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NQ Mobile shares dive after Muddy Waters attack

Updated: 2013-10-26 08:04
By Shen Jingting ( China Daily)

NQ Mobile shares dive after Muddy Waters attack

Models of NQ Mobile Inc ride standing electric bicycles at Macworld iWorld Asia 2013 on Aug 22 2013, at the China National Convention Center in Beijing.[Liu Zheng / chinadaily.com.cn]

"The allegations made against our company are completely false," Omar Khan, NQ's co-CEO, told China Daily in an exclusive interview on Friday. "It (the stock price turbulence) is just a short-term issue, and we believe investors will judge on the company's fundamentals later."

Henry Lin, founder and chairman of NQ, also seemed quite relaxed when he delivered the party's opening speech on Friday. Lin said short-selling organizations tend to make money from releasing such reports.

"The market will prove that actions speak louder than words," Lin said.

Lin expects NQ to have annual sales of $500 million by 2015.

The company said that as of June, it had a registered user base of 372 million, a monthly active user figure of 122 million and a paying user base of 11.3 million. In the second quarter of the year, it posted revenue of $26.8 million, up 67 percent year-on-year.

Khan said that NQ has a high revenue growth and profitability ratio and developed diversified businesses, therefore, it's not afraid of any short-selling attacks.

"Our company will be stronger after this issue," Khan added.

However, suspicions from industry observers about the firm arose after the Muddy Waters report.

"If NQ's monthly active user number is real, then the company's software is the fifth-largest mobile application in China, even more popular than video website Youku and Baidu Map. It's ridiculous," Zhao Hejuan, an industry insider, wrote in an article posted on www.tmtpost.com.

Xie Wen, a Chinese IT expert and former president of Yahoo China, said he didn't see many people using NQ software in China, and that there's a possibility that the Muddy Waters report unveiled some truths.

"I don't think there's a conspiracy specifically targeting Chinese companies. If you provide real facts, you will hold through the storms," Xie said.

Meanwhile, the Muddy Waters attack is not likely to have an impact on any other Chinese companies planning to launch initial public offerings in the US, including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's possible IPO there, Xie said.

"Good companies endure tests," he said.

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