LeEco recorded an increase in revenue during the first quarter of 2017 in spite of financial difficulties that have been troubling the Chinese tech giant in recent months, the company’s latest financial report revealed. In the three-month period ending March 31, the firm recorded a net operating income of 4.92 billion yuan, which translates to approximately $713.7 million. During the same time frame, LeEco’s profits that are attributable to investments from shareholders reached 125 million yuan, i.e. just over $18 million. The latest financials posted by LeEco show a 6.21-percent year-on-year growth in terms of net operating income and a significant fall in debt that still amounts to more than 18 billion yuan, i.e. over $2.7 billion. The company’s total Q1 2017 revenue reached 7.41 billion yuan, or just over $1 billion, the report revealed.
While the numbers posted by LeEco show signs of improvement compared to previous periods, industry watchers are still unsure whether that growth is rapid enough for the company to bounce back from its recent financial issues. Following years of aggressive expansion, LeEco recently found itself in the middle of a major cash crunch that halted the firm’s operations and endangered its prospects. The lack of liquidity forced the Chinese tech giant to turn to external capital injections to keep its numerous businesses afloat, but most of the assistance that the company managed to ensure so far was specifically aimed at its TV and entertainment division, while many of its other ventures are still at risk of being shut down, including the unit that develops self-driving vehicles. Due to that state of affairs, LeEco is currently in the process of cutting costs by liquidating some of its assets and laying off staff.
The latest financial report from the Beijing-based tech giant confirmed that Jia Yue Ting Holding remains its largest shareholder that owns more than a quarter of all of its shares and is followed by Tianjin Jia Rui Huixin Enterprise Management and Jia Yue-min Holding that own just over 10 percent of the conglomerate combined. Despite recent financial troubles, the ownership structure of LeEco likely won’t change in the near future, industry watchers believe. An update on LeEco’s performance is expected to follow later this year.