(Yicai) Nov. 28 -- Shares of Television Broadcasts rose after the leading producer of commercial Chinese-language TV programs unveiled plans to restructure its program production and e-commerce businesses.

TVB [HKG: 0511] closed 3.46 percent high at HKD3.59 (46 US cents) Hong Kong today.

TVB will lay off more than 300 employees, or 8 percent of the total, at the end of next June in an effort to reduce costs, the Hong Kong-based company announced today.

Some 100 jobs will be cut after TVB merges its e-commerce platforms, while the remaining 200 will be shed as a result of the merger between two of its free TV channels in Hong Kong -- J2 and TVB Finance, Sports & Information -- to create a new channel called TVB+.

TVB has been struggling in recent years. The firm has been in the red since 2018, accumulating over HKD2.2 billion (USD282.3 million) in losses. In the first half of this year, its net loss widened 95 percent to HKD375 million (USD48.1 million) from a year earlier. In the six months ended June 30, TVB laid off 255 employees, or 6.6 percent of the total in the period.

“With revenue and cost-saving initiatives already underway, we expect to achieve positive earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation, and amortization in the second half of this year and the full year of 2024,” TVB said.

In March, TVB joined hands with Chinese e-commerce giant Taobao to enter the livestreaming marketing field. During the promotion campaign for 6.18 in June, the company’s livestreaming room recorded nine million views, achieving over CNY100 million (USD14.1 million) in sales gross merchandise value.

TVB plans to increase the frequency of its livestream sessions and expects a strong revenue contribution from the e-commerce business.

Editor: Futura Costaglione