Financial Services Association, November 25 (Editor: Hu Jiarong) A recent piece of news attracted market attention. Sun Dongxu (Dongfang Xiaosun) appeared on the Dongfang Selection live broadcast. The news stimulated the rise in Dongfang Selection's stock price. As of press release, it rose 4.06% to HK$14.34.

Note: Oriental Selection's performance

In terms of news, on the afternoon of November 24, Sun Dongxu, who had not started the broadcast for nearly a year, appeared on the Dongfang Selection live broadcast room. During the live broadcast, Sun Dongxu and anchor Tianquan once again partnered to pack and ship to consumers while introducing related products at the warehouse.

In fact, Sun Dongxu was selected by Dongfang as CEO and is the company's core manager. Under his leadership, Oriental Selection achieved rapid business growth, and the stock price also rose from over HK$3 in May 2022 to a maximum of HK$75. However, with the outbreak of the “Little Essay Storm”, both Sun Dongxu and Dongfang's selection faced unprecedented challenges.

In December 2023, the “Trip to Jilin” video selected by Dongfang attracted attention because of the copywriting. Sun Dongxu then mentioned Dong Yuhui's salary during the live broadcast. This behavior aroused strong dissatisfaction among Dong Yuhui's fans. Sun Dongxu was deemed unprofessional and inappropriate, and then developed into a big public opinion. This turmoil not only damaged Sun Dongxu's personal reputation, but also dealt a heavy blow to Oriental Choice's stock price, and the number of social media followers dropped sharply.

Faced with pressure from public opinion and poor management of the company's reputation, the Oriental Selection Board decided to remove Sun Dongxu from the position of CEO, and Chairman Yu Minhong also served as CEO. However, Yu Minhong revealed in the Douyin comment section that Sun Dongxu will not leave Dongfang Selection; he will protect the company.

Oriental Selection experienced operating losses in the third quarter

According to the financial report for the first quarter of fiscal year 2025 (June 1 to August 31, 2024, that is, the third quarter) announced by New Oriental at the end of October 2024, the self-operated products and live streaming e-commerce business selected by Oriental had operating losses. Specifically, Dongfang Select's net revenue for the quarter was 1.435 billion US dollars, up 30.5% year on year. Excluding Dongfang Select's proprietary products and live e-commerce business, revenue was 1.278 billion US dollars, up 33.5% year over year. This shows that after Oriental selected its own products and live e-commerce business, New Oriental's other business segments are still growing strongly.

Compared with the data for the 2024 fiscal year (June 1, 2023 to May 31, 2024), Oriental Selection's total revenue was about 7.07 billion yuan, up 56.8% year on year, and adjusted net profit reached 2.18 billion yuan, up 100% year on year (including 1.3 billion yuan of after-tax disposal income from the sale of education business). While Dong Yuhui had not left his job, he contributed impressive sales performance to the live streaming business, which played an important role in the growth of Oriental Selection's performance.

Sun Dongwook's comeback may be related to Oriental Selection's recent poor performance. After Dong Yuhui left, Oriental Selection's performance was affected to a certain extent, especially in the live e-commerce business. Sun Dongxu's return may be one of the measures taken by Oriental Selection to boost performance and stabilize market confidence.