HONG KONG, Sep 2, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – According to South China Morning Post, in the first half of 2021, the uncertainty of the COVID-19 threatened the global economic recovery, while China benefited from the good control of the epidemic situation, the economy continued to recover steadily, production and market demand continued to increase, many enterprises emerged from the impact of the epidemic and announced excellent interim results. Legend Holdings Corporation (3396.HK) is one of them that has attracted market attention. Legend Holdings announced interim results of the Company and its subsidiaries on August 31, it has made an outstanding performance with both revenue and net profit attributable to equity holders recorded a historical high level. Revenue stood at RMB 228.57 billion, representing a year-on year increase of 24%; net profit attributable to equity holders of the Company amounted to RMB 4.69 billion, representing a year-on year increase of 636%. Driven by the interim results, the share price of Legend Holdings increased 14.83% to HKD 14.4 yesterday, which fully shows that investors are optimistic about its development.
The market is also concerned about the reason why Legend Holdings has achieved high growth. Mr. Li Peng, Executive Director and CEO of Legend Holdings, pointed out the answer, "Through effective management and value-added services, Legend Holdings consolidated and strengthened its business operation fundamentals, steadily developed its pillar assets, and enhanced its competitive advantages. Meanwhile, the Company adjusted its business strategy, seized the opportunity of China's high-quality economic development, and actively promoted the layout of the technology sector to achieve good performance growth, and various business optimization initiatives are steadily progressing. In addition, the Company's funds continued to perform well with the listing of many portfolio companies and the orderly implementation of various fundraising, investment, management and exiting work."
During the first half of 2021, both strategic investments and financial investments segments demonstrated thriving performance. Net profit attributable to equity holders of the Company from strategic investments segment has out of red with approximately RMB3 billion climbs; net profit attributable to equity holders of the Company from financial investments segment soared 81% to approximately RMB2,558 million.
Legend Holdings further strengthened its industrial operation capability and gained profit in all business sectors of strategic investments. For the IT segment, the net profit attributable to equity holders of Legend Holdings generated by Lenovo increased 172% year-on-year. For the advanced manufacturing and professional service segment, its revenue was up by 46% year-on-year to RMB 3,894 million, and net profit attributable to the equity holders of Legend Holdings increased by 108% year-on-year. Agriculture and Food segment benefited from the improvement of fruit and animal protein businesses, contributing a year-on-year increase of 9% to RMB 9,778 million in revenue, and the net profit attributable to equity holders of Legend Holdings was RMB 240 million. The adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on innovative consumption and services has been largely offset, with the revenue rising by 103% year-on-year to RMB 533 million and net profit attributable to equity holders of Legend Holdings of RMB 67 million. Excluding the impact of the one-off loss from share dilution of Hankou Bank, and the disposal and impairment loss of Kaola Technology, the financial services segment recorded net profit attributable to the equity holders of Legend Holdings grew by 20% year-on-year.
The interim results announcement clearly shows the good profits of the above segments, and through in-depth and specific analysis, we can find the enhancement of the competitiveness of Legend Holdings' pillar assets and optimization of asset portfolio. In line with the development trend, Legend Holdings further increased investment in the field of science and technology, adheres to the development path of science and technology leading, deepening innovation-driven, and strengthening industrial synergy to promote sustainable and high-quality development of the enterprise.
Attributable to the global digital and intelligent transformation, Lenovo achieved long-term and sustainable profit growth, with revenue up 25% year-on-year to RMB 210.78 billion, and the net profit attributable to equity holders of Legend Holdings surged by 172% to RMB 1.54 billion. The personal computer business remained No.1 globally, and the non-pc business also showed strong growth. As the consensus "carbon neutrality" accelerates, Lenovo significantly exceeded its emission reduction target in 2019/20 fiscal year and strives to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Notable highlights were RMB 548 million net profit from Levima Advanced Materials, a 131% increase on the corresponding period, and its market value also saw a significant increase. Meanwhile, it energetically plans for investment and merges and acquisitions, acquiring Levima (Shandong) Chemicals to further improve the industrial layout and enhance the sustainable profitability and stability; investing in Jiangxi Keyuan Bio-Material to cultivate new growth points in the field of biodegradable materials. Furthermore, the company's main plant economic and technological indicators were further optimized, continue to maintain a leading position in the industry.
Banque Internationale a Luxembourg (BIL) displayed significant growth amid the epidemic in Europe. In the first half of 2021, its net profit increased by 18% year-on-year to approximately EUR 47 million, and the assets under management increased to EUR 45.5 billion with CET-1 ratio 13.18%. In response to the new post-epidemic environment, BIL will progressively advance its business in China by further reinforcing the connection among Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Hong Kong SAR and Beijing, China.
Joyvio Group deepened its strategic layout and focused on the core businesses. Joy Wing Mau continued to improve the layout of the whole industrial chain of fruits and achieved rapid revenue growth by reinforcing the advantages in its supply chain and the core products strategy. As prices in the international market continue to rebound, Joyvio Food's salmon business gradually recovered.
In 2020, Legend Holdings took its first strategic stake in Fullhan Microelectronics, laying out the semiconductors track, and as of June 30, 2021, Legend Holdings, as the largest shareholder, holds an aggregate of 15.91% equity in Fullhan Microelectronics through its subsidiaries. Legend Holdings will engage with the Fullhan Microelectronics management team for deeper cooperation to jointly promote the long-term development of Fullhan Microelectronics.
In addition, Legend Holdings continued to exit non-core businesses to ensure a more focused business and accelerate cash and resources flow-back, bringing ample financial resources to future development in new sectors. In the first half of 2021, Legend Holdings determined an orderly exit strategy for Kaola Technology; some equities in investee enterprises from agriculture and food segment were sold.
In the first half of 2021, low interest rates in the market provide a good opportunity for investment, and the capital market progressed strongly. Funds under Legend Holdings demonstrated outstanding results. More than 60 projects were fully or partially exited, contributing more than RMB 2 billion of cash flow.
Legend Star managed eight funds with a size exceeding RMB 3.3 billion, investing in more than 300 domestic and overseas projects accumulatively. During the first half of 2021, Legend Star's total number of investment projects was over 20, it made follow-on investments in approximately 50 projects and exited 15 projects. As of June 30, 2021, the final closing of the 4th USD fund was completed as well as the first round closing of the biotechnology fund. Legend Capital managed a total of 28 funds, with a size of more than RMB 60 billion. As of June 30, 2021, the total amount raised by the funds was RMB 6,335 million. During the first half of 2021, Legend Capital accumulatively completed 20 new project investments, fully or partially exited 33 projects, bringing sound cash returning. As of June 30, in total, 90 of Legend Capital's portfolio companies went public (not including those listed on NEEQS). Hony Capital's businesses cover PE, real estate, public offering fund management, hedge fund, and venture capital. The AUM amounted to RMB 100 billion.
It is also important to note that Legend Holdings has an in-depth understanding of the operation of the capital market, which coincides with the opportunity of a new round of capital market mechanism reform. As of June 30, 2021, 12 portfolio companies got listed, and at least 11 are promoting the IPO.
Eastern Air Logistics was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange on June 9, which was the first civil aviation enterprise included in the first batch of domestic pilot enterprises under the mixed-ownership reform-making it a successful case of the "two-wheel-drive business model" of Legend Holdings. Chemclin Diagnostics Corporation, a project in the biomedical field invested by Zhengqi Holdings, was listed on April 9. Gocom Information Technology entered the capital market on June 28, becoming the first stock of industrial railway signal control and intelligent scheduling in China. In addition, Joy Wing Mau and Hankou Bank are orderly preparing IPO.
In terms of financial investment, Keymed Biosciences, invested by Legend Star, issued its IPO in Hong Kong on July 8. Ten enterprises under the management of Legend Capital went public during the first half of 2021, such as CareRay Digital Medical Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing Kawin Technology Share-Holding Co., Ltd., NexImmune, Inc., and New Horizon Health Limited and so on. Besides, Dindong Shopping, invested by Hony Capital, issued its IPO during the first half of 2021.
Legend Holdings and its three fund platforms have paid attention to and invested in the high-tech industry for a long time, accumulating considerable assets. More than 20 portfolio companies were included in the list of National "Little Giants with Specialties, Refined Products and Management, Unique Technologies, and Innovation" announced by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China (MIIT), such as Fullhan Microelectronics, Gocom Information Technology, QuantumCTek, Sansure Biotech, Hanshow Technology, MNCHIP, INST Magnets, Faith Long Crystal, LEADMICRO, Zonsen Biotech, CAXA, YUNJI Technology and so on. These companies will embrace a broad development space, as they feature remarkable results, high technology, and strong market competitiveness, and suit the trend of industrial upgrading in China.
These developments are exactly in line with Mr. Ning Min's prospect and expectations for Legend Holdings in the future, Ning Min, Chairman, and Executive Director of Legend Holdings, said that, "In the first half of 2021, Legend Holdings grasped the new development pattern, and seized the historical opportunities given by the new era, made steady progress and breakthroughs, and achieved good results, which also laid a more solid foundation for the long-term development of the Company. In the meantime, the Company has always attached great importance to corporate social responsibilities from a strategic perspective, adhered to the mission of 'serving the country through industrial development', and upheld the concept of 'people orientation'. It is our first priority to develop our business in the direction adhered by the state, and to continue to promote win-win development of China's real economy, entrepreneurship and innovation through our own industrial accumulation and unique business model to create better economic and social benefits; the Company will pay constant attention to the environment and energy and support its subsidiaries to play a leading role in green energy conservation and environmental protection; and will continue to insist on social welfare investment."
Copyright 2021 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. http://www.acnnewswire.com
Tag: Daily Finance
TEC case study with Standard Chartered on Future Workplace found 75% of employees want greater workplace flexibility
HONG KONG, Sep 2, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – The Office of the Future must be an inspiring physical space that facilitates communication, cooperation and collaboration in order to encourage employees to come into the office, according to the latest case study by The Executive Centre (TEC), the leading premium flexible workspace, and Standard Chartered Bank.
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Modern technology and globalised communication systems have allowed us to become a more agile and mobile workforce, and these trends have accelerated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The workforce culture today is increasingly championing flexible working practices as the Future of Work. Standard Chartered Bank is leading the shift for multinational corporates towards adopting a flexible work culture through an extensive review and analysis of their portfolio and employee needs.
Sheridan Perkins, Property Program Director of Future Workplace, now at Standard Chartered Bank said, "Initially, we assumed maybe 50% of our employees wanted Flex, but actually from our survey, we found that over 75% wanted it. Typically, this was 2-3 days at home and 2-3 days at the office or third space. Despite some regional nuances, this finding was reasonably consistent across all regions."
The case study reviews the learnings from Standard Chartered Bank's exercise and provides a roadmap for other organisations that realise the value of flexibility but find it challenging to create an architecture to empower change.
One of the key learnings is that for companies to successfully transition towards flexible working practices, they need to understand their business requirements and priorities first, as there is no one-size-fits-all solution. They must also interview and collaborate with their employees extensively, conduct research to make informed decisions, seek external consultations from multiple industry partners, and understand where their operations need to be geographically and how the occupants will use that space.
While the company approach must be tailored, there were three factors that all companies should consider in their workplace strategy: Physical, Digital and Social.
— Physical transformation:
As people will be coming into the workplace to perform activities that they cannot do at home, office design will become one that facilitates communication, cooperation and collaboration.
— Digital transformation:
With an increasing demand to work flexibly and remotely, technology and digitalisation of workflows will play a pivotal role in enabling day to day productivity.
— Social transformation:
As the office will become a place where employees choose to work from, greater incentives will be needed to attract people into the office.
For its Greater Bay Area location, Standard Chartered Bank realised it required private office spaces and
meeting rooms in a CBD location which would allow for multiple business units to operate, and flexibility to scale up or down as their business needs changed. The Executive Centre's flexible workspace solution gave them the ability to mitigate their risks and reduce costs while remaining in the heart of Guangzhou's central business district.
"As a solution, flexible workspaces provide ready to use, fully furnished and serviced workspaces for the headcount that's needed at hand. This ability to scale up or down or move locations at relatively short notice is a highly intelligent way for companies to address their workspace requirements," said Paul Salnikow, Founder & CEO of The Executive Centre.
Shelley Boland, Head of Property Asia Pacific, Standard Chartered Bank added, "The talent of the future are expecting flex; whether that's flexible work hours or locations. Successful adopters of flex will be those that have the foresight to model and visualise how workplace changes may affect business outcomes, operations and employees, and be agile enough to constantly evolve their workspace to those needs. We see flexible office spaces playing a greater role in that strategy."
Read the full Standard Chartered / TEC case study on the 'Future of Work' at https://business-reporter.co.uk/2021/08/23/why-the-future-of-work/.
About The Executive Centre
The Executive Centre (TEC) opened its doors in Hong Kong in 1994 and today boasts over 150+ centres in 32 cities and 14 markets. It is the third-largest serviced office business in Asia with an annual turnover in excess of US$237 million.
The Executive Centre caters to ambitious professionals and industry leaders looking for more than just an office space – they are looking for a place for their organisation to thrive. TEC has cultivated an environment designed for success with a global network spanning Greater China, Southeast Asia, North Asia, India, Sri Lanka, the Middle East, and Australia, with sights to go further and grow faster. Each Executive Centre offers a prestigious address with the advanced infrastructure to pre-empt, meet, and exceed the needs of its Members. Walking with Members through every milestone and achievement, The Executive Centre empowers ambitious professionals and organisations to succeed.
Privately owned and headquartered in Hong Kong, TEC provides first-class Private and Shared Workspaces, Business Concierge Services, and Meeting & Conference facilities to suit any business' needs. For more information please visit www.executivecentre.com.
Press Enquiries:
Finsbury Glover Hering
Sheena Shah / Crystal Chow
Sheena.Shah@fgh.com / +852 3166 9855
Crystal.Chow@fgh.com / +852 3166 9838
Copyright 2021 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. http://www.acnnewswire.com
iSend Logistics Malaysia Partners IKOBANA to Expand Delivery Business Nationwide
KUALA LUMPUR, Sep 1, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – iSend Logistics Malaysia ("iSend"), a logistics and warehousing specialist and a subsidiary of MAA Group Berhad, is expanding its last-mile delivery services through a partnership with Ikobana Sdn Bhd ("IKOBANA"), a homegrown courier and freight forwarding services provider established in 2006, with 70 outlets across Peninsular Malaysia.
The COVID-19 pandemic, and the lockdowns, has quickened the pace of digital adoption among consumers as well as businesses, with an ensuing boom in e-commerce transactions. According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, for the second quarter ended 30 June 2021, e-commerce income grew by 23.3% to RM267.6 billion compared to the same quarter in 2020 while compared to the first quarter ended 31 March 2021, income grew by 5.1%.
For the whole of 2020, e-commerce income grew by 32.7% to RM896.4 billion as the COVID-19 lockdowns boosted not only online retail transactions but also transactions among businesses particularly in the manufacturing and services sectors.
"Set against this backdrop, an important feature in this 'chain' is the delivery provider. Whilst online transactions are a fun – and occasionally, therapeutic – way of 'surviving' these gloomy times, what's NOT so fun is waiting for that much anticipated delivery, and if you're the sender, not knowing whether your items will be delivered safely – and in one piece – to the recipient," said Zamri Rahman, iSend Logistics General Manager.
Tapping into this current landscape, iSend, a full-suite, land-based logistics provider and warehousing company, which has its main warehousing operations in the Klang Valley, Penang, Johor and soon in Kuantan and Melaka, is offering personalised, cost-efficient, fast and reliable courier delivery services, not only to its corporate clients but also to the public.
"This strategic partnership between iSend and IKOBANA will provide an opportunity for us to demonstrate our position in Malaysia's first and last mile delivery market. To keep up with the e-commerce boom in Malaysia, iSend will be focusing on partnerships, ramping up investment into technology and strengthening operations. We've identified gaps in consumer demand and will be offering exciting and newly improved products and services soon," explained Zamri.
Elaborating, he shared, "We plan in the next five years to expand across Malaysia by having at least 99 satellite stations with the support of seven hubs in each region. We currently have six distribution centres and 60 satellite stations in Malaysia." The company also has a presence and originates from the Philippines.
Customers using IKOBANA's iShop to drop and send off goods can now select iSend as their fast and reliable last-mile delivery provider and enjoy special rates. At the same time, IKOBANA will provide the best shipping comparisons from reputable courier companies online and offline, which is good value for money especially for supply-chain customers, who will also save time in the decision-making process.
Ikobana President, En Nurhazli Ghazali, said, "iSend's first/last mile operations enables point-to-point delivery service. IKOBANA outlets can now offer home pick-up for parcels using our mobile app. With the pandemic, customers are more familiar doing transactions on the internet and are happy not to go outside".
Please contact the below for more information:
Hakim Juraimi
Tel: +60 12-318 5410
Email: h.juraimi@swanconsultancy.biz
Copyright 2021 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. http://www.acnnewswire.com
Sixth Belt and Road Summit opens today
HONG KONG, Sep 1, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – The sixth Belt and Road Summit, jointly organised by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), opened today. The two-day event is being held online this year under the theme "Driving Growth through Fostering Regional and International Trade". The summit will explore opportunities arising from the Belt and Road Initiative, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) through a variety of activities, including policy dialogue and plenary sessions, thematic breakout sessions, one-to-one project matching and project pitching sessions and a virtual exhibition. More than 6,000 participants from over 80 countries and regions registered for the summit.
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This morning's opening session was joined by Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of the HKSAR; Gao Yunlong, Vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and Chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce; Dr Peter K N Lam, Chairman of the HKTDC; Wang Wentao, Minister, Ministry of Commerce, the People's Republic of China; Hao Peng, Chairman, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC), the People's Republic of China; Ning Jizhe, Vice Chairman, National Development and Reform Commission, the People's Republic of China; Liu Guangyuan, Commissioner, Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the HKSAR; and Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum.
Values of multilateralism have never been more vital – Carrie Lam
Delivering the opening address, Carrie Lam said: "Today, amid the continuing spread of protectionism, the values of multilateralism have never been more vital. It's why this year's Belt and Road Summit is focused on regional and international trade, with particular attention given to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP. These two immensely promising developments are destined to work hand-in-hand with the Belt and Road Initiative to boost the manifold benefits of multilateralism."
Addressing the opening session in his keynote speech, Gao Yunlong said: "Hong Kong is an important platform for the development of the Belt and Road. Over the years, Hong Kong has made full use of its advantages in international finance, trade and professional services to play an important role as a super-connector for developing the Belt and Road. The 14th Five-Year Plan and the Long-Range Objectives through the Year 2035 support Hong Kong to build a functional platform for developing the Belt and Road. This fully reflects the Central Government's trust and support for Hong Kong. We believe that as an important facilitator of the 'dual circulation', Hong Kong, the Pearl of the Orient, will become even more brilliant in the future."
Leveraging Hong Kong's advantages to maximise potential – Dr Peter K N Lam
In his welcome remarks, Dr Peter K N Lam said: "The theme of this year's summit is 'Driving Growth through Fostering Regional and International Trade'. Leading experts and leaders are sharing insights on how businesses can leverage developments such as the RCEP and Greater Bay Area to capture new opportunities along the Belt and Road and beyond. Participants can also catch up on the latest developments in Hong Kong which can help them to maximise this potential. The summit continues to provide a powerful online platform to make connections and share ideas."
Giving the perspective of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab mentioned that as the world faces the pandemic and its economic fallout, and we experience the transformative impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, there is a greater need for more regional and global cooperation, mainly in four areas: digital trade and governance, tackling the COVID pandemic, investment in green infrastructure and global supply chains.
Policy Dialogue session explores impact of economic policies
Following the opening session, the Policy Dialogue session helped businesses to understand the policies of different countries and regions to give them a head start in capturing Belt and Road opportunities. Moderated by Edward Yau, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the HKSAR, the session explored the development trends resulting from various economic policies, featuring officials from countries and regions along the Belt and Road. Speakers included Dato Lim Jock Hoi, Secretary-General of ASEAN; Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah, Minister at the Prime Minister's Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II, Brunei Darussalam; Pan Sorasak, Minister of Commerce, the Kingdom of Cambodia; Jerry Sambuaga, Vice Minister of Trade, Indonesia; Ramon Lopez, Secretary, Department of Trade and Industry, the Philippines; Tan See Leng, Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry, Republic of Singapore; Sansern Samalapa, Vice Minister of Commerce, Thailand; and Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, United Arab Emirates.
Plenary session examines how Belt and Road and RCEP can foster global growth
One of the plenary sessions held this morning ran under the title "Belt and Road and RCEP: Enhancing Regional Business Connectivity". Paul Chan, Financial Secretary of the HKSAR, delivered the welcome remarks. The session featured industry leaders from Hong Kong, Mainland China and the RCEP market, including Victor Chu, Chairman & CEO, First Eastern Investment Group; Sean Chiao, Asia Chairman and Global Business Line Chief Executive, Buildings and Places, AECOM; Huang Zhaohui, CEO and Chairman of Management Committee, China International Capital Corporation Limited; Wang Cuijun, Director, China Merchants Group Limited; Suroj Lamsam, CEO & President, LOXLEY Public Company Limited in Thailand; and Michael Tan, President & Chief Operating Officer, LT Group in the Philippines. The speakers provided insights and analysis on how the RCEP, signed last November, and the Belt and Road Initiative can contribute to growth, cooperation and development as the global economy begins to show signs of recovery following the pandemic.
Breakout sessions explore hot-button issues on first day of summit
Five thematic breakout sessions were held this afternoon covering topics including "RCEP: Fostering Post-pandemic International Infrastructure Cooperation along the Belt and Road", "Fostering Trade and Resolving Disputes in the Post-COVID Era – Hong Kong's Legal and Dispute Resolution Services", "'Greener' Bay Area: through the Sustainable Finance Lens", "Belt and Road Opportunities for SMEs", and "Supporting the National Strategy of Dual Circulation through Captives and Reinsurance". Project owners are also invited to attend project pitching sessions to explore potential investment projects in the areas of energy, natural resources and public utilities. More thematic breakout sessions and project pitching sessions will be held tomorrow – details of the programme, speakers and partner organisations can be found at https://www.beltandroadsummit.hk/tc/programme/programme.
GBA Track series focuses on opportunities in Greater Bay Area
The 14th Five-Year Plan highlighted how the development of the Greater Bay Area will lead to boundless opportunities. This year's summit features the new GBA Track thematic series that features plenary and panel discussion sessions, thematic breakout sessions and a virtual exhibition. One of the highlights will be a plenary session held tomorrow under the theme "Connecting the Belt and Road & Greater Bay Area through Hong Kong". Moderated by Victor Fung, Group Chairman, Fung Group, the session will feature speakers including Dato' Seri Cheah Cheng Hye, Co-Chairman and Co-Chief Investment Officer, Value Partners Group Limited; Jack So, Chairman, Airport Authority Hong Kong; Sun Yu, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive, Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited; and Wang Shi, Honorary Chairman & Founder, Vanke Co., Ltd and Chairman, Shenzhen Foundation for International Exchange and Cooperation. Panel discussion sessions and thematic breakout sessions being held under GBA Track will cover a wide range of topics, including capital raising, green finance, digital technology applications and start-ups, all of which are of interest to enterprises interested in exploring the Greater Bay Area market.
One-to-one project matching and project pitching sessions
In addition to the plenary sessions, the HKTDC continues to arrange one-to-one project matching sessions and project pitching sessions as part of the summit to promote concrete cooperation and exchange. Continuing the success at previous summits, this year's one-to-one project matching sessions will promote direct dialogue between project owners, investors and service providers to discuss cooperation plans according to their specific business and investment needs. The project pitching sessions are focusing on four key areas: (1) energy, natural resources and public utilities, (2) innovation and technology, (3) urban development, and (4) transport and logistics infrastructure.
Another key feature of the summit is the virtual exhibition, which has doubled in scale from the previous event to showcase more than 60 exhibitors. The Global Investment Zone and Hong Kong Zone will once again feature Hong Kong's world-class professional services that are valuable for success along the Belt and Road, as well as numerous investment projects and other opportunities worldwide. The new GBA Tech Zone will showcase the latest technology and related opportunities in the Greater Bay Area.
MOUs promote multilateral cooperation
Two important memoranda of cooperation are being signed at the summit, both of which will help to promote development related to the Belt and Road. During the summit today, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed between the HKSAR Government and the Ministry of Commerce on enhancing co-operation in promoting the development of the mainland's overseas Economic and Trade Co-operation Zones. A Hong Kong enterprise signed another MOU related to cooperation on advanced medical equipment and research with its Kazakhstani counterpart. The MOU was signed online by Edmond Yau, Founder and CEO of Hong Kong firm Koln 3D Technology (Medical) Limited, and Dilyara Kaidarova, Board Chairperson of the Kazakh Institute of Oncology and Radiology (KazIOR).
China International Capital Corporation Ltd serves as the Strategic Partner of the sixth Belt and Road Summit; Bank of China (Hong Kong) Ltd as the Regional Banking Partner; China Merchants Group as the Sapphire Sponsor; China Taiping Insurance Group as the Affiliated Insurance Partner; and China Mobile International Limited as the Platinum Sponsor.
The Sixth Belt and Road Summit
Date: 1-2 September 2021 (Wednesday and Thursday)
Details
– Belt and Road Summit programme:
https://www.beltandroadsummit.hk/en/programme/programme
– Belt and Road Summit speaker list:
https://www.beltandroadsummit.hk/en/speaker/speakers
Venue: Virtual platform
Websites
– Belt and Road Summit: https://www.beltandroadsummit.hk
– HKTDC Belt and Road Portal: http://www.beltandroad.hk
– Photo download: https://bit.ly/3DyDtCl
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.
Media enquiries
HKTDC's Communications & Public Affairs Department
Christine Kam, Tel: +852 2584 4514, Email: christine.kam@hktdc.org
Clayton Lauw, Tel: +852 2584 4472, Email: clayton.y.lauw@hktdc.org
Sunny Ng, Tel: +852 2584 4357, Email: sunny.sl.ng@hktdc.org
Copyright 2021 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. http://www.acnnewswire.com
Xfers & SEBA Bank Named Finalists for Global CBDC Challenge organised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore
SINGAPORE, Sep 1, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – Xfers, a Southeast Asia based payments leader holding a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license for e-money issuance, together with its partner, SEBA Bank, a FINMA licensed Swiss Bank providing a seamless, secure, and easy-to-use bridge between digital and traditional assets, today announced that they have been named among the 15 finalists for the Global Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Challenge organised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
Launched by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and in partnership with the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, United Nations Capital Development Fund, United Nations High Commission for Refugees, United Nations Development Programme, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Global CBDC Challenge calls for FinTech companies, financial institutions and solution providers around the world to submit innovative retail CBDC solutions to enhance payment efficiencies and promote financial inclusion.
The joint proposal submitted by Xfers and SEBA Bank was shortlisted from over 300 applications representing over 50 countries and will be presented to the public and a panel of judges at the Singapore Fintech Festival on November 8th, 2021.
Launched in October 2020, StraitsX by Xfers is the first stablecoin initiative focusing on Southeast Asia and issues the StraitsX Singapore dollar, XSGD, a digital token available on the Ethereum and Zilliqa blockchain that is backed one-for-one with the Singapore dollar.
Aymeric Salley, Head of StraitsX, said, "We are delighted to be named finalists for the CBDC challenge by the MAS. We look forward to continuing leveraging our experience as Singapore's first stablecoin issuer, and working closely with our partner, SEBA Bank, which comes with a wealth of expertise and practical experience in developing CBDCs, having just completed a CBDC experiment with Banque de France in June this year."
Founded in 2018, SEBA Bank is a fully licensed FINMA banking and securities dealer. In June this year, SEBA Bank completed a successful CBDC experiment with the Banque de France, which demonstrated the capacity of distributed ledger technologies to communicate with the Eurosystem's settlement platform TARGET2-Securities for the settlement of listed securities. This testing is an important contribution towards the development of an EU wide CBDC.
Matthew Alexander, Head of Digital Corporate Finance & Asset Tokenisation SEBA Bank, commented, "We are thrilled to have been selected by the MAS for this CBDC challenge amongst such a prestigious group of institutions. We look forward to working with our partner Xfers and contributing both our Digital Asset capabilities and recent experience working with the Banque de France CBDC to support the MAS and the Singapore financial centre. At SEBA Bank, we are constantly striving for innovation in the development of digital currencies and digital asset infrastructure. This selection, alongside our partners Xfers, by MAS as a finalist in the CBDC challenge, is a significant validation of our innovation in the development of digital currencies, and builds on our work supporting the Banque de France in CBDC testing. The shortlisting by MAS is testament to SEBA Bank's extensive network and operations in APAC, with the recent appointment of Sam Lin as APAC CEO, and headcount growth in our Singapore and Hong Kong hubs, further solidifying our presence in the region."
About StraitsX by Xfers
StraitsX is the pioneering payments infrastructure for the digital assets space in Southeast Asia developed by Singapore-based FinTech Xfers, which is a Major Payment Institution licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore for e-money issuance. StraitsX offers personal and business accounts to deposit, hold and withdraw funds as well as to connect their accounts to digital asset platforms. Business accounts can also access B2B API-enabled payments rails for digital asset platforms and issues the Singapore Dollar-backed stablecoin, XSGD.
About SEBA Bank – The Future of Digital Banking, Investing & Financing
Founded in April 2018 and headquartered in Zug, SEBA Bank is a pioneer in the financial industry and the only global smart bank providing a fully universal suite of regulated banking services in the emerging digital economy. In August 2019, SEBA Bank received a Swiss banking and securities dealer licence – the first time a reputed, regulatory authority such as FINMA has granted a licence to a financial services provider with a core capability in digital assets. The broad, vertically integrated spectrum of services combined with the highest security standards, make SEBA Bank's value proposition unique – this is why Banque de France selected SEBA Bank to test the integration of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). CVVC Global Report and CB Insights named SEBA Bank as Top 50 Companies within the blockchain ecosystem. Aite Group awarded SEBA Bank with their 2021 Digital Wealth Management Impact Innovation Award in the category "Digital Startup of the Year". For more information please visit seba.swiss.
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Legend Holdings Revenue and Net Profit Attributable to Equity Holders of the Company Stood at RMB 228.57 Billion and RMB 4.69 Billion in 1H2021
HONG KONG, Sep 1, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – Legend Holdings Corporation ("Legend Holdings" or the "Company"; stock code: 3396.HK) announced the unaudited interim results of the six months ended June 30, 2021 (the "Reporting Period") on August 31, 2021. During the Reporting Period, the Company's revenue was RMB 228.57 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 24%, which rose for nine consecutive reporting periods. Net profit attributable to equity holders of the Company amounted to RMB 4.69 billion, which represented a year-on-year increase of 636% and hit a record.
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
For the six months ended June 30, 2021:
— Revenue stood at RMB 228.57 billion, representing a yoy increase of 24%;
— Net profit attributable to equity holders of the Company amounted to RMB 4.69 billion, representing a yoy increase of 636%;
— Profit for the period reached RMB 8.72 billion, representing a yoy increase of 295%.
Mr. Li Peng, Executive Director and CEO of Legend Holdings, deemed that, "During the first half of 2021, although the global epidemic has recurred and the full recovery of the international market is still waiting for time, China's clear policy guidance, strong government leadership, sufficient domestic market vitality and sustained rapid economic recovery have created good conditions and unique advantages for the development of enterprises, and the introduction of the 14th Five-Year Plan has further pointed out the direction for the development of enterprises. Through effective management and value-added services, Legend Holdings consolidated and strengthened its business operation fundamentals, steadily developed its pillar assets, and enhanced its competitive advantages. Meanwhile, the Company adjusted its business strategy, seized the opportunity of China's high-quality economic development, and actively promoted the layout of the technology sector to achieve good performance growth, and various business optimization initiatives are steadily progressing. In addition, the Company's funds continued to perform well with the listing of many portfolio companies and the orderly implementation of various fundraising, investment, management and exiting work. In the future, Legend Holdings will further improve its industrial foundation, strengthen the resilience of profit growth, seize opportunities brought by the new round of industrial transformation, and accelerate the layout of emerging industries in the field of science and technology, achieve long-term healthy development of the enterprise and contribute greater social value."
Continuously reinforced competitiveness in pillar assets, sustainable optimization and growth of asset portfolio
During the Reporting Period, the company's strategic investment overall operating performance grew steadily, the competitiveness of its pillar assets and focused businesses were further enhanced. The investment portfolio was further adjusted with the improvement of the quality of the asset portfolio, and the return of capital and resources was accelerated. In the meantime, the Company further increased investment in the field of science and technology, adheres to the development path of science and technology leading, deepening innovation-driven, and strengthening industrial synergy to promote sustainable and high-quality development of the enterprise.
Attributable to the global digital and intelligent transformation, Lenovo achieved long-term and sustainable profit growth, with revenue up 25% year-on-year to RMB 210.78 billion, and the Net profit attributable to equity holders of Legend Holdings surged by 172% to RMB 1.54 billion. The personal computer business remained No.1 globally, and the non-pc business also showed strong growth. Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) business accelerated profit improvement, with growth rate exceeding the market average for six consecutive quarters. Additionally, Solutions & Services Group (SSG) drives its profitability, and its service-oriented transformation strategy pays off. As the consensus "carbon neutrality" accelerates, Lenovo significantly exceeded its emission reduction target in 2019/20 fiscal year and strives to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050. As a high-tech manufacturing enterprise, Lenovo will build green manufacturing and supply chain systems through digitization and intelligence to guide and drive the industrial chain to jointly achieve zero carbon transformation, while actively empowering all industries to achieve low-carbon development and make concerted efforts to build a community for people and nature.
Levima Advanced Materials, with more than ten years of development from greenfield, has developed into a high-tech enterprise specializing in advanced high polymer materials and special fine materials. During the Reporting Period, its net profit increased by 131% year-on-year to RMB 548 million. With the steady improvement of the company's results, Levima Advanced Materials' market value also saw a significant increase. Meanwhile, it energetically plans for investment and merges and acquisitions, acquiring Levima (Shandong) Chemicals to further improve the industrial layout and enhance the sustainable profitability and stability; investing in Jiangxi Keyuan Bio-Material to cultivate new growth points in the field of biodegradable materials. Furthermore, the company's main plant economic and technological indicators were further optimized, continue to maintain a leading position in the industry. Levima Advanced Materials continued to strengthen product development and market channel expansion. With product mix further optimized, the market shares of EVA, PP, EOD, and other segmented products continues to maintain the leading position in China. As of the end of the Reporting Period, Levima Advanced Materials had a total of 131 patents approved. The Company also fully utilizes the advantages of its R&D platform to actively promote the development of new products and processes, and has completed the R&D of 16 laboratories, 14 production technology formulations, and the industrialization of 8 new products.
Banque Internationale a Luxembourg (BIL) displayed significant growth amid the epidemic in Europe. In the first half of the year, its net profit increased by 18% year-on-year to approximately EUR 47 million, and the assets under management increased to EUR 45.5 billion with CET-1 ratio 13.18%. BIL's ratings by both Moody's and Standard & Poor's were maintained at A2/Stable/P-1 and A-/Stable/A-2 respectively. In response to the new post-epidemic environment, BIL will continue to strengthen its portfolio of retail, private, and corporate and institutional banking; it will progressively advance its business in China by further reinforcing the connection among Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Hong Kong SAR and Beijing, China; its wealth management business will continue to grow by serving its target markets and targeting its clients with precision; and the target operating model and business culture will turn BIL into a "robust and dynamic" bank.
The two main business lines of Joyvio Group are fruit and high-end animal protein. It is also active in the fields of fresh semi-finished products and agri-food technology. During the Reporting Period, Joyvio Group deepened its strategic layout and focused on the core businesses. Its revenue increased by 9% year-on-year to RMB 9,778 million, and the net profit attributable to equity holders of Legend Holdings was RMB 240 million, thus turning loss into profit. Golden Wing Mau continued to improve the layout of the whole industrial chain of fruits and achieved rapid revenue growth by reinforcing the advantages in its supply chain and the core products strategy. Joyvio's brand influence further expanded and successfully achieved product diversification. As prices in the international market continue to rebound, Joyvio Food's salmon business gradually recovered, while actively promoting the development of value-added 3R products and expanding diversified sales pipeline; the original business continued to maintain its leading position in the industry. In addition, some equities in investee enterprises were sold to further focus on the core business.
In 2020, Legend Holdings took its first strategic stake in Fullhan Microelectronics, laying out the semiconductors track, and as of June 30, 2021, Legend Holdings, as the largest shareholder, holds an aggregate of 15.91% equity in Fullhan Microelectronics through its subsidiaries. Fullhan Microelectronics is China's leading company specializing in the design and development of chips for video-based industries. Fullhan Microelectronics reported revenue of RMB 718 million, a year-on-year increase of 154.37%, and net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company of RMB 139 million, a year-on-year increase of 215.67%, its 1H2021 results report showed. The robust results significantly drove the growth in its market cap. Semiconductors and integrated circuits are among the fields that Legend Holdings has been keeping its eyes on for a long time. The Company will engage with the Fullhan Microelectronics management team for deeper cooperation to jointly promote the long-term development of Fullhan Microelectronics.
Legend Holdings, during the Reporting Period, further strengthened its industrial operation capability and gained profit in all business sectors. Strategic Investments' net profit attributable to equity holders of the Company increased by approximately RMB 3 billion year-on-year. For the advanced manufacturing and professional service segment, its revenue was up by 46% year-on-year to RMB 3,894 million, and net profit attributable to the equity holders of Legend Holdings increased by 108% year-on-year to RMB 794 million. Eastern Air Logistics (EAL) was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange on June 9,-which was the first civil aviation enterprise included in the first batch of domestic pilot enterprises under the mixed-ownership reform-making it a successful case of the "two-wheel-drive business model" of the Company. During the Reporting Period, given the change of market demand, EAL increased its investment in air cargo capacity, expanded the cooperation channels for air cargo capacity and furthered building of "port to port" product system, strengthening customer development and improving service experience, enhancing business results to achieve a year-on-year growth in its results. The financial services segment recorded revenue of RMB 3,141 million and net profit attributable to the equity holders of Legend Holdings of RMB 318 million, excluding the impact of the one-off loss from share dilution of Hankou Bank, and the disposal and impairment loss of Kaola Technology, net profit attributable to the equity holders of Legend Holdings grew by 20% year-on-year. Zhengqi Holdings constantly implemented the business model of "investment-loan linkage", and focused on strategic emerging industries and the ecological chain. Lakala Payment exerted more efforts for product innovation and market development, maintained steady growth in the size of payment transactions and revenue, and the income from technological services continued to grow rapidly. JC Finance & Leasing developed steadily, and its net profit increased by 44% year-on-year. Hyundai Insurance constantly explored product and service innovation. It reported approximately RMB 334 million of accrued income from insurance premiums, an increase of 410% year-on-year. The adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on innovative consumption and services has been largely offset, with the revenue for the Reporting Period rising by 103% year-on-year to RMB 533 million and net profit attributable to equity holders of Legend Holdings of RMB 67 million. In order to cooperate with national policy orientation, Better Education provides inclusive pre-school education services. Shanghai Neuromedical Center continuously promoted the development of competitive neurosurgery and other comprehensive departments and its management and services were further improved.
Fund-raising, investment, management, and exiting from projects under management of financial investments in an orderly manner, continued contribution of solid cash flow
China's economy constantly recovered, and the capital market progressed strongly in the first half of 2021. Funds under Legend Holdings demonstrated outstanding results. Multiple enterprises under management went public. Fund-raising, investment, management, and exiting from projects under management were conducted comprehensively and orderly. More than 60 projects were fully or partially exited, contributing more than RMB 2 billion of cash flow.
Legend Star managed eight funds with a size exceeding RMB 3.3 billion, investing in more than 300 domestic and overseas projects accumulatively. During the Reporting Period, Legend Star's total number of investment projects was over 20, covering different niche segments, such as cutting-edge technology, biotechnology, digital medicine, and TMT. Among the projects under management, it made follow-on investments in approximately 50 projects and exited 15 projects. As of June 30, 2021, the final closing of the 4th USD fund was completed as well as the first round closing of the biotechnology fund.
Legend Capital managed a total of 28 funds, with a size of more than RMB 60 billion. As of June 30, 2021, the total amount raised by the funds was RMB 6,335 million. During the Reporting Period, Legend Capital accumulatively completed 20 new project investments, covering startup stage and growing-stage enterprises in the TMT and innovative consumption, healthcare, corporate services and intelligent manufacturing sectors. It fully or partially exited 33 projects, bringing sound cash returning. As of June 30, in total, 90 of Legend Capital's portfolio companies went public (not including those listed on NEEQS).
Hony Capital's businesses cover PE, real estate, public offering fund management, hedge fund, and venture capital. The AUM amounted to RMB 100 billion. As of June 30, Hony Capital managed 13 funds. Besides, Hony Horizon Fund Management Co., Ltd., a public offering fund management company under Hony Capital, managed seven funds. During the Reporting Period, Hony Capital proceeded with new investment projects in various business segments and progressively made follow-on investments in existing projects. Certain portfolio companies went public, and Hony Capital also actively exited projects, thereby contributing constant and steady cash returning to Legend Holdings.
Legend Holdings and its three fund platforms have paid attention to and invested in the high-tech industry for a long time, accumulating considerable assets. More than 20 portfolio companies were included in the list of National "Little Giants with Specialties, Refined Products and Management, Unique Technologies, and Innovation" announced by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China (MIIT), such as Fullhan Microelectronics, Gocom Information Technology, QuantumCTek, Sansure Biotech, Hanshow Technology, MNCHIP, INST magnets, Faith Long Crystal, LEADMICRO, Zonsen Biotech, CAXA, YUNJI Technology and so on. These companies will embrace a broad development space, as they feature remarkable results, high technology, and strong market competitiveness, and suit the trend of industrial upgrading in China.
Capital operation continued to advance, multiple portfolio companies successfully listed
The strategic investment and financial investment fund platforms under Legend Holdings continued to promote capital operation during the Reporting Period. As of June 30, 2021, 12 portfolio companies including EAL got listed, and at least 11 are promoting the IPO.
Chemclin Diagnostics Corporation, a project in the biomedical field invested by Zhengqi Holdings, was listed on April 9. Gocom Information Technology entered the capital market on June 28, becoming the first stock of industrial railway signal control and intelligent scheduling in China. Meanwhile, the IPO of a number of Zhengqi Holdings' investee companies was being processed or to be submitted. In addition, Golden Wing Mau and Hankou Bank are orderly preparing IPO.
In terms of financial investment, Conmed Biosciences, invested by Legend Star, issued its IPO in Hong Kong on July 8. Ten enterprises under the management of Legend Capital went public during the Reporting Period, such as CareRay Digital Medical Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing Kawin Technology Share-Holding Co., Ltd., NexImmune, Inc., and New Horizon Health Limited and so on. Besides, Dindong Shopping, invested by Hony Capital, issued its IPO during the Reporting Period.
Mr. Ning Min, Chairman, and Executive Director of Legend Holdings, said that, "In the first half of 2021, in the face of the complicated internal and external environments, Legend Holdings grasped the new development pattern with the domestic cycle as the mainstay and the domestic and international cycles promoting each other, seized the historical opportunities given by the new era, made steady progress and breakthroughs, and achieved good results, which also laid a more solid foundation for the long-term development of the company. In the meantime, the Company has always attached great importance to corporate social responsibilities from a strategic perspective, adhered to the mission of 'serving the country through industrial development', and upheld the concept of 'people orientation'. It is our first priority to develop our business in the direction adhered by the state, and to continue to promote win-win development of China's real economy, entrepreneurship and innovation through our own industrial accumulation and unique business model to create better economic and social benefits; the Company will pay constant attention to the environment and energy and support its subsidiaries to play a leading role in green energy conservation and environmental protection; we will continue to insist on social welfare investment, including entrepreneurial help, education and poverty alleviation, promoting righteousness and responding to natural disasters, while fully studying and combining with national needs to deepen its practice and make greater contributions to the promotion of social justice, common prosperity and the high-quality development of China's economy as well the China's journey towards realizing the second centenary goals."
About Legend Holdings Corporation
Legend Holdings Corporation is a leading industrial investment and operations company in China. It builds up a unique two-wheel-drive business model of "strategic investments + financial investments" and focuses on the real economy and scientific & technological innovation areas. Through value creation and value discovery, the Company cultivates and manages an outstanding asset portfolio with growth potential, driving sustainable value growth. Strategic investments aim at holding over the long term and focus on strategic segments to cultivate and optimize the portfolio while fostering pillar businesses. Through strategic investments, the Company invests in five segments, namely IT, financial services, innovative consumption and services, agriculture and food, and advanced manufacturing and professional services. Financial investments are driven by financial returns with a proper mix of products and target portfolios, and include angel investment, venture capital and private equity investment, creating a holistic financial investment industrial chain. Based on the in-depth understanding of economies and enterprises, Legend Holdings has concluded its distinctive investment concepts and management system. Through forward-looking layout, clear investment strategies and sustained management & value-added services, Legend Holdings has cultivated a number of influential outstanding enterprises in several sectors.
Copyright 2021 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. http://www.acnnewswire.com
“The Future Is Now” – Asia Digital Financial Summit 2021 and S.A.M. Academy Launched
SINGAPORE, Sep 1, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – The 2nd edition of the Asia Digital Financial Summit will take place on 27 November 2021. Featuring keynote speaker Tony Fernandes founder of Air Asia, and a stellar line-up of exciting speakers covering a wide range of investments, currencies and topics such as business and entrepreneurship etc, it will once again reach out to some 2 million potential attendees.
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Registrations commence on 1 September 2021 via the Asia Digital Financial Summit registration link : https://promo.samtradeacademy.com/stac-adfs2021nov-en-press/.
Along with the launch of the Asia Digital Financial Summit, S.A.M. Academy will also be officially launched. S.A.M. Academy aims to be the trusted education partner for learners and investors and with a faculty of expert practitioners boasting decades of experience between them, learners are provided with solid insights coupled with practical knowledge that can be immediately applied to their careers or daily lives.
Announcing the launch of S.A.M. Academy, Mr Md. Shidiq, CEO of S.A.M. Academy, believes strongly in the company's mission to provide investors and lifelong learners the opportunity to learn from the very best in the industry and to be able to put their education into practice immediately. "Learning is best expressed in doing. That's the ultimate test of whether we have managed to not just impart theoretical knowledge about a certain subject, but a deep understanding of the ins-and-outs of how to apply their learning practically in their daily lives."
The inaugural Summit was held in June 2021 and was attended by thousands from across Asia. Renowned investor Jim Rogers, the keynote speaker, gave attendees extensive insights into the economy, markets, and a healthy reality check regarding what he sees as the short and medium-term opportunities in 2022 and beyond. Attendees gave a very enthusiastic 5-star thumbs-up to the event and many came away with new insights and useful learnings.
"Every one of our instructors and coaches are highly-experienced traders and working professionals in their respective fields who are passionate about imparting their knowledge and real-world experience to guide learners along their own learning journeys and help them to earn passive income for themselves while maintaining their current jobs."
In August this year, The Financial Commission, a leading independent member-driven external dispute resolution (EDR) organization for international online brokerages that participate in global foreign exchange (forex), CFDs, derivatives, and cryptocurrency markets, declared Samtrade Academy as a certified educational provider following a thorough review of the extensive educational content Samtrade Academy offers. This ensures that users who receive such content have access to accurate educational materials. Samtrade Academy is an affiliate and also the full-fledged financial educational arm of S.A.M. Academy (Reference: https://bit.ly/3zyoBl9)
About S.A.M. Academy (samacademy.sg)
S.A.M. Academy is a leading education organiser and training company in business, entrepreneurship, tech, personal finance, and lifestyle courses.
S.A.M. Academy provides PMETs, retail investors, aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners with practical knowledge they can use and empowers them to positively improve their lives, financially and otherwise. Via their members portal, users can access and be equipped via thousands of hours of hands-on training. In addition, S.A.M. Academy regularly organises exciting events featuring highly sought after speakers from around the world. Visit https://www.samacademy.sg.
Issued on behalf of S.A.M. Academy by Waterbrooks Consultants Pte Ltd
Media Contact
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Mediwelcome Announces 2021 Interim Results
HONG KONG, Aug 31, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – The largest provider in the Integrated Healthcare Marketing Solutions Market of cardio-cerebral-vascular diseases (CCVDs), Mediwelcome Healthcare Management & Technology Inc. ("Mediwelcome" or the "Company", together with its subsidiaries, the "Group") is pleased to announce the unaudited consolidated interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2021 (the "Reporting Period" or the "First half of 2021").
During the Period, Mediwelcome maintained a positive growth momentum. The Group's total revenue reached approximately RMB339.8 million, representing an increase of approximately 145.0% YoY. Gross profit increased by 27.3% YoY to RMB35.8 million.
Revenue by service type For the six months ended 30 June (RMB'000)
2021 Proportion 2020 Proportion Change
Medical conference services 208,510 61.4% 75,087 54.1% 177.7%
Patient education and screening services 74,321 21.9% 27,453 19.8% 170.7%
Marketing strategy and consulting services 51,046 15.0% 33,151 23.9% 54.0%
CRO services 4,092 1.2% 2,920 2.1% 40.1%
Internet hospital services 1,827 0.5% 70 0.1% 2,510.0%
Total 339,796 100.0% 138,681 100.0% 145.0%
Steady Business Growth and Committed to Building a Deeply Vertical Service Platform for Internet Healthcare
In the first half of the year, Mediwelcome continued to expand and solidify its integrated healthcare marketing solutions, broaden CRO services and develop internet hospital services. During the Reporting Period, online medical seminars increased due to the outbreak of COVID-19, and more medical NGOs and pharmaceutical companies have engaged the Group to organize online medical seminars, therefore led to an increase of 177.7% YoY to RMB208.5 million in terms of the revenue from the medical conference service. In terms of patient education and screening services, the Group has successfully shifted most of its onsite patient education and screening services to its online platforms which can access more participants and increase the contract value of each project. During the Reporting Period, the revenue from the patient education and screening services was approximately RMB 74.3 million with an increase of 170.7% YoY. Meanwhile, the Group provided marketing strategy and consulting services to assist 3 customers in formulating and implementing effective business strategies to expand their markets. Thus, the Group's revenue from the marketing strategy and consulting services increased 54.0% YoY to RMB51.0 million. Since the Group began to offer CRO services in late 2019, it leveraged its long-term and stable business relationships with pharmaceutical companies, combined with the high quality services and physicians network to steadily expand the service. In first half of 2021, the Group's revenue from CRO services increased by 40.1% YoY to RMB4.1 million.
Mediwelcome leveraged on its resources advantages accumulated throughout the years from its service system, the Group is committed to building a service platform for Internet healthcare that is deeply vertical so as to provide professional and differentiated platform services to both doctors and patients. Through the dedicated application (the "APP"), doctors are able to transfer their patients from offline clinic to an exclusive online smart one, and patients are able to interact with their attending doctors through the platform, schedule online follow-up consultations, thus creating a highly sticky, efficient, accurate and dedicated interaction system for doctors and patients. In the first half of 2021, the Group's internet hospital service revenue increased 25 times YoY to RMB 1.8 million. As of June 30, 2021, there were 26,629 registered physician users and 47,614 patient users on the respective version of Doctor+, representing a 690.2% and 391.0%, respectively. As of the same day, the cumulative number of online patient consultations was 44,534, an increase of 577% compared to last year. The active patient number increased from 3,194 as of 30 June 2020 to 6,918 million as of 30 June 2021.
For the six months ended 30 June
The cumulative number of registered user on Doctor+ medical platform 2021 2020 Change
Registered physician users 26,629 3,370 690.2%
Registered patient users 47,614 9,697 391.0%
Online patient consultations 44,534 6,578 577.0%
Active patient number 6,918 3,194 116.6%
Deepen Efforts on the Development of Chronic Diseases Area and Realize Diversified Business Development
Building on its existing business in chronic diseases health management, Mediwelcome continues to deepen its efforts to help more outstanding pharmaceutical companies, both domestic and foreign, to gain edges in market competition. Mediwelcome established business partnerships with 5 domestic and foreign pharmaceutical companies in the first half of 2021. The expansion into new medical fields also injected new impetus for Mediwelcome's efficient growth. On top of the existing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular services, it keeps extending into new areas such as radiology, medical imaging, rare diseases and oncology, thereby diversifying the business development. As for business models, it has upgraded from an in-hospital one into the current out-of-hospital retail terminal service model, which has significantly broadened the overall coverage of Mediwelcome's business. At the same time, by establishing partnerships with 4 Non-Governmental Organizations, Mediwelcome kept contributing to the development of the chronic diseases field through it's engagement in public welfare. Mediwelcome has refined it's years of experience in serving foreign pharmaceutical companies and helped many domestic companies achieve leapfrog development and support domestic pharmaceutical companies to rise and take off.
Explore to Develop Internet Healthcare Business and Digitalization and Create an Innovative Medical and Health Ecological System
Looking forward, Mediwelcome will will keep exploring to develop internet healthcare business and digitalization based on digital healthcare platforms to create an innovative digital healthcare business model. On 14 July 2021, Mediwelcome together with Hanwang Technology Co. and the other six companies have entered into an agreement to establish an in-depth cooperation on such aspects as precision medicine and smart medical hardware, which includes industry alliance cooperation, research cooperation and business cooperation. It will lay a solid foundation for the Group's AI medical service platform development in the future.
Based on the real-world data and the Group's experience covering the entire journey of patients, Mediwelcome will further explore the unmet needs of stakeholders in the healthcare industry to define and establish a comprehensive healthcare service system covering disease prevention and screening, diagnosis and treatment, rehabilitation and healthcare management. Meanwhile, Mediwelcome will further optimize its internet medical service platform in deep vertical field by ongoing consolidation of its unique advantages and efficient integration of internal and external resources, so as to provide digital solutions based on real-world medical scenarios. The Group will launch digital health management business for chronic disease patients in vertical field and a customized patient follow-up and management service model, which enables doctors to efficiently manage their own patients, meets the requirements of medical and health institutions for patient follow-up management. By collaboration with industry-leading resources, the Group will also explore and develop digital medical products for chronic disease patients, and create a fully-integrated medical ecosystem covering disease prevention and screening, diagnosis and treatment, functional rehabilitation and health management. Mediwelcome will strive to improve the efficiency of chronic disease diagnosis and treatment with medical expertise as the core, internet medical platform as the conduit, as well as bring changes to healthcare outcome of patients, with an aim to jointly creating the innovative medical and health ecological system of Mediwelcome.
About Mediwelcome Healthcare Management & Technology Inc.
Mediwelcome is the largest provider in the Integrated Healthcare Marketing Solutions Market for cardio-cerebral-vascular diseases, which primarily includes medical conference services, patient education and screening services and marketing strategy and consulting services with the goal to establish a platform which allow each key constituent of the CCVD healthcare ecosystem to communicate closely. Mediwelcome leverages high quality medical resources to extend traditional diagnosis to Internet, provides digital healthcare and construct precision medicine for chronic diseases and neurological diseases as well as patient healthcare management platform.
Our products are designed from medical institution and doctors' perspectives with an aim to build a comprehensive medical management platform, to consolidate the relationship between diagnoses and patient behaviours, then analyze and evaluate by artificial intelligence, commercialized drugs and medical device services with real-word research, clinical research and precise medical healthcare solution. We focus on the field of noncommunicable diseases especially digitalization management solution in neurological diseases, and evaluate the intervention of solution through a profession medical perspective, stiving to change patients' illnesses and improve their health status.
Five of the global top ten pharmaceutical companies are the Group's customers in the past three years. As of June 30, 2021, there were 26,629 registered physician users and 47,614 patient users on the respective version of Doctor+. On 14 July 2021, Mediwelcome together with Hanwang Technology Co. and the other six companies have entered into an agreement to establish an in-depth cooperation which includes industry alliance cooperation, research cooperation and business cooperation. It lays a solid foundation for the Group's AI medical service platform development in the future.
Copyright 2021 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. http://www.acnnewswire.com
VC Holdings Announces 2021 Interim Results
HONG KONG, Aug 31, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – Value Convergence Holdings Limited ("VC Holdings", together with its subsidiaries, the "Group"; Stock Code: 0821.HK), a well-established and one- stop financial services institution in Hong Kong, is pleased to announce its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2021 ( the "Reporting Period").
During the Reporting Period, the Group successfully achieved a business turnaround, with its total revenue significantly increasing by 35.6% to approximately HK$37.8 million as at 30 June 2021 (1H2020: HK$27.9 million). The Group recorded a profit attributable to owners of the Company of approximately HK$ 101.1 million for the Reporting Period as compared to that of a loss of approximately HK$54.8 million for the same period last year. Basic earnings per share were HK5.93 cents (1H2020: Basic loss per share of HK4.45 cents).
Mr. Peter Fu, Chairman and Executive Director of Value Convergence Holdings Limited, said, "VC Holdings has always been dedicated to offering premier financial services and products that fulfil various investment and wealth management needs of clients in the Great China region. Benefiting from the outperforming financial market in the first half of 2021, the Group achieved breakthroughs in several business segments and recorded a remarkable increment in revenue. During the Reporting Period, the Group achieved a turnaround, mainly attributable to the increase in revenue of approximately HK$10.5 million, mainly from interest income generated from margin financing and money lending businesses. Meanwhile, a net realised and unrealised gain in financial assets at fair value through profit or loss of approximately HK$79.4 million (1H 2020: net realised and unrealised loss of approximately HK$22.2 million) and reversal of impairment loss on accounts receivables of approximately HK$27.7 million (1H 2020: additional impairment loss of approximately HK$12.1 million) were recorded in the Reporting Period, both attributable to the remarkable appreciation of market values in securities held-for-trading by the Group and from clients as collateral."
Business Overview
Financial service business
The financial service business remained the Group's core business and contributed approximately 88% of the Group's total revenue. The business segment recorded a 46% year-on-year growth in revenue, driven by the Group's effort in providing multiple premium financing businesses to address clients' needs and broadening the revenue base to enhance its profitability. The Group continued to provide local and overseas securities dealing, futures and options trading, derivatives and other structured products trading, placement and underwriting, margin financing and money lending, etc. Regconising the importance of financial technology, the Group strived to optimise its online securities transaction services, meanwhile actively enhancing user experience through refining its operating system. Leveraging VC Capital Limited, its indirect wholly owned subsidiary, the Group continues to offer corporate finance advisory services, including mergers and acquisitions advisory and company secretarial services.
Proprietary trading business
Thanks to the fully-fledged revival of economic activities, there was a notable rebound of Hong Kong's capital market during the Reporting Period. As at 30 June 2021, the Group held equity securities listed in Hong Kong of approximately HK$358.4 million as financial assets held-for-trading, marking a 45% appreciation of market value as compared with that of 31 December 2020, mainly attributable to the gains from technology information and energy segments.
Outlook
Despite the global economy poised a stage to rebound in the first half of the year, the Delta variants still pose uncertainties to the financial market. In face of the market headwinds, the Group will continue to strengthen its financial business and optimise the operational efficiency to maintain its market position. In view of digital era, the Group is dedicated to embrace more disruptive technologies in hopes of offering users with better user experience and secured trading platform.
Mr. Fu concluded, "We strive to enhance our financial services through adopting advanced technologies including but not limited to artificial intelligence, computing cloud and big data. Looking ahead, the Group will further strengthen its financial services in forms of addressing user experience and reinforcing security system together with expanding its businesses through integrating SaaS and FinTech, with the aim of improving its profitability, achieving operational efficiency alongside maintaining steady businesses development."
About VC Holdings Limited
Value Convergence Holdings Limited (Stock code: 0821.HK) was listed on the GEM board of Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2001, and completed transfer of listing to the Main Board in 2008. Being a well-established financial services group committed to delivering premier financial services and products in the Great China region, the Group's services include (i) provision of financial services comprising securities, futures and options brokering and dealing, financing services, corporate finance and other advisory services, asset management and insurance brokerage; (ii) proprietary trading; and (iii) sale and distribution of healthcare products. Aiming to enhance user experience through integrating SaaS and FinTech in the securities industry, the Group intended to acquire SaaS-related business in 2021, further consolidating its own business and expanding its clientele.
For more details, please visit www.vcgroup.com.hk.
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Honghua Group Announces 2021 Interim Results
HONG KONG, Aug 31, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – The world's leading onshore oil rig supplier Honghua Group Limited (Ticker: 196.HK, "Honghua" or "the Company") today announced unaudited consolidated interim results for the six months ending on 30 June 2021 ("the period").
In the first half of 2021, oil and gas companies were reluctant to increase upstream investment despite the gradual increase in oil prices, and capital expenditure did not return to the pre-pandemic level. As a result, it takes a while for overseas sales of drilling rigs and other equipment to recover. During the period, the Company's revenue decreased 14.1% year-over-year from RMB1.807 billion to RMB1.552 billion in the first half of 2021. Gross profit was approximately RMB318 million, representing a decrease of 47.6% from RMB608 million for the same period last year. The loss attributable to shareholders of the company was approximately RMB73 million.
Oil and gas engineering services expanded with remarkable overseas business growth
Honghua began to provide oil and gas engineering services in Middle East in 2012, and Honghua oil service team HH029 became the only operation team in Zubair oil field that never suspended operation during the COVID-19 outbreak. With excellent operating capacity, Honghua signed long-term service contracts with various internationally renowned oil service enterprises. Regarding the overseas market, in the first half of the year, the value of new orders signed for overseas oil and gas engineering services of Honghua amounted to about US$120 million. The rig service agreement with Schlumberger has a term of 54 months, the longest service term in the oil service history of Honghua, and is the highest value contract Honghua has signed. The project is expected to commence successively in the second half of the year, which will generate stable and continuous cash flow for Honghua.
Enhanced leading position in fracturing market with digitalization of electric fracturing equipment and services
Honghua's all-electric fracturing has been widely recognized in the market, with a year-on-year increase of 41% in the number of newly signed orders for fracturing engineering services and a year-on-year increase of 24% in the number of newly signed orders for pumping services. In the first half of the year, Honghua provided 2,539 stages of pumping services, representing an increase of 26.4% as compared with the same period last year, despite a large service base. In response to the digital development trend in the industry, Honghua promotes the upgrading of the whole-process electric automation of equipment. Honghua became the first company in China to use the fully electric automated fracturing technology, and has established a digital fracturing simulation laboratory. In terms of fracturing equipment for unconventional oil and gas development, Honghua carried out a comprehensive digital upgrade of electric fracturing pumps and related equipment, and sold the upgraded equipment with sales of approximately RMB250 million. In line with the concept of "all-electric, intelligent fracturing", Honghua launched the first electric coiled tubing unit in China, and it began the sale of the new product after industrial testing. Compared to the traditional diesel coiled tubing unit, the electric coiled tubing unit features excellent performance and efficiency, a high degree of automation and strong synchronous control.
Continued to focus on "equipment to parts and components" strategy, steady growth in equipment market
Under the trend of global energy transition, Honghua continued to implement the strategy of "equipment to parts and components" and focused on providing more tailored services to clients. During the Period, Honghua launched the first automatic machine tool system with "one-key linkage" in China, which has been successfully tested at PetroChina and Sinopec and has been recognized by customers. Meanwhile, breakthroughs have been made in the sales of a number of new products launched by Honghua: the first deployment of a 1600HP mud pump unit on an offshore drilling platform, a series of signing new orders for new-generation five-cylinder pumps, the sale of fracturing sets, and the signing of orders for the rotary running casing.
Outlook
In the second half of 2021, supply and demand in the oil and gas market will be in a tight equilibrium due to expected subdued production growth from OPEC+, slow recovery of shale oil and gas production in the United States and recovery of oil and gas demand. As oil prices remain at mid-high levels, upstream capital expenditure is expected to recover gradually, and the equipment market that lags the recovery of the oil price will rebound in the near term. Honghua will continue to fully play the role of a leading drilling rig company, and promote the transformation and sales growth of complete drilling rigs product set overseas from the aspects of service and equipment upgrading. With its technological research and development advantages, Honghua will accelerate the automation and intelligent iteration of drilling and fracturing equipment, actively promote the sales of new products including "one-key connection" automatic machine tool system, electric coiled tubing and new-generation five-cylinder pumps. In response to China's goal of reaching carbon emissions peak, carbon neutrality and national energy security, Honghua will seize the opportunities around electric development in the unconventional oil and gas market in China and focus on shale oil and other markets with great development potential.
About Honghua Group Ltd
Honghua Group Ltd (Stock Code: 0196.HK, "Honghua") is the main platform for energy equipment development of China Aerospace Science & Industry Corporation ("CASIC"). As one of the leading land drilling equipment manufacturers in the world and the largest land drilling rig exporter in the PRC, Honghua is primarily engaged in developing and manufacturing land drilling equipment (drilling rigs, parts and components as well as downhole tools, etc.), completion products (including fracture package), offshore drilling module and package as well as shale gas and oil exploration and development service. Leveraging strong R&D capability, high-quality production facilities and a mature international sales network, Honghua's products have been sold to a large number of famous enterprises all over the world, across major oil-production regions such as North America, the Middle East and emerging markets including South America, South Asia, Russia, Central Asia and Africa. In the future, Honghua will continue to focus on its key businesses while increasing the resource allocation to unconventional oil and gas business and the "energy + internet" field. Honghua aims at becoming a world leading oilfield service provider.
This press release is issued by ICA Investor Relations (Asia) Limited on behalf of Honghua Group Co., Ltd. For any enquiries, please contact:
ICA Investor Relations (Asia) Limited
Tel: +86 (21) 8028-6033
E-mail: honghua@icaasia.com
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