Monthly Archives: March 2023

PR Newswire

Zhihu Inc. to Report Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Financial Results on March 22, 2023

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BEIJING, March 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Zhihu Inc. (“Zhihu” or the “Company”) (NYSE: ZH; HKEX: 2390), the operator of Zhihu, a leading online content community in China, today announced that it will report its unaudited financial results for the quarter and full year ended December 31, 2022 before the U.S. market opens on March 22, 2023.

The Company’s management will host a conference call at 7:00 A.M. U.S. Eastern Time on Wednesday, March 22, 2023 (7:00 P.M. Beijing/Hong Kong Time on Wednesday, March 22, 2023) to discuss the results.

All participants wishing to join the conference call must pre-register online using the link provided below. Once the pre-registration has been completed, each participant will receive a set of dial-in numbers, a passcode, and a unique registrant ID which can be used to join the conference call. Participants may pre-register at any time, including up to and after the call start time.

Registration Link: https://dpregister.com/sreg/10176364/f620171988

Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Company’s investor relations website at https://ir.zhihu.com.

A replay of the conference call will be accessible approximately one hour after the conclusion of the live call, until March 29, 2023, by dialing the following telephone numbers:

United States (toll free):

+1-877-344-7529

International:

+1-412-317-0088

Replay Access Code:

9109773

About Zhihu Inc.

Zhihu Inc. (NYSE: ZH; HKEX: 2390), the operator of Zhihu, a leading online content community in China where people come to find solutions, make decisions, seek inspiration, and have fun. We have been dedicated to expanding our content and service offerings to enable our users to explore and enjoy “fulfilling content” (有获得感的內容) that broadens horizons, provides solutions, and resonates with minds. Since the initial launch in 2010, we have grown from a Q&A community into one of the top five comprehensive online content communities and the largest Q&A-inspired online content community in China, both in terms of average mobile MAUs and revenue in 2019, 2020, and 2021, according to CIC. For more information, please visit https://ir.zhihu.com. 

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

In China:
Zhihu Inc.
Email: ir@zhihu.com

The Piacente Group, Inc.
Helen Wu
Tel: +86-10-6508-0677
Email: zhihu@tpg-ir.com

In the United States:
The Piacente Group, Inc.
Brandi Piacente
Phone: +1-212-481-2050
Email: zhihu@tpg-ir.com

Source: Zhihu Inc.

PR Newswire

LG’S INVERTER DIRECT DRIVE MOTOR REACHES MILESTONE WITH 100 MILLION UNITS PRODUCED

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A Key Component of Premium LG Washing Machines for More than Two Decades, Company’s Innovative Motor Technology Continues to Evolve for Excellence

SEOUL, South Korea, March 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — LG Electronics (LG) announces that production of its Inverter Direct Drive™ (DD™) motor has exceeded 100 million units. The company’s differentiated motor technology is a major factor in the strong, reliable performance and continuing global popularity of LG’s industry-leading laundry solutions.

LG's laundry solution equipped with Inverter Direct Drive Motor
LG’s laundry solution equipped with Inverter Direct Drive Motor

LG’S Inverter Direct Drive motor reaches milestone with 100 million units produced
LG’S Inverter Direct Drive motor reaches milestone with 100 million units produced

LG’S Inverter Direct Drive motor reaches milestone with 100 million units produced
LG’S Inverter Direct Drive motor reaches milestone with 100 million units produced

LG WashTower(TM) equipped with Inverter Direct Drive Motor
LG WashTower(TM) equipped with Inverter Direct Drive Motor

From 1998 to the end of 2022, the company produced, on average, over 12,000 Inverter DD motors per day. LG’s Inverter DD motor connects directly to the washing drum, an innovation that helps make LG washing machines more durable and dramatically reduces noise and energy consumption during operation.

LG has refined the Inverter DD motor over four generations, continuously improving the technology and its performance capabilities to deliver greater customer value. The company holds over 240 Inverter DD motor related technology patents in Korea and internationally. In 2019, the company applied Artificial Intelligence (AI) to the Inverter DD motor to further enhance its efficiency and effectiveness. Used in LG’s premium washing machines and dryers, the AI DD motor leverage deep learning technology to detect the weight of each load and the types of fabrics being washed. It then selects the optimal combination of drum movements from the company’s proprietary 6 Motion tech – which enables six discrete drum movements – to care and clean for users’ laundry.

Last year, LG brought its advanced Inverter DD motor to its dryers for the first time. Like the company’s washers, LG dryers also offer 6 Motion (Tumble, Swing, Rolling, Stepping, Scrubbing, and Filtration) technology to boost drying performance and minimize fabric damage. LG’s inverter motor technology – specifically, the AI DD – became the first home appliance technology to earn Deep Learning AI Verification from global safety science company, UL (Underwriters Laboratories).

“The number of Inverter DD motors produced points to the excellence of the motor technology LG has developed for its premium laundry solutions,” said Kim Yang-sun, head of the Component Solution Business Unit at LG Electronics Home Appliance & Air Solution Company. “We will continue to create highly efficient core components that boost the performance and reliability of our products while also reducing carbon emissions during operation.”

About LG Electronics Home Appliance & Air Solution Company

The LG Home Appliance & Air Solution Company is a global leader in home appliances, smart home solutions, air solutions as well as visionary products featuring LG ThinQ AI. The company is creating various solutions with its industry leading core technologies and is committed to making life better and healthier for consumers by developing thoughtfully designed kitchen appliances, living appliances, HVAC and air purification solutions. Together, these products deliver enhanced convenience, superb performance, efficient operation and compelling health benefits. For more news on LG, visit www.LGnewsroom.com.

Source: LG Electronics, Inc.

PR Newswire

Enabot announces Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for their new product EBO X

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The shipment of all Kickstarter orders will start in May.

SHENZHEN, China, March 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Enabot, an emerging family robotics company, announced the launch of a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for their new family robot companion, EBO X. The company is striving to make the EBO X the industry-first commercialized household robot, which is now available for pre-order on Kickstarter. Early backers can save up to 43% at a special price of USD 569 before it becomes available for sale online at a retail price of USD 999. 

Following its debut at CES 2023, the EBO X received multiple recognitions from the industry and media. After being named a CES 2023 “Innovation Awards Honoree” in both the Smart Home and Robotics product categories, the EBO X was also recognized as “The Best Smart Home Tech of CES 2023” by PC Mag and “Top Tech of CES 2023 Awards” by Digital Trends, among other accolades from top-tier media. Furthermore, the Kickstarter editors have selected the crowdfunding campaign for the EBO X as the “Project We Love” even prior to the campaign’s official launch.

The highly anticipated robot is now closer to becoming available to customers worldwide. The initial shipment of orders placed on Kickstarter will take place in May, with the product becoming commercially available later in the second quarter of 2023.

A Versatile Three-in-One Home Guardian

The EBO X is an advanced home robot offering superior versatility with its powerful hardware and software. It is not only a mobile homebot with Alexa built in and V-SLAM navigation, but an all-round smart home device with a 4K stabilized camera supported by Color Night Vision and a premium speaker customized by Harman AudioEFX.


While it serves as a guardian with its agile home security and health alert system, it can also be the companion and playmate for your family, providing flexible remote communication and diverse home entertainment experiences.


A Compact Intelligent Home Robotics Solution

The power of robotic intelligence of the EBO X relies on the computing components housed in its compact soccer-sized spherical body. The EBO X is equipped with the improved X3M chip, which is built using a dual-core BPU structure and can perform 5 trillion operations per second. This, in combination with the tens of thousands of hours of training data, enables the EBO X to quickly create a map of your home using V-SLAM technology, thus allowing for precise area division and organization.

The EBO X is equipped with a strong and sturdy structure, making it effortless to manoeuvre. Its unique two-wheeled self-balancing design gives it the ability to move around with great accuracy and flexibility. Furthermore, with the help of the integrated dTOF and ALS sensors, the EBO X is able to avoid any potential harm caused by accidentally crossing boundaries or running into objects.

To offer solid performance in computer vision, the EBO X features a 4K camera with a one-axis stabilization system and an adjustable vertical angle within a range of 104°. It is equipped with an 8-megapixel ultra low-light sensor and provides an impressive 106° super wide FOV. Complementing this outstanding visual capability, the EBO X also comes with a four-microphone array and reliable far-field sound sensors, enabling it to identify the source of the sound quickly and accurately. When you talk to it, the device will turn towards you, getting ready to listen.

With all these advanced intelligent features in place, the EBO X can perform sophisticated tasks such as smart tracking — If your child says “EBOEBO, follow me!” , the EBO X will follow them wherever they go, like a faithful companion.

An All-round Home Robot that Keeps Your Family Safe, Connected and Entertained

The EBO X is designed to act as a “smart guardian”, offering its users helpful features while they are away from their family. Particularly, for your elderly loved ones, the EBO X offers the Elderly Fall Alert feature, which can detect if an elderly person has fallen via its pose inspection algorithm. Through the App, you can even set up a Medication Reminder that triggers the EBO X to identify the elderly family member through facial recognition and provide voice reminders about the medications.

Additionally, to secure your family from emergency, the EBO X’s Certain Areas Intrusion Alert allows users to designate certain places on the map as off-limits and will notify them if someone unauthorized enters the area, such as a child. If a child is crying or anyone at home is experiencing an emergency and calling for “HELP”, the EBO X will detect it and trigger an App call to the users.

The EBO X, a smart home device that connects people with those they care about, allows for vivid and steady real-time two-way conversations with the EBO Home App, powered by a 4K Stabilized Camera. It permits multiple members of a family to log in and chat together at once. As each family member interacts, they can observe each other from the EBO X’s point of view. Users can even leave their relatives a message by typing a text that will be transformed into a voice message by the EBO X, or set up reminder tasks using the EBO Home App to keep your loved ones organized. What’s more, the EBO X is also created to be your pet’s companion. It can snap pictures from a low angle of your furry family members, acting as their personal photographer.

The EBO X is designed to be a fun and engaging companion. Logging into your Alexa account gives you easy access to the EBO X and its ability to connect to any Alexa service. This connection allows you to control any IOT devices that are in your home. The speaker, powered by Harman AudioEFX, will give you an amazing sound experience while streaming your favorite music. Additionally, the dynamic lighting effect will alter in response to the rhythm of the song that’s playing.

A Commitment to Protecting User Data Privacy

We designed EBO X with privacy protection as a priority. All content can be stored on a local memory card, if desired. There are three ways you can protect your privacy while using the EBO X: an on-off toggle switch in the App to deactivate the camera, a physical shutter to cover the camera, and a privacy button on the EBO X to shut off both the camera and microphone.

Play stay tuned with the latest update on the crowdfunding campaign for the EBO X on Kickstarter and Enabot’s Facebook. To view the Enabot EBO X in action, please visit the Enabot YouTube channel.

About Enabot

Enabot is a family robot company whose team with great industry resources and extensive experience in the development, design, and manufacturing of consumer-grade robotic products.

Enabot believes our lives can be improved by intelligent family bots. Our vision of a technology ridden world is positive, with robots being part of the solutions to daily problems, allowing people to focus their time on what matters the most: to be there for the ones we love. By connecting people, we are dedicated to promoting love, companionship and sharing.

Discover more about Enabot here.

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PR Newswire

Lloyds Banking Group invests £10 million in digital identity company Yoti

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  • Investment will be used to develop innovative technology that protects customers’ identities and personal data online
  • Lloyds Banking Group will support Yoti in developing a new, reusable digital identity proposition that will help combat the growing risks of identity fraud

LONDON, March 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Lloyds Banking Group has invested £10 million in digital identity company Yoti, an investment which supports the development of innovative technology to keep people safe online, tackle the ever-growing risks of identity fraud, and give people more control over their personal data.

Lloyds Banking Group invests £10 million in digital identity company Yoti
Lloyds Banking Group invests £10 million in digital identity company Yoti

Yoti offer a range of digital identity solutions that make it simple for people and businesses to protect themselves online. This includes a free Digital ID app, which gives individuals a safe and instant way to prove their identity from their phone, with no need to show ID documents or share an excessive amount of personal data. Digital IDs are a UK government-approved form of identification for right to work, right to rent and criminal records checks. Yoti’s Digital ID is also accepted as proof of age at UK cinemas,and for the sale of lottery tickets, energy drinks and tobacco. Businesses across a range of industries – from financial services and retail to gaming and e-commerce – are already seeing the benefits of Digital ID services.

The investment from Lloyds Banking Group will support Yoti’s development of a new reusable digital identity proposition that will complement Yoti’s existing solutions. Set to launch later this year, this will give users a more private, secure and convenient way to prove their identity.

Kirsty Rutter, FinTech Investment Director at Lloyds Banking Group, said: “We are thrilled to be supporting Yoti and their experienced, passionate team with their work to further protect people online, through developing and growing digital identity solutions.

“We know how important fintechs and technology partners are for delivering better outcomes for our customers and this investment represents another step forward in our plans to strengthen the UK’s financial ecosystem and is a crucial part of how we help Britain prosper.”

Robin Tombs, CEO at Yoti said, “I’m delighted to announce Lloyds Banking Group’s significant investment in Yoti. The combination of their expertise in financial services and our digital identity solutions will bring security to even more businesses, people and communities. We will make it easier and safer for individuals to prove who they are and enable businesses to have more trust and confidence in the identity of their customers.”

The investment in Yoti is Lloyds Banking Group’s second investment of 2023, following a successful round of investments in 2022. These investments are headed up by the Group’s recently formed Fintech Investment team, which focuses on identifying and exploring opportunities for investment into fintech at Seed to Series B.

Notes to editors:

With a reusable digital identity, individuals only need to verify their identity once and then share verified details in seconds, without needing to show their ID documents each time. Individuals can just share the details they need and nothing else – giving them greater control over their personal data. With individuals pre-verified, organisations can have greater confidence and trust in who they are dealing with.

About Lloyds Banking Group

Lloyds Banking Group is the largest UK retail and commercial financial services provider with around 26 million customers and a presence in nearly every community. Our main business activities include retail and commercial banking, general insurance, and long-term savings, provided through well recognised brands including Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland, Scottish Widows.

Our purpose is helping Britain prosper. We have served Britain through our products and services for more than 320 years, across every community and millions of households. Our success is interwoven with the UK’s prosperity, and we aim to help Britain prosper by operating as a responsible, sustainable, and inclusive Group.

About Yoti

Yoti is a digital identity technology company that makes it safer for people to prove who they are, verifying identities and trusted credentials online and in-person. They now provide verification solutions across the globe, spanning identity verification, age verification, document eSigning, access management, and authentication and leading facial age estimation. Over 13 million people have downloaded the free Yoti Digital ID app across the world. It is available in English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese and Polish. Yoti is certified to ISO/IEC 27001:2013 for ID Verification Services, ISAE 3000 (SOC 2) Type 2 certified for its technical and organisational security processes. For more information, please visit www.yoti.com.

press@yoti.com

PR Newswire

BEST Inc. Announces Unaudited Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2022 Financial Results

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The Board Has Authorized a Share Repurchase Program

HANGZHOU, China, March 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — BEST Inc. (NYSE: BEST) (“BEST” or the “Company”), a leading integrated smart supply chain solutions and logistics services provider in China and Southeast Asia, today announced its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2022. The Company also announced that its board of directors has authorized a share repurchase program, under which the Company may repurchase up to US$20 million worth of its outstanding American Depositary Shares over the next 12 months.

Johnny Chou, Founder, Chairman and CEO of BEST, commented, “2022 was a challenging year. The COVID-19 pandemic and its related controls seriously impacted general economy, and was particularly hard for the logistic industry. However, under such severe challenges, we prevailed. In the fourth quarter of 2022, both BEST Freight and BEST Supply Chain Management have significantly improved their gross margins and narrowed their losses. At the same time, BEST Global began to show promising operating trends.

After lifting of COVID pandemic-related controls, we have seen a rapid recovery in general economy and our multiple business lines.  We are confident to deliver a strong growth and financial results in 2023.  In addition, our Board has authorized an up-to-$20M share repurchase program.” 

“During 2022, Best Freight focused heavily on digital transformation, cost reductions and quality improvement.  As a result, our operating efficiency and service quality have significantly improved.  In the fourth quarter, Freight’s gross margin grew by 10.4 percentage points and its net loss was narrowed by 69.3% year over year.”

“For BEST Supply Chain Management, its strong technical know-how and superb service capabilities helped us weather the storm.  Despite COVID-related restrictions throughout the year, BEST Supply Chain Management went above and beyond to make sure we provided our customers with top quality service. As a result, we were rewarded with additional business. Supply Chain Management has added 64 new key account customers in the second half of 2022 and its distribution volume and revenue increased in the fourth quarter by 82.1% and 2.7%, respectively, and gross margin increased to 4.4%, from negative 1.9%, year over year.”

“For BEST Global, with the lifting of COVID-related controls, we quickly adjusted our strategy, and realigned our organization in response to the evolving Southeast Asia market. We greatly elevated our organization’s capabilities, widening our network coverage and significantly improved our service quality.  We also expanded our coverage of small- and medium-sized enterprise customers and the revenue contribution from those customers grew by 13 percentage points to 40.2% in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared with the first quarter of 2022. In addition, we are accelerating our B2B2C and cross border business to provide additional product offerings. We believe this strategic direction will usher in Global’s fast recovery and prompt growth for a much improved gross margin and better cash flow in 2023.”

“We finished 2022 with a much more resilient, streamlined business infrastructure and improved operating efficiency. Our strengths in technology, domestic and global supply chain management as well as logistics services place us in a strong position to deliver a strong profitable growth in 2023 and beyond.” concluded Mr. Chou.

Gloria Fan, BEST’s Chief Financial Officer, added, “While our revenue for the fourth quarter was dampened by the COVID-19 pandemic, the cost control measures we enacted significantly narrowed our Group non-GAAP net loss by 52.4% year over year. We are actively managing our cash and our balance sheet remains healthy. At the end of 2022, we had cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments of RMB3.2 billion, after we used RMB1.4 billion during 2022 to repurchase our Convertible Senior Notes due 2024. Our overarching goal is to achieve ongoing sustainable and profitable growth. In 2023, we expect Freight and Supply Chain Management to become profitable in the second quarter and generate positive cash flow and profitable growth throughout the year, and BEST Global to see profitability in certain countries.”

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS ([1]) 

For the Fourth Quarter Ended December 31, 2022:([2])

  • Revenue was RMB1,981.4 million (US$287.3 million), compared with RMB2,724.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. The decrease was primarily due to the wind-down of the BEST UCargo business line and lower Freight and Global volume. Revenue generated from UCargo was approximately RMB952,000 (US$0.1 million), compared with RMB350 million in the same quarter of 2021.
  • Gross Loss was RMB58.5 million (US$8.5 million), compared with RMB228.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. The decrease in gross loss was primarily due to improved gross margin from BEST Freight and BEST Supply Chain business lines. Gross Loss Margin was 3.0% for the fourth quarter of 2022, compared with a Gross Loss Margin of 8.4% in the same period of 2021.
  • Net Loss from continuing operations was RMB365.8 million (US$53.0 million), compared with RMB734.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. Non-GAAP Net Loss from continuing operations([3])([4]) was RMB338.0 million (US$49.0 million), compared with RMB710.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2021.
  • Diluted loss per ADS([5]) from continuing operations was RMB4.49 (US$0.65), compared with RMB9.07 in the fourth quarter of 2021. Non-GAAP diluted loss per ADS(3)(4) from continuing operations was RMB4.13 (US$0.60), compared with RMB8.77 in the fourth quarter of 2021.
  • EBITDA([6]) from continuing operations was negative RMB324.7 million (US$47.1million), compared with negative RMB658.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. Adjusted EBITDA(6) from continuing operations was negative RMB296.9 million (US$43.0 million), compared with negative RMB635.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2021.

For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2022:

  • Revenue was RMB7,744.1 million (US$1,122.8 million), compared with RMB11,425.8 million in 2021. The decrease was primarily due to the wind-down of the BEST UCargo business line and lower Freight and Global volume. Revenue generated from UCargo was approximately RMB36.0 million (US$5.2 million), compared with RMB2,809.1 million in 2021.
  • Gross Loss was RMB263.6 million (US$38.2 million), compared with RMB199.4 million in 2021. The increase in gross loss was primarily due to lower parcel volume from BEST Global business line. Gross Loss Margin was 3.4%, compared with a Gross Loss Margin of 1.7% in 2021.
  • Net Loss from continuing operations was RMB1,464.8 million (US$212.4 million), compared with RMB1,263.9 million in 2021. Non-GAAP Net Loss from continuing operations([7])([8]) was RMB1,380.4 million (US$200.1 million), compared with RMB1,214.8 million in 2021.
  • Diluted loss per ADS([9]) from continuing operations was RMB18.17 (US$2.63), compared with a loss of RMB15.61 in 2021. Non-GAAP diluted loss per ADS(3)(4) from continuing operations was RMB17.09 (US$2.48), compared with a loss of RMB14.98 in 2021.
  • EBITDA([10]) from continuing operations was negative RMB1,266.2 million (US$183.6 million), compared with negative RMB976.2 million in 2021. Adjusted EBITDA(6) from continuing operations was negative RMB1,181.8 million (US$171.3 million), compared with negative RMB927.2 million in 2021.

BUSINESS HIGHLIGHTS([11]) 

BEST Freight – In the fourth quarter of 2022, Freight’s volume decreased by 7.6% year over year, and revenue decreased by 32.0% year over year to approximately RMB1.3 billion. The decrease in Freight revenue was primarily due to the wind-down of UCargo business unit.  The Company remained focused on developing its e-commerce related business, which contributed 21.2% of total volume in the fourth quarter of 2022. Freight’s gross margin was negative 1.3%, representing a 10.4 percentage points improvement from the same period of 2021 as we continued to reduce operating expenses and improve efficiency. For the full year of 2022, Freight’s volume decreased by 6.1% year over year to 8.7 million tonnes. 

BEST UCargo’s operations and financial results are now consolidated with BEST Freight. 

BEST Supply Chain Management – In the fourth quarter of 2022, total revenue for Supply Chain Management increased by 2.7% to RMB500.6 million year over year, and gross margin improved by 6.3 percentage points to 4.4%, narrowing Supply Chain Management’s net loss by RMB60.4 million, or 81.3%. Its distribution volume increased by 82.1% in the fourth quarter, while the total number of orders fulfilled by Cloud OFCs decreased by 15.6% year over year. For the full year of 2022, the distribution volume increased by 53.6% year over year, while the total number of orders fulfilled by Cloud OFCs decreased by 16.6%.  BEST Supply Chain Management’s gross margin for 2022 improved by 2.1 percentage points to 6.1%.

BEST Global – The market in Southeast Asia remained challenging in the fourth quarter of 2022. In the wake of relaxed COVID-19 pandemic control measures in the region, there was a shift in consumer consumption activities from online to offline, which negatively impacted the e-commerce logistics industry. As a result, Global’s parcel volume decreased by 41.8% year over year to 25.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. For the full year of 2022, Global’s parcel volume decreased by 19.1% year over year to 121.6 million.

Others

As part of its Strategic Refocusing Program, the Company substantially completed its wind down of the Capital business line in the fourth quarter of 2022.   

Key Operational Metrics

Three Months Ended

% Change YOY

December 31,
2020

December 31,
2021

December 31,

2022

2021 vs
2020

2022 vs
2021

Freight Volume (Tonne in ‘000)

2,623

2,408

2,226

(8.2 %)

(7.6 %)

Global Parcel Volume in
Southeast Asia (in ‘000)

27,891

43,707

25,421

56.7 %

(41.8 %)

Fiscal Year Ended

% Change YoY

December 31,
2020

December 31,
2021

December 31,

2022

2021 vs
2020

2022 vs
2021

Freight Volume (Tonne in ‘000)

8,392

9,218

8,659

9.8 %

(6.1 %)

Global Parcel Volume in
Southeast Asia (in ‘000)

73,585

150,392

121,637

104.4 %

(19.1 %)

FINANCIAL RESULTS ([12]) 

For the Fourth Quarter Ended December 31, 2022:

Revenue

The following table sets forth a breakdown of revenue by business segment for the periods indicated.

Table 1 – Breakdown of Revenue by Business Segment

Three Months Ended

December 31, 2021

December 31, 2022

(In ‘000, except for %)

RMB

% of
Revenue

RMB

US$

% of
Revenue

% Change
YOY

Total Freight

1,854,018

68.1 %

1,261,196

182,856

63.7 %

-32.0 %

  -Freight

1,503,995

55.3 %

1,260,244

182,718

63.6 %

-16.2 %

  -Legacy UCargo

350,023

12.8 %

952

138

0.1 %

-99.7 %

Supply Chain
Management

487,337

17.9 %

500,602

72,580

25.3 %

2.7 %

Global

330,564

12.1 %

195,680

28,371

9.9 %

-40.8 %

Others([13])

52,935

1.9 %

23,917

3,468

1.1 %

-54.8 %

Total Revenue

2,724,854

100.0 %

1,981,395

287,275

100.0 %

-27.3 %
  • Freight Service Revenue was RMB1,261.2 million (US$182.9 million) for the fourth quarter of 2022, compared with RMB1,854.0 million in the same period last year, of which, RMB952,000 and RMB350.0 million were from the legacy UCargo business line, respectively. Freight service revenue, excluding the legacy UCargo business, decreased by 16.2% year over year, primarily due to lower volume and decrease in average selling price per tonne.
  • Supply Chain Management Service Revenue increased by 2.7% year over year to RMB500.6 million (US$72.6 million) for the fourth quarter of 2022 from RMB487.3 million in the same period of 2021, primarily due to newly signed customers with high unit economics, and improved service capability.
  • Global Service Revenue decreased by 40.8% year over year to RMB195.7 million (US$28.4 million) for the fourth quarter of 2022 from RMB330.6 million in the same period of 2021, primarily due to decreased parcel volume.

Cost of Revenue

The following table sets forth a breakdown of cost of revenue by business segment for the periods indicated.

Table 2 – Breakdown of Cost of Revenue by Business Segment

Three Months Ended

% of Revenue
Change

YOY

December 31, 2021

December 31, 2022

(In ‘000, except for %)

RMB

% of
Revenue

RMB

US$

% of
Revenue

Freight

(2,070,840)

111.7 %

(1,277,026)

(185,151)

101.3 %

-10.4 %

Supply Chain
Management

(496,353)

101.9 %

(478,511)

(69,378)

95.6 %

-6.3 %

Global

(346,392)

104.8 %

(264,014)

(38,278)

134.9 %

30.1 %

Others

(39,679)

75.0 %

(20,321)

(2,946)

85.0 %

10.0 %

Total Cost of Revenue

(2,953,264)

108.4 %

(2,039,872)

(295,753)

103.0 %

-5.4 %
  • Cost of Revenue for Freight was RMB1,277.0 million (US$185.2 million), or 101.3% of revenue, in the fourth quarter of 2022. The 10.4% year-over-year decrease in cost of revenue as a percentage of revenue was mainly due to improved operating efficiency and effective cost control measures.
  • Cost of Revenue for Supply Chain Management was RMB478.5 million (US$69.4 million), or 95.6% of revenue, in the fourth quarter of 2022. The 6.3% year-over-year decrease in cost of revenue as a percentage of revenue was primarily due to effective cost control measures and customer structure optimization.
  • Cost of Revenue for Global was RMB264.0 million (US$38.3 million), or 134.9% of revenue, in the fourth quarter of 2022. The 30.1% year-over-year increase in cost of revenue as a percentage of revenue was primarily due to lower parcel volume. 
  • Cost of Revenue for Others was RMB20.3 million (US$2.9 million), or 85.0% of revenue, in the fourth quarter of 2022, representing a 10.0% year-over-year increase.

Gross loss was RMB58.5 million (US$8.5 million) in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared with a gross loss of RMB228.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2021; Gross Margin was negative 3.0%, compared with negative 8.4% in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Operating Expenses

Selling, General and Administrative (“SG&A”) Expenses were RMB263.4 million (US$38.2 million), or 13.3% of revenue in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared with RMB354.8 million, or 13.0% of revenue in the same quarter of 2021. The decrease in the SG&A expenses was primarily due to reduced employee headcount. 

Research and Development Expenses were RMB29.2 million (US$4.2 million), or 1.5% of revenue in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared with RMB50.3 million, or 1.8% of revenue in the fourth quarter of 2021, primarily due to reduced employee headcount.

Share-based Compensation (“SBC”) Expenses included in the cost and expense items above were RMB15.6 million (US$2.3 million) in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared with RMB23.7 million in the same period of 2021. Of the total SBC expenses, RMB0.08 million (US$0.01 million) was allocated to cost of revenue, RMB0.7 million (US$0.1 million) was allocated to selling expenses, RMB13.6 million (US$2.0 million) was allocated to general and administrative expenses, and RMB1.2 million (US$0.2 million) was allocated to research and development expenses.

Net Loss and Non-GAAP Net Loss from continuing operations

Net Loss from continuing operations in the fourth quarter of 2022 was RMB365.8 million (US$53.0 million), compared with RMB734.1 million in the same period of 2021. Excluding SBC expenses and fair value change of equity investments, Non-GAAP Net Loss from continuing operations in the fourth quarter of 2022 was RMB338.0 million (US$49.0 million), compared with RMB710.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Diluted loss per ADS and Non-GAAP diluted loss per ADS from continuing operations

Diluted loss per ADS from continuing operations in the fourth quarter of 2022 was RMB4.49 (US$0.65), compared with a loss of RMB9.07 in the same period of 2021. Excluding SBC expenses, amortization of intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions and fair value change of equity investments, Non-GAAP diluted loss per ADS from continuing operations in the fourth quarter of 2022 was RMB4.13 (US$0.60), compared with a loss of RMB8.77 in the fourth quarter of 2021. A reconciliation of non-GAAP diluted loss per ADS to diluted loss per ADS is included at the end of this results announcement.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin from continuing operations

Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations in the fourth quarter of 2022 was negative RMB296.9 million (US$43.0 million), compared with negative RMB635.2 million in the same period of 2021. Adjusted EBITDA Margin from continuing operations in the fourth quarter of 2022 was negative 15.0%, compared with negative 23.3% in the same period of 2021.

Capital Expenditures (“CAPEX”)

CAPEX was RMB11.1 million (US$1.6 million) or 0.6% of total revenue in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared with CAPEX of RMB20.6 million, or 0.8% of total revenue in the same period of 2021.

Cash and Cash Equivalents, Restricted Cash and Short-term Investments

As of December 31, 2022, cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments were RMB3.2 billion (US$464.5 million), compared with RMB5.5 billion as of December 31, 2021. In 2022, the Company bought back approximately US$200 million (RMB1.4 billion) aggregate principal amount of its existing Convertible Senior Notes due 2024.

For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2022:

Revenue

The following table sets forth a breakdown of revenue by business segment for the periods indicated.

Table 3 – Breakdown of Revenue by Business Segment

Fiscal Year Ended

December 31, 2021

December 31, 2022

(In ‘000, except for %)

RMB

% of
Revenue

RMB

US$

% of
Revenue

% Change
 YoY

Total Freight

8,244,435

72.2 %

4,888,278

708,734

63.2 %

-40.7 %

  -Freight

5,435,354

47.6 %

4,852,299

703,518

62.8 %

-10.7 %

  -Legacy UCargo

2,809,081

24.6 %

35,979

5,216

0.4 %

-98.7 %

Supply Chain
Management

1,815,104

15.9 %

1,822,075

264,176

23.5 %

0.4 %

Global

1,193,855

10.4 %

916,907

132,939

11.8 %

-23.2 %

Others

172,442

1.5 %

116,812

16,936

1.5 %

-32.3 %

Total Revenue

11,425,836

100.0 %

7,744,072

1,122,785

100.0 %

-32.2 %
  • Freight Service Revenue was RMB4,888.3 million (US$708.7 million) in 2022 compared with RMB8,244.4 million in 2021, of which, RMB36.0 million and RMB2,809.1 million were from the legacy UCargo business line in 2022 and 2021, respectively. Freight service revenue, excluding the legacy UCargo business, decreased by 10.7% year over year, primarily due to lower volume.
  • Supply Chain Management Service Revenue increased by 0.4% year over year to RMB1,822.1 million (US$264.2 million) in 2022 from RMB1,815.1 million in 2021, primarily due to newly signed customers with high unit economics following discontinuation of certain low margin legacy accounts, as well as improved service capability.
  • Global Service Revenue decreased by 23.2% year over year to RMB916.9 million (US$132.9 million) in 2022 from RMB1,193.9 million in 2021, primarily due to decreased parcel volume.

Cost of Revenue

The following table sets forth a breakdown of cost of revenue by business segment for the periods indicated.

Table 4 – Breakdown of Cost of Revenue by Business Segment

Fiscal Year Ended

% of Revenue
Change

YoY

December 31, 2021

December 31, 2022

(In ‘000, except for %)

RMB

% of
Revenue

RMB

US$

% of
Revenue

Freight

(8,506,738)

103.2 %

(5,114,937)

(741,596)

104.6 %

1.4 %

Supply Chain
Management

(1,741,832)

96.0 %

(1,711,818)

(248,190)

93.9 %

-2.1 %

Global

(1,258,511)

105.4 %

(1,081,587)

(156,815)

118.0 %

12.6 %

Others

(118,143)

68.5 %

(99,288)

(14,395)

85.0 %

16.5 %

Total Cost of Revenue

(11,625,224)

101.7 %

(8,007,630)

(1,160,996)

103.4 %

1.7 %
  • Cost of Revenue for Freight was RMB5,114.9 million (US$741.6 million), or 104.6% of revenue in 2022. The 1.4% year-over-year increase in cost of revenue as a percentage of revenue was mainly due to lower volume.
  • Cost of Revenue for Supply Chain Management was RMB1,711.8 million (US$248.2 million), or 93.9% of revenue in 2022. The 2.1% year-over-year decrease in cost of revenue as a percentage of revenue was primarily due to effective cost control measures and customer structure optimization.
  • Cost of Revenue for Global was RMB1,081.6 million (US$156.8 million), or 118.0% of revenue in 2022. The 12.6% year-over-year increase in cost of revenue as a percentage of revenue was primarily due to lower parcel volume.  
  • Cost of Revenue for Others was RMB99.3 million (US$14.4 million), or 85.0% of revenue in 2022, representing a 16.5% year-over-year increase.

Gross loss was RMB263.6 million (US$38.2 million) in 2022, compared with a gross loss of RMB199.4 million in 2021; Gross Margin was negative 3.4%, compared with negative 1.7% in 2021.

Operating Expenses

Selling, General and Administrative (“SG&A”) Expenses were RMB1,127.3 million (US$163.4 million), or 14.6% of revenue in 2022, compared with RMB1,141.7 million, or 10.0% of revenue in 2021 due to reduced employee headcount.

Research and Development Expenses were RMB144.2 million (US$20.9 million), or 1.9% of revenue in 2022, compared with RMB180.2 million, or 1.6% of revenue in 2021 due to reduced employee headcount. 

Share-based Compensation (“SBC”) Expenses included in the cost and expense items above were RMB72.1 million (US$10.5 million) in 2022, compared with RMB107.7 million in 2021. Of the total SBC expenses, RMB0.32 million (US$0.05 million) was allocated to cost of revenue, RMB3.5 million (US$0.5 million) was allocated to selling expenses, RMB63.3 million (US$9.2 million) was allocated to general and administrative expenses, and RMB5.0 million (US$0.7 million) was allocated to research and development expenses.

Net Loss and Non-GAAP Net Loss from continuing operations

Net Loss from continuing operations in 2022 was RMB1,464.8 million (US$212.4 million), compared with RMB1,263.9 million in 2021. Excluding SBC expenses and fair value change of equity investments, Non-GAAP Net Loss from continuing operations in 2022 was RMB1,380.4 million (US$200.1 million), compared with RMB1,214.8 million in 2021.

Diluted loss per ADS and Non-GAAP diluted loss per ADS from continuing operations

Diluted loss per ADS from continuing operations in 2022 was RMB18.17 (US$2.63), compared with a loss of RMB15.61 in 2021. Excluding SBC expenses, amortization of intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions and fair value change of equity investments, Non-GAAP diluted loss per ADS from continuing operations in 2022 was RMB17.09 (US$2.48), compared with a loss of RMB14.98 in 2021. A reconciliation of non-GAAP diluted loss per ADS to diluted loss per ADS is included at the end of this results announcement.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin from continuing operations

Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations in 2022 was negative RMB1,181.8 million (US$171.3 million), compared with negative RMB927.2 million in 2021. Adjusted EBITDA Margin from continuing operations in 2022 was negative 15.3%, compared with negative 8.1% in 2021.

Capital Expenditures (“CAPEX”)

CAPEX was RMB143.3 million (US$20.8 million) or 1.9% of total revenue in 2022, compared with CAPEX of RMB160.0 million, or 1.4% of total revenue in 2021. 

SHARES OUTSTANDING

As of February 28, 2023, the Company had approximately 393.9 million ordinary shares outstanding([14]). Each American Depositary Share represents five (5) Class A ordinary shares.

FINANCIAL GUIDANCE

The Company confirms its guidance for total revenue between RMB 9.0 billion and RMB 9.5 billion for the full year of 2023.

This forecast reflects the Company’s current and preliminary view based on its current business situation and market conditions, which are subject to change.

WEBCAST AND CONFERENCE CALL INFORMATION

The Company will hold a conference call at 8:00 pm U.S. Eastern Time on March 8, 2023 (9:00 am Beijing Time on March 9, 2023), to discuss its financial results and operating performance for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2022.

Participants may access the call by dialing the following numbers:

United States                                      : +1-888-317-6003

Hong Kong                                          : 800-963976 or +852-5808-1995

Mainland China                                   : 4001-206115

International                                        : +1-412-317-6061

Participant Elite Entry Number           : 1659917

A replay of the conference call will be accessible through March 15, 2023 by dialing the following numbers:

United States                                       : +1-877-344-7529

International                                         : +1-412-317-0088

Replay Access Code                          : 1608887

Please visit the Company’s investor relations website to view the earnings release prior to the conference call. A live and archived webcast of the conference call and a corporate presentation will be available at the same site.

ABOUT BEST INC.

BEST Inc. (NYSE: BEST) is a leading integrated smart supply chain solutions and logistics services provider in China and Southeast Asia. Through its proprietary technology platform and extensive networks, BEST offers a comprehensive set of logistics and value-added services, including freight delivery, supply chain management and global logistics services. BEST’s mission is to empower business and enrich life by leveraging technology and business model innovation to create a smarter, more efficient supply chain. For more information, please visit: http://www.best-inc.com/en/.  

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

BEST Inc.
Investor relations team                         
ir@best-inc.com

The Piacente Group, Inc.
Helen Wu
Tel: +86-10-6508-0677
E-mail: best@tpg-ir.com

The Piacente Group, Inc.
Brandi Piacente
Tel: +1-212-481-2050
E-mail:  best@tpg-ir.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” and similar statements. Among other things, the business outlook and quotations from management in this announcement, as well as BEST’s strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. BEST may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), in its annual report to shareholders, 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 BEST’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: BEST’s goals and strategies; BEST’s future business development, results of operations and financial condition; BEST’s ability to maintain and enhance its ecosystem; BEST’s ability to compete effectively; BEST’s ability to continue to innovate, meet evolving market trends, adapt to changing customer demands and maintain its culture of innovation; fluctuations in general economic and business conditions in China and other countries in which BEST operates, and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in BEST’s filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and BEST does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

USE OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

In evaluating its business, BEST considers and uses non-GAAP measures, such as non-GAAP net loss/income, non-GAAP net loss/income margin, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, EBITDA, and non-GAAP Diluted earnings/loss per ADS, as supplemental measures in the evaluation of the Company’s operating results and in the Company’s financial and operational decision-making. The Company believes these non-GAAP financial measures that help identify underlying trends in the Company’s business that could otherwise be distorted by the effect of the expenses and gains that the Company includes in loss from operations and net loss. The Company believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information about its operating results, enhance the overall understanding of its past performance and future prospects and allow for greater visibility with respect to key metrics used by the Company’s management in its financial and operational decision-making. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. For more information on these non-GAAP financial measures, please see the table captioned “Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Measures to the Nearest Comparable GAAP Measures” in the results announcement.

The non-GAAP financial measures are provided as additional information to help investors compare business trends among different reporting periods on a consistent basis and to enhance investors’ overall understanding of the Company’s current financial performance and prospects for the future. These non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to results prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, but should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, U.S. GAAP results. In addition, the Company’s calculation of the non-GAAP financial measures may be different from the calculation used by other companies, and therefore comparability may be limited.

Summary of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Income Statements

(In Thousands)

Three Months Ended December 31,

Fiscal Year Ended December 31,

2021

2022

2021

2022

RMB

RMB

US$

RMB

RMB

US$

Revenue

Freight

1,854,018

1,261,196

182,856

8,244,435

4,888,278

708,734

-Freight

1,503,995

1,260,244

182,718

5,435,354

4852,299

705,696

-Legacy UCargo

350,023

952

138

2,809,081

35,979

3,038

Supply Chain Management

487,337

500,602

72,580

1,815,104

1,822,075

264,176

Global

330,564

195,680

28,371

1,193,855

916,907

132,939

Others

52,935

23,917

3,468

172,442

116,812

16,936

Total Revenue

2,724,854

1,981,395

287,275

11,425,836

7,744,072

1,122,785

Cost of Revenue

Freight

(2,070,840)

(1,277,026)

(185,151)

(8,506,738)

(5,114,937)

(741,596)

Supply Chain Management

(496,353)

(478,511)

(69,378)

(1,741,832)

(1,711,818)

(248,190)

Global

(346,392)

(264,014)

(38,278)

(1,258,511)

(1,081,587)

(156,815)

Others

(39,679)

(20,321)

(2,946)

(118,143)

(99,288)

(14,395)

Total Cost of Revenue

(2,953,264)

(2,039,872)

(295,753)

(11,625,224)

(8,007,630)

(1,160,996)

Gross Loss

(228,410)

(58,477)

(8,478)

(199,388)

(263,558)

(38,211)

Selling Expenses

(73,021)

(54,621)

(7,919)

(260,219)

(237,918)

(34,495)

General and Administrative
   Expenses

(281,772)

(208,738)

(30,264)

(881,498)

(889,345)

(128,943)

Research and Development
   Expenses

(50,294)

(29,247)

(4,240)

(180,204)

(144,181)

(20,904)

Other operating (loss)/income, net

(89,893)

3,387

491

58,337

108,817

15,777

Loss from Operations

(723,390)

(347,696)

(50,410)

(1,462,972)

(1,426,185)

(206,776)

Interest Income

17,735

19,208

2,785

49,658

80,361

11,651

Interest Expense

(29,310)

(16,329)

(2,367)

(142,751)

(89,058)

(12,912)

Foreign Exchange Gain/(loss)

44,186

68,318

9,905

44,556

(132,730)

(19,244)

Other Income

6,709

2,149

312

321,075

25,914

3,757

Other Expense

(34,657)

(13,815)

(2,003)

(55,253)

5,763

836

(Loss)/Gain on changes in the fair
value of derivative assets/liabilities

(14,918)

(77,577)

(11,248)

(14,918)

71,619

10,384

Loss before Income Tax and
   Share of Net Loss of Equity
   Investees

(733,645)

(365,742)

(53,026)

(1,260,605)

(1,464,316)

(212,304)

Income Tax Expense

(500)

(106)

(15)

(3,198)

(511)

(74)

Loss before Share of Net loss of
   Equity Investees

(734,145)

(365,848)

(53,041)

(1,263,803)

(1,464,827)

(212,378)

Share of Net Loss of Equity
   Investees

–

–

–

(58)

–

–

Net Loss from continuing
   operations

(734,145)

(365,848)

(53,041)

(1,263,861)

(1,464,827)

(212,378)

Net gain/(loss) from discontinued
   operations

2,679,400

(31,787)

(4,609)

1,473,489

(38,464)

(5,577)

Net Gain/(Loss)

1,945,255

(397,635)

(57,650)

209,628

(1,503,291)

(217,955)

Net Loss from continuing operations
   attributable to non-controlling
   interests

(28,727)

(13,055)

(1,893)

(52,279)

(39,980)

(5,797)

Net Gain/(Loss) attributable to
   BEST Inc.

1,973,982

(384,580)

(55,757)

261,907

(1,463,311)

(212,158)

Summary of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(In Thousands)

As of December 31,2021

As of December 31, 2022

RMB

RMB

US$

Assets

Current Assets

Cash and Cash Equivalents

3,571,745

533,481

77,347

Restricted Cash

675,159

399,337

57,898

Accounts and Notes Receivables

827,631

691,324

100,237

Inventories

25,622

16,480

2,389

Prepayments and Other Current
   Assets

1,172,472

795,401

115,322

Short–term Investments

147,359

725,043

105,121

Amounts Due from Related Parties

125,198

76,368

11,072

Lease Rental Receivables

298,364

43,067

6,244

Total Current Assets

6,843,550

3,280,501

475,630

Non–current Assets

Property and Equipment, Net

762,642

784,732

113,775

Intangible Assets, Net

55,684

75,553

10,954

Long–term Investments

219,171

156,859

22,742

Goodwill

54,135

54,135

7,849

Non–current Deposits

92,866

50,767

7,361

Other Non–current Assets

111,640

75,666

10,971

Restricted Cash

1,069,244

1,545,605

224,092

Lease Rental Receivables

235,429

40,188

5,827

Operating Lease Right-of-use
Assets

1,899,522

1,743,798

252,827

Total non–current Assets

4,500,333

4,527,303

656,398

Total Assets

11,343,883

7,807,804

1,132,028

Liabilities and Shareholders’
   Equity

Current Liabilities

Long-term borrowings-current

287,814

79,148

11,475

Convertible Senior Notes held by
   related parties

633,475

1,045,488

151,582

Convertible Senior Notes held by
   third parties

633,475

77

11

Short–term Bank Loans

530,495

183,270

26,572

Accounts and Notes Payable

1,353,150

1,430,004

207,331

Income Tax Payable

587

1,563

227

Customer Advances and Deposits
   and Deferred Revenue

298,353

277,737

40,268

Accrued Expenses and Other
   Liabilities

1,591,639

1,198,228

173,727

Financing Lease Liabilities

1,851

1,490

216

Operating Lease Liabilities

518,248

544,262

78,911

Amounts Due to Related Parties

2,763

1,315

191

Total Current Liabilities

5,851,850

4,762,582

690,511

Summary of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Cont’d)

(In Thousands)

As of December 31, 2021

As of December 31, 2022

RMB

RMB

US$

Non-current Liabilities

Convertible senior notes held by

 related parties

955,097

–

–

Long-term borrowings

67,080

381

55

Operating Lease Liabilities

1,456,843

1,292,057

187,331

Financing Lease Liabilities

2,121

1,392

202

Other Non–current Liabilities

24,261

18,752

2,719

Long-term Bank Loans

769,767

928,894

134,677

Total Non–current Liabilities

3,275,169

2,241,476

324,984

Total Liabilities

9,127,019

7,004,058

1,015,495

Mezzanine Equity:

Convertible Non-controlling Interests

191,865

191,865

27,818

Total mezzanine equity

191,865

191,865

27,818

Shareholders’ Equity

Ordinary Shares

25,988

25,988

3,768

Treasury Shares

(113,031)

–

–

Additional Paid–In Capital

19,522,173

19,481,417

2,824,540

Statutory reserves

167

–

–

Accumulated Deficit

(17,471,716)

(18,934,860)([15])

(2,745,297)

Accumulated Other
   Comprehensive Income

107,379

124,464

18,046

BEST Inc. Shareholders’ Equity

2,070,960

697,009

101,057

Non-controlling Interests

(45,961)

(85,128)

(12,342)

Total Shareholders’ Equity

2,024,999

611,881

88,715

Total Liabilities, Mezzanine Equity
   and Shareholders’ Equity

11,343,883

7,807,804

1,132,028

     Summary of Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

   (In Thousands)

Three Months Ended December 31,

Fiscal Year Ended December 31,

2021

2022

2021

2022

RMB

RMB

US$

RMB

RMB

US$

Net cash used in continuing
   operating activities

(508,632)

(241,890)

(35,071)

(891,135)

(1,051,662)

(152,478)

Net cash used in discontinued
   operating activities

(387,540)

–

–

(1,912,826)

(66,174)

(9,594)

Net cash used in operating
   activities

(896,172)

(241,890)

(35,071)

(2,803,961)

(1,117,836)

(162,072)

Net cash generated from
   continuing investing activities

3,236,982

239,536

34,729

4,990,734

150,756

21,858

Net cash used in discontinued
   Investing activities

(97,328)

–

–

(448,016)

–

–

Net cash generated from 
   investing activities

3,139,654

239,536

34,729

4,542,718

150,756

21,858

Net cash (used in)/generated
   from continuing financing
   activities

(746,656)

481

70

(237,922)

(1,948,367)

(282,487)

Net cash generated from/(used
   in) discontinued financing
   activities

469,421

–

–

(337,838)

–

–

Net cash (used in)/generated
   from financing activities

(277,235)

481

70

(575,760)

(1,948,367)

(282,487)

Exchange Rate Effect on Cash
   and Cash Equivalents, and
   Restricted Cash

(29,450)

(14,864)

(2,155)

(55,970)

77,722

11,269

Net increase/(decrease) in
   Cash and Cash Equivalents,
   and Restricted Cash

1,936,797

(16,737)

(2,427)

1,107,027

(2,837,725)

(411,432)

Cash and Cash Equivalents,
   and Restricted Cash at
   Beginning of Period

3,379,351

2,495,160

361,764

4,209,121

5,316,148

770,769

Cash and Cash Equivalents,
   and Restricted Cash at End
   of Period

5,316,148

2,478,423

359,337

5,316,148

2,478,423

359,337

RECONCILIATIONS OF NON-GAAP MEASURES TO THE NEAREST COMPARABLE GAAP MEASURES

For the Company’s continuing operations, the table below sets forth a reconciliation of the Company’s net loss to EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin for the periods indicated:

Table 5 – Reconciliation of EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin 

Three Months Ended December 31, 2022

(In RMB’000)

Freight

Supply Chain

Global

Others

Unallocated([16])

Total

Net Loss

(137,133)

(13,939)

(134,200)

(25,378)

(55,198)

(365,848)

Add

Depreciation &
Amortization

19,411

7,492

11,682

847

4,448

43,880

Interest Expense

–

–

–

–

16,329

16,329

Income Tax Expense

–

(12)

(5)

123

–

106

Subtract

Interest Income

–

–

–

–

(19,208)

(19,208)

EBITDA

(117,722)

(6,459)

(122,523)

(24,408)

(53,629)

(324,741)

Add

 Share-based

Compensation
Expenses

2,237

1,259

(235)

25

12,291

15,577

Loss from
depreciation of
investments

–

–

–

–

12,312

12,312

Adjusted EBITDA

(115,485)

(5,200)

(122,758)

(24,383)

(29,026)

(296,852)

Adjusted EBITDA
  Margin

(9.2 %)

(1.0 %)

(62.7 %)

(101.9 %)

–

(15.0 %)

Three Months Ended December 31, 2021

(In RMB’000)

Freight

Supply Chain

Global

Others

Unallocated([17])

Total

Net Loss

(447,057)

(74,380)

(85,518)

(60,046)

(67,144)

(734,145)

Add

Depreciation &
Amortization

19,730

9,431

4,696

23,257

6,058

63,172

Interest Expense

–

–

–

–

29,310

29,310

Income Tax
Expense

–

79

–

421

–

500

Subtract

Interest Income

–

–

–

–

(17,735)

(17,735)

EBITDA

(427,327)

(64,870)

(80,822)

(36,368)

(49,511)

(658,898)

Add

 Share-based

Compensation
Expenses

3,404

1,967

2,066

124

16,173

23,734

Adjusted EBITDA

(423,923)

(62,903)

(78,756)

(36,244)

(33,338)

(635,164)

Adjusted EBITDA
Margin

(22.9 %)

(12.9 %)

（23.8%)

(68.5 %)

–

(23.3 %)

Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2022

(In RMB’000)

Freight

Supply Chain

Global

Others

Unallocated([18])

Total

Net Loss

(506,411)

(32,277)

(420,687)

(213,794)

(291,658)

(1,464,827)

Add

Depreciation &
Amortization

79,273

35,789

29,300

22,846

22,179

189,387

Interest Expense

–

–

–

–

89,058

89,058

Income Tax
Expense

–

23

25

451

12

511

Subtract

Interest Income

–

–

–

–

(80,361)

(80,361)

EBITDA

(427,138)

3,535

(391,362)

(190,497)

(260,770)

(1,266,232)

Add

 Share-based

Compensation
Expenses

10,478

6,081

4,962

319

50,256

72,096

Loss from
depreciation of
investments

–

–

–

–

12,312

12,312

Adjusted EBITDA

(416,660)

9,616

(386,400)

(190,178)

(198,202)

(1,181,824)

Adjusted EBITDA
Margin

(8.5 %)

0.5 %

(42.1 %)

(162.8 %)

–

(15.3 %)

Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2021

(In RMB’000)

Freight

Supply Chain

Global

Others

Unallocated([19])

Total

Net Loss

(707,793)

(103,387)

(267,902)

(90,775)

(94,004)

(1,263,861)

Add

Depreciation &
Amortization

83,425

38,525

19,506

24,396

25,513

191,365

Interest Expense

–

–

–

–

142,751

142,751

Income Tax
Expense/(Benefit)

–

173

21

3,010

(6)

3,198

Subtract

Interest Income

–

–

–

–

(49,658)

(49,658)

EBITDA

(624,368)

(64,689)

(248,375)

(63,369)

24,596

(976,205)

Add

 Share-based

Compensation
Expenses

13,537

8,351

8,604

608

76,581

107,681

Subtract

Gain from
appreciation of
investments

–

–

–

–

(58,643)

(58,643)

Adjusted EBITDA

(610,831)

(56,338)

(239,771)

(62,761)

42,534

(927,167)

Adjusted EBITDA
Margin

(7.4 %)

(3.1 %)

(20.1 %)

(36.4 %)

–

(8.1 %)

For the Company’s continuing operations, the table below sets forth a reconciliation of the Company’s net loss to non-GAAP net loss, non-GAAP net loss margin for the periods indicated:

Table 6 – Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Net Loss and Non-GAAP Net Loss Margin

Three Months Ended December 31, 2022

(In RMB’000)

Freight

Supply Chain

Global

Others

Unallocated([20])

Total

Net Loss

(137,133)

(13,939)

(134,200)

(25,378)

(55,198)

(365,848)

Add

 Share-based

Compensation
Expenses

2,237

1,259

(235)

25

12,291

15,577

Loss from
depreciation of
investments

–

–

–

–

12,312

12,312

Non-GAAP Net
    Loss

(134,896)

(12,680)

(134,435)

(25,353)

(30,595)

(337,959)

Non-GAAP Net
    Loss Margin

(10.7 %)

(2.5 %)

(68.7 %)

(106.0 %)

–

(17.1 %)

Three Months Ended December 31, 2021

(In RMB’000)

Freight

Supply Chain

Global

Others

Unallocated([21])

Total

Net Loss

(447,057)

(74,380)

(85,518)

(60,046)

(67,144)

(734,145)

Add

 Share-based

Compensation
Expenses

3,404

1,967

2,066

124

16,173

23,734

Non-GAAP Net

Loss

(443,653)

(72,413)

(83,452)

(59,922)

(50,971)

(710,411)

Non-GAAP Net

Loss Margin

(23.9 %)

(14.9 %)

(25.2 %)

(113.2 %)

–

(26.1 %)

Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2022

(In RMB’000)

Freight

Supply Chain

Global

Others

Unallocated([22])

Total

Net Loss

(506,411)

(32,277)

(420,687)

(213,794)

(291,658)

(1,464,827)

Add

 Share-based

Compensation
Expenses

10,478

6,081

4,962

319

50,256

72,096

 Loss from
 depreciation of
investments

–

–

–

–

12,312

12,312

Non-GAAP Net

Loss

(495,933)

(26,196)

(415,725)

(213,475)

(229,090)

(1,380,419)

Non-GAAP Net

Loss Margin

(10.1 %)

(1.4 %)

(45.3 %)

(182.8 %)

–

(17.8 %)

Fiscal Year  Ended December 31, 2021

(In RMB’000)

Freight

Supply Chain

Global

Others

Unallocated([23])

Total

Net Loss

(707,793)

(103,387)

(267,902)

(90,775)

(94,004)

(1,263,861)

Add

 Share-based

Compensation
Expenses

13,537

8,351

8,604

608

76,581

107,681

Subtract

Gain from
appreciation of
investments

–

–

–

–

(58,643)

(58,643)

Non-GAAP Net

Loss

(694,256)

(95,036)

(259,298)

(90,167)

(76,066)

(1,214,823)

Non-GAAP Net

Loss Margin

(8.4 %)

(5.2 %)

(21.7 %)

(52.3 %)

–

(10.6 %)

For the Company’s continuing operations, the table below sets forth a reconciliation of the Company’s diluted loss per ADS to Non-GAAP diluted loss per ADS for the periods indicated:

Table 7 – Reconciliation of diluted loss per ADS and Non-GAAP diluted loss per ADS

Three Months Ended December 31,

Fiscal Year Ended December 31,

2022

2022

(In ‘000)

RMB

US$

RMB

US$

Net Loss Attributable to Ordinary Shareholders

(352,793)

(51,148)

(1,424,847)

(206,581)

Add

Share-based Compensation Expenses

15,577

2,258

72,096

10,454

Loss from depreciation of investments

12,312

1,785

12,312

1,785

Non-GAAP Net Loss Attributable to Ordinary
   Shareholders

(324,904)

(47,105)

(1,340,439)

(194,342)

Weighted Average Diluted Ordinary Shares 
   Outstanding During the Quarter

Diluted

393,078,084

393,078,084

392,192,648

392,192,648

Diluted (Non-GAAP)

393,078,084

393,078,084

392,192,648

392,192,648

Diluted loss per ordinary share

(0.90)

(0.13)

(3.63)

(0.53)

Add

Non-GAAP adjustment to net loss per   
   ordinary share

0.07

0.01

0.21

0.03

Non-GAAP diluted loss per ordinary share

(0.83)

(0.12)

(3.42)

(0.50)

Diluted loss per ADS

(4.49)

(0.65)

(18.17)

(2.63)

Add

Non-GAAP adjustment to net loss per ADS

0.36

0.05

1.08

0.15

Non-GAAP diluted loss per ADS

(4.13)

(0.60)

(17.09)

(2.48)

([1]) All numbers presented have been rounded to the nearest integer, tenth, or hundredth, and year over year comparisons are based on figures before rounding.                     

([2]) In December 2021, BEST sold its China express business, the principal terms of which were previously announced. As a result, China express business has been deconsolidated from the Company and its historical financial results are reflected in the Company’s consolidated financial statements as discontinued operations accordingly. The financial information and non-GAAP financial information disclosed in this press release is presented on a continuing operations basis, unless otherwise specifically stated.

([3]) Non-GAAP net income/loss represents net income/loss excluding share-based compensation expenses, amortization of intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions, and fair value change of equity investments (if any).

([4]) See the sections entitled “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” and “Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Measures to the Nearest Comparable GAAP Measures” for more information about the non-GAAP measures referred to within this results announcement.

([5]) Diluted earnings/loss per ADS, is calculated by dividing net income/loss attributable to ordinary shareholders as adjusted for the effect of dilutive ordinary equivalent shares, if any, by the weighted average number of ordinary and dilutive ordinary equivalent shares expressed in ADS outstanding during the period.

([6]) EBITDA represents net income/loss excluding depreciation, amortization, interest expense and income tax expense and minus interest income. Adjusted EBITDA represents EBITDA excluding share-based compensation expenses and fair value change of equity investments (if any).

([7]) Non-GAAP net income/loss represents net income/loss excluding share-based compensation expenses, amortization of intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions, and fair value change of equity investments (if any).

([8]) See the sections entitled “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” and “Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Measures to the Nearest Comparable GAAP Measures” for more information about the non-GAAP measures referred to within this results announcement.

([9]) Diluted earnings/loss per ADS, is calculated by dividing net income/loss attributable to ordinary shareholders as adjusted for the effect of dilutive ordinary equivalent shares, if any, by the weighted average number of ordinary and dilutive ordinary equivalent shares expressed in ADS outstanding during the period.

([10]) EBITDA represents net income/loss excluding depreciation, amortization, interest expense and income tax expense and minus interest income. Adjusted EBITDA represents EBITDA excluding share-based compensation expenses and fair value change of equity investments (if any).

([11]) All numbers presented have been rounded to the nearest integer, tenth, or hundredth, and year over year comparisons are based on figures before rounding.                     

([12]) All numbers represented the financial results from continuing operations, unless otherwise stated.             

([13]) “Others” Segment primarily represents Capital business units. Results from UCargo’s legacy contracts with external customers are now reported under “Freight” segment and prior period segment information were retrospectively revised to conform to current period presentation.         

([14]) The total number of shares outstanding excludes shares reserved for future issuances upon exercise or vesting of awards granted under the Company’s share incentive plans.

([15]) Including accumulated accretion to redemption value and deemed dividend in relation to redeemable convertible preferred shares of RMB9,493,807, and accumulated loss from operations of RMB9,441,053.

([16]) Unallocated expenses are primarily related to corporate administrative expenses and other miscellaneous items that are not allocated to individual segments.

([17]) Unallocated expenses are primarily related to corporate administrative expenses and other miscellaneous items that are not allocated to individual segments.

([18]) Unallocated expenses are primarily related to corporate administrative expenses and other miscellaneous items that are not allocated to individual segments.

([19]) Unallocated expenses are primarily related to corporate administrative expenses and other miscellaneous items that are not allocated to individual segments.

([20]) Unallocated expenses are primarily related to corporate administrative expenses and other miscellaneous items that are not allocated to individual segments.

([21]) Unallocated expenses are primarily related to corporate administrative expenses and other miscellaneous items that are not allocated to individual segments.

([22]) Unallocated expenses are primarily related to corporate administrative expenses and other miscellaneous items that are not allocated to individual segments.

([23]) Unallocated expenses are primarily related to corporate administrative expenses and other miscellaneous items that are not allocated to individual segments.

Cision View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/best-inc-announces-unaudited-fourth-quarter-and-fiscal-year-2022-financial-results-301765733.html

Source: BEST Inc.

PR Newswire

WiMi to Work on Convolutional Neural Network-Based Image Enhancement Algorithms

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BEIJING, March 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — WiMi Hologram Cloud Inc. (NASDAQ: WIMI) (“WiMi” or the “Company”), a leading global Hologram Augmented Reality (“AR”) Technology provider, today announced that it is working on image enhancement algorithms based on CNN (convolutional neural network). CNNs have had significant achievements in many fields, such as computer vision and natural language processing. Applying convolutional neural networks to image enhancement has obvious advantages and can solve challenges in different environments.

The essence of CNN is to map the input image to a new mathematical model through multiple data transformations or dimensionality reduction. A CNN consists mainly of an input layer, a convolutional layer, a pooling layer, a fully connected layer, and an output layer.

The convolution layer performs a convolution operation on the input image or the output features of the previous layer, calculates the inner product of the entire convolution kernel and the corresponding position of the input image or feature map, and extracts the relevant image feature map. The pooling layer reduces the number of parameters and computational effort in the network by reducing the dimensionality of the activation feature map, maintaining the feature scale invariance property, and reducing overfitting to a certain extent. The pooling layer can downsample the image using the basis associated with the image section, reducing the amount of computational data and retaining valid information values. After multiple convolutional pooling operations on the image, the convolutional neural network classifies the features through the fully connected layer by using the one-dimensional activation feature vector obtained by expanding the three-dimensional activation feature map as input to the fully connected layer.

WiMi’s CNN-based image enhancement algorithms have substantial advantages in both extracting image feature information and feature representation. CNNs can share weights, perform convolutional calculations, and have powerful feature learning and mapping capabilities. It also ensures noise suppression and image detail preservation, has exceptionally high invariance during image displacement, scaling, and other deformations and exhibits better-reconstructed image quality.

CNNs can learn complex hierarchical features of images and accomplish complex image recognition tasks. At the same time, CNN-based feature extraction can understand a picture’s deep semantic feature information. This enables it to capture the contextual content of an image well and to train and learn the input image repeatedly, ultimately obtaining the best image enhancement effect to meet the requirements of the human visual system for images.

Currently, image enhancement algorithms based on CNN are widely used in security, medicine, and ecology. In the era of rapid global information development, world knowledge is increasingly dependent on the explosive transmission of information. Most people still know the world mainly through their eyes. Therefore, images are not only a carrier of human visual information but also an essential medium for disseminating information. To obtain practical information from images quickly, the demand for image quality is increasing, the need for image enhancement will continue to grow, and the field of application of image enhancement technology will be further expanded.

In the future, WiMi’s CNN-based image enhancement algorithm will strive for better progress and greater breakthroughs in visual effects, contrast ratio, and signal-to-noise ratio, laying a solid technical foundation for it to play a more significant role in more industrial fields.

About WIMI Hologram Cloud

WIMI Hologram Cloud, Inc. (NASDAQ:WIMI), whose commercial operations began in 2015, is a holographic cloud comprehensive technical solution provider that focuses on professional areas including holographic AR automotive HUD software, 3D holographic pulse LiDAR, head-mounted light field holographic equipment, holographic semiconductor, holographic cloud software, holographic car navigation and others. Its services and holographic AR technologies include holographic AR automotive application, 3D holographic pulse LiDAR technology, holographic vision semiconductor technology, holographic software development, holographic AR advertising technology, holographic AR entertainment technology, holographic ARSDK payment, interactive holographic communication and other holographic AR technologies.

Safe Harbor Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the 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,” and similar statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Among other things, the business outlook and quotations from management in this press release and the Company’s strategic and operational plans contain forward−looking statements. The Company may also make written or oral forward−looking statements in its periodic reports to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on Forms 20−F and 6−K, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases, and other written materials, and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Several factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward−looking statement, including but not limited to the following: the Company’s goals and strategies; the Company’s future business development, financial condition, and results of operations; the expected growth of the AR holographic industry; and the Company’s expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of its products and services.

Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company’s annual report on Form 20-F and the current report on Form 6-K and other documents filed with the SEC. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable laws.

Cision View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wimi-to-work-on-convolutional-neural-network-based-image-enhancement-algorithms-301765561.html

Source: WiMi Hologram Cloud Inc.

Computers, Contributed, Gaming, Lifestyle

Concept Nyx and Explorations for the Future of Connection

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How will we connect with colleagues in five to ten years’ time? Will we all be interacting with holograms? Fully immersed in virtual worlds? Or will the reality be much closer to how most of us work from our laptops today?

Virtual worlds and immersive experiences could offer exciting new ways to connect with others – and our content. And with people more dispersed and working patterns more personalised than before, how we collaborate and get things done has never been more important.

Dell Concept Nyx Ecosystem 4

It’s my team’s role to dig into future trends and technologies, experiment with solutions and reimagine experiences. Though immersive environments will play a role in the future of work, face-to-face meetings, instant messages, collaboration tools, and video calls aren’t going anywhere. That’s why we’re focusing on the user experience and honing in on everyday micro-moments that could be disruptive as we potentially bounce between physical, digital and virtual worlds in the future.

We’re asking questions like: How will people interact at the intersections of these worlds? What tools will people need to move between these locations seamlessly? What if people don’t want to wear a headset and dive into a virtual world for 8 hours a day – would they be excluded from future projects or collaboration opportunities?

Intelligent, familiar tools for future interactions

Using Concept Nyx’s ability to deliver compute all around, powered at the edge, we have been exploring how familiar devices and peripherals could be paired with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to work together as an ecosystem to deliver easily accessible and immersive experiences beyond gaming.

Dell Concept Nyx Ecosystem 1

Our labs are packed with curated immersive demonstrations and concepts to help us test and explore how Dell could help people move between various spaces and tasks intuitively in the future. From fully immersive Virtual Reality (VR) builds to Mixed Reality (XR) experiences featuring displays and other tools that remove the need for a VR headset, these environments have helped us evolve concepts like the Concept Nyx Companion. As a lightweight tablet-style device that could be viewed and accessed in VR and XR environments, the concept could be a consistent tool throughout all these spaces and could ensure a user’s content is in one place as they move between spaces and tasks. No more taking photos of whiteboards or copying notes to be uploaded to a different space – users could just screenshot their project space and/or easily copy content for sharing across screens.

Together with the Concept Nyx Stylus, you could input notes by voice or via pen, and drag + drop them into digital and virtual collaboration spaces, and even use the voice activation for AI image creation – perfect for non-aspiring artists! All these tools could also seamlessly be used alongside the Concept Nyx Spatial Input in a future desktop environment with a keyboard and mouse, and possibly 3D displays too. We’ve been looking at creative ways to connect these traditional tools for a clutter-free space, and we’ve also been thinking about intuitive gestures for interacting with content – for example, using the tip of the Stylus for writing and the top of the Stylus for interacting with onscreen content or using the Spatial Input as a dial for a 360 view or for zooming in on details.

Dell Concept Nyx Ecosystem 2

We’ve even been thinking through how people might show up in future digital and virtual spaces. We’ve all been on video calls where we need to step away for a moment to answer the door or tend to a pet or child off-camera. Instead of leaving a blank screen, empty seat, or static 2015 headshot, imagine with a wave of your hand, you could stay present as an intelligent avatar while you step away or stay off camera completely. To explore this, we’ve been experimenting with gestures and movement tracking and building on our imaging technology and video conferencing expertise to create the Concept Nyx Spatial camera, which when paired with AI software, could learn a user’s expressions and mannerisms to deliver a more authentic representation of them for future interactions.

Advancing the Concept Nyx Ecosystem

From infrastructure to devices, Dell is at the centre of present and future workplaces and is focused on developing the tools that will be needed to navigate these spaces. Right now, this means bringing tools to market like a new generation of UltraSharp conferencing monitors and intelligent webcams with motion-activated controls and presence detection, and building on technologies like storage, 5G, multi-cloud and edge that provide the advanced connectivity and infrastructure to allow organisations to shape how they work. In the future, productivity tools will be connected and intelligent enough to seamlessly move from experience to experience and task to task, helping to break down barriers and redefine how colleagues connect with one another.  

Dell Concept Nyx Ecosystem 3

My team continues to explore the future of compelling, immersive experiences in both work and play. Concepts play a huge role in allowing our designers, engineers, and strategists to test and tweak devices and solutions to inform future experience roadmaps. We’re excited to keep you updated on our journey!

Contributed, Lifestyle

Advancing Gender Equality with Online Learning: 5 Ways it’s Making a Difference

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Earlier this week, the United Nations warned that progress in women’s rights is “vanishing” and based on the current trajectory it will take another 300 years to achieve complete gender equality. They stated that women worldwide face greater challenges in securing employment than previously believed. Despite this bleak outlook, it is crucial that we remain persistent in our efforts to combat this inequality.

By aligning efforts, governments, businesses, and academic institutions across the globe can increase women’s participation in education and employment to not only address gender inequality but also unlock sustained economic benefits, including an increase in annual GDP. Malaysia’s 2023 re-tabled budget includes commendable efforts to bring back 130,000 women, including new mothers, to the workforce.

person writing on notebook
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The proliferation of technology can also be a key contributor to closing this gap, with online education being a good place to start. Equitable access to learning opportunities and flexible work not only helps address the growing skills challenge but also promotes positive career outcomes for women.

Online learning is narrowing gender education gaps and preparing women for in-demand jobs in the digital economy by removing barriers, improving gender inclusion in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, connecting them to rising skills and job opportunities, and motivating them to explore interests without limits. Here’s how.

  1. Breaking down barriers: Women who struggle to access traditional educational institutions – often because of caregiving responsibilities – can achieve the education required to upskill themselves and enter high-demand, high-paying careers through online learning. The flexibility, affordability, and safety that online education provides have the potential to break down barriers that have historically disadvantaged women.
  1. Promoting gender inclusivity in STEM fields: Despite an increase in women enrolling and graduating from tertiary education programs worldwide, they still face disadvantages, especially in ICT and engineering. They are underrepresented in STEM fields crucial for the growing technology and digital job sectors. However, it is encouraging to see women in Malaysia embrace online learning to develop these in-demand digital skills that are crucial to realize the country’s digital economy vision. The share of enrollments in STEM courses from Malaysian female learners on Coursera has risen from 29% in 2019 to 38% in 2022. 
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  1. Supporting women’s access to jobs of the future: Online learning is opening up new avenues to connect women to the jobs of the future through flexible, affordable, and fast-tracked learning and career pathways. Entry-level professional certificates on Coursera are curated by industry leaders like Google, IBM and Meta to prepare learners for a wide range of high-growth entry-level careers like Data Analyst, UX Designer, Application Developer, and Social Media Marketer, among others. Each certificate is designed for learners without prior industry experience to complete in 6 to 8 months on average (3-10 hours per week), fully online. Popular courses among women learners in Malaysia include Foundations: Data, Data Everywhere, Foundations of User Experience (UX) Design, Ask Questions to Make Data-Driven Decisions and Foundations of Digital Marketing and E-commerce, which all stack up to these industry micro-credentials.
  1. Helping women expand horizons: This freedom to explore various interests is a valued benefit of online education, motivating learners to complete the courses they finally choose. Flexibility is a top priority for women learners specifically and is critical to keeping them in the education system. The range, cost, and accessibility of online courses also encourage more women to try new fields without a long-time commitment and heavy financial burden.
  1. Improving gender equality in leadership positions: Raising a family gives women many of the professional skills employers are looking for like problem-solving, critical thinking, collaboration, teamwork and project management. By building technical skills online that complement professional skills, women will be well-positioned to take on new and expanded roles in the modern workforce.

Online learning is levelling the playing field for women by connecting them to fast-growing opportunities and better prospects. Such access can empower more women to reclaim lost ground in the labour market, and gain critical skills that prepare them for the careers of tomorrow.

Android, Lifestyle, News

Google I/O 2023 is On, and it is Happening on the 10th of May 2023 

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Each year, there are a few events we all look forward to. For Samsung, we are always excited for their two Unpacked events. For Apple, they have their WWDC and annual iPhone launch events. For Google, we are always excited for their I/O event. This year, as expected, it is happening. 

The last Google I/O 2022 saw Google announce their latest Tensor 2 integrated mobile processing chip. It also saw their latest Google Pixel smartphone revealed to the world. To the disappointment of many, The Google Pixel did not come with a foldable or flip form that was highly anticipated and rumoured.  

For 2023, the date to be saved is 10th of May 2023. Google’s current CEO has tweeted the event date and even posted a link that directs users to the mini page complete with a countdown clock. The website also says that the conference is open to all who wish to attend or watch online. There will be a “limited live audience” present though, according to Google.  

As usual, we expect to see the next iteration of Android, Android 14 now to be announced at the event. Android 14 is now available too for developers, so if you want to be the first to know what is going to come, you can sign up as one and preview the build yourself. Alongside Android 14, we expect to see Google announcing new hardware, a new Pixel device perhaps, a new Wear OS device, and maybe a TV box. If we are lucky, maybe they will launch a new Chromebook at the event. There are a few rumours going around that we can expect to see Google’s foldable Pixel devices announced in this year’s Google I/O event. There are also rumours about a tablet device from Google that is to be announced in the upcoming event.  

All these are just speculations for the time being though. The event is not happening in another two months, which means there is still plenty of unknown. What we know though is that there will also be various developer sessions and discussions after the keynote event headed by Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google.  

You can start registering for the event now on their event page itself.  

PR Newswire

Modular Furniture Design Company Mojuraa Cuts Costs by Shipping Directly From the Manufacturer

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Mojuraa, a direct-from-manufacturer furniture company, offers a wide range of customizable packages made with premium materials. Customers can cut out the middleman and save money because Mojuraa makes the furniture and ships it directly to consumers for free.

LOS ANGELES, March 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Mojuraa crafts its furniture with luxury materials and unique techniques that allow for stylish comfort and extraordinary durability. The company takes its name from the Japanese word for “modular” and creates pieces with endless combination options and changeable layout designs. Mojuraa released the transformer collection on March 7th, and proposed a People-first Modular concept. The selling point of this collection is endlessly combination. Mojuraa modular system is designed to grow with you. It’s flexible and can accommodate numerous arrangements.

Combining the modular approach with premium materials and stylish, comfortable affordability, Mojuraa believes customers should be able to secure durable, versatile furniture without breaking the bank.
Combining the modular approach with premium materials and stylish, comfortable affordability, Mojuraa believes customers should be able to secure durable, versatile furniture without breaking the bank.

“At Mojuraa, we share the same values in our approach to the ‘art-of-making,’ referred to as ‘monozukuri’ in the Japanese philosophy of craftsmanship. We engineer a people-first modular design around our customer’s experience reasonably, rather than a warehouse pallet or shipping container extremely,” Mojuraa Chief Designer Andrew Chan said.

Revolutionizing the furniture industry

Mojuraa is taking its place as a game changer in the furniture industry, with free shipping on every order and a consistent dedication to fast, safe, and reliable delivery services. The company’s furniture arrives in easy-to-move boxes intentionally designed to effectively maneuver through tight spaces and put together with simple partial assembly.

“We use durable materials like substantial wood frames, luxury wax leather, and reclaimed fibers,” Chan said. “As a forward-looking furniture brand, we aim to design the most eco-friendly sofas. We attach great importance to using recycled materials in our products and packaging to minimize waste and maximize environmental impact.”

The traditional retail process often involves numerous stops between the manufacturer and the customer’s home, particularly if the furniture is produced overseas. The costs of those extra steps are frequently passed on to the customer, but Mojuraa ships furniture directly to customers from its manufacturing facility, passing the savings on to consumers.

Committed to quality

Mojuraa maintains a commitment to quality as a core value. The company stands firmly behind its products, offering a limited three-year warranty. Utilizing stain-resistant materials, Mojuraa furniture can withstand water, coffee, pet urine, ketchup, and even red wine.

“We believe that luxury furniture shouldn’t break the bank,” Chan said. “Our direct-from-manufacturer model truly removes the middleman in order to pass the savings on to the consumer.”

After arrival, Mojuraa furniture is easy for one person to assemble, and it’s as easy to take it apart as it was to put together, so users can take it with them if they move to a new living space. The endless configurations allow customers to adapt their furniture to fit their space and lifestyle.

Versatile modular design

Combining the modular approach with premium materials and stylish, comfortable affordability, Mojuraa believes customers should be able to secure durable, versatile furniture without breaking the bank.

“Our modular system is designed to grow with you. It’s flexible and can accommodate numerous arrangements,” Chan said.

Loyalty program

Mojuraa offers customers a loyalty program with a simple three-step process. Sign up for the loyalty program through the website, shop for incredible furniture to earn points, and redeem points for discounts on future purchases. Customers receive one point for every dollar they spend and can redeem coupons in various amounts: $50 for 500 points, $100 for 1,000 points, etc.

Conclusion

Visit Mojuraa’s website to learn more about the company and its selection of modular design furniture. Reach out on Instagram and TikTok to connect with the brand through social media.

Contact Details
Business: Mojurra
Contact Name: Lucy
Contact Email: affiliate@mojuraa.com
Country: United States
Website: https://mojuraa.com/?utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=newswire&utm_campaign=pr1

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