KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 -- Olympus Scientific Cloud (OSC) version 3.0 has offered powerful new tools that simplify data handling, enabling users to leverage the Internet of Things and Industry 4.0 for their inspection and analytical applications.
Accessed directly from the Olympus-IMS website, users will experience a streamlined UI, a new App Marketplace, instrument fleet and personnel management tools, cloud data storage and more, according to a statement.
The OSC 3.0 is a single-source platform for all connected Olympus industrial devices to provide continuously enhanced, comprehensive solutions.
By signing up for a free OSC account, users with Olympus wireless-enabled devices including the Vanta™ XRF analyser, EPOCH™ 6LT flaw detector and 38DL PLUS™ thickness gage with a 38-Link™ adaptor, can expand their instrument’s capabilities with free features such as 10 GB of storage per tenant and wireless software updates.
Users can also browse free and paid applications designed to ease some of their most pressing pain points in the new App Marketplace. The first of these new apps, the Inspection Project Manager, was released with OSC 3.0.
The OSC also provides a single location where administrators can control the users and devices associated with their cloud tenant. Admins can control users’ privileges and roles, add/remove members, manage their data and manage subscriptions.
Olympus is a global technology leader, crafting innovative optical and digital solutions in medical technologies; life sciences; industrial solutions; and cameras and audio products. More details at https://www.olympus-ims.com.
-- BERNAMA
Thursday, 26 March 2020
CLOUDFLARE AND ALIBABA CLOUD COLLABORATE ON EXPANSION OF BANDWIDTH ALLIANCE
Joint customers outside mainland China can have bandwidth fees waived
SAN FRANCISCO, March 25 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET), the security, performance, and reliability company helping to build a better Internet, today announced that it has expanded the Bandwidth Alliance by partnering with Alibaba Cloud, the data intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group.
The Bandwidth Alliance, launched in September 2018, is a group of forward-thinking cloud and networking companies that are committed to discounting or waiving data transfer fees (also known as bandwidth fees) for shared customers. The Bandwidth Alliance now includes 20 partners, all committed to providing the most performant and cost-efficient experience for mutual customers.
“We launched the Bandwidth Alliance to give our customers a faster, more secure, and more reliable Internet, without the awful fees that have historically bogged them down,” said Arjunan Rajeswaran, Head of Strategic Partnerships at Cloudflare. “Alibaba Cloud has built an impressive business that considers its customers first, and together, we will give our joint customers the best Internet experience possible.”
By joining the Bandwidth Alliance, customers using both Alibaba Cloud Object Storage, and Cloudflare products, will have their data egress fees waived outside mainland China if OSS products are purchased from alibabacloud.com.
"In addition to waiving the egress fee, Alibaba Cloud will also waive up to 100 million API requests, and 10TB image processing fees for all customers in regions outside of China after joining the Bandwidth Alliance,” said Alex Chen, Alibaba Cloud Senior Director of Product Management. “Alibaba Cloud’s initiative of the elimination of ‘request fees’ is an industry game changer. The combined solution will pass on massive savings to our customers, and at the same time, eliminate complexity in managing storage cost.”
Alibaba Cloud continues to champion millions of businesses in more than 21 regions and countries through world-class infrastructure, advanced analytics tools, and a thriving ecosystem. Its hybrid cloud model services enterprises, developers, and government organizations around the world, and makes them a valuable partner within the Bandwidth Alliance.
Cloudflare has long had an international presence, with co-location facilities in 200 cities across more than 90 countries, including China.
Cloudflare also recently partnered with Cherry Servers, a provider of bare metal cloud services in Europe, as part of the Bandwidth Alliance.
To learn more about Cloudflare and the Bandwidth Alliance, please check out the resources below.
SAN FRANCISCO, March 25 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET), the security, performance, and reliability company helping to build a better Internet, today announced that it has expanded the Bandwidth Alliance by partnering with Alibaba Cloud, the data intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group.
The Bandwidth Alliance, launched in September 2018, is a group of forward-thinking cloud and networking companies that are committed to discounting or waiving data transfer fees (also known as bandwidth fees) for shared customers. The Bandwidth Alliance now includes 20 partners, all committed to providing the most performant and cost-efficient experience for mutual customers.
“We launched the Bandwidth Alliance to give our customers a faster, more secure, and more reliable Internet, without the awful fees that have historically bogged them down,” said Arjunan Rajeswaran, Head of Strategic Partnerships at Cloudflare. “Alibaba Cloud has built an impressive business that considers its customers first, and together, we will give our joint customers the best Internet experience possible.”
By joining the Bandwidth Alliance, customers using both Alibaba Cloud Object Storage, and Cloudflare products, will have their data egress fees waived outside mainland China if OSS products are purchased from alibabacloud.com.
"In addition to waiving the egress fee, Alibaba Cloud will also waive up to 100 million API requests, and 10TB image processing fees for all customers in regions outside of China after joining the Bandwidth Alliance,” said Alex Chen, Alibaba Cloud Senior Director of Product Management. “Alibaba Cloud’s initiative of the elimination of ‘request fees’ is an industry game changer. The combined solution will pass on massive savings to our customers, and at the same time, eliminate complexity in managing storage cost.”
Alibaba Cloud continues to champion millions of businesses in more than 21 regions and countries through world-class infrastructure, advanced analytics tools, and a thriving ecosystem. Its hybrid cloud model services enterprises, developers, and government organizations around the world, and makes them a valuable partner within the Bandwidth Alliance.
Cloudflare has long had an international presence, with co-location facilities in 200 cities across more than 90 countries, including China.
Cloudflare also recently partnered with Cherry Servers, a provider of bare metal cloud services in Europe, as part of the Bandwidth Alliance.
To learn more about Cloudflare and the Bandwidth Alliance, please check out the resources below.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “explore,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “could,” “intend,” “target,” “project,” “contemplate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” or “continue,” or the negative of these words, or other similar terms or expressions that concern our expectations, strategy, plans, or intentions. However, not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Forward-looking statements expressed or implied in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our plans and objectives for the Bandwidth Alliance, the expected functionality and performance of our products, our technological development, future operations, growth, initiatives, or strategies, and comments made by our CEO and others. Our actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including but not limited to, risks detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on March 3, 2020, as well as other filings that we may make from time to time with the SEC.
The forward-looking statements made in this press release relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made in this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions, or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements.
About Cloudflare
Cloudflare, Inc. (www.cloudflare.com / @cloudflare) is on a mission to help build a better Internet. Cloudflare’s platform protects and accelerates any Internet application online without adding hardware, installing software, or changing a line of code. Internet properties powered by Cloudflare have all web traffic routed through its intelligent global network, which gets smarter with every request. As a result, they see significant improvement in performance and a decrease in spam and other attacks. Cloudflare was named to Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top Company Cultures 2018 list and ranked among the World’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company in 2019. Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Cloudflare has offices in Austin, TX, Champaign, IL, New York, NY, San Jose, CA, Seattle, WA, Washington, D.C., Lisbon, London, Munich, Beijing, Singapore, and Sydney.
View source version on businesswire.com:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200324005140/en/
Contact
Daniella Vallurupalli
press@cloudflare.com
Source : Cloudflare, Inc.
Wednesday, 25 March 2020
KAGOSHIMA CITY ADDS FOREIGN LANGUAGE SUBTITLES TO MUSIC VIDEO "MAGMA CITY KAGOSHIMA: LIFE IN CITY WITH ACTIVE VOLCANO"
KAGOSHIMA, Japan, Mar. 25, 2020 /Kyodo JBN-AsiaNet/ --
Kagoshima City now presents a music video in several foreign languages for overseas viewers to commemorate the City's 130th anniversary. The music video has been released on YouTube to promote the City's new theme song "Kagoshima into the Future", and attractions of the City.
YouTube URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX2rzPTonD8 *English/Chinese (traditional & simplified)/Korean/Thai/Vietnamese subtitles are available.
(Photo1: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M100580/202003198267/_prw_PI1lg_It8j4Qk0.png)
(Photo2: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M100580/202003198267/_prw_PI2fl_QMH0hj1V.png)
Kagoshima City's theme song, "Kagoshima into the Future" This song, released in November 2019, portrays some of the great points that showcase Kagoshima City starting with the symbols of Kagoshima, the active volcano Sakurajima and the scenic and tranquil Kinko Bay. It conveys the abundant nature of the City, the strength that spurred the modernization of Japan, and the splendor the City offers to international tourists.
The music video shows the City's beautiful sceneries, starting with Sakurajima volcano, and highlights many attractions of the City.
Composer & Arranger: Ryo Yoshimata (born in Kagoshima City): https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/img/202003198267-O3-UJJQ0XKx
An introduction to Kagoshima City
Kagoshima City is located at the southern end of Kyushu Island in Japan. It is a unique place where approximately 600,000 people are living with the active volcano Sakurajima, which towers above the downtown area across Kagoshima Bay (Kinko Bay).
The City is called "the Naples of the Orient" as the volcano view from the City resembles that of its sister city Naples, Italy.
(Image: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M100580/202003198267/_prw_PI4lg_vxhPg8ww.jpg)
Emblem and Statement of Kagoshima City: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M100580/202003198267/_prw_PI5fl_bExjDwf6.jpg
SOURCE: Kagoshima City
Kagoshima City now presents a music video in several foreign languages for overseas viewers to commemorate the City's 130th anniversary. The music video has been released on YouTube to promote the City's new theme song "Kagoshima into the Future", and attractions of the City.
YouTube URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX2rzPTonD8 *English/Chinese (traditional & simplified)/Korean/Thai/Vietnamese subtitles are available.
(Photo1: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M100580/202003198267/_prw_PI1lg_It8j4Qk0.png)
(Photo2: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M100580/202003198267/_prw_PI2fl_QMH0hj1V.png)
Kagoshima City's theme song, "Kagoshima into the Future" This song, released in November 2019, portrays some of the great points that showcase Kagoshima City starting with the symbols of Kagoshima, the active volcano Sakurajima and the scenic and tranquil Kinko Bay. It conveys the abundant nature of the City, the strength that spurred the modernization of Japan, and the splendor the City offers to international tourists.
The music video shows the City's beautiful sceneries, starting with Sakurajima volcano, and highlights many attractions of the City.
Composer & Arranger: Ryo Yoshimata (born in Kagoshima City): https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/img/202003198267-O3-UJJQ0XKx
An introduction to Kagoshima City
Kagoshima City is located at the southern end of Kyushu Island in Japan. It is a unique place where approximately 600,000 people are living with the active volcano Sakurajima, which towers above the downtown area across Kagoshima Bay (Kinko Bay).
The City is called "the Naples of the Orient" as the volcano view from the City resembles that of its sister city Naples, Italy.
(Image: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M100580/202003198267/_prw_PI4lg_vxhPg8ww.jpg)
Emblem and Statement of Kagoshima City: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M100580/202003198267/_prw_PI5fl_bExjDwf6.jpg
SOURCE: Kagoshima City
Tuesday, 24 March 2020
AM Best affirms New Zealand’s BNZ Life Credit Ratings as excellent
KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 -- AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of ‘a’ of BNZ Life Insurance Limited (BNZ Life) New Zealand.
The stable outlook of these Credit Ratings reflect BNZ Life’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best categorised as very strong, as well as its strong operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.
In addition, the ratings factor in a neutral impact from the company’s ultimate ownership by National Australia Bank Limited, according to a statement.
BNZ Life’s balance sheet strength assessment is supported by its risk-adjusted capitalisation, which remains at the strongest level, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio and a highly liquid investment portfolio, with focus on cash and high quality fixed income instruments.
While the company has exhibited a high dividend payout ratio over the past five years, earnings retention has remained sufficient to support current business growth and maintain the strongest level of risk-adjusted capitalisation.
BNZ Life has a track record of strong operating performance, demonstrated by a five-year average return-on-equity ratio of 29 per cent (fiscal-years 2015-2019). AM Best expects a robust pricing strategy and steady revenue growth to support the maintenance of the strong operating performance assessment over the medium term.
BNZ Life is a small to medium-sized insurer in New Zealand’s life insurance industry, with a market share of approximately five per cent based on 2019 gross written premiums, and AM Best views the company as having a neutral business profile.
AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specialising in the insurance industry. More details at www.ambest.com.
-- BERNAMA
The stable outlook of these Credit Ratings reflect BNZ Life’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best categorised as very strong, as well as its strong operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.
In addition, the ratings factor in a neutral impact from the company’s ultimate ownership by National Australia Bank Limited, according to a statement.
BNZ Life’s balance sheet strength assessment is supported by its risk-adjusted capitalisation, which remains at the strongest level, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio and a highly liquid investment portfolio, with focus on cash and high quality fixed income instruments.
While the company has exhibited a high dividend payout ratio over the past five years, earnings retention has remained sufficient to support current business growth and maintain the strongest level of risk-adjusted capitalisation.
BNZ Life has a track record of strong operating performance, demonstrated by a five-year average return-on-equity ratio of 29 per cent (fiscal-years 2015-2019). AM Best expects a robust pricing strategy and steady revenue growth to support the maintenance of the strong operating performance assessment over the medium term.
BNZ Life is a small to medium-sized insurer in New Zealand’s life insurance industry, with a market share of approximately five per cent based on 2019 gross written premiums, and AM Best views the company as having a neutral business profile.
AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specialising in the insurance industry. More details at www.ambest.com.
-- BERNAMA
Monday, 23 March 2020
PRA Health Sciences launches COVID-19 Monitoring Program
KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 -- PRA Health Sciences recently announced the commercial availability of the COVID-19 Monitoring Program, a mobile app-driven, tiered initiative.
According to a statement, the programme allows employers, payers, providers and health systems to track the health and wellbeing of individuals who may be asymptomatic, exposed or diagnosed with COVID-19 during the pandemic.
Based on an individual’s COVID-19 disease status, they are assigned to one of three groups, namely the educational, quarantine and indepth monitoring programme.
By downloading the programme’s app on their personal mobile devices, participants will be able to report key health metrics related to COVID-19, such as body temperature, heart rate and pulse oximetry.
In addition, participants report on symptoms of COVID-19 like shortness of breath, fatigue and changes in coughing.
Participants also benefit from PRA’s nurse-led clinical call centre staff, who monitor the information reported via the app on a daily basis. The trained staff can address physical symptoms, as well as the social and psychological impacts they may be experiencing.
More details at https://www.careinnovations.com/contact/
-- BERNAMA
According to a statement, the programme allows employers, payers, providers and health systems to track the health and wellbeing of individuals who may be asymptomatic, exposed or diagnosed with COVID-19 during the pandemic.
Based on an individual’s COVID-19 disease status, they are assigned to one of three groups, namely the educational, quarantine and indepth monitoring programme.
By downloading the programme’s app on their personal mobile devices, participants will be able to report key health metrics related to COVID-19, such as body temperature, heart rate and pulse oximetry.
In addition, participants report on symptoms of COVID-19 like shortness of breath, fatigue and changes in coughing.
Participants also benefit from PRA’s nurse-led clinical call centre staff, who monitor the information reported via the app on a daily basis. The trained staff can address physical symptoms, as well as the social and psychological impacts they may be experiencing.
More details at https://www.careinnovations.com/contact/
-- BERNAMA
GUOTAI JUNAN INTERNATIONAL ANNOUNCES 2019 ANNUAL RESULTS
Total Revenue Reaches New Peak despite the market condition,
Total Dividends Increase by 27% YoY1
HONG KONG, March 23 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Guotai Junan International Holdings Limited (“Guotai Junan International”, “the Group” or “the Company”, Stock code: 1788.HK) today announced its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2019 (the “Year”). Benefitting from good performance in debt capital markets, equity capital markets , brokerage, asset management, fixed income market making and investment, during the Year, the Group recorded a total revenue of HKD4,246 million approximately, achieved the historic high and increased by 40% YOY1. The profit attributable to shareholders amounted to HKD895 million, representing a YOY1 growth of approximately 12%.
The Board recommended that the payout ratio rise to 57% with an annual dividend of HKD0.062 per share (Final Dividend of HKD0.02 per share), where total dividends increased by 27% YOY1 during the Year.
i.jpg)
Note: 1) Year over Year;
Dr. Yim Fung, Chairman and CEO Talks about operating results and shares his future outlook (Chinese Version):
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/3If80Bsd87jZ2BRuiLVa2Q
Jeff Lee, Executive Director and CFO Introduces 2019's Financials (Chinese Version):
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/dc09e0d7SURTrcsbA_EGsQ
Revenue Structure: Balanced and Diversified
While the Group’s total revenue of 2019 reached record high again, the revenue structure has become more balanced. During the Year, the fee and commission income, interest income and investment income accounted for 33%, 36% and 31% of the total revenue, respectively. Among the investment income, the coupon of fixed income accounted for 20% of the total revenue, and trading income recorded by mark-to-market accounted for 11%. The definitions of the above three income categories are listed below:
ii.jpg)
Fee and Commission Income Achieved Record High, Increasing by 26% despite Downward Market
In recent years, the Group has adopted strategic adjustment to improve risk-adjusted return on capital. Although in 2019 the Hong Kong capital market has been affected by Sino-US trade conflict and local social unrest as well as the year-on-year decrease of trading volume and securities financing, the Group’s fee and commission income has greatly increased by 26% to HKD1,419 million, achieved a record high. The income of brokerage, corporate finance and asset management have increased by 17%, 36% and 118% YOY, respectively.
Enhanced Risk Management to Deal with the Market Uncertainties
In 2019, Sino-US trade conflict and social unrest in Hong Kong have brought constant impact on the financial markets. Under prudent risk management and information disclosure, the Group increased the provision for financial assets for fiscal year 2019 to better cope with the potential risks in the future in a forward looking perspective.
Expanded Wealth Management Platform, in which Derivatives Warrants Enriched High Net Worth Clients’ Portfolios
During the Year, the Group’s wealth management platform has continuously attracted high-quality clients, which boosted the securities trading activities and brokerage income increased by 17% YOY to HKD531 million, among which commission fee from securities trading rose by 23% to HKD453 million. In November 2019, the Company became the 3rd Chinese licensed market participant on issuing listed structured products and launched its Derivative Warrants and Callable Bull / Bear Contracts products. The new products provide investment solutions catering to clients with different risk appetites and have received wide recognition from the industry.
Investment Banking Business (“Corporate Finance”) Remained Its Leading Position
During the Year, the Group has maintained its leading role in debt capital markets in Hong Kong, while its underwriting fee has increased to HKD594 million by 23% YOY. Both the number of completed underwriting deals and the amount of raised funds in primary debt securities market achieved record high, with a total of 189 debt issuances (2018: 142), successfully assisting corporates to raise funds of nearly HKD423.3 billion (2018: HKD319.7 billion) in bond market. The Company was ranked 2nd and 4th respectively in the Bloomberg’s Asia (ex-Japan) G3 Currency Corporate High-Yield Bond Underwritten League Table in terms of number of deals and amount underwritten in Chinese US dollar-denominated bond issuance market.
During the Year, the Group’s income arising from the equity capital markets increased significantly by 74% year-on-year to approximately HK$136 million. The Group explored in major sectors including energy, real estate, property management and finance, completed 8 IPO sponsorship projects and 31 equity underwriting projects in primary and secondary market, assisting corporation raising funds of approximately HK$44.11 billion in total. According to Dealogic’s data, the Company was ranked 4th in the market in terms of the amount of IPO sponsors deals.
The First Chinese Securities Firm Entered the Vietnam Market
At the end of 2019, the Group completed the strategic investment acquisition of Vietnam Investment Securities Company (“IVS”). In this transaction, the Company subscribed for the new shares of IVS at the price which was close to its net assets and became its substantial shareholder. IVS is a Vietnam-based financial institution listed on the Hanoi Stock Exchange. Its major businesses include securities brokerage, securities research and securities investment advisory, etc. Since December 2019, clients of Guotai Junan International were able to invest in companies listed in Vietnam through the Company’s brokerage service and obtain the timely information in regard of Vietnam market and economy in research reports provided by the Company. The Group considered that the acquisition of IVS would offer the Group’s clients with richer investment choices, and expected to further optimize the Group’s existing business structure, which would help the Company further expand the business in Southeast Asia after its footprints in Hong Kong and Singapore, as well as grasp the growing opportunities arising from the Belt and Road Initiative.
Global Credit Ratings Remained Stable
In 2019, despite the unfavorable factors in the market, the Company has gained continuing recognition from global rating agencies. Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s respectively reaffirmed the Company’s “BBB+” and “Baa2” long-term issuer rating with a stable outlook, which stood out from the peers in Hong Kong. Moody’s emphasized in its early-2020 report that the Company had a transparent business model and followed prudent risk control procedures.
Outlook
Since the beginning of 2020, affected by factors including COVID-19 pandemic, economic growth in global market might face various challenges. Nonetheless, in the medium to long term, with the continuous liberation of capital market, the more developed manufacturing sector and the significant breakthroughs in technology industry, Chinese economic growth is still expected with enlarged scale of Chinese corporates’ investments and financing as well as emerging demand for wealth management of high-net-worth clients.
While facing difficulties, Guotai Junan International will further strengthen its capabilities in wealth management services and global asset allocations, offering one-stop comprehensive investment and financing solutions. Meanwhile, the Group will adhere to its core objective to increase risk adjusted return on capital and reward the clients and investors for their long-term support with a steady, sustained and high compound growth.
-End-
About Guotai Junan International Holdings Limited
Guotai Junan International is the market leader and first mover for internationalization of Chinese Securities Company. The Company is the first Chinese securities broker to list on the Main Board of The Hong Kong Stock Exchange by way of initial public offering. Based in Hong Kong, the Company provides diversified integrated financial services. The core services include: wealth management, brokerage, investment banking, loans and financing, asset management and financial products.
The Company is one of the constituents of HSCI, Hang Seng Composite LargeCap & MidCap Index, FTSE HK index and FTSE HK ex H share index. Guotai Junan International has been assigned “Baa2 / Prime-2” and “BBB+ / A-2” rating from Moody and Standard & Poor respectively.
The controlling shareholder, Guotai Junan Securities Company Limited (Stock Code: 601211.SS; 2611.HK), is the comprehensive financial provider with a long-term, sustainable and overall leading position in the Chinese securities industry. Backed by strong operational support, the Company will be able to further explore the HK and the Asia-Pacific market, aiming to become an important financial institution with market influence in the region.
For more information about Guotai Junan International:
Total Dividends Increase by 27% YoY1
HONG KONG, March 23 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Guotai Junan International Holdings Limited (“Guotai Junan International”, “the Group” or “the Company”, Stock code: 1788.HK) today announced its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2019 (the “Year”). Benefitting from good performance in debt capital markets, equity capital markets , brokerage, asset management, fixed income market making and investment, during the Year, the Group recorded a total revenue of HKD4,246 million approximately, achieved the historic high and increased by 40% YOY1. The profit attributable to shareholders amounted to HKD895 million, representing a YOY1 growth of approximately 12%.
The Board recommended that the payout ratio rise to 57% with an annual dividend of HKD0.062 per share (Final Dividend of HKD0.02 per share), where total dividends increased by 27% YOY1 during the Year.
Note: 1) Year over Year;
Dr. Yim Fung, Chairman and CEO Talks about operating results and shares his future outlook (Chinese Version):
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/3If80Bsd87jZ2BRuiLVa2Q
Jeff Lee, Executive Director and CFO Introduces 2019's Financials (Chinese Version):
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/dc09e0d7SURTrcsbA_EGsQ
Revenue Structure: Balanced and Diversified
While the Group’s total revenue of 2019 reached record high again, the revenue structure has become more balanced. During the Year, the fee and commission income, interest income and investment income accounted for 33%, 36% and 31% of the total revenue, respectively. Among the investment income, the coupon of fixed income accounted for 20% of the total revenue, and trading income recorded by mark-to-market accounted for 11%. The definitions of the above three income categories are listed below:
Fee and Commission Income Achieved Record High, Increasing by 26% despite Downward Market
In recent years, the Group has adopted strategic adjustment to improve risk-adjusted return on capital. Although in 2019 the Hong Kong capital market has been affected by Sino-US trade conflict and local social unrest as well as the year-on-year decrease of trading volume and securities financing, the Group’s fee and commission income has greatly increased by 26% to HKD1,419 million, achieved a record high. The income of brokerage, corporate finance and asset management have increased by 17%, 36% and 118% YOY, respectively.
Enhanced Risk Management to Deal with the Market Uncertainties
In 2019, Sino-US trade conflict and social unrest in Hong Kong have brought constant impact on the financial markets. Under prudent risk management and information disclosure, the Group increased the provision for financial assets for fiscal year 2019 to better cope with the potential risks in the future in a forward looking perspective.
Expanded Wealth Management Platform, in which Derivatives Warrants Enriched High Net Worth Clients’ Portfolios
During the Year, the Group’s wealth management platform has continuously attracted high-quality clients, which boosted the securities trading activities and brokerage income increased by 17% YOY to HKD531 million, among which commission fee from securities trading rose by 23% to HKD453 million. In November 2019, the Company became the 3rd Chinese licensed market participant on issuing listed structured products and launched its Derivative Warrants and Callable Bull / Bear Contracts products. The new products provide investment solutions catering to clients with different risk appetites and have received wide recognition from the industry.
Investment Banking Business (“Corporate Finance”) Remained Its Leading Position
During the Year, the Group has maintained its leading role in debt capital markets in Hong Kong, while its underwriting fee has increased to HKD594 million by 23% YOY. Both the number of completed underwriting deals and the amount of raised funds in primary debt securities market achieved record high, with a total of 189 debt issuances (2018: 142), successfully assisting corporates to raise funds of nearly HKD423.3 billion (2018: HKD319.7 billion) in bond market. The Company was ranked 2nd and 4th respectively in the Bloomberg’s Asia (ex-Japan) G3 Currency Corporate High-Yield Bond Underwritten League Table in terms of number of deals and amount underwritten in Chinese US dollar-denominated bond issuance market.
During the Year, the Group’s income arising from the equity capital markets increased significantly by 74% year-on-year to approximately HK$136 million. The Group explored in major sectors including energy, real estate, property management and finance, completed 8 IPO sponsorship projects and 31 equity underwriting projects in primary and secondary market, assisting corporation raising funds of approximately HK$44.11 billion in total. According to Dealogic’s data, the Company was ranked 4th in the market in terms of the amount of IPO sponsors deals.
The First Chinese Securities Firm Entered the Vietnam Market
At the end of 2019, the Group completed the strategic investment acquisition of Vietnam Investment Securities Company (“IVS”). In this transaction, the Company subscribed for the new shares of IVS at the price which was close to its net assets and became its substantial shareholder. IVS is a Vietnam-based financial institution listed on the Hanoi Stock Exchange. Its major businesses include securities brokerage, securities research and securities investment advisory, etc. Since December 2019, clients of Guotai Junan International were able to invest in companies listed in Vietnam through the Company’s brokerage service and obtain the timely information in regard of Vietnam market and economy in research reports provided by the Company. The Group considered that the acquisition of IVS would offer the Group’s clients with richer investment choices, and expected to further optimize the Group’s existing business structure, which would help the Company further expand the business in Southeast Asia after its footprints in Hong Kong and Singapore, as well as grasp the growing opportunities arising from the Belt and Road Initiative.
Global Credit Ratings Remained Stable
In 2019, despite the unfavorable factors in the market, the Company has gained continuing recognition from global rating agencies. Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s respectively reaffirmed the Company’s “BBB+” and “Baa2” long-term issuer rating with a stable outlook, which stood out from the peers in Hong Kong. Moody’s emphasized in its early-2020 report that the Company had a transparent business model and followed prudent risk control procedures.
Outlook
Since the beginning of 2020, affected by factors including COVID-19 pandemic, economic growth in global market might face various challenges. Nonetheless, in the medium to long term, with the continuous liberation of capital market, the more developed manufacturing sector and the significant breakthroughs in technology industry, Chinese economic growth is still expected with enlarged scale of Chinese corporates’ investments and financing as well as emerging demand for wealth management of high-net-worth clients.
While facing difficulties, Guotai Junan International will further strengthen its capabilities in wealth management services and global asset allocations, offering one-stop comprehensive investment and financing solutions. Meanwhile, the Group will adhere to its core objective to increase risk adjusted return on capital and reward the clients and investors for their long-term support with a steady, sustained and high compound growth.
-End-
About Guotai Junan International Holdings Limited
Guotai Junan International is the market leader and first mover for internationalization of Chinese Securities Company. The Company is the first Chinese securities broker to list on the Main Board of The Hong Kong Stock Exchange by way of initial public offering. Based in Hong Kong, the Company provides diversified integrated financial services. The core services include: wealth management, brokerage, investment banking, loans and financing, asset management and financial products.
The Company is one of the constituents of HSCI, Hang Seng Composite LargeCap & MidCap Index, FTSE HK index and FTSE HK ex H share index. Guotai Junan International has been assigned “Baa2 / Prime-2” and “BBB+ / A-2” rating from Moody and Standard & Poor respectively.
The controlling shareholder, Guotai Junan Securities Company Limited (Stock Code: 601211.SS; 2611.HK), is the comprehensive financial provider with a long-term, sustainable and overall leading position in the Chinese securities industry. Backed by strong operational support, the Company will be able to further explore the HK and the Asia-Pacific market, aiming to become an important financial institution with market influence in the region.
For more information about Guotai Junan International:
- Official website: http://www.gtjai.com
- 2020 corporate video: https://v.qq.com/x/page/a3047lc1je0.html
View source version on businesswire.com:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200320005285/en/
Contact
Guotai Junan International Holdings Limited
Jason Yan and Steven Chen
Tel: 2509 5487, 2509 2604
Source : Guotai Junan International Holdings Limited
Thursday, 19 March 2020
RADISYS UNVEILS ENGAGE VIDEO ASSISTANT - WORLD'S FIRST AI-POWERED VIDEO BOT
Radisys' Engage Video Assistant - the World's First AI-powered Video Bot (Photo: Business Wire)
Provides unique digital user experience for ecommerce, consumer brand engagement and customer service
HILLSBORO, Ore., March 19 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Radisys® Corporation, a global leader of open telecom solutions, today announced the global availability of the Radisys Engage Video Assistant (EVA), the world’s first app-less AI-powered 3-in-1 (video, voice, text) bot for digital customer interactions. The EVA empowers customer support, sales and marketing teams to significantly enhance the customer experience by delivering greater personalization that drives customer acquisition, retention, and satisfaction with the cost savings of automation.
Customers can access the EVA to interact visually with sales professionals, subject-matter-experts, brand ambassadors, brand influencers, and customer care agents – simply by dialing a regular customer support number, using a Video over LTE (ViLTE) capable 4G/LTE or 5G smartphone, or by clicking a link on the website with no download required. The EVA can also be integrated with mobile apps. EVA’s powerful AI engine determines the customer’s intent and delivers the right information, and when required it supports the transition of the bot interaction to live agents to ensure a consistent and seamless customer experience and the most cost-effective use of live agents.
As a white label solution, the EVA offers service providers a platform with flexible deployment options, either in-network or accessible from the cloud. It enables new revenue streams by providing Video Call Bot-as-a-Service for call centers, SMBs and large enterprise customers, and it can reduce contact centers’ costs by automating interactions – like how-to interactions or sophisticated troubleshooting – that are underserved by voice or text bots alone.
Key Takeaways
- Today’s technologies provide tools that can control and improve the digital customer experience by creating self-service customer engagement. However, while chatbots, voice-enabled digital assistants, and other similar automation technologies are enabling businesses to achieve cost-effective scalability and agility, they lack a human touch needed for a satisfactory customer experience.
- The Engage Video Assistant application allows service providers, call centers and businesses to:
- Humanize existing calls and interactive mobile or voice apps with video while maintaining an authentic visual brand persona.
- Create video FAQs for new product launches or common customer support issues.
- Enhance existing bots and cumbersome interactive voice response (IVR) solutions.
- Scale influencers and brand ambassadors to unprecedented levels through personalized customer interactions.
- Engage customers at their time of choice – day or night, weekday or holiday – with personalized video interactions.
- Engage Video Assistant is deployed by Reliance Jio, the world’s largest VoLTE service provider, serving 370 million subscribers in India and helping its business customers to enhance their customer service, reduce their customer support cost, and enhance agent productivity.
“Video is a proven way to create greater immersion, increase click-throughs, and convert connections to purchases,” said Al Balasco, vice president, communications solutions, Radisys. “Engage Video Assistant is the first digital engagement bot application to combine video, voice and text seamlessly to provide ubiquitous and customizable brand and customer service reach for B2B and B2C customer interactions anywhere, anytime.”
About Radisys
Radisys is a global leader in open telecom solutions and services. Its disaggregated platforms and integration services leverage open reference architectures and standards combined with open software and hardware, enabling service providers to drive open digital transformation. Radisys offers an end-to-end solutions portfolio from digital end points, to disaggregated and open access and core solutions, to immersive digital applications and engagement platforms. Its world-class and experienced network services organization delivers full lifecycle services to help service providers build and operate highly scalable and high-performance networks at optimum total cost of ownership. For more information, visit www.Radisys.com.
Radisys® is a registered trademark of Radisys. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/52190634/en
Contact
Nereus for Radisys
Lori Mesecke, +1-503-459-9150
lmesecke@nereus-worldwide.com
Source : Radisys
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