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NetDragon Announces 2022 Annual Financial Results, with Education Revenue Reaching a Historic High of 34.2% YoY

NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited ("NetDragon" or the "Company"; Hong Kong Stock Code: 777), a global leader in building internet communities, announced its financial results for the year 2022 on the 27th, with revenue increasing by 11.8% year on year and the growth of education business reaching a  record high of 34.2%.

Dr. Dejian Liu, Chairman of NetDragon, commented: "In 2022, we delivered a resilient performance with 11.8% revenue growth in a year of both opportunities and challenges. Our education business achieved record-high revenue of RMB4.34 billion with 34.2% YoY growth, as we continued to build on our global market leadership position with our commitment to providing educators the ability to transform learning and collaboration. In June 2022, we introduced our all-new ActivPanel 9 that deliver the most robust, seamless and secured user experience yet for teachers and students. During the year, we also took steps to expand our strategic partnerships and M&A initiatives to tap into concrete software monetization opportunities that will unleash the value of our global channel reach, as well as our largest installed base in the overseas market.”

“We are also excited to have announced that in June 2022, we entered into a strategic partnership with Merlyn Mind, a leader in education AI technology. We are currently building on this partnership to develop an artificial intelligence enabled interactive panel for classrooms, which we plan on launching in our next panel release. We believe this will be a one-of-a-kind product that will elevate our competitive position to a new level.”

“The gaming industry in China went through unprecedented challenges throughout 2022 as a result of a slowdown of the domestic economy due to the Covid-19 impact. However, a clearly defined go-to-market strategy and our unique gaming IP portfolio helped us to weather the storm. Although revenue of the gaming segment decreased by 5.8% YoY, such revenue performance outperformed the market[1] as we remained laser focus on execution with operational excellence. Our overseas games continued to deliver exceptional performance with a YoY overseas revenue growth of 6.5%. We also substantially strengthened our R&D capability by adding over 300 R&D headcounts during the year, hence putting ourselves in a much stronger position to expand our pipeline of new games.”

“Last but not least, we continued to put shareholders' capital return as a high priority. We are pleased to announce that the Board has approved our final dividend proposal of HK$0.40 per ordinary share. Total dividends for the year (including special interim dividend declared in August 2022) amounted to HKD1.30 per ordinary share, representing approximately 73.0% of the total profit attributable to the owners for the year.”

Fiscal Year 2022 Financial Highlights

• Revenue was RMB7.87 billion, representing an 11.8% increase YoY..
• Revenue from the gaming business was RMB3.43 billion, representing 43.6% of the Company's total revenue and a 5.8% decrease YoY.
• Revenue from the education business was RMB4.34 billion, representing 55.1% of the Company's total revenue and a 34.2% increase YoY.
• Gross profit was RMB4.32 billion, representing a 4.6% decrease YoY.
• Core segmental profit from the gaming business was RMB1.82 billion, representing a 14.1% decrease YoY.
• Core segmental loss from the education business was RMB300 million, representing a 27.4% improvement YoY.
• EBITDA was RMB1.45 billion, representing a 20.7% decrease YoY.
• Operating profit was RMB1.15 billion, representing a 17.0% decrease YoY.
• Non-GAAP operating profit was RMB1.32 billion, representing a 12.7% decrease YoY.
• Profit attributable to owners of the Company was RMB830 million, representing a 21.5% decrease YoY.
• Non-GAAP profit attributable to owners of the Company] was RMB1.26 billion, representing a 2.2% decrease YoY..
• Operating cashflow was RMB1.07 billion, representing a 4.2% increase YoY.
• The Company declared a final dividend of HKD0.40 per ordinary share (2021: HKD0.40 per ordinary share), subject to approval at the coming annual general meeting.