Finance
Bairong Inc. Announces 2024 Annual Financial Results
Solid Revenue Growth Coupled with High Gross Profit Margin (73%) and Non-IFRS Profit (RMB 376 Million)
BEIJING, March 26, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Bairong Inc. (the “Company”, “we” , “us” or “our” ; HKEX: 6608), a leading cloud-based AI turnkey service provider, today announced the consolidated results of the Company for the year ended December 31, 2024.
Mr. Zhang Shaofeng, our founder, chief executive officer and chairman of the Board, commented:
“As a leading cloud-based AI turnkey service provider, Bairong achieved revenue growth and sustained profitability in 2024 when the industry as a whole was weak. We also generated an operating cash flow of RMB 303 million in 2024, which fully demonstrates the resilience of our business. In terms of technology and products, our VoiceGPT continues to iterate rapidly, and at the same time, new products such as the digital human All – in – One Machine AvatarGPT and Cybotstar Agent Platform have been further implemented. In 2025, we will increase our investment in new businesses and new scenarios, especially in the two fields of Pan-financial AI and Pan-industry AI, so as to achieve a vertical and horizontal business layout supported by AGI.”
Financial Summary
|
Year ended December 31, |
|||
|
2024 |
2023 |
Change |
|
|
(RMB in thousands, except percentages) |
|||
|
Revenue |
2,929,267 |
2,680,915 |
9 % |
|
Model as a service (“MaaS“) |
932,473 |
891,248 |
5 % |
|
Business as a service (“BaaS“) |
1,996,794 |
1,789,667 |
12 % |
|
BaaS – Financial Scenario |
1,410,695 |
1,184,728 |
19 % |
|
BaaS – Insurance Scenario |
586,099 |
604,939 |
(3 %) |
|
Gross profit |
2,141,712 |
1,954,532 |
10 % |
|
Operating profit |
285,234 |
346,886 |
(18 %) |
|
Profit for the period |
266,029 |
335,259 |
(21 %) |
|
Non-IFRS measures |
|||
|
Non-IFRS profit for the period |
376,051 |
375,064 |
— |
|
Non-IFRS EBITDA |
486,176 |
463,782 |
5 % |
Revenue
Our total revenue increased by 9% from RMB2,680.92 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 to RMB2,929.27 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, primarily attributable to our enhanced capabilities of providing products and services despite a challenging macroeconomic and consumption environment.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, our MaaS business reported revenue of RMB932.47 million, representing an increase of 5% year-over-year. During the Reporting Period, the number of Key Clients reached 211, while average revenue per Key Client was RMB3.37 million. Our Key Client retention rate was 97%.
Key metrics of MaaS
|
Year ended December 31, |
|||
|
2024 |
2023 |
Change (%) |
|
|
(unaudited) |
(unaudited) |
||
|
(RMB in thousands, except percentages) |
|||
|
Revenue from MaaS |
932,473 |
891,248 |
5 |
|
Revenue from Key Clients(Note) |
711,328 |
744,489 |
(4) |
|
Number of Key Clients |
211 |
213 |
(1) |
|
Average revenue per Key Client |
3,371 |
3,495 |
(4) |
|
Retention rate of Key Clients |
97 % |
99 % |
(2) pct |
|
Note:“Key Clients” are defined as paying clients that each contributes more than RMB300,000 total |
|||
In 2024, our BaaS – Financial Scenario business reported revenue of RMB1,410.70 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 19% from RMB1,184.73 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. During the Reporting Period, we maintained growth against the industry’s downturn, with our brand gaining increasing recognition from more and more partners. A significant number of institutions prioritize choosing us as their partner of choice, indicating that the brand effect has been established.
Stocks sank on Friday as the reality of an all-out trade war following President Trump’s sweeping tariffs set in, fueling Wall Street strategists’ worst fears about how far the S&P 500 (^GSPC) could fall in 2025.
Amid a $2.5 trillion wipeout in markets on Thursday, strategists had warned stock indexes could face further downside should the trade war escalate. On Friday morning, that fear became a reality.
Stock losses accelerated before the bell after China said on Friday it would impose additional tariffs of 34% on all US products from April 10 — matching the extra 34% duties imposed by Trump on Wednesday.
By 11 a.m. ET, The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) pulled back 3.5%, or about 1,400 points, on pace to close in correction territory. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) sank about 3.8% as the broad-based benchmark was headed for its worst week since 2020. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) also dropped 4.2%.
Friday’s losses extended a $2.5 trillion wipeout as markets digested President Trump’s launch of the most aggressive tariff plan in a century.
As of 12:38:15 PM EDT. Market Open.
^GSPC ^DJI ^IXIC
“If high tariff rates stay in place, negotiations are drawn out over a multi-month period and additional measures are taken with key trading partners, the risk of a recession/our bear case is likely to rise more materially,” Morgan Stanley chief investment officer Mike Wilson wrote in a note to clients on Thursday night. Wilson’s bear case projects the S&P 500 to end at 4,600, a level not seen on the benchmark index since December 2023.
The recent move in markets has already pushed some strategists to become less confident in stocks’ ability to rebound from the recent crash. In a note early Friday morning before China’s reciprocal tariffs were announced, RBC Capital Markets head of US equity strategy Lori Calvasina lowered her year-end S&P 500 target to 5,550 from a prior target of 6,200. That target of 6,200 had already been lowered from 6,600 less than a month ago.
“Our old bear case for the index this year has become our new base case,” Calvasina wrote.
As of Friday morning, it doesn’t appear the administration is backing down from its firm tariff stance. In a Truth Social post on Friday, Trump wrote, “MY POLICIES WILL NEVER CHANGE. THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO GET RICH, RICHER THAN EVER BEFORE!!!”
At this point, with the administration holding firm and other trade partners retaliating rather than negotiating, some on Wall Street don’t see the tariff turmoil ending anytime soon.
Read more: What Trump’s tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet
Luzerne County’s Government Study Commission approved several budget and finance recommendations Thursday.
The citizen commission is drafting a revised county home rule charter for voters to consider in November.
One recommendation would add a restriction to the county manager’s authority to transfer budgeted funds within departments.
The proposed new wording would not allow such transfers if the funds are used to create a new position or increase the salary for any position above the annual amount budgeted for that year.
Other than this new restriction, the manager would retain authority to make budget transfers, with the requirement to notify council and the controller within five days after a transfer is made.
Commission member Stephen J. Urban pushed for the transfer restriction, saying at a meeting last month the manager should be required to return to council for approval to increase transparency and council involvement in staffing changes that impact future budgets.
“You want to give the manager the flexibility to create positions, but you also have to give that mutual respect to council for controlling the budget and keeping that check and balance in play that council has to make sure the dollars are there and allocated,” Urban said.
All seven commission members approved the restriction Thursday.
Another recommendation approved Thursday would extend the deadline for annual county audits from six months to eight months following the close of a fiscal year.
Plains Township resident Gerald Cross, who had served as a consultant for drafters of the current charter, recommended the audit deadline extension earlier this year. Cross told the commission he heard complaints from auditors that the six-month deadline is too aggressive, particularly for a county this size.
A date related to the county’s annual budget adoption also would be altered in Thursday’s recommendations.
The charter says the budget must be approved between Nov. 15 and Dec. 15. The commission kept the Dec. 15 deadline but eliminated the window.
Commission member Tim McGinley said council may be in a position to approve the budget before Nov. 15, particularly in years when there is not a tax increase.
Finally, the commission recommended wording requiring “the creation and/or maintenance of a county reserve fund” as part of the county’s annual long-range operational, fiscal and capital plan.
Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.
Finance
Stock market today: S&P 500, Nasdaq plunge, Dow drops 1,200 points as Trump’s tariffs rip through global markets
Apple (AAPL) shares fell over 7% before the bell, still leading the sell-off in tech stocks that followed Trump’s bigger-than-expected tariffs.
Apple’s overseas production hubs are particularly vulnerable, given the iPhone maker’s presence in China, Vietnam, and India. These countries will face tariffs of 34%, 46%, and 26%, respectively, once additional levies are taken into account.
“Apple produces basically all their iPhones in China, and the question will be around exceptions and exemptions on this tariff policy if those companies are building more operations, factories, and plants in the US like Apple announced in February,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a note to clients on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in techs, chip stocks should also face significant pressure, with Nvidia (NVDA) and others exposed to China and Taiwan supply chains.
“The worry will be around pricing and margin impacts along with what this means for the global supply chain looking forward,” Ives said.
For now, the analyst continues to believe major negotiations will happen over the coming months as companies attempt to navigate “this new world of tariffs.” Until then, he warned, “tech stocks will clearly be under major pressure.”
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