Global Sources released their Q1-08 earnings on May 22nd and the numbers look good.

- Revenue was $40.6 million, up 16% from $34.9 million.
- Online revenue was $21.9 million, up 27% from $17.3 million.
- Exhibitions revenue was $6.0 million, up 24% from $4.8 million.
- Print revenue was $11.6 million, down 1% from $11.8 million.
- Revenue from mainland China was $24.1 million, up 30% from $18.4 million.

The 27% increase in online sales can be contributed to positive traction of the company’s new pricing strategy which we reported on in January.

Further evidence of this can be seen in Global Sources’ total deferred income which was US$96.1 million, up 26% Y-O-Y. This is significant as their online/print business model requires customers (mainly suppliers buying marketing packages) to pay upfront for a 12 month service.

It is also worth noting that activity on the site increased significantly as their buyer members sent 32.6 million RFIs (Requests For Information from buyers to suppliers listed on GlobalSources.com) for the 12 months ended March 31, up more than 137%.

Why is this a big deal?

First, Global Sources only increased their buyer members by 16% in the last year. Second and as shown in the Alexa chart below, the site has not seen significant traffic growth in the last 6 months. Therefore, credit must be given to Brent Barnes, GM of Content, and his very capable Team for increasing usage of existing services which is an incredible challenge especially when this particular function (sending an RFI) has been available to users since the site launched in 1995.

GS

They also surprisingly increased guidance for Q2.

I say surprisingly as TradeMediaBlog has spoken to our trade show organizer partners in China/Hong Kong and they are seeing a noticeable slowdown in exhibitor sales due to the fact that many manufacturers/exporters have gone out of business. The global economic slowdown as well as changes in China’s labor laws (enacted in January this year) have made running a business in the country impractical for certain industries.

Global Sources stock fell on the news but is up from its 12 month low of US$10.70.