Media OutReach

DFI Retail Group Holdings Limited 2025 Preliminary Announcement Of Results

Published

3 weeks ago

03/03/2026

The following announcement was issued today to a Regulatory Information Service approved by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom.

DFI RETAIL GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED

2025 PRELIMINARY ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS

Highlights

Underlying profit reached the high-end of guidance at US$270 million, up 35% year-on-year
Reported profit of US$235 million, up US$480 million year-on-year
Health and Beauty delivered strong like-for-like (LFL) sales and profit growth
Convenience returned to profit growth in the second half of 2025, supported by a favourable mix shift towards higher-margin, non-cigarette categories
Strengthening value-driven, omnichannel proposition in Food and Home Furnishings
Divestments of Yonghui, Robinsons Retail and Singapore Food underscored the Group’s transition from a portfolio to a focused operating company and strengthened balance sheet to a net cash position
Returned approximately US$740 million to shareholders for the full year 2025, including a US$600 million special dividend
Final dividend of US¢10.50 per share based on a new 70% payout policy announced in December 2025

“Effective execution of our strategy drove strong financial performance and higher shareholder returns in 2025, despite a challenging retail environment. Our significant progress made in portfolio simplification creates investment capacity for strategic priorities, enabling greater value for our customers and accretive inorganic opportunities to drive sustainable growth and returns.”

Lincoln Pan

Chairman

DFI RETAIL GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED

PRELIMINARY ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

INTRODUCTION

It is my honour and privilege to join DFI Retail Group (‘DFI’ or the ‘Group’) as Chairman of the Board, supporting Group Chief Executive, Scott Price, and his leadership team in executing its strategic priorities and delivering shareholder returns. On behalf of the Board, I would also like to express our gratitude to John Witt for his invaluable contributions to DFI over many years.

As Asia’s leading multi-format retail platform, DFI has a unique set of assets – strong customer trust, an extensive store network across markets, deep data insights from a powerful loyalty programme, and a strengthening Own Brand portfolio – that will serve as a foundation for growth over the coming years.

Amid macroeconomic volatility and evolving consumer needs, the Group has been responding effectively through a stronger value proposition and enhanced omnichannel capabilities. This strategy is yielding early and encouraging results, demonstrated by a 35% increase in underlying profit in 2025. We remain particularly optimistic about the growth prospects in Health & Beauty and Convenience, as well as the opportunities emerging in digital.

I am confident that under the capable leadership of Scott and his team, DFI will continue to deliver retail excellence to customers across Asia while driving long-term value creation and growth.

Under a new 70% dividend payout policy announced in December 2025, the Board recommends a final dividend of US¢10.50 per share (2024 final dividend: US¢7.00).

STRATEGIC HIGHLIGHTS

Over the course of 2025, the Group executed effectively against its strategic framework of Customer First, People Led, Shareholder Driven. This approach enables DFI to navigate market challenges while capturing opportunities that build on its strong platform for sustainable growth.

The retail landscape is rapidly evolving, driven by shifting consumer behaviour and digitalisation. The Group remains focused on strategic priorities that place customers first – delivering quality, value and convenience in everyday moments. Across its businesses, the Group made good progress in strengthening value propositions, expanding customer reach in growth markets, driving deeper customer engagement with data-driven insights and accelerating digital monetisation. These initiatives enhance its ability to better serve customers and supplier partners while delivering returns to shareholders.

Investing in talent development remains at the top of the agenda. During the year, the Group achieved an improved team member engagement score. Inclusive leadership, a purpose-driven culture and engaged team members are critical to driving stronger performance and delivering exceptional customer experience. In parallel, the Group continues to enhance its organisational agility in meeting customer needs while reducing overhead costs.

In 2025, the Group completed the divestments of minority stakes in Yonghui and Robinsons Retail, as well as Singapore Food business, enabling reinvestment in subsidiary businesses and strategic priorities with stronger growth and return potential. This approach, combined with a sharpened business focus and a strengthened balance sheet, delivered a total shareholder return exceeding 90% in 2025, including the distribution of a US$600 million special dividend in October.

PROSPECTS

Transformation is an ongoing journey for today’s retailers. Serving diverse communities across Asia, where economic conditions and consumer expectations vary widely, the Group must stay agile and locally relevant guided by a customer-first mindset and a disciplined focus on growth opportunities that further build on its competitive advantages. Over the year, DFI has invested in delivering better outcomes for customers through price reinvestment, Own Brand innovation, omnichannel expansion and data-driven personalisation – focus areas that will remain central to its growth plans in the years ahead. An expanded digital ecosystem also unlocks new avenues to drive deeper value for supplier partners and enhance shareholder returns.

I would like to end by expressing the Board’s appreciation to our team members. We could not be more proud of the work they have done over the year, particularly in responding to the deeply tragic Tai Po fire in Hong Kong. Their unwavering dedication to serving our customers across Asia is what will continue to drive our business forward and build long-term value for shareholders.

Lincoln Pan

Chairman

GROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REVIEW

INTRODUCTION

We are pleased to close 2025 on a strong note, with underlying profit attributable to shareholders up 35% year-on-year to US$270 million, reaching the high end of our guidance range. This strong performance was driven by a recovery in LFL subsidiary sales, improved margins and proactive portfolio actions, including the divestment of our minority stake in Yonghui.

Customers across Asia, including in our home market of Hong Kong, are increasingly seeking quality and convenience at great value. While macro challenges remain, we are encouraged to see early signs of recovery in key retail segments, including 3% growth in health and beauty sales in Hong Kong, supported by a 12% increase in tourist arrivals. As Asia’s leading multi-format omnichannel retail platform, we are uniquely positioned to meet customers’ evolving needs effectively across all channels through relevant and compelling customer propositions.

With a renewed focus on balancing profitability with capital discipline, the Group ended the year in a net cash position, after distributing a US$600 million special dividend, and delivered a significantly improved return on capital employed (ROCE) of 9.4%. Our strengthened balance sheet allows us to reinvest for growth as we deepen our focus on higher-return subsidiary businesses and strategic priorities that sustain value creation for shareholders. For the full year 2025, we returned a total of approximately US$740 million to shareholders, including the special dividend.

In December, we held our inaugural Investor Day where DFI announced a new dividend policy with an increased payout ratio of 70%. Dividends paid during the year, combined with a share price increase of more than 70%, resulted in a total shareholder return exceeding 90% in 2025. We also outlined our three-year plan for realising our financial ambitions and accelerated growth goals, including a target of US$310-350 million in underlying profit (representing 11% CAGR at the mid-point compared to 2025¹) and an improved ROCE of at least 15% by 2028.

As we enter the new financial year, we remain firmly focused on executing our strategic priorities to drive sustained, profitable growth.

STRATEGIC DELIVERABLES – KEY PROGRESS

Over the past year, we have made significant progress in our transformation from a portfolio business into a strategically focused operating company. We have been advancing our strategy across five key deliverables to create greater value for our customers, supplier partners and shareholders.

Retail Excellence

By delivering best-in-class customer propositions, we see a wide range of opportunities for driving higher store sales density and market share gain across all business segments.

Health & Beauty

Mannings and Guardian continue to strengthen their position as the trusted advisor for wellness, unlocking strong cross-category growth opportunities through an assortment with high functional value across supplements, derma skin care and hair care. Customers across Asia are increasingly shifting to retailers that best fulfil their broad, diverse and unique wellness goals. Our technology-enabled personalised services – including skin, scalp and health assessments – drive higher purchase conversion and basket size by deepening customer understanding of their wellness needs. These capabilities will be expanded to 25% of our Health & Beauty store network to enhance our competitive differentiation and leadership in wellness.

Convenience
7-Eleven is broadening its shopper missions towards higher-margin, non-cigarette categories with a strategic focus on ready-to-eat (RTE) offerings, which accounted for 24% of Convenience sales in 2025. Across markets, consumers are seeking more convenient, high-quality and value-driven meal solutions. The expansion of Food Bars to 1,250 locations in South China and the rollout of RTE-focused store revamp across the entire Hong Kong network by 2028 will further strengthen 7-Eleven’s RTE proposition.

Food

Given consumers’ pivot towards value, continued northbound travel and increasing competition from Chinese mainland e-commerce platforms, the Wellcome team has focused on enhancing food basket value for customers by advancing our Everyday Low Price strategy. Investment in reduced pricing through strategic direct sourcing of core basket items, particularly in fresh, has resulted in a 2% growth in volume driven by higher footfall and increased items per basket. Direct sourcing allowed us to reduce prices while protecting gross profit, resulting in a 30-basis point gross margin improvement. These efforts further supported the narrowing basket price gap compared to the Greater Bay Area to a currently low single-digit price difference².

Home Furnishings

Similar to Food, IKEA has focused on enhancing its affordability and accessibility by reinvesting in the pricing of high-volume products, broadening the range of entry price points, rationalising the tail of slow-selling assortment, and further expanding digital touchpoints through third-party marketplaces. We are also strengthening IKEA Food as a key draw for customers seeking exciting and affordable food experiences as part of their store journey. These efforts are supported by significant cost transformation initiatives across our operating markets.

Own Brand

Our reset in Own Brand strategy across Food and Health & Beauty is driving higher customer loyalty and sales penetration through greater exclusivity and value. By refining our product range to align closely with customer needs and maximising cross-selling across our formats, we achieved meaningful improvements in margins and sales productivity.

Access to Customers

We continue to strategically expand our network in high-growth, profitable markets, primarily through a capex-light franchise model, with 114 net new openings³in 2025. In particular, we will deepen 7-Eleven’s presence in Guangdong province to around 2,400 stores and expand Guardian’s footprint in Indonesia to approximately 750 stores by 2028.

Omnichannel and Data Ecosystem

DFI’s expanded omnichannel ecosystem is elevating our relevance and engagement with customers, providing us deep data insights across daily consumer needs that few peers in Asia can match. This ecosystem now allows our customers to engage with DFI brands across more than 90 digital channels, including apps, websites, third-party marketplaces, quick-commerce partnership with food delivery platforms and click-and-collect services. Our strengthened digital proposition was underpinned by a 140-basis point increase in online sales penetration to 6.4%⁴as at year-end 2025, with order volume more than doubled year-on-year. Our overall digital ecosystem, comprising e-commerce, retail media, insights monetisation and yuu, continues to drive improved financial returns for the Group.

Retail Media (DFIQ Media)

Positioned to become Asia’s leading omnichannel retail media network, DFIQ Media offers a differentiated online and offline advertising proposition, enabling brands to execute cross-format campaigns through our digital assets and more than 10,000 in-store digital screens across markets. DFIQ Media delivered strong sales growth, albeit from a low starting base, achieving a fourfold increase in revenue over 2024, supported by proprietary data insights from over 7 million monthly active users across our growing digital portfolio.

DFIQ Portal

We aim to empower our supplier partners with actionable insights that drive greater business impact and better outcomes for customers. The DFIQ Portal – a vendor platform combining DFIQ Media, DFIQ Insights and trade capabilities – was launched in December 2025, providing suppliers real-time access to critical analytics that enables optimised inventory management and more effective strategic planning.

Retail Analytics

Leveraging cross-format data insights from over 5 million yuu Rewards members in Hong Kong, we continue to enhance our assortment and promotional decisions to help expand both in-store sales and gross profit.

Lean & Agile Model

Maintaining a lean and agile operating model is essential to ensuring efficient decision-making in a rapidly evolving retail landscape. Continued cost optimisation and better product sourcing will support both strategic price reinvestment and sustainable margin expansion in the coming years. Overhead reductions are expected to translate into lower SG&A costs beginning 2026. We remain disciplined in capex, driving network growth primarily through a franchise model with a strong focus on paybacks.

Strategic pivot from portfolio to a focused operating company

We conduct strategic reviews of our businesses guided by return on capital and total shareholder return priorities. During the year, we completed the divestment of our minority stakes in Yonghui and Robinsons Retail, as well as our Singapore Food business, generating total gross proceeds of approximately US$1 billion in cash consideration. In line with our capital allocation priorities, these proceeds were redeployed towards debt repayment, resulting in a net cash position of US$70 million as at year-end 2025. In addition, a special dividend of US$600 million was distributed to shareholders in October 2025. The Group remains focused on maximising total shareholder return while maintaining strategic flexibility for inorganic growth opportunities that are accretive to long-term shareholder value.

2025 PERFORMANCE

Total revenue from subsidiaries in 2025 was US$8.9 billion, up 1% on a LFL basis, excluding cigarettes. Organic revenue, excluding divested businesses⁵for the comparable period, grew 0.5%. Strong sales growth in the Health & Beauty division was offset by lower contributions from other segments.

Excluding the impact of the minority stake divestments in Yonghui and Robinsons Retail completed in 2025, total revenue for the Group, including 100% of associates and joint ventures, remained broadly stable.

The Group reported total underlying profit attributable to shareholders of US$270 million for the year, up 35% year-on-year. This was supported by improved profitability from subsidiary businesses, lower financing costs and higher underlying profit from associates following the divestment of Yonghui.

Underlying profit from subsidiaries was US$183 million, 15% higher than the prior year. This was driven by strong Health & Beauty performance in addition to earnings recovery in Singapore Food and Home Furnishings segment, partially offset by lower contribution from Convenience due to reduced cigarette volume.

The Group’s share of underlying profit from associates was US$88 million, an improvement of US$45 million compared to the prior year, primarily due to the divestment of minority stake in loss-making Yonghui and higher contribution from Maxim’s as a result of improved mooncake sales and restaurant performance in Southeast Asia. Despite challenging trading conditions in Hong Kong and Chinese mainland, Maxim’s delivered profit growth in these regions through cost optimisation.

The Group reported operating cash flow after lease payments of US$430 million, 30% higher than the prior year, supported by underlying operating profit growth. Free cash flow⁶for the period was US$281 million, up 78% year-on-year. As at 31 December 2025, the Group’s net cash was US$70 million, compared to US$468 million net debt at 31 December 2024.

SUSTAINABILITY

We remain firmly committed to our purpose to sustainably serve Asia for generations with everyday moments – with a focused, balanced, collaborative approach taking into account the macroeconomic environment and consumer sentiment. We are driving progress on our pathway to reduce our Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% by 2030 from a 2021 baseline, with our targeted investments in refrigerant emissions management, energy efficiency, and behaviour-change initiatives across our operations gaining momentum throughout the year. From 2025 to 2030, we will further increase the share of renewable energy use in our portfolio, helping to accelerate the energy transition in the key markets where we operate.

As advocates for our customers and the communities we serve, we are committed to delivering affordable, sustainable products. In 2025, we delivered 380 tonnes of Own Brand low-carbon rice to our Hong Kong markets and added multiple products through our Grounds to Green programme to our 7-Eleven RTE range. These award-winning initiatives demonstrate our ability to anticipate customer expectations and deliver on market demands. We maintained strong discipline in waste and packaging management, keeping us on track to meet our 2030 targets.

BUSINESS REVIEW

HEALTH AND BEAUTY

Sales for the Health and Beauty division grew 7% year-on-year or 5% on an LFL basis to US$2.6 billion. Underlying operating profit was US$228 million for the year, representing an increase of 8% compared to 2024.

Both Mannings and Guardian achieved strong LFL sales performance, supported by growing wellness sales penetration towards the mid-term target of over 35%. To further strengthen our leadership in wellness – a cross-category opportunity spanning health, beauty and personal care – Mannings and Guardian complemented their wellness-focused assortment with in-store health, skin and scalp assessments in selected outlets. Our personalised consultations and tailored product recommendations deepen our engagement with customers, supporting larger basket sizes and higher purchase conversion.

In Hong Kong and Macau, LFL sales increased by 5%, driven by strong growth in tourist store sales from higher arrivals. Own Brand strategy reset resulted in a 35% improvement in gross profit per SKU through a refined product range that better aligns with customer needs. Sales of Mannings China declined due to the closure of majority of its offline store network as the business pivots towards a cross-border e-commerce model.

Guardian in Southeast Asia reported 5% LFL sales increase, driven by growth in basket sizes across key markets and an expanding e-commerce presence, including the Guardian Malaysia loyalty programme launched in March 2025 and a new Guardian Singapore app in July 2025. Indonesia and Vietnam delivered LFL sales growth exceeding 10%, supported by strong traffic gains. Gross margin expansion and operating leverage contributed to operating profit growth of 16% in the region.

CONVENIENCE

Total Convenience sales were US$2.3 billion, representing a decline of 2% year-on-year or 3% on an LFL basis, due to lower-margin cigarette volume reductions following tax increases in Hong Kong in February 2024. Excluding cigarettes, overall Convenience sales grew 1% compared to 2024 and were marginally lower on an LFL basis. Underlying operating profit was US$97 million, down 6% year-on-year. Favourable sales mix shift towards higher-margin non-cigarette categories drove a return to a positive profit growth in the second half of 2025.

In Hong Kong, the Group expects to mitigate financial impact from declining cigarette sales in 2026 and beyond through continued growth in higher-margin non-cigarette categories, including RTE which accounted for 18% of sales for the full year, up from 16% in 2024.

7-Eleven Singapore reported robust LFL sales growth driven by a stronger RTE proposition and effective promotional campaigns. In South China, continued store network expansion through a capex-light franchise model, including 99 net increase in store number, contributed to 3% sales growth. LFL sales, however, were down 2% largely due to intense subsidy competition from food delivery platforms, primarily in the first half of the year. The focus remains on driving footfall through innovative RTE and Food Bar expansion to 1,250 stores by the end of 2028, compared to 325 as of year-end. Both markets saw meaningful profit growth, supported by a favourable product mix shift and disciplined cost control.

FOOD

Reported sales for the Food division were US$3.0 billion, remaining stable compared to 2024 on an LFL basis. Underlying operating profit reached US$62 million for the year, up 6% year-on-year, driven by earnings recovery in Singapore Food following the distribution of government consumption vouchers in 2025.

In Hong Kong, the Wellcome team strengthened its fresh and value proposition through pricing reinvestment supported by strategic direct sourcing. These efforts included a new partnership with Dingdong Maicai (DDL) since May 2025 for a wider selection of price-competitive fresh produce, as well as the Everyday Value campaign launched in September 2025, offering up to 40% savings on 100 core basket items. The team also accelerated omnichannel growth through broader digital channels – including a quick-commerce partnership with foodpanda and click-and-collect services – and a shortened delivery time to same or next day delivery, driving a more than 20% sales growth in Hong Kong Food online sales. Despite a 1% LFL sales decline compared to the prior year, total volume grew 2% driven by increased transactions and items per basket.

Southeast Asia Food sales performance benefited from multiple rounds of government consumption voucher distribution in Singapore during the year, including S$800 vouchers for each household and S$600 vouchers for individuals in celebration of the nation’s 60th anniversary. These vouchers, which were redeemable at supermarkets and heartland merchants, drove stronger sales in the Food segment. Convenience and Health & Beauty did not see a similar uplift in sales as the vouchers were not applicable to these outlets. Divestment of Singapore Food business was completed in early December 2025. Post-completion, the Group continues to serve the Singapore market through its Guardian and 7-Eleven brands. As the only nationwide modern trade operator in Cambodia, Lucky reported robust LFL sales growth with strong margin expansion on scale benefits.

HOME FURNISHINGS

IKEA reported sales of US$677 million, down 3% year-on-year and 5% on an LFL basis, compared to an 11% LFL sales decline in 2024. Operating profit was US$26 million, representing a meaningful improvement from US$16 million in the prior year, driven by effective cost control measures across markets.

Amid a challenging macro environment and reduced consumer demand for big-ticket items due to subdued real estate market activity, the IKEA team has prioritised enhancing its value proposition and omnichannel presence. Key initiatives include price reductions on high-volume products, rationalisation of non-core assortment, and a broader range of entry price points. In Indonesia, the team has further expanded digital partnerships with third-party marketplaces to improve accessibility, supporting continued progress towards its overall online sales penetration target of 18-20% by 2028. IKEA Food remains a critical traffic and revenue driver, representing 14% of total sales.

These combined with significant cost optimisation efforts in labour, supply chain and infrastructure across markets contributed to a US$10 million improvement in overall profitability.

RESTAURANTS

The Group’s share of Maxim’s underlying profits was US$72 million in 2025, an increase of 9% year-on-year, supported by resilient sales of US$3.1 billion, up 0.4% year-on-year, and ongoing cost optimisation. Improved mooncake sales during the mid-autumn festival and stronger restaurant performance in Southeast Asia was offset by challenging trading environment in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland. Cost management in these markets also supported overall profit growth. During the year, Maxim’s continued to expand its Southeast Asia network with 84 net new stores added, mainly in Thailand and Vietnam.

OUTLOOK

2025 marked a year of strong progress for DFI, with the strategic reset across our businesses driving improved underlying profitability in both subsidiaries and associates, a stronger ROCE and enhanced shareholder returns. Our strengthened balance sheet and disciplined use of capital provides capacity to reinvest for growth both organically and inorganically, laying a strong foundation as we pursue our financial ambitions of achieving a US$310-350 million underlying profit (+11% CAGR at midpoint compared to 2025⁷) and a 7-10% online sales mix by 2028.

At our inaugural Investor Day, we outlined clear strategic priorities which include strengthening our value proposition, enhancing omnichannel capabilities, accelerating Own Brand innovation, deepening digital monetisation, and leveraging data to deliver better outcomes for both customers and supplier partners.

For the full year of 2026, the Group expects organic revenue growth of approximately 2-3%⁸and underlying profit attributable to shareholders to be between US$270 million and US$300 million. Excluding the divestment impact of Singapore Food and Robinsons Retail, this would represent a year-on-year growth of 13-25%.

Looking into 2026 and beyond, I am confident that DFI has developed a renewed foundation as we execute against our strategic priorities to deliver sustained, profitable growth, drive market share gains across our formats and generate long-term returns for our shareholders.

Scott Price

Group Chief Executive

—————–
1 Excluding Singapore Food business and minority stake in Robinsons Retail upon completion of divestment in 2025
2 Based on a third-party assured price comparison of a 200-item comparable basket between DFI and Greater Bay Area

3 Excluding Singapore Food. Divestment of business was completed in early December 2025.
4 Excluding Singapore Food, cigarettes under Convenience and IKEA food
5 Excluding financial contribution from Singapore Food (December 2024) and Hero Supermarket (2024) for comparison purpose
6 Free cash flow is equivalent to cash flows from operating activities after lease payments minus normal capital expenditure

7 Excluding Singapore Food business and minority stake in Robinsons Retail upon completion of divestment in 2025

8 Excluding Singapore Food business

Hashtag: #DFIRetailGroup #Mannings #Guardian #7-Eleven #Wellcome #MarketPlace #IKEA #yuu #Maxim’s

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

DFI Retail Group

DFI Retail Group (the Group) is a leading Asian retailer, driven by its purpose to ‘Sustainably Serve Asia for Generations with Everyday Moments’.

At 31 December 2025, the Group and its associates operated 7,580 outlets across 12 markets, of which 5,529 stores were operated by subsidiaries. The Group, together with associates, employed over 79,000 people, with some 42,000 people employed by subsidiaries. The Group had reported revenue of US$8.9 billion in 2025.

The Group is dedicated to delivering quality, value and service to Asian consumers through a compelling retail experience, supported by an extensive store network and highly efficient supply chains.

The Group and its associates, operates a portfolio of well-known brands across five key divisions. The principal brands are:

Health and Beauty

• Mannings on the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macau S.A.R.; Guardian in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam.

Convenience

• 7-Eleven in Hong Kong and Macau S.A.R., Singapore and Southern China.

Food

• Wellcome and Market Place in Hong Kong S.A.R.; San Miu in Macau S.A.R.; Lucky in Cambodia.

Home Furnishings

• IKEA in Hong Kong and Macau S.A.R., Indonesia and Taiwan.

Restaurants

• Hong Kong Maxim’s group on the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macau S.A.R., Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Group’s parent company, DFI Retail Group Holdings Limited, is incorporated in Bermuda and has a primary listing in the equity shares (transition) category of the London Stock Exchange, with secondary listings in Bermuda and Singapore. The Group’s businesses are managed from Hong Kong. DFI Retail Group is a member of the Jardine Matheson group.

Media OutReach

Voicecomm Technology (02495.HK) Announces 2025 Annual Results

Published

16 hours ago

27/03/2026

Media Outreach

High-Quality Growth with Improved Gross Profit Margin, increasing R&D Investment and Strategic Focus on Trustworthy Agents Ecosystem

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 27 March 2026 – Voicecomm Technology Co., Ltd. (“Voicecomm Technology” or the “Company“, Stock Code: 2495.HK), a core technology provider and ecosystem operator of trustworthy conversational AI in China, announced its annual results for the year ended December 31, 2025. Leveraging its deep technological expertise and forward-looking strategic initiatives in trustworthy conversational AI, the Company achieved steady revenue growth, continuous improvement in profitability, and a significant enhancement in operating cash flow, further strengthening its competitive edge in the enterprise-level trustworthy Agent sector.

Gross Profit Margin Steadily Improves, Operating Cash Flow Turns Strongly Positive

In 2025, the Company’s total revenue successfully exceeded the RMB1 billion mark, reaching RMB1,006.9 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 7.0%. Gross profit amounted to RMB551.2 million, increased by 8.0% from the previous year, while the gross profit margin increased by 0.5 percentage point to 54.7% from 54.2% in the same period last year, reflecting the high-value-added products and technical services of the Company, as well as effective cost control.

Notably, the Company’s net cash generated from operating activities turned strongly positive, reaching a net inflow of RMB212.5 million, compared to a net outflow of RMB129.2 million in the same period last year. This improvement underscores enhanced operational efficiency and reflects strengthened receivables management, which accelerated cash collection.

Profit for the year amounted to RMB140.2 million. The significant increase in net profit compared to the same period last year was mainly attributable to eliminating the impacts of changes in carrying amount of redeemable capital contributions, an accounting adjustment arising from financing agreements entered into with shareholders prior to the Listing and completion of the Global Offering.

Increasing R&D Investment to Strengthen the Trustworthy Agent Technology Foundations

As a technology-centric product company, Voicecomm Technology remains committed to the independent R&D and innovation of underlying technologies. In 2025, the Company’s research and development expenses reached RMB224.3 million, representing a substantial year-on-year increase of 67.7%. The investment was primarily directed towards developing Agents with continuous learning capabilities and a technical framework for Multi-agent collaboration, aiming to enhance technological capabilities and elevate the level of product innovation. This reinforces our trustworthy Agent technical architecture composed of three layers: “Multimodal Perception + Multi-model Thinking + Multi-agent Collaboration”.

This architecture takes the “meta-model” as the core to effectively alleviate the common pain points of in enterprise-level implementation, such as hallucinations, controllability and data security, by integrating the generalization capabilities of large language models with the precision of vertical domain knowledge. On this basis, the Company have formed a deliverable and operable trustworthy Agent product system, to ensure that the Agents are usable, manageable, and controllable in enterprise environments, thereby powering the intelligent upgrade of six core application scenarios: City management and administration, Automotive and transportation, Telecommunications, Finance, Healthcare, and Energy management.

Productization Strategy Drives Deep Application across Six Core Scenarios

Voicecomm Technology focuses on empowering various industries through superior products and technologies. In 2025, leveraging its mature product matrix, the Company successfully established replicable benchmark standards across multiple application scenarios.

City Management and Administration: As a leading solution provider in the smart government sector in China, the Company’s business has covered more than 130 prefecture-level cities. The “Smart Government Agent” deeply integrates the capacities of large language models, enabling more intelligent and automated government services with standardized and intelligent applications in scenarios such as government hotlines and city governance.

Automotive and Transportation: The Company successfully established benchmark autonomous driving projects in cities such as Mianyang, Zibo, and Ezhou, building a successful and replicable “Smart Transportation Agent” solution. For the Mianyang Science and Technology New City project, a total of 96 autonomous vehicles have been deployed, and the project was successfully selected as a National AI Application Pilot Testing Base in the transportation sector. In January 2026, the Company newly won the bid for the “Ezhou Huahu Airport Smart Port” autonomous driving bus procurement and operation project, further expanding its application boundaries.

Healthcare: In January 2026, the Company successfully won the bid for the “Chuannan Smart Valley AI Vertical Large Model Innovation Platform – Silver Economy Construction and Operation Project” in Neijiang City, Sichuan Province, with a total contract value of nearly RMB300 million. This project represents the Company’s first “AI + Elderly Care” city-level benchmark demonstration project. It adopts a closed-loop collaborative model of “online platform + offline service network + home terminals,” integrating Agents capabilities with the Company’s “vertical small model microservices” system in areas such as Health Early Warning, Cognitive Ability Assessment, and emotional companionship into a productized solution, thereby establishing rapidly replicable city-level smart elderly care operational benchmark.

Telecommunications, Finance, and Energy Management: The Company continues to deepen collaborations with leading enterprises in the telecommunications and finance sectors, leveraging the “Telecommunication Service Agent” and “Financial Service Agent” to enhance service efficiency and user service value. Meanwhile, its AI-powered smart charging solution has been progressively integrating charging pile networks in China and across several Southeast Asian countries.

Benefiting from the successful implementation of the Company’s productization strategy and the high level of market recognition for its trustworthy Agent solutions, as of December 31, 2025, the Group’s project pipeline and orders in hand saw significant growth. The number of ongoing projects at year-end increased to 320, representing a year-on-year increase of 41.6%, while the outstanding contract sum at year-end rose to RMB1,048.9 million, a year-on-year increase of 57.4%, reflecting the continued expansion of the Company’s business.

Future Outlook: Focusing on the Trustworthy Agents Ecosystem with Four Strategic Priorities

Looking ahead, the Company will firmly focus on its goal of “building a trustworthy conversational AI ecosystem” and will advance the following strategic priorities:

Overall and Technology Strategy: Continue to focus on R&D and innovation in frontier technologies such as multi-modal fusion and trustworthy intelligence, promoting the deployment of trustworthy agents across more application scenarios. By creating open technology platforms and standards, the Company will attract more developers and partners to jointly build a prosperous and win-win industrial ecosystem.

Market Strategy: Establish benchmarks for quality and innovation within the industry and deepening partnerships with various service channels. At the same time, the Company will actively expand into the C-end market, extending cutting-edge technologies to a wider user base, thereby expanding the influence and commercial value of the ecosystem.

Regional Strategy: Domestically, the Company will continue to deepen its partnerships with major cooperating cities to create smart city benchmark cases. Internationally, the Company will actively respond to the “Belt and Road” initiative, grasp the tremendous potential of emerging markets, and promote the Company’s trustworthy Agent products and services globally to enhance its international brand image.

Investment Strategy: Through prudent strategic investments and M&A, the Company will optimize the layout of the upstream and downstream industry chains and consolidate the stability and competitiveness of the ecosystem.

DR.Tang Jinghua, Chairman ofVoicecomm Technology Co., Ltd., said: ” 2025 was a landmark year for Voicecomm Technology. We not only achieved a strong turnaround in operating cash flow and a steady increase in gross profit margin financially, but we also completed a strategic leap at the technological and business level towards becoming a ‘a core technology provider and ecosystem operator of trustworthy conversational AI.’ We deeply understand that the essence of enterprise-grade AI lies in creating replicable and reliable products and technology foundations. During the year, we significantly increased R&D investment and successfully applied our trustworthy Agents across six core scenarios, particularly in city-level benchmark projects in emerging fields like smart elderly care, showing the strong competitiveness of our productization strategy. Looking to the future, we will continue to pursue the goal of ‘building a trustworthy conversational AI ecosystem,’ leveraging an open platform to gather ecosystem partners and empowering diverse industries with innovative technology, thereby creating long-term sustainable value for our shareholders and society. ”

Hashtag: #Voicecomm

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Voicecomm Technology Co., Ltd.

Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Wuhan, Voicecomm Technology is one of the leading core technology providers and ecosystem operators of trustworthy conversational AI listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and obtained the qualification as National-level SRDI, Technology Little Giant and High-Tech Enterprise. Leveraging its proprietary trustworthy Agent，the Company overcomes pain points in the commercialization of large language models, such as hallucinations and compliance issues, ensuring AI is usable, manageable, and controllable in enterprise environments. For enterprise-level customers, the Company provides AI services covering the entire process of “communication –decision – execution”. Its trustworthy Agent solutions have been widely deployed across multiple scenarios, including City management and administration, Automotive and transportation, Telecommunications, Finance, Healthcare, and Energy management, and it is dedicated to empowering the intelligent transformation of diverse industries.

Media OutReach

Bassoon & Baton — French May Arts Festival 2026

Published

17 hours ago

27/03/2026

Media Outreach

City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 27 March 2026 – On 21 April 2026 at Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall, 8:00pm, the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong (CCOHK) presents Bassoon & Baton, a rare showcase of the bassoon’s lyrical voice and virtuosic brilliance. Held as part of the French May Arts Festival 2026, the programme features the Hong Kong debut of Sophie Dervaux, the internationally acclaimed French bassoonist and principal bassoonist of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. She performs bassoon concertos by Vivaldi, Mozart and Hummel and takes up the baton to conduct orchestral works by French composers Lully, Guy Ropartz and Gossec, thereby highlighting her dual artistry as both soloist and conductor.

City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong
Bassoon & Baton — French May Arts Festival 2026
Sophie Dervaux bassoon/guest conductor

21 APR 2026 (Tue)
Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall, 8:00pm

PROGRAMME
Lully I Marche pour la Cérémonie des Turcs, LWV43
VivaldiI Concerto for Bassoon in G major, RV493
Guy Ropartz I Serenade for Strings
Mozart I Concerto for Bassoon in B-flat major, K.191
GossecI Symphony in C minor Op. 6 No. 3, RH24
Hummel I Grand Concerto in F major, S.63, WoO.23

Sophie Dervaux will also contribute to community activities in Hong Kong by holding two Bassoon masterclasses open to the public. On 18 April 2026, 10:30am–1:00pm, at Sing Music Academy, Room 901, On Lok Yuen Building 25-27A Des Voeux Road, Central, Hong Kong, and on 19 April 2026, 2:30pm–5:00pm, at CR2, 7/F Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall Backstage.

Sophie Dervaux’s outstanding career as a solo bassoonist, orchestral musician, conductor and recording artist includes her engagements with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (since 2015), the Vienna State Opera Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. She is a prize-winner of the prestigious ARD International Music Competition Munich (2013) and the Beethoven Ring Bonn (2014). Born in France, Sophie Dervaux studied at the Music Conservatory of Versailles, the Conservatoire de Paris in Lyon, the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin and at the Karajan Academy. She has performed at the Philharmonie de Paris, Berlin Philharmonie, Suntory Hall Tokyo, New York’s Carnegie Hall and the Royal Albert Hall in London. Her solo engagements include the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Bavarian Radio Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. On CD she has collaborated with Daniel Barenboim and Emmanuel Pahud. In 2021 she received the German Record Critics’ Award for her debut solo album on the Berlin Classics label. She is currently working on a project to record all 39 of Vivaldi’s bassoon concertos with La Folia Barockorchester. In addition to performing, Sophie Dervaux works internationally as a guest conductor and has appeared with the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Ensemble Kanazawa, the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and the KBS Symphony Orchestra in Seoul. She teaches bassoon at the Music and Arts University of The City of Vienna and plays on a Püchner bassoon.

Tickets priced at $450, $300 and $220 (with50% off for full-time students, senior citizens, Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients, people with disabilities and their accompanying minder), are available from all URBTIX outlets. For internet booking, visit www.urbtix.hk; for programme or other enquiries, call 2864 2156 or email in**@***hk.com.

BASSOON MASTERCLASS by SOPHIE DERVAUX
18 Apr (Sat) 10:30am-1:00pm, Sing Music Academy, Room 901, On Lok Yuen Building, 25-27A Des Voeux Road, Central, Hong Kong
19 Apr (Sun) 2:30pm-5:00pm, CR2, 7/F Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall Backstage
The masterclasses are open to observers at $100 per person.
Register Now (in**@***hk.com/2864 2156)

PHOTOS Link to: Sophie Dervaux
MEDIA ENQUIRIES (including artist interviews/photos): in**@***hk.com/2864 2154
WEBSITE:www.ccohk.com

Hashtag: #CityChamberOrchestraofHongKong #Bassoon&Baton

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong

City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong (CCOHK) holds a unique position as one of Asia’s leading chamber orchestras. Founded by oboist Leanne Nicholls in 1999, CCOHK has performed with many of the world’s most celebrated artists and composers including Sir James Galway, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Dame Emma Kirkby, Sir Thomas Allen, Sir Neville Marriner, Michala Petri, Christian Lindberg, Sarah Chang, Julian Lloyd Webber, Barry Douglas, Edgar Meyer, Branford Marsalis, Sir Karl Jenkins, Ney Rosauro, Richard Galliano and Alma Deutscher. The orchestra has also collaborated with celebrities including Dame Edna Everage, Hayley Westenra, Richard Clayderman, Robin Gibb and Canto-pop stars Sandy Lam, Hacken Lee, Hins Cheung, Ivana Wong and Jacky Cheung. Additional highlights include concerts with the Vienna Boys’ Choir, the Warsaw Boys’ Choir, The American Boychoir, the Swedish Voices Chamber Choir, the King’s Singers and The Swingle Singers. CCOHK’s progressive programming has been internationally recognized with tour invitations to festivals in London, L’Aquila, Taipei, Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai. At home CCOHK has performed for French May Arts Festival, Hong Kong Ballet, RTHK’s televised Christmas Concerts in the Park, the 2017 World Harp Congress, The Hong Kong Composers’ Guild and The Hong Kong International Piano Competition. Cinema and anime performances include Howard Blake’s The Snowman & The Bear, the Harry Potter series, Final Fantasy, Attack on Titan and One Piece Music Symphony. CCOHK is also a keen supporter of contemporary music and has commissioned works by Mao Yuan, Samson Young, Joyce Tang, Dobrinka Tabakova and Richard Harvey. The orchestra’s CDs include world premiere recordings on the NAXOS, Orchid Classics and OUR Recordings labels with Michala Petri, Dame Evelyn Glennie and bandoneón/piano duo Binelli-Ferman. CCOHK’s passion for building young audiences for music has inspired the creation of several award-winning productions and musicals. Credits include Magnificent Mozart, The Star Bach, The Bonn Man, Haydn & The Prince, Bug Symphony (winner of the Public Choice Award at the YAMawards in Portugal 2017), WILD (The Musical) (winner of the Public Choice Award at the YAMawards in Belgium 2022) and Shark Symphony. In 2023 CCOHK garnered five-star reviews for the London premiere of WILD (The Musical), and in the same year was voted into RTHK Radio 4’s Top Ten Music Headlines. Armenian French piano virtuoso Vahan Mardirossian serves as chief conductor (since 2019), succeeding French conductor Jean Thorel (2008 to 2016). CCOHK is currently a Venue Partner of Tsuen Wan Town Hall (since 2026) and the recipient of HKADC’s Eminent Arts Group Scheme (since 2024).

Media OutReach

Innomotics is market leader for turbine replacement technology

Published

1 day ago

26/03/2026

Media Outreach

Innomotics wins several orders to provide motor and drive technology for turbine replacement projects, totaling a volume in the higher double-digit million EUR range
Environmental, operational and financial benefits for many industries and industrial applications
Geographic diversity underlines market potential

NUREMBERG, GERMANY – Newsaktuell – 26 March 2026 – Innomotics, a globally leading supplier of electric motor and large drive systems, has won several major orders for turbine replacement projects on nearly every continent. The total volume for all orders is in the higher double-digit million EUR range.

The Innomotics HV Series HS-modyn built at Dynamowerk in Berlin, setting standards when it comes to the availability of compressor drives: due to the unique rotor design it has the highest degree of reliability and minimum maintenance costs./Innomotics

With increased electrification of industrial applications, significant operational cost efficiency and CO₂ reduction can be gained by changing existing turbines with an electric drive system, the so-called Turbine Replacement Technology. This can be used for high-speed pump applications (centrifugal pumps) as well as for high-power compressor systems in refineries, petrochemicals, or oil and gas.

Especially the need for supplying large-scale turbine driven boiler feed pump applications in power plants with high voltage motors becomes increasingly important, as it significantly saves energy consumption, CO₂ and operational costs.

The transition to electric drive technology for rotating equipment is an important part of the overall plant electrification and decarbonization pathway, reducing the use of costly and environmentally harmful carbon fuels.

By sourcing the power from a renewable source such as wind, solar or hydro, CO₂ emissions can be practically eliminated. This is especially relevant for energy-intensive industries and industrial applications. Beyond ecological aspects, the use of high-speed motor systems offers significant benefits to customers, such as increasing efficiency, reducing operational costs and maintenance requirements as well as easy construction and start-up.

“Replacing existing gas and steam turbines with electrical motor and drive systems is a complex task. Thanks to our highly motivated and skilled team, Innomotics is thought leader and pace setter for turbine replacement technology for more than 25 years now and with more than 70 Turbine Replacement projects globally realized. Our outstanding portfolio sets standards: The reliability and availability of our advanced High-speed High Voltage Motor system technology is unrivaled in the field, due to our unique rotor design. Additionally, our Medium Voltage Drive technology includes extended redundancy measures such as cell by-pass systems for maximum uptime”, says Michael Reichle, CEO of Innomotics.

Operators of turbine-driven systems currently face high operational costs, which can be significantly reduced or even eliminated through turbine replacement technology. For example, in a project with Repsol in Spain, Innomotics helped avoid 68,000 tons of CO₂ emissions per year and reduce energy consumption by around 25 percent.

Recently awarded Turbine Replacement Projects

Electric Drive Upgrade for INA Refinery in Croatia:
INA is modernizing its refinery in Rijeka to improve efficiency and reduce emissions. As part of this transformation, steam turbines used to operate compressors are being replaced with electric drive systems. This reduces reliance on fossil fuels, lowers maintenance requirements, and increases overall energy efficiency.

To implement this upgrade within an operating refinery, INA partnered with Innomotics and Siemens Energy. The project includes four electric drive train systems, combining HV and HS-Modyn motors ranging from 1.8 MW to 6 MW with Innomotics Perfect Harmony GH180 variable frequency drives.

The solution ensures high reliability through redundant system design and enables fast installation on existing foundations with minimal construction effort. As a result, INA reduced significantly CO₂ emissions by 96,000 tons, reduced operating costs, total high-pressure steam production reduced by around 25%, and improved availability.

Turbine Replacement Technology for Repsol Industrial Complex in Spain:
Repsol has electrified a gas compressor at its Puertollano Industrial Complex by replacing a steam turbine with an electric motor solution from Innomotics. This upgrade improves energy efficiency by 25 percent and reduces CO₂ emissions by approximately 68,000 tons per year. The solution includes a High Voltage Motor combined with a Perfect Harmony GH180 Medium Voltage Drive, delivering 8.25 MW at 5,800 rpm. Designed for high reliability and continuous operation, the system enables maintenance intervals of up to five years. With this electrification project, Repsol strengthens its commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 while significantly improving operational efficiency and system availability.

Turbine Replacement Technology for Chemicals Park in the Netherlands:
The owner and operator of a chemicals park in the Netherlands aims to accelerate the energy transition of the Dutch chemical industry. One of their three major goals is to achieve net zero emissions within ten years. Therefore, Innomotics was awarded for a turbine replacement project in a propylene plant. The order amounts a considerable value for Innomotics and includes a 25MW as well as an 8.6MW high-speed induction motor together with two Innomotics Medium Voltage GH150 drives. The order also includes comprehensive services.

Turbine Replacement Technology for Power Plants in Republic of Korea:
A Korean energy producer and provider awarded Innomotics an order to replace the previous turbine technology with a 12.5MW electric Innomotics High-speed High Voltage Motor and Medium Voltage Drives. With that replacement the company benefits from higher energy efficiency of at least 20 percent and the associated energy savings as well as reduced CO₂ emissions. The Innomotics solution therefore contributes directly to the customer’s net zero carbon strategy. The parallel operation of three Medium Voltage Drives ensures a particularly uninterrupted and stable power supply.

Turbine Replacement for a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant in Spain:
At the top of its agenda, a German chemicals and plastics giant, has placed the motto: “Net Zero Emissions by 2050”. One measure the company takes accordingly is replacing steam production at co-generation plants with heat pumps and e-driven compressors. Therefore, the Spanish site, has started a turbine replacement project in their propylene production at a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant. The order for Innomotics amounts to a double digit million Euros and includes a 23.3MW High-speed High Voltage induction motor, together with a Medium Voltage Drives and a converter transformer.

Turbine Replacement for Indian natural gas company:
Furthermore, Innomotics has won a pilot order to replace one out of eight installed gas turbines for a state-owned energy corporation in the state of Madhya Pradesh (India). This order creates a new benchmark in the gas turbine replacement market to the extent that the proposed solution will consist of an Innomotics High Voltage HV-M Motor, together with a gearbox and an Innomotics Medium Voltage Drive instead of a High-speed High Voltage Motor system.

Additional Turbine Replacement materials:
Whitepaper on Turbine Replacement
Expert Video concerning Turbine Replacement
Operational savings calculator, reference projects and success stories
Podcast episode on Spotify
Explore the 3D visualization in our virtual world: Innomotics Electrosphere

For more information, visit https://www.innomotics.com/hub/en/applications/turbine-replacement

Hashtag: #Innomotics

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.