(Yicai Global) Sept. 9 -- Shares of Bilibili tanked after the Chinese video platform said its net loss got 79 percent worse in the second quarter than a year ago.

Bilibili’s Hong Kong-traded equity [HK: 9626] closed 16.3 percent lower at HKD152.10 (USD19.40). The shares are almost 60 percent down this year.

The platform's Nasdaq-listed equity [NASDAQ: BILI] traded 2.9 percent lower in pre-market trading as of 12.22 p.m Beijing time after sliding by 15 percent yesterday.

From April to June, Bilibili's net loss widened to CNY2 billion (USD289.9 million) due to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Shanghai-based company said in its earnings report yesterday. Revenue climbed by 9 percent to CNY4.9 billion, much slower than the 72 percent boost recorded a year earlier.

The company offered earnings guidance. In the third quarter, Bilibili's revenue should range between CNY5.6 billion and CNY5.8 billion (USD808.9 million and USD837.8 million).

"With the gradual improvement of the macro-environment, we will continue to execute strategies that are healthy for growth," Chief Executive Chen Rui said. That means continuing to control costs, hiking the gross profit margin, and narrowing losses, whilst accelerating commercialization, he added.

Bilibili made some improvements. For the first time, the number of monthly active users surpassed 300 million as of June 30, rising by 29 percent year-over-year. The figure of daily active users jumped by 33 percent to 83.5 million.

However, the surging user numbers failed to generate enough income to cover the expanding expenses. Operating costs totaled CNY4.2 billion, an increase of 19 percent, caused by rising revenue sharing and content costs.

The main income driver was value-added services, including live-streaming and subscriptions, as such revenue tallied CNY2.1 billion, up 29 percent. The second core contributor was advertising, earning the company CNY1.2 billion during the quarter, rising by 10 percent, which was a modest increase amid the pandemic.

Changes in the macro-environment can influence advertising for one or two years, executives said during an earnings call. However, Bilibili is one of the few platforms to achieve YoY increases in advertising income and market share even though advertisers are becoming cautious and decreasing their budgets, they added.

The No. 3 segment was gaming -- once a more major source of revenue -- as such income reached CNY1.1 billion over the quarter, down by 15 percent. The reason was the lack of new exclusive games on the platform in the first half.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi