Tag: Technology

TTI Delivers a Strong First Half Performance With Record Revenue

New Products Driving Strong Growth

Hong Kong-based global power equipment and floor care company Techtronic Industries Co. Ltd. (“TTI” or the “Group”) (stock code: 669, ADR symbol: TTNDY) announced its results for the six months ended June 30, 2019. It was another record first half for the Group with revenue increasing 8.7%, EBIT and net profit both increasing 11.9%, and earnings per share increasing 12.4%, to approximately US15.61 cent. Revenue grew 10.7% in local currency. The strong first half performance was driven by the launch of new products, category and geographic expansion. Gross margin increased in the first half for the eleventh consecutive year, up 50 bps, increasing from 37.1% to 37.6%. TTI’s disciplined working capital management continued to yield solid performance at 18.4% of sales. The Board is recommending an interim dividend of HK45.00 cents (approximately US5.79 cents) per share, against HK38.00 cents (approximately US4.89 cents) per share in 2018, an increase of 18.4%.

– First Half 2019 Revenue Totaled US$3.7 Billion up by 10.7% in local currency
– Net Profit Continues to Grow at a Faster Rate than Sales, up 11.9%, Driven by the 11th Consecutive First half of Gross Margin Improvement 
– Disciplined Working Capital Management, Delivered Working Capital of 18.4% of Sales
– The Flagship Milwaukee Tool Business continues to Grow 20%+ in local currency 

The Power Equipment segment continued the strong momentum with 14.3% growth in local currency, to revenue of US$3.3 billion. New products, geographic expansion, and entry into new categories all contributed to the excellent performance. Our flagship Milwaukee Tool business once again grew over 20% globally in local currency and our Power Equipment business outperformed the market with double-digit growth. The Floor Care business is starting to improve with a strategic focus on our next generation cordless vacuums, carpet washing products and solutions range. 

Our geographic expansion was also a highlight for the first half with the European team delivering an outstanding 14.2% growth in local currency, led by Milwaukee Tool with over 25% growth. In rest of world, Australia and our Asian companies continued to deliver above market growth at 12.8%. Our North American businesses continued to perform exceptionally well at 9.7% growth with Milwaukee Tool up 20%+ in the US and 28%+ in Canada.

Mr. Horst Pudwill, Chairman of TTI, said, “We are pleased to have achieved another record first half of outstanding growth. Our expanding global manufacturing network and world class supply chain continues to deliver consistent productivity gains. We are well positioned to deliver a strong second half, and importantly, a strong future.” 

Mr. Joseph Galli, CEO of TTI, commented, “New product development is a core strength of TTI and our new product flow continues to accelerate. We continue to aggressively invest in this high speed, world class process so that we can bring to market a stream of high margin new products with cutting edge technology for the months and years to come. With the strength of our new product programs, our outstanding team and strong brand portfolio, we are poised to deliver excellent results.”

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, Floor Care Appliances and Accessories 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 Floor Care and Appliances.

TTI is one of the constituent stocks of the Hang Seng Index, FTSE 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.
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 veron.ng@sprg.com.hk
Beverly Chiu +(852) 2114 4329 beverly.chiu@sprg.com.hk
Karen Kwan +(852) 2114 4171 karen.kwan@sprg.com.hk
Website: www.sprg.com.hk

WiMi Hologram Cloud, Inc files with the SEC for Nasdaq IPO

– WIMI challenges with market-leading IPO for China’s Y455 billion AR technology market

WiMi Hologram Cloud, Inc, the largest holographic AR application platform in China, filed with the U.S. SEC on June 27 for an initial public offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq Global Market, trading as ‘WIMI’. As explained in the SEC prospectus, WIMI has developed an innovative business model with fundamental strengths that position it for continued leadership.

As holography and AR continue to proliferate, China’s holographic AR market is fast-growing and rapidly evolving. According to Frost & Sullivan, who prepared an industry report dated June 18, 2019 commissioned by WIMI to conduct the analysis, the total market size of China’s holographic AR industry in terms of total revenues is expected to grow from RMB 3.6 billion ($0.52 billion) in 2017 to RMB 454.8 billion ($65 billion) in 2025.

I. WIMI’s annual revenue and net income

As detailed in the prospectus, WIMI reported an annual net income of RMB 89 million ($12.9 million) for the full financial year 2018, an increase of 21.7% from the RMB 73 million ($10.6 million) recorded in 2017, and an annual revenue of RMB 225 million ($32.8 million), an increase of 17.3% on the year before. For the three months ended March 31, 2019, WIMI reported net income of RMB 37 million ($5.5 million), an increase of 68.7%, and revenue of RMB 78 million ($11.3 million), which was 59.5% improved over the same period in 2018.

II. Holographic AR advertising and AR entertainment: fast-growing and evolving

Holographic AR applications have been adopted by the entertainment and advertisement industries, which have a relatively mature hardware environment and thus facilitate the development of software and content in these fields. In the long run, there will also be applications in education, social network and communication fields though currently such applications are still limited by hardware technologies.

Entertainment

The entertainment industry was the first to enjoy the application of holographic AR. From the holograms of TuPac, Hatsune Miku, and late singer Teresa Deng to the heat of Pokemon Go, AR gaming, hologram live concerts and streaming fashion shows, the markets have genuinely embraced holographic AR.

The market size of China’s holographic AR applied in ‘Entertainment’ recorded revenue of RMB 0.6 billion in 2016, and is expected to increase at a CAGR of 83.5% from 2016 to 2020 and 92.8% from 2020 to 2025, reaching RMB180.0 billion ($260 million) by 2025. The growth is attributed to the increasing popularity of entertainment broadcast programs, especially live broadcast programs, including ceremonies, concerts, gala and sport events, where AR is greatly potentiated. The accessibility of live broadcast, livestream brought by smartphone and other portable digital devices also contributes to growth.

Advertisement

Holographic AR in advertisement has two types: volumetric and online app. Snapchat and Instagram, for example, have developed AR filter-styled advertisements, featuring fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) & cosmetic products. Another type of advertisement is a “plug-in” advertisement during TV programming through manually adding computer generated 3D images to original scenes to promote products.

The market size of China’s holographic AR applied in ‘Advertisement’ recorded revenue of RMB 0.9 billion in 2016, and it is expected to increase at a CAGR of 71.8% from 2016 to 2020 and 78.9% from 2020 to 2025, reaching RMB143.9 billion ($20.9 million) by 2025. The growth is mostly driven by the prosperity of advertisement sector and the new retail business. As the advertisers are always pursuing the most cutting-edge visual effects to attract customers, the AR application in advertisement can be considered keeping evolving to be more diversified.

Volumetric display will take certain shares of offline advertisement display, as volumetric display has more astonishing effect compared to traditional, therefore can be vastly applied in retail store. Sponsored filters inside social network apps will rise due to the boom of short video apps in China. In the long run, holographic AR advertisement will be more interactive, and volumetric display will keep taking more share and come in larger sized projection. Also, advertisers’ interaction with custumers without head mounted devices and other electronics may be achieved.

III. Revenue from AR advertising services and AR entertainment will grow continuously

WIMI’s revenue includes ‘AR advertising services’ and ‘AR entertainment’. ‘AR advertising services’ use holographic materials which are embedded in advertisements on online media platforms or offline displays. Income is generated for WiMi Hologram as it delivers services according to specific terms of its contracts. The terms are usually based on the specific actions which display online, namely Cost Per Impression (‘CPM’) or Cost Per Action (‘CPA’), as well as the duration of the service of the contract displayed offline.

Revenue from ‘AR entertainment’ derives from a software development kit (‘SDK’), paid-channel services, software development, mobile game services and technology development. When a user completes a payment transaction via SDK, WIMI gains related income after deducting payments to the content provider.

As a matter of fact, the real label for WIMI Hologram should be user operation. The so-called user operation is that it is divided into two dimensions: absorbing new users and old users repurchase. From the IPO prospectus, it can be seen that WIMI shows high ability in both dimensions.

5G Network

Due to the change of bandwidth in 5G communication networks, high-end holographic applications have gradually developed into social media, communication, navigation, home application and other applications. Our plan is to provide holographic clouding platform services through 5G communication networks based on two core technologies: holographic AI facial recognition technology and holographic AI facial change technology.

The IPO prospectus demonstrates that the services of WiMi Hologram will be profoundly comingled with 5G. With the compliance of 5G with high rate and low delay, it makes the average transmission delay is about 6ms in terms of remote communication, data transmission as well as from system terminal to service server, which is much lower than 4G network transmission delay. It truly ensures the richness and diversity of holographic AR remote communication and data transmission without stuttering and low delay, and the richness and diversity of interaction in term of multi-terminal cooperation in different places. It makes the collaboration of port + cloud collaboration more efficient. 

Based on 5G AI face recognition technology and holographic AI DeepFake technology, the application of the enhanced mobile broadband (EMBB) and Internet of things (IOT) has made plenty of holographic services for WIMI to achieve with effective growth, such as holographic AR advertising business, holographic AR entertainment business, holographic interactive entertainment, holographic conference, holographic social contact, holographic communication, holographic home hologram and so on.