Web portal Yehey! reverses loss, cites advertising prospects

MANILA, Philippines - Web portal Yehey! Corp. reversed its losses in 2006 by posting a net income of P8.6 million in 2007, ahead of its plan to list on the exchange this quarter without selling shares to the public. In a report to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the company said listing would increase transparency and give investors a clear picture of its business. Yehey! manages the search engine yehey.com and other Web sites, and creates online marketing campaigns for corporate clients. It also earns from online ads. Yehey’s ad revenues rose by two-thirds to P23.3 million in 2007. In 2006, it posted a net loss of P10.9 million. The company has asked the exchange to allow it to list 278 common shares by way of introduction. "We’d like [to list] as soon as possible, preferably within the quarter. We want to create a market for our shareholders for them to trade the shares," Yehey! Corporate Secretary A. Bayani K. Tan said in an interview. Listing by way of introduction allows a widely held company to become part of the bourse without selling shares to the public. Yehey! is the only Internet-related business of listed investment holding firm iVantage Corp. The company said its listing would also allow prospective investors to take a look at Yehey’s risks and potentials. It added that the listing would help it eventually raise funds through the capital markets. Yehey noted that while most local companies have yet to fully take advantage of online advertising, Yehey’s present set advertisers are global brands like Samsung, Nike and Nokia. Yehey!, through yehey.com and other affiliate Web sites, also receive a substantial amount of revenues from Google through its participation in Google’s AdWords and AdSense program. AdSense is an ad serving program run by Google. Web site owners can enroll in this program to enable text, image and, more recently, video advertisements on their sites. These ads are administered by Google and generate revenue on either a per-click or per-thousand-impressions basis. Those wanting to advertise with Google’s targeted ad system may sign up through AdWords. AdSense has become a popular method of placing advertising on a Web site because the ads are less intrusive than most banners, and the content of the ads is often relevant to the Web site. Yehey! said its search portal has retained a strong and loyal following by coming up with innovative products, channels and services. "The overall strategy of Yehey! is to continue creating cutting edge Web sites that are relevant to the Filipino community, led by its flagship product yehey.com," it said. Yehey! is launching three more Web sites to address the different needs and interests of Filipinos. These are hukayy.com, pinoyhenyo.com and yutyoob.com. These will be launched on May 1, but the first two are already being beta tested. Hukayy.com is a news portal, while pinoyhenyo.com allows visitors to ask questions and get answers. Yutyoob.com, similar to YouTube, is video sharing Web site. Yehey! said the Internet market is well positioned for growth, but this would depend on the development of reliable infrastructure, especially in the area of broadband. - R.A.M. Rubio, BusinessWorld