Global Sources revenue up 21 pc

NEW YORK, USA: Global Sources Ltd reported financial results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2008.

Global Sources' chairman and CEO, Merle A. Hinrichs, said: "We had a very successful second quarter. Our 21 percent revenue growth was driven by accelerating online revenue growth of 30 percent overall, and 40 percent from mainland China.

"The great majority of this growth is due to the success of Global Sources Online 2.0 and its industry leading supplier verification services.

"The success of the site has been supported by the repackaging and re-pricing of our services along with investments in IT, content development, marketing and increased sales representation. With the expectation of a continuing acceleration of online revenue growth for the second half, we are experiencing a promising return on these investments and plan to continue investing."

Financial highlights: Q2-2008 compared to Q2-2007

Revenue was $63.7 million, up 21 percent from $52.5 million.

* Online revenue was $24.1 million, up 30 percent from $18.5 million.

* Exhibitions revenue was $25.3 million, up 21 percent from $20.9 million.

* Print revenue was $12.8 million, up 6 percent from $12.0 million.

* Revenue from Mainland China was $42 million, up 29 percent from $32.6 million.

For the six-month period ended June 30, 2008, revenue was $104.3 million, compared to $87.5 million in the six-month period ended June 30, 2007. GAAP net income for the six months ended June 30, 2008 was $16.6 million, or $0.35 per diluted share, compared to $10.7 million, or $0.23 per diluted share for the six-month period ended June 30, 2007. Non-GAAP net income was $16.5 million, or $0.35 per diluted share, compared to $15.9 million, or $0.34 per diluted share for the six-month period ended June 30, 2007.

Global Sources' CFO, Eddie Heng, said: "Our guidance reflects our decision to continue to invest, particularly to support our online initiatives and several new trade shows. Sales representation increased by more than 500 team members in the first half, and we expect continued expansion in the second half. We envision significant changes in the growth trajectories for our lines of business with online revenue expected to continue accelerating, exhibitions to moderate and print to decline. As such, for the second half of 2008 we expect the revenue mix to be approximately 53 percent online, 25 percent exhibitions, 20 percent print, and 2 percent miscellaneous.