Tag Archives: TLS

Gridsum Receives NASDAQ Notice Regarding Non-Compliance with Minimum Bid Price Requirement

BEIJING, April 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Gridsum Holding Inc. (“Gridsum” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ:GSUM), a leading provider of cloud-based big-data analytics and artificial intelligence (“AI”) solutions in China, today announced that on April 17, 2020, it received a letter (the “Nasdaq Letter”) from the Listing Qualifications Department of The Nasdaq Stock Market (“Nasdaq”), indicating that for the last thirty consecutive business days, the bid price for the Company’s American depositary shares (the “ADSs”), each representing one Class B ordinary share of the Company, had closed below the minimum $1.00 per ADS required for continued listing under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2).

The Nasdaq Letter has no immediate impact on the listing of the ADSs on Nasdaq. Pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A), the Company has been granted a 180-calendar day grace period to regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement. The continued listing standard will be met if the closing bid price of the ADSs is at least $1.00 per ADS for a minimum of ten consecutive business days during such compliance period.

The Nasdaq Letter further indicated that Nasdaq filed an immediately effective rule change with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on April 16, 2020. Pursuant to the rule change, Nasdaq tolled the compliance period for bid price and market value of publicly held shares requirements through June 30, 2020. As a result, the 180-day compliance period will be reinstated on July 1, 2020, and expire on December 28, 2020. Accordingly, if at any time during the tolling period or the 180-day compliance period the closing bid price of the Company’s ADSs is at least $1.00 per ADS for a minimum of ten consecutive business days, the Company will regain compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2), and Nasdaq will provide the Company with written confirmation of compliance.

If the Company does not regain compliance with Rule 5550(a)(2) by December 28, 2020, the Company may be eligible for an additional 180-calendar day compliance period. To qualify, the Company must submit to Nasdaq an application to transfer its Nasdaq listing from the Nasdaq Global Select Market to the Nasdaq Capital Market. Additionally, the Company would be required to meet the continued listing requirement for market value of publicly held shares and all other initial listing standards for the Nasdaq Capital Market, with the exception of the bid price requirement, and would need to provide written notice of its intention to cure the deficiency during the second compliance period by effecting a reverse stock split if necessary. However, if Nasdaq concludes that the Company will not be able to cure the deficiency, or if the Company determines not to submit a transfer application or make the required representation, Nasdaq would notify the Company that its securities will be subject to delisting. In the event of such a notification, the Company may appeal Nasdaq’s determination to delist its securities, but there can be no assurance that Nasdaq would grant any request for continued listing.

The Company intends to monitor the bid price of its ADSs and consider available options if its ADSs do not trade at a level likely to result in the Company regaining compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) by December 28, 2020. However, there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to regain compliance or that Nasdaq will grant the Company a further extension of time to regain compliance, if necessary.

This announcement is made in compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(b), which requires prompt disclosure of receipt of a deficiency notification.

About Gridsum

Gridsum Holding Inc. (NASDAQ: GSUM) is a leading provider of cloud-based big-data analytics and AI solutions for multinational and domestic enterprises and government agencies in China. Gridsum’s core technology, the Gridsum Big Data Platform and the Gridsum Prophet: Enterprise AI Engine, is built on a distributed computing framework and performs real-time multi-dimensional correlation analysis of both structured and unstructured data. This enables Gridsum’s customers to identify complex relationships within their data and gain new insights that help them make better business decisions. The Company is named “Gridsum” to symbolize the combination of distributed computing (Grid) and analytics (sum). As a digital intelligence pioneer, the Company’s mission is to help enterprises and government organizations in China use data in new and powerful ways to make better-informed decisions and be more productive.

For more information, please visit http://www.gridsum.com/.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. 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 “may,” “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “aims,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “likely to” and similar statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to general economic conditions in China, unexpected difficulties in pursuit of our business strategy, unpredictable demand for solutions we have developed, difficulties keeping and strengthening relationships with existing customers or expanding our customer base, availability of additional capital when needed, uncertainties associated with our repayment of indebtedness and our ability to maintain listing for trading on The Nasdaq Stock Market, and uncertainty about the Proposal. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in Gridsum’s annual report on Form 20-F and other reports filed with, or furnished to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and Gridsum undertakes no duty to update such information except as required under applicable law.

Investor Relations

Gridsum
ir@gridsum.com

Christensen

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

In U.S. 
Mr. Tip Fleming 
Phone: +1 917 412 3333 
Email: tfleming@christensenir.com

Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gridsum-receives-nasdaq-notice-regarding-non-compliance-with-minimum-bid-price-requirement-301045439.html

Source: Gridsum Holding Inc.

Baidu Announces New Steps to Safeguard Biodiversity Through Technology Solutions

BEIJING, April 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) today launched several biodiversity protection initiatives that will leverage the company’s leading positions in online content, mobile, and AI to promote scientific knowledge about wildlife protection and fight against illegal online marketplaces for wildlife products.

Baidu has partnered with China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA), the China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA), and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) to disseminate authoritative information about biodiversity to netizens and promote sustainable lifestyles. Experts at these partner organizations have provided Baidu high-quality content about wildlife conservation, which Baidu is now using to optimize search results on its information-centered platforms, including Baidu App, Baidu Knows, Baidu Encyclopedia, and others. For example, in response to a search query about selling wildlife, Baidu will display an explanation of the relevant Chinese legal provisions that prohibit selling wildlife in most circumstances. On Baidu App, if a user searches what happens to elephants that lose their tusks, the top result will be a Baidu Knows entry from IFAW that explains the vital importance of tusks for elephants. On Baidu Knows, if a user asks “can I eat Chinese alligator?”, the top result will be a response from NFGA explaining that the Chinese alligator is a first-class protected species in China and cannot be eaten. Baidu also launched the Earth Diversity Nature Archive (Earth DNA), an online library for scientific knowledge about wildlife protection, which will include content co-developed by Baidu and its partners.                                    

On Baidu App, in response to a user’s query about elephants losing their tusks, a Baidu Knows entry from IFAW appears as the top result. It explains the types of elephant tusks and why tusks are so important for elephants’ survival.
On Baidu App, in response to a user’s query about elephants losing their tusks, a Baidu Knows entry from IFAW appears as the top result. It explains the types of elephant tusks and why tusks are so important for elephants’ survival.

By increasing access to authoritative information about biodiversity, Baidu’s aim is for more users to make environmentally-friendly decisions. As the world’s largest Chinese language search engine, and with an expansive mobile ecosystem of information and knowledge-centered platforms, Baidu is uniquely positioned to encourage netizens to adopt greener lifestyles and promote a more harmonious relationship between humans and nature. Due to the harmful impacts of humans on the environment, one million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction, according to a May 2019 report from the United Nations on the global state of biodiversity. As the human population and resource consumption continues to grow, safeguarding biodiversity will require concerted efforts from companies, governments, organizations, and individuals around the world.

In line with this vision, Baidu, CWCA, and IFAW launched an initiative calling on individual users and peer technology companies to contribute to wildlife protection. The initiative urges users to adhere to laws that protect wildlife, respect nature, and develop green consumption habits. It also calls on technology companies to co-operate to develop AI-powered applications that protect wildlife, and to eliminate illegal wildlife trade on their online platforms.

Baidu also launched the “AI Guardian of Endangered Species”, an AI-powered tool to identify online images of products related to endangered wildlife, which will empower organizations to monitor and crack down on the illegal wildlife trade. Jointly developed by Baidu’s open source deep learning platform PaddlePaddle and IFAW, the tool has obtained a 75% accuracy rate at recognizing images of products made from elephant ivory, pangolin scales and claws, and tiger teeth, skin, and claws. During a five month testing period, the tool recognized 3,348 images of illegal wildlife products that were being traded on Chinese internet platforms. In recent years, the illegal wildlife trade has shifted to online platforms, with sellers relying on images and other techniques to advertise their products while avoiding detection. Baidu will open source the tool’s identification model on PaddlePaddle so that other developers can build AI applications for combatting the illegal wildlife trade.              

Through these initiatives, Baidu hopes to safeguard biodiversity by delivering high-quality content to users, halting the illegal trade of wildlife online, and making the protection of wildlife a core business purpose, strengthening its existing commitment to biodiversity, according to a Baidu spokesperson.                                                                                         

The participation of technology companies in environmental governance is increasingly important because they can implement innovative, high-tech solutions at a global scale, said the IFAW China director, adding that environmental initiatives form a foundation for sustainable and successful business operations.

This past year, Baidu partnered with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to optimize search results about endangered species. Meanwhile, Baidu has cleaned up more than 260,000 damaging pieces of online information related to wildlife and blocked information promoting the illegal wildlife trade 1.4 million times. Moving forward, Baidu will continue to ensure that its technology is a force for safeguarding biodiversity.

About Baidu

Baidu, Inc. is a leading search engine, knowledge and information centered Internet platform and AI company. The Company’s mission is to make the complicated world simpler through technology. Baidu’s ADSs trade on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “BIDU”. Currently, ten ADSs represent one Class A ordinary share.

Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/baidu-announces-new-steps-to-safeguard-biodiversity-through-technology-solutions-301045481.html

Source: Baidu, Inc.

HKBN Announces Interim Results for the 6 Months Ended 29 February 2020

HONG KONG, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — HKBN Ltd. (“HKBN” or the “Company”; SEHK stock code: 1310) today announced solid growth in its financial and business performance for the six months ended 29 February 2020 (“1H2020”). Through a sequence of five strategic mergers and acquisitions over the last few years, culminating most recently with the acquisition of JOS completed in December 2019, HKBN has further bolstered its capabilities as an integrated telecom and technology solutions provider. The most recent JOS acquisition has greatly extended HKBN’s customer reach, broadened the scope of its service offerings and enhanced its market competitiveness in the enterprise space.

Key highlights from the interim period include:

  • Revenue, EBITDA and Adjusted Free Cash Flow (“AFF”) continued to grow year-on-year 101%, 77% and 47%, respectively, to HK$4,457 million, HK$1,283 million and HK$440 million. The substantial year-on-year increase was mainly contributed by:
    • consolidating six months of results of HKBN Enterprise Solutions Development Ltd and its subsidiaries (collectively “WTT Group”) with revenue and EBITDA contribution of HK$1,104 million and HK$509 million;
    • consolidating two and a half months of results of HKBN JOS Holdings (C.I.) Limited and its subsidiaries, Adura Hong Kong Limited and Adura Cyber Services Pte. Ltd. (“collectively “JOS Group”) with revenue and EBITDA contribution of HK$836 million and HK$57 million; and
    • reducing operating lease expenses of HK$106 million in the calculation of EBITDA, after adopting HKFRS 16.
  • Enterprise revenue increased by 190% year-on-year to HK$2,276 million after consolidating six months and two and a half months of operating results of WTT Group and JOS Group, respectively, in 1H2020. Total number of enterprise customers increased year-on-year to 104,000 while enterprise ARPU increased from HK$1,508 to HK$2,775.
  • Residential revenue grew by 2% year-on-year to HK$1,252 million from the successful execution of a quad-play strategy. This enabled the Company to increase its historical full base residential ARPU by 3% year-on-year, from HK$184/month in 1H2019 to HK$190/month in 1H2020, while the monthly churn rate remained low.
  • The Board of Directors has recommended the payment of an interim dividend of 37 HK cents (1H2019: 34 HK cents per share), resulting in a 9% year-on-year growth.  

935 Co-Owners = Unprecedented Management Alignment

“In crisis there is opportunity. Our Co-Ownership culture is our most distinct and important LUCA (Legal Unfair Competitive Advantage). Our Talent force of 5,861, including those from JOS and WTT, is now led by 935 Co-Owners who have invested their family savings in HKBN. Most impressively, the Co-Ownership take-up for our top 73 executives is 100%, which demonstrates incredible alignment of interest amongst our leadership team,” said Co-Owner and Executive Vice-chairman William Yeung, and Co-Owner and Group CEO NiQ Lai.

HKBN Co-Ownership Take-up Amongst Talents:

Seniority

 Total Invited for
Co-Ownership

Co-Ownership

Take-up

Co-Ownership

Take-up Rate

CXO Management Committee,
Directors and Associate Directors

73

73

 

100%

 

Managers

405

300

 

74%

 

Supervisors

1,124

562

 

50%

 

Total eligible for Co-Ownership

1,602

935

 

58%

Note: As of 31 March 2020

For more details of HKBN’s results in 1H2020, please refer to the announcement:
https://reg.hkbn.net/WwwCMS/upload/pdf/en/e_InterimResultsAnnouncement_FY20.pdf
   

Appendix: Shareholder Letter

At the interim results presentation, William Yeung, HKBN Co-Owner and Executive Vice-chairman (left), Samuel Hui, Co-Owner and Chief Transformation Officer (middle) and NiQ Lai, Co-Owner and Group CEO (right), provided an in-depth look at HKBN’s transformative growth performance and its focus to deliver accelerated transformations for customers.
At the interim results presentation, William Yeung, HKBN Co-Owner and Executive Vice-chairman (left), Samuel Hui, Co-Owner and Chief Transformation Officer (middle) and NiQ Lai, Co-Owner and Group CEO (right), provided an in-depth look at HKBN’s transformative growth performance and its focus to deliver accelerated transformations for customers.

About HKBN Ltd.

HKBN Ltd. (SEHK Stock Code: 1310, together with its subsidiaries, “HKBN” or the “Group”) is an investment holding company. HKBN, headquartered in Hong Kong with operations spanning Asia across Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, mainland China and Macau, is a leading integrated telecom and technology solutions provider. Through three core brands, Hong Kong Broadband Network, HKBN Enterprise Solutions and HKBN JOS, the Group offers comprehensive one-stop information and communications technology (“ICT”) services that include broadband, data connectivity, managed Wi-Fi, integrated cloud solutions, information security, mobile, voice communications, digital solutions, IoT, big data, enterprise applications, data centre facilities, business continuity services, system integration and OTT entertainment. HKBN’s tri-carrier fibre infrastructure in Hong Kong covers about 2.4 million residential homes and 7,300 commercial buildings and facilities. Committed to creating a lasting positive impact to wherever it operates, HKBN embraces a Core Purpose to “Make our Home a Better Place to Live”. The Group is managed by around 930 of Co-Owners (supervisory and management level Talents in the Group) who invested their family savings to buy shares of HKBN Ltd. (SEHK Stock Code: 1310) or invest a portion of their salary towards a common KPI for the Beyond-Hong Kong business of the Group.

Appendix:

Shareholder Letter

Dear Fellow HKBN Shareholders,

#ToughTimesTogether

We are committed to our pursuit of Purposeful profit even during toughest times. Whilst the global COVID-19 crisis is impacting all of us, HKBN is one of the fortunate companies that continues to grow through this crisis, so we are in an exceptional situation whereby we can do good and do well. In February 2020, we launched our #ToughTimesTogether initiatives to help alleviate economic impact of the crisis, starting with waiving of our February 2020 service fees for our residential fixed-services and corporate customers, followed by 10,000 free broadband services for families in financial difficulties, and offering three months of fixed contract work experience for 100 fresh graduates. In doing these, we hope to inspire other purpose-driven companies to act, and together make a far bigger impact.

HKBN is a Talent-obsessed company; in fact, HKBN is nothing but a Talent company. All our business hardware and software can be replicated with enough money and time, but our cultural DNA is impossible to replicate. At HKBN, we believe we must first WOW our 5,861 Talents before we can together WOW other stakeholders such as customers, business partners, shareholders etc.

Just a year ago, we were three competitors, being HKBN, WTT and JOS. Today, we are one entity of 5,861 HKBNers led by 935 Co-Owners (refer to the QR code below) who now share one common “elite sports team” bank account for our family savings. Our culture is based on “pride” of common success leading to individual success, rather than the “envy” that is the disease of many legacy companies. When an HKBNer is doing well, be it on our Co-Ownership upside, pain/GAIN payout, earning higher commissions etc., we know that we are all aligned and contributing to each other’s success. “Pride” in each other’s success is why we do not set caps in sales commissions, as we are happy to see a top performing sales person earn more in total compensation via commissions, than managers above them. Conversely, when an HKBNer does poorly on any of the above, we all suffer together; hence this makes us work smarter together to avoid this pain.

Whilst the economy is currently facing unprecedented headwinds, times of crisis create opportunity for legacy market change. With our recent sequence of acquisitions and the completion of our Co-Ownership III Plus Scheme, we have completely transformed into an integrated telecom and technology solutions provider. At HKBN, we believe in “eat what we cook first, before we sell it”. Today we are undergoing a massive internal digital transformation which in turn we will sell externally as Transformation as a Service (“TaaS”) to help our customers.

We expect that COVID-19 will structurally slow down global business-as-usual economic activities but force massive demand for business transformations; it is the latter that we are focused on for growth. In short, we are optimistic of the mid-term future.

Sincerely yours,

William Yeung
Co-Owner and Executive Vice-chairman        

NiQ Lai
Co-Owner and Group Chief Executive Officer

Scan QR code for our full list of Co-Owners
https://reg.hkbn.net/WwwCMS/upload/web/en/images/QRcode-Co-Owner-List-EN.png

Photo – https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200422/2783521-1?lang=0
Logo – https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20190604/2486375-1LOGO?lang=0

Source: HKBN Ltd.

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

Photo – https://techent.tv/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/rattanindia-finance-wins-the-celent-model-bank-award-2020-for-retail-lending-powered-by-nucleus-finnone-neo.jpg 

Infortrend’s Scale-Out NAS to support SMB Multichannel

TAIPEI, April 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Infortrend® Technology, Inc. (TWSE: 2495), the industry-leading enterprise storage provider, adopts SMB Multichannel feature for its scale-out NAS EonStor CS. With support of SMB Multichannel, it is now possible to establish multiple simultaneous network connections between EonStor CS cluster and its clients over aggregated network interface cards (NICs). It increases bandwidth, storage performance, and fault tolerance for performance-demanding applications, such as 4K video editing, broadcasting, or real-time streaming in M&E industry and HPC.

EonStor CS is a scale-out NAS expandable up to 144 nodes in a cluster with a total of over 100 GBps throughput and 100PB capacity. By enabling SMB Multichannel, an SMB 3.0 client can access data on CS storage via multiple available paths, which compared to one path only, facilitates aggregation of network bandwidth and increases network fault tolerance.

Importantly, SMB Multichannel feature provides higher bandwidth and higher system performance, which is proved to be especially useful for performance demanding workloads. It aggregates multiple network interfaces and performs data read or write processes simultaneously utilizing multiple channels, which helps to noticeably increase performance. Moreover, if any failure occurs, it is automatically detected, and the data communication processes are moved to a normally functioning channel so that there is no connection disruption and no impact on system availability.

“With support of SMB Multichannel, our EonStor CS scale-out NAS can ensure not only higher performance, but also continuous network service for time-sensitive and high availability applications. For example, in M&E industry, for editing video footages with resolution 4K and above, high bandwidth is required. By using SMB Multichannel connected through multiple network interfaces, users are able to yield benefits of smooth workflow with provided bandwidth and experience no downtime while collaborating on their projects,” said Frank Lee, Senior Director of Product Planning.

Learn more about EonStor CS scale-out NAS

About Infortrend

Infortrend (TWSE: 2495) has been developing and manufacturing storage solutions since 1993. With a strong emphasis on in-house design, testing, and manufacturing, Infortrend storage delivers performance and scalability with the latest standards, user friendly data services, personal after-sales support, and unrivaled value. For more information, please visit www.infortrend.com

Infortrend® and EonStor® are trademarks or registered trademarks of Infortrend Technology, Inc.; other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/infortrends-scale-out-nas-to-support-smb-multichannel-301043336.html

Source: Infortrend Technology, Inc.

Sogou Inc. Files its Annual Report on Form 20-F

BEIJING, April 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Sogou Inc. (NYSE: SOGO) (“Sogou” or “the Company”), an innovator in search and a leader in China’s internet industry, today announced that the Company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission its Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019. The Annual Report is available on the Company’s investor relations website at http://ir.sogou.com/.

The Company will provide a hard copy of the Annual Report containing the audited consolidated financial statements of the Company, free of charge, to a shareholder or holder of the Company’s American depositary shares upon written request.   

About Sogou

Sogou Inc. (NYSE: SOGO) is an innovator in search and a leader in China’s internet industry. With a mission to make it easy to communicate and get information, Sogou has grown to become the second largest search engine by mobile queries and the fourth largest internet company by MAU in China. Sogou has a wide range of innovative products and services including the Sogou Input Method, which is the largest Chinese language input software for both mobile and PC. Sogou is also at the forefront of AI development and has made significant breakthroughs in voice and image technologies, machine translation, and Q&A, which have been successfully integrated into our products and services.

For investor enquiries, please contact:

Jessie Zheng
Sogou Investor Relations
Tel: +86 10 5689-8068
Email: ir@sogou-inc.com 

For media enquiries, please contact:

Rachael Layfield
Brunswick Group
Tel: +86 10 5960-8600
Email: sogou@brunswickgroup.com

Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sogou-inc-files-its-annual-report-on-form-20-f-301044349.html

Source: Sogou Inc.

Infosys: 37.8% Growth in Digital Portfolio Leads to Strong 9.8% Growth in FY 20

BENGALURU, India, April 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — “I am proud of the Infosys team that has worked exceptionally well to achieve 93% remote working today and ensuring consistent service delivery for our clients in this rapidly changing environment. Our focus on the health of our employees and our commitment to our clients helped us navigate the past few weeks,” said Salil Parekh, CEO and MD. “We had an exceptional year in financial year 2020 with growth of 9.8% and operating margin of 21.3%. While the immediate short-term will be challenging, looking ahead, we can see that there is a strong interest to consolidate with partners with high-quality and agile service delivery and strong financial resilience. I am confident we will emerge from this stronger.”

31.7% YoY

6.4% YoY

21.1% Q4

-0.8% CC

$1.65bn Q4

37.8% FY

9.8% FY

21.3% FY

-1.4% Reported

$9.0bn FY

Digital CC growth

CC growth

Operating margin

QoQ growth

Large deal signings

  • FY20 revenues grew by 8.3% in USD, 9.8% in constant currency
  • FY 20 operating margin at 21.3%
  • FY 20 Free Cash Flow at $2.15 billion; Free Cash Flow to net profit conversion at 92%
  • Q4 20 revenues grew year-on-year by 4.5% in USD; 6.4% in constant currency
  • Q4 20 revenues declined sequentially by 1.4% in USD; 0.8% in constant currency
  • Q4 20 Digital revenues at $1,341 million (41.9% of total revenues), year-on-year growth of 31.7% and sequential growth of 2.6% in constant currency
  • Announces final dividend of `9.50 per share
  • Considering the business uncertainty emanating from COVID-19, the company is unable to provide guidance on revenues and margins for FY 21 at this stage. The company will provide guidance after visibility improves

1.  Financial Highlights – Consolidated results under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)

For the quarter ended March 31, 2020

For the Year ended March 31, 2020

Revenues were $3,197 million, growth of 4.5% YoY and decline of 1.4% QoQ

Revenues were $12,780 million, growth of 8.3% YoY

Operating profit was $674 million, increase of 2.6% YoY and decline of 5.2% QoQ. Operating margin was 21.1%.

Operating profit was $2,724 million, growth of 1.0% YoY. Operating margin was 21.3%.

Basic EPS was $0.14, growth of 4.2% YoY and decline of 5.7% QoQ

Basic EPS was $0.55, growth of 8.3% YoY

“We completed a satisfying year on multiple counts – growth in all verticals and geographies, significant increase in large deal wins, good client mining and operational discipline”, said Pravin Rao, COO. “The impact caused by COVID-19 since last few weeks of March has led to significant displacement in the operating model while severely testing business continuity plans of companies. We demonstrated what a ‘Live Enterprise’ truly is by improving the infrastructure and technology enablement for our employees in a short time span and ensuring business continuity for clients.”

“We continue to remain focused on execution excellence in a period of high uncertainty. Our relentless focus on liquidity will be supported by our strong Balance Sheet of $3.6 billion cash, backed by accelerated cost take-outs and operational rigor”, said Nilanjan Roy, CFO. “The final dividend of `9.50 per share is a testimony of a strong free cash flow performance for FY 20.”

2.  COVID-19 update

As the world comes together to manage the impact of the crisis caused by COVID-19, Infosys is making every effort to tackle the turbulence. The company is prioritizing employee well-being, assuring services for business continuity and strategizing offerings to improve business resilience for its clients, while also supporting community initiatives. Over 93% of our workforce is enabled to work from home, in countries still under lockdown, and from the company’s offices, wherever possible – are all in sync with the company’s priorities and working tirelessly to help make sure clients are running their businesses and preparing for a future of resilience. (Please refer to the separate press release on our COVID-19 response released today)

3.  Update on whistleblower matters

The Audit Committee appointed an external legal counsel to conduct an independent investigation into the whistleblower allegations which have been previously disclosed to stock exchanges on October 22, 2019 and to the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) on Form 6-K on the same date. As previously disclosed on January 10, 2020 the outcome of the investigation has not resulted in restatement of previously issued financial statements.

The Company cooperated with an investigation by the SEC regarding the same matters. In March 2020, the Company received notification from the SEC that the SEC has concluded its investigation and the Company does not anticipate any further action by the SEC on this matter. The Company is responding to all the inquires received from the Indian regulatory authorities and will continue to cooperate with the authorities for any additional requests for information. Additionally, in October 2019, a shareholder class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York against the Company and certain of its current and former officers for alleged violations of the US federal Securities Laws. The Company is presently unable to predict the scope, duration or the outcome of these matters.

4.  Board changes

DN Prahlad, Independent Director, has resigned from the company to devote more time for his other business commitments with effect from April 20, 2020. The Board placed on record its appreciation for the services rendered by him during his tenure.

The Company announced the appointment of Uri Levine as an Independent Director of the Company, effective April 20, 2020, based on the recommendations of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee of the Board. The appointment is for a period of three years and is subject to the approval of shareholders.

Uri Levine is a passionate serial entrepreneur and disruptor. He co-founded Waze, the world’s largest community-based driving traffic and navigation app, with more than 500 million drivers around the globe, which was acquired by Google on June 2013 for more than $1.1 billion. Uri has been in the high-tech business for the last 30 years with half of them in the start-up scene.

5.  Client wins & Testimonials

  • “Thank you. For employing great people at Infosys. For above and beyond service. And, for a long and prosperous relationship. Not all of our partners were able to get their teams fully up and running. With great pride, I was able to tell the leadership team that Infosys is fully operational for us. Thank you! May Infosys and India weather this storm well and emerge stronger”, Head of US Operations at a global financial services firm.
  • “Your team has supported a historic shift of office-based employees to work-from-home-status in record time here in the US. The planning, execution and subsequent experience of our staff in the new work modality has been outstanding. The CEO and our board have recognized the incredible efforts that have taken place from the IT teams”, CIO of a leading healthcare company.
  • Reckitt Benckiser (RB), a FTSE 100 company, has renewed its partnership with Infosys to reimagine its infrastructure and application operations. As part of this engagement, Infosys will bring in advanced AI and Automation to build a Cognitive First IT Enterprise at Reckitt Benckiser, offering a seamless digital experience for its enterprise users.
  • E.ON has awarded Infosys a multi-year engagement to run and transform its future workplace services. Infosys would transition the workplace services for the E.ON group from the existing incumbent and then continue to transform and operate it till 2025. This expands the strategic partnership between E.ON and Infosys and builds upon the existing contract which Infosys has with E.ON’s subsidiary innogy. Infosys would leverage its Digital Innovation Center in Düsseldorf, Germany, to deliver services for this engagement.
  • Infosys has been selected by Siemens to deploy Wingspan, Infosys’ Digital Learning and Talent Transformation Platform. The company-wide deployment of next generation, talent transformation platform will enhance learning experience for 385,000 Siemens employees.
  • Infosys entered a long-term strategic partnership with GE Appliance, a Haier company, to effectively streamline IT operations. As a part of this alliance, Infosys will assist GE Appliances to accelerate their digital and workplace transformation through automation-driven managed IT services support across global command centres, service desks, end-user computing, IT infrastructure, and applications.
  • A large CPG company selected Infosys to accelerate the transformation of the company’s digital technology capabilities and optimize costs. In addition to being the strategic transformation partner Infosys will also provide end-to-end support for enabling integrated operations across Applications, Infrastructure and Cybersecurity.

6.  Recognitions

  • Infosys was positioned as a leader in IDC MarketScape: North American Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems Strategic Consultants and Systems Integrators 2020 Vendor Assessment
  • Positioned as a leader in IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Business and Industrial IoT Consulting and Systems Integration Services 2020 Vendor Assessment
  • Recognized as a leader in IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Business and Industrial IoT Engineering and Managed Services 2020 Vendor Assessment
  • Positioned as a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Integrated Payment Platforms 2019-2020 Vendor Assessment
  • Ranked as a leader in NelsonHall NEAT for Cognitive and Self-Healing IT Infrastructure Management Services
  • Ranked as a leader in NelsonHall NEAT for Digital Manufacturing Services
  • Infosys BPM has been recognized with the elite international award- Brandon Hall Human Capital Excellence Awards, 2019 under three diverse categories.
  • Infosys BPM has won the Best Practices in CSR Awards 2020 for the Skill Development Initiative of IBPM at 6th International Conference of Corporate Social Responsibility by Institute of Public Enterprise, Hyderabad.

About Infosys

Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. We enable clients in 46 countries to navigate their digital transformation. With nearly four decades of experience in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer our clients through their digital journey. We do it by enabling the enterprise with an AI-powered core that helps prioritize the execution of change. We also empower the business with agile digital at scale to deliver unprecedented levels of performance and customer delight. Our always-on learning agenda drives their continuous improvement through building and transferring digital skills, expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem.

Visit www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise navigate your next.

Safe Harbor

Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects, financial expectations and plans for navigating the COVID-19 impact on our employees, clients and stakeholders are forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the ‘safe harbor’ under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding COVID-19 and the effects of government and other measures seeking to contain its spread, risks related to an economic downturn or recession in India, the United States and other countries around the world, changes in political, business, and economic conditions, fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry and the outcome of pending litigation and government investigation. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company unless it is required by law.

Infosys Limited and subsidiaries

Audited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as at:

(Dollars in millions except equity share data)

March 31, 2020

March 31, 2019

ASSETS 

Current assets

Cash and cash equivalents

2,465

2,829

Current investments

615

958

Trade receivables

2,443

2,144

Unbilled revenue

941

777

Prepayments and other current assets

739

827

Income tax assets

1

61

Derivative financial instruments

8

48

Total current assets

7,212

7,644

Non-current assets

Property, plant and equipment

1,810

1,931

Right-of-use assets(B3)

551

Goodwill

699

512

Intangible assets

251

100

Non-current investments

547

670

Deferred income tax assets

231

199

Income tax assets

711

914

Other non-current assets

248

282

Total non-current assets

5,048

4,608

Total assets

12,260

12,252

LIABILITIES AND EQUITY 

Current liabilities 

Trade payables

377

239

Lease liabilities(B3)

82

Derivative financial instruments

65

2

Current income tax liabilities

197

227

Client deposits

2

4

Unearned revenue

395

406

Employee benefit obligations

242

234

Provisions

76

83

Other current liabilities

1,321

1,498

Total current liabilities

2,757

2,693

Non-current liabilities

Lease liabilities(B3)

530

Deferred income tax liabilities

128

98

Employee benefit obligations

5

6

Other non-current liabilities

139

55

Total liabilities

3,559

2,852

Equity 

Share capital- `5 ($0.16) par value 4,800,000,000 (4,800,000,000) equity shares authorized, issued and outstanding 4,240,753,210 (4,335,954,462) equity shares fully paid up, net of 18,239,356 (20,324,982) treasury shares as at March 31, 2020 (March 31, 2019)

332

339

Share premium

305

277

Retained earnings

11,014

11,248

Cash flow hedge reserve

(2)

3

Other reserves

594

384

Capital redemption reserve

17

10

Other components of equity

(3,614)

(2,870)

Total equity attributable to equity holders of the company

8,646

9,391

Non-controlling interests

55

9

Total equity

8,701

9,400

Total liabilities and equity 

12,260

12,252

Infosys Limited and subsidiaries

Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income for the:

(Dollars in millions except equity share and per equity share data)

Unaudited

Audited

3 months ended March 31, 2020

3 months ended March 31, 2019

Year ended March 31, 2020

Year ended March 31, 2019

Revenues

3,197

3,060

12,780

11,799

Cost of sales

2,133

2,028

8,552

7,687

Gross profit

1,064

1,032

4,228

4,112

Operating expenses

   Selling and marketing expenses

161

174

664

638

   Administrative expenses

229

200

840

778

Total operating expenses

390

374

1,504

1,416

Operating profit

674

658

2,724

2,696

Other income, net (A3) (B2)

84

94

395

411

Finance cost(B3)

(6)

(24)

Reduction in the fair value of Disposal Group held for sale(A1)

(39)

Adjustment in respect of excess of carrying amount over recoverable amount on reclassification from “Held for Sale” (A2)

(65)

Profit before income taxes

752

752

3,095

3,003

Income tax expense (A4)

160

171

757

803

Net profit

592

581

2,338

2,200

Other comprehensive income

Items that will not be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss:

Re-measurements of the net defined benefit liability/asset, net (B4)

(2)

(24)

(3)

Equity instrument through other comprehensive income, net

(5)

10

(2)

(29)

7

Items that will be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss:

Fair valuation of investments, net

2

3

3

Fair value changes on derivatives designated as cash flow hedge, net

(2)

(5)

3

Foreign currency translation

(473)

74

(720)

(560)

(471)

75

(722)

(557)

Total other comprehensive income/(loss), net of tax

(473)

75

(751)

(550)

Total comprehensive income

119

656

1,587

1,650

Profit attributable to:

Owners of the Company 

590

580

2,331

2,199

Non-controlling interests

2

1

7

1

592

581

2,338

2,200

Total comprehensive income attributable to:

Owners of the Company 

117

655

1,582

1,649

Non-controlling interests

2

1

5

1

119

656

1,587

1,650

Earnings per equity share

Basic ($)

0.14

0.13

0.55

0.51

Diluted ($)

0.14

0.13

0.55

0.51

Weighted average equity shares used in computing earnings per equity share

Basic

4,240,181,854

4,347,129,592

4,257,754,522

4,347,130,157

Diluted

4,245,981,386

4,353,023,863

4,265,144,228

4,353,420,772

NOTES:

A.  Notes pertaining to previous year

  1. During the year ended March 31, 2019, the Company had recorded a reduction in the fair value amounting to $39 million in respect of its subsidiary Panaya.
  2. The Company had recorded an adjustment in respect of excess of carrying amount over recoverable amount of $65 million in respect of its subsidiary Skava during the year ended March 31, 2019.
  3. Other income includes interest on income tax refunds amounting to $7 million for the year ended March 31, 2019.
  4. During the year ended March 31, 2019, on account of conclusion of an Advanced Pricing Agreement (APA) in an overseas jurisdiction, the Company had reversed income tax expense provision of $14 million, which pertains to previous periods.

B.  Notes pertaining to the current quarter / year

  1. The audited condensed consolidated Balance sheet and Statement of Comprehensive Income for the year ended March 31, 2020 have been taken on record at the Board meeting held on April 20, 2020.
  2. Other income includes interest on income tax refunds amounting to $2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and $37 million for the year ended March 31, 2020.
  3. On account of adoption of IFRS 16- Leases effective April 1, 2019.
  4. Includes unrealized losses on certain investments carried in the PF trust for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2020.

C.  A Fact Sheet providing the operating metrics of the Company can be downloaded from www.infosys.com

INR- https://www.infosys.com/investors/reports-filings/quarterly-results/2019-2020/q4/documents/ifrs-inr-press-release.pdf

Factsheet- https://www.infosys.com/investors/reports-filings/quarterly-results/2019-2020/q4/documents/fact-sheet.pdf  

AUTOCRYPT Shortlisted for 2020 TU-Automotive Award – Automotive Tech Company of the Year

DETROIT, April 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — AUTOCRYPT, an all-in-one mobility security solutions company for connected vehicles, was announced as a finalist for the 2020 TU-Automotive Award for the second consecutive year. TU-Automotive represents the entire automotive technology ecosystem with leading representatives from all over the world every year and celebrates the best talent, products, and services across the industry.

AUTOCRYPT Products Lineup
AUTOCRYPT Products Lineup

AUTOCRYPT has continuously developed and improved its automotive cybersecurity products and solutions for all users’ safety, security, and privacy in the automotive industry. Since 2007, AUTOCRYPT has participated in various projects including South Korea’s V2X security certification system project and gained a reputation for creating the global certification standard for government agencies. Additionally, with EV platform providers, AUTOCRYPT has contributed its expertise to support the deployment of V2G security through ISO 15118 testing symposiums across the world. The Chinese leading OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers have also worked closely with AUTOCRYPT in order to integrate the solutions for safer in-vehicle security countermeasures, such as IDS (Intrusion Detection System), secure booting, OTA (Over-The-Air), and so on. 

“We’re honored to have been appreciated by an esteemed automotive organization,” said ES Daniel Kim, CEO of AUTOCRYPT. “As we offer an all-in-one technology products and solutions for OEMs and government agencies, this award is an additional honorable recognition for us on the path to establishing awareness in the automotive security industry in the US and European markets. It will further our efforts in expanding and cooperating with other leading players to accelerate the deployment of safer vehicle security solutions.” 

About AUTOCRYPT

As a leading player in transportation security technologies, AUTOCRYPT provides a secured transportation experience for connected vehicles. AUTOCRYPT’s development began under Penta Security in 2007. A decade later in 2019, it was spun-off as a separate entity and expanded its global presence. Recognized as the Best Auto Cybersecurity Product/Solution by TU-Automotive in 2019, AUTOCRYPT has been aiding in installing modules through various projects to deploy secure V2X, RSU-based communications, and PKI for connected vehicles security. Moreover, AUTOCRYPT has also developed a security solution for Plug&Charge (PnC), a simplified communications solution for EV charging, as well as mobility data platform solutions and fleet management systems. For more information on AUTOCRYPT, visit www.autocrypt.io. For partnership inquiries, email marketing@autocrypt.io

Photo – https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200420/2779709-1?lang=0

CMC Technology & Solution Joins Comeet Alliance to Launch “Made in Vietnam” Video Conference Solutions on Open-Source Platform

HANOI, Vietnam, April 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — CoMeet Alliance which includes 5 members of VFOSSA (CMC TS, NetNam, iWay, FDS, DQN) has been developed with the mission to bring effective, safe, secured solution and technological autonomy. CoMeet services are customized with regard to special requirement of agencies, organizations and businesses.

The solution and services provided by CoMeet Alliance are expected to bring multipoint connection, mobility, convenience and promote safety, security, technological autonomy to end-users.
The solution and services provided by CoMeet Alliance are expected to bring multipoint connection, mobility, convenience and promote safety, security, technological autonomy to end-users.

Given the fact that global pandemic COVID-19 has now been more and more complicated and the demand for online working tools is growing sharply, especially when the foreign software is still being questioned by users. Among all of them, the quality of service, safety, security, user commitment, just to name a few, are the most concerned. The solution and services provided by CoMeet Alliance are expected to bring multipoint connection, mobility, convenience and promote safety, security, technological autonomy to end-users.

Some noticeable features which can be named out are online conference, unlimited number of participation areas, screen sharing among members following the coordinator of administrators, private conversation thanks to chat feature and meeting record, etc. More specifically, users can be assured of safety, security as a result of data encryption and member control. Users can also easily navigate the service across multiple platforms such as MS Windows, MAC OS, iOS, Android.

PhD. Nguyen Hong Quang, Chairman of VFOSSA has shared: “Based on the open source resources, the solutions offered by CoMeet Alliance have outstanding advantages in personalization of the system, allowing users to customize the interface as well as integrating with other services such as IP PBX or existing systems of Polycom, Cisco, etc. Being optimistic with the trust of government’s agencies and enterprises, Mr. Truong Anh Tuan, the Alliance media representative, said: “The operation of the CoMeet solutions does not depend on the international transmission line. Using domestic bandwidth makes it possible to operate well even when AAG has not yet recovered.

CMC Technology & Solution (CMC TS) – a member company of CMC Corporation is an IT solutions company that excels as the trusted advisor for organizations in their journey toward digital transformation. Backed by rich IT software, systems integration and security experience, CMC TS guides its customers through the end-to-end digital transformation journey, from consultation to implementation through migration.

 

CoMeet Alliance was founded by 5 members: CMC TS, NetNam, iWay, FDS, DQN, which have currently been recognized as active members of VFOSSA.

 

For more information about the alliance and solutions, please find out on the official website: https://comeet.vn/ .

Photo – https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200417/2779788-1?lang=0

TAL’s AI Mandarin Teaching App Receives Recognition by UNESCO

BEIJING, April 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — TAL’s Improving literacy, preserving language, and providing inclusion using AI and big data has been selects by UNESCO as one of the innovative projects of Mobile Learning Week 2020, under the theme “Artificial Intelligence and Inclusion”. 

UNESCO certificate presented to TAL Education Group
UNESCO certificate presented to TAL Education Group

TAL’s AI “Putonghua” Teacher is an app that allows Yi children, as well as other students from all backgrounds, access to Mandarin language learning resources and tools. The system requirements are minimal and mobile-friendly, available across all platforms and devices. One device or PC with audio capabilities are sufficient to run the system, making it easier for users to learn both on the go and in the classroom. The interface is easy to learn and navigate, even for self-learning students, without the need of teacher assistants.

The project focuses on helping improve the overall literacy rate, using AI speech recognition and big data, to increase opportunities for further inclusivity and social mobility within these rural communities. In 2018, Xueersi Online School under TAL, developed the AI Mandarin Teaching System specifically for Zhaojue County (Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Liangshan), Sichuan. The customized Mandarin-Yi bilingual learning module was developed for pre-school children there. Its system deeply integrates technologies, such as voice recognition and voice assessment, conducts intelligent real-time assessment and correction. Therefore, the program can help kids improve their mandarin proficiency. By November 2019, nearly 80,000 students and over 2,000 middle and primary school teachers have benefited from this program, which has laid the foundation for future education equity and poverty elimination in remote regions inhabited by rural communities. The idea is to help preserve the Yi language while connecting learners to the outside world.

Having been exhibited at multiple events, including China-CEEC Education Cooperation Exhibition and the 1st International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Education, the program has won worldwide recognition.

Mobile Learning Week (MLW) is the United Nations’ flagship event on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education, and has been organized by UNESCO and its partners for eight consecutive years. The 2020 edition of MLW, under the theme Artificial Intelligence and Inclusion, was postponed due to the outbreak. However, its design to steer the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) towards the inclusion and equity in education has succeeded, standing behind its core values of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and propeller of digital opportunities for all. It is noted that programs from Google and University College London are also among the recipients awarded Mobile Learning Week 2020 Innovation Certificate for their contributions.

Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tals-ai-mandarin-teaching-app-receives-recognition-by-unesco-301042884.html