OneConnect Announces First Quarter 2024 Unaudited Financial Results

Gross Margin of Continuing Operations^[1] Improved by 0.3ppt and Net Margin of Continuing Operations to Shareholders Narrowed by 0.7ppt for First Quarter 2024

SHENZHEN, China, May 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- OneConnect Financial Technology Co., Ltd. ("OneConnect" or the "Company") (NYSE: OCFT and HKEX: 6638), a leading technology-as-a- service provider for financial services industry in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024.

First Quarter 2024 Financial Highlights

• Revenue from continuing operations was RMB723 million as compared to RMB894 million for the same period of the prior year.
• Gross margin of continuing operations increased by 0.3ppt year-over-year to 37.7% as compared to 37.4% for the same period of the prior year; non-IFRS gross margin of continuing operations was 40.0% as compared to 40.1% for the same period of the prior year.
• Operating loss from continuing operations narrowed 15.1% to RMB66 million, as compared to RMB78 million for the same period of the prior year. Operating margin of continuing operations increased to -9.2% from -8.7% for the same period of the prior year.
• Net loss from continuing operations attributable to shareholders narrowed by 25.9% to RMB54 million, as compared to RMB72 million for the same period of the prior year. Net margin of continuing operations to shareholders narrowed by 0.7ppt to -7.4% as compared to -8.1% for the same period of the prior year.
• Net loss from continuing operations per ADS, basic and diluted, was RMB-1.48 as compared to RMB-2.00 for the same period of the prior year.

Chairman, CEO and CFO Comments

Mr. Chongfeng Shen, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "Since the beginning of 2024, we have been continuously optimizing our product and customer structure and focusing on our core businesses under the strategy of "Unite the Core, Empower the Wings" in order to achieve quality development. We have continued to expand our overseas business and have recorded rapid growth. Our revenue from third-party overseas customers from continuing operations increased by 14.8% on a year-over-year basis in the first quarter of 2024. In the same quarter, we achieved remarkable results in costs reduction and efficiency improvement, and our loss continued to narrow."

Mr. Chongfeng Shen further commented, "We have strengthened our research capabilities and introduced high value and high-end products into the ever-involving financial technology industry. Our spirit of innovation has been well-received and recognized in the industry. In the future, we will continue focusing on digital banking, digital insurance and Gamma platform, and continue to optimize our product and customer structure, upgrade our services and further expand into overseas market. With our unique competence in integrating "technology + business", we endeavor to continue to promote the development of new productivity in the financial industry."

Mr. Yongtao Luo, Chief Financial Officer, commented, "We continued to make steady progress towards its profitability targets in the first quarter of 2024. Gross margin of the Company's continuing operations for the first quarter was 37.7% and increased by 0.3ppt on a year-over-year basis. Benefiting from our success in costs reduction and efficiency improvement, our operating expenses from our continuing operations decreased significantly by 17.7 % on a year-over-year basis. For research and development, we allocated our resources strategically and focused our capital and labor efficiently on high-quality products and projects. As a result, our research and development expenses decreased by 22.8% on a year-over-year basis while we also maximized the value of outputs from these research and development. As a result, our net loss from continuing operations attributable to shareholders decreased by 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Going forward, we will continue to strictly implement cost control measures and improve operation efficiency. Meanwhile, we will enhance our product competitiveness and endeavor to drive revenue growth, especially third-party revenue growth, from premium-plus customers. These efforts combined will help us reach our profitability targets as early as possible and create more value for our shareholders and customers."

"As previously disclosed, we received notifications from certain subsidiaries and associates of Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. that they intend to cease to utilize the cloud services we provide under Gamma FinCloud platform. There are uncertainties as to whether any of the other connected customers will continue to utilize our cloud services. We have been actively monitoring the situation and evaluating our business plans and further measures in response to these developments and corresponding financial impact."

Revenue from Continuing Operations Breakdown 

Revenue from continuing operations in the first quarter of 2024 declined by 19.1% to RMB723 million from RMB894 million for the same period in the prior year, primarily due to a decline in transaction-based and support revenue as we continued to focus on high value products and reduced customized projects with low margins in the first quarter. Implementation revenue decreased by 25.0% on a year-over-year basis to RMB157 million, mainly due to a reduced demand for banking system products and Gamma Platform data middle platform system products in the first quarter. Revenue from business origination services decreased by 73.8% on a year-over-year basis to RMB13 million, primarily due to declined transaction volumes in Marketing Management Platform under digital retail banking solutions and in loan origination systems under digital credit management solutions. Revenue from risk management services decreased by 15.8% on a year- over-year basis to RMB65 million, mainly due to reduced transaction volume in banking related risk analytic solutions because of slower than expected recovery of banking activities in the first quarter. Revenue from operation support services decreased by 39.8% on a year-over-year basis to RMB134 million, which was primarily due to change of business model in some auto ecosystem services business that the Company migrates from acting as a contractor to a distributor. Revenue from cloud services platform increased by 8.9% on a year-over-year basis to RMB318 million due to the increased transaction volume of cloud services. 

Revenue from Gamma Platform segment, decreased by 6.2% to RMB430 million in the first quarter of 2024 from RMB458 million for the same period last year, contributing 59.4% of the total revenue mainly because of lower demand of implementation services. Revenue from Digital Banking segment decreased by 37.6% to RMB162 million in the first quarter of 2024 from RMB259 million for the same period last year, mainly caused by reduction in transaction volume of our business origination services and risk management services. This revenue decline reflects our continued efforts to phase out lower value products. Revenue from Digital Insurance segment decreased by 25.3% to RMB132 million in the first quarter of 2024 from RMB177 million for the same period in the prior year, primarily due to change of business model in some auto ecosystem services business that the Company migrates from acting as a contractor to a distributor.

First Quarter 2024 Financial Results

Revenue from Continuing Operations

Revenue from continuing operations in the first quarter of 2024 decreased by 19.1% to RMB723 million from RMB894 million for the same period in the prior year, primarily due to decline in transaction-based and support revenue. Revenue decline reflects our decision to adopt quality growth strategy focusing on high value products and to reduce customized projects with low margins. We are encouraged to see that gross margin of continuing operations for the quarter improved by 0.3ppt year-over-year to 37.7% because of this strategy. We aim to establish a foundation for a durable and long-term development.

Cost of Revenue from Continuing Operations

Cost of revenue from continuing operations in the first quarter of 2024 decreased by 19.4% to RMB451 million from RMB559 million for the same period in the prior year, primary due to decreased revenue and associated outsourcing labour costs. Cost of revenue declined more than revenue because we phased out lower value products in the first quarter.

Gross Profit from Continuing Operations

Gross profit from continuing operations decreased to RMB272 million from RMB335 million for the same period in the prior year. Gross margin of continuing operations improved to 37.7%, compared with 37.4% in the prior year, increased by 0.3ppt. Non-IFRS gross margin of continuing operations was 40.0%, compared with 40.1% in the prior year. For a reconciliation of the Company's IFRS and non-IFRS gross margin, please refer to "Reconciliation of IFRS and Non- IFRS Results for continuing operations (Unaudited)".

Operating Loss and Expenses from Continuing Operations

Total operating expenses from continuing operations for the first quarter of 2024 decreased to RMB342 million, compared with RMB416 million for the same period in the prior year. As a percentage of revenue, total operating expenses from continuing operations increased by 0.8ppt to 47.3% from 46.5%.

• Research and Development expenses from continuing operations for the first quarter of 2024 decreased to RMB213 million from RMB276 million, mainly due to our initiative to invest in research and development at a reasonable pace and selectively invest in profitable projects. As a percentage of revenue, research and development expenses from continuing operations decreased to 29.5%, compared with 30.9% in the prior year.
• Sales and Marketing expenses from continuing operations for the first quarter of 2024 decreased to RMB49 million, compared with RMB59 million in the prior year, mainly due to enhanced sales capability and efficiency resulting from lowered personnel cost and associated selling costs. As a percentage of revenue, sales and marketing expenses from continuing operations were 6.7%, compared with 6.6% in the prior year.
• General and Administrative expenses from continuing operations for the first quarter of 2024 increased to RMB81 million from RMB80 million in the prior year. As a percentage of revenue, general and administrative expenses from continuing operations increased to 11.1% from 9.0%, primarily due to decreased revenue in the first quarter.

Operating loss from continuing operations for the first quarter of 2024 decreased notably to RMB66 million, compared with RMB78 million for the same period in the prior year. Operating margin of continuing operations increased to -9.2% from -8.7% in the prior year.

Net Loss from Discontinued Operations

Net loss from discontinued operations in the first quarter of 2024 increased by 39.1% to RMB51 million from RMB36 million in the prior year.

Net Loss from Continuing Operations Attributable to Shareholders

Net loss from continuing operations attributable to OneConnect's shareholders decreased by 25.9% to RMB54 million for the first quarter of 2024, versus RMB72 million for the same period in the prior year. Net loss from continuing operations attributable to OneConnect's shareholders per basic and diluted ADS decreased to RMB-1.48, versus RMB-2.00 for the same period in the prior year. Weighted average number of ordinary shares for the first quarter was 1,089,589,125.

Cash Flow

For the first quarter of 2024, net cash used in operating activities was RMB155 million. Net cash generated from investing activities was RMB256 million. Net cash used in financing activities was RMB101 million.

Conference Call Information

Date/Time                     Tuesday, May 21, 2024 at 8:00 a.m., U.S. Eastern time         
                                      Tuesday, May 21, 2024 at 8:00 p.m., Hong Kong time

Online registration       https://www.netroadshow.com/events/login?show=f962eec4&confId=64991

The financial results and an archived transcript will be available at OneConnect's investor relations website at ir.ocft.com.

About OneConnect

OneConnect Financial Technology Co., Ltd. is a technology-as-a-service provider for financial services industry. The Company integrates extensive financial services industry expertise with market-leading technology to provide technology applications and technology-enabled business services to financial institutions. The integrated solutions and platform the Company provides include digital banking solution, digital insurance solution and Gamma Platform, which is a technology infrastructural platform for financial institutions. The Company's solutions enable its customers' digital transformations, which help them improve efficiency, enhance service quality, and reduce costs and risks.

The Company has established long-term cooperation relationships with financial institutions to address their needs of digital transformation. The Company has also expanded its services to other participants in the value chain to support the digital transformation of financial services eco- system. In addition, the Company has successfully exported its technology solutions to overseas financial institutions.

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

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements constitute "forward- looking" statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in 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. Such statements are based upon management's current expectations and current market and operating conditions and relate to events that involve known or unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the Company's control. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: the Company's limited operating history in the technology-as-a-service for financial institutions industry; its ability to achieve or sustain profitability; the tightening of laws, regulations or standards in the financial services industry; the Company's ability to comply with the evolving regulatory requirements in the PRC and other jurisdictions where it operates; its ability to comply with existing or future laws and regulations related to data protection or data security; its ability to maintain and enlarge the customer base or strengthen customer engagement; its ability to maintain its relationship and engagement with Ping An Group and its related parties, which are its strategic partner, most important customer and largest supplier; its ability to compete effectively to serve China's financial institutions; the effectiveness of its technologies, its ability to maintain and improve technology infrastructure and security measures; its ability to protect its intellectual property and proprietary rights; its ability to maintain or expand relationship with its business partners and the failure of its partners to perform in accordance with expectations; its ability to protect or promote its brand and reputation; its ability to timely implement and deploy its solutions; its ability to obtain additional capital when desired; litigation and negative publicity surrounding China-based companies listed in the U.S.; disruptions in the financial markets and business and economic conditions; the Company's ability to pursue and achieve optimal results from acquisition or expansion opportunities; and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

Use of Unaudited Non-IFRS Financial Measures

The unaudited consolidated financial information is prepared in accordance with IFRS Accounting Standards ("IFRS") issued by the International Accounting Standards Board ("IASB"). Non-IFRS measures are used in gross profit and gross margin, adjusted to exclude non-cash items, which consist of amortization of intangible assets recognized in cost of revenue, depreciation of property and equipment recognized in cost of revenue, and share-based compensation expenses recognized in cost of revenue. OneConnect's management regularly review non-IFRS gross profit and non-IFRS gross margin to assess the performance of our business. By excluding non-cash items, these financial metrics allow OneConnect's management to evaluate the cash conversion of one dollar revenue on gross profit. OneConnect uses these non-IFRS financial measures to evaluate its ongoing operations and for internal planning and forecasting purposes. OneConnect believes that non- IFRS financial information, when taken collectively, is helpful to investors because it provides consistency and comparability with past financial performance, facilitates period-to- period comparisons of results of operations, and assists in comparisons with other companies, many of which use similar financial information. OneConnect also believes that presentation of the non-IFRS financial measures provides useful information to its investors regarding its results of operations because it allows investors greater transparency to the information used by OneConnect's management in its financial and operational decision making so that investors can see through the eyes of the OneConnect's management regarding important financial metrics that the management uses to run the business as well as allowing investors to better understand OneConnect's performance. However, non-IFRS financial information is presented for supplemental informational purposes only, and should not be considered a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with IFRS, and may be different from similarly-titled non- IFRS measures used by other companies. In light of the foregoing limitations, you should not consider non-IFRS financial measure in isolation from or as an alternative to the financial measure prepared in accordance with IFRS. Whenever OneConnect uses a non-IFRS financial measure, a reconciliation is provided to the most closely applicable financial measure stated in accordance with IFRS. You are encouraged to review the related IFRS financial measures and the reconciliation of these non-IFRS financial measures to their most directly comparable IFRS financial measures. For more information on non-IFRS financial measures, please see the table captioned "Reconciliation of IFRS and non-IFRS results for continuing operations (Unaudited)" set forth at the end of this press release.

Contacts

Investor Relations:

OCFT IR Team
OCFT_IR@ocft.com

Media Relations:

OCFT PR Team
pub_jryztppxcb@pingan.com.cn