Report: TikTok Owner ByteDance Saw Losses Triple in 2021

ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, saw its operating losses triple in 2021, ballooning to more than $7 billion as the company spent to fuel its growth.

That’s according to a Thursday (Oct. 6) report by The Wall Street Journal, citing an internal financial report shared with employees of the privately-held company. The report also showed ByteDance producing an operating profit in 2022’s first quarter, a sign the company could be turning things around after years of heavy losses.

According to the report, ByteDance has rapidly upped its revenues but has seen its net results hindered by tens of billions in unrealized market losses on convertible securities.

Net losses rose more than 87% in 2021 to $84.9 billion, while revenues were up 80% to $61.7 billion, the report said. Additionally, the company’s operating losses last year came to $7.15 billion, rising from $2.14 billion in 2020.

ByteDance was not immediately available for comment Thursday.

Last month, the company’s chief financial officer said ByteDance has no plans to go public, according to accounts of an internal staff meeting.

See also: ByteDance CFO: No Plans to Take Company Public

The report noted that ByteDance CEO Liang Rubo told employees during the meeting that many of the company’s businesses hadn’t reached expectations and that ByteDance would reduce its input into noncore operations.

PYMNTS reported this week that social media platform TikTok is preparing to launch live shopping in North America with technological help from TalkShopLive. The partnership would let brands, retailers and social influencers put shopping links on the screens of TikTok users.

Read more: TikTok Taps TalkShopLive to Host US Live Shopping

Douyin, a TikTok-related app in China, used a similar strategy that saw its yearly sales triple. And while TikTok’s live-shopping efforts struggled in the U.K., it’s done well in Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.