Turning Loss into Profit in 2023: IGG Achieved over HK$430 million in 2H23

HONG KONG, Mar 28, 2024 – (ACN Newswire) – IGG Inc (“IGG” or “the Group”, stock code: 799.HK), a leading global developer and publisher of mobile games and applications, is pleased to announce the audited consolidated financial results of the Group for the year ended 31 December 2023.

In 2023, the Group ushered in a new chapter marked by a breakthrough in business and a remarkable turnaround from loss. Drawing on over a decade of experience and expertise in the strategy games genre, the Group developed two highly-rated strategy games, “Doomsday: Last Survivors” and “Viking Rise”, following the success of “Castle Clash” and “Lords Mobile”. “Lords Mobile”, IGG’s flagship title launched nearly eight years ago, continued to generate stable revenue, contributing over HK$3.1 billion. Throughout the year, intensive marketing campaigns for “Doomsday: Last Survivors” and “Viking Rise” yielded strong growth momentum, with “Doomsday: Last Survivors” generating nearly HK$700 million in revenue and “Viking Rise” contributing HK$400 million. Adding to the Group’s growth trajectory, the APP Business contributed HK$580 million, accounting for 11% of IGG’s revenue. The combination of two new strategy games and the APP Business not only propelled the Group to an impressive HK$5.3 billion in revenue – a remarkable15% year-on-year increase – but have also contributed a net profit of over HK$160 million in the second half of 2023, marking a new era of growth and diversification. During the year, revenue from Asia, Europe and North America accounted for 44%, 28% and 23%, respectively, of the Group’s total revenue.

With the contribution of the aforementioned businesses and continuous resource optimization, the Group successfully turned its losses around, resulting in a net profit of over HK$430 million in the second half of 2023 and an annual net profit of HK$73 million. After experiencing losses in previous stages, the Group’s core business turned the tide and generated a net profit of approximately HK$380 million in the second half of 2023 and an annual net profit of over HK$17 million. The Group’s investments recorded a net profit of over HK$55 million due to fair value gains. As at 31 December 2023, the Group’s mobile games were available in 23 different languages worldwide, with over 1.7 billion users in total and over 25 million monthly active users (“MAU”)[1] across more than 200 countries and regions.

“Lords Mobile”, IGG’s blockbuster title with innovative features, is the Group’s first cross-platform, multi-language, real-time game designed for global gamers. Since its launch in 2016, the game has garnered widespread acclaim from gamers, recognized for its longevity[2] and ability to generate stable revenue for the Group. As at 31 December 2023, it has amassed 670 million registered users worldwide and has 9 million MAU. Leveraging its previous successful collaborations with “Saint Seiya” and “Kung Fu Panda”, “Lords Mobile” further expanded its user base this year through collaborations featuring “How to Train Your Dragon”, “Armored Combat Worldwide”, and “Dreamworks Shrek”. Entering 2024, the Group remains dedicated to releasing exciting new game content, including a new feature “Guild Expedition”, thereby ensuring that monthly gross billing stays above HK$240 million.

“Doomsday: Last Survivors” has become a favorite for 33 million gamers with its distinctive post-apocalyptic survival theme, deep integration of “real-time” and “strategy” gameplay, and epic 3D visuals. Following a marketing campaign that began in early 2023, the game’s monthly gross billing reached a noteworthy milestone of HK$82 million and experienced a subsequent increase to HK$100 million in March 2024. The Group continued to release new content for the game, including features such as “New Immigration Decree”, a “Bounty Ground” Battle Royale gameplay, and “Archipelago Raid”, a large-scale cross-kingdom event, to provide players a truly unique battle experience. During 2023, “Doomsday: Last Survivors” garnered multiple awards, including five awards at the NYX Game Awards: “Mobile Game – Strategy”, “Mobile Game – Best Gameplay”, “Mobile Game – Best Character Design”, “Mobile Game – Best Game Design”, and “Mobile Game – Best Art Direction”, and “Best Overseas Game” by Youxi Tuoluo. These awards are a testament to the game’s exceptional quality and global appeal.

“Viking Rise”, a Viking-themed strategy game, received widespread acclaim when it was launched in late 2022. Through continuous improvement, the gaming experience was elevated to new heights. The introduction of a “Mounts” system, along with a large-scale battle event “Kingdom Mayhem – Expedition to England”, and the addition of “Mystic Realm”, was well-received by the game’s 21 million players and earned it the “Best of 2023 Awards — Best for Tablets” by Google Play.

The APP Business’s continued success in the second half of 2023 led to remarkable revenue of HK$580 million. This constituted 11% of total revenue, and emerged as a pivotal force driving the Group’s revenue growth and diversification. As at 31 December 2023, the APP Business has over 350 million registered users worldwide and approximately 9.5 million MAU. The Group is committed to the ongoing promotion and diversification of its product portfolio to take the APP Business to the next level.

By adhering to its long-term operational strategy, the Group will drive steady growth in both its core game business and the APP Business. Additionally, the Group will continue to embrace and adopt Artificial Intelligence Generated Content (“AIGC”) technology to optimize costs and enhance profitability. In the first quarter of 2024, the game business demonstrated continued growth, with the Group’s total gross billing estimated to approach HK$1.4 billion, representing an approximate 20% increase compared to the first quarter of 2023. As the Group seizes opportunities to drive growth, aggressive marketing campaigns may lead to a short-term volatility in profits. Nonetheless, IGG remains confident of its overall financial performance for the full year and long-term growth. Embracing the corporate spirit of “Innovators at Work, Gamers at Heart”, the Group will continue to strengthen its global R&D and operation capabilities, to relentlessly pursue its strategy of quality, innovation, and excellence in creating innovative yet timeless games.

About IGG Inc

Established in 2006, IGG Inc is a leading global mobile games and applications developer and operator with headquarters in Singapore and local offices in the United States, China, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Brazil, Türkiye, Italy and Spain. IGG offers multi-language and multifarious games to users around the world. The Group has established long-term partnerships with over 100 business partners, including global platforms, advertising channels, and vendors such as Apple, Google and Meta. IGG’s most popular games include “Lords Mobile”, “Doomsday: Last Survivors”, “Viking Rise”, “Castle Clash”, and “Time Princess”.

[1] The Group’s users in total and monthly active users include users of mobile games and apps.

[2] Source: Sensor Tower, a third-party analytics platform

Steady Growth and Enhanced Value: Sunshine Insurance’s ‘New Sunshine Strategy’ Sets Sail

HONG KONG, Mar 28, 2024 – (ACN Newswire) – In recent years, the insurance industry has embarked on a new cycle of high-quality development and transformation. Standing out as a private insurance service group founded and grown solely through market mechanisms, and the only listed traditional insurance enterprise among the 205 insurance companies established in mainland China in this century, Sunshine Insurance (06963.HK) demonstrates exceptional foresight, precision in decision-making, high degree of strategic determination and robust execution capabilities on the journey towards high-quality development. Consequently, it has emerged as a pioneer and representative force of innovation within the financial industry.

Based on scientifically analyzing the macroeconomic situation and market industry trends, and deeply summarizing its development experience over the past nineteen years, Sunshine Insurance proposed the “New Sunshine Strategy” with “Sunshine of Technology,” “Sunshine of Value,” and “Sunshine of Caring” as its three core components on the first anniversary of its listing on May 19th, 2023. With a clear blueprint and solid implementation, the Company has gradually transformed and achieved significant success. As of December 31, 2023, the Company has been ranked among the top 500 Chinese enterprises by the China Enterprise Confederation for 13 consecutive years and has been entitled as one of the “Top 500 Valuable Brands in China” by the World Brand Lab for 12 consecutive years. It is worth noting that recently, the globally renowned brand valuation consultancy, Brand Finance, released the Insurance 100 2024. Sunshine Insurance, which has just been listed for over a year, made it onto the list, becoming the seventh insurance enterprise in mainland China to be listed. With vibrant vitality and profound value, it has won brand recognition.

Building “Sunshine of Technology” with Data Intelligence and continuing to deepen transformation

In 2023, Sunshine Insurance seized the opportunity brought by the rapid development of digital productivity and focused on “Sunshine of Technology”. With mechanism innovation as a breakthrough, it constructed a dual-drive technological innovation system for internal independent innovation and external collaborative innovation, and continued to deepen digital transformation, driving the Company’s high-quality development through digital and intelligent transformation.

Sunshine Insurance has fully grasped the trend of AI innovation and development, and listed self-developed AI large models as a strategic project of the Company. It has taken the lead in the R&D of the Sunshine Zhengyan GPT large model with independent intellectual property rights, which has already been applied in the fields of customer service, sales support, and intelligent claims, and so on. Sunshine Insurance has also taken the lead in publishing the first white paper on large models in the financial industry in China, titled “Large-Model Technology Deeply Empowers the Insurance Industry”.

Sunshine Insurance’s subsidiary, Sunshine Life, has been focusing on deepening the application of intelligent technologies to enhance core capabilities such as customer service, sales support, and risk management. For example, the sales robot has initially achieved the output of the four capabilities in “introducing products, providing advice, answering questions, and impressing customers”, providing strong support for the intelligent upgrade of frontline business scenarios. Customer service has been continued to expand the application channels and scenarios for service robots, with the help of Consonance Experience Plan to promptly respond to customer needs, which achieved seamless connection between business consultation and handling, significantly improved service efficiency and customer satisfaction, and continued to optimize the one-off completion rate of customer service.

Sunshine Insurance’s subsidiary, Sunshine P&C, has been focusing on deepening the application of intelligent technologies and strengthening IT infrastructure construction to continuously improve customer experience and operational efficiency. The upgrade of customer service includes the development of a lightweight service platform, the “Sunshine Auto•Life” mini-program, targeting individual customers. It also included the establishment of a lightweight corporate customer service platform, the “Sunshine Partner” mini-program, integrating “disaster warning, online services, and risk control safety.” Continual optimization of platforms such as the “Sunshine Auto•Life” APP and Sunshine P&C’s WeChat official account enhanced functionality to provide customers with more convenient online one-stop services. Management empowerment has been focusing on the core capabilities of Sunshine’s automobile insurance. This included deepening the construction and application of the “Intelligent Automobile Insurance Life Table”, creating the “Claims Digital Intelligence Platform” and “Claims Risk Control Platform,” and upgrading the “Digital Intelligence Operation Platform”.

Building “Sunshine of Value” with Model Innovation and Promoting Sustainable Value Development

With “Valuable Sunshine” as the core, in 2023 Sunshine Life promoted the project themed “One Body, Two Wings, continuously optimized business structure and enhanced business quality. Through initiatives such as product and service system development, strategic channel layout and team capability enhancement, core capabilities in customer operation and value development were further strengthened, with the path to the differentiation of “One Body” and value application of “Two Wings” growing increasingly clear. The annual FYRPs from individual insurance channels were RMB4.30 billion, a year-on-year increase of 46.5%; FYRPs from worksite marketing achieved an increase of over 100%; indicators such as team education level, active manpower, the value ratio of products, the persistency ratio at the 13-month and salesperson’s income all showed all-round improvement.

Sunshine P&C, with “intelligent life table of automobile insurance”, “data life table of non-automobile insurance” and “life table of credit insurance” as the fundamental strategies, aimed to truly position automobile insurance as the foundation for stable profitability in property and casualty insurance, while achieving balanced development in non-automobile businesses. In 2023, the life table for automobile insurance project met the “last mile” target and achieved industry-leading risk pricing capabilities with intelligent risk cost control and optimal resources allocation, providing technological model support for Sunshine P&C to build automobile insurance into a stable profit source. The data life table of non-automobile insurance and life table of credit insurance also made substantive progress and gradually entered into operations.

Creating “Sunshine of Caring” with A Goodness Culture of “Love and Responsibility” and Do A Good Job in Customer Operation.

The introduction of “Sunshine of Caring” is a strategic move by Sunshine Insurance to realize its original goal of “Finance for the People”. In 2023, Sunshine Insurance continued to build a customer-driven development model and orderly promoted the “Matrix Plan” and “Partnership Action”, gradually promoting the customer-oriented action and taking customer operation to a new level. By the end of 2023, the number of active customers reached approximately 31.54 million.

In terms of specific strategies, Sunshine Life has further promoted the “Matrix Plan” by conducting in-depth customer surveys and focusing on the full life cycle of customers and their families, and has successfully launched the product allocation concept and insurance policy system of “Three insurance policies for your lifetime of safety and security, Five insurance policies for the whole family, and Seven insurance policies of Sunshine Insurance bring you a promising future” (“Three/Five/Seven”). For customers, the launch of “Three/Five/Seven” allowed customers to have a clear picture of their family’s insurance planning and configuration, which did not cost customers a penny more, and allowed customers to maximize the effect of every premium paid. This made Sunshine Insurance one of the few companies in the industry that explained the protection needs of customers to the society in a clear and easy-to-understand manner from the perspective of the whole customer.

Meanwhile, Sunshine P&C, centered on the “Partnership Action” business model and with an aim of creating a trustworthy enterprise risk management partner, has successfully created exclusive risk management solutions for a number of fields through the form of “insurance + service + technology”. In 2023, it provided technology disaster mitigation and professional risk consulting services to 14,000 corporate clients.

In addition, in terms of customer service, adhering to the principles of “Three Cares” (loving, attentiveness and thoughtfulness) and “Four Features” (value, characteristics, practicality and usability), Sunshine Insurance constantly strengthened the operational efficiency of basic insurance services, the ability to provide value-added services to customers, and the ability to engage directly with them.

Embracing its “New Sunshine Strategy,” Sunshine Insurance has tirelessly worked, day and night, to forge a new path. This comprehensive strategy has now borne fruit, with “Technology Sunshine,” “Value Sunshine,” and “Compassionate Sunshine” synergistically enhancing each other, creating a balanced and forward-moving force, Mr Zhang Weigong, Chairman of Sunshine Insurance, pointed out in the press conference that Sunshine Insurance has never forgotten its original intention and remained committed to itself during different stages of industry transformation. In particular, in the midst of blindly aggressive expansion, the Company has maintained a high degree of certainty and kept a clear head to maintain its steady and sustainable development. A sound path that is sustainable and stable development was thus paved along the way.

The steady growth in performance, continuous enhancement of value creation ability, and solid implementation of customer management in 2023 are the best proof of the Company’s adherence to strategic consistency, robust corporate governance, and rigorous risk control. With the further advancing of the New Sunshine Strategy, this insurance company, which is about to celebrate its 20th anniversary, is bound to embrace fruitful results in time.

VCREDIT business has grown steadily through refined operations in FY2023

HONG KONG, Mar 27, 2024 – (ACN Newswire) – VCREDIT Holdings Limited (“VCREDIT” or the “Group”; stock code: 2003.HK), a leading independent online consumer finance provider in China, announced its audited annual results for the year ended 31 December 2023.

During the year, the Chinese macro-economy and residents’ consumption capacity slowed with demand weakening for consumers. Nevertheless, the Group still achieved steady growth through refined operations. Total income was RMB3,569.5 million, with an adjusted net profit of RMB455.6 million. The Board has recommended the distribution of a final dividend of HK10 cents per share of the Company.

The Group continued to optimize its risk management framework, adjust risk control policies, and introduce more comprehensive dimensions of customer feature, enabling the ongoing shift towards high-quality borrowers on the business asset side. The Group’s loan origination volume reached a historical high of RMB75.2 billion for the year, representing a growth of 44.2% as compared to RMB52.2 billion in 2022.

Building a precise customer acquisition model, transferring towards higher quality borrowers

Facing the macroeconomic conditions and changes in user behavior, the Group continued optimizing its rise management framework by improving multi-source scoring cards, adjusting risk control policies, and undertaking significant model upgrades and complex testing. In the second half of 2023, the Group established a strategic partnership with a leading data company to jointly build a precise customer acquisition model, significantly enhancing the ability to acquire customers more accurately in diverse scenarios. The Group has continued to expand high-quality customer acquisition channels. It formed cooperative agreements with well-known content platforms, photo editing applications, internet-based logistics platforms, lifestyle service information platform and other premium channels, allowing the Group to enhance precision marketing and high-quality customer acquisition strategies. In 2023, the cumulative registered users reached 144 million, representing an increase of 13.6% compared to 2022. For the existing customers, the Group has continued to improve their user experience by introducing a user willingness model to help raise brand recognition and improve user loyalty. In 2023, repeat loan customers accounted for 85.1% of the total loan volume.

To accurately construct target customer risk profiles, the Group introduced more comprehensive dimensions of customer features, which helps the business asset side to sustain its transition towards high-quality borrowers, striking a balance between short-term risk and long-term returns.

Actively responding to data security requirements, establishing a consumer protection framework

While solidifying performance and optimizing risk levels, the Group also prioritized compliance and enhancing the consumer experiences. To align with their industry’s evolving regulatory framework, the Group proactively adjusted its post-loan strategies, achieving forward-looking compliance transformations. Simultaneously, the Group actively responded to data security requirements, and implemented a “Duanzhilian” approach for credit data by the end of 2023.

In terms of consumer protection, the Group established a Consumer Rights Protection Committee, gradually building a comprehensive consumer protection framework to fulfill their responsibilities. Leveraging artificial intelligence large language models, the Group introduced an AI-powered online customer service bot that serves both customer service and marketing scenarios, continuously optimizing user interaction experiences.

Expanding funding partnerships, actively expanding domestic and overseas markets

The Group’s collaboration with financial institution funding partners has significantly increased, particularly deepening partnerships with systemically important banks. By the end of 2023, the Group had established collaborations with 104 external funding partners, including 24 nationwide joint-stock commercial banks, consumer finance companies, and trust funds. These partnerships contribute to the formation of a diverse financing pool, supporting their progress towards their goals. While expanding the number of funding partners, the Group has gradually implemented a standardized scoring system, continually improved operational efficiency, and steadily reduced funding costs. Building on this strong foundation, coupled with flexible financing and capital protection provided by third-party guarantee and asset management companies, the Group placed an emphasis on providing consumer finance through their pure loan facilitation model, consistently moving towards asset-light operations.

Apart from strengthening and developing their existing consumer finance business in the mainland of China, the Group successfully launched a new consumer finance brand ‘CreFIT’ in Hong Kong during 2023. Additionally, the Group agreed to acquire Banco Português de Gestão, S.A. (“BPG”), a credit institution registered with the Bank of Portugal, allowing it to enter the Portuguese and broader European markets. Through these new initiatives, the Group aims to achieve significant breakthroughs in their business and deliver optimal returns for their Shareholders.

Outlook

The macro environment is constantly changing and evolving, which requires the Group to respond in a prompt and effective way to remain competitive. In order to contribute to further growth in their consumer finance business and fulfill the financial needs of high-quality customers, the Group will strive to hone their business strategies and upscale their technology. In addition to growing their existing consumer finance operation in China, the Group shall also look to expand their business strategies by investing or collaborating in or acquiring similar, related or complementary businesses and industries in other jurisdictions including Hong Kong, South-East Asia and Europe. The Group is reviewing and shall continue to review potential investment opportunities and business prospects on a constant basis and make suitable investments and acquisitions as opportunities occur. And it will continue to focus on leveraging advanced expertise and knowledge and actively embracing the trends and innovation that are shaping the industry and society more broadly.

Additionally, the Group intends to continuously execute the strategies, including streamline and extend its credit solutions to better serve customers to improve brand recognition and the loyalty and creditworthiness of its customer base; enhance risk management capability through deployment of evolving technology and artificial intelligence; strengthen long-term collaborations with licensed financial institutional partners and other business partners; ensure its business is conducted within applicable regulatory parameters to achieve regulation-centric sustainability; review and assess potential business prospects and invest or collaborate in or acquire similar, related or complementary businesses and industries in China and other jurisdictions; cultivate a dynamic enterprise value and culture and grow its in-house talents.

About VCREDIT Holdings Limited (2003.HK)

VCREDIT Holdings Limited (VCREDIT) is a leading independent online consumer finance service provider in China. Accumulated 17 years of experience in consumer finance innovation, the Group has established a cutting-edge position in credit risk quantification and intelligent risk management which are core to financial services. VCREDIT’s proprietary “Hummingbird” risk management system and smart lending robot provide state-of-the-art integrated solutions to licensed financial Institutions, allowing them to offer customized, accessible financial services to underserved borrowers across China. VCREDIT made its debut on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on June 21, 2018 with the ticker symbol 2003.HK.

Website: https://en.vcredit.com/en-us

Inaugural HKTDC Export Confidence Index: Rising expectations of export uptick

HONG KONG, Mar 27, 2024 – (ACN Newswire) – The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) released its inaugural HKTDC Export Confidence Index today.

An upgrade to the well-established HKTDC Export Index, the new quarterly HKTDC Export Confidence Index will provide a more nuanced and comprehensive overview of business sentiment among Hong Kong-based exporters.

Derived from a survey of more than 500 Hong Kong exporters, the Export Confidence Index comprises five sub-indices – Sales and New Orders, Trade Value, Cost, Procurement and Inventory. These findings are evaluated in terms of Current Performance (how they represent present market sentiment) and Expectation (a measure of exporter sentiment with regard to the coming quarter).

For the first quarter of 2024 (January-March), the overall Expectation score was 47.4. This figure is close to the 50 benchmark (the dividing point between contractionary and expansionary trends) indicating an improved near-term export outlook. It was also notable that the Expectation scores for all sub-indices comfortably exceeded the Current Performance reading of 39.6, which, again, suggests exporters are confident that better times lie ahead.

Commenting on the thinking behind the new index, HKTDC Director of Research Irina Fan said: “Multiple elements impact exporter confidence and we now have an evaluation system that allows us to factor them all in. This will ensure that our quarterly assessment of this key component of Hong Kong’s economy is more versatile, more relevant and more insightful than ever before.

“The success of this initiative to date has allowed us to confidently report a likely uptick in orders from Mainland China, as well as a gradual overall recovery in exports that looks set to be led by the electronics sector.”

Optimistic prospects in Mainland China and US

Among the other key findings, the Sales and New Orders sub-index highlighted rising confidence in export growth, with its 49.9 reading close enough to 50 to suggest a high likelihood of stabilisation.

On the market front, exporters are generally more optimistic with regard to Mainland China and the United States, with exporters anticipating resumed growth in mainland orders in the second quarter.

Of the six key export sectors, electronics enjoyed the most positive outlook, followed by timepieces, equipment/materials, clothing, toys and jewellery.

There are also signs of stronger procurement activity in the electronics, toys and equipment/materials sectors as the corresponding Expectation indices approach or exceed the 50 level.

Overseas markets to regain growth momentum

For survey respondents, economic risks remained the primary concern among the external market issues that could potentially impact exports over the next 12 months. For 83.3% of respondents, an economic slowdown/recession in their primary markets was considered the biggest potential obstacle to export growth.

Putting the findings into perspective, Cherry Yeung, the HKTDC Senior Economist with oversight of the new Index, said: “Despite such concerns, there are many positive takeaways from the Q1 survey. Some 70% of traders, for instance, are anticipating resumed growth in their core overseas markets, while 37.1% are expecting a rapid upturn in mainland market demand. Looking beyond that, 36.4% of respondents are confident that e-commerce will provide new impetus for many export businesses in the course of the coming year.

“It is also reassuring that 55.9% of exporters believe their future profitability will remain unchanged or actually improve, with 40.9% expecting their profit levels to stay stable and 15% seeing an upturn on the horizon.”

References
HKTDC Export Confidence Index: https://research.hktdc.com/en/article/MTY0Nzc3MTE3OQ
HKTDC Research website: https://research.hktdc.com/en/

Photo download: https://bit.ly/3xfpjHJ

HKTDC Director of Research Ms Irina Fan (right) and Senior Economist Ms Cherry Yeung (left) announced the inaugural HKTDC Export Confidence Index for the first quarter of 2024 at a press conference today

HKTDC Director of Research Ms Irina Fan

HKTDC Senior Economist Ms Cherry Yeung

Media enquiries

Please contact the HKTDC’s Communication and Public Affairs Department:

Jane Cheung

Tel: (852) 2584 4137

Email: jane.mh.cheung@hktdc.org

About HKTDC

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body established in 1966 to promote, assist and develop Hong Kong’s trade. With 50 offices globally, including 13 in Mainland China, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a two-way global investment and business hub. The HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to create business opportunities for companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in the mainland and international markets. The HKTDC also provides up-to-date market insights and product information via research reports and digital news channels. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus. Follow us on Twitter @hktdc and LinkedIn

ZhongAn Online Announces 2023 Annual Results

HONG KONG, Mar 27, 2024 – (ACN Newswire) – On March 26, 2024, ZhongAn Online (6060.HK) released its 2023 annual results. For the year ended December 31, 2023, ZhongAn Online achieved gross written premiums (GWP) of RMB29,501 million, with a year-on-year increase of 24.7%. ZhongAn remained as the 9th largest P&C insurance company in the Chinese market as measured by GWP in 2023, and the fastest growing company among the top 10 P&C insurance companies in China, with underwriting profits for three consecutive years. The Group has adopted the new accounting standard for insurance contracts, HKFRS 17, starting from January 1, 2023. Insurance revenue from the P&C insurance business under HKFRS 17 amounted to RMB27,521 million, an increase of 24.2% year-on-year.

In 2023, we celebrated ZhongAn’s 10th anniversary. With a decade of dedicated cultivation, ZhongAn has always adhered to “Insurance + Tech” dual-engine strategy, and has achieved high-quality growth by adopting a customer-centric approach and focusing on its core insurance business. During the past decade, ZhongAn has been dedicated to improving its technology, product, service and brand strengths, thereby achieving numerous breakthroughs from scratch, and contributing its one-of-a-kind strengths to accelerating the digital and intelligent transformation of the insurance industry. In 2023, as the only InsurTech company selected, ZhongAn Online was included in the 2023 China 500 list published by Fortune with honor, demonstrating the market’s recognition to ZhongAn’s decade-long brand and technology.

For a long term, ZhongAn Online adhered to the strategy of “sustainable growth with quality” as well as technology-driven cost-efficiency. In 2023, our underwriting combined ratio for 2023 was 95.2%, achieving underwriting profit for three consecutive years, and beyond the industry average performance. The Group recorded net profit attributable to owners of the parent of RMB4,078 million, this included a one-off investment gain of approximately RMB3,784 million as ZA International ceased to be a subsidiary of the Company and was accounted for as a joint venture under the equity method with effect from August 14, 2023. Excluding this one-off investment gain, the Group’s adjusted net profit to owners of the Company amounted to RMB294 million, a turnaround from the previous year.

Benefiting from the domestic economic recovery and the ongoing digital transformation in the global financial industry, the Group’s technology segment recorded technology export revenue of RMB829 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 40.0%., of which domestic revenue grew by more than 73% year-on-year.

Building user-centric proprietary channels

In 2023, the Company stayed focused on multi-scenario and multi-dimensional touchpoints with potential customers around the “ZhongAn” brand, continuously exploring and grasping online traffic dividend from mainstream content platforms via short video and livestreaming. Through AI customer service and Enterprise WeChat customer service, we delivered efficient cross-guidance and customized product recommendation, and continuously optimizing the contents of live streaming. This year, ZhongAn also stayed focused on cross-penetration between ecosystems, provided comprehensive insurance protection around four ecosystems, and increased value proposition to users through upgraded medical health, family, and pets related services. In 2023, the GWP of our proprietary channels increased by 31.0% year-on-year to RMB7,614 million, whose growth rate is higher than the company’s overall GWP growth, and accounted for 25.8% of the total GWP. The number of paying users of our proprietary channels increased by 47.6% year-on-year to 11.36 million. Renewal rate reached 88.3%, with year-on-year improvement of 3.3 percentage points; and the average premium per user reached RMB670.

Diversified product offerings of health ecosystem provide medical coverage for over 100 million people and digital lifestyle ecosystem innovates to lead the way

In 2023, China’s commercial health insurance market reported GWP of RMB903.5 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 4.4%. As China’s multi-level healthcare protection system continued to penetrate and improve, there is a growing demand for multi-level, diversified and personalized health protection. Adhering to our original aspiration of provide medical insurance for 100 million people, our health ecosystem provided health insurance to approximately 28.80 million insured customers in 2023, recorded GWP of RMB9,806 million in 2023, representing a year-on-year increase of 9.2%. The health ecosystem had approximately 19.96 million individual insurance paying users, representing an increase of 23.6% as compared with the corresponding period of last year. Meanwhile, the company also published the customized products for the chronic disease patients, elderly, children, and female, as well as critical illness policy, outpatient policy, and other types of productions to meet the diversified needs of users under different scenarios.

For digital lifestyle ecosystem, ZhongAn capitalized on the booming growth of the domestic e-commerce industry, the strong recovery of the air travel business, and the explosive growth of innovative business including pet insurance. The GWP of the digital lifestyle ecosystem reached RMB12,563 million, representing a year-on- year increase of 41.6%. Among them, the e-commerce business segment amounted to RMB6,593 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 25.3%. The travel business segment provided travel protection for nearly 70 million users, recording GWP of RMB3,242 million in 2023, representing a year-on-year increase of 89.0%.

In the innovation business segment, ZhongAn closely follow the trends of emerging consumer behavior, continuously leverage technology empowerment, and rapidly launch various innovative insurance products to meet evolving insurance protection needs of users. In 2023, we launched a brand new sports accident insurance named Zhong Participation covering general sports and high-risk sports, and enriched our pet insurance product matrix, serving over 4.65 million pet owners nationwide and consolidating our highly leading position in the domestic pet insurance market.

Beyond that, along with the continued recovery of the domestic economy in all sectors, and the emergence of new hotspots such as AI and NEV, the Company ushered in a new era in the consumer finance ecosystem and the auto ecosystem. With the recovery of the consumer finance industry, ZhongAn consumer finance ecosystem recorded GWP of RMB5,551 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 22.5%. We also seized the opportunities for the NEV insurance and embracing government support, bringing new momentum to auto insurance, with GWP of NEV auto insurance increased by approximately 196.1% year-on-year in 2023 and total GWP of auto ecosystem increased by 24.7% year-on-year to RMB1,580 million in 2023

Tech segment grows fast with innovations powered by AIGC

In the long term, ZhongAn continues to focus on the development of cutting- edge technologies including artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, and big data, aiming to reshape every stage throughout the insurance value chain with technology, creating a value delivery system of “technology + service”. In 2023, ZhongAn launched “Lingxi”, an AIGC middle platform, EasyCreation, the pioneering intelligent content creation platform with AIGC application covering scenarios of insurance verticals, and CWisdom, the operational analysis platform (AI upgraded version) with conversational AI. ZhongAn empowers the finance and insurance industry with AI, promotes high-quality development for financial industries with core technologies and reshapes the landscape of digital finance.

In 2023, ZhongAn’s technology segment continued to expand both domestically and internationally, helping many clients across the globe with their digital transformation processes. During the reporting period, ZhongAn recorded technology export revenue of RMB829 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 40.0%.

Benefiting from the industry’s demand for continued digital upgrading and transformation brought by Digital China and the digital economy, our domestic technology export business recorded revenue of RMB504 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 73.2%. Number of newly contracted clients along the insurance industrial chain reached 91, of which more than 40 clients had a contracted amount of more than RMB1 million and 4 clients had a contracted amount of more than RMB10 million. ZhongAn’s tech segment also made breakthroughs in expanding business into diversified sectors, serving 12 clients from the banking and securities industries, and further expanded to cover manufacturing and other high-tech industries.

For overseas technology export, ZA Tech, under ZhongAn International, founded in 2018 and headquartered in Singapore, focuses on exporting new insurance core systems and digital insurance technology experience to overseas insurance companies and insurance intermediary platforms, aiming to build a new digital operating system of the global insurance industry. As of now, ZA Tech’s footprints have covered regional markets such as Japan, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, and Europe. In 2023, ZA Tech recorded technology export revenue of RMB325 million, of which sustainable revenue accounted for 51%, and the gross margin increased to 46% from 40% for the corresponding period of 2022.

ZA Bank continues to build a leading financial services platform In Hong Kong

As one of the first banks in Hong Kong granted a virtual banking license, ZA Bank has become one of the virtual banks with the most comprehensive product matrix in Hong Kong market. By the end of 2023, ZA Bank had total deposits of approximately HKD11.7 billion and gross loans of approximately HKD 5.4 billion.

ZA Bank became the first virtual bank in Hong Kong to be granted a Type 1 regulated activity (dealing in securities) license by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in January 2022, and has been actively expanding its product matrix for investment business since then. The Bank officially launched mutual fund services in August 2022, successfully onboard over 100 investment fund products, and officially launched its US stock trading services in February 2024 for Hong Kong users. By the end of 2023, retail users’ AUM amounted to nearly HKD 1 billion. Meanwhile, benefiting from the interest rate hike cycle and the diversification of loan products, ZA Bank’s net interest margin further improved to 1.94% from 1.84% in the corresponding period of 2022. In 2023, ZA Bank recorded net revenue of approximately HKD 370 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 42.9%; With the Bank’s focus on business quality and operationalefficiency improvement, the net loss margin narrowed by approximately 85.6 percentage points

The General Manager of ZhongAn Online Simon Jiang says, “In the past decade , ZhongAn had been growing on the background of FinTech development and diversification trend across the globe. In the wave of digital transformation, we remain true to our original aspirations and adhere to the concept of “insurance + technology” so as to offer more inclusive products to users, bring warm experience of ZhongAn and contribute to the building of a high-quality inclusive financial system.”

About ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance Co., Ltd. (Stock Code: 6060.HK)

Founded in October 2013, ZhongAn Online P & C Insurance Co., Ltd. (“ZhongAn Online”, “ZhongAn” or the “Company”) is a leading digital-only insurance company in China. On September 28, 2017, ZhongAn became the first FinTech company listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. ZhongAn offers insurance products and solutions within four ecosystems, which include health, digital lifestyle, consumer finance, and auto. Focusing on InsurTech, ZhongAn leverages its advanced InsurTech experience and technological capability to facilitate the digital transformation of companies along the insurance industry value chain through the development of new digital infrastructure.

For further information, please contact ZhongAn Online IR team

Email: IR@ZhongAn.com

Noah Holdings Posts Solid Q4 and Full-Year Financial Performance

HONG KONG, Mar 27, 2024 – (ACN Newswire) – Noah Holdings Limited (the “Company,” or “Noah”) (NYSE: NOAH and HKEX: 6686), a leading wealth management service provider offering comprehensive global investment and asset allocation advisory services primarily for high-net-worth investors, today announced its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and the financial results for the full year ended December 31, 2023.

Despite a challenging year for the global wealth management industry and a sluggish post-pandemic economic recovery, Noah continued to drive revenue and non-GAAP net income growth and keep a healthy operating margin. This robust performance was driven by Noah’s strategic foresight and adaptability as it transitioned from a product-focused model to a solution-driven approach. This strategic shift allowed Noah to assist in building portfolios that are resilient in the face of challenging market cycles, earning it significant trust from existing and prospective clients.

Ms. Jingbo Wang, co-founder and Chairwoman of Noah, said “Noah’s relentless focus on client needs, spearheaded our transition from a product-focused model to a solutions-driven approach over the past year, strengthening our ability guide clients through this challenging market environment. The pace of our international expansion continues to increase as our clients’ demand for global asset allocation grows. Our balance sheet is robust, clean and is generating sufficient capital to support Noah’s overseas expansion. By enhancing operational efficiency, attracting top talent, and strategically cutting costs while simultaneously investing in new international markets, channels, technologies and the development of a global product and service matrix, we are ideally positioned to help clients traverse this market.”

Noah generated total net revenues of RMB 3.3 billion in 2023, an increase of 6.3% from 2022, with RMB 2.5 billion from wealth management and RMB 766.2 million from asset management. Operating profit for the year achieved a slight increase of 0.9% YoY, while operating profit margin for the year remained at a healthy level of 33.3%.

Noah made significant progress in expanding its international presence in 2023. As demand for asset security and global diversification grows, Noah is directly aligning itself with client priorities and investing in overseas products and services. Through its enriched product offerings and enhanced cooperation with top global primary and secondary market funds and insurance companies, Noah drove increases of 10.7% in overseas AUM, 73% in overseas net revenues, 14.2% and 38.0% in overseas registered clients and active clients, respectively. As a percentage of total net revenues, overseas net revenues accounted for 43.5% in 2023.

Noah’s international footprint also expanded in 2023. Following extensive research to identify overseas markets with high concentrations of HNW Chinese-speaking investors, Noah opened an office in Los Angeles. To support this expanding presence, Noah onboarded 89 overseas relationship managers as of the end of 2023, ramped up campus recruitment to ensure a steady pipeline of highly qualified graduates, offered overseas relocation opportunities to high-performing employees, and continued to recruit capable professionals from global top tier private banks in our target markets. This diverse and highly skilled professional team will better serve clients with overseas assets and deepen Noah’s share of their USD wallet, allowing it to attract new clients across the globe.

The Company’s performance in 2023 was widely acknowledged by the industry with numerous awards, including ‘Best Independent Wealth Manager – China’ by Asian Private Banker for the seventh straight year, ‘Best Wealth Manager for Overseas Asset Management’ by Asiamoney, and ‘Best Wealth Manager’ by Euromoney in 2023, underscoring its status as a leader in overseas wealth management. Recently, Noah achieved a notable milestone by receiving full membership to the Private Wealth Management Association (PWMA), becoming the first non-bank institution to be welcomed into this distinguished organization.

The Company’s CIO house view and CCI model reflect this international focus and combine it with the latest asset allocation advice and a full suite of wealth management products and services. This strategic approach has further resonated with clients during recent market volatility. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2023, Diamond Card clients decreased by 2.8% from the same period last year and 1.2% sequentially. However, the number of Black Card clients increased by 8.8% year-over-year and 1.7% sequentially, reflecting a growing trend of Diamond clients upgrading to Black Card status. This underscoring the trust and loyalty clients place in Noah, especially in these challenging market conditions. Starting from 2024, the semi-annual CIO report begins issuing both domestic and overseas versions to provide clients with strengthened overseas investment advice.

Noah continued to invest in its technology stack throughout the year to improve the client experience globally and maximize internal efficiency. iNoah One Account, the Company’s wealth management platform, expanded in 2023 with cash management, hedge funds, structured products, and one-click access to research and recommendations. It also gave clients access to one-click CCI portfolio reports, enhanced its CRM system to generate significant time savings for relationship managers, and streamlined insurance services in Hong Kong as it works to extend those improvements globally. These efforts were widely recognized by the industry, with Noah being named “Best Wealth Management Platform for Investments and Digital Innovation” in 2023.

In March 2024, the Company’s Board of Directors approved an annual dividend of approximately RMB 509 million (USD 71.7 million) in total, equivalent to 50% of 2023 non-GAAP net income attributable to Noah shareholders, and a non-recurring special dividend of approximately RMB 509 million (USD 71.7 million) in total for 2023. Thus, the amount of total shareholder returns for 2023 will be RMB 1 billion, equivalent to 100% of 2023 non-GAAP net income, subject to final approval of AGM in June 2024. The dividends reflect Noah’s confidence in its future business prospects and commitment to returning capital to shareholders while ensuring that it has the resources necessary to fuel future growth.

Noah’s full financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2023 are available at ir.noahgroup.com.

ABOUT NOAH HOLDINGS LIMITED

Noah Holdings Limited (NYSE: NOAH and HKEX:6686) is a leading and pioneer wealth management service provider offering comprehensive one-stop advisory services on global investment and asset allocation primarily for mandarin-speaking high-net-worth investors. In 2023, Noah distributed RMB 74.1 billion (US$10.4 billion) of investment products. Through Gopher Asset Management, Noah had assets under management of RMB 154.6 billion (US$21.8 billion) as of December 31, 2023.

Noah’s wealth management business primarily distributes private equity, private secondary, mutual fund and other products denominated in RMB and other currencies. Noah’s network covers 44 cities in mainland China, as well as Hong Kong (China), New York, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles and Singapore. A total of 1,252 relationship managers provide customized financial solutions for clients through this network, and meet their international investment needs. The Company’s wealth management business had 455,827 registered clients as of December 31, 2023. Through Gopher Asset Management, Noah manages private equity, public securities, real estate, multi-strategy and other investments denominated in Renminbi and other currencies. The Company also provides other businesses.

For more information, please visit Noah at ir.noahgroup.com.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “confident” and similar statements. Noah may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual reports to shareholders, in announcements, circulars or other publications made on the website of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the “Hong Kong Stock Exchange”), in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Noah’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. These statements include, but are not limited to, estimates regarding the sufficiency of Noah’s cash and cash equivalents and liquidity risk. A number of factors could cause Noah’s actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: its goals and strategies; its future business development, financial condition and results of operations; the expected growth of the wealth management and asset management market in China and internationally; its expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of the products it distributes; investment risks associated with investment products distributed to Noah’s investors, including the risk of default by counterparties or loss of value due to market or business conditions or misconduct by counterparties; its expectations regarding keeping and strengthening its relationships with key clients; relevant government policies and regulations relating to its industries; its ability to attract and retain qualified employees; its ability to stay abreast of market trends and technological advances; its plans to invest in research and development to enhance its product choices and service offerings; competition in its industries in China and internationally; general economic and business conditions globally and in China; and its ability to effectively protect its intellectual property rights and not to infringe on the intellectual property rights of others. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in Noah’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and Noah does not undertake any obligation to update any such information, including forward-looking statements, as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under the applicable law.

Contact info:

Noah Holdings Limited E-mail: in_communication@noahgroup.com

Inkeverse Announces 2023 Annual Results

HONG KONG, Mar 26, 2024 – (ACN Newswire) – Inkeverse Group Limited (“Inkeverse” or “the Group”, stock code: 3700) has announced its annual results for the year ended December 31, 2023 (the “Reporting Period”).

During the Reporting Period, the Group achieved revenue of RMB 6,845 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 8.3% as compared with that of 2022; Net profit was RMB 401 million, turning around from a loss in the previous year; Adjusted net profit was RMB 426 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 9.9% as compared with that of 2022. The value-added service revenue is RMB 5,220 million yuan, accounting for 76.3% of the Group’s overall revenue; The content services revenue is RMB 959 million, accounting for 14.0% of the Group’s overall revenue.

Live streaming and social networking businesses remain steady, with platform advantage expanding

In 2023, Inkeverse maintained a healthy momentum in its live streaming and social networking businesses through refined operational strategies. The flagship product “Inke App” improved the commercial monetization capabilities by optimizing resource management and incentive policies. The platform advantage accumulated over the years in the live streaming field has effectively supported the Group’s strategic multi-product plan. These measures have effectively promoted the healthy development of the live streaming social networking ecosystem, creating a healthy and vibrant live broadcasting ecosystem, and contributing stable cash flow to the Group.

The social networking business has continued to leverage the advantages of the Group’s product matrix. By continuously optimizing the monetization logic of the social product matrix, adjusting user matching mechanisms, and upgrading member benefits, the overall market competitiveness of the Group has been constantly enhanced. Over the years, live streaming and social networking businesses have become the core businesses of the Group. The steady growth momentum has provided stable and substantial cash flow support to the Group, effectively driving deep expansion and continuous innovation.

Innovative businesses such as playlets have become the second growth driver, once again confirming the Group’s innovative mechanism

In the second half of 2022, the Group swiftly deployed resources to capitalize on the thriving trend in the playlets market. Leveraging its first-mover advantage in live streaming and social networking businesses, along with a mature support system and efficient internal management mechanisms, the Group thoroughly analyzed the industry chain and rapidly launched hit products. Thus, the Group quickly emerged as one of the leading companies in this sector, attracting a large number of users and occupying a prominent position in the market.

The Group has incubated a number of phenomenal products, demonstrating its ability to rapidly leverage the innovative methodologies. Based on years of experience accumulation and astute market insight, the Group consistently seizes market opportunities and continues to innovate in an ever-evolving environment.

The strategy of seizing global opportunities to go overseas has achieved results

Seizing global development opportunities and implementing an effective overseas strategy, the Group has rapidly expanded into overseas markets and promoted product localization. Leveraging extensive experience in the audiovisual networking field, the Group continuously optimizes its products and operational strategies. Some social networking products have topped the best-selling social applications in countries like Vietnam. Furthermore, the Group has expanded its presence beyond Vietnam to include other Southeast Asian nations, as well as venturing into emerging markets such as the Middle East. The success validates the Group’s ability to achieve business model loop through international expansion and establishes a solid foundation for its future overseas development.

The rapid verification of the overseas expansion strategy highlights the Group’s exceptional proficiency in global market deployment and product localization. Through in-depth understanding of local user needs, establishment of localized teams and close collaboration with local partners, the Group has successfully extended its operational experience to international markets and achieved remarkable sales performance. The accomplishment not only demonstrates the Group’s strategic vision in international operation, but also underscores its leading position in industry chain extension and global market competition.

Looking ahead, the Group will continue to consolidate its core business, expanding its platform advantages by enriching the live streaming social ecosystem to meet the evolving needs of global users. Meanwhile, the Group will actively expand its presence in overseas markets, leveraging its accumulated market expansion experience to expedite the consolidation of its core markets’ competitive advantage and explore emerging markets in order to fully tap into the international markets. The Group will closely monitor the pace of technological innovation, particularly in areas such as artificial intelligence and Web 3.0, while increasing investment and actively embracing new technologies to facilitate seamless integration with diverse business scenarios. Through optimizing product experiences, strengthening user relationship chains, developing tailored products for different markets, and enhancing technology integration capabilities, the Group aims to establish a more advanced and intelligent internet ecosystem that leads the industry towards high-quality and comprehensive intelligence-driven development. Looking ahead, the Group will continuously enhance its core competitiveness to provide users with richer, more convenient, and personalized service experiences while achieving sustained and steady growth.

About Inkeverse:

Inkeverse (3700.HK) is a leading interactive social platform in China. In May 2015, the core product Inke APP was launched, creating the trend of domestic mobile live streaming broadcasting. Inke was listed in Hong Kong in July 2018, making it the first entertainment livestreaming enterprise on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and continues to deepen its efforts in the field of audio and video streaming. After its listing, Inke is focusing on the strategy of “matrix products” for the development layout of the Group. Based on the mature industrial mid-stage system, aiming at the needs of many vertical markets and individuals, it has successively created a number of phenomenon products and has rolled out a rich matrix of social products. After undergoing multiple online and offline scenarios, and establishing a presence in overseas markets, it has transformed from a single product line into a matrix of products to drive performance growth. Reflecting this shift, in 2022, Inke changed its name to Inkeverse, aiming to create a multidimensional social matrix combining reality and virtual reality based on a new technology model. In 2023, the Group’s newly developed playlets swiftly rose to the top tier in the industry, once again validating its innovative capabilities and solidifying its position as a leader in the industry.

For more information, please visit the IR website: https://ir.inkeverse.com/sc/ir_overview.php

For enquiry, please contact Intelligent Joy Limited:

Jaon Guo / Willa Xie

Jason.Guo@intelligentjoy.com / Willa.Xie@intelligentjoy.com

Venturi Partners invests $25 million in DALI Discount, Philippines’ leading chain of discount grocery stores

SINGAPORE, Mar 26, 2024 – (ACN Newswire) – Venturi Partners (“Venturi”), a prominent growth equity firm specialising in consumer investments across India and Southeast Asia, today announced its recent investment in DALI Discount (“DALI”), a rapidly expanding hard discount chain operating in the Philippines. The investment will further accelerate DALI’s ambitious expansion plans to fulfill its mission to sell high-quality, affordable groceries of everyday consumption at lowest possible price in its local neighborhood stores.

Founded in 2020, DALI has quickly established itself as #1 discounter in the Philippines’ retail landscape offering a core range of the 400 most needed consumer goods – food and non-food. Known for its commitment to everyday low prices for its carefully curated selection of quality essentials, DALI offers significant value to customers seeking to stretch their grocery budgets without sacrificing quality but also to those just buying smarter. DALI vision is to improve daily lives of all Filipino households by providing good quality product at lowest possible price next door.

Venturi Partners’ $25 million investment in DALI underscores the firm’s confidence in the company’s hard discounter business model, strong management team, and the large market opportunity to disrupt the retail landscape in the Philippines. Leveraging its deep consumer industry expertise and extensive network, Venturi is well-positioned to support DALI in accelerating its expansion initiatives, enhancing operational efficiency, and further strengthening its market presence across the Philippines.

Investing out of its $180 million maiden fund, Venturi joins Navegar, Creador, the Asian Development Bank and other institutional investors and family offices on DALI’s cap table. “We are thrilled to announce our partnership with DALI, a company that is democratising access to high quality groceries in the Philippines,” said Nicholas Cator, Founding Partner at Venturi. “DALI’s commitment to maximising value for its customers aligns seamlessly with our consumer-first investment philosophy, and we see tremendous potential for the company to expand its reach and improve the lives of even more households across the Philippines.”

The transaction represents Venturi’s second investment in the Philippines, following its investment in Pickup Coffee last year, a fast-growing grab-and-go coffee chain that provides high-quality coffee at disruptively low-price points.

DALI will join Venturi Partners’ portfolio of consumer-focused investments in India and Southeast Asia which includes Livspace, Country Delight, Believe, and Pickup Coffee.

About Venturi Partners

Founded in 2019 by veteran consumer investor Nicholas Cator, Venturi Partners is an Asia-focused investment platform that enables consumer-facing business startups to build disruptive brands in India and Southeast Asia. The firm provides growth funding to customer-centric, purpose-driven brands in India and Southeast Asia, with a focus on education, healthcare, and fast-moving consumer goods, which have a shared desire to create a positive impact on the world. Venturi has built a unique investment platform for families wanting to participate in the long-term consumer growth trends in Asia. The platform is built around shared values and long-term partnerships and aims to bring operational value-add to entrepreneurs building tomorrow’s leading brands in Asia.

Media Contact:
Namrata.sharma@adfactorspr.com
Mobile: +6581383034

New Hope Services: Net profit margin attributable to the parent Company was 17.1% in 2023, annual dividend payout ratio reached 60%

HONG KONG, Mar 25, 2024 – (ACN Newswire) – New Hope Service Holdings Limited (New Hope Service or the Company, Stock Code: 3658), an integrated property management enterprise engaging in the provision of lifestyle service solutions, announced its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2023 (the Reporting Period).

In 2023, New Hope Service focused on advantageous areas, persisted in qualitative expansion, and achieved high-quality growth in core performance indicators by tapping into increased profits through commercial operational services and lifestyle services. During the Reporting Period, the Group recorded revenue of approximately RMB1,260.7 million, representing an increase of 10.7% as compared to the same period last yearï¼›Gross profit was approximately RMB440 million, and gross profit margin was 34.9%. Net profit margin attributable to the parent Company was 17.1%, remaining at mid-to-high level. Meanwhile, the Company has strengthened operations and lean management, yielding profit attributable to equity shareholders of the Company amounting to approximately RMB215 million, and basic earnings per share RMB0.26, an increase of 6% over the same period last year. The Board recommended payment of a final dividend of RMB0.091 per share, with an interim dividend of RMB0.067 per share, for a total annual dividend of RMB0.158 per share, equivalent to a dividend payout ratio of 60%. As at the end of the Reporting Period, the Company’s net cash flow from operating activities climbed by 87.1% against the same period last year to approximately RMB335 million, reflective of the healthy operation and ample cash flow of the Company.

Tap into local needs and focus on advantageous areas

New Hope Service continued to follow the development strategy of deep regional penetration. As at 31 December 2023, the Group had projects in 33 cities across China, with the area under management 32,258,000 square meters (“sq.m.”), representing an increase of 11.9% as compared to the same period last year, and the contracted area of 38,172,000 sq.m., representing an increase of 5.6% as compared to the same period last year. Among them, 95.1% of the Group’s property management projects were in first-tier, new first-tier and second-tier cities in China, while 93.8% of revenue from property management was also derived from such cities.

In addition, New Hope Service continued to step up its efforts in high-tier cities in the Southwestern China regions with Chengdu as the core, and Eastern China regions, both of which accounted for 85.3% of the total area under management, with the advantage of regional intensity continuing to emerge. Specifically, the area under management in the Southwestern China region was 16,918,000 sq.m., and the revenue from property management was RMB310 million, accounting for 47.4% of the total revenue from property management. As the national central city in the Western China region, the area under management in Chengdu was 10,642,000 sq.m., accounting for 33% of the total area under management; The area under management in the Eastern China region was 10,628,000 sq.m., and the revenue from property management was RMB250 million, accounting for 37.9% of the total revenue from property management.

Insist on quality expansion and enhance independent capability

The Company insisted on balancing “quality” and “scale”, and continued to conduct multi-channel market expansion via, among other means, bidding, establishing joint ventures and strategic partnership. In 2023, the company successfully completed the acquisition of Chengdu Jinguan Xincheng Property Management Co., Ltd., successfully expanded high-end residential projects such as Sunshine City Tan Yue and Binjiangjiuli, financial industry projects such as China Guangfa Bank Kunming Branch* and China Construction Bank Sichuan Branch Xinjin and Dayi Sub-branch, and industrial park projects such as Chantou Jiangnan Industrial Park and Vipshop Guangxi Headquarters*. Meanwhile, New Hope Service established joint venture with Chengdu Wuhou State-owned Capital Investment and Operation Group Co., Ltd., Chengdu Wuhou Development Co., Ltd., Chengdu Wuhou Capital Investment Management Group Co., Ltd, and Longquan Economic and Technological Development Zone respectively, and successfully signed contracts for projects such as Shuanghua Digital Industrial Park and Tiefo Park. During the Reporting Period, the contracted area under management by independent third-party developers accounted for approximately 40% of the total contracted area, representing an increase of 6.2% as compared to the same period last year.

Moreover, benefitted from New Hope Wuxin Industrial’s relatively strong performance capability, the Company delivered projects as scheduled in 16 cities nationwide, amounting to nearly 37,000 units in total, and brought the Company concrete support for continuous growth in terms of GFA under management. Sticking to maintain the quality of middle-to-high-end projects, the Company recorded the average management fee per sq.m. of RMB2.95 during the Reporting Period.

Non-cyclical businesses are steadily growing and commercial operations are delivering performance results

By virtue of the industrial background of the Fortune Global 500 New Hope Group and relying on the customer-access attributes of property services, the Company achieved good performance growth in the lifestyle services segment through non-cyclical businesses such as group-on meals and retail services. As at 31 December 2023, the Company had 22 group-on meal business projects in operation, of which 50% fell within the comprehensive logistics services of “property + group-on meal”, achieving a bid winning rate of 42%. In the same year, customized services for corporate customers also achieved good results, a total of 24 products developed and more than 110,000 customized gift boxes provided, with the revenue from gift boxes increasing by 56.4% as compared with the same period last year.

In terms of commercial operational services, in 2023, in order to meet the needs of business development, the Company established a commercial operation company with its organization developed around “financing, investment, management and exit”. During the Reporting Period, the GFA from operating commercial projects under management by the Group was approximately 539,000 sq.m., in cities such as Chengdu and Kunming covering consumption scenarios such as professional markets, commercial streets, industrial parks and office buildings, with an average occupancy rate of 87.8%, a gross profit margin of 60.2%.

With steady development, industry-leading service quality and customer reputation, New Hope Service has been rated as one of the “TOP 100 Property Management Companies in China” by China Index Academy (“CIA”) for four consecutive years, with the ranking of the Company rising up to the 6th (10th in 2022) in terms of the market influence in Western China. Meanwhile, the company won the honors including “Top 1 Chengdu Enterprise with Excellent Service Capacity in China Property Service Industry in 2023” and “Top 5 of the Top 50 Chengdu Property Services Enterprises in terms of Comprehensive Strength in 2023.

Going forward, the Group will continue to strengthen digital construction to empower high-quality services and the improvement of management efficiency. In terms of residential business, the Group will consolidate its position as a benchmark for high-end residential projects, and empower other projects with high service standards. In terms of non-residential business, based on the all-round planning for corporate services, the Group will continue to provide B-end customers with extensive corporate services, precisely covering the needs of various companies at different stages of development. The Group will adhere to regional cultivation, with market-oriented expansion as well as investments, mergers and acquisitions, so as to expedite the development of the Company. In the future, New Hope Service will facilitate the connection with New Hope Group, and drill down into New Hope’s brand strengths in lifestyle in order to offer the clients diversified comprehensive solutions for lifestyle services.

DC Healthcare Continues Growth Momentum with Second DC Body Outlet Opening in USJ Taipan

KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 25, 2024 – (ACN Newswire) – DC Healthcare Holdings Berhad (“DC Healthcare” or the “Group”), an aesthetic medical services provider specialising in the provision of non-invasive and minimally invasive procedures, continues the Group’s growth momentum to announcing the opening of the latest DC Body outlet in USJ Taipan. This opening mark a significant stride in DC Healthcare’s mission to make superior aesthetic and wellness services more accessible while continuing to cater to the diverse needs of its growing clientele.

Managing Director of DC Healthcare, Dr. Chong Tze Sheng

DC Body – USJ Taipan represent an innovative leap for DC Healthcare, extending the Group’s offerings into specialised weight management, personalised nutrition counselling and body contouring. DC Body – USJ Taipan is designed in harmony with the Group’s philosophy of personalised, holistic care, developed in collaboration with esteemed medical professionals from Dr. Chong Clinic and certified nutritionists. By integrating cutting-edge technology with tailor-made wellness programs, DC Body aims to redefine the wellness journey for individuals seeking comprehensive body care and transformative health solutions.

Dr. Chong Tze Sheng, Managing Director of DC Healthcare expressed his enthusiasm for the Group’s expansion, “We are thrilled to introduce our DC Body centres, broadening our spectrum of health and aesthetic services. This expansion into USJ Taipan not only demonstrates our commitment to excellence and innovation but also signifies our response to the growing demand for holistic aesthetic and wellness solutions. We believe in empowering our clients on their journey to wellness and aesthetic, and the new outlet is a testament to our dedication to providing comprehensive, client-centered care.”

As DC Healthcare continues to extend its geographical reach, the strategic placement of new outlets is anticipated to significantly contribute to the Group’s growth trajectory. With a steadfast commitment to quality, innovation, and patient satisfaction, DC Healthcare is well-equipped to lead in the ever-evolving landscape of aesthetic medicine and wellness, promising a future where aesthetic and health go hand in hand.