usually think Google is the king of the Internet, while regard Amazon as nothing more than an online retailer. This could change because Amazon has invested heavily on technology (software) in those years. They are providing technology services to other customers (including retailers). Also from my observation, the Amazon Marketplace, where individuals can list items to sell (similar to eBay), is getting momentum. So don’t think Amazon is nothing more than the online “Wal-Mart”…
Shoebuy is having a sale on Crocs, the $10 off discount code is WWMAG. They don’t have many left though, so hurry up if you want to get a pair.
I found Crocs shoes are actually gender-neutral, as you can see from the size definition, e.g., size 4 stands for Women 6/Men 4. I think people choose the Crocs based on color. I just found out they run out of the color I want 🙁
Counting the economy hotels in China:
Jinjiang Inn: 139 hotels in 44 cities (including under development) as of June 2006, owned by Jinjiang Group (HK Stock Exchange, 2006.HK), started in 1996 (Shanghai).
Home Inns (Nasdaq, HMIN): 134 (94 leased, 40 franchised, 39 cities) as of Dec 31 2006, founded by Ctrip founders Ji Qi, Neil Shen and James Liang, started in 2002 (Beijing)
Motel168 (Morgan Stanley invested $20 m for 20% stake): as the name suggested, the room started from CNY 168, they also offer CNY 268 rooms; started in 2002 (Shanghai).
Super 8 (US Chain): all franchised
7Days Inn (Warburg Pincus invested $10 m for 20% stake): founded by Ctrip South China manager Zheng Nanyan (do we see pattern here?), started in Guangzhou.
Another useful source: hostelCN
From Reuters: “After more than five years of development, over 50 million lines of software code, a $6 billion investment and a few headaches,…”
One thing is for sure, we will not see people lined up in front of Best Buy as they did with Windows 95, Play Station II and III,…Operating system is very much matured market.
It’s Superbowl time. Time to get the HDTV. Here is Vizio 50″ from Circuit City. Note I am not getting any referring fee from them. I heard Superbowl is the big time for HDTV sales. Some retailors such as Best Buy, Circuit City should be very happy.