愛(ài)奇藝涉嫌財(cái)務(wù)造假

A short seller firm has accused Chinese video-streaming platform Iqiyi of reporting inflated revenue figures and user numbers in 2019, following just days after US-listed Luckin Coffee’s explosive revenue fraud disclosure last Thursday.

一家做空公司控告中國(guó)的視頻流媒體平臺(tái)愛(ài)奇藝在2019年報(bào)告虛增收入和用戶數(shù)量。而不久前的上周四，在美國(guó)上市的瑞幸咖啡剛被披露收入欺詐，成為爆炸性新聞。

The Beijing-based company often referred to as the “Netflix of China” is another high-profile target for short sellers following beverage chain Luckin Coffee’s spectacular downfall, as US-listed Chinese companies find themselves under increasing scrutiny.

這家總部位于北京的公司經(jīng)常被稱為“中國(guó)的網(wǎng)飛”，繼飲品連鎖品牌瑞幸咖啡轟然倒臺(tái)之后，它成了做空公司又一高調(diào)目標(biāo)。在美國(guó)上市的中國(guó)公司都發(fā)現(xiàn)受到的監(jiān)視越來(lái)越多。

Muddy Waters Research tweeted a link to a Wolfpack Research report on Tuesday, alleging that Iqiyi had inflated its 2019 revenue by 27% to 44% and overstated user numbers by 42% to 60%.

渾水調(diào)研公司在推特上發(fā)了周二的一份Wolfpack Research報(bào)告的鏈接，指控愛(ài)奇藝2019年的收益報(bào)告虛增了27%，變成了44%，用戶增長(zhǎng)率虛增了42%，變成了60%。

The Wolfpack report claimed Iqiyi had also blown up its expenses, the prices it pays for content, other assets, and acquisitions “in order to burn off fake cash to hide the fraud from its auditor and investors.”

這份Wolfpack報(bào)告聲稱愛(ài)奇藝也虛報(bào)了開(kāi)支、為其內(nèi)容支付的費(fèi)用、其他資產(chǎn)，以及購(gòu)置的產(chǎn)業(yè)，“目的是要抵消虛增的收入，從而對(duì)審計(jì)師和投資者隱瞞欺詐行為。”

The research, which Muddy Waters assisted with, included a survey of 1,563 people in Iqiyi’s target demographic which found that VIP users of the video streaming site often scored free memberships through package deals with its partners, including Xiaomi TV and JD.com.

渾水調(diào)研公司輔助進(jìn)行的這項(xiàng)研究中對(duì)愛(ài)奇藝目標(biāo)人群中的1,563人進(jìn)行了調(diào)查，發(fā)現(xiàn)這個(gè)視頻流媒體網(wǎng)站的VIP用戶經(jīng)常能在其合作伙伴，包括小米TV和京東商城的套餐服務(wù)中獲得免費(fèi)會(huì)員。

The company records the membership revenue in full and lists its partner’s share as expenses, inflating both revenue and expenditures, according to the report.

報(bào)告中說(shuō)，該公司將會(huì)員費(fèi)用全部記入收益中，并將分給其合作伙伴的金額列為支出，這樣就虛增了收益和支出。

Iqiyi said in a statement Wednesday that a report by short seller Wolfpack Research “contains numerous errors, unsubstantiated statements and misleading conclusions and interpretations.”

愛(ài)奇藝周三在聲明中說(shuō)做空公司W(wǎng)olfpack Research的報(bào)告“錯(cuò)誤頻出，包含未經(jīng)證實(shí)的說(shuō)法、誤導(dǎo)性的結(jié)論和解釋。”

Nasdaq-listed Iqiyi did not provide details backing its claims about the report, but said that it has always been committed to maintaining “high standards of corporate governance and internal control” in compliance with US securities regulations.

在納斯達(dá)克上市的愛(ài)奇藝并未提供細(xì)節(jié)來(lái)支持其對(duì)報(bào)告的評(píng)論，但該公司稱一直堅(jiān)持符合美國(guó)證券法規(guī)的“高標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的公司監(jiān)管和內(nèi)部控制”。