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Be Friends Holding Announced the 2024 Interim Results, Revenue Increased by over 43%, Net Profit Surged by over 90%

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HONG KONG, Aug. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Be Friends Holding Limited (“Be Friends” or the “Group,” Stock Code: 1450), a leading live-streaming e-commerce platform in China, today announced its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2024 (the “Interim Period”).

For the first half of 2024, the Group recorded revenue of approximately RMB622.1 million, representing a 43.8% year-on-year increase compared to approximately RMB432.7 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023 (the “Corresponding Period of the Previous Year”). The Group’s net profit amounted to approximately RMB83.8 million, marking an approximately 93.8% growth compared to RMB43.3 million in the Corresponding Period of the Previous Year.

Business Review

In the first half of 2024, China’s economy steadily recovered, demonstrating an upward trend toward stabilization. The nation’s gradual relaxation of industrial policies and further emphasis on consumption-driven growth positively impacted various industries. Consequently, the Group’s new media services segment experienced sustained robust growth during the Interim Period, generating revenue of approximately RMB563.6 million, representing an increase of approximately 43.9% compared to approximately RMB391.7 million in the Corresponding Period of the Previous Year. This segment contributed roughly 90.6% of the Group’s total revenue. By implementing a standardized and replicable “matrix live-streaming channel” operation model, the Group has been able to cater to consumers’ diverse and nuanced preferences, thereby enabling more precise user engagement and fostering enhanced user conversion efficiency. During the Interim Period, the Group completed gross merchandise volume (GMV) of approximately RMB5.96 billion on the new media platform, representing an increase of approximately 18.2% as compared to the Corresponding Period of the Previous Year, and remained firm in occupying the top spot in the live-steaming e-commerce industry. The number of live-streaming channels independently owned and operated by the Group exceeded 50, which is one of the most significant numbers of live-streaming channels in the new media business area, reflecting the Group’s valuable operational experience, methodology, and data capabilities in the field of live-streaming e-commerce, and demonstrating the successful practice of our standardized and replicable “matrix live-streaming channel” operation model.

The Group’s live-streaming e-commerce business is always committed to building a long-term trust environment for merchants and consumers, creating a shopping channel that satisfies merchants and makes consumers comfortable, and becoming a trustworthy friend of our partners. The Group consistently deepens its efforts in product selection, diligently discovering and promoting high-quality merchandise with solid credentials. On the supply chain front, the Group continues to expand its capabilities, with its self-developed “Friend Cloud” platform providing stable and efficient operational support for multi-platform live streaming across various channels, realizing end-to-end management of the entire chain from merchant recruitment, intelligent product selection, compliance audit, goods management to financial settlement, which has greatly improved the efficiency and standardization of the live-streaming retail business. Concurrently, as the live-streaming e-commerce industry experiences rapid development, the Group actively explores innovative technologies and emerging opportunities to spearhead industry advancement. The Group has formally set up a team to initiate the research and development of artificial intelligence (“AI”) live-streaming project during the Interim Period. The goal of the AI live-streaming project is to realize full-scene decision-making by AI system in the field of live-streaming e-commerce, including product selection decision-making, data analysis, traffic placement decision-making, and data review, etc., to ensure that the entire operation process is highly efficient and intelligent.

The Group’s strategic layout of new media services business has passed the fourth year, “Be Friends” has become a popular brand in the field of new media. During the Interim Period, the Group set up the “Be Friends Industry Research Institute” and were included in the “Specialized, Sophisticated and New Enterprises Cultivation Plan for Improving Quality and Efficiency in Zhejiang Province” as a think-tank. In addition, the Group was awarded the “Best MCN Organization of the Year” by Douyin E-commerce for its outstanding performance and contribution to the field of e-commerce live-streaming.

The Group’s television broadcasting business segment also strongly performed during the Interim Period. With the impact of the pandemic gradually fading and improved annual budget conditions among clients, the Group’s television broadcasting business segment generated approximately RMB58.4 million, representing an approximately 42.6% increase compared to approximately RMB41.0 million in the Corresponding Period of the Previous Year. This segment accounted for roughly 9.4% of the Group’s total revenue. The Group has continued to invest in research and development, responded to the government’s policy of supporting the localization of scientific and technological achievements, and persisted in accumulating self-developed products in the field of communication and transmission. Relying on its strong technical strength, rich industry experience, and sales channels, the Group’s television broadcasting business segment remains in a relatively leading position in the industry.

Looking to the future, the all-media industry has entered a new stage of development. As industry concentration gradually increases, it presents challenges and significant opportunities for the Group. The Group will firmly march towards becoming a technology-driven new retail enterprise. The Group persists in cultivating technological innovation and digital infrastructure development. By leveraging the “Friend Cloud” platform and AI systems, the Group strives to enhance supply chain management and operational efficiency comprehensively. Additionally, the Group actively promotes the new retail model of industrial traceability, explores overseas markets, and aspires to achieve long-term, stable business growth globally.

Meanwhile, to express its gratitude for the unwavering support from the shareholders, the Group announced on July 8 that it intends to use its own funds of up to HK$30 million to repurchase shares of the Company in the open market from time to time to bolster market confidence, enhance shareholder returns, and demonstrate the management’s belief in the long-term value of the Group.

About Be Friends Holding Limited

Be Friends Holding Limited (1450.HK) is dedicated to becoming a technology-driven new retail enterprise with a core focus on all media live-streaming operations within its new media services and television broadcasting business. The Group has successfully established its presence across multiple platforms, including Douyin, Taobao, and JD.com, independently owning and operating over 50 live-streaming channels, with a total live-streaming fan base exceeding 68 million and a standardized and replicable “matrix live-streaming channel” operation model, enabling the Group to become a trusted channel brand for both merchants and consumers, ultimately contributing to steady business growth.

For more information about the Company, please visit: https://www.befriends.com.cn

For inquiry, please contact: IR@befriends.com.cn, or DLK Advisory: +852 2857 7101 pr@dlkadvisory.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/be-friends-holding-announced-the-2024-interim-results-revenue-increased-by-over-43-net-profit-surged-by-over-90-302230361.html

SOURCE Be Friends Holding Limited

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Truemed and Highmark Benefits Administration Partner to Expand Access to Root‑Cause Healthcare and Enable Employers to Reach Benefits Goals

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AUSTIN, Texas, May 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Truemed, the leading platform enabling qualified health purchases with HSA and FSA dollars, today announced a strategic partnership with Highmark Benefits Administration, a trusted provider of comprehensive, compliance‑driven solutions committed to providing A+ benefits administration services to clients nationwide.

The partnership aligns two organizations focused on delivering innovative, cost-effective solutions that help clients achieve business goals while empowering employees to use their benefits confidently and proactively. By integrating Truemed’s medically-necessary qualification process with Highmark’s service‑driven administrative infrastructure, employers can offer a broader range of eligible health interventions while maintaining clarity, compliance, and operational efficiency.

Through this collaboration, eligible Highmark participants can use pre‑tax HSA and FSA funds on evidence‑based, root‑cause health solutions— including fitness and movement programs, nutrition and supplement options, stress‑management tools, and other medically‑necessary interventions designed to help employees proactively improve their health.

“At Highmark Benefits Administration, we understand that managing employee benefits and plan compliance can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be,” said Dan Bearden, Founder and Director of Highmark. “Partnering with Truemed expands what’s possible with HSA and FSA dollars while maintaining the clarity and compliance confidence our clients rely on. We’re excited to help participants access more meaningful health solutions.”

“Highmark has built a reputation for exceptional service and operational excellence,” said Justin Mares, CEO of Truemed. “This partnership builds on that foundation by giving eligible participants access to root‑cause health interventions that have been shown to improve health outcomes and chronic condition management. Together, we’re helping employers offer benefits that are simple, compliant, and truly impactful.”

Learn more at: truemed.com/a/highmark

Truemed is for qualified customers. See terms at truemed.com/disclosures.

About Truemed

Truemed partners with consumer health brands and benefits administrators to enable HSA and FSA payments for root‑cause healthcare expenses. Through licensed practitioner review and IRS‑aligned documentation, Truemed helps qualified individuals invest in medically necessary products and services using pre‑tax dollars. Learn more at truemed.com.

About Highmark Benefits Administration

Highmark Benefits Administration provides comprehensive, cost‑effective benefits administration services designed to simplify complexity and support employer goals. With expertise in enrollment and eligibility management, COBRA administration, FSA/HSA/HRA programs, compliance reporting, carrier billing, and employee communication, Highmark delivers exceptional service backed by modern technology solutions. Learn more at highmarkbenadmin.com.

Media Contact:
Tom Dahl
tom@truemed.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/truemed-and-highmark-benefits-administration-partner-to-expand-access-to-rootcause-healthcare-and-enable-employers-to-reach-benefits-goals-302760163.html

SOURCE Truemed

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DistrictWON’s uReport Partners with KOIN to Usher Back Local Sports Coverage to Every Community

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PORTLAND, Ore., May 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — KOIN 6 is proud to announce a groundbreaking partnership with uReport, bringing comprehensive, community-driven sports coverage to every high school across the entire metro Portland and southwestern Washington markets.

Through this initiative, KOIN is offering uReport, a human-powered, AI-assisted platform widely endorsed across high schools and colleges nationwide, fully-funded to all high schools in the region. uReport is ISTE EdTech Index Approved and listed in the ISTE Learning Technology Directory, a vetted resource used by educators to identify high-quality digital learning tools.

This partnership empowers schools, students, and communities to create and share stories, highlights, and updates across all sports, while amplifying that content across KOIN.com. uReport is already endorsed by leading organizations including the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association, College Sports Communicators and other groups representing over 17,000 high schools and colleges.

“Local sports coverage has historically reached the biggest schools and the biggest games. uReport flips that. Every school in our market — from the 6A powerhouse to the 1A program with 80 kids — now has a dedicated platform on KOIN.com,” said Tom Keeler, Vice President & General Manager of KOIN.

Key benefits for each school & community include:

A dedicated content platform for every school.The ability to cover every game, every sport at every level and include unlimited pictures and videos.Every school will also be featured on KOIN.com, allowing all schools to consistently make the news!Schools also distribute content onto their own social channels, creating an amazing content library Real-world training for student journalism and responsible use of AI in storytellingA free fan-powered mobile app for real-time contributions from the communityFull customer support for the platform, all year. 

Check out a quick explainer video here: KOIN – Supercharging Your Coverage

KOIN will host three short webinars for Portland market school administrators to learn more. Any administrator is encouraged to participate (administrator, teacher, coach or other, click below to attend):
Tuesday 5/5: 9am PT
Wednesday 5/6: 8am PT
Thursday 5/7: 12pm PT
Schools can self-start and sign-up right now to cover spring events and continue to have access for the entire 2026–27 academic year. Self-start sign-up is easy here: www.ureport.com/koin

For more information, contact uReport Director of Customer Success, Dan McGrath: 216-647-3857; dmcgrath@districtwon.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/districtwons-ureport-partners-with-koin-to-usher-back-local-sports-coverage-to-every-community-302760179.html

SOURCE DistrictWON

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Fuutura Outlines Architecture Built for the Cross-Border Stablecoin Corridors the IMF Now Tracks

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As the IMF’s April 2026 Global Financial Stability Report calls for enhanced regulatory oversight of cross-border stablecoin flows to emerging markets, Fuutura’s compliance-first architecture across identity, payments, and trading is built to support exactly this kind of regulatory oversight

PANAMA CITY, Panama, May 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Fuutura, a blockchain infrastructure company building a compliance-first financial ecosystem for the global market, today set out its position on rising cross-border stablecoin flows to emerging markets, following the IMF’s call for enhanced regulatory oversight in its April 2026 Global Financial Stability Report.

 

 

The IMF’s findings reflect a structural shift in how money moves across emerging economies. Cross-border flows of the two largest dollar-pegged stablecoins, Tether and USD Coin, rose from approximately $12 billion in early 2020 to $316 billion by early 2025, outpacing flows of Bitcoin and Ethereum. A significant share of those flows has been directed toward emerging markets, with cumulative net inflows accelerating since late 2023. The IMF’s concern is that rapid stablecoin adoption in emerging markets, absent appropriate regulation and backstops, could lead to currency substitution, weaken the transmission of monetary policy, increase capital flow volatility, and create challenges for capital flow management measures.

The IMF report also acknowledges that stablecoins, with adequate regulation, could offer improved settlement efficiency, faster cross-border payments, increased competition in the payment space, and broader access to digital finance. The same flows that warrant enhanced oversight also reflect genuine demand for financial services that legacy infrastructure has consistently failed to deliver in emerging markets.

Fuutura is being built to make both possible at once. A compliance by design approach facilitates the very regulatory oversight the IMF is advocating. That same architecture allows the platform to serve users in markets unreached by legacy financial infrastructure. What that looks like in practice is best described by the people who have built it.

“The IMF’s findings lay bare something that anyone working in cross-border financial services across emerging markets has been seeing for years. The flows are real, the demand is structural, and the existing infrastructure has not been built to give regulators the kind of visibility they need to do their work properly. That is the gap our infrastructure is built to address, across cross-border payments, identity verification, and the trading layer that connects users to the global financial system. Compliance is not something we have layered on top of an existing platform. It is part of how the system functions at every level.”

Ellis McGrath, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Fuutura

The architectural choice that defines Fuutura is the integration of compliance at a foundational level. Most digital asset platforms operate perimeter compliance, with KYC and AML conducted at onboarding and transaction monitoring sitting on top of an existing technology stack. Fuutura’s design records verified KYC and AML attestations on-chain and ties them to the user’s wallet, so that every interaction with the platform is gated by the presence of that attestation at the smart contract level. This applies across the entire ecosystem. Whether a user is opening a wallet, executing a trade on the exchange, or moving funds across borders, the same compliance design governs every interaction. The result is infrastructure where compliance is enforceable on every transaction and auditable by regulators at the on-chain level.

“The platforms that earn regulators’ trust will be the ones that make their work easier. The IMF’s call for proportionate monitoring of stablecoin flows reflects a broader truth about the relationship between innovators and regulators in this industry. Architecture that is open to inspection by default. A company posture that welcomes the questions responsible oversight requires. We believe the future of digital finance depends on builders and regulators working together, and we have designed Fuutura to support that relationship across every product on the platform.”

Oliver Cook KC, Co-founder and Chief Legal Officer, Fuutura

Fuutura is building for a market where existing financial infrastructure has consistently failed to deliver. The cross-border stablecoin corridors identified by the IMF are one part of that market. The broader scope is the millions of people and businesses across emerging economies who require digital identity, secure custody, and access to global financial markets in a single connected environment. The company’s launch marks the beginning of a phased rollout, with further ecosystem development planned as the platform scales across the markets it was designed to serve.

About Fuutura

Fuutura is a blockchain infrastructure company building a compliance-first financial ecosystem facilitating participation in the global financial system from underserved markets with a focus on the Global-South. The platform combines digital identity verification, a wallet, and a trading exchange into one unified ecosystem, giving users access to crypto and tokenised real-world assets through a single environment. Fuutura is pursuing licensing in multiple jurisdictions. Built with KYC and AML integrated at an architectural level, Fuutura is designed to be open to regulatory oversight by design. Fuutura is building infrastructure to extend digital finance to markets that legacy banking has not reached.

Media Contact
Fuutura
pr@fuutura.com

Forward-Looking Statements and Risk Disclosures

Digital asset risk. Digital assets are high-risk and their value may fall as well as rise. Trading digital assets involves significant risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.

Forward-looking statements. This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding Fuutura, its technology, products, business plans and future conduct, including statements relating to the phased rollout of the ecosystem, regulatory engagement and licensing outcomes, geographic expansion, and market ambitions. Forward-looking statements are identifiable by words such as “building,” “plans,” “intends,” “expects,” “designed to,” “anticipates” and similar expressions, as well as by statements regarding future outcomes, ambitions or strategic direction.

Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual outcomes to differ materially from those expressed. These include, without limitation, changes in the regulatory environment across jurisdictions; the availability and timing of licensing or authorisation; developments in digital asset markets; technological and cybersecurity risks; operational risks; counterparty and third-party risks; the pace of product development; and other factors beyond Fuutura’s control.

No offer or advice. Nothing in this press release constitutes an offer to sell, a solicitation to purchase, investment advice, or a recommendation in respect of any digital asset, crypto-asset, token, security, or financial product or instrument. Fuutura’s products and services may not be available in all jurisdictions and may be subject to regulatory restrictions. Access to Fuutura’s platform is restricted to residents of jurisdictions where its services are permitted.

No duty to update. Fuutura undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

This release is not for distribution in the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, or in any other jurisdiction where such distribution would be unlawful.

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/fuutura-outlines-architecture-built-for-the-cross-border-stablecoin-corridors-the-imf-now-tracks-302760188.html

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