TikTok-owner ByteDance sees revenue more than double but listing plans remain uncertain
- The Beijing-based tech giant booked revenue of US$34.3 billion, up 111 per cent year-on-year
- ByteDance is facing an array of regulatory challenges ahead of what is expected to be a mega-IPO
ByteDance, operator of short-video sharing hit app TikTok, saw its revenue more than double last year, the company told employees in a company-wide meeting on Thursday, as the company’s valuation soars ahead of a highly anticipated yet delayed initial public offering (IPO).
The Beijing-based tech giant booked revenue of US$34.3 billion, up 111 per cent year-on-year, with its monthly active users across all platforms reaching 1.9 billion by the end of last year. It made an operating loss, due to giving its employees more shares ahead of a planned IPO, of US$2.1 billion, against a $684 million operating profit a year earlier, according to a source familiar with the matter.
A ByteDance spokeswoman confirmed the numbers to the Post.
ByteDance said in late April that it was not ready to go public, at least for the time being, amid mounting market speculation about a listing.
Along with other tech giants in China, ByteDance is facing an array of regulatory challenges. The National Office for the Fight Against Pornography and Illegal Publications, a government agency tasked with cleaning up China’s web, in January fined Douyin – TikTok’s sister app in China – the maximum penalty for spreading “obscene, pornographic and vulgar information”.