AI takes off! Vnet's Q4 wholesale IDC business revenue surged by 125%, turning the annual net profit from loss to gain | Financial Report Insights

Benefiting from AI-driven market demand, Vnet's wholesale IDC business performed strongly, with improved losses in the fourth quarter and a turnaround from loss to profit for the full year. On Wednesday, March 12, Vnet announced its financial report for the fourth quarter and the full year of 2024. 1) Key Financial Data Revenue: Fourth quarter revenue was RMB 2.246 billion (USD 308 million), a year-on-year increase of 18.3%; full-year revenue was RMB 8.259 billion, a year-on-year increase of 11.4%. Profit: The net loss for the fourth quarter was RMB 11.1 million, significantly improved from a loss of RMB 2.444 billion in the same period last year; the full-year net profit was RMB 183 million, compared to a loss of RMB 2.644 billion in the same period last year. Gross Margin: The gross margin for the fourth quarter was 22.5%, significantly up from 15.3% in the same period last year; the full-year gross margin was 22.2%, a noticeable increase from 17.4% in 2023. Adjusted EBITDA: The adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter was RMB 721 million (USD 98.8 million), a year-on-year increase of 63.8%; the full-year adjusted EBITDA was RMB 2.430 billion (USD 333 million), a year-on-year increase of 19.1%, including a disposal gain of RMB 87.7 million from the E-JS02 data center. 2) Q4 Business Performance Net Revenue from IDC Business was RMB 1.63 billion, a year-on-year increase of 28.3%. Wholesale IDC business: Fourth quarter revenue was RMB 665 million, a year-on-year increase of 125.4%, becoming the main driver of growth. Retail IDC business: Fourth quarter revenue was RMB 965 million, a slight year-on-year decrease of 1.1%. Net Revenue from Non-IDC Business was RMB 616.5 million, a year-on-year decrease of 1.9%. The wholesale IDC business performed strongly, with operationally, the business added several large orders in the fourth quarter, including a 32MW order in the Yangtze River Delta region and a 100MW framework agreement in the Ulanqab region (of which 28MW will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2025), and received a new customer order of 1.5MW from a retail data center in the Greater Bay Area for the autonomous driving industry; in terms of strategic cooperation, a capacity operated in collaboration with Changzhou High-tech Group received a 64MW order. Looking ahead to 2025, the company expects revenue to be RMB 9.1 billion to RMB 9.3 billion, a year-on-year increase of 10%-13%; expected adjusted EBITDA: RMB 2.7 billion to RMB 2.76 billion, a year-on-year increase of 11%-14%; excluding the disposal gain from the E-JS02 data center, the year-on-year growth of adjusted EBITDA will reach 15%-18%. The company stated that it will continue to promote the parallel development of wholesale and retail IDC businesses and continue to expand high-performance data center capacity to meet growing market demand VNET founder and interim CEO Chen Sheng stated: "We are concluding 2024 on a strong note with a robust fourth quarter, particularly impressive performance in the wholesale IDC business as we continue to capture AI-driven market demand." After the earnings report was released, Century Internet's U.S. stock rose over 7% in pre-market trading.