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HONG KONG, Jan. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited (“iClick” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: ICLK), an independent online marketing and enterprise data solutions provider in China, today announces the release of the following letter to shareholders from Mr. Jian “T.J.” Tang, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of iClick.
Dear iClick Shareholders,
I am happy to write this second letter to shareholders from a position of strength and optimism despite the incredible strain the COVID pandemic has placed on global economies. While the events of 2020 were unforeseen at the time of my first letter to shareholders, I believe our company’s response to the pandemic underscores the iClick team’s dedication and ingenuity in times of crisis. Please rest assured that we will see continued resilient growth ahead with our clear strategy and outstanding execution as the Chinese economy is accelerating its digital transformation.
A year ago, I laid out three targets for 2020, and I am happy to now report the success we have had with each one:
1. Improving the profitability of our Marketing Solutions: iClick has realized an adjusted net profit for four quarters in a row due primarily to the business having realized economies of scale and as a result of our efforts with new marketing formats, such as multi-channel networks (“MCN”), key opinion leaders (“KOL”) and short-form videos. Notably, iFans, our KOL marketing intelligence platform, has been selected as SaaS Premium Select as part of Tencent’s Qianfan Plan and will help brands and MCNs realize marketing digitalization by leveraging Tencent Cloud. Based on our current outlook, we are optimistic that 2020 will be our first full year of positive adjusted net income.
2. Resilient growth from Enterprise Solutions: For the first three quarters of 2020, our Enterprise Solutions (ES) revenue reached $18.3 million, exceeding our full-year 2019 ES revenue of $10.4 million, and we expect full-year ES revenue to be more than double on a year-over-year basis. In addition, we have acquired around 100 additional major ES clients in the first three quarters of 2020, including prestigious companies like QiaQia Food, Xiangpiaopiao, and Adopt A Cow. We have also leveraged additional M&A opportunities to accelerate the growth of our ES segment, as demonstrated by our increased equity stake in Changyi. We have also been shortlisted into Tencent’s “Qianfan Plan – SaaS Accelerator”, which highlights our solid capability in this area.
3. New opportunities from partnerships: In 2020, we succeeded in establishing key partnerships in our ES segment with other global technology and consumer leaders. We formed a strategic collaboration with Tencent International Business Group to develop Smart SaaS solutions in key APAC markets. We also partnered with Tencent Cloud to launch a new SaaS platform jointly with Tencent Culture and Tourism, to help tourism operators in China boost their revenues.
The successful execution of all these three targets have brought us outstanding financial results in 2020. We are confident to meet our annual guidance and our business goals. This is likely to help drive another record year in various areas. Additionally, our execution of iClick’s strategy has been acknowledged by a number of prestigious global institutional investors as we have successfully completed follow-on equity offerings in September 2020. As a result, we are now well-positioned to execute our corporate strategy of transitioning into an integrated Enterprise and Marketing Cloud Platform.
The next three years will be crucial for iClick. With the integrated offerings, we can serve the digital transformation needs of enterprises and help brands access the trillion-dollar offline retail market in the post-epidemic era. This will lead to the growth of iClick’s own business while aligning us with China’s increasing digitalization of its economy. We are looking forward to establishing our position in this essential process while continuing to create long-term value for our shareholders.
We will continue to help brands build integrated online-to-offline products and platforms based on WeChat and KOL ecosystems, form closed-loop data streams, manage up omni-channels, establish consumers data assets, and reconstruct business scenarios to fully assist enterprises in achieving their digital operation and management goals. We will also accelerate our standard SaaS products rollout to provide premium services for our clients.
Over the past year – my first year as the CEO of iClick – our strategies, execution plans and performance have become clearer. In order to accelerate iClick’s pace to become China’s top integrated Enterprise and Marketing Cloud Platform, our management team has deployed actionable plans from different perspectives, including company culture, innovation mechanisms and talent development, which we strongly believe will help further enrich our products and businesses and fuel iClick’s scalable development.
In conclusion, we want to thank all our shareholders for their belief in the management team and our success in the enterprise digitalization market. With our outstanding team and clear vision, we are confident in our strategy and our ability to execute and deliver excellent financial results. Looking to the upcoming years, we expect to see continued healthy growth in our Marketing Solutions segment and more robust growth from our Enterprise Solutions segment. With your support, we look forward to another record year ahead!
Sincerely,
Jian “T.J.” Tang
Chief Executive Officer
About iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited
iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited (NASDAQ: ICLK) is an independent online marketing and enterprise data solutions provider that connects worldwide marketers with audiences in China. Built on cutting-edge technologies, our proprietary platform possesses omni-channel marketing capabilities and fulfils various marketing objectives in a data-driven and automated manner, helping both international and domestic marketers reach their target audiences in China. Headquartered in Hong Kong, iClick was established in 2009 and is currently operating in ten locations
Safe Harbor Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements, including those related to the Company’s business strategies, operations and financial performance. These statements constitute “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “confident” and similar statements. Such statements are based upon management’s current expectations and current market and operating conditions and relate to events that involve known or unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the Company’s control. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: the Company’s fluctuations in growth; its success in implementing its mobile and new retail strategies, including extending its solutions beyond its core online marketing business; its success in structuring a CRM & Marketing Cloud platform; relative percentage of its gross billing recognized as revenue under the gross and net models; its ability to retain existing clients or attract new ones; its ability to retain content distribution channels and negotiate favourable contractual terms; market competition, including from independent online marketing technology platforms as well as large and well-established internet companies; market acceptance of online marketing technology solutions and enterprise solutions; effectiveness of its algorithms and data engines; its ability to collect and use data from various sources; ability to integrate and realize synergies from acquisitions, investments or strategic partnership; the duration of the COVID-19 outbreak and its potential impact on the Company’s business and financial performance; fluctuations in foreign exchange rates; and general economic conditions in China and other jurisdictions where the Company operates; and the regulatory landscape in China and other jurisdictions where the Company operates. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company’s annual report on Form 20-F and other filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.
For investor and media inquiries, please contact:
In China: |
In the United States: |
iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited |
Core IR |
Lisa Li |
Tom Caden |
Phone: +86-21-3230-3931 #892 |
Tel: +1-516-222-2560 |
E-mail: ir@i-click.com |
E-mail: tomc@coreir.com |
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