llaollao Headquarters, registered in Spain, closed 2023 with an EBITDA of 10.3 million euros, achieving the best result in its history.

• Total global sales figure to the end customer has risen to €104.5, establishing itself as the Spanish brand with the strongest presence in the country
• The Spanish group achieved a net turnover of €41.3 million and continued to strengthen its balance sheet in 2023, with a particular emphasis on the low level of financial indebtedness (debt with credit institutions is only €0.3 million) and the high cash generation
• The positive evolution of all areas of activity, particularly the increase in sales across all its key markets, has been the main reason behind these figures
• In 2023, llaollao opened 93 new points of sale globally (almost 2 stores per week), bringing the total number of establishments to 397 by the end of the year 2023

MANILA, Philippines, May 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — llaollao, the Spanish group that owns the leading frozen yogurt brand, ended 2023 surpassing its business objectives and closing the year with record figures in all key aspects of its financial statement.  This is a historic milestone for the company that confirms the success of its strategy in recent years. Accordingly, llaollao concluded the period with a net turnover of €41.3 million, representing a 43% increase over 2022.  EBITDA reached €10.3 million, marking a 46% increase compared to the figure achieved in 2022 (which was €7.1 million).

The announced figures demonstrate significant growth compared to the previous year, which is once again the result of strong financial growth and efficient operational management. Moreover, the company has exceeded its own expectations by surpassing the budgeted EBITDA (the announced target was to achieve €8.5 million), and has thus reaffirmed its ability to adapt and exceed ambitious goals.

These numbers are framed within a healthy balance sheet with virtually zero indebtedness (the debt at the end of last year with credit institutions was only €0.3 million, showing responsible resource management). Llaollao has benefited from its liquidity generation capacity due to its high cash flow, which has enabled organic investments with new openings and an increased presence in strategic markets. Additionally, thanks to this, the Group was able to explore and develop new alternative business avenues in 2023 to capitalize on this differentiating characteristic and expand its product portfolio.

Regarding the total global sales figure to the end customer in 2023 (which includes the total sales generated by both company-owned stores and franchise and master franchise arrangements internationally), it reached €104.5 million, comparing very positively with the €79.9 million from twelve months earlier (representing a 31% growth) and the €100 million estimated by the company itself. 55% of these sales came from outlets located in Asia and 40% in Europe.

In summary, in 2023, llaollao once again surpassed the record figures achieved the previous year and clearly reinforced its leading position.

Pedro Espinosa, co-founder and CEO of llaollao, commented: “We are very pleased with the financial performance in 2023. Last year was a period of growth and strengthening for our company, confirming that we are on the right path, and we have adopted an appropriate strategy. We are eager to continue innovating and expanding our business in the future.”

“The results of llaollao in 2023 confirm our commitment to operational excellence, product quality, and customer satisfaction, and thus consolidate our position as an industry leader. As we have stated before, the brand will continue to generate a profit and increase market share through solid organic growth with new openings. Furthermore, these figures reinforce our intention to continue analyzing all growth opportunities in new markets that make strategic sense, always prioritizing the profitability of our points of sale,” concludes Pedro Espinosa.

Store locations: strong expansion in Asia with close to 400 outlets globally.

At the end of 2023, the Spanish brand had established 396 stores globally, representing a 34% growth. In Spain, it has 145 points of sale, 50% of which (72) are company-owned stores managed directly by the business group.

Additionally, the company has significantly increased its international presence since 2022, especially in markets considered more relevant and with greater potential for the brand’s future. Currently, llaollao has a prominent presence in Malaysia (where it opened its 100th store in 2023, now exceeding 118 establishments, making it the Spanish food & beverage brand with the highest presence in the country), Indonesia (with 26 points of sale, a 45% increase in one year), Singapore (with 12 points of sale), and the Philippines (with 51 locations, nearly tripling its presence since 2022 and also establishing itself as the Spanish brand with the strongest presence).

With 217 open points of sale, Asia has the highest presence of llaollao measured by the number of establishments. In this geographical region, frozen yogurt enjoys a fantastic reception, and the brand has very high visibility, providing significant growth potential and attractive development prospects. Furthermore, our brand has also consolidated its presence in the Americas with 22 points of sale after opening three new establishments on the continent (two in El Salvador, where it now has a total of 13, and one additional store in Bolivia).

Press contact:

Kreab
Jose Luis Gonzalez Garcia
E: [email protected]
T: +34 661850384

Paola Luelmo
E: [email protected]
T: +34 639973417

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/llaollao-triumphant-in-the-philippines-exceeds-growth-expectations-with-51-outlets-in-2023-almost-tripling-its-presence-302149996.html

SEOUL, South Korea, May 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ —

Fellow Aurinia Shareholders,

ILJIN SNT Co., Ltd. and its affiliates (collectively, “ILJIN“) is a long-term holder of more than 5% of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (“Aurinia” or the “Company“) and has been supportive of the Company’s mission since 2010 when we invested in the predecessor company, Isotechnika. As one of the largest and longest-standing shareholders, we have had the privilege of supporting the Company through its drug development efforts and subsequent FDA approval of LUPKYNIS. We have also supported the CEO, Mr. Peter Greenleaf, having voted in prior years for his re-election to the Board.

Like other shareholders, we have been greatly shocked and dismayed to see the share price plummet since the Company’s announcement on February 15, 2024 of FY 2023 operational results and the unsuccessful conclusion of its 7-month long strategic review process.

The Company recently announced its Q1 2024 operational results. While the Q1 2024 financials showed some improvement, there has been no sign of share price recovery despite the Q1 performance improvement. If anything, the stock performance following the recent earnings report has reinforced the market perception that there remain substantial uncertainties surrounding the Company’s new corporate strategy (focused on commercial execution of LUPKYNIS) announced in February. We believe that if we choose to ignore and do not respond to these alarming developments, we may only see our shareholder value further eroding going forward.

In response to these concerning developments, we wrote to management and the Board of the Company in March, and have voiced our concerns and requested changes to the management and also the Board’s role as the supervisor of management’s performance.  However, we only received inadequate responses from the Company reciting its prior statements.

As one of the long-standing shareholders, we now believe it is imperative to demand management’s accountability, in order to put the Company back on track. If the Company does not change paths despite the massive losses shareholders have suffered during the past several months, it would only mean that there is no alignment of interests between company management and shareholders, and that it is time to establish a system within the Company to enforce management’s accountability. 

It is simply not right that while shareholders are suffering major losses, those same executives and Board members responsible for such losses continue to collect hefty amounts of compensation — including substantial amounts of free RSUs — from the Company as if nothing had happened.  In our view, the only way we can enforce accountability is to make our Board an independent board, and what this means is that the Board composition must be changed, so that the Board may effectively act as a check and balance to Company management. 

For these reasons, Mr. Greenleaf should no longer serve on the Board and should only serve as the CEO going forward.  As the Company’s CEO, Mr. Greenleaf will be able to continue to implement his new corporate strategy (focused on commercial execution) announced in February, while the Board without Mr. Greenleaf’s participation will be able to discuss and determine the validity of the new corporate strategy independently and evaluate management’s performance objectively. 

In addition, given the Company’s continued poor performance and its single-minded focus on LUPKYNIS (by foregoing all other growth options such as AUR 200 and AUR 300), it is important and necessary that the Board’s size be kept to a bare minimum and no new board member should be allowed until after the Company has showed a clear sign of a turnaround.

In view of the foregoing, ILJIN’s intends to vote as follows at the Company’s upcoming annual meeting:

1. As explained above, Peter Greenleaf should no longer serve on the Board and should serve only as the Company’s CEO going forward.  Although we have previously supported Mr. Greenleaf’s board membership, it has become patently clear that his influence over the Board’s composition and operation is so significant and prominent that the Board cannot serve its critical role of providing independent oversight of management.  While we believe the ultimate responsibility for poor management performance and destruction of shareholder value lies with Mr. Greenleaf, the Board has not and is not willing to hold Mr. Greenleaf accountable for all those management mishaps. ILJIN intends to vote “withhold” on the re-election of Peter Greenleaf to the Board.
2. In response to its letter to management and the Board in March, ILJIN has received a reply letter from the Board chairman, Daniel Billen.  Based on his reply, Mr. Billen appears unable or unwilling to exercise any meaningful oversight over management’s performance.  So, in our view, Mr. Billen is unqualified to operate the Board as an independent board, and so should no longer serve on the Board. ILJIN intends to vote “withhold” on the re-election of Daniel Billen to the Board.
3. In September 2023, the Company agreed to add yet another member to an already-excessive Board, and ILJIN believes Dr. Robert Foster should not be elected to a full term on the Board.  Given the Company’s revised business strategy to focus solely on commercial execution of LUPKYNIS, ILJIN believes Dr. Foster clearly cannot add any new value to the Company’s management. ILJIN intends to vote “withhold” on the election of Dr. Robert Foster to the Board.
4. In light of the dire performance of the Company’s share price, the management compensation plan must be rejected. Following a dismal 38.6% say-on-pay vote in 2023, rather than reforming management compensation to align with stockholder interests, the Board has proposed a management compensation plan that is divorced from the Company’s performance metrics, and ILJIN believes options and RSUs must not be freely granted regardless of the Company’s performance — particularly when shareholder value is utterly shattered.  ILJIN believes the fact that such a management compensation plan is proposed in these dire times shows that the current Board is not performing its fiduciary duties properly and only interested in enriching corporate executives and Board members at the expense of further shareholder dilution. ILJIN intends to vote “against” the advisory resolution on executive compensation and “against” the amendment to the Company’s equity incentive plan.
5. We echo the recent message from other shareholders, such as Lucien Selce, that the Board is severely bloated and excessively compensated.  So, we agree that the Board must be downsized, and each shareholder should determine which Board members it will be voting to withhold against at this time to keep the Board to a bare minimum. While we clearly see several additional Board members having no fit for the Company’s revised business strategy, we do not believe it is appropriate for us to specify those individual Board members here.

ILJIN believes that the changes above are necessary to strengthen the Board’s role as a supervisor of management’s performance and to enforce management accountability going forward, and respectfully request other shareholders’ support for the changes.

Sincerely,
KH Sung
CEO of ILJIN SNT Co., Ltd.

Media contact: Yoonwha Lee, [email protected]

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/iljin-snt-co-ltd-calls-for-board-restructure-at-aurinia-pharmaceuticals-302150680.html

Estimates from PitchBook suggest that venture capitalists are poised to invest approximately $12 billion into crypto projects throughout 2024.

During the previous bull market, VCs predominantly supported application layer startups like Coinbase. However, analysts at the research firm anticipate a shift back to basics this year.

Robert Le, a crypto analyst at PitchBook, explained to DL News, “This cycle we haven’t seen any applications getting these large investments.”

Instead, venture capitalists are directing their attention towards infrastructure projects, specifically layer 1s, which provide the foundational support for various crypto applications and networks.

One standout deal from the first quarter of 2024 was awarded to Together AI, a developer of an open-sourced decentralized cloud platform. In March, the company secured a significant investment of $106 million in an early-stage round led by Salesforce Ventures.

During the first quarter, VC investments in the crypto sector surged by 40%, reaching $2.4 billion compared to the prior period.

The emphasis on infrastructure projects is a key factor contributing to Le’s estimation that the industry will see only a modest increase of 2.4% in fundraising compared to the $9.4 billion raised in 2023.

Le drew parallels to traditional infrastructure projects, noting that entities like Amazon Web Services typically raise proportionally less capital compared to application-level startups such as Uber and Facebook.

However, Le remains optimistic about the trajectory of application projects, expecting them to attract more investment as the cycle progresses.

Source:dlnews.com

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