SINGAPORE, May 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — XREX Singapore, a blockchain-enabled financial institution specialising in cross-border payments in emerging markets, announced today that it has obtained the Major Payment Institution (MPI) Licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the nation’s central bank and financial regulator. This comes after it received its in-principle approval from the MAS in November last year.

Commenting on XREX’s engagement with the MAS, XREX Singapore Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Christopher Chye said, “Our engagements with the MAS have repeatedly shown us why they are internationally revered as a leading central bank and financial regulator. With this licence in hand, XREX Singapore will endeavour to bring blockchain-enabled digital payment currencies to ubiquity.”

XREX Singapore facilitates frictionless cross-border payments for import and export transactions, particularly for small-medium businesses (SMBs) in emerging markets. This strategic emphasis aligns with XREX’s mission to foster financial inclusion in emerging markets.

“The MPI licence is a testament to our unwavering commitment to the highest regulatory compliance standards. We look forward to working with one of the world’s leading regulators to make blockchain finance safe and accessible to the general public,” said XREX Co-founder and Group CEO Wayne Huang.

XREX Singapore will launch XREX Pay, a platform providing cross-border B2B payment features for corporates, as well as remittance solutions, such as helping migrant workers send money home. XREX Pay will support Singapore Dollar (SGD) and U.S. Dollar (USD) payment rails and stablecoins such as USDT and USDC, all while demonstrating a robust and practical implementation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) travel rule.

XREX Singapore’s licence encompasses a total of six payment services, namely:
i) Account issuance service;
ii) Domestic money transfer service;
iii) Cross-border money transfer service;
iv) Merchant acquisition service;
v) E-money issuance service; and
vi) Digital payment token service.

“XREX is approved for six of the seven payment services under the MPI licencing regime. With XREX Singapore as the group’s Asia Pacific headquarters, XREX looks forward to expanding its partnership with major banks, credit card institutions, and payment institutions to build next-generation financial systems that integrate traditional and blockchain finance,” said XREX Co-founder and Group Chief Revenue Officer Winston Hsiao.

About XREX

XREX Singapore is an MAS-regulated financial institution that leverages blockchain technology to make cross-border payments faster, cheaper, and safer for businesses globally. Its proprietary escrow payment feature, BitCheck, empowers enterprises to switch flexibly between digital currencies, stablecoins, or traditional currencies, thereby ushering their businesses into the new era of digital money. XREX Singapore also specializes in working with emerging markets businesses to help solve their issues with USD liquidity access.

XREX Group, is a blockchain-enabled financial institution working with banks, regulators, and users to redefine banking together. It provides enterprise-grade banking services to small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in or dealing with emerging markets, and novice-friendly financial services to individuals worldwide.

Founded in 2018 and operating globally under multiple licences, XREX offers a full suite of services such as digital asset custody, wallet, cross-border payment, fiat-crypto conversion, cryptocurrency exchange, asset management, and fiat currency on-off ramps.

Sharing the social responsibility of financial inclusion, XREX leverages blockchain technologies to further financial participation, access, and education.

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LONDON, May 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Stafford Capital Partners is pleased to announce today that a major Korean pension fund has invested USD $200m into the firm’s flagship SIT X timberland fund.  The investment is accompanied by a further $100m co-investment sidecar vehicle.  

Commenting on the new mandate, Stafford Capital Partners CEO Angus Whiteley said today that accelerating support for timberland as an asset class illustrated the growing net zero aspirations of forward thing institutional investors globally.

“We are experiencing globally significant support for this asset class, with important recent investments into SIT X from the UK, North America, Korea and Europe.”

“With investor focus on the carbon sequestration potential of commercial timber growing, we expect interest in this asset class to only accelerate, providing a significant potential first mover advantage for institutional investors who are looking at timberland now as part of their alternatives strategy.”   

“We believe we are uniquely positioned to offer impactful, discounted access to timberland assets through pooled investment vehicles and co-investment opportunities.”

Commitments to the tenth Stafford International Timberland fund (SIT X) have now reached USD $635m, with considerable forward momentum. Over 2023 Stafford raised USD $945m across our secondaries and carbon strategies, a globally significant figure.

The Fund was launched in January 2023 with a USD 1bn fundraising target. It achieved first close in March 2023 and is expected to hold a final close during Q3 2024.  The fund has already deployed over USD$160m from the raise, illustrating the strong investment pipeline in the space.

With over USD 3.7bn AUM across over 100 underlying assets, Stafford’s timberland portfolio has provided consistent and strong returns as well as a meaningful contribution towards investors’ climate targets and high standards of sustainability. The underlying timberland fund portfolio currently stores more than 316.8 MtCO2e of carbon and sequesters 16.6 MtCO2e of carbon each year on an ongoing basis.

About Stafford Capital Partners

Stafford is an independent private markets investment and advisory firm with USD 7.9 billion in assets under management and advice for more than 150 institutional clients worldwide. Founded in 2000, Stafford has a global team of 85+ professionals investing in infrastructure, timberland & agriculture, and sustainable private equity through secondaries, primaries, and co-investments. Stafford has been a UN PRI signatory since 2010 and has committed to the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative. It puts sustainability at the centre of its investment process and implements a well-defined ESG program across all strategies. In the UK, Stafford is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (Firm Reference Number: 225586).

This is a marketing communication. Please refer to the relevant fund documentation for Stafford Infrastructure Secondaries Fund V (Available in English, in the Fund’s Virtual Data Room upon request) before making any final investment decisions.

This release neither constitutes an offer to sell nor a solicitation to invest in any of Stafford’s funds. It is for information purposes only and is not a recommendation. It does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to invest in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale would be prohibited or to any person not meeting the required investor criteria.

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, May 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Al Hassan Ghazi Ibrahim Shaker Co. (“Shaker”, the “Group” or the “Company”), Saudi Arabia’s leading manufacturer, importer, and distributor of Air Conditioners and Home Appliances, has announced its financial results for the first quarter ended 31 March 2024, highlighting a strong start to the year as the Company continues its growth trajectory.

Financial Highlights:

• Revenue of SAR 413.24 million, up 19.24% year-on-year (YoY), driven by higher sales in the HVAC solutions segment and balanced growth across the company’s brand portfolio
• Gross profit of SAR 97.77 million, up 12.24% YoY, in line with higher revenues and a favorable portfolio mix.
• Operating income of SAR 31.35 million, up 9.59% YoY, primarily driven by higher revenues, and gross profit, offsetting the higher SG&A expenses in line with increased strategic marketing efforts.
• Net profit¹ of SAR 32.25 million, up 12.09% YoY, driven by strong revenue growth, enhanced operational performance, and lower finance costs.
• EPS of SAR 0.67 per share, improved by 12.09% YoY.
  1: Attributable to equity owners

Shaker’s strong Q1-FY24 performance reinforces the continued strength of its strategic initiatives driven by market differentiation and a robust growth strategy. The company’s focus on strengthening its core business segments, brand portfolio diversification, and operational efficiency has translated into rising demand for its high-quality products and services, solidifying its market leadership in the HVAC and Home Appliances segment.

Demonstrating its commitment to achieving sustainable growth while strengthening its financial health, Shaker achieved a significant 24.08% reduction in net debt. This strategic deleveraging along with optimizing the usage of short-term loans and Letter of Credits (LC) has resulted in a decrease in finance costs, positively impacting net profit. Additionally, further improvements in inventory management and working capital resulted in strong cash generation from operations, reaching SAR 30.98 million.

In February 2024, Shaker signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with LG Electronics and the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia (MISA) to explore local manufacturing of AC compressors in the Kingdom. This marks a significant leap towards localizing the production of the most technologically complex component of AC units. In March 2024, Shaker also announced the localization of manufacturing of LG Electronics Multi V5 unit featuring the Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) technology at its LG-Shaker factory in Riyadh. This cutting-edge technology is known for its energy-saving capabilities, space-efficiency, and reliability which will primarily target large residential projects as well as commercial and hospitality projects. These strategic developments mark a new era in the Saudi market, while aligning with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, and strengthening Shaker’s value chain in its HVAC segment.

Shaker continued to expand its digital footprint, as its e-commerce platform experienced strong growth driven by ongoing efforts to improve user experience and broaden online offerings. Additionally, the upcoming transition to SAP’s S/4HANA ERP system, on track for full roll-out by Q3-FY24, will further optimize operational efficiency and e-commerce capabilities.

The unveiling of a new growth strategy is expected by mid-2024, and will position Shaker for long-term growth.

Mohammed Ibrahim Abunayyan, Chief Executive Officer at Shaker, said:

“Shaker’s Q1-FY24 results are a strong start to the year, building on the momentum we established throughout 2023. Our focus on core business segments, brand diversification, and operational efficiency has continued to cement our market leadership. We are especially proud of achieving a strong balance across our brand portfolio, demonstrating our agility and commitment to catering to evolving customer preferences. This customer centricity is a cornerstone of our vision, and it’s reflected in our ongoing efforts to expand our digital footprint and enhance the user experience on our e-commerce platform. These factors, combined with our commitment to innovation, as exemplified by the recent MoU with LG Electronics and MISA, position Shaker for a future of industry leadership.

Looking ahead, we are excited to share our new growth strategy by mid-2024. This will guide our future direction while positioning Shaker at the forefront of innovation and sustainable growth.”

About Shaker

Shaker was founded in 1950 and was amongst the first in Saudi Arabia to introduce Air Conditioning & Home Appliances for Saudi consumers. Shaker is the importer and distributor of several leading international brands including Maytag, Ariston, Indesit, Midea, Bompani, and LG in Saudi Arabia, and the sole distributor of LG Air Conditioners in Saudi Arabia. ESCO, as a business unit of Shaker, provides Energy Solutions. Shaker has been a publicly listed company on the Saudi Exchange (Saudi Exchange) since 2010. Throughout the years, Shaker has positioned its name among the top Saudi companies, providing a range of integrated solutions in terms of Air Conditioners and Home Appliances in the Saudi market and the region. For more information, visit: http://www.shaker.com.sa/

For investor and media inquiries

Sam Ryan Siahpolo, Instinctif Partners
[email protected]
+971 58 831 8632

Joann Joseph, Instinctif Partners
[email protected]
+971 58 257 5490

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