百度證實(shí)將讓愛(ài)奇藝在美國(guó)上市

Baidu has confirmed it is preparing to list its video streaming unit in the US, as the Chinese group continues to pivot away from its core search engine business toward emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and autonomous driving.

百度(Baidu)證實(shí)準(zhǔn)備讓其在線視頻子公司在美國(guó)上市。這家中國(guó)集團(tuán)不斷地將重心從核心的搜索引擎業(yè)務(wù)轉(zhuǎn)向新興技術(shù)，如人工智能和自動(dòng)駕駛。

The Nasdaq-listed company said on Tuesday that it filed documents with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of iQiyi. Baidu said it expected to remain iQiyi’s controlling shareholder following any listing of the business, which Jefferies analysts valued at $15bn in a recent note.

在納斯達(dá)克(Nasdaq)上市的百度周二表示，它已向美國(guó)證交會(huì)(SEC)提交了愛(ài)奇藝(iQiyi)舉行首次公開(kāi)發(fā)行(IPO)的文件。百度表示，預(yù)計(jì)愛(ài)奇藝上市后，百度仍將是該公司控股股東。杰富瑞(Jefferies)分析師在最近一份報(bào)告中對(duì)愛(ài)奇藝的估值為150億美元。

Subscription fees from the video streaming service, which has been likened to Netflix, were the key driver behind Baidu’s strong revenue growth in 2017, which marked a turnround from a disappointing performance the year before.

愛(ài)奇藝(一直被拿來(lái)與Netflix相比)的訂閱費(fèi)是百度2017年收入強(qiáng)勁增長(zhǎng)背后的關(guān)鍵驅(qū)動(dòng)力，這一年標(biāo)志著百度從之前一年令人失望的表現(xiàn)中好轉(zhuǎn)。

The company on Tuesday reported operating profit of Rmb4.8bn ($734m) in the quarter that ended in December, an increase of 118 per cent from the same period a year earlier.

百度周二報(bào)告稱，在截至去年12月的一個(gè)季度里，營(yíng)業(yè)利潤(rùn)為48億元人民幣(合7.34億美元)，同比增長(zhǎng)118%。

Total revenue in the fourth quarter rose to Rmb23.6bn, a 29 per cent increase from the same period the prior year and beating forecasts of Rmb23.05bn. Full-year revenue reached Rmb84.8bn, a jump of 20 per cent.

去年第四季度的總收入升至236億元人民幣，同比增長(zhǎng)29%，比預(yù)期值230.5億元人民幣要高。去年全年?duì)I收達(dá)到848億元人民幣，同比增長(zhǎng)20%。

Shares in Baidu were up more than 5 per cent in after-hours trading. 百度股價(jià)在盤后交易中上漲逾5%。

Founded in 2000, the search engine company was initially heavily reliant on online advertising, but that model proved insufficient to allow Baidu to keep up with cash-flush rivals Alibaba and Tencent.

這家創(chuàng)立于2000年的搜索引擎公司最初嚴(yán)重依賴在線廣告，但現(xiàn)實(shí)證明該模式不足以讓百度跟上現(xiàn)金充裕的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手阿里巴巴(Alibaba)和騰訊(Tencent)的步伐。

To beef up iQiyi against popular video streaming platforms run by rivals Alibaba and Tencent, Baidu has spent more than $2bn acquiring content. That represents an increase from 11.1 per cent of total costs in 2016 to 15.8 per cent last year. A licensing deal between Netflix and iQiyi last year boosted iQiyi’s portfolio of foreign language hits.

為了加強(qiáng)愛(ài)奇藝相對(duì)阿里巴巴和騰訊運(yùn)營(yíng)的熱門在線視頻平臺(tái)的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力，百度已在內(nèi)容購(gòu)買上花費(fèi)了20多億美元。2016年該項(xiàng)投入占總營(yíng)收的11.1%，去年攀升到15.8%。去年Netflix與愛(ài)奇藝達(dá)成的一項(xiàng)授權(quán)協(xié)議，充實(shí)了愛(ài)奇藝的外語(yǔ)大片庫(kù)。

Listing iQiyi in the US would raise cash to fund the video unit and keep it ahead of Tencent Video and Youku Tudou, Alibaba’s YouTube-style video site.

在美上市將為這家視頻公司籌得資金，助其領(lǐng)先騰訊視頻(Tencent Video)和優(yōu)酷土豆(Youku Tudou)。優(yōu)酷土豆為阿里巴巴旗下類似YouTube的視頻網(wǎng)站。

Additional reporting by Louise Lucas in Hong Kong 路易絲•盧卡斯(Louise Lucas)香港補(bǔ)充報(bào)道