Cogobuy Announces 2015 First Quarter Unaudited Operation Results

HONG KONG, May 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Highlights for the three months ended March 31, 2015:

• The Group's Gross Merchandise Value ("GMV") was RMB2,491.0 million, an increase of 62.9% year-on-year ("YoY")
• Online transaction customers^[1] as at March 31, 2015 reached 6,017, up 91.6% YoY
• Non-GAAP profit attributable to equity shareholders2 of the Company was approximately RMB77.0 million, up 64.9% YoY
• GMV contributed by the provision of loans under supply chain financing business has reached RMB191.2 million, accounted for approximately 7.7% of the total GMV

Cogobuy Group (Stock code: 400.HK) ("Cogobuy" or the "Company"; with its subsidiaries (the ''Group'')), the largest e-commerce service platform for the enterprise procurement of electronics manufacturing industry in China, is pleased to announce its unaudited operation summary for the three months ended March 31, 2015 (the "Period").

During the Period, the total GMV of the Company's operations was RMB2,491.0 million, representing an increase of 62.9% YoY; with 76.1% derived from direct sales, 16.3% from our online marketplace platforms and 7.7% from the new supply chain financing business line. In total, 52.0% of the GMV was derived from blue chip customers while 48.0% was derived from small and medium enterprise ("SME") customers.

During the Period, the Company achieved robust growth driven by increasing numbers of new customers, mainly from SMEs as well as average GMV per customer growth. The number of online transaction customers reached 6,017 as at March 31, 2015, of which approximately 2.2% are blue chip customers and 97.8% are SME customers. This represents an increase of 91.6% as compared to that of 3,141 as at March 31, 2014. As at March 31, 2015, the number of registered customers reached 35,682, compare to 21,903 as at March 31, 2014.

During the Period, the Company recorded a total revenue of RMB1,906.4 million, representing an increase of 40.8% YoY. Net profit attributable to equity shareholders of the Company grew significantly to approximately RMB71.5 million, representing an increase of 188.3% YoY. Gross margin was 8.0%. Non-GAAP profit attributable to equity shareholders^[2] of the Company was approximately RMB77.0 million, representing an increase of 64.9% YoY. Non-GAAP operating expenses^[3] were RMB59.0 million. Non-GAAP operating margin^[4] was 4.9%. Effective tax rate of the Group was 13.0%.

During the Period, the Group generated positive operating cash flow of approximately RMB41.2 million. Cash and cash equivalents and pledged deposits amounted to RMB1,871.5 million as at March 31, 2015. Inventory turnover days^[5] and account receivables turnover days^[6] were 30.5 days and 32.9 days respectively.

Business Highlights

Business Cooperation with large Internet Companies

• As an integrated enterprise service platform, Cogobuy has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Chanjet Information Technology Company Limited ("Chanjet", stock code: 1588.HK), a leading provider of enterprise software and services designed for micro and small scale enterprises ("MSEs") in China. Under the agreement, Chanjet will provide accounting and enterprise resource planning ("ERP") software services to the large SME customer base of Cogobuy and INGDAN.com. Providing more comprehensive services to customers is important for Cogobuy to increase customer stickiness and generate new revenue stream.
• INGDAN.com is selected as the supply chain service platform of intelligent hardware center in Beijing's Zhongguancun Science Park. Zhongguancun is a major hub for tech startups in China. In addition to improving customer acquisition ablity, the cooperation with Zhongguancun is also expected to further enhance Cogobuy's national presence.
• Cogobuy has signed a strategic agreement with JD.com, Inc., (NASDAQ:JD) to build an intelligent hardware ecosystem and provide marketing, promotion, distribution and financing services to hardware innovation enterprises. Partnering with JD.com, Cogobuy is able to further shorten the distance between the suppliers and end-consumer market by providing services to JD and its crowdfunding products.

INGDAN.com – a one-stop Internet of Things ("IoT") platform for Innovation and entrepreneurship

• INGDAN.com platform has attracted extensive market attention with follower number doubled from 1 million to approaching 2 million in 3 months. Fan economy built on hardcore smart devices enthusiasts enables INGDAN.com to expand its business from B2B to B2B2C.
• "IngDan Experience Center" in Shenzhen has been officially launched. It brings intelligent devices products much closer to consumers by providing them first-hand and real time experience, especially for hardcore smart devices enthusiasts.
• The launch of "IngDan Experience Center" and the growth of follower number are expected to complete two layers of business model for Cogobuy:
  • One is O2O model – innovative intelligent products not only can be marketed online through interactions on INGDAN.com platform, but also their manufacturers are able to fetch timely consumer demand changes through online feedbacks provided by customers who have experienced all-around review; and
  • Another is B2B2C model – in addition to providing customers with supply chain services, by leveraging the large number of INGDAN.com's online followers and "IngDan Experience Center", Cogobuy will be able to market customers' Internet of Things ("IoT") products directly to consumers. The virtuous cycle is expected to further enhance the value proposition of the Company.

OUTLOOK

Looking forward, Mr. Jeffrey Kang, CEO of Cogobuy Group, said: "Cogobuy Group is the largest e-commerce service platform for the enterprise procurement of China's electronics manufacturing enterprise. By providing IC components procurement services, Cogobuy is addressing a market of more than 3 million electronic manufacturing SMEs. We believe the transaction based relations will enable us to establish an integrated procurement services platform, providing data collection and analysis, hardware, software, supply chain finance and other business related services.

Mr. Kang continued, "There are three key phases of building our full services platform: First, targeting the market of more than 3 million electronic manufacturers, we will continue to expand our customer base and maintain low new customer acquisition cost. As of the end of the first quarter, our transaction customers and registered customers growth rate were 91.6% and 62.9% respectively. Second, we will strive to further increase our GMV. While expanding customer base is an important driver for GMV growth, more service and product purchase from existing customers is also an important driver for sustainable growth. Our GMV in the first quarter of 2015 grew 62.9% YoY. Third, we will continue to explore new monetization opportunities. We believe the provision of more comprehensive services is an approach to increase profitability. The supply chain financing services, which launched in the third quarter last year, has recorded RMB191.2 million in GMV in the first quarter this year. Cogobuy's supply chain financing business is a data driven Internet financing service mainly for SMEs underserved by commercial banks in China. We believe this new addition to our services will emerge as an important growth driver.

"We are confident in achieving our development goals for the year. The beginning of 'Internet Plus' age starts a new phase of business expansion for us, and for the development of both Internet and IoT startups. We remain open to working with other platforms. Together with companies like WeChat, Baidu, and JD.coms, we are devoted to building an intelligent hardware ecosystem with a focus on supply chain services and provide one-stop services to supply chain enterprises, from conceptual design to mass production." Mr. Kang concluded.

Caution Statement

The information contained in this document has not been independently verified. No representation, warranty or undertaking, express or implied, is made by the Company or any of its affiliates, advisers or representatives as to, and no reliance should be placed on, the fairness, accuracy, completeness or correctness of such information or opinions presented or contained herein. The information contained in this document should be considered in the context of the circumstances prevailing at the time, is subject to change without notice and the Company makes no undertaking to update the information in this document to reflect any developments that occur after the date of the presentation. It is not the Company's intention to provide, and you may not rely on these materials as providing, a complete or comprehensive analysis of the Company, or its financial or trading position or prospects. Neither of the Company nor any of its affiliates, advisers or representatives accept any responsibility or have any liability whatsoever (in negligence or otherwise) for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this document or its contents or otherwise arising in connection with this document.

This document may contain statements that reflect the Company's current intent, beliefs and expectations about the future as of the respective dates indicated herein. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are based on a number of assumptions about the Company's operations and factors beyond the Company's control and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, and accordingly, actual results may differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements. Neither the Company nor any of its affiliates, advisers or representatives has any obligation, nor do they undertake, to update these forward-looking statements for any events or developments including the occurrence of unanticipated events that occur subsequent to such dates.

About Cogobuy Group

Cogobuy Group is the largest e-commerce service platform for the enterprise procurement of China's electronics manufacturing enterprise. By providing IC components procurement services, Cogobuy is addressing a market of more than 3 million electronic manufacturing SMEs. We believe the transaction based relations will enable us to establish an integrated procurement services platform, providing data collection and analysis, hardware, software, supply chain finance and other business related services. As a typical representative of "Internet +", Cogobuy was successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on July 18, 2014. In 2014, the total GMV of Cogobuy has reached RMB8.4 billion.

For further information, please refer to the Company's website at http://www.cogobuy.com

About INGDAN.com

INGDAN.com is an online and offline platform focusing on the hardware innovation sector. The platform provides information of hardware innovation, knowledge of the supply chain and supply chain demand docking for IoT innovation entrepreneurs. It is a one-stop hardware innovation business platform with its core being the "supply chain."

For further information, please refer to the Company's website at http://www.ingdan.com

SOURCE Cogobuy Group

Related Links

http://www.cogobuy.com/