Connect with us

Technology

Computime Announces FY24/25 Interim Results

Published

on

Financial Results Met Our Expectations Amid Macroeconomic Challenges and Climatic Factors

Strengthening Global Presence Through “Glocalization” Approach

HONG KONG, Nov. 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Computime Group Limited (the “Company” or “Computime”, together with its subsidiaries, collectively the “Group”; stock code: 320.HK) is pleased to announce its interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2024 (“1H FY24/25” or the “Period”).

Financial Overview

The Group reported a revenue of HK$1,811.3 million in 1H FY24/25 (The six months ended 30 September 2023 (“1H FY23/24”): HK$2,046.8 million). This decline was mainly hindered by a HK$133 million backlog in shipments within the Control Solutions segment. After adjusting for this backlog, revenue reflects a 5% year-over-year decrease, which aligns with our expectations. The Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (“HVAC”) sector of Control Solutions faced challenges from climatic factors and reduced demand for new home construction, while the Branded Business struggled due to warm weather and slow construction activity.

As a result, gross profit fell to HK$282.9 million, an 8% decrease. However, the gross profit margin improved to 15.6%, driven by effective cost control and operational efficiencies. EBITDA was HK$146.5 million in 1H FY24/25, maintaining a stable EBITDA margin of 8.1%. As at 30 September 2024, cash and bank balances were HK$217.1 million, with net cash at a healthy HK$70.1 million.

Segment Review

In 2024, global economic growth has remained subdued. Geopolitical tensions, high interest rates, and various disruptions have dampened markets, particularly affecting the new home construction and residential retrofit activities in Western economies, which have also impacted us.

In the Control Solutions segment, revenue fell to HK$1,638.6 million, an 11.2% decrease from HK$1,844.4 million in the first half of FY23/24, primarily due to HK$133 million in shipment backlogs, and reduced demand in the HVAC sector offset gains in Appliances and Water and Air sectors. The Branded Business also faced challenges, with revenue dropping 14.6% to HK$172.8 million due to warmer weather and sluggish construction activity.

Despite these challenges in both segments caused by external market conditions and seasonal variations, we expect strategic initiatives and new product launches to bolster performance in the latter part of the year.

Our “Glocalization” Approach

As we expand our global footprint, we have further enhanced our presence by establishing the manufacturing facility in Romania and preparing our site in Vietnam. To effectively manage our global footprint, we utilize a “Glocalization” approach, which combines globalization and localization to better serve our customers and understand local markets. This strategy allows us to tailor our global products to meet specific regional needs.

Our “Glocalization” approach employs three operational models. The “Region-to-Region” model, with manufacturing sites in Romania, Mexico, Vietnam, and Malaysia, enhances our responsiveness to on-shoring demands in Europe and North America. Our “Hub and Spoke” structure provides centralized support for efficient resource management across regional offices. Additionally, the “Specialized and Flexible Hybrid” model enables locations to leverage their unique strengths. These strategies optimize operations, improve market reach, and enhance competitiveness in an increasingly complex global landscape.

Outlook

The macroeconomic landscape continues to present challenges, particularly in the newly built home property sector. However, residential retrofit activities have surged in 2024, driven by new energy-efficient upgrade standards in the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, signaling promising long-term opportunities.

Mr. Bernard AUYANG, Chairman, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Computime Group, commented, “Our commitment to sustainability aligns with growing consumer and regulatory demands for environmentally responsible solutions, positioning us favorably as more businesses and consumers prioritize eco-friendly practices.”

He continued: “Despite current market sluggishness, our ‘Glocalization’ approach has fostered strong relationships with customers, enabling us to secure order volumes and initiate new projects. Our focus on innovation and sustainable solutions, along with continued investments in Research and Development and the establishment of a technology hub, will enhance our competitiveness. While macroeconomic conditions may remain challenging, our strategic emphasis on sustainability and customer relationships will drive future success.”

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/computime-announces-fy2425-interim-results-302318282.html

SOURCE Computime Group Limited

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Technology

Shoplazza Launches the World’s First AI-Native Commerce Operating System with a Unified Suite of AI Agents

Published

on

By

TORONTO, April 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Shoplazza, a leading global commerce platform, announced the launch of the world’s first AI native commerce operating system recently, along with a unified suite of AI agents designed to execute across the entire ecommerce lifecycle. The release marks a major step forward in the company’s evolution from a traditional software platform to an AI-driven commerce infrastructure built for global scale.

At the core of the system is Shoplazza AI Store Builder, an intelligent agent that fundamentally changes how online stores are created. Instead of configuring tools manually, merchants can now generate fully functional, ready to sell storefronts through simple natural language input. By interpreting product information, target markets, and customer profiles, the system automatically builds site architecture, generates localized content, and provides initial go to market recommendations. What once required weeks of setup can now be completed in minutes, with a complete store and launch ready foundation.

Shoplazza also introduced LazzaStudio, an AI powered visual creation agent that streamlines how merchants produce content at scale. From product imagery to marketing creatives and campaign visuals, LazzaStudio transforms traditionally complex production workflows into a prompt driven process. With built in brand learning capabilities, the system generates consistent, high quality assets tailored for global audiences, enabling merchants to deploy content seamlessly across storefronts and advertising channels while significantly reducing production time and cost.

To complete the growth loop, Shoplazza launched AdValet, an AI advertising agent that automates campaign execution end to end. AdValet translates product data and market signals into audience targeting, creative generation, media planning, and campaign deployment. During live campaigns, it continuously monitors performance and dynamically optimizes outcomes through real time feedback and model iteration. This shifts advertising from manual, experience based trial and error to a system of continuous, AI-driven performance optimization.

These agents operate together within Shoplazza’s AI-native commerce operating system, where merchant intent is translated directly into coordinated execution. By unifying store creation, content production, and marketing into a single system, Shoplazza replaces fragmented workflows with an integrated layer of automation that enables faster, more predictable growth.

Shoplazza currently supports more than 650,000 merchants worldwide. With its AI-native architecture, the platform brings together previously disconnected capabilities into a single intelligent system, delivering improvements in efficiency, scalability, and operational reliability for businesses operating in increasingly complex global markets.

Looking ahead, Shoplazza will introduce Athena very soon, an AI admin agent designed to extend automation into day to day business management. Covering areas such as product management, order processing, analytics, and content operations, Athena allows merchants to interact with the system conversationally while orchestrating multiple agents in the background. This will complete a fully connected agent ecosystem spanning store creation, creative production, marketing execution, and ongoing operations.

“Commerce has reached a point where adding more tools no longer solves the problem,” said Jeff Li, Founder and CEO of Shoplazza. “What merchants need is a system that can understand intent and execute across the entire business. That is what we are building with our AI native commerce operating system. It is not just about making things easier. It is about making outcomes more predictable, scalable, and aligned with how modern commerce actually operates.”

About Shoplazza

Shoplazza is a global AI-native commerce operating system that enables brands to build, launch, and scale their online businesses. Built on an AI agent-native framework, Shoplazza integrates storefronts, marketing, payments, and operational workflows into a unified system designed to support scalable, long-term growth across global markets. Learn more at https://www.shoplazza.com/.

 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/shoplazza-launches-the-worlds-first-ai-native-commerce-operating-system-with-a-unified-suite-of-ai-agents-302746904.html

SOURCE Shoplazza

Continue Reading

Technology

Pricer and JRTech Solutions sign 51 MUSD digital store transformation deal with Sobeys in Canada

Published

on

By

MONTREAL, April 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ – Pricer AB, a global leader in digital shelf-edge solutions, announces that its Canadian partner JRTech Solutions has signed a major agreement with Sobeys, one of Canada’s leading supermarket chains. The contract includes the deployment of Pricer’s latest electronic shelf label (ESL) technology and the cloud-based platform Pricer Plaza across an estimated 300–350 stores.

The agreement covers the supply of multicolor electronic shelf labels and the necessary store infrastructure, with a total hardware and infrastructure value of approximately 51 MUSD (excluding Pricer Plaza). The deployment is scheduled for an 18-month period starting in May 2026.

“We are very grateful for the trust and that Sobeys has once again chosen Pricer as its long-term strategic partner,” says Mats Arnehall, Chief Growth Officer at Pricer. “This deal confirms our leading position in the North American market and the value of our high-performance system in high-density retail environments. Our scalable cloud platform, Pricer Plaza, will be the intelligence behind every label, enabling Sobeys to act faster and work smarter.”

“After years of close collaboration and shared success, we’re proud to grow our partnership with Sobeys even further with an expanded rollout,” says Diego Mazzone, President and CEO of JRTech Solutions. “That momentum is driven by our ability to consistently deliver reliable, high-quality solutions in complex retail environments. Together, we are positioning our digital smart labels at the heart of a broader digital transformation, driving operational excellence, unlocking real-time intelligence, and creating meaningful value for both Sobeys and their customers.”

Orders will be included in Pricer’s order intake as they are received.

About JRTech Solutions
JRTech Solutions Inc. is the leading North American turnkey Electronic Shelf Label (ESL) provider and the largest worldwide distributor of Pricer ESLs, involved in over 2,000 store installations since 2008. JRTech Solutions is the exclusive Canadian provider of AI-powered inventory scanning robotics powered by Brain Corp for automated inventory management.
For further information: www.jrtechsolutions.com

About Pricer
Pricer is a pioneer and partner for in-store communication and digitalization in the rapidly evolving retail tech landscape. As a global technology leader, we empower leading retailers worldwide to shape effortless and inspiring shopping experiences that fundamentally change buying behaviors, boost sales, and drive operational efficiency. Leveraging cutting-edge innovation, we deliver scalable, high-performing solutions that easily integrate with existing systems, are energy-efficient, and user-friendly. Founded in Sweden in 1991 and listed on Nasdaq Stockholm, Pricer has delivered over 380 million electronic shelf labels in more than 28,000 stores across more than 80 countries.
For further information, please visit www.pricer.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pricer-and-jrtech-solutions-sign-51-musd-digital-store-transformation-deal-with-sobeys-in-canada-302746808.html

SOURCE JRTECH SOLUTIONS INC.

Continue Reading

Technology

Mitate Zepto Technica Joins JST’s Next-generation Edge AI Semiconductor R&D Program as Social Implementation Partner

Published

on

By

– MZT to Lead Product Commercialization through Its Genome-analysis Accelerator “RASEN” –

TOKYO, April 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Mitate Zepto Technica, Inc. (hereinafter “MZT”), based in Tokyo’s Shibuya district, announced on April 20 that it has joined the national research initiative “Next-Generation Edge AI Semiconductor Research and Development Program” promoted by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). MZT participates as a designated social implementation and commercialization partner for the research theme “Accelerating Edge Intelligence for AI for Science” (Principal Investigator: Makoto Taiji, Program Director, TRIP Headquarters, RIKEN).

Logo: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/img/202604167540-O1-5Sz6I68Q 

This research theme aims to achieve advanced computational infrastructure through the integration of AI technology and next-generation edge semiconductors, with genome analysis as one of its key application domains. MZT participates as an organization responsible for the productization and social implementation of research outcomes through its proprietary genome-analysis accelerator “RASEN.”

Background

Since its founding in 2020, MZT has pursued a distinctive approach to genome analysis: purpose-built ASIC acceleration. Following technology validation through joint research with Tohoku University and other partners, MZT now participates as an R&D institution responsible for social implementation under this research theme.

MZT’s Role in the Program

Within this research theme, MZT will integrate AI research outcomes from RIKEN and Tohoku University into the RASEN architecture, and lead the R&D work toward social implementation through ASIC development and productization. As the industrial partner bridging research and real-world deployment, the company targets social implementation by 2029.

Program Overview

Research theme: Accelerating edge intelligence for AI for science
Promoting agency: Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST)
Principal investigator: Makoto Taiji, Program Director, TRIP Headquarters, RIKEN
Participating institutions: RIKEN, Tohoku University, Keio University, Mitate Zepto Technica
MZT’s participation start: April 2026 (FY2026)
JST program period: FY2025 onwards

Comment from Keisuke Harashima, President & CEO, Mitate Zepto Technica:
“It is a tremendous honor that we can lead the social implementation of this research theme through the acceleration of genome analysis via dedicated semiconductors — a challenge we have pursued since MZT’s founding. RASEN is at exactly the right inflection point, transitioning from research to real-world deployment. We will use this participation to accelerate commercialization across healthcare, drug discovery, and research infrastructure.”

About RASEN

RASEN is MZT’s proprietary genome-analysis accelerator under development, built on a purpose-designed ASIC architecture. In internal validation, RASEN has demonstrated the ability to complete whole-genome sequencing (WGS) analysis in approximately 5 minutes on a standard workstation — without the need for supercomputers or high-performance computing infrastructure. In independent validation studies conducted with Tohoku University, RASEN achieved 99.8% concordance with conventional analysis methods across 12 samples, confirming that its speed advantage does not come at the cost of accuracy.

About Mitate Zepto Technica

Mitate Zepto Technica is a Japanese deep-tech startup developing purpose-built semiconductor solutions for genome analysis. By harnessing cutting-edge chip technology, MZT aims to deliver transformative speed improvements in genomic computation –contributing to the resolution of global challenges in healthcare, food security, and energy through its proprietary products.

Website: https://mitatezeptotechnica.com/en/company/ 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mitate-zepto-technica-joins-jsts-next-generation-edge-ai-semiconductor-rd-program-as-social-implementation-partner-302746768.html

SOURCE Mitate Zepto Technica, Inc.

Continue Reading

Trending