Fintech
China Finance Online Reports 2019 First Quarter Unaudited Financial Results
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China Finance Online Co. Limited (“China Finance Online”, or the “Company”, “we”, “us” or “our”) (NASDAQ GS: JRJC), a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese retail investors with fintech-powered online access to securities trading services, wealth management products, securities investment advisory services, as well as financial database and analytics services to institutional customers, today announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019.
First Quarter 2019 Financial Highlights
- Net revenues were $9.9 million
- Revenues from financial advisory services grew 27.9% year-over-year and 195.6% quarter-over-quarter
- Gross margin was 64.5%, up from 61.9% in the first quarter of 2018
- Net loss attributable to China Finance Online was $2.8 million, compared with a net loss of $5.2 million in the first quarter of 2018
- According to the Company’s proprietary asset allocation system, our Robo-Advisor product, Lingxi, was among the best performing products in the Chinese market with an average return of 5.68% in first quarter of 2019. During the first quarter, the best strategy designed by Lingxi yielded a return of 9.3%.
Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online, commented, “During the first quarter of 2019, our bottom-line loss was further narrowed. With the improvement of our business model and operational efficiency, we also grew our gross margin from the same period of last year.”
“Our business that leverages fintech to empower wealth management is starting to bear fruits. In late 2018, we introduced iTAMP (Turnkey Asset Management Platform), a one-stop ecosystem that empowers financial advisors and wealth managers to provide investment consultations and advice covering stocks, mutual funds, wealth management, insurance, trusts and other financial products. Since then, we have attracted more and more financial advisors to open their online offices on our platform. In the first quarter of 2019, with the market climate recovery and the improvement of our business model, our investment advisory business posted solid growth. At the same time, our initiative to empower wealth management services has witnessed breakthroughs, with over ten financial institutions including brokerage firms, banks and asset management firms forming partnerships with us. Our fintech capability and 20 years’ operation track record in retail customer-oriented services are well received and recognized by these financial institutions.”
“Looking into the future, we will continue to not only strengthen our fintech capabilities through optimization and upgrading of our services and products, but also turn fintech research findings into scalable revenues. While maintaining our goal of fully realizing our future growth potentials, we will strive to further improve our operational efficiency,” Mr. Zhao concluded.
First Quarter 2019 Financial Results
Net revenues were $9.9 million, compared with $13.3 million during the first quarter of 2018 and $10.7 million during the fourth quarter of 2018. During the first quarter of 2019, revenues from financial services, the financial information and advisory business, and advertising services contributed 45%, 33% and 21% of the net revenues, respectively, compared with 50%, 37% and 13%, respectively, for the corresponding period in 2018.
Revenues from financial services were $4.5 million, compared with $6.7 million during the first quarter of 2018 and $5.7 million during the fourth quarter of 2018. Revenues from financial services were mainly generated from equity brokerage services. Revenues from the equity brokerage business decreased by 31.8% year-over-year and 20.5% quarter-over-quarter. The year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter decreases in revenues from financial services were mainly due to reduced revenue from the equity brokerage business.
Revenues from the financial information and advisory business were $3.2 million, compared with $4.9 million during the first quarter of 2018 and $2.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. Revenues from the financial information and advisory business were mainly comprised of subscription services from individual and institutional customers and financial advisory services. During the first quarter, subscription revenues from individual investors decreased by 47.6% year-over-year, mainly due to the streamlining of our sales team and upgrading of our business operations for the long-term growth prospects of our business. However, subscription revenues from individual investors rose by 26.9% from the fourth quarter of 2018 as the market conditions improved from late 2018.
Revenues from advertising services were $2.0 million, compared with $1.7 million in the first quarter of 2018 and $3.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. The increased traffic to our site helped to elevate our advertising revenues on a year-over-year basis.
Gross profit was $6.4 million, compared with $8.2 million in the first quarter of 2018 and $6.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. Gross margin in the first quarter of 2019 was 64.5%, compared with 61.9% in the first quarter of 2018 and 65.1% in the fourth quarter of 2018. The year-over-year increase in gross margin was mainly due to an increased revenue contribution from advertising which carries a higher gross margin. The quarter-over-quarter decrease in gross margin was mainly due to the quarter-over-quarter decrease of revenue contribution from advertising and the lower gross margin of equity brokerage business.
General and administrative expenses were $2.7 million, compared with $3.3 million in the first quarter of 2018, and $4.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. The year-over-year decrease was mainly attributable to effective cost control measures and the ongoing streamlining of the operations. The quarter-over-quarter decrease was mainly due to a one-time, non-recurring charge to the bad debt provision associated with the security deposit in our previously terminated commodity trading business in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Sales and marketing expenses were $3.6 million, compared with $6.2 million in the first quarter of 2018, and $4.4 millionin the fourth quarter of 2018. The year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter decreases were mainly attributable to the further streamlining of the sales and marketing division for better efficiency.
Research and development expenses were $2.6 million, compared with $3.8 million in the first quarter of 2018 and $2.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. The year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter decreases were mainly attributable to improved efficiency after the consolidation of the R&D team throughout different business units. The Company continues to maintain a team of senior software engineers, data scientists and capital market professionals to support further development in its fintech capabilities.
Total operating expenses were $8.9 million, compared with $13.3 million in the first quarter of 2018, and $12.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. The year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter decreases were mainly due to improved efficiency and effective cost controls.
Loss from operations was $2.5 million, compared with a loss from operations of $5.0 million in the first quarter of 2018 and a loss from operations of $5.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Net loss attributable to China Finance Online was $2.8 million, compared with a net loss of $5.2 million in the first quarter of 2018 and a net loss of $4.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Fully diluted loss per American Depository Shares (“ADS”) attributable to China Finance Online was $0.12 for the first quarter of 2019, compared with fully diluted loss per ADS of $0.23 for the first quarter of 2018 and fully diluted loss per ADS of $0.19 for the fourth quarter of 2018. Basic and diluted weighted average numbers of ADSs for the first quarter of 2019 were 22.8 million, compared with basic and diluted weighted average number of ADSs of 22.8 million for the first quarter of 2018. Each ADS represents five ordinary shares of the Company.
Total shareholders’ equity of China Finance Online was $32.9 million as of March 31, 2019.
Recent Developments
- Lingxi Robo-Advisor recorded strong performance in the first quarter of 2019
According to our proprietary asset allocation system, our Robo-Advisor product, Lingxi, provides Chinese retail investors with a wide array of investment combinations and personalized global asset allocations through Chinese domestic mutual funds. Since its inception, Lingxi established a solid track record of balancing performance and risk management. Lingxi produced a return of 5.68% during the first quarter of 2019, once again among the best performing products in the marketplace. The best strategy of Lingxi posted a return of 9.3% in the first quarter of 2019. All strategies of Lingxi managed to control the fluctuation under 6.0% while the volatility of Shanghai index reached 18.77% during the same period.
2018 was a difficult year for the stock markets in China. The Shanghai Composite Index experienced a loss of 24.6%. However, 95% of the strategies in Lingxi, posted positive returns, with a defensive strategy yielding an annual return of 5.28% in 2018. Since its inception in 2017 to the end of 2018, the accumulative returns of Lingxi’s high-risk, medium-risk and low-risk strategies were 16.94%, 13.91% and 10.79%, respectively.
- 2019 China Finance Online Value Discovery Forum for Public Companies on Chinese Stock Markets
In May 2019, the Company hosted the “2019 Value Discovery Forum for Public Companies on Chinese Stock Markets” in Shenzhen. A total of 260 professionals from over 230 prestigious technology companies and public companies listed on the Shenzhen and Shanghai stock markets and influential financial institutions attended the forum. The main topics in the forum were technology-driven productivity, industries for the future, and social benefits of innovations.
During the forum, China Finance Online also announced the 2019 Future Enterprise List, 2019 Top Tech and Innovation Value Company List, and 2019 Best Value Public Company List. These rankings are based on China Finance Online’s proprietary algorithms dynamically tracking a series of datapoints including financials, valuation, growth trends, ESG (environment, social and governance) and other metrics, which enable investors to identify investment opportunities and discover value companies.
Conference Call Information
The management will host a conference call on June 26, 2019 at 8:00 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time (8:00 a.m. Beijing/Hong Kong time June 27, 2019). Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows:
US: 1-800-742-9301
Hong Kong: 800-906-648
Singapore: 800-616-2313
China: 800-870-0210 or 400-120-3170
Conference ID: 2148496
Please dial in 10 minutes before the call is scheduled to begin and provide the conference ID to join the call.
A recording of the call will be available on China Finance Online’s website under the investor relations section.
In addition, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/cmnjcewg.
About China Finance Online
China Finance Online Co. Limited is a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese retail investors with fintech-powered online access to securities trading services, wealth management products, securities investment advisory services, as well as financial database and analytics services to institutional customers. The Company’s prominent flagship portal site, www.jrj.com, is ranked among the top financial websites in China. In addition to the web-based securities trading platform, the Company offers basic financial software, information services and securities investment advisory services to retail investors in China. Through its subsidiary, Shenzhen Genius Information Technology Co. Ltd., the Company provides financial database and analytics to institutional customers including domestic financial, research, academic and regulatory institutions. China Finance Online also provides brokerage services in Hong Kong.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements which 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. The statements contained herein reflect management’s current views with respect to future events and financial performance. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the control of the Company. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates” and similar statements. Among other things, this release contains the following forward-looking statements regarding:
- our prospect and our ability to attract new users;
- our prospect on building a comprehensive wealth management ecosystem through providing a fully-integrated online communication and securities-trading platform;
- our prospect on stabilization in cash attrition and improvement of our financial position;
- our initiatives to address customers’ demand for intuitive online investment platforms and alternative investment opportunities; and
- the market prospect of the business of securities-trading, securities investment advisory and wealth management.
Such statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, which risk factors and uncertainties include, amongst others, changing customer needs, regulatory environment and market conditions that we are subject to; the uneven condition of the world and Chinese economies that could lead to volatility in the equity markets and affect our operating results in the coming quarters; the impact of the changing conditions of the mainland Chinese stock market, mainland Chinese precious metals exchanges, Hong Kong stock market and global financial markets on our future performance; the unpredictability of our strategic transformation and growth of new businesses; the prospect of our margin-related business and the degree to which our implementation of margin account screening and ongoing monitoring will yield successful outcomes; the degree to which our strategic collaborations with partners will yield successful outcomes; the prospects for China’s high-net-worth and middle-class households; the prospects of equipping our customer specialists with new technology, tools and financial knowledge; wavering investor confidence that could impact our business; and possible non-cash goodwill, intangible assets and investment impairments may adversely affect our net income. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 20-F under “Forward-Looking Information” and “Risk Factors”. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law.
SOURCE China Finance Online Co., Ltd.
Fintech
How to identify authenticity in crypto influencer channels
![](https://thefintechbuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/11.jpg)
Modern brands stake on influencer marketing, with 76% of users making a purchase after seeing a product on social media.The cryptocurrency industry is no exception to this trend. However, promoting crypto products through influencer marketing can be particularly challenging. Crypto influencers pose a significant risk to a brand’s reputation and ROI due to rampant scams. Approximately 80% of channels provide fake statistics, including followers counts and engagement metrics. Additionally, this niche is characterized by high CPMs, which can increase the risk of financial loss for brands.
In this article Nadia Bubennnikova, Head of agency Famesters, will explore the most important things to look for in crypto channels to find the perfect match for influencer marketing collaborations.
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Comments
There are several levels related to this point.
LEVEL 1
Analyze approximately 10 of the channel’s latest videos, looking through the comments to ensure they are not purchased from dubious sources. For example, such comments as “Yes sir, great video!”; “Thanks!”; “Love you man!”; “Quality content”, and others most certainly are bot-generated and should be avoided.
Just to compare:
LEVEL 2
Don’t rush to conclude that you’ve discovered the perfect crypto channel just because you’ve come across some logical comments that align with the video’s topic. This may seem controversial, but it’s important to dive deeper. When you encounter a channel with logical comments, ensure that they are unique and not duplicated under the description box. Some creators are smarter than just buying comments from the first link that Google shows you when you search “buy YouTube comments”. They generate topics, provide multiple examples, or upload lists of examples, all produced by AI. You can either manually review the comments or use a script to parse all the YouTube comments into an Excel file. Then, add a formula to highlight any duplicates.
LEVEL 3
It is also a must to check the names of the profiles that leave the comments: most of the bot-generated comments are easy to track: they will all have the usernames made of random symbols and numbers, random first and last name combinations, “Habibi”, etc. No profile pictures on all comments is also a red flag.
LEVEL 4
Another important factor to consider when assessing comment authenticity is the posting date. If all the comments were posted on the same day, it’s likely that the traffic was purchased.
2. Average views number per video
This is indeed one of the key metrics to consider when selecting an influencer for collaboration, regardless of the product type. What specific factors should we focus on?
First & foremost: the views dynamics on the channel. The most desirable type of YouTube channel in terms of views is one that maintains stable viewership across all of its videos. This stability serves as proof of an active and loyal audience genuinely interested in the creator’s content, unlike channels where views vary significantly from one video to another.
Many unauthentic crypto channels not only buy YouTube comments but also invest in increasing video views to create the impression of stability. So, what exactly should we look at in terms of views? Firstly, calculate the average number of views based on the ten latest videos. Then, compare this figure to the views of the most recent videos posted within the past week. If you notice that these new videos have nearly the same number of views as those posted a month or two ago, it’s a clear red flag. Typically, a YouTube channel experiences lower views on new videos, with the number increasing organically each day as the audience engages with the content. If you see a video posted just three days ago already garnering 30k views, matching the total views of older videos, it’s a sign of fraudulent traffic purchased to create the illusion of view stability.
3. Influencer’s channel statistics
The primary statistics of interest are region and demographic split, and sometimes the device types of the viewers.
LEVEL 1
When reviewing the shared statistics, the first step is to request a video screencast instead of a simple screenshot. This is because it takes more time to organically edit a video than a screenshot, making it harder to manipulate the statistics. If the creator refuses, step two (if only screenshots are provided) is to download them and check the file’s properties on your computer. Look for details such as whether it was created with Adobe Photoshop or the color profile, typically Adobe RGB, to determine if the screenshot has been edited.
LEVEL 2
After confirming the authenticity of the stats screenshot, it’s crucial to analyze the data. For instance, if you’re examining a channel conducted in Spanish with all videos filmed in the same language, it would raise concerns to find a significant audience from countries like India or Turkey. This discrepancy, where the audience doesn’t align with regions known for speaking the language, is a red flag.
If we’re considering an English-language crypto channel, it typically suggests an international audience, as English’s global use for quality educational content on niche topics like crypto. However, certain considerations apply. For instance, if an English-speaking channel shows a significant percentage of Polish viewers (15% to 30%) without any mention of the Polish language, it could indicate fake followers and views. However, if the channel’s creator is Polish, occasionally posts videos in Polish alongside English, and receives Polish comments, it’s important not to rush to conclusions.
Example of statistics
Wrapping up
These are the main factors to consider when selecting an influencer to promote your crypto product. Once you’ve launched the campaign, there are also some markers to show which creators did bring the authentic traffic and which used some tools to create the illusion of an active and engaged audience. While this may seem obvious, it’s still worth mentioning. After the video is posted, allow 5-7 days for it to accumulate a basic number of views, then check performance metrics such as views, clicks, click-through rate (CTR), signups, and conversion rate (CR) from clicks to signups.
If you overlooked some red flags when selecting crypto channels for your launch, you might find the following outcomes: channels with high views numbers and high CTRs, demonstrating the real interest of the audience, yet with remarkably low conversion rates. In the worst-case scenario, you might witness thousands of clicks resulting in zero to just a few signups. While this might suggest technical issues in other industries, in crypto campaigns it indicates that the creator engaged in the campaign not only bought fake views and comments but also link clicks. And this happens more often than you may realize.
Summing up, choosing the right crypto creator to promote your product is indeed a tricky job that requires a lot of resources to be put into the search process.
Author
Nadia Bubennikova, Head of agency at Famesters
Fintech
Central banks and the FinTech sector unite to change global payments space
![central-banks-and-the-fintech-sector-unite-to-change-global-payments-space](https://thefintechbuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/51859-central-banks-and-the-fintech-sector-unite-to-change-global-payments-space.jpg)
The BIS, along with seven leading central banks and a cohort of private financial firms, has embarked on an ambitious venture known as Project Agorá.
Named after the Greek word for “marketplace,” this initiative stands at the forefront of exploring the potential of tokenisation to significantly enhance the operational efficiency of the monetary system worldwide.
Central to this pioneering project are the Bank of France (on behalf of the Eurosystem), the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Korea, the Bank of Mexico, the Swiss National Bank, the Bank of England, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. These institutions have joined forces under the banner of Project Agorá, in partnership with an extensive assembly of private financial entities convened by the Institute of International Finance (IIF).
At the heart of Project Agorá is the pursuit of integrating tokenised commercial bank deposits with tokenised wholesale central bank money within a unified, public-private programmable financial platform. By harnessing the advanced capabilities of smart contracts and programmability, the project aspires to unlock new transactional possibilities that were previously infeasible or impractical, thereby fostering novel opportunities that could benefit businesses and consumers alike.
The collaborative effort seeks to address and surmount a variety of structural inefficiencies that currently plague cross-border payments. These challenges include disparate legal, regulatory, and technical standards; varying operating hours and time zones; and the heightened complexity associated with conducting financial integrity checks (such as anti-money laundering and customer verification procedures), which are often redundantly executed across multiple stages of a single transaction due to the involvement of several intermediaries.
As a beacon of experimental and exploratory projects, the BIS Innovation Hub is committed to delivering public goods to the global central banking community through initiatives like Project Agorá. In line with this mission, the BIS will soon issue a call for expressions of interest from private financial institutions eager to contribute to this ground-breaking project. The IIF will facilitate the involvement of private sector participants, extending an invitation to regulated financial institutions representing each of the seven aforementioned currencies to partake in this transformative endeavour.
Source: fintech.globa
The post Central banks and the FinTech sector unite to change global payments space appeared first on HIPTHER Alerts.
Fintech
TD Bank inks multi-year strategic partnership with Google Cloud
![td-bank-inks-multi-year-strategic-partnership-with-google-cloud](https://thefintechbuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/51861-td-bank-inks-multi-year-strategic-partnership-with-google-cloud.jpg)
TD Bank has inked a multi-year deal with Google Cloud as it looks to streamline the development and deployment of new products and services.
The deal will see the Canadian banking group integrate the vendor’s cloud services into a wider portion of its technology solutions portfolio, a move which TD expects will enable it “to respond quickly to changing customer expectations by rolling out new features, updates, or entirely new financial products at an accelerated pace”.
This marks an expansion of the already established relationship between TD Bank and Google Cloud after the group previously adopted the vendor’s Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) for TD Securities Automated Trading (TDSAT), the Chicago-based subsidiary of its investment banking unit, TD Securities.
TDSAT uses GKE for process automation and quantitative modelling across fixed income markets, resulting in the development of a “data-driven research platform” capable of processing large research workloads in trading.
Dan Bosman, SVP and CIO of TD Securities, claims the infrastructure has so far supported TDSAT with “compute-intensive quantitative analysis” while expanding the subsidiary’s “trading volumes and portfolio size”.
TD’s new partnership with Google Cloud will see the group attempt to replicate the same level of success across its entire portfolio.
Source: fintechfutures.com
The post TD Bank inks multi-year strategic partnership with Google Cloud appeared first on HIPTHER Alerts.
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