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PR Newswire

GigaMedia Announces Second-Quarter 2020 Financial Results

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TAIPEI, July 31, 2020 — GigaMedia Limited (NASDAQ: GIGM) today announced its second-quarter 2020 unaudited financial results.

Comments from Management

In the second quarter of 2020, GigaMedia reported revenues of $1.83 million, with a gross profit $0.98 million, an operating loss of $0.55 million and the net loss of $0.42 million. Total revenues increased by 13.8% if compared to the previous quarter.

"In spite of the ongoing disruption of the pandemic to our operations, we have achieved clear improvements," said GigaMedia CEO James Huang. "We have reshaped our cost structure and remodeled our marketing strategies, thereby approximately halved the operating loss if comparing to the same quarter last year."

"And we are also enhancing the playability and stickiness of FunTown M, our in-house developed mobile platform of casual games," continued GigaMedia CEO James Huang, "which will be the most crucial piece to fall in place for our turning profitable beyond just break-even."

Second Quarter Overview

  • Operating revenues increased by approximately 13.8% quarter-on-quarter, to $1.83 million from $1.60 million in last quarter, and 4.3% year-over-year from $1.75 million the same period last year. The increase was mainly attributable to our efforts in revitalizing Tales Runner, a 14-year-old licensed game we operate in Hong Kong.
  • Gross profit increased slightly by 5.5% to $0.98 million from $0.93 million in last quarter, and increased by 27.2% compared to $0.77 million in the same period last year.
  • The net asset value was $4.96 per share.

Unaudited Consolidated Financial Results

GigaMedia Limited is a diversified provider of digital entertainment services. GigaMedia’s digital entertainment service business FunTown develops and operates a suite of digital entertainments in Taiwan and Hong Kong, with focus on browser/mobile games and casual games.

Unaudited consolidated results of GigaMedia are summarized in the table below.

For the Second Quarter

GIGAMEDIA 2Q20 UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL RESULTS

(unaudited, all figures in US$ thousands, except
per share amounts)

2Q20

1Q20

Change

(%)

2Q20

2Q19

Change

(%)

Revenues

1,826

1,604

13.8

%

1,826

1,750

4.3

%

Gross Profit

978

927

5.5

%

978

769

27.2

%

Loss from Operations

(549)

(640)

NM

(549)

(1,122)

NM

Net Loss Attributable to GigaMedia

(419)

(286)

NM

(419)

(614)

NM

Net Loss Per Share Attributable to

   GigaMedia, Diluted

(0.04)

(0.03)

NM

(0.04)

(0.06)

NM

EBITDA (A)

(634)

(536)

NM

(634)

(1,000)

NM

Cash, Cash Equivalents and

   Restricted Cash

56,783

57,311

(0.9)

%

56,783

58,015

(2.1)

%

NM= Not Meaningful

(A)  EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) is provided as a supplement to
results provided in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"). (See, "Use
of Non-GAAP Measures," for more details.) 

Second-Quarter Financial Results

  • Consolidated revenues for the second quarter of 2020 increased by 13.8% quarter-on-quarter to $1.83 million from $1.60 million in last quarter, and by 4.3% year-over-year from $1.75 million the same period last year.
  • Consolidated gross profit was $0.98 million, increased by 5.5% quarter-on-quarter and 27.2% year-over-year.
  • Consolidated operating expenses were $1.53 million, comparable to the first quarter of 2020 and decreased by 19.3% if compared to the same period last year, which reflected a decrease in marketing expenses and general expenses.
  • Consolidated loss from operation of the second quarter of 2020 was a loss of $0.55 million, reflecting an improvement from a loss of $0.64 million in the first quarter.
  • Net loss in the second quarter of 2020 was $0.42 million, increasing from a net loss of $0.29 million in the first quarter this year mainly due to lower interest income and exchange loss in this quarter. 
  • Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at the end of the second quarter of 2020 amounted to $56.8 million, slightly decreased by 0.9% from $57.3 million as of the end of the first quarter.

Financial Position

GigaMedia maintained its solid financial position, with cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash amounted to $56.8 million, or $5.14 per share, as of June 30, 2020.

Business Outlook

The following forward-looking statements reflect GigaMedia’s expectations as of July 30, 2020. Given potential changes in economic conditions and consumer spending, the evolving nature of digital entertainments, and various other risk factors, including those discussed in the Company’s 2019 Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as referenced below, actual results may differ materially.

In the second half of 2020, we will continue improving productivities of the existing games, in which FunTown M, our own mobile platform of casual games, is expected to begin contributing to our revenues. Along with our various product lines and customer platform, we will gradually accumulate the momentum to an upward trend.  

Meanwhile, our management continues evaluating and pursuing prospects of strategic investment targets that are with potential to expand our business and create greater shareholder value.

Use of Non-GAAP Measures

To supplement GigaMedia’s consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with US GAAP, the Company uses the following measure defined as non-GAAP by the SEC: EBITDA. Management believes that EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) is a useful supplemental measure of performance because it excludes certain non-cash items such as depreciation and amortization and that EBITDA is a measure of performance used by some investors, equity analysts and others to make informed investment decisions. EBITDA is not a recognized earnings measure under GAAP and does not have a standardized meaning. Non-GAAP measures such as EBITDA should be considered in addition to results prepared in accordance with GAAP, but should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, other financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. A limitation of using EBITDA is that it does not include all items that impact the company’s net income for the period. Reconciliations to the GAAP equivalents of the non-GAAP financial measures are provided on the attached unaudited financial statements.

About the Numbers in This Release

Quarterly results

All quarterly results referred to in the text, tables and attachments to this release are unaudited. The financial statements from which the financial results reported in this press release are derived have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, unless otherwise noted as "non-GAAP," and are presented in U.S. dollars.

Q&A

For Q&A regarding the second quarter 2020 performance upon the release, investors may send the questions via email to IR@gigamedia.com.tw, and the responses will be replied individually.

About GigaMedia

Headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, GigaMedia Limited (Singapore registration number: 199905474H) is a diversified provider of digital entertainment services in Taiwan and Hong Kong. GigaMedia’s digital entertainment service business is an innovative leader in Asia with growing capabilities of development, distribution and operation of digital entertainments, as well as platform services for games with a focus on mobile games and casual games. More information on GigaMedia can be obtained from www.gigamedia.com.tw.

The statements included above and elsewhere in this press release that are not historical in nature are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding expected financial performance (as described without limitation in the "Business Outlook" section and in quotations from management in this press release) and GigaMedia’s strategic and operational plans. These statements are based on management’s current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties and changes in circumstances. There are important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward looking statements, including but not limited to, our ability to license, develop or acquire additional online games that are appealing to users, our ability to retain existing online game players and attract new players, and our ability to launch online games in a timely manner and pursuant to our anticipated schedule. Further information on risks or other factors that could cause results to differ is detailed in GigaMedia’s Annual Report on Form 20-F filed in April 2020 and its other filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

(Tables to follow)

 

GIGAMEDIA LIMITED

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

Three months ended

Six months ended

06/30/2020

03/31/2020

06/30/2019

06/30/2020

06/30/2019

unaudited

unaudited

unaudited

unaudited

unaudited

USD

USD

USD

USD

USD

Operating revenues

Digital entertainment service revenues

1,825,547

1,603,904

1,749,583

3,429,450

3,232,816

Other revenues

—

—

—

—

—

1,825,547

1,603,904

1,749,583

3,429,450

3,232,816

Operating costs

Cost of digital entertainment service

    revenues

847,906

677,194

980,448

1,525,099

1,725,350

Cost of other revenues

—

—

—

—

—

847,906

677,194

980,448

1,525,099

1,725,350

Gross profit

977,641

926,710

769,135

1,904,351

1,507,466

Operating expenses

Product development and engineering

   expenses

332,745

328,815

325,144

661,560

645,638

Selling and marketing expenses

367,529

410,475

580,539

778,004

1,106,542

General and administrative expenses

825,998

824,442

974,648

1,650,440

1,810,634

Other

(42)

2,984

11,165

2,942

16,380

1,526,230

1,566,716

1,891,496

3,092,946

3,579,194

Loss from operations

(548,589)

(640,006)

(1,122,361)

(1,188,595)

(2,071,728)

Non-operating income (expense)

Interest income

212,881

255,719

414,450

468,600

796,250

Foreign exchange (loss) gain – net

(82,357)

98,887

90,922

16,529

79,520

Other – net

(1,404)

(298)

3,416

(1,702)

50,328

129,120

354,308

508,788

483,427

926,098

Loss before income taxes

(419,469)

(285,698)

(613,573)

(705,168)

(1,145,630)

Income tax benefit (expense)

—

—

—

—

—

Net loss attributable to shareholders of
GigaMedia

(419,469)

(285,698)

(613,573)

(705,168)

(1,145,630)

Loss per share attributable to GigaMedia

   Basic

(0.04)

(0.03)

(0.06)

(0.06)

(0.10)

   Diluted

(0.04)

(0.03)

(0.06)

(0.06)

(0.10)

Weighted average shares outstanding:

Basic

11,052,235

11,052,235

11,052,235

11,052,235

11,052,235

Diluted

11,052,235

11,052,235

11,052,235

11,052,235

11,052,235

 

GIGAMEDIA LIMITED

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

06/30/2020

03/31/2020

06/30/2019

unaudited

unaudited

unaudited

USD

USD

USD

Assets

Current assets

Cash and cash equivalents

56,247,678

56,777,472

57,489,563

Accounts receivable – net

349,450

355,225

591,905

Prepaid expenses

228,794

276,010

275,551

Restricted cash

535,153

533,436

525,354

Other receivables

203,671

238,396

458,383

Other current assets

142,230

148,757

131,150

Total current assets

57,706,976

58,329,296

59,471,906

Property, plant & equipment – net

7,740

8,117

92,580

Intangible assets – net

17,111

17,965

23,545

Prepaid licensing and royalty fees

184,365

210,530

574,274

Other assets

290,687

285,319

1,035,529

Total assets

58,206,879

58,851,227

61,197,834

Liabilities and equity

Accounts payable

69,147

60,405

119,597

Accrued compensation

278,622

156,948

253,262

Accrued expenses

1,321,262

1,449,553

1,340,539

Unearned revenue

1,058,940

1,285,399

1,617,881

Other current liabilities

627,162

715,877

197,776

Total current liabilities

3,355,133

3,668,182

3,529,055

Other liabilities

3,653

7,337

781,187

Total liabilities

3,358,786

3,675,519

4,310,242

GigaMedia’s shareholders’ equity

54,848,093

55,175,708

56,887,592

Total liabilities and equity

58,206,879

58,851,227

61,197,834

GIGAMEDIA LIMITED

RECONCILIATIONS OF NON-GAAP RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Three months ended

Six months ended

06/30/2020

03/31/2020

06/30/2019

06/30/2020

06/30/2019

unaudited

unaudited

unaudited

unaudited

unaudited

USD

USD

USD

USD

USD

Reconciliation of Net Loss to EBITDA

Net loss attributable to GigaMedia

(419,469)

(285,698)

(613,573)

(705,168)

(1,145,630)

Depreciation

535

354

14,769

889

40,156

Amortization

(2,257)

4,657

12,830

2,400

25,729

Interest income

(212,881)

(255,719)

(414,450)

(468,600)

(796,250)

Interest expense

—

—

—

—

—

Income tax (benefit) expense

—

—

—

—

—

EBITDA

(634,072)

(536,406)

(1,000,424)

(1,170,479)

(1,875,995)

 

 

Related Links :

http://www.gigamedia.com

http://www.gigamedia.com.tw

PR Newswire

Mr. Anil Jaggia, Former CIO, HDFC Bank, joins Cloud4C – a CtrlS Company, as a Strategic Advisor

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He will play a pivotal role in designing innovative smart and intelligent technology solutions for the Banking sector

SINGAPORE and HYDERABAD, India, July 31, 2020 —  Mr. Anil Jaggia, former CIO, HDFC Bank, and a technology veteran has joined Cloud4C – a CtrlS company, as a strategic advisor for the banking practice. He will work closely with the organization’s leadership team with a key focus on enabling large banking transformation projects on Cloud, DevOps, Automation, and aid banks in their digital transformation journey. He is a graduate in management from IIM Ahmedabad and holds an engineering degree from IIT Kanpur. He enjoys strong credentials and brings along over 30 years of rich experience across a wide spectrum of financial services, business and IT strategies.

Mr. Anil Jaggia, Former CIO, HDFC Bank, joins Cloud4C – a CtrlS Company, as a Strategic Advisor
Mr. Anil Jaggia, Former CIO, HDFC Bank, joins Cloud4C – a CtrlS Company, as a Strategic Advisor

Earlier, in 2008, Mr. Anil Jaggia – a highly respected and visionary technology leader in the banking sector – had taken over as CIO of HDFC Bank and played a key role in digital transformation of the bank and led it to an enviable leadership position. Some of the key initiatives taken by him at HDFC Bank were around core transformation, data warehouse, Analytics, Digital Banking, Business Continuity, along with additional responsibility to lead a Coordination Council for Financial Inclusion (FI) and Sustainable Livelihood Banking (SLB). Before joining HDFC Bank, he was Chief Operating Officer of Centurion Bank of Punjab Limited, for four years. Before this, Mr. Jaggia worked for over 18 years with Citibank at Chicago, New York, Singapore, Mumbai and Kolkata.

Mr. Anil Jaggia said, “I am happy to join Cloud4C as a Strategic Advisor. The world of banking is now strategically moving from physical banking to contact-less banking. The future is where everything will communicate through internet of things to find and engage customers powered by artificial intelligence, machine learning, social technologies, analytics and efficient storage and computing technologies.” He further said, “I am looking forward to actively and closely working with the Cloud4C leadership team to build innovative, new age, collaborative, agile, open, secure, rapidly scalable and regulatory compliant banking technology solutions to help banking sector embrace the digital future.”

Digital banking is the future as banking products and services will be delivered through mobile apps, processed through API, and delivered through all internet channels making virtual banking a reality. Digital Banking worldwide market is projected to reach $500 billion by 2027 with a digital user base of 4 billion. Cloud4C with its presence in 50 locations across 25 countries plans to serve 25,000 banks worldwide through its banking community cloud and other new age banking technology solutions combined with its intelligent cloud managed services. The company today serves 60 of the Fortune 500 global multinationals and 20+ banks globally compliant with regulations such as GDPR in Europe RBI guidelines in India among others.

Mr. Sridhar Pinnapureddy, Founder and CEO, Cloud4C Services, said, “I am extremely delighted to welcome Mr. Anil Jaggia, a seasoned banking industry veteran who brings deep experience in business-IT alignment, innovation in IT strategies in banking sector. I extend him a warm welcome to the Cloud4C family. He further added, “Mr. Anil will play a key role in shaping our new age technology solutions for the banking sector as banking is becoming embedded and ubiquitous.”

About Cloud4C

Cloud4C is the World’s leading Cloud Managed Services provider and trusted advisor to 4,000 customers in 25 Countries and 50 locations including 60 of the Fortune 500 Global Multinationals. The company provides cloud (public, private, hybrid) and community cloud services (Banking Community Cloud, SAP Community Cloud), cloud migration on hyperscalers such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, end to end intelligent cloud managed services, disaster recovery services, managed security services and helps businesses comply with  stringent data sovereignty laws in respective countries.

The company plans to expand its geographical footprint to 80 countries and 160 locations worldwide in the next 36 to 48 months.

www.cloud4c.com

Media Contact:
B.S. Rao
Vice President and Global Head (PR and Communications)
Cloud4C Services
bsrao@cloud4c.com
www.cloud4c.com

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PR Newswire

eBaoCloud InsureMO Accelerates Insurance Customer Growth on AWS

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Over the last year, Aegon Life has strengthened its position as a digital insurer by leveraging eBaoCloud’s InsureMO on AWS to gain speed and agility

NEW YORK, July 30, 2020 — eBaoTech Corporation (eBaoTech), a global leader in digital insurance solutions, announced that Aegon Life has joined more than 10 new clients across the US, Brazil, India, Botswana, Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore – ranging from insurance carriers, insurtech startups, and digital channel partners – that have turned to InsureMO™ on Amazon Web Services (AWS) for increased agility and innovation, including faster product launches and new channel integrations.

Aegon Life India chose InsureMO on AWS, to help extend investments in core systems without wholesale replacement of those systems. Core systems are often a barrier to digital innovation, new products across new channels delivering a better user experience, and replacing them is often too costly and time consuming. eBaoCloud InsureMO provides an API-based modernization layer around core systems that enables configuration of new insurance policy types, integration to new channels and partners, and rapid development and deployment of new products with low launch costs that drive new policy volumes at scale. For example, Aegon Life was able to launch its group platform with an eCommerce company within six weeks, which otherwise would have taken months.

Additional benefits for Aegon Life include:

  • Multiple lines of businesses running off a single platform enabled by InsureMO
  • API support for distribution partners willing to do servicing beyond just sales (making Aegon Life one of a few carriers capable of providing this type of support)
  • Shortening new product launches from months to 2-3 weeks
  • Launching new insurance plans for affinity partners in less than a day
  • Reducing the partner onboarding process from weeks to 1-3 days

All of these benefits are enabled by the scale, resiliency, and agility AWS offers.

eBaoCloud® InsureMO™ platform is based on a microservices architecture and contains common APIs needed to manage the whole lifecycle of General (P&C), Life, and Health insurance policies. This includes quotation, illustration, underwriting, payment, and claims. The platform can seamlessly integrate with external applications and services such as Optical Character Recognition (OCR), voice recognition, payment, and location by API calls. InsureMO also supports third parties to develop APIs and register on InsureMO. The availability of templates enables product configuration and speed. Currently, over 3,000 products templates from over 120 insurance companies across more than 10 countries have been configured on eBaoCloud InsureMO.

“The term ‘Digital Transformation’ in insurance is no longer about just replacing your legacy core with a modern core system. The need is to package and launch products in matter of days and connect to multiple channels. eBaoCloud’s  InsureMO platform solves the same problem with the ‘3V‘ proposition (massive Volume, Velocity and Variation) without waiting for legacy core replacements and driving API-led connectivity to enable any insurance scenarios from Life, General, Group, and Health,”  Rajat Sharma, Corporate VP and Head of Sales and Strategy commented, “We are very excited to work with AWS and rely on them, with the broadest global presence, to quickly roll out InsureMO during this critical industry revolution era.”

InsureMO’s first client in India, Douglas Kennedy, Chief Technology Officer, Aegon Life Insurance said, “We are delighted to be included in the first wave of partnerships for eBaoCloud InsureMO on AWS in India. This association will help us continue to be the differentiators in the industry and achieve greater speed to market and speed to value. The first launch of our group platform with an eCommerce player was achieved within six weeks of signing our partnership with eBaoTech demonstrating by having the right teams, right architecture, right vision you can run at great speed.”

Ralph Severini, Global Strategy Lead, AWS Insurance Independent Software Vendors, Amazon Web Services, Inc. said, “AWS is delighted to support eBaoTech as they leverage the agility and scale of the cloud to bring new and innovative products to market faster with the goal of providing richer experiences for their customers. AWS’s collaboration with eBao provides Aegon Life with the foundation to achieve accelerated growth at scale and support expedited policy delivery, which their customers have come to expect.”

eBaoTech holds AWS Financial Services Competency status and is an Advanced Technology Partner in the AWS Partner Network (APN). Achieving the AWS Financial Services Competency differentiates eBaoTech as an APN member that possesses deep industry expertise, solutions designed with AWS architectural best practices, and staff with AWS certifications. APN Partners are vetted, validated, and verified against a high bar to achieve the AWS Competency designation.

Watch an online video about Aegon Life Insurance Company CTO sharing the success story at https://vimeo.com/442616376

About eBaoTech
eBaoTech is a digital solution provider to the global insurance industry and our mission is to “make insurance easy”. We do business in more than 30 countries globally, serving over 200 carriers and numerous agents, brokers, insurTech’s and others in the insurance ecosystem. Digital insurance is the coming wave and the insurance industry is moving into the API economy. eBaoTech provides solutions and services that enable digital insurance.

eBaoTech has been dedicated to insurtech innovation since its founding in 2000. In 2001, eBaoTech developed the world’s first browser/server-based insurance core system suite, leading the advent and adoption of Java-based 3G insurance IT. In 2015 eBaoTech launched the world’s first distributed, cloud-native and microservices based 4G insurance platform that provides a complete set of insurance APIs across an insurance policy’s full lifecycle. eBaoTech offers a cloud based solution that enables digital insurance and enterprise level core system insurance software. We make insurance easy.

eBaoTech Digital Solutions

eBao Cloud is a family of products based on open API insurance platform that provides real time connectivity and transactional capabilities to insurers, traditional channel partners, affinity partners, and insurTech startups. eBao Software includes core system suites for Life, P&C, and Health Insurers as well Re-Insurers. More information, please visit www.ebaotech.com.

Related Links :

http://www.ebaotech.com

PR Newswire

Recon Technology, Ltd. Announced Receipt of Official Hazardous Waste Operating Permit and New Order on Oily Sludge Treatment

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BEIJING, July 30, 2020 — Recon Technology, Ltd. (NASDAQ: RCON) ("Recon" or the "Company"), today announced that its 51% subsidiary, Gan Su BHD Environmental Technology Co., Ltd ("Gan Su BHD"), received the official 3-year hazardous waste operating permit on July 27, 2020 issued by the Environmental Protection Bureau of Gansu Province.

In addition, Gansu BHD has received a new order from the North China Branch of China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation ("Sinopec") to dispose 1,680 tons of oily sludge in Gansu Pingliang work zone. The value for this order is about RMB3.6 million ($0.5 million).

As previously disclosed by the Company, Gansu BHD purchased 50 year land use rights of a piece of 26,235 square meter land to construct a comprehensive disposal treatment facility to mainly serve the oilfield sewage treatment needs of Yumen Oilfield Company, China’s first petroleum production base and a PetroChina Co., Ltd. ("PetroChina") subsidiary. The construction completed in January 2020. The comprehensive disposal treatment project has an annual processing capacity of 60,000 tons of oily waste, and is one of the most advanced and the only such automated treatment facility located in Gansu Province so far. As of today, Gansu BHD also provides services and treatment solution to Sinopec’s Gansu branch.

Mr. Guangqiang Chen, co-founder and CTO of Recon, stated, "With the official permit, Gansu BHD can eventually provide large scale treatment service to clients. Affected by Covid-19, Gansu BHD’s operation was postponed temporally. By far, we have resumed its operation. We have transported about 5,000 tons of oily sludge to our factory disposal site and are ready to process it so it can meet the requirements of national environmental laws and regulations. We have also received the major part of the services fees for this project from the client, demonstrating the trust and the confidence from our clients on Gansu BHD’s treatment advantage and capacity. We believe Gansu BHD’s performance will be reflected in our financial results gradually from mid-2020 and we expect more development on this disposal business."

About Recon Technology, Ltd.                                       

Recon Technology, Ltd. (RCON) is China’s first non-state-owned oil and gas field service company listed on NASDAQ. Recon supplies China’s largest oil exploration companies with advanced automated technologies, efficient gathering and transportation equipment and reservoir stimulation measures for increasing petroleum extraction levels, reducing impurities and lowering production costs. Since 2017, the Company has expanded its business operations into other segments of the broader energy industry including electric power, coal chemicals, renewable energy and environmental protection in the energy and chemical industries. Through the years, Recon has taken leading positions on several market segments of the oil and gas field service industry. Recon also has developed stable long-term cooperation relationships with its major clients, and its products and service are well accepted by clients. For additional information please visit: www.recon.cn.

IR Contact:

Liu Jia, Chief Financial Officer
Recon Technology, Ltd.
Tel: +86-10-8494-5799
Email: info@recon.cn

Related Links :

http://www.recon.cn/

PR Newswire

Mobile Field Service Management Market in North America Set to Surpass $4 Billion by 2025

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Increasing migration towards cloud-based field service management solutions presents immense growth prospects finds Frost & Sullivan

SANTA CLARA, California, July 30, 2020 — Frost & Sullivan’s recent analysis, North American Mobile Field Service Management Market Continues to Offer Expansion Opportunities: Forecast to 2025, reveals that the mobile field service management (FSM) market in North America is expected to surpass $4 billion by 2025, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate of 17.4%. FSM’s mobility component continues to spur market adoption by expanding its addressable market and introducing new cutting-edge technologies and partnerships to the FSM ecosystem. Although user growth is expected to slow down due to COVID-19, it is likely to recover by 2022 and witness more than two-fold growth over the forecast period.


For further information on this analysis, please visit: http://frost.ly/49p

"Mobilized FSM solutions enable remote service workers to receive and transmit work-related information and guidance on a real-time basis," said Jeanine Sterling, Information & Communication Technologies Industry Director at Frost & Sullivan. "Going forward, we expect these solutions to continue to produce impressive hard-dollar results by improving field response times, reducing paperwork, decreasing labor expenses, expediting cash flow, and increasing new sales leads."

Sterling added: "Users of mobilized FSM solutions are demonstrating an increasing level of interest in cutting-edge technologies as they can offer a differential advantage in highly competitive sectors. For example, the escalating deployment of machine learning and artificial intelligence in the FSM space alongside the integration of mobile FSM solutions with Internet of Things platforms enabling a more proactive and highly-valued approach to both machine maintenance and technician workflows."

Customers’ increasing migration towards cloud-based FSM solutions versus purchasing on-premise offerings presents immense growth prospects for mobile FSM solutions providers.

  • Vertical-specific solutions will create new revenue streams for FSM solutions providers and their channels.
  • High-powered, low-latency 5G networks can pave the way to a new level of FSM apps and capabilities.
  • Sharpening predictive and proactive field service capabilities will optimize the service experience and increase profitability.
  • Implementing high-touch post-sale communications strategies will uncover and capture incremental sales opportunities.
  • Optimizing FSM solution integration will enhance customer satisfaction, expedite service response intervals, and increase profits.

North American Mobile Field Service Management Market Continues to Offer Expansion Opportunities: Forecast to 2025 is the latest addition to Frost & Sullivan’s Information & Communication Technologies research and analysis available through the Frost & Sullivan Leadership Council, which helps organizations identify a continuous flow of growth opportunities to succeed in an unpredictable future.

About Frost & Sullivan

For over five decades, Frost & Sullivan has become world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, Mega Trends, new business models and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion.

North American Mobile Field Service Management Market Continues to Offer Expansion Opportunities: Forecast to 2025

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Kingsoft Cloud Enters Singapore Cloud Computing Market

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SINGAPORE, July 30, 2020 — The unexpected pandemic has brought many uncertainties to the global economy. But there is still one thing for sure: backed by various technologies including 5G, AI and IoT, the world is witnessing accelerated global digitalization, with cloud being a key support. From telecommuting and online education to telemedicine, social network and entertainment, even to online graduation exhibition and online court, it seems that everything can be done “on the cloud”. Kingsoft Cloud (NASDAQ: KC), as a leading cloud service provider in the world, has set up energy-saving data centers and operating branches in the United States, Russia, Singapore, etc. And the headquarters of Southeast Asia operations were set in Singapore.

Singapore, the fourth largest financial center in the world which sits in an important geographical position in Asia-Pacific, shows great potential demands for cloud services. The outbreak of COVID-19 this year has accelerated the digitalization of enterprises in Singapore to a large extent, prompting an earlier rise of cloud computing, a key role in the future market.

Kingsoft Cloud (NASDAQ: KC), a leading cloud service provider in the world
Kingsoft Cloud (NASDAQ: KC), a leading cloud service provider in the world

Kingsoft Cloud has inherited the “enterprise service DNA” from Kingsoft Group, the widely trusted leading software franchise in China, and has established superior enterprise service capabilities. Kingsoft Cloud stays at the forefront of cloud technology development, making extensive technical accumulation in big data, cloud computing, AI, IoT, and other areas. On that basis, Kingsoft Cloud offers cutting-edge technologies as well as convenient, efficient and customized services around the clock for Chinese enterprises going global, local enterprises in Singapore and other reginal enterprises in the Asia-Pacific region.

Currently, Kingsoft Cloud has provided over 120 solutions for multiple industries including video, gaming, education, finance and real estate , which have been highly recognized by its clients and partners.

So as an early player in video cloud and AI, what makes Kingsoft Cloud stand out?

First of all, in terms of video cloud, Kingsoft Cloud has followed the strategy of “Edge-based, AI-empowered”, aiming to offer immersive video cloud experience and tailored edge computing services. This year, Kingsoft Cloud launched its flagship 8K+VR livestreaming commercial solution and image quality evaluation platform — Kingsoft Cloud Quality of Experience.

With a well-established distribution platform and advanced live-streaming technology, the 8K+VR integrated solution of Kingsoft Cloud offers multiple features including VR video collection, editing, encoding, packing, storage, distributing and broadcasting. By combining AV1+ smart high definition and other self-developed technologies, Kingsoft Cloud can effectively reduce the bit rate while remaining the quality of image, therefore cutting the bandwidth costs.

This June, Kingsoft Cloud released the Kingsoft Cloud Quality of Experience (KQoE) to help clients evaluate the quality of image and video solutions. This platform simulates actual viewing experience and provides comprehensive reports and data analyses with the support of experts, so as to help clients evaluate the quality of image better and faster. Now, the platform has been implemented and well-received by our clients. 

When it comes to edge computing, Kingsoft Cloud’s KENC applies advanced container architecture, catering to cloud-native computing, to further optimize transmission efficiency and computing capacity of edge network. On top of that, edge computing and AIoT can be integrated to build the edge computing that is closer to users through smart habitation.

Furthermore, in terms of education cloud, during the pandemic, Kingsoft Cloud has launched an all-round online-learning solution. Built on RTC framework, the algorithm has been optimized to realize low latency. The solution addresses issues like fast expansion, high concurrency, student-teacher real-time interaction and teaching evaluation, making sure that online teaching activities go smoothly.

The concept of “smart campus” has gained much attention recently. Besides the smart educational administration system, security system and big data system, Kingsoft Cloud has launched the AI development platform KPL for colleges and universities. The data, algorithm, and computing power can be managed and allocated in a uniform manner to establish a sound development and software stack, enabling large-scale distributed training, automatic modeling, etc. This platform can satisfy resources demands of different levels, helping colleges and universities to improve the utilization of computing resources and AI development efficiency. Ultimately, smooth, stable, and reliable operations of the system can be realized.

At last, when it comes to AIoT, mainstream systems such as Smart Home and property management are usually separated. To deal with interconnectivity issues and isolated data island, Kingsoft Cloud’s integrated smart community solution provides a unified software and hardware control interface, data interface and uniform user access, leveraging by Cloud+AI+IoT+BigData and other technologies. Based on “three terminals and one platform” (terminals of users, projects, and enterprises, and the platform of smart habitation services), Kingsoft Cloud’s integrated smart community solution features interconnected indoor and outdoor scenarios and efficient property management abilities, which are the key value of a smart community.

Currently, Kingsoft Cloud runs business around the globe, and larger global partnership has been written in its long-term strategy. Entering the Singapore market, Kingsoft Cloud will join hands with its partners to support Singapore’s Smart Nation Initiative, leveraging its cutting-edge technologies and rich experience in cloud services.

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How CommonLook’s Expertise Helps Google With PDF Accessibility

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ARLINGTON, Virginia, July 30, 2020 — Two years ago, Google reached out to CommonLook because of our expertise in PDF accessibility.

“At the time, we recognized the potential impact on PDF accessibility due to the massive number of Chrome users around the world.” – Monir ElRayes, President and CEO, CommonLook, Inc.

Google knows that online content publishers are required to have their PDFs accessible and compliant to standards. Unfortunately, most organizations do not support directly generating a tagged PDF. 

Google used CommonLook’s PDF Validator and consulted with CommonLook to ensure their PDF accessibility plan was going to provide the biggest impact.

“By building this into Chrome, we’re hoping some organizations that already use HTML as part of their document workflow might be able to take advantage of this new functionality and generate compliant PDFs more easily.” Dominic Mazzoni, Technical Lead, Chrome Accessibility.

After significant progress, Chrome is rolling out this feature to all users every time they generate a PDF from Chrome. 

“We are pleased to see Google leading on social justice issues like this. Information technology is the new frontier of equality. By adding accessibility features to the Chrome browser, they are improving the experience of users with disabilities,” said Douglas Towne, the Chair and CEO of Access Ready, a cross disability advocacy organization. “Tagged PDF’s are a requirement for accessible documents and this new capability should help ensure access to a greater audience across e-commerce, work, school and in the home.”

With this being the 30th anniversary of the ADA this month, we cannot think of a better tribute to the ideals of the ADA than to see Google adding additional accessibility features to the Chrome web browser that is used by 1 billion people worldwide.

Learn More About Google’s Announcement: https://blog.chromium.org/2020/07/using-chrome-to-generate-more.html

CONTACT: Susan Lee, Director of Communications at CommonLook, press@commonlook.com

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SOS Ltd. Announces its Plans After Settling on the West Coast of Qingdao

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QINGDAO, China, July 29, 2020 — SOS Limited, (NYSE: SOS) (formerly China Rapid Finance Limited, the “Company“) today announced its plans for the future after it has settled on the west coast of Qingdao.

SOS Limited, through its operating subsidiary, SOS Information Technology Co., Ltd. (“SOS“) is a high-technology company providing a wide range of services to its corporate and individual members, including marketing data, technology and solutions for emergency rescue services. SOS is focused on the research and development of big data, cloud computing, Internet of Things, blockchain and artificial intelligence. We have created a SOS cloud emergency rescue service software as a service (SaaS) platform with three major product categories, including basic cloud (medical rescue card, car rescue card, financial rescue card, mutual assistance rescue card), cooperative cloud (information rescue center, intelligent big data, intelligent software and hardware), and information cloud (News Today, E-Commerce Today). This system provide marketing-related data, technology solutions, and technology-driven big data to clients such as insurance companies, financial institutions, medical institutions, healthcare providers, auto manufacturers, security providers, senior living assistance providers and other service providers in the emergency rescue services industry. SOS has obtained a national high-tech enterprise certification, the title of “big data star enterprise” awarded by Gui’an New District Government, and has registered 11 software copyrights and 2 patents.

As previously disclosed, on July 17th, 2020, SOS officially entered into a cooperation agreement with Qingdao West Coast New District Management Committee, a branch office of the Qingdao government, for the relocation of the Company’s headquarters.

According to the cooperation agreement, SOS will invest in building a financial data cloud headquarters in Qingdao. The Company’s aim is to build a comprehensive main headquarters encompassing the fields of investment, health management, insurance, financial factoring, emergency rescue, and data cloud center. The total planned investment is estimated to be around US$1 billion, and the first phase of the investment will be around US$50 million. Present at the signing ceremony were Mr. Yonghong Sun, Deputy Mayor of Qingdao city, Mr. An Zhou, Mayor of the West Coast New Area, Mr. Yandai Wang, the CEO of the Company, and Messrs. Jonathan Zhang and Wenbin Wu, independent directors of the Company.

In the next five years, we aim to create a complete ecological rescue, insurance, and safety testing service system, and enter India, Europe, the United States and other populous countries to create an international rescue service. Through big data and cloud computing service platforms, we plan to improve the entire internationalized rescue service, insurance, security testing, intelligent software and hardware, big data, cloud computing and other intelligent service systems.

About SOS Limited

SOS Limited (NYSE: SOS) is a holding company providing marketing data, technology and solutions to the emergency rescue services in China. The Company provides a wide range of services to its corporate and individual members in China through its operating subsidiary, SOS Information Technology Co., Ltd. (“SOS“). SOS also provides various types of membership cards to individual members in large corporations as part of employee benefits. Its products include SOS Medical Rescue Card, SOS Auto Rescue Card, SOS Financial Rescue Card, and SOS Life Rescue Card. SOS utilizes cloud and other cutting-edge technologies to provide marketing solutions in a new fashion, including its app based mobile platform, cloud call centers and large data centers. SOS has contractual service agreements with major banks, insurance companies, internet companies, and telecom providers in China. 

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements made herein are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “expect,” “estimate,” “plan,” “outlook,” and “project” and other similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. Such forward-looking statements include timing of the proposed transaction; the business plans, objectives, expectations and intentions of the parties once the transaction is complete, and XRF’s estimated and future results of operations, business strategies, competitive position, industry environment and potential growth opportunities. These forward-looking statements reflect the current analysis of existing information and are subject to various risks and uncertainties. As a result, caution must be exercised in relying on forward-looking statements. Due to known and unknown risks, our actual results may differ materially from our expectations or projections. All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these factors. Other than as required under the securities laws, the Company does not assume a duty to update these forward-looking statements.

Additional information concerning these and other factors that may impact our expectations and projections can be found in our periodic filings with the SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019. XRF’s SEC filings are available publicly on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. XRF disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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CIGNEX Datamatics Honored With UiPath’s Partner Excellence Awards 2020

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The award celebrates the contributions of partners who made a difference by successfully customizing RPA solutions for customers with specific needs across industries and helping them drive business value

LIVONIA, Mich., July 29, 2020 — CIGNEX Datamatics, a leading provider of Digital Transformation through Open Source, Cloud and Automation technology solutions, was honored by UiPath, a leading enterprise Robotic Process Automation (RPA) software company with a coveted Partner Excellence Award for the Y2020 on July 28, under the category – India Regional Partner of the year – North.

 

This prestigious award was bestowed to partners based on their commitment, innovation, impact in the marketplace, ability to scale and capability & capacity building on UiPath hyperautomation platform. A total of 15 winners were selected across categories from UiPath’s extensive partner ecosystem comprising over 200+ organizations across South Asia.

“We are extremely honored to receive this award from UiPath,” said Harish Ramachandran, CEO, CIGNEX Datamatics. “Our aim has always been to improve customer experience by adopting new digital technologies and it’s very rewarding to see our solutions bringing significant value to our customers and community members. This award is an acknowledgement to the amazing work our team has delivered that has benefited both UiPath and CIGNEX Datamatics’ customers,” he added

Manish Bharti, President, UiPath India and South Asia, said, “We are delighted to honour the winners for the UiPath Partner Excellence Awards. Over the last year, our partners have been instrumental in helping the customers start their RPA journey and ensure timely, high quality implementation. In recent times, they have stepped up and gone the extra mile in supporting government, public institutions, and enterprises in building new use cases to combat the current challenges. My heartiest congratulations to CIGNEX Datamatics Technologies.”

Murli Mohan, Vice-President, India Business, UiPath, said, “Our partners form the backbone of our ecosystem and support us in providing the best outcomes for our customers. These awards are our way of recognizing and celebrating the partners who have done innovative work this past year. We congratulate CIGNEX Datamatics Technologies for winning the India Regional Partner of the year – North award.”

UiPath has cultivated the world’s largest RPA community exceeding 7,000 customers, including more than 65 percent of the Fortune 500 and eight of the Fortune 10, as a result of UiPath’s ease of use, scalability and open platform.

Having invested in RPA since 2016, CIGNEX Datamatics has built an RPA Center of Excellence (CoE) with certified RPA professionals (over 150+ UiPath certifications accomplished by 60+ RPA experts), who are helping customers achieve their automation goals with quality RPA solutions.

More information on CIGNEX Datamatics’ UiPath Expertise can be found here.

About CIGNEX Datamatics ( www.cignex.com )

CIGNEX Datamatics, a subsidiary of Datamatics Global Services Ltd., is a Michigan based global consulting company offering solutions & services on Open Source, Cloud and Automation. Since 2000, CIGNEX Datamatics has been delivering enterprise class solutions built using leading platforms & tools, which can be integrated with existing systems to achieve unparalleled results.

About UiPath ( www.uipath.com )

UiPath has a vision to deliver A Robot for Every Person, one where companies enable every employee to use, create, and benefit from the transformative power of automation to liberate the boundless potential of people. Only UiPath offers an end-to-end platform for hyperautomation, combining the leading Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solution with a full suite of capabilities that enable every organization to scale digital business operations at unprecedented speed. The company has already automated millions of repetitive tasks for over 65% of the Fortune 500 and 8 of the Fortune 10.    

Named a 2020 CNBC Disruptor 50 company, UiPath was recognized as the fastest growing technology company in the Americas according to FT Americas’ Fastest Growing Companies 2020 and named the top company on Deloitte’s 2019 Technology Fast 500, a ranking of the fastest public and private technology companies in North America. 

Media Contact
Priyanka Sharma
Head of Marketing
CIGNEX Datamatics
priyankap.sharma@cignex.com
+91-07967010345

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Five Arrows Acquires Majority Stake in Leading Emergency Preparedness & Response Software Business

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Partnership between Juvare and Five Arrows provides foundation for international expansion

NEW YORK, July 29, 2020 — Juvare LLC, the leader in critical incident preparedness and response software, announced today that Five Arrows – the corporate private equity arm of Rothschild & Co – has completed the purchase of a majority investment of Juvare from Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.

Juvare’s suite of emergency preparedness and response software and solutions, which includes the industry-standard WebEOC, and the revolutionary Juvare Exchange, empower all response stakeholders, including federal, state, and local emergency management agencies, first responders, emergency medical personnel and corporate clients to work together to serve their communities and organizations in critical incidents of all types.

“We are thrilled to be working with Five Arrows on our next chapter of growth in the US and more internationally,” said Robert ‘Bob’ Watson, CEO of Juvare. “We liked the Five Arrows focus and track record of creating value in businesses with non-discretionary product offerings in critical front line sectors. Their strong local networks and distinctive strength in Europe made them our partner of choice.”

Five Arrows is organizing this investment through its European fund (Five Arrows Principal Investments) and its US fund (Five Arrows Capital Partners). Both funds have a shared goal of investing in entrenched B2B data & software businesses with high recurring revenue and a proven history of organic growth.

“Juvare is the type of company we love to invest in – a market leader that has embedded technology serving an installed base of loyal customers in resilient end markets with must-have products,” remarked Vivek Kumar, Partner at Five Arrows Principal Investments. “This investment is a great opportunity for our European and North American private equity teams to work seamlessly to help deliver Bob’s strategic objectives.”

Ari Benacerraf, Partner at Five Arrows Capital Partners, further commented that “We are absolutely delighted to be partnering with Bob and his team given their track record of serving customers with mission-critical technology that provides complete situational awareness by organizing the essential information needed into a real-time common operating picture.”

“We sincerely appreciate our partnership with Bob and the rest of the talented Juvare team. Over the last few years, Juvare has grown significantly by diversifying its business and broadening and deepening its relationships with customers around the world,” said Laura Grattan, Managing Director at Thomas H. Lee Partners. “We believe Juvare is well-positioned for continued success and wish the team and Five Arrows well in the years ahead.”  

In recent years, Juvare’s solutions have been used to prepare for and respond to major emergencies and adverse incidents including hurricanes Harvey, Maria, Irma, and Dorian; the California wildfires; active shooter incidents including the Orlando Pulse Nightclub and Las Vegas Route 91 Harvest Festival shootings; planned events such as Super Bowls and other major public events; as well as global preparedness and response efforts including: Covid-19, H1N1 (Swine Flu), H5N9 (Avian Flu), Ebola (EVD), and the SARS outbreak.

Juvare technology connects over 80% of state public health agencies, 3,500+ hospitals, 50+ federal agencies, and 500+ Emergency Management operations across the U.S., as well as a rapidly expanding international presence. Today the company has clients in over 25 countries with an increasing take-up by corporates, particularly in highly regulated end markets.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Juvare currently has an additional United States office in Washington D.C., a European office in Kaunas, Lithuania, and an Asia-Pacific office in Wellington, New Zealand.

Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc served as financial advisor and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP and Morris, Manning & Martin LLP served as legal advisors to Juvare and Thomas H. Lee Partners. Raymond James Investment Banking acted as financial advisor and Troutman Pepper acted as legal advisor to Five Arrows.

ABOUT JUVARE
Juvare is a worldwide leader in emergency preparedness and critical incident management and response software. Juvare solutions empower government agencies, corporations, healthcare facilities, academic institutions, and volunteer organizations to leverage real-time data to manage incidents faster and more efficiently, protecting people, property, and brands. For more information, visit www.juvare.com.

ABOUT FIVE ARROWS
Five Arrows Principal Investments (FAPI) and Five Arrows Capital Partners (FACP) are respectively the European and US corporate private equity arms of Rothschild & Co’s Merchant Banking business. Merchant Banking manages over $16bn globally which includes approximately $4 billion dedicated to corporate private equity, as well as a series of funds dedicated to senior and junior credits, primary and secondary fund investing and co-investments, with offices in Paris, London, New York, Los Angeles and Luxembourg.

FAPI and FACP are focused on investing in middle-market companies with highly defensible market positions; strong management teams; business models with high visibility of organic unit volume growth and strong free cash flow conversion; and multiple operational levers that can be used to unlock latent value. Sectors are limited to data and software, technology-enabled business services and healthcare. For more information, please visit https://www.rothschildandco.com/en/merchant-banking/corporate-private-equity.

ABOUT THOMAS H. LEE PARTNERS:
THL invests in middle market growth companies, headquartered primarily in North America, exclusively in four sectors: Consumer, Financial Services, Healthcare and Technology & Business Solutions. We couple our deep sector expertise with dedicated internal operating resources to transform and build great companies of lasting value in partnership with management. Since 1974, we have raised more than $25 billion of equity capital, invested in over 150 companies and completed more than 400 add-on acquisitions representing an aggregate enterprise value at acquisition of over $200 billion.  With dedicated sector and operating teams, THL brings deep domain expertise and resources to build great companies by helping to accelerate growth, improve operations and drive long-term sustainable value in partnership with management. For more information on THL, please visit THL.com.

PRESS CONTACT:

For Juvare:
Josh Byrd
VP, Marketing 
(866) 200-0165
josh.byrd@juvare.com 

For Five Arrows:
Emma Rees
Tel: +44 7703 715763
emma.rees@rothschildandco.com

For THL:
Devin Broda/Cameron Seligmann
Sard Verbinnen & Co
(212) 687-8080
THL-SVC@sardverb.com

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