Fintech
Peak 2020 Revenues Top $40M in Audited Year-End Financial Results
Montreal, Quebec–(Newsfile Corp. – April 30, 2021) – Peak Fintech Group Inc. (CSE: PKK) (“Peak” or the “Company”) today announced its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2020. The Company reported revenue in excess of $40M for the year, in line with what it had forecasted, despite some headwind from the COVID-19 pandemic during the year. All amounts expressed are in Canadian dollars.
2020 Financial Highlights:
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Total Revenue of $42.7M
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Adjusted EBITDA of ($1.86M)
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Net Loss of ($5.51M)
Comparative Summary of Key Financial Metrics from 2018 to 2020
| 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | |
| Revenue | $42,698,047 | $11,708,653 | $1,681,534 |
| Expenses1 | $44,556,226 | $10,173,036 | $3,260,765 |
| Adjusted EBITDA2 | ($1,858,179) | $1,535,617 | ($1,579,231) |
| Net Income (Loss) | ($5,513,511) | ($1,830,361) | ($3,608,920) |
1 Expenses do not include interest, taxes, depreciation (including impairment of intangible assets) loss on settlement of debt, gain on bargain purchase and amortization
2 Adjusted EBITDA equals net income (loss) before finance costs, taxes, depreciation, amortization and impairment of intangible assets, loss on extinction of debt, gain on bargain purchase and amortization
2020 Operating Highlights:
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Expansion of operations to Shanghai commercial credit market
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Partnership to help distribute COVID-19 financial aid from Jiangyin municipal government to city’s affected businesses
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Addition of several new Jinxiaoer Service Centres, including in the cities of Changzhou, Suzhou, Nanjing and Taiyuan
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Addition of several new lenders to the Lending Hub, bringing the number of banks and lending institutions in the ecosystem to more than 50
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Integration of the Jinxiaoer loan brokerage platform to the Lending Hub ecosystem
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Equipment financing program powered by Cubeler Lending Hub in Xi’An
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Launch of government-backed commercial lending Financial Centre powered by Cubeler Lending Hub in Jiangyin
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Beginning of transition of certain previously outsourced supply-chain financing related services to Gold River 2.0 platform
Review of 2020
As it was for most companies all over the world, 2020 began with a lot of uncertainty for Peak due to COVID-19. However, as the Chinese government sought to get the economy re-started through various credit initiatives, the Company was able to play a role in the distribution of some government financial aid programs and ride some of those initiatives to have a strong finish to the first quarter. COVID-19 restrictions began easing in Q2, which helped the Company gain some footing in the quarter. Peak ramped up its services in the supply-chain vertical by expanding its offering to the cities of Changzhou and Suzhou during the quarter. This, along with the successful integration of the Jinxiaoer loan brokerage platform to the Company’s Lending Hub, resulted in a considerable increase in the number of transactions facilitated by the Hub in Q2.
Demand for Peak’s services reached new levels in the third quarter, which helped the Company post record revenues. The vast majority of Peak’s revenue was still being generated by facilitating supply-chain related purchase orders between raw material suppliers and manufacturers, but the Company slowly began to work its way down the transactional supply-chain toward its objective of eventually finance purchase orders placed with thousands of manufacturers and distributors by tens of thousands of retailers.
The fourth quarter of 2020 provided validation that the Company’s client acquisition strategy of providing services to raw material suppliers and large factories to get to their thousands of distributors and retail clients was working. That strategy led to partnerships with consumer electronics distributor Beijing Dianjing Company Ltd. (“BDC”), and packaged foods product distributor Beijing Jingying Corporate Management Ltd., who collectively have over 310,000 small business retailer clients with the potential to become members of the Peak’s Lending Hub ecosystem. Peak also leverage its relationship with the supply-chain to build a network of more than 55,000 social media influencers that have become a force in China’s retail industry. Considering that Peak’s Lending Hub ecosystem in 2020 included a total of approximately 30,000 micro, small and medium sized business clients, Q4 2020 was so far the most important quarter for the Company in terms of future revenue potential since it first deployed the Lending Hub in the second quarter of 2018.
Peak also began to see some of the higher profit margin transactions it believes are the future of the Company in the fourth quarter, including transactions where the Lending Hub is used to help social media influencers finance product showcase events on popular social media platforms such as TikTok and WeChat. These types of transactions are expected to account for an increasingly greater percentage of transactions on Lending Hub, thereby gradually improving the Company’s overall profit margin. Peak was also able to improve the profit margins of its supply-chain financing service bundle and realize important savings on cost of service expenses during the quarter as more and more supply-chain financing related services previously outsourced to third-parties were shifted to the Company’s Gold River platform.
As it has done for the past couple of years, Peak spent time during the last quarter of the year paying special attention to ensuring that its platforms remain at the forefront of the analytics and AI spectrum of the Fintech space. The Company completed the integration of China’s new digital currency to its platforms in the quarter, making Peak’s Lending Hub and Gold River platforms among the first at the time to provide clients with the ability to conduct digital RMB transactions. The Company also saw an opportunity to enhance its Lending Hub offering to small, local and regional banks, while adding a complementary data set to Lending Hub that would enhance the platform’s AI capabilities, and signed a letter of intent to acquire banking AI software company Zhongke Software Intelligence Ltd (“Zhongke”), whose software was being used by 34 banks and financial institutions at the time of the signing of the agreement.
The Company’s capital markets strategy in Q4 picked up where it left off in Q3. Peak continued to work with its strategy advisors and consultants to structure the Company and take steps to prepare it to list its securities on top-tier stock exchanges such as the NASDAQ. Peak’s capital market success came at a considerable cost, as “consulting fees” were second only to “cost of service” expenses related to supply-chain transactions in Q4 and for all of 2020. The high consulting fees incurred by the Company in 2020 however were related to specific capital market strategies designed and implemented primarily in Q3 and Q4. Those fees are therefore not expected to account for such a large percentage of the Company’s expenses in the future.
Outlook for 2021
Peak closed out the last quarter of 2020 finding itself in the best position it’s ever been from all relevant aspects of its business. The Company finished the year having generated almost 4 times more revenue than it did in 2019, was showing a strong balance sheet featuring almost $6M in cash and virtually no long-term debt and had strategic partnerships in place to potentially add more than 10-times the number of clients the Company serviced throughout 2020. This puts Peak in position for what management expects to be an exceptional year in 2021 in terms of number of clients serviced, geographic expansion and revenue generated, which should culminate into the Company’s first profitable year.
Peak is a strong believer in the power of China’s social media platforms and the influencers that are using those platforms to reshape the country’s retail industry. These influencers create, host and put on elaborate product showcase events on popular platforms such as TikTok, Weibo and WeChat where millions of dollars’ worth of merchandize is purchased by their millions of followers at each event. Peak created a program on its Lending Hub platform in Q4 2020 specifically designed to help its network of over 55,000 social media influencers obtain the short-term financing they often need to put together their events. The popularity of the program has thus far exceeded the Company’s expectations and Peak will look to work in close partnership with some of the top influencers in 2021 to help promote the program to the influencer network and on the social media platforms themselves.
The Company believes that small, medium sized and micro businesses and lending financial institutions in China are not the only ones who would stand to benefit from its Lending Hub ecosystem where data, analytics and AI are used to automate commercial lending transactions. Peak therefore has plans to begin expanding its service offering beyond China’s borders by first deploying the Lending Hub to Canada by the end of 2021 followed by the United States shortly thereafter. The deployment of the Hub to North America should also provide the first look at how the Company plans to commercialize all of the data that accumulates throughout its Lending Hub ecosystem, unveiling new, and what Peak expects to be significant, revenue streams for the Company.
“2021 figures to be a year full of exciting new opportunities, another year where the Company’s revenue more than doubles, and the year in which it posts its first ever profit,” commented Peak CEO Johnson Joseph. “With the way we concluded 2020 and how the capital markets have responded to what we’ve managed to accomplish so far, we really believe that 2021 will be the year in which we show this Company’s true potential.”
Fiscal 2020 Financial Results Summary
In summary, the Company generated $42,698,047 in revenue in 2020 (compared to $11,708,653 in fiscal 2019). Total expenses for fiscal 2020 amounted to $47,359,548, compared to 13,015,178 in 2019.
The net loss for the year was $5,513,511 compared to $1,830,362 in 2019. Full details of the Company’s 2020 financial results can be found in the Audited Consolidated Financial Statements and Management’s Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, which are available at www.sedar.com.
About Peak Fintech Group Inc.:
Peak Fintech Group Inc. is the parent company of a group of innovative financial technology (Fintech) subsidiaries operating in China’s commercial lending industry. Peak’s subsidiaries use technology, analytics and artificial intelligence to create an ecosystem of lenders, borrowers and other participants in China’s commercial lending space where lending operations are conducted rapidly, safely, efficiently and with the utmost transparency. For more information: http://www.peakfintechgroup.com
For more information, please contact:
CHF Capital Markets
Cathy Hume, CEO
416-868-1079 ext.: 251
[email protected]
MZ Group – MZ North America
Mark Schwalenberg, CFA
1-312-261-6430
[email protected]
Twitter: @peakfintech
Facebook: @peakfintech
LinkedIn: Peak Fintech
YouTube: Peak Fintech
Forward-Looking Statements / Information:
This news release may include certain forward-looking information, including statements relating to business and operating strategies, plans and prospects for revenue growth, using words including “anticipate”, “believe”, “could”, “expect”, “intend”, “may”, “plan”, “potential”, “project”, “seek”, “should”, “will”, “would” and similar expressions, which are intended to identify a number of these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information reflects current views with respect to current events and is not a guarantee of future performance and is subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking information contained in this news release, except as may be required by applicable laws, rules and regulations. Readers are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating any forward-looking information.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/82601
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
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.
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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