Cogobuy Announces Unaudited Operation Summary for 2014 Q3

HONG KONG, Nov. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --  

Highlights

• GMV was RMB2,223.9 million, up 132.4% year-over-year
• Non-GAAP profit attributable to equity shareholders(Note 1) of the Company was approximately RMB72.8 million, up 194.7% year-over-year
• Online transaction customers as at September 30, 2014 reached 4,219, up 75.4% year-over-year

Cogobuy Group ("Cogobuy" or the "Company", stock code: 400), a leading e-commerce company with the largest transaction-based e-commerce platform for IC and other electronic components in China, today announced its unaudited operation summary for the three months ended September 30, 2014 (the "Period").

During the Period, the Company achieved robust growth driven by increasing number of new customers, mainly from small and medium enterprises ("SMEs"). The number of online transaction customers reached 4,219 as at September 30, 2014, of which approximately 3.0% are blue chip customers and 97.0% are SME customers. This represents an increase of 75.4% as compared to that of 2,405 as at September 30, 2013. As at September 30, 2014, the number of registered customers reached 28,107.

Well-positioned to offer more value-added services, Cogobuy commenced a new supply chain finance business in September whereby it charges a service fee for providing certain financial services to its customers, including provision of working capital and extended term financing programs. Supply chain finance business is a good demonstration to show our strengths to generate new revenue stream by providing additional services based on the Company's existing platform. During the Period, supply chain finance business began to generate GMV.

For the three months ended September 30, 2014, the total GMV of the Company's operations was RMB2,223.9 million, representing an increase of 132.4% year-over-year; with 80.7% derived from direct sales, 16.5% from online marketplace platforms, and 2.8% from the new supply-chain financing business line. In total, 54.5% [i]of GMV derived from blue chip customers while 45.5% derived from SME customers.

During the Period, the Company recorded a total revenue of RMB1,802.3 million, representing an increase of 226.7% year-over-year. Profit attributable to equity shareholders of the Company grew significantly to approximately RMB59.1 million, representing an increase of 155.8% year-over-year. Gross margin was 7.8%. Non-GAAP profit attributable to equity shareholders of the Company was approximately RMB72.8 million, representing an increase of 194.7% year-over-year. Non-GAAP operating expenses(Note 2) was RMB48.2 million. Non-GAAP operating margin(Note 3) was 5.1%. Effective tax rate of the Group was 12.5%.

Cogobuy generated positive operating cash flow of approximately RMB74.1 million for the three months ended September 30, 2014. Cash (including pledged deposits) amounted to RMB 1,846.6 million as at September 30, 2014. Inventory turnover days(Note 4) and account receivables days(Note 5) were 27.7 and 35.0 respectively.

As Cogobuy continues to experience rapid growth, it relentlessly takes a leading role in the development of an open, collaborative and prosperous INGDAN.com (Hardeggs) platform to incubate the Internet of Things ("IoT") ecosystem. The recent INGDAN.com and promotion on WeChat signified the arrival of the IoT era.

Mr. Jeffrey KANG, Executive Director, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cogobuy Group, said, "We are the first mover in this field, and are dedicated to fostering the development of the IoT ecosystem through INGDAN.com. More and more leaders in various industries are joining us to collaborate on building the IoT community and enhancing the platform. As an example, we are currently working with WeChat to organize the 'WeChat Hardware Competition'. The cooperation brings different parties to INGDAN.com, which is creating an open and collective ecosystem for IoT that connects people to people, people to machines and machines to machines. Going forward, we plan to partner with various Internet players to make our platform more resourceful and further enhance the ecosystem. More importantly, we are building the consumer fan base for innovative products. We believe this fan base is extremely valuable to our future business."

OUTLOOK

Mr. Kang continued, "The consistent robust growth in the third quarter indicates a strong demand for the coming quarter. The fourth quarter is the largest quarter of the year due to seasonality and we see stronger than expected demand. Leveraging on the growth momentum, we expect the supply chain finance business will be one of our growth drivers in the coming year. We remain optimistic on the outlook for 2015 as we continue to play a key role in the rapidly growing vertical market of the electronic manufacturing industry. We will spare no effort to work towards the100 billion-size GMV goal and developing INGDAN.com to be a global platform for IoT."       

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.

Notes:

1. Excluded share-based compensation costs, amortization of intangible assets and its related deferred taxation effect, and expenses incurred in relation to the global offering of the Company.
2. Excluded share-based compensation costs, amortization of intangible assets, and expenses incurred in relation to the global offering of the Company.
3. Non-GAAP operating margin is the gross profit less Non-GAAP operating expenses of the period divided by revenue of the period.
4. Inventory turnover days is the average of the opening and closing balances of inventories of the period divided by cost of sales of the period and multiplied by 92 days.
5. Trade receivables turnover days is the average of the opening and closing balances of trade receivables for the period divided by revenue of the period and multiplied by 92 days.

About Cogobuy Group

Cogobuy Group ("Cogobuy" or the "Company", stock code: 400) is a leading e-commerce company with the largest transaction-based e-commerce platform for IC and other electronic components in China, as measured by GMV in 2013. Cogobuy is dedicated to serving the electronics manufacturing industry in China covering blue-chip customers and SMEs, which is a potentially lucrative and fast-growing segment of the market with a significant demand for the Company's services. In 2013, the Company fulfilled orders with a GMV of approximately RMB3.9 billion. From 2011 through 2013, the Company sold products primarily through its direct sales platform, which accounted for substantially all of its revenues since its inception. It also generates revenues by charging commission fees to third-party merchants who sell products and services through its marketplace platform. The Company is also devoted to promoting idea and knowledge exchanges among electronics designers and engineers in China through new media marketing events, such as product launches and technology discussion forums in social media platforms such as Weibo and TechWeb. The Company also launched an interactive and engaging online community called "INGDAN.com ('Hardeggs' WeChat community)".

For investor enquiries, please contact Ms. Wanyee HO / Ms. Amy GUO at ir@cogobuy.com.

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