Lianlian DigiTech Co., Ltd. (HKEX: 2598), a leader in China’s digital payment solution market and global commerce digitalization, today announced full-year results for the year ended December 31, 2024.
· Total payment volume (TPV) of the digital payment business reached RMB 3.30 trillion, representing a significant year-on-year increase of 64.7%
· Total revenue amounted to RMB 1.32 billion with year-on-year growth of 27.9%, exceeding market expectations. Total revenue from the digital payment business in particular amounted to RMB 1.15 billion, with 31.6% year-on-year growth
· Gross profit amounted to RMB 683 million, with an overall gross profit margin of 51.9%
· Lianlian DigiTech’s adjusted net profit on a non-IFRS basis was RMB 78.70 million, up from RMB403 million loss in 2023, showing a remarkable improvement in profitability and demonstrating solid financial performance and robust operational capabilities
Xin Jie, Executive Director and CEO of Lianlian DigiTech, commented, “2024 marked our first year as a listed company on HKEX, and we are pleased to report strong results to our investors. Following our listing, we continued to expand our global licensing network, strengthen our compliance capabilities, enhance our product and service offerings, and grow our customer base. These efforts have fueled the further expansion of our global footprint and driven significant growth in our performance. Over the years, we have remained dedicated to serving global SMEs and trading customers while collaborating with other key players in the e-commerce ecosystem. With our deep understanding of customers, markets, and industries, coupled with our advanced technology platform and innovative products and solutions, we have developed a unique and lasting competitive advantage.”
Xin Jie continued, “In the past year, we successfully obtained a Luxembourg Electronic Money Institution (EMI) License, and our wholly-owned subsidiary, DFX Labs Company Limited, obtained a virtual asset trading platform (VATP) license from the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC). Additionally, we launched a suite of innovative products such as corporate wallets and LGPS, further strengthening our competitive edge. Leveraging our robust licensing portfolio, we are deploying cutting-edge technologies like AI and blockchain. Looking ahead, we are confident in our ability to create a superior service experience for customers, improve efficiency, and generate better investment returns for shareholders.”
Leading the Way in Cross-Border Commerce
During 2024, building on a globalization strategy centering on licensing and compliance, Lianlian continued to expand its global presence empowering the cross-border ecosystem, and facilitating the growth of global trade. During the period, the global payment business saw significant growth, with TPV reaching RMB 281.5 billion, up 63.1% year-on-year. Total revenue from the global payment business also increased to RMB 808 million, a 23.1% year-on-year increase. By the end of 2024, Lianlian DigiTech has served a cumulative total of over 5.9 million customers.
Lianlian DigiTech has established deep partnerships with various emerging e-commerce platforms and built a robust global pay-in and pay-out network. Consequently, customers have benefitted from a wider variety of pay-in and pay-out solutions. These partnerships have helped emerging platforms overcome cross-border trade barriers, empowering them to expand their global reach.
The company continues to leverage its robust technology research and development capabilities to optimize its stable and scalable proprietary platform. This platform offers a comprehensive one-stop service that includes payments, funds transfers, global payouts, smart foreign exchange processing, and intelligent risk management, catering to the diverse needs of customers across various industries and business scales.
Additionally, the company concentrated on services trade and the B2B sector, allowing it to deeply penetrate specialized industrial zones in China and gain a precise understanding of the unique needs of enterprises. This insight has enabled continuous iteration of product and service functions, ensuring the provision of more targeted cross-border payment solutions. These solutions effectively address the cross-border payment challenges faced by businesses of all sizes and across various industries, significantly improving their operational efficiency and empowering their success in the global market.
Powering Enterprise Growth Through Integrated Payments
Lianlian Digitech has an interconnected domestic and international business model which helps unlock synergies between domestic and global payments, and in turn drives the efficient growth of the domestic payment business. During the period, Lianlian DigiTech’s domestic payment business achieved a TPV of RMB3.0 trillion, a 64.9% year-on-year increase, and generated RMB343 million in revenue, up 57.1% year-on-year. Value-added services revenue was RMB146 million, a 9.5% year-on-year increase.
The company empowers enterprises’ digital transformation and globalization efforts through strategic innovation and new products, including digital marketing and corporate wallets. The digital marketing business aims to build a full-funnel marketing ecosystem, assisting enterprises in achieving targeted growth by expanding online and offline service capabilities across multiple scenarios and platforms. The corporate wallet product, in particular, breaks through the limitations of traditional payment tools, creating a comprehensive solution for multiple industry ecosystems such as business travel, catering, recycling, and logistics. This enables enterprises to transform their business models and upgrade their operations.
Additionally, Lianlian Digitech deeply integrates cutting-edge AI technology, continuously refining its product capabilities to enhance user experience and operational efficiency through intelligent solutions. This not only provides strong support for the digital transformation of enterprises but also creates greater value for customers with a novel, intelligent payment experience.
Wei Ping, CFO of Lianlian DigiTech, said, “Lianlian DigiTech’s continued strong performance this year is a direct result of our ongoing expansion of business boundaries. As the report shows, our revenues and operating profit, excluding IPO-related one-time expenses and non-cash option expenses, have all achieved significant growth compared to 2023. This reflects that our balanced growth strategy, that is, investing in new businesses, technologies, and licenses to enhance the core drivers of future sustainable revenue growth, while maintaining financial discipline and prudently managing our expenses, has started to pay off. Our IPO and the capital increase and equity transfer agreement signed with American Express during the period have provided a substantial boost to our balance sheet. Looking ahead, we will further solidify our global licensing portfolio, strengthen partnerships across our value chain, and steadily increase investment in technological innovation and differentiated products. While maintaining profitable growth, we will also strategically increase investments in acquisitions and other opportunities to secure healthier, long-term growth.”
