Author: Michael Tan

Perseverance Asset Management: long bias and fundamental bottom-up strategy

China’s hedge fund market has been building and has seen a 70% increase in total assets over the past two years to over 6 trillion RMB (US$944 billion) at the end of 2021. Equity hedge fund manager Perseverance Asset Management is taking advantage of this surge by funneling international institutional capital into China’s securities market.

Perseverance’s achievement has been recognised by Asia Asset Management (AAM) in its Best of the Best 2022 award for Best Domestic Private Fund Manager (China). The company’s Chief Investment Officer Deng Xiaofeng was awarded the title of CIO of the Year for China.

According to Daisy Liang, head of global business development at Perseverance, global asset owners have been increasingly committed to hedge fund assets invested in China over the past five years, due mainly to the market’s robust fundamentals.

“Foreign investors have a firm belief that there are a group of high-quality Chinese companies with innovative, hard-working entrepreneurs,” Liang says in an interview with AAM.

Moreover, China’s Securities Regulatory Commission has been taking steps to ease restrictions on margin trading and short selling on more stocks in recent years as part of its efforts to propel the domestic capital market.

Also, regulatory loosening has provided overseas investors with more comfort despite China’s capital market has been through some “eventful” years, facing issues such as stock market volatility, US-China trade disputes, and the coronavirus pandemic.

Long-bias strategies

Despite the regulatory easing on short selling, Liang observes that overseas institutional investors are still generally more long-oriented in going about investing in Chinese equity assets, seeking to capture both market beta and alpha.

Perseverance primarily offers long-bias and long-only equity hedge fund solutions with a fundamental research-driven bottom-up approach. Liang says the company’s solutions align with its core allocation in global asset owners’ global equity portfolios, in some cases alternative portfolios.

The asset owners generally take various factors, including the sustainability of investment performance, alpha generation capability, investment philosophy, the portfolio managers’ incentive alignment, and research team structure and process into account over the course of selecting hedge fund managers who invest in China.

Investment managers need to tick the boxes both in terms of investment due diligence and operational due diligence to be selected by large global institutional investors, Liang mentioned.

Perseverance’s global business has developed rapidly, with some prominent international institutional investors such as pension funds and sovereign wealth funds have become its customers, boosted by investors’ preference for long-oriented and fundamental equity strategies and highly selective criteria and rigorous due diligence process on managers’ investment and operational capabilities.

“Long-only strategies are among the mainstream choices for overseas investors,” Liang says. “They prefer to go for fundamental strategic investment styles as the approaches are similar to how they invest in global markets.”

Importantly, the company’s funds are overseen by a mix of portfolio managers with different investment styles, among them deep value, contrarian, and growth-oriented. Liang notes this multi-manager model meets different demands from different clients.

In terms of strategy preference, generally speaking, sovereign wealth funds and pension funds favour long-only strategies, while family offices and endowment funds generally prefer long-bias investment choices.

On investment trends, Liang says some institutional clients have rebalanced their allocation to top-up investment in China since the market sell-off in July 2021.

The market adjustment prompted them to replenish their position as the value of their China allocation dropped below the targeted level. Overall, investors are committed to the long-term and rarely adjust their core portfolio allocation, she says.

(Source: Asia Asset Management)

Legend Capital Portfolio: Japan’s NO.1 VTuber Operator ANYCOLOR Lists on the Tokyo Stock Exchange

On June 8th 2022, Legend Capital’s portfolio company ANYCOLOR, a leading Virtual YouTuber (VTuber) management company in Japan, was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. At the market close today, ANYCOLOR’s share price rose more than 3 times compared to the issue price and its market capitalization exceeded 165.2 billion yen (about 1.239 billion US dollars).

From left are Itochu Manager Takaki Yasuhiro, ANYCOLOR CEO Tazumi Riku, ANYCOLOR CFO Taurui Shinya and Legend Capital Managing Director Joon Sung Park.

Established in May 2017, ANYCOLOR was founded by Tazumi Riku who was at that time a student at Waseda University in Japan. The company officially announced the launch of a VTuber project “NIJISANJI” in January 2018 as one of the first major VTuber agencies in Japan. After years of continued success, ANYCOLOR as of today is managing around 200 VTubers with over 35.72 million fans, making it the largest VTuber operator in Japan.

According to ANYCOLOR’s IPO Prospectus, in 2021 revenue reached 7.63 billion yen and operating income of 1.45 billion yen. This is over 100% growth from 3.5 billion yen revenue and 42.3 million yen operating income in 2020. Revenue in 2022 is expected to reach 13.2 billion yen while operating income is expected to grow to 3.7 billion yen.

With the introduction of Japan partner ITOCHU Corporation, Legend Capital led ANYCOLOR’s Series B financing round in April 2020.

Joon Sung Park, Managing Director of Legend Capital, said: “Virtual YouTuber is a concept that Japan pioneered and this is a model that can scale outside of Japan because VTubers are not bound by physical limitations, and many of them engage in activities that are unconstrained by their real-world identity. ANYCOLOR is very unique because their focus on livestreams set its members apart from other early VTubers who primarily made pre-recorded videos. Based on Nijisanji’s initial success in Japan, ANYCOLOR expanded its business to China, Korea, Indonesia, as well as English-language branches targeting a global audience. VTuber’s popularity began to expand internationally through their appeal to the existing animation and cartoon fandom. Going forward, as 2D/3D technology will become more sophisticated, I firmly believe that ANYCOLOR’s potential of becoming the internationally recognized leading platform for VTubers and animated influencers, who target worldwide audiences.”

In China, ANYCOLOR has established a joint venture with Legend Capital’s portfolio company Bilibili, a leading video and contents sharing platform in China and most of NIJISANJI’s VTubers are active on the Bilibili platform. ANYCOLOR’s VTubers started to broadcast livestreaming through Bilibili’s platform and was able to successfully operate its Chinese VTuber group “VirtuaReal Project”.

Legend Capital also invested in HYBE in early 2016, the management agency of K-pop sensation BTS, and one of the world’s “100 Most Influential Companies” as named by Time magazine. Korea’s entertainment giant HYBE became the first in the K-pop industry to record 1 trillion won ($839.4 million) in sales in 2021. The unprecedented 100 times revenue growth from 2015 to 2021 was fueled by the agency’s effort to build an internal distribution platform, various strategic initiatives for global IP expansion. It also acquired Ithaca Holdings, a well-known US based entertainment agency that manages popular artists like Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and J Balvin, which helped HYBE to diversify its revenue stream.

As an active investor, Legend Capital shared HYBE’s growth history and its monetization diversification efforts to ANYCOLOR management team. In addition, Legend Capital introduced the CEO of HYBE to the CEO of ANYCOLOR to share HYBE’s experience, and discuss potential cooperation in the future.

“ANYCOLOR’s successful listing under the current capital market situation is not only about fundraising but also about introducing ANYCOLOR to the public and showing a more interesting world of VTuber to the upcoming new generation. Legend Capital will continue to focus on cross-border investment opportunities in Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia and other countries, to explore more investment opportunities in emerging industries, especially in technology, consumption, and contents. We will also continue to utilize our comprehensive resources derived from our existing domestic and international portfolios, to provide value-added services for our portfolio companies.” Joon Sung Park added.

Legend Capital is an independent and seasoned fund manager with deep roots in China and long coverage of local Chinese investment opportunities stemming from the strong innovation power in the country. With over two decades of expertise, Legend Capital has cultivated profound understanding of the technology and innovation drives of China, accumulated rich resources around industries, and built a powerful portfolio ecosystem. It is now recognized as a valuable partner for overseas investors and enterprises to access the market.

For overseas investors, Legend Capital can provide support on knowledge of China’s technology innovation and access to technology investment opportunities for sustainable returns. For overseas enterprises, Legend Capital can help expand business on the Chinese market, and bridge key resources in China such as R&D and supply chain, for expedited value creation. Guided by such approach, Legend Capital has made a number of successful investments in Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, and India.

On the other hand, by leveraging its “China Insights”, Legend Capital also helps portfolio companies and entrepreneurs in China to “go global” and achieve strategic objectives across the border by integrating overseas resources and opportunities, helping portfolio companies to respond to complex changes in global industry landscape, and meanwhile generating new investment opportunities.

Legend Capital has invested numerous successful foreign companies: HYBE (KOSPI.A352820), world’s leading entertainment company in Korea; Zinus (KOSPI.A013890), the largest mattress brand in Amazon; DEXTER (KOSDAQ.A206560), Korea’s leading movie production and VFX company; NexImmune (NASDAQ: NEXI), the global next-generation immunomodulatory cell therapy company; Axonics (NASDAQ: AXNX), the global developer of new implantable neuromodulation technologies; Singular Genomics (NASDAQ: OMIC), the leading company in NGS testing; Lunit, the global leading AI medical diagnosis company; Mathpresso, the largest education technology company in Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia; Vedantu, India’s largest K12 Online tutoring company; and Akulaku, the leading fintech company in Southeast Asia.

Kingsoft Announces 2022 First Quarter Results

  • Kingsoft Office Group Achieves Significant Increase in Institutional Subscription Business
  • Online Games Business Delivers Steady Growth

Kingsoft Corporation Limited (Kingsoft or the Company; HKG: 3888), a leading Chinese software and Internet service company, has announced its unaudited quarterly results for the three months ended 31 March 2022 (period under review).

During the period under review, the revenue of Kingsoft increased 19% year-over-year and 2% quarter-over-quarter to RMB1,853.0 million. Revenue from the office software and services, and the online games and others represented 47% and 53%, respectively, of total revenue. Gross profit increased 14% year-over-year and 4% quarter-over-quarter to RMB1,502.3 million. Operating profit before share-based compensation costs increased 5% year-over-year and 42% quarter-over-quarter to RMB573.7 million.

Mr. Jun LEI, Chairman of Kingsoft, commented, “Amidst the evolving market and new challenges, we have successfully seized the opportunity for digital transformation and achieved a decent start in our core businesses. During the quarter, Kingsoft Office Group continued to pursue the strategy of ‘multi-screen, cloud, content, artificial intelligence (“AI”) and collaboration’, upgrade its cloud office services and solutions, expand its user base and enhanced market penetration. In the online games business, we continued to focus on the R&D of premium games, promote the long-term development of core games and the overseas market expansion.”

Mr. Tao ZOU, Chief Executive Officer of Kingsoft, added, “The Company maintained steady performance across all businesses in the first quarter with total revenue reaching RMB1,853.0 million, increasing by 19% year-on-year. Driven by the continued growth of subscription revenue from individual and institutional users, our office software and services business in the first quarter increased by 13% year-on-year. With the contribution of our new mobile games launched in the fourth quarter of 2021, our online games and other business in the first quarter increased by 25% year-on-year.”

BUSINESS REVIEW

Office Software and Services
For the first quarter of 2022, revenue from the office software and services business increased 13% year on year to RMB871.1 million. The year-on-year increase was mainly due to the continued growth of Kingsoft Office Group’s individual and institutional subscription business.

During the quarter, the robust year-on-year growth of domestic individual subscriptions business was primarily driven by the ongoing user base expansion and growth in the number of long-term paying users. Meanwhile, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the highly effective collaboration functions of WPS Docs facilitated information sharing and drove a continuous increase in the number of uploaded cloud documents. Regarding the government and enterprise market, Kingsoft Office Group continued to enhance the solution quality of cloud and collaboration, bring brand-new experiences to users, and further promote cloud office migration and penetration. Kingsoft Office Group continued to optimize its solutions, enhance the eco-system construction and channel capabilities, and seize new opportunities arising from digital government and the industry digital transformation.

Online Games and Others
Revenue from the online games and other businesses for the first quarter of 2022 increased 25% year-on-year and 7% quarter-on-quarter to RMB981.9 million. The increases were mainly due to the successful launch of several mobile games in the fourth quarter of 2021.

JX World III, which was launched at the end of 2021, achieved an excellent performance in the quarter, and further demonstrated our strengths in R&D and operation of premium games. Meanwhile, we continued to optimize our newly launched titles. In April 2022, we received the license approval for JX Online III Origin and launched its open beta on 13 May. In view of globalization, we strive to increase our product presence in international markets. As such, JX World III was launched in Southeast Asia in March 2022, and Wu Lin Xian Xia was launched in Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan in April 2022, and will also be released in South Korea in the third quarter of the year.

Mr. Jun LEI concluded, “The results we achieved in the first quarter lays a solid foundation for the year 2022. Looking ahead, the Company will continue to adhere to technological empowerment and keep investing in R&D . We will also strengthen our products and services, optimize the user experience and strive to build a brighter future together with our users and partners.”

About Kingsoft Corporation Limited
Kingsoft is a leading software and Internet services company based in China listed on the stock exchange of Hong Kong. It has three main subsidiaries including Kingsoft Office, Seasun and Kingsoft Shiyou. Following the implementation of its “mobile internet transformation” strategy, Kingsoft has completed the comprehensive transformation of its overall business and management models and formed a strategic platform with office software and interactive entertainment as the pillars and cloud services and AI as the new directions. The Company has more than 7,000 staff around the world and enjoys a large market share in China. For more information, please visit http://www.kingsoft.com.

Kingsoft Investor Relations:
Francie Lu Tel: (86) 10 6292 7777 Email: ir@kingsoft.com
For further queries, please contact Hill+Knowlton Strategies Asia:
Ovina Zhu Tel: (852) 2894 6315 Email: kingsoft@hkstrategies.com

Broad Homes Utilizes Intelligent Manufacturing System to Expand into Smart Buildings

Broad Homes and Tencent Cloud enter into strategic partnerships to develop new opportunities in smart buildings.

Hefei Binhu New Area Gui Yuan and He Yuan Affordable Housing Project

Utilizing Broad Homes’ whole-process digital information system and globalized, large-scale, specialized and intelligent assembly building manufacturing and service capabilities, as well as Tencent Cloud’s advantages in the field of all-true interconnection, digital twin, enterprise digitalization, AI platform and cloud services, the two companies ‘strategic cooperation will focus on market development, technical cooperation and product development to jointly innovate and create development opportunities.

Broad Homes’ Box MODUL apartment products

In the future, Broad Homes and Tencent Cloud will together help more traditional enterprises to transform and upgrade. The two companies will carry out targeted cooperation and R&D in the fields of smart parks, smart communities, and true interconnection. Efforts will go towards creating key cooperation projects in the fields of intelligent construction, smart cities, industrial towns and digital upgrading of enterprises, and replicate and promote them nationwide to achieve wider and deeper strategic cooperation.

The regulation and control policies of the real estate industry are expected to be continuously relaxed, and affordable rental housing will drive the demand for prefabricated construction.

In 2021, China continued to increase its real estate regulation policies, and the regulation methods, intensity and detail were significantly upgraded. With the intensive introduction of a series of regulatory schemes to strengthen the prudent management of real estate finance, the real estate market suddenly cooled down. By the end of 2021, investment in China’s real estate industry had recorded an annual growth rate of only 4.4%, lower than the 7% growth rate in 2020. In the first half of 2021, the number of new construction projects was relatively strong. However, due to the release of the pressure of regulatory measures in the second half of the year, the year-on-year decline was 11.4%.

Since this year, the government issued several easing policies for the real estate industry. On the one hand, it has reversed residents’ expectations, on the other hand, it has encouraged real estate investment and guided the industry to develop steadily in a positive and healthy direction through policies. For the prefabricated construction industry, the development goals of affordable rental housing, building energy conservation and green building have been issued recently, which provides a strong catalyst for industry development in the coming years. At the same time, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development announced clear targets for affordable rental housing in 40 key cities during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. It plans to build 1.9 million new affordable rental housing units by the end of this year and 6.5 million new units by 2025, hoping to resolve housing difficulties of 13 million people. According to market analysis, the new plan of affordable rental housing will benefit the construction demand for prefabricated buildings and accelerate industry development. The benefit comes from the two advantages of prefabricated buildings: 1) shorter construction cycle in comparison to traditional construction methods; 2) reduction in overall labor cost and environmental burdens. For developers, the shortening of the construction cycle is very important, because expedited delivery will allow earlier generation of rental income. According to the calculation of Everbright Securities, if the rental price of affordable housing is estimated to be 40 RMB/m2 per month, and if the construction period for building structure and decoration is shortened by 9 months, the corresponding rental value will be 360 RMB/m2. Under current industry circumstances with the price of prefabricated buildings equaling that of traditional buildings, there is no doubt that prefabricated building is a more valued method of construction.

In March this year, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development released the “14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Energy Efficient and Green Buildings”, further clarifying the country’s determination to promote high-quality development of green buildings. The plan states that by 2025, prefabricated buildings will account for 30% of newly built housing in cities and towns (the ratio was 9.1% in 2018). The policy clarified the need for green and low-carbon construction in the county and how assembled modular buildings can be well adapted to modernize the construction of farmhouses and villages to create green and low-carbon villages.

Specific targets for building energy efficiency and green building development in the “14th Five-Year Plan” period

Main Targets / By 2025

Energy saving reconstruction area of existing buildings (100 million m2) / 3.5
Construction area of ultra-low energy consumption and near zero energy consumption (100 million m2) / 0.5
Proportion of prefabricated buildings in new urban buildings / 30%
Proportion of electricity consumption in building energy consumption / 55%

Broad Homes is a leader in China’s prefabricated construction industry, promoting multifaceted growth.

Broad Homes is the first prefabricated construction stock to IPO in Hong Kong, which was officially listed on the Main Board of Hong Kong Stock Exchange in November 2019. Broad Homes is a leading company in the prefabricated construction industry. The industry is highly policy-driven and increases in market demand help to drive down the costs of prefabricated construction. The current price competition in the prefabricated construction industry is fierce, and the price of some assembled buildings is getting closer to that of traditional cast-in-place constructed buildings, which is one of the signs of rapid industry growth.

After the impact of the COVID pandemic and overall industry downturn in 2021, Broad Homes recently submitted a solid financial report. As of December 31, 2021, Broad Homes reported total revenue of RMB 3.059 billion, up 21.8% year-over-year with solid operating cash flow and cash reserves. In addition, on January 17, 2022, Broad Homes reported that both new contracts signed and outstanding contracts at hand in 2021 reached record highs, with the total value of new contracts signed for the PC business in 2021 increasing by 20.9% year-on-year to RMB4.947 billion and the total value of outstanding contracts in hand increasing by 24.1% year-on-year to RMB6.448 billion, with solid profitability estimates.

In March 2021, Box MODUL (Broad Homes ‘modular integrated product) was officially released, which is a prefabricated and modular residential finished product produced by making full use of prefabricated construction technology. The product was launched in July and started to ramp up by September 2021. In less than six months, the product was delivered to 16 provinces, involving innovative application scenarios of cultural tourism, public, office, medical and other scenes. According to the data, as of December 31, 2021, Broad Homes obtained RMB154 million of newly signed contracts and realized RMB82 million of revenues. At the same time, the company’s B-House series have also achieved good growth in demand with the help of the recent frequent introduction of affordable rental housing policies and rural revitalization targets.

DeFi Insurance Platform Uno Re Launches Cover Portal

Uno Re (http://unore.io/), a decentralized insurance platform, launched its Cover Portal on April 23, 2022. Accessible through Uno Re’s dApp, the Cover Portal addresses an underemphasized need in DeFi space: easy access to insurance. For the first time, DeFi users can insure their crypto-assets in a few simple steps thanks to Cover Portal’s clear and simple UI.

The danger of hacker attacks keeps growing within the DeFi space (case study: https://bit.ly/3jYokl7) causing drastic losses for users and protocols alike. The total sum lost to hacks in the first quarter Q1 2022 is up 695% from Q1 2021 losses. With both the quantity and severity of attacks on the rise, skepticism surrounding the DeFi space is also growing.

One of the leading players in DeFi insurance, Uno Re launched its Cover Portal which aims to grant users easy access to insurance coverage through its user-friendly UI.

What is Uno Re’s Cover Portal?

Cover Portal is Uno Re’s latest dApp – scanning users’ wallet, detecting insurable assets within as well as staked in staking and farming pools across chains, measuring possible risks using an AI-based algorithm, and allowing users to secure their on-chain assets instantly.

Cover Portal is optimizing the insurance purchasing experience for users by simplifying all steps as much as possible. Upon connecting their wallets and detecting their insurable assets, users can simply choose the token(s) and how much to insure. Cover Portal allows users to pay their premiums in USDC.

“The launch of our Cover Portal marks the beginning of a new era in the DeFi insurance industry. We are steadily building and improving our platform to make hassle-free insurance service possible for DeFi users. Cover Portal is the final step towards fulfilling our true potential and makes our platform a complete ecosystem of multiple services and mechanisms, working like clockwork. We are delighted to have achieved this and look forward to improving the overall security of DeFi space.” stated Jaskanwar Singh, CEO and Co-founder of Uno Re.

About Uno Re

Uno Re is the protocol behind Cover Portal. An insurance provider for DeFi users and partner of numerous DeFi platforms, Uno Re successfully provided compensation to Umbrella Network hack victims in March 2022. As the insurer, Uno Re has processed the claim in a few days and ensured that 91% of affected wallet addresses are covered and appropriately compensated.

Uno Re is the world’s leading decentralized insurance and reinsurance platform, allowing the community to invest and trade in ‘risk’ and receive sizable returns on their investments in one of the safest asset classes in the world. The platform will break barriers to entry for the retail investor, doing away with the historic pre-requisite of absurdly high capital generally needed to invest in the market while also introducing much-needed transparency into the industry as a whole. Uno Re will also allow the community to propose innovative insurance products to the space, thus propelling a new generation of Insurtech companies powered by the Uno Re ecosystem.

Media Contact
Media team, Uno Re
E: misbah@unore.io
U: https://unore.io/

SOURCE: Uno Re

B20 Task Force Proposes 3 Green Energy Transition Recommendations

To be presented at the G20 high-level meeting in Bali in November 2022

The B20 Energy, Sustainability & Climate Task Force, led by the largest Energy State-Owned Enterprise in Indonesia PT Pertamina (Persero), has proposed three green energy transition recommendations to be presented at the G20 high-level meeting in Bali in November 2022.

President Director of state-owned oil giant Pertamina Nicke Widyawati delivers a speech as Chair of B20 Energy, Sustainability and Climate Task Force at the B20 inception meeting in Jakarta on January 28. (ANTARA/HO-Pertamina)

The three recommendations were agreed upon during the Business 20 (B20) Inception Meeting held virtually at the end of January 2022, as noted in a release issued by PT Pertamina and received here on Thursday.

The Business 20, or B20, is an outreach group from the G20 that represents the international business community.

Chair of B20 Energy, Sustainability, and Climate Task Force Nicke Widyawati emphasized the importance for Indonesia to transition to green energy as mandated by President Joko Widodo.

According to Widyawati, the energy transition effort is a challenge for all, but it should also be viewed as an opportunity to create sustainable economic growth in future by implementing good established scenarios and roadmaps, especially with regard to the financial aspects.

“The B20 Energy, Sustainability and Climate Task Force has the same priorities as Indonesia’s G20 presidency in which we must be a strong green energy catalyst and go hand in hand with the principles of energy security, energy equity, and environmental sustainability,” Widyawati, concurrently the president director of state-owned oil giant Pertamina, stated.

She further noted that the Task Force will formulate some policy recommendations for sustainable energy transition, with focus on three priority issues.

  • First, the Task Force will put forth the recommendation on accelerating transition to sustainable energy use in order to ensure that global warming is limited to a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius.

    With regard to such a recommendation, the main efforts identified for the energy transition policy is the development of alternative fuel industries around the use of hydrogen and biofuels.
  • The second issue for recommendation is to ensure a fair and affordable way of transition as well as global cooperation on impact mitigation and support for adaptation to changes brought about by energy transition.
  • The third is global cooperation in increasing energy security for households and MSMEs as a means to end extreme poverty and accelerate energy transition to sustainable energy use.

“Those three priority issues will form the basis for formulating policy recommendations from the Energy, Sustainability and Climate Task Force by considering other critical issues, such as carbon pricing, global cooperation, livelihoods, and institutional development for financing and technology adoption,” Widyawati explained.

She also stated that energy is a binding constraint for sustainable economic growth and is a crucial matter for economic development to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She also emphasized that urgent and focused action was currently needed to address various global challenges, including the lagging rate of energy transition, climate change due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that have become a critical issue, and economic growth depending on fossil fuel energy consumption that contributed to most of the GHG emissions.

Widyawati also pressed for expediting energy transition globally while continuing to increase energy security and equity in an effort to sustain economic growth and reduce extreme poverty.

In addition, the financing gap must be bridged and investment must be shifted more to the energy transition infrastructure that can be paid for by carbon pricing, she remarked.

Widyawati also accentuated the importance of ensuring energy equity by increasing access to and affordability of clean and modern energy that is not only essential for a successful transition but also delivers environmental and economic benefits.

“Renewable energy-based power generation, electrification, and energy efficiency are the main pillars for faster energy transition, technology investment, and energy transition sector,” she stated.

“However, developing countries still lack frameworks, well-established governance, markets, advanced financial services, trained workforce, and access to advanced technology. Those aspects are needed for changes (in energy transition), and all of them are owned by developed countries,” she remarked.

At the B20 Inception Meeting, the Task Force Deputy Chair Agung Wicaksono stated that in order to seek inputs from businesspersons, the Task Force had also conducted a survey.

The survey covers 13 potential issues: institutional development, global cooperation, alternative energy sources, differential rates per sector, prevention of new carbon lockouts, carbon pricing, mitigation of financial impact, mitigation of loss of livelihoods, standardized ESG frameworks, ensuring orderly transitions, increasing access, affordability and adoption of end-user technologies.

Wicaksono stated that the survey results became the basis for the Task Force to formulate recommendations.

He also acknowledged that the energy transition efforts will require structured and committed global cooperation in improving governance capacity, supporting market development, channeling finance and technology, and upgrading workforce skills.

“The spirit, hard work, and commitment of this meeting continues, and it will bring global change for the better after the COVID-19 pandemic, so that we can Recover Together, Recover Stronger,” he remarked.

Written by: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga, Editor: Fardah Assegaf (c) ANTARA 2022

Media Contact: Fajriyah Usman, Vice President Corporate Communications, PT Pertamina (Persero)
Mobile: +62 858 8330 8686, Email: fajriyah.usman@pertamina.com, URL: https://www.pertamina.com

Techtronic Industries Delivers Exceptional 2021 Results with Outstanding Revenue and Profit Growth

Hong Kong-based global power equipment and floorcare & cleaning company Techtronic Industries Co. Ltd. (TTI or the Group) (HKG: 669, ADR symbol: TTNDY) is pleased to report that 2021 was an extraordinary year for TTI with outstanding revenue and profit growth. The Group delivered sales of US$13.2 billion, an increase of 34.6%. Over the two-year period, TTI significantly outperformed the market with +72.2% sales growth. Increased strategic investments in new products, manufacturing capacity, geographic expansion, logistics, and in-field marketing initiatives propelled TTI’s industry-leading performance

— Full year organic sales growth of US$3.4 billion, +34.6%

— Gross margin improved for the 13th consecutive year to 38.8%, up +54 basis points

— Net profit growth of 37.2% to US$1.1 billion

Gross margin improved for the 13th consecutive year, from 38.3% in 2020 to 38.8% in 2021. The gross margin improvement is a direct result of the launching of high margin new products, disciplined mix management, exceptional productivity gains, and volume leverage.

EBIT increased 37.2% to US$1.2 billion, with the EBIT margin improving by 17 basis points to 9.0%. Net Profit rose 37.2% to US$1.1 billion, with earnings per share increasing 37.1% over 2020 to US60.04 cents. With the investments in inventory to support sales growth and high service levels, the Group maintained a disciplined working capital ratio at 20.9% of sales.

Every one of the Group’s business units in all geographic regions delivered exceptional sales growth in 2021. North America grew 33.7%, Europe grew 41.1% and ROW grew 31.8%. The Power Equipment business, representing 90.6% of total sales, grew 37.0% to US$12.0 billion. The Milwaukee business, Ryobi DIY, and Ryobi Outdoor businesses all achieved double-digit growth, significantly outgrowing the market. The Floorcare and Cleaning business also produced strong sales growth of 14.8% to US$1.2 billion.

The Board is recommending a final dividend of HK 1 dollar (approximately US12.87 cents) per share. Together, with the interim dividend of HK85.00 cents (approximately US10.94 cents) per share, this will result in a full-year dividend of HK185.00 cents (approximately US23.81 cents) per share, against HK135.00 cents (approximately US17.37 cents) per share in 2020, an increase of 37.0%.

Mr. Horst Pudwill, Chairman of TTI, said, “We are confident that our unrelenting bold vision, customer focus and business momentum will make 2022 another outstanding year and position TTI with exciting opportunities in the months and years ahead.”

Mr. Joseph Galli, CEO of TTI, commented, “TTI is now uniquely positioned to continue our leadership position in professional cordless, DIY cordless, outdoor cordless, and in floorcare. In 2022, we are excited to continue making substantial investments in the business, to drive another year of above market results and gross margin expansion.”

About TTI
Founded in 1985 and listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited in 1990, TTI is a world leader in cordless technology spanning Power Tools, Outdoor Power Equipment, Floorcare and Cleaning Products for the consumer, professional, and industrial users in the home, construction, maintenance, industrial and infrastructure industries. The Company has a foundation built on four strategic drivers – Powerful Brands, Innovative Products, Exceptional People and Operational Excellence – reflecting a long-term expansive vision to advance cordless technology. The global growth strategy of the relentless pursuit of product innovation has brought TTI to the forefront of its industries. TTI’s powerful brand portfolio includes MILWAUKEE, AEG and RYOBI power tools, accessories and hand tools, RYOBI and HOMELITE outdoor products, EMPIRE layout and measuring products, and HOOVER, ORECK, VAX and DIRT DEVIL floorcare and cleaning products.

TTI is one of the constituent stocks of the Hang Seng Index, FTSE RAFI(TM) All-World 3000 Index, FTSE4Good Developed Index and MSCI ACWI Index. For more information, please visit www.ttigroup.com.

All trademarks listed other than AEG and RYOBI are owned by the Group. AEG is a registered trademark of AB Electrolux (publ.), and is used under license. RYOBI is a registered trademark of Ryobi Limited, and is used under license.

For enquiries:
Techtronic Industries Co. Ltd.
Investor Relations
Tel: +(852) 2402 6888
Email: ir@tti.com.hk

Corporate Communications
Isabella Chan
Tel: +(852) 2402 6495
Email: isabella.chan@tti.com.hk
Website: www.ttigroup.com

Strategic Financial Relations Limited
Veron Ng +(852) 2864 4831
Rachel Ko +(852) 2114 2370
Aggie Fang +(852) 2114 4987
Email: sprg_tti@sprg.com.hk
Website: www.sprg.com.hk

Shimao Services Acquires Hunan Jili Property

Shimao Services Holdings Limited (Shimao Services or the Company; HKG Code: 873) has recently completed two acquisitions. On December 3, it reached an equity partnership agreement with Suzhou Tianxiang Property Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Suzhou Tianxiang Property Management) and the latter has subsequently transferred 70% of its shares, representing 246 million yuan, to jointly develop the Suzhou market. On December 6, Shimao Services reached an equity partnership agreement with Hunan Jili Property Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Hunan Jili Property), in which Hunan Jili Property’s 70% equity will be transferred for 99.64 million yuan, enabling Shimao Services to further expand and cultivate its hospital property services business within the Hunan market.

As a real estate-related sector that has been greatly exploited in recent years, the property industry has entered a new integration stage in 2021. For property management companies with sufficient funding support from parent companies, mergers and acquisition activities have entered an active period with the scale of such transactions having hit a record high. While Shimao Services has further expanded its business scale through mergers and acquisitions, it has also seen gradual development in the direction of exploring regional markets, deepening business segments and building specialized capabilities.

Expanding Hunan Property Services Market and Strengthening Property Service Capabilities in Central and Western Regions

Shimao Services focuses on four core top-tier cities in Central and Western regions in Mainland China, and Hunan is one of the most important markets in these regions. Shimao Services’ cooperation with Hunan Jili Property, the market leader in the region, will effectively increase Shimao Services’ business scale and project allocation in Hunan and therefore the central and western regions. This will enhance the comprehensive capacity of a single market, and thus help to achieve market expansion and enhance value-added services.

In fact, since March this year, Shimao Services has begun to implement its centralization strategy and established five city-center companies in Hangzhou, Wuhan, Xi’an, Tianjin, and Fuzhou to promote the implementation of the company’s active development in each city. It is worth noting that two of Shimao Services’ five city-center companies (namely Wuhan and Xi ‘an) are in the central and western regions.

Moreover, on October 14 this year, Shimao Services’ second national headquarters was set up in Wenjiang District, Chengdu, with plans to invest 1 billion RMB to actively develop the urban service field. In addition to the current expansion of the Changsha market in Hunan Province, Shimao Services has gradually improved its multi-city and multi-business layout in the central and western regions, reflecting the company’s determination to further develop [its business in] the area.

Hunan Jili Property Management is a regional leader in the Hunan hospital property market. The company integrates the two core hospital systems of Xiangya and Provincial. It has a leading position in the Hunan hospital market and has managed or served many benchmark hospitals. The company has a solid reputation in Changsha. This cooperation with Hunan Jili Property Management will help Shimao Services to actively develop its business in the Hunan market while enhancing its professional capabilities in the field of hospital property services.

Redeploying the Hospital Growth Strategy to Enhance Professional Service Capabilities
Shimao Services is positioned as a leading integrated property management and community life services provider in China. Currently, Shimao Services has four business segments: integrated property management, diversified value-added services, urban services, and digital technology services. At the present stage, Shimao Services’ acquisitions are mainly aimed at integrated property management and urban services businesses. The expansion of scale and the improvement of professional service capabilities are equally important. The inclusion of other business sectors will not be ruled out in the future.

In terms of comprehensive property management, in addition to the residential business, Shimao Services has also comprehensively expanded into diversified business sub-segments such as university parks, industrial parks, public buildings, and hospitals. As of the end of June 2021, the proportion of the regions’ non-residential businesses that are managed by Shimao Services has climbed to 40.8%.

For example, in August 2020, Shimao Services cooperated with Zheda Sinew to enter the university and campus property services business, building on its college logistics services capabilities. In May 2021, the Zheda Sinew brand was refreshed, positioning it as a college and industry park services provider in the PRC and expanding its business coverage to include industrial parks and group meals, etc.

The partnership with Hunan Jili enables Shimao Services to strengthen its presence in the hospital segment as well as develop its professional capabilities in hospital property services, further to the cooperation with Kangqiao Property in November 2020.

The multiple mergers and acquisitions (M&As) that Shimao Services has completed in recent times demonstrate its commitment to adhering to the top-level logic of expanding scale and improving professional service capabilities via M&As. It also shows that Shimao Services is optimistic about the professional hospital-related segment and is thus deeply engaged in the industry’s development.

In addition, the partnership is conducive to increasing Shimao Services’ project density in the Hunan market by facilitating its market expansion. Hunan Jili Property has a high concentration of projects under management in the region, with most being located in Changsha city, as well as leading comprehensive capabilities, strong market expansion capabilities and well-established customer relationships. Therefore, by leveraging the cooperation, firstly, in terms of business synergy, Shimao Services can effectively increase its project density in Hunan and thus, enhance its overall strength in the region as well as reducing overall operational costs there. Secondly, it will help Shimao Services to expand its hospital property projects in Hunan province. Following the integration with Shimao Services, it will expand group meals, supermarkets and other hospital-related value-added services in the future.

According to data from the China Index Academy, there have been numerous mergers and acquisitions this year. In addition to traditional residential, commercial, and office property services, more and more property services companies have begun to appear in the schools, hospitals, airports, and urban services segments.

For property services companies such as Shimao Services, the keys to long-term and healthy development are seizing opportunities, improving professionalism, service quality and operational efficiency, and exploring new growth drivers.

About Shimao Services Holdings Limited (HKG: 873)

Established in 2005, Shimao Services is China’s leading provider of integrated property management and community life services. It is also one of the important wings of Shimao Group’s “big aircraft” strategy. Shimao Services takes the “Smart Maker of Good Life” as its brand concept and implements the “iBlue Strategy”, focusing on the four core high-energy city clusters in the Yangtze River Delta Region, Central and Western China, Southern China and Bohai Economic Rim. As of June 2021, the company had more than 530 properties under management, 239 million square meters of contract area, covering residential, schools, government and public facilities, health care centers and hospitals, VIP lounges in waiting rooms, etc, and provided comprehensive property management, community life services and non-owner value-added services for nearly 3.2 million owners and users.

For more information, please visit Shimao Services’ website: https://www.shimaofuwu.com/

For further information, please contact:
Strategic Financial Relations Limited
Sharon Lau / Cherry Chen
T: (852) 2864 4852 / (852) 2114 4903
E: sprg_shimao@sprg.com.hk
F: (852) 2527 1196

Olympus Selected for Inclusion in Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World)

Olympus Corporation (Olympus – Director, Representative Executive Officer, President and CEO: Yasuo Takeuchi) has been selected for inclusion in the 2021 Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) and the 2021 Dow Jones Sustainability Asia Pacific Index (DJSI Asia Pacific), among the world’s most recognized corporate sustainability indices. Olympus is admitted to the DJSI World for the first time this year and in the DJSI Asia Pacific for the third consecutive year.

The Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) are corporate sustainability evaluation indices for environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment. Jointly developed by S&P Dow Jones Indices and RobecoSAM, the DJSI track the financial performance of leading companies in terms of ESG criteria. Companies with excellent corporate sustainability practices are assured and selected annually.

In 2021, 322 companies were selected as DJSI World members from approximately 3500 companies in 61 industry sectors that were evaluated worldwide, and 153 companies were selected as DJSI Asia Pacific members from approximately 600 companies assessed in the region. Olympus is one of only 10 out of 84 companies to have been selected as DJSI World in the Health Care Equipment & Supplies sector. Our scores on Corporate Governance, Innovation Management, Operational Eco-Efficiency, Occupational Health and Safety initiatives have improved this year and those efforts were highly rated.

In addition to DJSI World and DJSI Asia Pacific, Olympus was also named in the FTSE4Good Index Series and FTSE Blossom Japan Index.

Based on Our Purpose of “Making people’s lives healthier, safer and more fulfilling,” Olympus believes that the sustainability of a company will be recognized primarily by meeting the demands and expectations of society and fulfilling our responsibilities through dialogue with all stakeholders. Since announcing our material issues (materiality)*1 at the beginning of our Corporate Strategy in 2019, we have further strengthened our efforts to address ESG challenges. We will continue to contribute to a sustainable society by actively engaging in activities that incorporate ESG perspectives to fulfill our corporate social responsibilities on a global scale.

For more information on our ESG initiatives, please refer to the Integrated Report 2021*2 and the Sustainability Report 2021*3.

*1: The following five materiality items were identified; “Healthcare access and outcomes”, “Compliance, product quality and safety”, “Responsible supply chain”, “Diversity and inclusion”, and “Carbon neutral society and circular economy” (this item was added in May, 2021).
*2: https://www.olympus-global.com/ir/data/integratedreport/pdf/integrated_report_2021e_A4.pdf
*3: https://www.olympus-global.com/csr/download/pdf/Olympus_Sustainability_Report_2021e.pdf

About Olympus

Olympus is passionate about creating customer-driven solutions for the medical, life sciences, and industrial equipment industries. For more than 100 years, Olympus has focused on making people’s lives healthier, safer and more fulfilling by helping to detect, prevent, and treat disease; furthering scientific research; and ensuring public safety. Olympus is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with more than 30,000 employees worldwide in nearly 40 countries and regions. For more information, visit www.olympus-global.com and follow our global Twitter account: @Olympus_Corp.

Olympus Contact (Tokyo)
Yuka Horimoto
+81-90-2490-1071
yuka.horimoto@olympus.com

Charles Huang Foundation Makes Record-Breaking US$40 Million Donation to His Alma Mater, Wuhan University

  • Single-largest personal donation ever received by Wuhan University
  • Second alma mater donation by the Foundation this year, totaling US$110 million in grants to promote advanced education, health research, and growth-driven innovation

Charles Huang, PhD, through his philanthropic foundation—Charles Huang Foundation (CHF)—made a donation of US$40 million to Wuhan University of China at the celebration ceremony of the university’s 128th anniversary, to express his appreciation to his alma mater and to promote the development of advanced education, health research and growth-driven innovation. This philanthropic gift is the single-largest personal donation ever received by Wuhan University. Together with the US$70 million landmark grant given by CHF to the University of Strathclyde in the UK in September, Dr Huang has donated a total of US$110 million to his two alma maters through his philanthropic foundation this year.

Dr Charles Huang, Founder and Chairman of Charles Huang Foundation (Right), and Professor Dou Xiankang, President of Wuhan University (Left), jointly signed the unprecedented grant agreement

The donation was formally made at a virtual signing ceremony held between Wuhan University campus in China and the Foundation headquarters in Pasadena, California, earlier today.

The US$40 million funding will be used to provide significant and long-lasting support for Wuhan University to attract and recruit top scholars, develop and create innovative and entrepreneurial talents with exceptional leadership skills, and advance research and teaching capabilities, especially in the field of Management Science at Wuhan University’s School of Economics and Management.

Dr Huang, Founder and Chairman of CHF said, “My study in Wuhan University signified the starting point of my journey to the world beyond and I deeply believe that all my achievements are based upon the excellent education that I received.”

“Today I’m fulfilling the promise I made to donate at least $100 million of my personal wealth to my alma maters in China and the UK upon my firm achieving tremendous business goals within 5 years after its formation,” added Dr Huang.

Dr Huang established the private equity firm, Pasaca Capital Inc., in Los Angeles at the end of 2016. Since then, Pasaca has delivered on Dr Huang’s vision to set the world record for rapid growth on revenue, speed and scale within the first 5 years. Pasaca has now earned its place among other legendary businesses globally.

“As his alma mater, we are very proud that Wuhan University helped to cultivate such a global visionary entrepreneur like Dr Huang. We would like to express our sincere thanks to our alumnus Dr Huang and Charles Huang Foundation for this tremendously generous donation to the university, which will help us cultivate first-class innovative talents, enhance our capabilities in scientific research and innovation, and contribute to Wuhan University’s development into a world-class university with uniquely Chinese characteristics,” said Professor Dou Xiankang, President of Wuhan University.

Following the completion of his bachelor’s degree in economics at Wuhan University, and MBA and PhD studies in the UK, Dr Huang joined James Capel (Now HSBC Securities) in Hong Kong where he became a pioneer in Chinese equity research. Later joining Credit Lyonnais and BNP Paribas he was recognized as having “the Midas touch” because of his unrivaled stock selection skills and impeccable stock market calls. Dr Huang participated in and led over 20 IPOs prior to becoming a celebrated business executive in private and publicly traded companies.

In 2016, Dr Huang founded Pasaca Capital Inc. in Pasadena, California. With a focus on medical devices, pharmaceuticals, TMT, industrial & automation, and food ingredient sectors, Pasaca Capital seeks to improve the human condition globally. One of Pasaca Capital’s portfolio companies, Innova Medical Group Inc. is the global leader and the largest supplier of COVID-19 antigen rapid testing in the world with manufacturing facilities in the US, the UK, France, Singapore, and China. To date, Innova Medical Group has delivered more than two billion rapid tests worldwide.

On November 1, 2021, Dr Huang was named “2021 Philanthropreneur of the Year” by the California State Assembly in recognition of the exceptional leadership he demonstrated while building the California-based private equity firm Pasaca Capital Inc. into a global evergreen fund with unprecedented scale and speed, and his commitment to improving the human condition by making large donations through his foundation. Pasaca Capital was also named “2021 Business of the Year” by the California State Assembly for its extraordinary contributions to the State of California and the world.

On November 11, 2021, Innova Medical Group, Inc. established a global joint venture, Sino-Innovax Biotech Pte Ltd, with Sinopharm’s China National Biotech Group (CNBG) with a focus on providing critical vaccines to the world population, including the highly sought-after World Health Organization-approved COVID-19 vaccines.

For more information about Dr Huang and his foundation, please visit www.charleshuangfoundation.org.

About Charles Huang Foundation’s Donation to Wuhan University
The US$40 million donation will mainly support six programs:

  • Pasaca/Innova Endowed Chair Fund: Attract and recruit world-leading scholars to advance research and teaching in management science, natural sciences, and medicine/medical/health-related areas.
  •  Innova Excellence Scholarship Program: A merit-based scholarship program to reward the most outstanding and innovative students to encourage innovation in scientific research.
  • Innova Award for Undergraduate Innovation Achievement: Reward students with exceptional “Innovation, Originality and Entrepreneurship” achievements and help students develop innovation and entrepreneurship competence.
  • Innova International Exchange Scholarship Program: Help Wuhan University develop more creative and innovative talents with a global vision and international competitiveness through sponsoring scholarship exchanges with world-leading universities.
  • Innova Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Construct a new building that will provide a best-in-class public platform and facilities in Mainland China to support undergraduate independent innovation, school-enterprise collaborative education, and entrepreneurship.
  • Pasaca Education Fund for the Economics and Management School of Wuhan University: A special Education Fund exclusively for the Economics and Management School to attract and recruit top-rated scholars and outstanding talents in the fields of Management Science, facilitate international exchange programs, and fund the Outstanding Academic Achievement Award.

About Pasaca Capital Inc.
Headquartered in Pasadena, CA, US, Pasaca Capital Inc. is an evergreen private equity investment firm focused on innovative technologies and products that benefit the world. With a focus on medical devices, pharmaceuticals, TMT, industrial & automation, and food ingredient sectors, Pasaca Capital seeks to improve the human condition globally. Pasaca portfolio companies operate in Europe, Middle East, SE Asia, and North America. Portfolio companies include Innova Medical Group Inc, Sweegen Inc, Meepo Inc., ATL Group Ltd, ASOCS, Caton Technology and others.

For more information about Pasaca, please visit www.pasacacapital.com.

About Innova Medical Group, Inc.
Innova Medical Group, Inc. is a global health screening and diagnostic innovator driven to dramatically improve health outcomes worldwide with equitable, high-value testing solutions. A uniquely strategic and iterative approach enables Innova Medical Group to create, build and deploy a myriad of accessible tests customized to meet and empower users at their point of need. With a panoramic vision spanning the present to the future, Innova Medical Group develops trusted solutions that are both intuitive and secure to use. Innova has quickly and nimbly become the world’s largest provider of COVID-19 tests, and is determined to execute on this model across infectious diseases, other chronic conditions and wellness.

For more information about Innova Medical Group, Inc., please visit: www.innovamedgroup.com

For press inquiries:
Strategic Financial Relations (China) Limited
Anita Cheung Tel: (852) 2864 4827 Email: anita.cheung@sprg.com.hk
Chris Lee Tel: (852) 2864 4963 Email: chris.lee@sprg.com.hk