NOAH HOLDINGS LIMITED ANNOUNCES UNAUDITED FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2023

SHANGHAI, May 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Noah Holdings Limited ("Noah" or the "Company") (NYSE: NOAH and HKEX: 6686), a leading and pioneer wealth management service provider in China offering comprehensive one-stop advisory services on global investment and asset allocation primarily for high net worth investors, today announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter of 2023.

FIRST QUARTER 2023 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

• Net revenues for the first quarter of 2023 were RMB803.5 million (US$117.0 million), a 1.0% increase from the corresponding period in 2022, primarily due to a 72.8% increase in one-time commissions, generating from more distribution of insurance products, partially offset by a 52.1% decrease in performance-based income relating to our private secondary products. Net revenues decreased by 8.9% from the fourth quarter of 2022, mainly due to decreases in one-time commissions.

• Income from operations for the first quarter of 2023 was RMB278.9 million (US$40.6 million), an 11.1% decrease from the corresponding period in 2022, primarily due to a 61.4% increase in selling expenses, as we launched several offshore client events in the first quarter of 2023. Income from operations increased by 26.9% from the fourth quarter of 2022, primarily due to less expenses incurred compared with fourth quarter as normally we incurred more selling and general expenses in the fourth quarter.

• Net income attributable to Noah shareholders for the first quarter of 2023 was RMB244.2 million (US$35.6 million), a 20.0% decrease from the corresponding period in 2022, mainly due to 1) an 11.1% decrease in income from operations and 2) less investment income and income from equity in affiliates. Net income attributable to Noah shareholders increased by 74.5% from the fourth quarter of 2022, primarily due to 1) a 26.9% increase in income from operations, 2) a 172.1% increase in interest income and 3) a non-recurring contingent litigation expenses in the amount of RMB99.0 million recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022.
• Non-GAAP^[1] net income attributable to Noah shareholders for the first quarter of 2023 was RMB239.5 million (US$34.9 million), a 23.6% decrease from the corresponding period in 2022, but a 60.6% increase from the fourth quarter of 2022. 

FIRST QUARTER 2023 OPERATIONAL UPDATES

Wealth Management Business

We offer investment products and provide value-added services to high net worth investors in China and overseas for our wealth management business. We primarily distribute private equity, private secondary, mutual funds and other products denominated in RMB and other currencies.

• Total number of registered clients as of March 31, 2023 was 440,664, a 6.2% increase from March 31, 2022, and a 0.8% increase from December 31, 2022.
• Total number of active clients^[2] who transacted with us during the first quarter of 2023 was 11,236, a 24.9% decrease from the first quarter of 2022, and a 12.9% decrease from the fourth quarter of 2022.
• Aggregate value of investment products distributed during the first quarter of 2023 was RMB16.8 billion (US$2.4 billion), a 12.0% increase from the first quarter of 2022, primarily due to a 40.3% and 6.5% increase of mutual fund products and private secondary products, respectively. The aggregate value of investment products distributed decreased by 6.7% compared with the fourth quarter of 2022, due to an 18.1% and 10.3% decrease of mutual fund products and private equity products, respectively, and partially offset by a 27.5% increase of private secondary products.

• Coverage network in mainland China covered 68 cities as of March 31, 2023, compared with 83 cities as of March 31, 2022 and 75 cities as of December 31, 2022, as we continue to streamline our domestic coverages.
• Number of relationship managers was 1,327 as of March 31, 2023, a 3.6% increase from March 31, 2022, and a 4.0% increase from December 31, 2022. Among which, we had 28 overseas relationship managers as of March 31, 2023, a 64.7% increase from December 31, 2022.

Asset Management Business

Our asset management business is conducted through Gopher Asset Management Co., Ltd. ("Gopher Asset Management"), a leading multi-asset manager in China with overseas offices in Hong Kong and the United States. Gopher Asset Management develops and manages assets ranging from private equity, public securities, real estate, multi-strategy and other investments denominated in RMB and other currencies.

• Total assets under management as of March 31, 2023 remained relatively stable in the amount of RMB157.6 billion (US$22.9 billion), a 1.3% increase from March 31, 2022.

Other Businesses

Our other businesses mainly aim to provide more comprehensive services and investment products to our clients.

Ms. Jingbo Wang, co-founder and CEO of Noah, said, "For the first quarter of 2023, I am happy to see a 12.0% year-on-year increase in transaction value, driven by growth in NAV-based mutual fund product and private secondary product distributions. During the quarter, we were glad to see the gradual lift of the prolonged COVID-control measures across China followed by a full-scale reopening, and I'm confident that the Chinese economy is back on its growth mode. However, we are mindful of the global macroeconomic challenges, therefore we continue to advise our clients to adopt a "Preservation before Growth" asset allocation strategy that we advocated last year. As high net worth investors' growing demands for wealth management services are becoming more sophisticated, I'm confident that Noah will continue to win clients' trust by leveraging our robust wealth management and asset management capabilities with a client centric mindset."

FIRST QUARTER 2023 FINANCIAL RESULTS

Net Revenues

Net revenues for the first quarter of 2023 were RMB803.5 million (US$117.0 million), a 1.0% increase from the corresponding period in 2022, primarily due to a 72.8% increases in one-time commissions and partially offset by decreases in performance-based income.

• Wealth Management Business
• Net revenues from one-time commissions for the first quarter of 2023 were RMB173.5 million (US$25.3 million), an 87.4% increase from the corresponding period in 2022, primarily due to increases in insurance products distributed in first quarter of 2023.
• Net revenues from recurring service fees for the first quarter of 2023 were RMB299.4 million (US$43.6 million), a 3.7% decrease from the corresponding period in 2022.
• Net revenues from performance-based income for the first quarter of 2023 were RMB55.7 million (US$8.1 million), compared with RMB156.0 million in the corresponding period of 2022, primarily due to a decrease in performance-based income from private secondary products.
• Net revenues from other service fees for the first quarter of 2023 were RMB58.3 million (US$8.5 million), compared with RMB19.0 million in the corresponding period in 2022, primarily due to more value-added services we offered to our high net worth clients.
• Asset Management Business
• Net revenues from recurring service fees for the first quarter of 2023 were RMB175.1 million (US$25.5 million), a 1.0% increase from the corresponding period in 2022 due to increase in assets under management.
• Net revenues from performance-based income for the first quarter of 2023 were RMB27.7 million (US$4.0 million), compared with RMB18.1 million in the corresponding period of 2022. The increase was primarily due to more performance-based income realized from private equity products.
• Other Businesses
• Net revenues for the first quarter of 2023 were RMB11.4 million (US$1.7 million), compared with RMB16.6 million from the corresponding period in 2022.

Operating Costs and Expenses

Operating costs and expenses for the first quarter of 2023 were RMB524.6 million (US$76.4 million), an 8.9% increase from the corresponding period in 2022. Operating costs and expenses primarily consisted of compensation and benefits of RMB370.1 million (US$53.9 million), selling expenses of RMB96.7 million (US$14.1 million), general and administrative expenses of RMB45.7million (US$6.7 million), reversal of credit losses of RMB5.7 million (US$0.8 million) and other operating expenses of RMB30.8 million (US$4.5 million).

• Operating costs and expenses for the wealth management business for the first quarter of 2023 were RMB382.4 million (US$55.7 million), an 11.5% increase from the corresponding period in 2022, primarily due to an increase in relationship manager compensation, which is in line with increased one-time commissions.
• Operating costs and expenses for the asset management business for the first quarter of 2023 were RMB101.4 million (US$14.8 million), a 4.9% decrease from the corresponding period in 2022, primarily due to less compensation and benefits.
• Operating costs and expenses for other businesses for the first quarter of 2023 were RMB40.8 million (US$5.9 million), a 27.0% increase from the corresponding period in 2022, primarily due to less reversal of credit losses.

Operating Margin

Operating margin for the first quarter of 2023 was 34.7%, compared with 39.4% for the corresponding period in 2022.

• Operating margin for the wealth management business for the first quarter of 2023 was 34.8%, compared with 40.7% for the corresponding period in 2022.
• Operating margin for the asset management business for the first quarter of 2023 was 50.6%, compared with 46.8% for the corresponding period in 2022.
• Loss from operation for the other businesses for the first quarter of 2023 was RMB29.4 million (US$4.3 million), compared with an operating loss of RMB15.5 million for the corresponding period in 2022.

Investment Income

Investment loss for the first quarter of 2023 was RMB13.6 million (US$2.0 million), compared with investment income RMB25.4 million for the corresponding period in 2022.

Income Tax Expenses

Income tax expenses for the first quarter of 2023 were RMB69.6 million (US$10.1 million), a 10.0% decrease from the corresponding period in 2022. The decrease was primarily due to less taxable income. 

Net Income

• Net Income
• Net income for the first quarter of 2023 was RMB243.3 million (US$35.4 million), a 20.0% decrease from the corresponding period in 2022.
• Net margin for the first quarter of 2023 was 30.3%, down from 38.2% for the corresponding period in 2022, as more selling expenses incurred this quarter.
• Net income attributable to Noah shareholders for the first quarter of 2023 was RMB244.2 million (US$35.6 million), a 20.0% decrease from the corresponding period in 2022.
• Net margin attributable to Noah shareholders for the first quarter of 2023 was 30.4%, down from 38.4% for the corresponding period in 2022.
• Net income attributable to Noah shareholders per basic and diluted ADS for the first quarter of 2023 was RMB3.52 (US$0.51) and RMB3.51 (US$0.51), respectively, compared with RMB4.54 and RMB4.52 for the corresponding period in 2022, respectively.
  
  
• Non-GAAP Net Income Attributable to Noah Shareholders
• Non-GAAP net income attributable to Noah shareholders for the first quarter of 2023 was RMB239.5 million (US$34.9 million), a 23.6% decrease from the corresponding period in 2022, but a 60.6% increase from the fourth quarter of 2022.
• Non-GAAP net margin attributable to Noah shareholders for the first quarter of 2023 was 29.8%, down from 39.4% for the corresponding period in 2022.
• Non-GAAP net income attributable to Noah shareholders per diluted ADS for the first quarter of 2023 was RMB3.45 (US$0.50), down from RMB4.65 for the corresponding period in 2022.

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow

As of March 31, 2023, the Company had RMB4,713.2 million (US$686.3 million) in cash and cash equivalents, compared with RMB4,403.9 million as of December 31, 2022 and RMB3,899.9 million as of March 31, 2022, respectively.

Net cash inflow from the Company's operating activities during the first quarter of 2023 was RMB585.0 million (US$85.2 million), primarily due to operating cash inflow generated by net income and collection of accounts receivables.

Net cash outflow from the Company's investing activities during the first quarter of 2023 was RMB148.7 million (US$21.6 million), primarily due to various purchase of long-term investments.

Net cash inflow from the Company's financing activities was RMB3.4 million (US$0.5 million) in the first quarter of 2023, compared to net cash outflow of RMB12.1 million in the corresponding period in 2022.

CONFERENCE CALL

Senior management will host a combined English and Chinese language conference call to discuss the Company's first quarter of 2023 unaudited financial results and recent business activities.

The conference call will be accessed via Zoom webinar with the following details:

A replay will be available on the same day of the conference call until June 7, 2023 at the Company's investor relations website under the "Announcements & Events" section at http://ir.noahgroup.com.

A live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available at the Company's investor relations website under the "Financial Reports" section at http://ir.noahgroup.com.

DISCUSSION ON NON-GAAP MEASURES       

In addition to disclosing financial results prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, the Company's earnings release contains non-GAAP financial measures excluding the effects of all forms of share-based compensation and net of tax impact, if any. See "Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Results" at the end of this press release.

The non-GAAP financial measures disclosed by the Company should not be considered a substitute for financial measures prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The financial results reported in accordance with U.S. GAAP and reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP results should be carefully evaluated. The non-GAAP financial measures used by the Company may be prepared differently from and, therefore, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

When evaluating the Company's operating performance in the periods presented, management reviewed the foregoing non-GAAP net income attributable to Noah shareholders and per diluted ADS and non-GAAP net margin attributable to Noah shareholders to supplement U.S. GAAP financial data. As such, the Company's management believes that the presentation of the non-GAAP financial measures provides important supplemental information to investors regarding financial and business trends relating to its results of operations in a manner consistent with that used by management.  

ABOUT NOAH HOLDINGS LIMITED

Noah Holdings Limited (NYSE: NOAH) is a leading and pioneer wealth management service provider in China offering comprehensive one-stop advisory services on global investment and asset allocation primarily for high net worth investors. In the first quarter of 2023, Noah distributed RMB16.8 billion (US$2.4 billion) of investment products. Through Gopher Asset Management, Noah had assets under management of RMB157.6 billion (US$22.9 billion) as of March 31, 2023.

Noah's wealth management business primarily distributes private equity, public securities and insurance products denominated in RMB and other currencies. Noah delivers customized financial solutions to clients through a network of 1,327 relationship managers across 68 cities in mainland China, and serves the international investment needs of its clients through offices in Hong Kong (China), Taiwan (China), New York, Silicon Valley and Singapore. The Company's wealth management business had 440,664 registered clients as of March 31, 2023. Through Gopher Asset Management, Noah manages private equity, public securities, real estate, multi-strategy and other investments denominated in Renminbi and other currencies. Noah also provides other businesses.

For more information, please visit Noah at ir.noahgroup.com.  

FOREIGN CURRENCY TRANSLATION

In this announcement, the unaudited financial results for the first quarter of 2023 ended March 31, 2023 are stated in RMB. This announcement contains currency conversions of certain RMB amounts into US$ at specified rates solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from RMB to US$ are made at a rate of RMB6.8676 to US$1.00, the effective noon buying rate for March 31, 2023 as set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "confident" and similar statements. Noah may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual report to shareholders, in announcements, circulars or other publications made on the website of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the "Hong Kong Stock Exchange"), in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Noah's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. These statements include, but are not limited to, estimates regarding the sufficiency of Noah's cash and cash equivalents and liquidity risk. A number of factors could cause Noah's actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: its goals and strategies; its future business development, financial condition and results of operations; the expected growth of the wealth management and asset management market in China and internationally; its expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of the products it distributes; investment risks associated with investment products distributed to Noah's investors, including the risk of default by counterparties or loss of value due to market or business conditions or misconduct by counterparties; its expectations regarding keeping and strengthening its relationships with key clients; relevant government policies and regulations relating to its industries; its ability to attract and retain qualified employees; its ability to stay abreast of market trends and technological advances; its plans to invest in research and development to enhance its product choices and service offerings; competition in its industries in China and internationally; general economic and business conditions in China; and its ability to effectively protect its intellectual property rights and not to infringe on the intellectual property rights of others. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in Noah's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and Noah does not undertake any obligation to update any such information, including forward-looking statements, as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under the applicable law.

-- FINANCIAL AND OPERATIONAL TABLES FOLLOW --