Author：Yiru Qian May 18, 2022 09:59 PM (GMT+8)

The effect of China’s tighter rules on the live-streaming sector started to take shape.

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Huya (HUYA:NYSE), the live streaming giant popular among video gamers, has recorded net revenues of CNY 2,464.6 million (USD 388.8 million) in Q1, 2022, with the mobile monthly active users exaggerating.

Among which, the Live streaming revenues were CNY 2,151.7 million (UD 339.4 million), down 11.18% from the CNY 2,392.3 million for the same period of 2021. This was primarily due to decreased average spending per paying user on Huya Live, as the recent macro environment adversely affected the sentiment of the company's paying users, stated Huya.

According to the financial results filed on May 17, the gross profit also plummets by 54% to CNY 333.6 million (USD 52.6 million), with a gross margin of 13.5%.

The non-GAAP net income attributable to HUYA was only CNY 46.6 million (USD 7.4 million) for the first quarter, down 82.5%, compared with RMB 265.9 million for the same period of 2021.

Previously on May 7, China’s regulators banned younger live stream users from virtual gift-purchasing services, and enhanced the protection of minors. The company expects the regulation, and the compliance measures to be taken, will have a negative impact on the live streaming industry, which in turn may adversely affect the company’s financial results of operations and prospects, per Huya. 

From the operating side, the average mobile monthly active users (MAUs) of Huya Live increased by 8.5% to 81.9 million, with a total number of paying users of 5.9 million.

Founded in 2016, the company cooperates with e-sports event organizers, as well as major game developers and publishers, and has developed e-sports live streaming as one of the most popular content genres on its platform. 

Huya's top competitors include NetEase (NTES:NASDAQ), Kuaishou (1024:HK); global wise speaking, Twitch and Playco are two other competitive rivals.