V1 Group Ltd
V1 Group Announces 2019 Annual Results Positive Gross Profit Reflects Strong Performance of Sports and Lottery Related Business

With Immediate Release 

V1 Group Announces 2019 Annual Results

Positive Gross Profit Reflects Strong Performance of

Sports and Lottery Related Business
 

(Hong Kong, 30 March 2020) – One of China’s top 100 internet companies, V1 Group Limited (“V1 Group” or the “Company”, together with its subsidiaries, the “Group“; stock code: 00082.HK), has announced its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2019 (the “Reporting Period”). During the Reporting Period, the Group successfully achieved a turnaround to a gross profit of HK$127.3 million, primarily due to the consolidation of the full year financial results of Beijing Crazy Sports Management Company Limited (“Crazy Sports“) into the Group’s financial results, and it has accomplished its profit guarantee. Loss for the year reduced significantly by approximately 70.9% to HK$190.5 million. Negative adjusted EBITDA was approximately HK$18.5 million, representing a significant year-on-year reduction of 90%.

The Group’s various business achieved new breakthroughs under the leadership of the management team. With the Group’s digital strengths and advantages, it has successfully created and built a leading comprehensive online and offline sports community and lottery e-commerce ecosystem in China based on lottery players. Through Crazy Sports, the Group was able to transform and remodel its existing resources into new assets. The Group’s enormous user community and database has become its core competency.

Through consolidation of premium resources and innovation, the major businesses of the Group witnessed positive developing trends during the year. Outstanding results were reported by various businesses of the Group, including the sports and lottery related business and telemedia and e-commerce business, representing the successful positioning and the steady progress made by the Group in becoming an intelligent internet sports enterprise.

Focusing on the Sports and Lottery Business to Form Unique Core Competency with Enormous User Resources

During the year, Crazy Sports further optimised the comprehensive online and offline sports community and lottery e-commerce ecosystem, dedicating more effort in refining its operation. Its online and offline businesses upgraded user experience by distinguishing lottery players and sports fans and corresponding to their different needs through user data analysis, so as to better serve different users.

Regarding its online business, Crazy Sports introduced a new smart prediction model named the Recommendation Compass (紅單指南針) AI recommendation system on Crazy Recommendation, the online paid lottery information services platform. Based on the sports lottery big data collected over the two decades by China Soccer Lottery (中國足彩網), results of about 280,000 matches and expert analysis, the system integrates different formulas, such as the Elo prediction method, goal rate prediction method and six matches prediction method to publish paid recommendation contents for about 15,000 matches. The average accuracy of the system reached 68%, and return rate can be as much as 324%, making it extremely popular among users. As at the end of 2019, Crazy Sports and Crazy Recommendation apps had about 20.75 million registered users, of which more than 700,000 were monthly active users.

Regarding the offline business, in September 2019, Crazy Sports launched the sports lottery new retail business and proactively collaborated with Chinese convenience store chains and lottery specialty stores to set up chain enterprise lottery sales channels and 365 Smart Stores. As at the end of 2019, Crazy Sports had entered into collaboration agreements with 12 convenience store chains, in which sports lottery terminals will be installed in 8,960 locations in China covering 12 provinces to provide sports lottery sale services in the future. As at December 2019, a total of 582 convenience stores had been approved to install sports lottery sales terminals. Users can purchase sports lottery in cash or via other payment methods, including Alipay. The single store monthly sales reached as high as RMB8,000. Crazy Sports also commenced one-to-one VIP lottery sales services through 45 authorised lottery specialty stores, which then became ”365 Smart Stores”. During the 3 months of operation in 2019, monthly sales of all the existing 365 Smart Stores reached RMB9.8 million.

In 2019, the revenue and gross profit of the Group’s sports and lottery related business were approximately HK$186 million and HK$124 million respectively.

Smaller Circulation for Bigger Significance to Actively Expand the Private Circulation Market

During the year, the Group devised a new media development strategy, which shifts the emphasis from the entertainment live-stream market to the business live-stream market with greater market space. Leveraging the 12 licenses and permits issued by national authorities owned by the Group, and with the support of the Belt and Road Initiative and the ”Go Global” strategy of China, V1 Platform, China Arab TV (”CATV”) and Liangzi Port achieved a synergy effect.

In 2019, the Group initiated a series of innovative methods, such as the new operation concept of ”smaller circulation for bigger significance”, which targets the more influential private circulation market, so the down-to-earth contents can, accordingly, reach down-to-earth users, and achieve new breakthroughs. During the year, the Group actively consolidated the premium resources and explored new breakthroughs in ”news + videos + e-commerce”, ushering in the commercial 5G era.

In 2019, the revenue and gross profit of the Group’s telemedia and e-commerce business were approximately HK$2.26 billion and HK$3.21 million respectively.

Dr. ZHANG Lijun, Chairman and Executive Director of V1 Group Limited, said, “In 2019, with management’s dedication to the business, our all-in-one sports and cultural ecosystem was successfully developed. We turned our strengths into reservations and made sufficient preparations for the future, which will successfully foster the high-speed growth of the business and drive a significant improvement in the annual performance, strengthening the Group’s position in the internet sports and lottery markets. Looking ahead, as a refreshed and renewed internet sports enterprise, we believe that the trillion market of the Chinese sports industry will bring us huge opportunities for the development of the Group. V1 Group will continue to shine in this arena.“

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About V1 Group Limited

V1 Group Limited first commenced its internet video business in 2005 and became listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2006. Since then, as one of China’s top 100 internet companies, the Group was principally engaged in the internet business with a focus on the Chinese sports industry. It has created and built a leading comprehensive online and offline sports community and lottery e-commerce ecosystem in China based on lottery players. The Group’s business scope covers the sports lottery online information and offline new retail business, internet audio-visual new media, sports games and live-streaming platform, online trading platform and other internet-related investment in the PRC and a satellite TV station in Dubai, the UAE. The Group adheres to its country, market and shareholder-oriented principle. With strong technological capabilities, the Group will maintain a steady and healthy growth momentum and continue to mine the industry. It will promote the widespread and sustainable development of the internet and sports industry, and interpret the world with a digital and innovative mindset, such that we can all live a more prolific, better and happier life.

 For more information, please visit ir.v1group.com.