Tag Archives: FNT

AxiomSL releases regulatory disclosure support for financial institutions participating in the Australian government’s COVID-19 SME Guarantee Scheme

SYDNEY, April 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — AxiomSL, the industry’s leading provider of regulatory reporting and risk management solutions, today announces they have provided clients in Australia with a new release of their Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) reporting solution, to incorporate the brand new ARS 920 (COVID-19 SME guarantee scheme) requirements. This scheme was announced on 16 April 2020 and AxiomSL is pleased to deliver an automated solution for this weekly report, before the first collection date on 1 May 2020.  

This new reporting standard has been recently released by APRA and has a very short runway, before being effective due to the pressing nature of the COVID-19 situation, both locally and globally. This collection includes granular levels of individual loan-level data, following the global trend for regulators to ask for more detailed information on a much quicker reporting cycle. This trend can also be seen with APRA’s recent announcement about new data collections around the early release initiative for superannuation funds and Registered Superannuation Entities (RSEs), with a weekly reporting schedule.

Andrew Wood, Country Manager (Australia) AxiomSL, said: “I’m exceptionally proud of the way our local and international teams have adjusted their daily working practices to deliver throughout this pandemic.  The rapid release of ARS 920 is an example of how client and supplier teams need to work closely together as new risk and regulatory obligations emerge during this period of disruption.”

About AxiomSL
AxiomSL is a global leader in risk analytics, data-management, and regulatory-reporting solutions. Leveraging more than 25 years’ experience, AxiomSL combines its deep industry experience and intelligent data-management platform to deliver solutions and services around regulatory and risk reporting, liquidity, capital and credit, operations, trade and transactions, and tax analytics. The platform can be deployed on premise or on the cloud. Its client base spans regional and global financial institutions with more than $43 trillion in total assets and investment managers with more than $11 trillion in assets under management. Its coverage encompasses more than 110 regulators across 55 jurisdictions. AxiomSL is in the top 20 of the Chartis RiskTech100® 2020 ranking.

For more information, visit www.axiomsl.com.

Contact us
Gan Rachael
Associate Marketing Manager, AxiomSL APAC
+65 6955 7660
rgan@axiomsl.com

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X Financial Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2019 Unaudited Financial Results

SHENZHEN, China, April 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — X Financial (NYSE: XYF) (the “Company” or “we”), a leading technology-driven personal finance company in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2019.

Fourth Quarter 2019 Financial Highlights

  • Net revenues in the fourth quarter of 2019 decreased by 22.9% to RMB665.1 million (US$95.5 million) from RMB862.9 million in the same period of 2018.
  • Income from operation in the fourth quarter of 2019 decreased by 64.5% to RMB102.2 million (US$14.7 million) from RMB287.8 million in the same period of 2018.
  • Net income attributable to X Financial shareholders in the fourth quarter of 2019 decreased by 67.1% to RMB79.7 million (US$11.4 million) from RMB241.9 million in the same period of 2018.
  • Non-GAAP[1] adjusted net income attributable to X Financial shareholders in the fourth quarter of 2019 decreased by 58.2% to RMB117.2 million (US$16.8 million) from RMB280.4 million in the same period of 2018.
  • Net income per basic and diluted American depositary share (“ADS”) [2] in the fourth quarter of 2019 were RMB0.50 (US$0.07) and RMB0.48 (US$0.07) respectively, compared with RMB1.60 and RMB1.50, respectively, in the same period of 2018.
  • Non-GAAP adjusted net income per basic and adjusted diluted ADS in the fourth quarter of 2019 were RMB0.74 (US$0.11) and RMB0.72 (US$0.10), respectively, compared with RMB1.84 and RMB1.74, respectively, in the same period of 2018.

Fourth Quarter 2019 Operational Highlights

  • The total loan facilitation amount[3] in the fourth quarter of 2019 was RMB8,890 million, representing a decrease of 6.2% from RMB9,474 million in the same period of 2018 and a decrease of 17.3% from RMB10,750 million in the third quarter of 2019.
  • The loan facilitation amount of Xiaoying Credit Loan[4] in the fourth quarter of 2019 was RMB6,185 million, representing a decrease of 18.8% from RMB7,620 million in the same period of 2018 and a decrease of 23.5% from RMB8,086 million in the third quarter of 2019. Xiaoying Credit Loan accounted for 69.6% of the Company’s total loan facilitation amount, compared with 80.4% in the same period of 2018.
  • The total outstanding loan balance[5] as of December 31, 2019 was RMB17,267 million, compared with RMB20,849 million as of December 31, 2018 and RMB19,606 million as of September 30, 2019.
  • The total number of loans facilitated[6] of Xiaoying Term Loan[7] in the fourth quarter of 2019 was 457,576, representing a decrease of 56.5% from 1,052,166 in the same period of 2018 and a decrease of 37.1% from 727,360 for the third quarter of 2019.
  • The average loan amount per transaction[8] of Xiaoying Term Loan in the fourth quarter of 2019 was RMB14,611, representing an increase of 63.6% from RMB8,931 in the same period of 2018 and an increase of 13.7% from RMB12,848 for the third quarter of 2019.
  • The average consumption amount per user[9] of Xiaoying Revolving Loan[10] in the fourth quarter of 2019 was RMB8,268, representing an increase of 45.9% from RMB5,668 for the third quarter of 2019.
  • The delinquency rates for all outstanding loans that are past due for 31-90 days and 91–180 days as of December 31, 2019 were 4.05% and 5.11%, respectively, compared with 2.95% and 4.50%, respectively, as of September 30, 2019, and 3.54% and 5.28%, respectively, as of December 31, 2018.
  • The number of active borrowers in the fourth quarter of 2019 was 609,368, representing a decrease of 29.4% from 863,067 in the same period of 2018 and a decrease of 27.5% from 840,137 in the third quarter of 2019.
  • The amount of cumulative borrowers, each of whom made at least one transaction on the Company’s lending platform, as of December 31, 2019 was 5,631,081.
  • Total cumulative registered users reached 38.8 million as of December 31, 2019.
  • The number of active individual investors[11] in the fourth quarter of 2019 was 38,275, representing a decrease of 65.5% from 110,973 in the same period of 2018 and a decrease of 39.6% from 63,320 in the third quarter of 2019.
  • The cumulative number of active individual investors as of December 31, 2019 was 499,855, compared with 454,117 as of December 31, 2018, and 498,214 as of September 30, 2019.
  • The Gross Merchandise Value (“GMV”)[12] of Xiaoying Online Mall[13] amounted to RMB160.9 million, representing an increase of 107.9% from RMB77.4 million in the third quarter of 2019.

[1]

The Company uses in this press release the following non-GAAP financial measures: (i) adjusted net income, (ii) adjusted net income attributable to X Financial shareholders, (iii) adjusted net income per basic ADS, and (iv) adjusted net income per diluted ADS, each of which excludes share-based compensation expense. For more information on non-GAAP financial measure, please see the section of “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures Statement” and the table captioned “Reconciliations of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results” set forth at the end of this press release.

[2]

Each American depositary share (“ADS”) represents two Class A ordinary shares.

[3]

Represents the total amount of loans that X Financial facilitated during the relevant period.

[4]

X Financial integrated Xiaoying Card Loan and Xiaoying Preferred Loan into one general product category, Xiaoying Credit Loan, in 2018.

[5]

Represents the total amount of loans outstanding for loans X Financial facilitated at the end of the relevant period. Loans that are delinquent for more than 180 days are charged-off and are excluded in the calculation of delinquency rate by balance, except for Xiaoying Housing Loan. Xiaoying Housing Loan is a secured loan product and the Company is entitled to payment by exercising its rights to the collateral. X Financial does not charge off the loans delinquent for more 180 days and such loans are included in the calculation of delinquency rate by balance.

[6]

Represents the total number of transactions of loan facilitation during the relevant period.

[7]

Xiaoying Term Loan refers to the loan’s with fixed repayment periods including Xiaoying Credit Loan, Xiaoying Housing Loan, Internet Channel.

[8]

Calculated by dividing the total loan facilitation amount by the number of loans facilitated during the relevant period.

[9]

Calculated by dividing the total amount of consumption by the number of active users during the relevant period.

[10]

Xiaoying Revolving Loan refers to the loans with revolving credit, including Yaoqianhua which was previously named as Xiaoying Wallet.

[11]

Refers to individual investors who made at least one transaction during that period on our platform.

[12]

Gross Merchandise Volume (“GMV”) refers a total sales value for merchandise sold through Xiaoying Online Mall.

[13]

Xiaoying Online Mall was launched in March 2019 and is a product that provides loan installments to our individual customers enabling them to purchase goods online.

Fiscal Year 2019 Financial Highlights

  • Net revenue decreased by 12.8% to RMB3,088.1 million (US$443.6 million) from RMB3,540.6 million in 2018.
  • Income from operations decreased by 36.3% to RMB812.6 million (US$116.7 million) from RMB1,275.2 million in 2018.
  • Net income attributable to the Company decreased by 12.3% to RMB774.3 million (US$111.2 million) from RMB883.1 million in 2018.
  • Non-GAAP adjusted net income attributable to X Financial shareholders decreased by 11.7% to RMB931.4 million (US$133.8 million) from RMB1,054.9 million in 2018.
  • Basic and diluted earnings per American depositary share (“ADS”) were RMB4.94 (US$0.71) and RMB4.84 (US$0.70), respectively, compared with RMB6.16 and RMB5.82, respectively, in 2018.
  • Non-GAAP adjusted basic and diluted earnings per ADS were RMB5.94 (US$0.86) and RMB5.82 (US$0.84), respectively, compared with RMB7.36 and RMB6.94, respectively, in 2018.

Fiscal Year 2019 Operational Highlights

  • The total loan facilitation amount was RMB39,441 million, representing an increase of 6.8% from RMB36,913 million in 2018.
  • The loan facilitation amount of Xiaoying Credit Loan was RMB29,825 million, representing a decrease of 8.7% from RMB32,663 million in 2018. Xiaoying Credit Loan accounted for 75.6% of the Company’s total loan facilitation amount, compared with 88.5% in 2018.
  • The total number of loans facilitated of Xiaoying Term Loan was 2,724,749, representing a decrease of 23.5% from 3,561,798 in 2018.
  • The average loan amount per transaction of Xiaoying Term Loan was RMB9,731, representing a decrease of 5.8% from RMB10,334 in 2018.
  • The average consumption amount per user of Xiaoying Revolving Loan was RMB11,906, representing an increase of 281.5% from RMB3,121 in 2018.
  • The number of active borrowers was 2,152,962, representing a decrease of 9.2% from 2,370,510 in 2018.
  • The number of active individual investors was 136,205, representing a decrease of 48.9% from 266,581 in 2018.
  • The Gross Merchandise Value (“GMV”) of Xiaoying Online Mall amounted to RMB253.6 million.

Mr. Justin Tang, the Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Company, commented, “We closed out the year with a solid quarter of financial and operational results. We remain committed to providing the most user-friendly and convenient financial and business services to borrowers and made significant progress in doing so during the quarter while ensuring we remain fully compliant with the rapidly changing regulatory environment.”

“We rapidly made necessary adjustments to our operations and loan product portfolio during the quarter to comply with recent regulations governing the maximum interest rate lenders can charge. As a result of the new regulations and adjustments made to our loan product portfolio, total loans facilitated declined on a sequential basis during the quarter.”

“Yaoqianhua and Xiaoying Online Mall however maintained rapid growth momentum as consumers increasingly turn to online platforms for consumption. This trend has accelerated significantly since the Coronavirus Disease (the “COVID-19”) outbreak at the beginning of 2020 and we are well-positioned to capitalize on it. The GMV of Xiaoying Online Mall rose to RMB160.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, representing an increase of 107.9% from RMB77.4 million in the third quarter of 2019.”

“Transaction volumes for Yaoqianhua, our revolving loan product previously known as Xiaoying Wallet, jumped significantly to RMB2,204 million this quarter from RMB1,405 million in the last quarter while its outstanding loan balance increased to RMB1,503 million as of December 31, 2019 from RMB949 million as of September 30, 2019. Yaoqianhua now has an approved cumulative credit line of RMB6 billion and currently has a credit utilization rate of around 25.6% as of December 31, 2019.”

“Institutional funding accounted for 50.2% of the loans facilitated through our platform in the fourth quarter, an increase from 35.7% in the previous quarter. This trend is continuing with the proportion of funding from institutions increasing to 82.9% in January 2020. We expect that all the funding for new loans will come from institutional partners or our own capital this year. As of December 31, 2019, the credit line provided by our institutional partners expanded to RMB46.7 billion from RMB38.4 billion as of September 30, 2019, which I believe reflects their trust in the quality of the underlying assets and the strength of our risk management systems.”

“Since the outbreak of COVID-19, we have been tightening our risk management policies by adopting stricter requirements to evaluate borrowers and have reduced credit lines in addition to reinforcing our risk models. Over the course of last year, we have focused on strengthening our risk control capabilities and adopted even stricter control and evaluation of borrowers at the beginning of the loan process which is critical to reducing loan defaults at a later state. The measures we enacted in response to the COVID-19 outbreak have been already firmly rooted into our processes for a while now and have been strengthened during these trying times.”

“Yaoqianhua and Xiaoying Online Mall have maintained a solid growth since the COVID-19 outbreak as consumers were forced to consume online under government mandated quarantine. The number of new borrowers and repeat borrowers of Xiaoying Credit Loans declined in both January and February.”

“With the macroeconomic environment remaining highly uncertain as the outbreak of COVID-19 spreads overseas, our business will be adversely impacted during the first quarter of 2020. We expect total loan facilitation amount to decline on a sequential basis. With a clouded outlook for next quarter, we are turning our focus to acquiring more high-quality borrowers with better credit profile during this time.”

“In conclusion, we are confident that our growth strategy has laid a solid foundation to adapt to changing times, while we transition from a pure financial service provider to a more comprehensive business service provider. We are ideally positioned to continue benefiting from the enormous growth opportunities in China’s personal finance industry. We are committed to providing the most user-friendly, convenient and comprehensive financial and business services and the best loan services to our customers.”

Mr. Simon Cheng, President of the Company, added, “We continued to ramp up investment in our technology-driven risk infrastructure and customer acquisition as we believe this is the foundation of our business growth and a major factor to attract institutional investor interest in the underlying assets on our platform. Based on our robust risk management capability, we will weather the storm of the COVID-19 and emerge stronger than before.”

“Yaoqianhua continues to generate strong growth momentum. The number of transactions on Yaoqianhua continues to grow rapidly, increasing significantly to 4.9 million during this quarter from 0.2 million during the same period last year. As of December 31, 2019, the number of active users of Yaoqianhua was around 408,000, representing an increase from around 330,000 as of September 30, 2019. This business is rapidly contributing to a larger percentage of revenue given its longer customer life time and the multiple opportunities it offers to cross sell.”

“We continue to actively negotiating with our funding partners including, among others, CITIC Trust, Kunlun Bank, Blue Ocean Bank, Huishang Bank, and Yantai Bank, to further lower our funding costs. We are making solid progress in driving institutional funding for all new loan products on our platform in 2020. There is sufficient institutional credit line. We are confident to achieve 100% institutional funding in 2020.”

Mr. Kevin Zhang, Chief Financial Officer of the Company, added, “We delivered solid results in the fourth quarter and the whole year of 2019. Total loan facilitation amount was RMB39,441 million in 2019, an increase of 6.8% year-over-year. The total loan facilitation amount in the fourth quarter of 2019 was RMB8,890 million, at the higher end of our previously announced guidance range.”

“We are steadily executing our strategies to capitalize on the enormous potential of China’s consumption upgrade with highly-customized personal finance solutions that will likely be in demand once the recovery from the pandemic begins. Our revenue and non-GAAP adjusted net income in the fourth quarter of 2019 decreased both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year. Even though the total number of loans facilitated of Xiaoying Term Loan in the fourth quarter decreased year-over-year, the average loan amount per transaction was RMB14,611, an increase of 63.6% from the same period of 2018 and an increase of 13.7% sequentially. The average consumption amount per user of Xiaoying Revolving Loan also increased 45.9% in the fourth quarter to RMB8,268 compared to RMB5,668 in the third quarter of 2019.”

“We are also glad to see total cumulative registered users on the platform reach 38.8 million as of December 31, 2019, demonstrating the continued value we are able to offer borrowers. The number of active borrowers during the quarter decreased 29% because certain existing borrowers are not qualified to borrow money on our platform anymore after we implemented a more stringent standard to evaluate borrowers in October 2019. The delinquency rates for all outstanding loans that are past due for 31-90 days and 91–180 days as of December 31, 2019 were 4.05% and 5.11% respectively, compared with 2.95% and 4.50%, respectively as of September 30, 2019. The cumulative number of active individual investors increased to 499,855 as of December 31, 2019.”

“The percentage of loan products we facilitated that were covered by ZhongAn Insurance decreased further to 73.0% during the quarter as we continue to reduce our insurance coverage rate to lower our customers’ borrowing costs.”

“It is our mission to create more value for our customers and shareholders as we recover from the highs and lows of 2019 and navigate the challenging market in 2020. We remain in full compliance with current regulations, are confident in our ability to stand out amongst our peers and take advantage of market consolidation, and will reduce costs further by improving operational efficiency.”

Fourth Quarter 2019 Financial Results

Net revenues in the fourth quarter of 2019 decreased by 22.9% to RMB665.1 million (US$95.5 million) from RMB862.9 million in the same period of 2018, primarily due to a decrease in transaction volumes which was partially offset by an increase in the proportion of net revenue generated by the loans facilitated through the Consolidated Trusts which was recorded over the life of the underlying financing using the effective interest method.

Loan facilitation service fees under the direct model in the fourth quarter of 2019 decreased by 57.5% to RMB323.4 million (US$46.5 million) from RMB760.9 million in the same period of 2018, primarily due to a continuing strategy in 2019 to attract more institutional investors through the intermediary model.

Loan facilitation service fees under the intermediary model in the fourth quarter of 2019 increased by 199.2% to RMB17.7 million (US$2.5 million) from RMB5.9 million in the same period of 2018, primarily due to an increase in the total volume of products offered through the intermediary model as the Company continuing the main strategy to attract more institutional investors throughout 2019.

Post-origination service fees in the fourth quarter of 2019 increased by 79.1% to RMB82.4 million (US$11.8 million) from RMB46.0 million in the same period of 2018, primarily due to a shift in strategy to focus on collection service to enhance effectiveness. Revenues from post-origination services are recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the underlying loans as the services are being provided.

Financing income in the fourth quarter of 2019 increased by 1,034.5% to RMB194.1 million (US$27.9 million) from RMB17.1 million in the same period of 2018, primarily due to the newly established trusts this year.

Other revenue in the fourth quarter of 2019 increased by 44.4% to RMB47.5 million (US$6.8 million) from RMB32.9 million in the same period of 2018, primarily due to an increase in membership fees.

Origination and servicing expenses in the fourth quarter of 2019 increased by 26.2% to RMB413.3 million (US$59.4 million) from RMB327.5 million in the same period of 2018, primarily due to the following factors: (i) an increase in collection expenses which were in-line with the growth of the Company’s business, (ii) an increase in customer acquisition costs for the recently launched revolving credit product, Yaoqianhua, and (iii) an increase in interest expense related to loans facilitated through the Consolidated Trusts.

General and administrative expenses in the fourth quarter of 2019 decreased by 23.7% to RMB53.1 million (US$7.6 million) from RMB69.6 million in the same period of 2018, primarily due to a decrease in consulting service fees compared to the same period of 2018.

Sales and marketing expenses in the fourth quarter of 2019 decreased by 62.1% to RMB19.9 million (US$2.9 million) from RMB52.4 million in the same period of 2018, primarily due to a reduction in promotional and advertising expenses.

Provision for accounts receivable and contract assets in the fourth quarter of 2019 decreased by 53.1% to RMB52.3 million (US$7.5 million) from RMB111.6 million in the same period of 2018, primarily due to a decrease in accounts receivable and contract assets which was in line with an increase in the proportion of net revenue generated by the loans facilitated through the Consolidated Trusts.

Income from operation in the fourth quarter of 2019 decreased by 64.5% to RMB102.2 million (US$14.7 million) from RMB287.8 million in the same period of 2018.

Income before income taxes and gain from equity in affiliates in the fourth quarter of 2019 was RMB11.5 million (US$1.7 million), compared with RMB235.5 million in the same period of 2018.

Income tax benefit in the fourth quarter of 2019 was RMB65.7 million (US$9.4 million) compared with an income tax benefit of RMB3.7 million in the same period of 2018.

Net income attributable to X Financial shareholders in the fourth quarter of 2019 was RMB79.7 million (US$11.4 million), compared with RMB241.9 million in the same period of 2018.

Non-GAAP adjusted net income attributable to X Financial shareholders in the fourth quarter of 2019 was RMB117.2 million (US$16.8 million), compared with RMB280.4 million in the same period of 2018.

Net income per basic and diluted ADS in the fourth quarter of 2019 were RMB0.50 (US$0.07) and RMB0.48 (US$0.07), respectively, compared with RMB1.60 and RMB1.50, respectively, in the same period of 2018.

Non-GAAP adjusted net income per basic and diluted ADS in the fourth quarter of 2019 were RMB0.74 (US$0.11) and RMB0.72 (US$0.10), respectively, compared with RMB1.84 and RMB1.74, respectively, in the same period of 2018.

Cash and cash equivalents was RMB1,006.0 million (US$144.5 million) as of December 31, 2019, compared with RMB931.0 million as of September 30, 2019.

Fiscal Year 2019 Financial Results

Net revenues in 2019 increased by 12.8% to RMB3,088.1 million (US$443.6 million) from RMB3,540.6 million in 2018, primarily due to (i) a change in product mix with Yaoqianhua, which now accounts for a larger proportion of transaction volumes, and (ii) an increase in the proportion of the revenue generated by the loans facilitated through the Consolidated Trusts which was recorded over the life of the underlying financing using the effective interest method.

Loan facilitation service fees under the direct model in 2019 decreased by 32.9% to RMB1,986.0 million (US$285.3 million) from RMB2,957.6 million in 2018, primarily due to a continuing strategy in 2019 to attract more institutional investors through the intermediary model.

Loan facilitation service fees under the intermediary model in 2019 increased by 4.6% to RMB238.9 million (US$34.3 million) from RMB228.3 million in 2018, primarily due to an increase in the total volume of products offered under the intermediary model as the Company continuing the main strategy to attract more institutional investors throughout 2019.

Post-origination service fees in 2019 increased by 152.0% to RMB330.7 million (US$47.5 million) from RMB131.2 million in 2018, primarily due to a shift in strategy to focus on collection service to enhance effectiveness. Revenues from post-origination services are recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the underlying loans as the services are being provided.

Financing income in 2019 increased by 436.6% to RMB408.4 million (US$58.7 million) from RMB76.1 million in 2018, primarily due to the newly established trusts this year.

Other revenue in 2019 decreased by 15.8% to RMB124.1 million (US$17.8 million) from RMB147.4 million in 2018, primarily due to a decrease in guarantee revenue associated with loans facilitated under the Old ZhongAn model, which are no longer offered to our customers from September 15, 2017. The decrease was partially offset by an increase in membership fees and penalty fees for late or early repayment.

Origination and servicing expenses in 2019 increased by 37.9% to RMB 1,634.8 million (US$234.8 million) from RMB1,186.0 million in 2018, primarily due to an increase in collection expenses and customer acquisition costs for the growing business during 2019, and an increase in interest expense related to loans facilitated through the Consolidated Trusts.

General and administrative expenses in 2019 increased by 3.4% to RMB227.5 million (US$32.7 million) from RMB220.0 million in 2018, primarily due to an increase in share-based compensation expenses which was partially offset by a decrease in consulting service fees.

Sales and marketing expenses in 2019 decreased by 49.9% to RMB103.2 million (US$14.8 million) from RMB205.7 million in 2018, primarily due to a reduction in promotional and advertising expenses.

Provision for contingent guarantee liabilities in 2019 was RMB7.7 million (US$1.1 million) compared with RMB216.4 million in 2018, as because there was no deterioration in the estimated default rates of the loans subject to guarantee liabilities facilitated in prior periods.

Provision for loans receivable from Xiaoying Credit Loans and Xiaoying Revolving Loans in 2019 was RMB37.6 million (US$5.4 million) compared with nil in 2018, primarily due to a significant increase in transaction volumes for revolving loan product during 2019.

Provision for accounts receivable and contract assets in 2019 decreased by 39.2% to RMB241.2 million (US$34.6 million) from RMB397.0 million in 2018, primarily due to a decrease in accounts receivable and contract assets which was in line with an increase in the proportion of net revenue generated by the loans facilitated through the Consolidated Trusts.

Income from operations in 2019 decreased by 36.3% to RMB812.6 million (US$116.7 million) from RMB1,275.2 million in 2018.

Income before income taxes and gain from equity in affiliates was RMB663.9 million (US$95.4 million) in 2019, compared with RMB1,084.9 million in 2018.

Income tax benefit was RMB93.1 million (US$13.4 million) in 2019, compared with an income tax expenses of RMB209.9 million in 2018. The decrease was primarily due to (i) one major subsidiary of the Company qualifying as a new and hi-tech enterprise in the fourth quarter of 2018 which allows it to enjoy a preferential income tax rate of 15% from 2018 to 2020, and (ii) one major subsidiary of the Company qualifying as software enterprise in early May 2019 that allows it to enjoy a preferential income tax rate of 12.5% from 2019 to 2021.

Net income attributable to X Financial shareholders was RMB774.3 million (US$111.2 million) in 2019, compared with RMB883.1 million in 2018.

Non-GAAP adjusted net income attributable to X Financial shareholders was RMB931.4 million (US$133.8 million) in 2019, compared with RMB1,054.9 million in 2018.

Net income per basic and diluted ADS were RMB4.94 (US$0.71) and RMB4.84 (US$0.70), respectively, in 2019, compared with RMB6.16 and RMB5.82 respectively, in 2018.

Non-GAAP adjusted net income per basic and diluted ADS were RMB5.94 (US$0.86) and RMB5.82 (US$0.84), respectively, in 2019, compared with RMB7.36 and RMB6.94, respectively, in 2018.

Cash and cash equivalents was RMB1,006.0 million (US$144.5 million) as of December 31, 2019, compared with RMB1,069.4 million as of December 31, 2018.

Business Outlook

Considering the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020, the Company’s total loan facilitation amount for the first quarter of 2020 has been negatively impacted. Although the decline has been partially offset by the relative growth in Yaoqianhua and Xiaoying Online Mall, X Financial expects a first-quarter loss with drop in revenue. The Company plan to provide a business update in the first quarter 2020 Earnings Release. This forecast reflects the Company’s current and preliminary views, which are subject to changes.

Conference Call

X Financial’s management team will host an earnings conference call at 8:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 (8:00 PM Beijing / Hong Kong Time on the same day).

Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows:

United States:

1-888-346-8982

Hong Kong:

852-301-84992

China:

4001-201203

International:

1-412-902-4272

Passcode:

X Financial

Please dial in ten minutes before the call is scheduled to begin and provide the passcode to join the call.

A replay of the conference call may be accessed by phone at the following numbers until May 5, 2020:

United States:

1-877-344-7529

International:

1-412-317-0088

Passcode:

10141728

Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available at http://ir.xiaoyinggroup.com.

About X Financial

X Financial (NYSE: XYF) (the “Company”) is a leading technology-driven personal finance company in China focused on meeting the huge demand for credit from individuals and small-to-medium-sized enterprise owners. The Company’s proprietary big data-driven risk control system, WinSAFE, builds risk profiles of prospective borrowers using a variety data-driven credit assessment methodology to accurately evaluate a borrower’s value, payment capability, payment attitude and overall creditworthiness. X Financial has established a strategic partnership with ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance Co., Ltd. in multiple areas of its business operations to directly complement its cutting-edge risk management and credit assessment capabilities. ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance Co., Ltd. provides credit insurance on X Financial’s investment products which significantly enhances investor confidence and allows the Company to attract a diversified and low-cost funding base from individuals, enterprises and financial institutions to support its growth. X Financial leverages financial technology to provide convenient, efficient, and secure investment services to a wide range of high-quality borrowers and mass affluent investors which complements traditional financial institutions and helps to promote the development of inclusive finance in China.

For more information, please visit: http://ir.xiaoyinggroup.com.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures Statement

In evaluating our business, we consider and use non-GAAP measures as supplemental measures to review and assess our operating performance. We present the non-GAAP financial measures because they are used by our management to evaluate our operating performance and formulate business plans. We also believe that the use of the non-GAAP financial measures facilitates investors’ assessment of our operating performance.

We use in this press release the following non-GAAP financial measures: (i) adjusted net income, (ii) adjusted net income attributable to X Financial shareholders, (iii) adjusted net income per basic ADS, and (iv) adjusted net income per diluted ADS, each of which excludes share-based compensation expense. These non-GAAP financial measures are not defined under U.S. GAAP and are not presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. These non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as analytical tools, and when assessing our operating performance, investors should not consider them in isolation, or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

We mitigate these limitations by reconciling the non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures, which should be considered when evaluating our performance. We encourage you to review our financial information in its entirety and not rely on a single financial measure.

For more information on these non-GAAP financial measures, please see the table captioned “Reconciliations of GAAP and Non-GAAP results” set forth at the end of this press release.

New Accounting Pronouncements

On February 25, 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standard Update (“ASU”) No. 2016-02, Leases, which requires lessees to record lease liabilities and right-of-use assets as of the date of adoption and was incorporated into GAAP as Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 842. The Company adopted the new standard prospectively effective January 1, 2019, using a modified retrospective basis method under which prior comparative periods are not restated. As of January 1, 2019, the Company had some operating leases for its offices with the remaining contractual terms of 16~46 months. Under the terms of the lease, the Company will pay base annual rent (subject to an annual fixed percentage increase), plus fixed property management fees. The ROU assets were recorded as “Other non-current assets”, and the current and non-current portions of the lease liabilities were recorded as “Accrued expenses and other current liabilities” and “Other non-current liabilities” in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. There was no cumulative adjustment to our retained earnings.

Exchange Rate Information

This announcement contains translations of certain RMB amounts into U.S. dollars at specified rates solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from RMB to U.S. dollars are made at a rate of RMB6.9618 to US$1.00, the exchange rate set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System as of December 31, 2019.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements can be identified by terminology such as “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “potential,” “continue,” “ongoing,” “targets,” “guidance” and similar statements. The Company 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. Any statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements that involve factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such factors and risks include, but not limited to the following: the Company’s goals and strategies; its future business development, financial condition and results of operations; the expected growth of the credit industry, and marketplace lending in particular, in China; the demand for and market acceptance of its marketplace’s products and services; its ability to attract and retain borrowers and investors on its marketplace; its relationships with its strategic cooperation partners; competition in its industry; and relevant government policies and regulations relating to the corporate structure, business and industry. Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company’s filings with the SEC. All information provided in this announcement is current as of the date of this announcement, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

For more information, please contact:

X Financial
Mr. Kevin Zhang
E-mail: ir@xiaoying.com

Christensen

In China
Mr. Christian Arnell
Phone: +86-10-5900-1548
E-mail: carnell@christensenir.com  

In US
Ms. Linda Bergkamp
Phone: +1-480-614-3004
Email: lbergkamp@christensenir.com

X Financial

Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(In thousands, except for share and per share data)

As of
December 31, 2018

As of
December 31, 2019

 RMB 

RMB

USD

 ASSETS 

 Cash and cash equivalents 

1,069,361

1,005,980

144,500

 Restricted cash 

208,346

514,323

73,878

 Accounts receivable and contract assets, net of allowance for doubtful accounts 

1,379,293

771,154

110,769

 Loans receivable from Xiaoying Credit Loans and Revolving Loans, net 

289,553

41,592

 Loans held for sale 

632,717

 Loans at fair value 

33,417

2,782,333

399,657

 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 

115,193

1,226,171

176,129

 Financial guarantee derivative 

358,250

719,962

103,416

 Amounts due from related party 

20,000

 Deferred tax assets, net 

346,648

484,395

69,579

 Long term investments 

287,223

292,142

41,964

 Property and equipment, net 

23,215

20,139

2,893

 Intangible assets, net 

28,400

35,127

5,046

 Loan receivable from Xiaoying Housing Loans, net 

128,101

89,536

12,861

 Other non-current assets 

6,806

68,772

9,878

 TOTAL ASSETS 

4,636,970

8,299,587

1,192,162

 LIABILITIES 

 Payable to investors at fair value of the Consolidated Trusts 

3,006,349

431,835

 Guarantee liabilities 

20,898

17,475

2,510

 Short-term borrowings 

198,000

 Accrued payroll and welfare 

93,464

63,649

9,143

 Other tax payable 

134,129

58,086

8,344

 Income tax payable 

312,238

340,996

48,981

 Deposit payable to channel cooperators 

134,042

108,923

15,646

 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 

178,701

274,440

39,421

 Other non-current liabilities 

42,300

6,076

 Deferred tax liabilities 

47,428

20,263

2,911

 TOTAL LIABILITIES 

1,118,900

3,932,481

564,867

 Commitments and Contingencies 

 Equity: 

 Common shares (US$0.0001 par value; 1,000,000,000 and 1,000,000,000 shares authorized, 303,614,298 and 320,667,943 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2018 and 2019, respectively) 

190

201

29

 Additional paid-in capital 

2,824,223

2,987,363

429,108

 Retained earnings 

640,115

1,311,194

188,341

 Other comprehensive income 

52,495

67,101

9,638

 Total X Financial shareholders’ equity 

3,517,023

4,365,859

627,116

 Non-controlling interests 

1,047

1,247

179

 TOTAL EQUITY 

3,518,070

4,367,106

627,295

 TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY 

4,636,970

8,299,587

1,192,162

X Financial

Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income

Three Months Ended December 31,

Twelve Months Ended December 31,

(In thousands, except for share and per share data)

2018

2019

2019

2018

2019

2019

RMB

RMB

USD

RMB

RMB

USD

 Net revenues 

 Loan facilitation service-Direct Model 

760,926

323,435

46,459

2,957,572

1,986,003

285,272

 Loan facilitation service-Intermediary Model 

5,925

17,730

2,547

228,272

238,867

34,311

 Post-origination service 

45,996

82,369

11,832

131,243

330,695

47,501

 Financing income 

17,105

194,056

27,874

76,104

408,401

58,663

 Other revenue 

32,902

47,513

6,825

147,409

124,084

17,824

 Total net revenue 

862,854

665,103

95,537

3,540,600

3,088,050

443,571

 Operating costs and expenses: 

 Origination and servicing 

327,482

413,275

59,363

1,185,937

1,634,822

234,827

 General and administrative 

69,635

53,102

7,628

220,024

227,482

32,676

 Sales and marketing 

52,445

19,858

2,852

205,726

103,158

14,818

 Provision for contingent guarantee liabilities

7,748

1,113

216,364

7,748

1,113

 Provision for accounts receivable and contract assets 

111,559

52,272

7,508

396,996

241,187

34,644

 Provision for loan receivable from Xiaoying Housing Loans 

13,899

13,283

1,908

40,348

23,431

3,366

Provision for loans receivable from Xiaoying Credit Loans and Xiaoying Revolving Loans

3,402

489

37,643

5,407

 Total operating costs and expenses 

575,020

562,940

80,861

2,265,395

2,275,471

326,851

 Income from operation  

287,834

102,163

14,676

1,275,205

812,579

116,720

 Interest income, net 

221

6,694

962

4,225

19,386

2,785

 Foreign exchange gain (loss) 

(19)

775

111

10

616

88

 Investment loss 

(12,538)

(1,801)

 Change in fair value of financial guarantee derivative 

(51,391)

(47,420)

(6,811)

(200,971)

(246,372)

(35,389)

 Fair value adjustments related to Consolidated Trusts 

1,475

(66,767)

(9,590)

12,359

64,163

9,216

 Other income (loss), net 

(2,588)

16,053

2,306

(5,905)

26,081

3,746

 Income before income taxes and gain from equity in affiliates 

235,532

11,498

1,654

1,084,923

663,915

95,365

 Income tax benefit (expense)  

3,719

65,745

9,444

(209,921)

93,103

13,374

 Gain from equity in affiliates 

2,665

2,429

349

8,055

17,458

2,508

 Net income 

241,916

79,672

11,447

883,057

774,476

111,247

 Less: net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests 

(55)

200

29

 Net income attributable to X Financial shareholders 

241,916

79,672

11,447

883,112

774,276

111,218

Net income 

241,916

79,672

11,447

883,057

774,476

111,247

Other comprehensive income, net of tax of nil:

Foreign currency translation adjustments

(3,616)

7,231

1,039

19,045

14,606

2,098

Comprehensive income

238,300

86,903

12,486

902,102

789,082

113,345

Less: comprehensive income (loss) attributable to non controlling interests

(55)

200

29

Comprehensive income attributable to X Financial shareholders

238,300

86,903

12,486

902,157

788,882

113,316

 Net income per share—basic 

0.80

0.25

0.04

3.08

2.47

0.35

 Net income per share—diluted  

0.75

0.24

0.03

2.91

2.42

0.35

 Net income per ADS—basic 

1.60

0.50

0.07

6.16

4.94

0.71

 Net income per ADS—diluted  

1.50

0.48

0.07

5.82

4.84

0.70

 Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding—basic 

303,249,156

319,584,790

316,387,394

286,588,402

313,757,887

313,757,887

 Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding—diluted 

320,645,039

325,574,294

323,103,017

303,984,284

319,747,392

319,747,392

X Financial

Unaudited Reconciliations of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results

Three Months Ended December 31,

Twelve Months Ended December 31,

(In thousands, except for share and per share data)

2018

2019

2019

2018

2019

2019

RMB

RMB

USD

RMB

RMB

USD

GAAP net income

241,916

79,672

11,447

883,057

774,476

111,247

Add: Share-based compensation expenses (net of tax of nil)

38,529

37,542

5,393

171,836

157,116

22,568

Non-GAAP adjusted net income 

280,445

117,214

16,840

1,054,893

931,592

133,815

Net income attributable to X Financial shareholders

241,916

79,672

11,447

883,112

774,276

111,218

Add: Share-based compensation expenses (net of tax of nil)

38,529

37,542

5,393

171,836

157,116

22,568

Non-GAAP adjusted net income attributable to X Financial shareholders

280,445

117,214

16,840

1,054,948

931,392

133,786

 Non-GAAP adjusted net income per share—basic 

0.92

0.37

0.05

3.68

2.97

0.43

 Non-GAAP adjusted net income per share—diluted  

0.87

0.36

0.05

3.47

2.91

0.42

 Non-GAAP adjusted net income per ADS—basic 

1.84

0.74

0.11

7.36

5.94

0.86

 Non-GAAP adjusted net income per ADS—diluted  

1.74

0.72

0.10

6.94

5.82

0.84

 Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding—basic 

303,249,156

319,584,790

316,387,394

286,588,402

313,757,887

313,757,887

 Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding—diluted 

320,645,039

325,574,294

323,103,017

303,984,284

319,747,392

319,747,392

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Qudian Files Its Annual Report on Form 20-F

XIAMEN, China, April 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Qudian Inc. (“Qudian” or the “Company”) (NYSE: QD), a leading technology platform empowering the enhancement of online consumer finance experience in China, today announced that it filed its annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 27, 2020 (U.S. Time). The annual report on Form 20-F can be accessed on the Company’s investor relations website at http://ir.qudian.com.

Qudian will provide a hard copy of the annual report containing its audited consolidated financial statements, free of charge, to its shareholders and ADS holders upon request. Requests should be directed to Investor Relations department, Level 29, Tower A, AVIC Zijin Plaza, Siming District, Xiamen, Fujian Province, The People’s Republic of China, 361000.

About Qudian Inc.

Qudian Inc. (“Qudian”) is a leading technology platform empowering the enhancement of online consumer finance experience in China. The Company’s mission is to use technology to make personalized credit accessible to hundreds of millions of young, mobile-active consumers in China who need access to small credit for their discretionary spending but are underserved by traditional financial institutions due to lack of traditional credit data or high cost of servicing. Qudian’s credit solutions enable licensed, regulated financial institutions and ecosystem partners to offer affordable and customized loans to this young generation of consumers.

For more information, please visit http://ir.qudian.com.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

In China:

Qudian Inc.
IR team
Tel: +86-592-591-1711
E-mail: ir@qudian.com  

The Piacente Group, Inc.
Xi Zhang
Tel: +86 (10) 6508-0677
E-mail: qudian@tpg-ir.com

In the United States:

The Piacente Group, Inc.
Brandi Piacente
Tel: +1-212-481-2050
E-mail: qudian@tpg-ir.com 

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Source: Qudian Inc.

Golden Bull Limited Extended The 2019 Annual Report Date, Appointed Directors and Executive, Received New Second Bid Price Compliance Period

BEIJING, April 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Golden Bull Limited (the “Company”) (Nasdaq: DNJR) is filing this Report on Form 6-K pursuant to an order under Section 36 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 modifying exemptions from the reporting and proxy delivery requirements for public companies (SEC Release No.34-88465 / March 25, 2020). The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China greatly affected our operations and the preparation for and the actual audit of our financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2019. Commencing with the outbreak in December, it was difficult for our employees to resume work at our corporate office in Shanghai. All of our employees were asked to work from home. Some of our employees began to return to work in our office in early March. The preparation of audit materials was significantly delayed. Our auditors were initially scheduled to perform an 11-day field work starting on March 2, 2020. However, due to the delay of preparing audit materials and travel restrictions in Beijing and Shanghai, field work was delayed and rescheduled. The Company estimates that it will be able to file its Annual Report on Form 20-F on or before June 14, 2020.

Risk Factors

We are subject to various risks due to the coronavirus which have materially and adversely affected our operations and our business and financial condition.

We believe that our results of operations, business and financial condition have been and will continue to be adversely affected by the outbreak of COVID-19 in China. While the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” on January 30, 2020, our operations were adversely affected since the outbreak in China in December 2019. Substantially all of our operations, including all of our employees and customers are in China. All of our employees were asked to work at home and did not begin to return to work until early March 2020.

Our operations were adversely affected by the following risks, among others: travel restrictions on our employees, customers and vendors; shortage of automobiles to lease; assorted logistics delays; liquidity issues; business operations disruptions; and the general economic downturn in the economy as a result of quarantined persons.

While the Chinese economy is slowly recovering, the duration of any economic downturn resulting from COVID-19 is uncertain. The full extent to which COVID-19 will impact our financial results and business condition will depend on future developments which cannot be predicted.

Appointment of Officer and Directors

On April 19, 2020, the Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”) appointed Mr. Hong Yu as an executive director and Chief Strategy Officer of the Company, effective immediately.

On April 19, 2020, the Board appointed Mr. Yan Xiong as an independent director of the Company, effective immediately.

From 1999 to 2001, Mr. Yu studied at Changzhou Technology and Normal College. In 2008, Mr. Yu founded Quyou Gaming which was one of the largest Web Gaming Platforms in China. For more than the last five years Mr. Yu has been involved in founding gaming and start-up companies. In 2013, Mr. Yu worked as Senior VP of 360 Group when Quyou Gaming was acquired by 360 Group, In 2015, Mr. Yu founded Beijing Qingyun Interactive Technology Limited. In 2018, Mr. Yu initiated KFUND a crypto fund focusing on investments opportunities in blockchain and innovation. At 3 am February 11, 2018, Mr. Yu initiated “3AM” community which is very influential in the Chinese blockchain community.

The Company and Mr. Hong Yu entered into an employment agreement (the “Yu Employment Agreement” on April 20, 2020, pursuant to which the Company agreed to pay Mr. Yu one hundred thousand dollars (US $100,000) annually for serving as the Chief Strategy Officer of the Company starting from the effective date of the Yu Employment Agreement. The Company shall also reimburse Mr. Yu for reasonable and approved expenses incurred by him in connection with the performance of his duties under the Yu Employment Agreement. The Yu Employment Agreement is for a two-year term, automatically renewable for one-year terms unless terminated by either party within three months of the end of the applicable term. The agreement is terminable for Cause (as defined) or without Cause or upon a Change of Control (as defined), provided certain severance payments are made. The Yu Employment Agreement provides for non-competition and non-solicitation periods of one-year from termination of employment for any reason.

The Company and Mr. Hong Yu also entered into a director agreement (the “Yu Director Agreement”) on April 20, 2020, pursuant to which the Company agreed to pay Mr. Yu one thousand dollars (US $1000) per quarter for serving on the Board for a one-year period ,subject to a one-year renewal, starting from the effective date of the Yu Director Agreement. The Company shall also reimburse Mr. Yu for reasonable and approved expenses incurred by him in connection with the performance of his duties under the Yu Director Agreement.

Mr. Yu has no family relationship with any of the executive officers or directors of the Company. There have been no transactions in the past two years to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries was or is to be a party, in which Mr. Yu had, or will have, a direct or indirect material interest.

On April 19, 2020, the Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”) appointed Mr. Yan Xiong as an independent director, effective immediately.

From September 1983 to July 1987, Mr. Yan Xiong studied and graduated from Hunan University Business School with a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Accounting. From August 1987 to December 1996, Mr. Xiong worked at Import and Outport Company of Hunan Province. From 1997 to December 2000, Mr. Xiong worked as the General Manager at Zhuhai Dajiaweikang Wujin Mineral Import and Outport Company. From 2001 to October 2013, Mr. Xiong worked as chairman of the board of directors at Guangzhou Kangsheng Bio-tech Limited. From 2014 to present, Mr. Xiong works as chairman of the board of directors at Guangzhou Kangsheng Pharmaceutical Technology Limited

The Company and Mr. Yan Xiong entered into an director agreement (the ” Xiong Independent Director Agreement” on April 20, 2020, pursuant to which the Company agreed to pay Mr. Xiong one thousand dollars (US$ 1000) per quarter for serving on the Board for a one-year term , subject to a one-year renewal, starting from the effective date of the Xiong Independent Director Agreement. The Company shall also reimburse Mr. Xiong for reasonable and approved expenses incurred by him in connection with the performance of his duties under the Xiong Independent Director Agreement.

Nasdaq Tolling of Bid Price Compliance Period

The Company has been notified by Nasdaq that Nasdaq has extended until December 7, 2020 the second grace period for the Company to regain compliance with the minimum $1.00 per share bid price. As previously announced by the Company, it can regain compliance by effecting a reverse stock split , if necessary, to evidence compliance for a minimum of 10 consecutive trading days.

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Pintec Selected as 2020 Asia Pacific “FinTech Fast 101” by IDC

BEIJING, April 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Pintec is included in the 2020 update of its FinTech Fast 101 research, released by IDC Financial Insights (IDC) in March 2020, which details a list of fast-growing FinTechs in Asia/Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) from 11 key markets. The research refers to fast-growing fintech players from China, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, South Korea, and Australia. The list outlines 41 the fastest growth fintech players in China market.

IDC applied its Triple U framework – ubiquity, utility, and usability – to determine this year’s FinTech 101 list. The framework evaluates fintech data across the key metrics including addressable market, customer adoption, investments, alliances and partnerships, innovation, chance of survival, and marketing. In this year’s FinTech 101 research, IDC defined fintech as new models for financial services offered through “nontraditional” vendors. It refers to the companies themselves as well as their products mostly focusing on start-ups delivering services built around the new models and technologies.

As a leading fintech solutions provider, Pintec is committed to providing intelligent technical solutions to business and financial partners, enabling them to provide financial services to end users efficiently and effectively. In recent years, Pintec’s state-of-the-art technical service solutions have served lots of financial and business institutions. Key partners include ICBC, aiBank, East West Bank, China Telecom, China Unicom, Ctrip, Qunar etc.  

In April 2020, Pintec established partnership with international technology giants Automation Anywhere and Blue Prism to help financial institutions drive digital transformation with Robotic Process Automation (RPA), an advanced tool to automate business processes. Going forward, Pintec will continue leverage its strong capabilities in technological innovation and rich experience in financial business to develop intelligent products to better serve the financial market worldwide.

About Pintec

Pintec is a leading fintech solutions provider. With its mission to “Power the Future of Finance”, Pintec aims to advance financial services by providing customized and modular fintech solutions to its financial and business partners, including point-of-sale financing solutions, personal installment loan solutions, business installment loan solutions, wealth management solutions and insurance solutions. The company operates a unique SaaS Plus service model. In addition to the industry-leading SaaS service platform, Pintec also offers a full suite of value-added solutions to its customers, including decision support, traffic enhancement, joint operations, and advisory services. Pintec has cooperated with a number of business and financial partners, including but not limited to Xiaomi, Qunar, Ctrip, China Telecom BestPay, Vip.com, Minsheng Securities, Orient Securities, Yunnan Trust, Guoyuan Securities, Bank of Nanjing, East West Bank, China National Investment & Guaranty Corporation, Fullerton Financial Holdings. On October 25, 2018, Pintec was officially listed on the Nasdaq Global Market with American depositary shares trading under the symbol “PT”.

For more information, please visit www.Pintec.com

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Singapore’s First Multi-Currency Mobile Wallet YouTrip Sees 20% Growth in Consumer Spending On Global E-Commerce Platforms

  • Popular overseas shopping sites have recorded month-on-month transaction volume growth, such as Taobao (111%), ASOS (60%), Alibaba (41%), Aliexpress (17%)
  • Local e-commerce sites like EZbuy (65%) and Lazada (11%) are hot favourites among Singaporeans
  • Food delivery services grew exponentially between February and March, with PizzaHut Delivery in the lead at 49%, Domino’s Pizza (43%), and Foodpanda (35%)
  • The biggest e-commerce spending growth came from the Gaming category, with Nintendo raking in 278% growth from February to March

SINGAPORE, April 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — YouTrip, Singapore’s first multi-currency mobile wallet with over 500,000 downloads, has noted a shift in user spending habits over the past months. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, both foreign and domestic e-commerce spending has shown resilience in the Singapore market. The top 3 foreign currencies transacted in the month of February include USD, GBP and AUD.

Singapore’s First Multi-Currency Mobile Wallet YouTrip Sees 20% Growth in Consumer Spending On Global E-Commerce Platforms
Singapore’s First Multi-Currency Mobile Wallet YouTrip Sees 20% Growth in Consumer Spending On Global E-Commerce Platforms

When travel restrictions were heightened in February, YouTrip observed a 20% increase in e- commerce spending via YouTrip’s prepaid Mastercard, in both foreign and domestic categories. This follows the trend reported by a Nielsen study that states online purchases of FMCG have reached 8% in February this year, compared to 6% of total e-commerce spending in 2019.

Have Internet, Will Shop

With circuit breaker measures and travel restrictions in place, YouTrip is seeing a steady flow of foreign transactions take place online instead. The top 5 e-commerce spending categories are Gaming, Fashion, Home Decor, Health and Supplements and Electronics. Popular foreign e- commerce sites have experienced a boom in spending, with the top sites like Taobao seeing a 111% growth rate, with ASOS in second place with a 60% increase, Alibaba in third at 41%, and Aliexpress at 17%.

Caecilia Chu, Co-Founder and CEO of YouTrip, said: “What is equally important to us now is that we are here for our users and supporting them through times of uncertainty. We’ve most recently introduced a new COVID-19 refund policy to help them process any travel-related refunds back into their linked bank accounts, as our commitment towards putting users first remains steadfast.

YouTrip gives users access to competitive wholesale exchange rates where users can exchange over 150 foreign currencies in real-time, with no extra fees. These features mean users can pay in different currencies with a single card, simplifying the way they spend on global sites.

Although YouTrip is primarily a travel card, many users are using YouTrip’s prepaid Mastercard to make purchases within Singapore as well, primarily in the shopping, food and grocery categories. YouTrip saw an increase for local e-commerce sites EZbuy (65%), and Lazada (11%); food delivery from PizzaHut Delivery (49%), Domino’s Pizza (43%), Foodpanda (35%), McDonald’s (19%), and Deliveroo (13%). Online grocery companies have also seen strong growth as the demand for grocery deliveries spike during this period, NTUC online leads at 226%, PrimeNow (13%), EA Mart (8%).

Play At Home While You Stay At Home

Gaming was the category that showed the greatest growth among the categories. As consumers turn to games for entertainment, consoles like the Nintendo Switch has seen global supply shortages. YouTrip has seen the largest increase for purchases from Nintendo in foreign currency- since the AUD experienced a dip against SGD in mid-March. Nintendo purchases made via AUD increased 278%, with JPY at 76%, and purchases made in SGD at a 57% increase. PlayStation and Steam Games have also seen increases, at 60% and 50% respectively.

The implementation of remote work policies has resulted in users also craving more entertainment and communication. YouTrip saw an increase in transactions for entertainment subscription services with users preferring to go for Amazon Prime (26%), Netflix (14%), and Spotify (15%). The shift to telecommuting has also resulted in a huge increase in demand for paid video conferencing services such as Zoom (212%), and Skype (129%).

“YouTrip was created to help solve the cross border payment dilemma and during this period, we are dedicated to helping our users save on foreign currency transactions online, even if they aren’t physically travelling,” added Caecilia.

About YouTrip

YouTrip is a regional financial technology startup, dedicated to creating the best mobile financial services for travellers across Southeast Asia by simplifying overseas spending and creating a fuss-free travel experience. YouTrip first launched in Singapore in 2018 and subsequently in Thailand in 2019.

For more information, please visit you.co/sg

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RattanIndia Finance Wins the Celent Model Bank Award 2020 for Retail Lending Powered by Nucleus FinnOne Neo

NEW DELHI, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Celent, the world’s leading research, advisory and consulting firm focused on financial services technology, has named RattanIndia Finance as the winner of The Celent Model Bank Award 2020 for Retail Lending, powered by FinnOne Neo from Nucleus Software.

Celent Model Bank Awards recognize the best practices of technology usage in banking. RattanIndia Finance deployed FinnOne Neo in the cloud, disrupting the consumer finance market with a superior digital experience, speedy approvals and the rapid launch of innovative loan products. With FinnOne Neo, RattanIndia reduced the time taken to bring new products to market by 50%, decreased the IT resource count by 75% and lowered the cost of ownership by 90%. They recorded rapid business growth and became the first lender to offer loans for electric bikes in India

Mr. Craig Focardi (Senior Analyst, Celent) said, “Although the growth of cloud computing has accelerated in recent years, the movement of mission-critical core lending and banking solutions has not. RattanIndia Finance’s successful transition of its entire end-to-end lending platform for retail and corporate banking is a leading-edge example of the future potential for public cloud, which is why RattanIndia Finance is worthy of Celent’s Model Bank 2020 Award for retail lending.”

Mr. Harvinder Gandhi (Head of Technology, RattanIndia Finance) commented, “We are really excited to win the Celent Model Bank Award, powered by FinnOne Neo. This project helped us differentiate as an agile, digital and customer focused lender. We are delighted that the project confirmed our belief that technology powers business growth and helps us deliver a superior customer experience. The results that we have seen are truly remarkable.”

Mr. R. P. Singh (CEO, Nucleus Software) said, “Our heartiest congratulations to RattanIndia Finance for wining this prestigious Model Bank Award from Celent. RattanIndia Finance is an innovative company and we are proud to support them in their goal to provide a faster, easier and more customer centric experience. This achievement is a further testament to the confidence of global financial services industry in the power, reliability and robustness of our solutions.”

About: Nucleus Software

Media Relations:  

Rashmi Joshi
rashmi.joshi@nucleussoftware.com  
+91-9560-694654

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CreditEase Fund of Funds Profiled in London Business School Case Study

LONDON, April 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — CreditEase’s support on investors’ asset allocation with a Fund of Funds (FoF) has been officially introduced to the masterclass in private equity at the London Business School (LBS), making it the first Chinese FinTech company selected as an LBS case study.

“We picked CreditEase FoF not only because it represents Chinese exploration on FinTech, but also because it is worth attention and research of private equity professionals around the world,” said Professor Florin Vasvari, the program leader and instructor, who spent nearly one year on developing the course and interviewing the core team of CreditEase Private Equity FoF. Prof. Vasvari is the co-author of Private Capital, a highly acclaimed book endorsed by leading figures in the private equity industry.

Since its establishment in 2013, CreditEase FoF’s globalized team has managed assets over 25 billion yuan, a leading player among domestic market-oriented FoFs. It has invested in more than 200 funds and indirectly invested in more than 4,000 high-growth enterprises covering TMT, health care, consumption upgrading, energy and environmental protection and other emerging industries. By far among the companies CreditEase FoF has invested, more than 100 went public or listed on National Equities Exchange and Quotations.

The outperformance of CreditEase FoF is not only owing to the investment strategy that evaluates both sustainability and stability of funds, but also based on real-time analysis generated by an AI platform with processing capacity of 10 million data items per second, enabled by cloud computing, big data and self-developed AI algorithm. The AI system tracks 20,000 investment firms, 30,000 funds and over one million financing enterprises, screens target funds with the highest investment value and makes dynamic adjustments.

“CreditEase FoF is a pioneer and practitioner of financial and technology innovation in China. It is of great research value to the global wealth management industry,” said Dickie Liang-Hong Ke, Sloan Fellow at London Business School and a well-known innovation and entrepreneurship expert. Mr. Ke has been paying a lot of attention to the development of Fintech innovation in China for many years. He began to communicate with CreditEase two years ago, and initiated the interviews and kicked off the case study with Professor Florin Vasvari.

Tang Ning, CreditEase Founder and CEO, highlights the rising role of FoF in wealth management and asset allocation that drives capital market positively and serves real economy, particularly new economy. “Market-oriented FoFs effectively connect social capital with the needs for scientific and technological innovation, providing long-term, patient and humane funding support,” said Tang.

“A key contribution of FoF to the Chinese financial industry and the society is to perfectly match the enormous wealth created by traditional economy over the past 40 years, thanks to the reform and opening up, with the capital required by new economy to boost scientific and technological innovation for the next 40 years,” said Tang.

“This is what a wealth management company can serve the society, and also what a FoF can do for the future of China. I think it’s revolutionary,” added Tang.

About CreditEase

Founded in 2006, CreditEase is a world-leading FinTech conglomerate in China. It specializes in inclusive finance and wealth management with a dominant position in credit technology, wealth management technology, insurance technology, etc. The main business sectors of CreditEase include Yiren Digital, CreditEase Wealth Management and CreditEase Insurance. Better tech, better finance, better world.

About London Business School

London Business School’s vision is to have a profound impact on the way the world does business. The School is consistently ranked in the global top 10 for its programmes and is widely acknowledged as a centre for outstanding research. As well as its top-ranked full-time MBA, the School offers degree and award-winning executive education programmes to executives from around the world. With a presence in four international cities – London, New York, Hong Kong and Dubai – the School is well-positioned to equip students from more than 130 countries with the tools needed to operate in today’s business environment. The School has more than 44,000 alumni, from over 150 countries, which provide a wealth of knowledge, business experience, and worldwide networking opportunities. London Business School’s 157 academics come from more than 30 countries and cover seven subject areas: accounting; economics; finance; management science and operations; marketing; organisational behaviour; and strategy and entrepreneurship.

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Linkage Pay Brings Disruption Changes to the Payment Status Quo

SINGAPORE, April 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — With the development of fintech breakthroughs such as blockchain, big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence, the financial sector has witnessed unprecedented paradigm shifts in the past decade. The ever-shifting digital landscape opens possibilities of new business models and consumer behaviours. The acceptive attitude towards novel concepts accelerates the gradual implementation of nascent technologies in traditional sectors. Linkage Pay emerges as a timely response to the shifting landscape of the payment industry and sets out to bring about disruptive changes to the payment industry.

Linkage Pay
Linkage Pay

What is Linkage Pay?

Linkage Pay is committed to the improvement of global payment solutions. By moving the bulk of offline trading services online, Linkage Pay will revolutionize the payment process and empower users to manage their assets more efficiently. These services include transactions, exchange, trading, clearing and settlement, and payment services. The integration of transaction channels and customer-oriented services will afford clients a one-stop experience that is not only convenient but also highly secure. Linkage Pay boasts four key competitive advantages that set it apart from mainstream online payment platforms. These competitive advantages are innovative payment, rapid settlement, integrated payment, and smart business.    

Linkage Pay’s Business Model

1. Integrated Payment

The traditional payment system is cumbered with layers of red tape, resulting in low efficiency and high processing fee. On top of that, the traditional system relies heavily on third or even fourth-party platforms. The dependence on external factors renders the system more vulnerable to inconsistency, unexpected account closure, among other potential risks. Leveraging blockchain technology, Linkage Pay makes rapid peer-to-peer payment a reality, by offering the most straightforward solution to issues such as complex processes and high exchange rates.    

2. Financial Settlement

Linkage Pay’s payment system mobilizes innovative payment technology to circumvent information monitoring and high gas fees incurred from the over reliance on third-party platforms. Linkage Pay, in collaboration with Alipay and WeChat Pay, aims to minimize redundancy during the payment processes and cut operating costs by 30 to 50 percent.   

3. Investment and Asset Management  

Linkage Pay utilizes a portion of the savings to maintain liquidity. The fund will be used to invest in sound and low-risk financial products during the capital accumulation phase to generate multiple returns for the clients. 

4. Technical Competitiveness

Linkage Pay incorporates automatic confirmation of Alipay and WeChat Pay barcode in the payment system. A single transaction of US$100$50,000 typically generate a return rate of 0.5% to 1%. These transactions can be repeated multiple times in a same day until the platform quota is met.   

About the Team

Linkage Pay boasts a team of sophisticated industry professionals from diverse backgrounds. Its co-founder, Jimmy Li, takes on multiple managerial roles in tech startups, including AVG Group and Influence Chain. Graduated with a master’s degree in Supply Chain Management from a prestigious university, Jimmy has established himself as a top-tier supply chain analyst, before venturing into the world of entrepreneurship. In 2013, he founded Ads Venture Group (AVG), which has since become the largest Chinese digital media company in Southeast Asia, with branch offices operating in 7 countries and providing services to industry giants, including Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent. In 2016, Jimmy challenged the status quo of the payment industry by establishing AIC Fintech, a firm committed to providing digital payment solutions powered by blockchain technology. In a short span of five years, Jimmy has attained several prominent awards under his belt, including being accorded the honour of Young Eminent Overseas Chinese. He has been named as an adjunct professor at the MBA centre of Shanghai University in recognition of his extensive contributions to the university and the industry.

Photo – https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200417/2776204-1?lang=0

Bluevisor chosen for NatWest FinTech Accelerator Programme

SEOUL, South Korea, April 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Bluevisor, a member company of the Born2Global Centre, was selected for the second consecutive year to participate in the NatWest FinTech Accelerator Programme, which is sponsored by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

Bluevisor will be participating in the accelerating program from April through August. NatWest is a subsidiary of RBS, a key British financial institution.

Bluevisor picked for NatWest FinTech Accelerator Programme (Hwang Yong-guk, CEO of Bluevisor)
Bluevisor picked for NatWest FinTech Accelerator Programme (Hwang Yong-guk, CEO of Bluevisor)

For the annual program, NatWest assesses promising startups from all over the world that have demonstrated significant growth potential and selects companies to receive support. The selected companies are provided with assistance to obtain technology investments locally in the UK (with a focus on FinTech) as well as global networking support. After initially being selected for the NatWest Accelerator Programme in September 2019, Bluevisor was recognized again this year for its global marketability and localization potential and was selected for program support.

NatWest originally planned to conduct its accelerating program (offline) in the UK. However, due to the spread of COVID-19, the program is temporarily following an online itinerary. Bluevisor has been participating in the online program since April 1.

AI startup Bluevisor is the creator of HIGHBUFF, an AI software solution for investing and wealth enhancement. HIGHBUFF completes all steps in the investment process from portfolio setup, investment asset allocation to re-balancing portfolio. The service is available on PC or smartphones.

Hwang Yong-guk, CEO of Bluevisor, said, “We were selected again this year from among 125 companies and given a high score not only because of our diligent and proactive participation in NatWest’s 2019 program, but also because we network with diverse companies in the London area and show consistent sales increases.” Hwang added, “Now that HIGHBUFF’s technologies, credibility, and marketability are being recognized in the UK, Bluevisor will continue to work to promote the excellence of Korean technology in the global market as well as increase our corporate value through consistent sales increases.”

Bluevisor was also selected to receive support through KIC Silicon Valley‘s KIC-Express Soaring, a program that provides support according to localization phase. The company successfully passed the program’s first level of participant screening and was recently selected to participate in the second level of screening. In 2019, Bluevisor was also named a winner of the New York Family Office Challenge. The company continues to be recognized worldwide for the high quality and marketability of its products and had a media interview at NASDAQ, selected as a top 10 company of Startup World Cup 2019 (New York), and named as a finalist of the startup pitching contest “Take Off Istanbul International Startup Summit 2019” held in Turkey.

For more detailed information on Bluevisor, visit https://bluevisor.kr/#anchor1.

Media contact

Jun Young Kwon
Chief Operations Officer, Bluevisor
coo@bluevisor.kr

Jina Lee
PR Manager, Born2Global Centre
jlee@born2global.com

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