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spk04: Hello, and thank you for standing by for 2NEW's 2023 fourth quarter and full year earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After management's prepared remarks, there will be a question and answer session. Today's conference is being recorded. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time. I would now like to turn the meeting over to your host for today's conference call, Director of Investor Relations, Mary.
spk03: Thank you, and welcome to our 2023 Fourth Quarter and Four-Year Earnings Conference Call. Joining me on the call today is Donald Yu, Junior's Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer, and Anqiang Chen, Junior's Financial Controller. For today's agenda, management will discuss business updates, operation highlights, and financial performance for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2023. Before we continue, I refer you to our safe harbor statement in the earnings press release, which applies to this call, as we will make forward-looking statements. Also, this call includes discussions of certain non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to our earnings release contains a reconciliation of non-GAF measures to the most directly comparable GAF measures. Finally, please note that, unless otherwise stated, all figures mentioned during this conference call are IRMB. I would now like to turn the call over to our founder, chairman, and chief executive officer, Donald Yu.
spk01: Thank you, Mary. Good day, everyone. Welcome to our fourth quarter and four-year 2023 earnings conference call. 2NEW delivered a strong performance in the fourth quarter of 2023, with net revenues growing year-over-year by 266%, including a 1,377% increase in revenues from packaged tools. Gross profit increased by 512% year-over-year, and we achieved non-gap profitability for the third consecutive quarter. 2023 was a significant year of recovery for the travel industry following the pandemic. With a robust rebound in the domestic travel market, we saw a dramatic increase in travel demand during China's national holidays and summer occasions amid the emergence of many popular destinations and attractions. In terms of upbound travel, the number of newly opened up destination countries increased from 20 at the beginning of the year to 138 by the end of the fourth quarter. Countries like Thailand and Singapore introduced favorable visa policies, helping to boost the recovery of the outbound travel market. We are pleased with our performance for the full year 2023. Our net revenues increased by 140% year over year. Revenues from package tours increased by 374%. and gross profit increased by 228%. We also achieved our first full-year profitability on a non-GAAP basis since the pandemic, with non-GAAP net income approaching RMB 51 million, the highest since our listing. In 2023, pent-up travel demand was released with the relaxation of travel restrictions. However, the tourism supply chain, especially the supply chain relating to the outbound travel market, was impacted during the pandemic. In response, our priority was to recover and rebuild the supply chain to promptly provide products to meet customer demand. Leveraging 2NEWS' rich experience in the industry and our continuous efforts to maintain relationships during the pandemic, our procurement and product teams have been able to rapidly rebuild our portfolio of products by sourcing high-quality resources from hotels, airlines, and local tour operators. For example, as one of 2NEWS' star destinations, the Maldives was among the first batch of countries to open up for outbound travel as of last February. As one of our earliest launched outbound travel products, in the first quarter of last year, Maldives' tours have already surpassed RMB 10 million in sales volumes. Two news call competitiveness is our commitment to providing high-quality products and services to our customers. Amidst the strong demand post-pandemic, we continue to adhere to our strict standards for product procurement and development, and increasingly reach the bar in terms of product and service quality. For instance, For our in-house new tool products, we require our product personnel to work closely at the destination and actively coordinate with local tool operators on resource procurement, tool guide management, and quality control. Additionally, we conduct quality inspections during organized tours to promptly identify and resolve issues. As a result, the average customer satisfaction rate for our new tool products has been continuously increasing from slightly over 90% to 97% and reached over 98% during the summer of 2023. At the same time, we prioritize the customer experience by addressing pain points during the trips. Beginning last year, new tools introduced the Zero Shopping itinerary, ensuring no visits to shopping venues throughout the entire journey, which have been very well received. For instance, our Zero Shopping tool to Bali was launched in December last year, and nearly 40 tours were conducted as of the end of this February, with a satisfaction rate of 100%. Additionally, since 2023, new tours have commenced, offering exclusive services, where dedicated service personnel establishes a WeChat group prior to the trip to ensure seamless support throughout the journey. Furthermore, we established more collaborations with suppliers to increase the diversity of our products. To ensure customer satisfaction, we maintain our focus on quality control through implementing strict supplier selection process. The satisfaction rate for product launches has reached 90%, and we have introduced a new machine exam where products receiving highly negative reviews are promptly removed from our offerings. We also handle customer complaints about supplier products in the same way as our in-house products. That is to say we prioritize problem resolution and direct compensation seeking customers on behalf of suppliers. Additionally, we provide maximum assistance to our partners by granting them access to our inventory management systems. to improve their efficiency. We also offer support and advice for product development and improvement for our partners, collectively striving to provide customers with more and better products. Looking now to our sales efforts, as you know, our professional customer service team has always been one of two new core advantages. After the pandemic, we didn't directly expand customer service staff in the face of increased demand. Instead, we utilized automation technology to help our customer service teams improve efficiency. We also focused on talent development, particularly for overseas destinations, to help our staff become more familiar with destinations and products enhance work efficiency and service quality. In 2023, the number of our customer service staff increased by over 50% year-over-year, while our net revenues increased by 140%. In addition to individual customers, we also sell corporate clients. offering services such as group travel for companies and personnel travel for corporate employees. In the fourth quarter, with the arrival of the year-end season, company annual meetings, team building activities, and incentive vacation trips become increasingly popular. leading to the small peak in corporate clients travel demand. In the fourth quarter of 2023, the GMV from corporate clients increased by over 40% compared to the previous quarter. Live streaming emerged as a new sales channel for us following the pandemic. In 2023, The total payment volume from all two new live streaming channels exceeded RMB 1 billion, and our live streaming channels also achieved profitability for the full year. On the supply side, we received the Douyin iNews Star Merchants, a recognition based on comprehensive evaluation of business volume and product quality. Additionally, we established our own MCN agency to further develop and promote our accumulated live streaming capabilities and experiences. We have secured partnerships with more than 100 external influencers, with a total fan base exceeding 4 million. Moreover, In response to market demand this year, we will further strengthen the sales and promotion of our upbound travel products, as well as high-quality in-house products such as new tools via live streaming channels. Also, we continue to enhance the application of system automation in live streaming activities. such as online product verification to lower cost and improve live streaming channel profitability. In 2023, we also strengthen our offline channels by establishing more offline stores. We opened more than 150 offline stores, primarily located in second and third tier cities, as well as provincial capitals. These stores expand the sales channels for our in-house products and help to promote the two new brands. We will continue to establish and develop our offline stores this year. In terms of technology, we are committed to leveraging tools to replace simple, repetitive manual labor, to liberate our employees to participate in more complex and creative work, thereby enhancing our overall operational efficiency. In 2023, we have completed the application of system automation across various sales processes, such as marketing, booking, and order processing. and have started to integrate it into supply chain management. We are sharing the benefits brought by automation in inventory, pricing, and marketing management with our partners. This year, we will also focus on the application of technology in production and services, such as utilizing dynamic packaging systems to generate self-guided tools that enrich our product offerings. In conclusion, the travel industry saw substantial recovery last year and the positive growth momentum continued into the beginning of 2024. The Spring Festival travel boom this year was remarkable. We remain optimistic about the development of the travel market this year, especially with the resumption of flights, relaxation of visa policies, and the further enhanced supply chain, which still offers significant growth opportunities for the outbound travel market. Outbound travel is one of two musical advantages. and we will seize the opportunity to provide more and better products and achieve further revenue recovery. At the same time, we will continue to implement our strict cost control measures to enhance our profitability. I will now turn the call over to Anqiang Chen, our financial controller, for the financial highlights.
spk00: Thank you, Donald. Hello, everyone. Now I will walk you through our fourth quarter and fiscal year 2023 financial results in greater detail. Please note that all the monetary amounts are in RMB unless otherwise stated. You can find the US dollar equivalent of the numbers in our earnings release. Starting from the fourth quarter of 2023, net revenues were 99.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. representing a year-over-year increase of 266% from the corresponding period in 2022. The increase was primarily due to the growth of package tours and the travel market recovers. Revenues from package tours were up 1,377% year-over-year to 73.4 million and accounted for 73% of total net revenues for the quarter. The increase was primarily due to the growth of organized tours. Other revenues were up 19% year-over-year to $26.6 million and accounted for 27% of total net revenues. The increase was primarily due to the growth in commission fees received from other travel-related products. Gross profit for the fourth quarter of 2023 was 74.6 million, up 512% year-over-year. Operating expenses for the fourth quarter of 2023 were 198 million, up 509% year-over-year. The increase was primarily due to the employment of Goodwill of 114.7 million recorded in the fourth quarter of 2023. Research and product development expenses for the fourth quarter of 2023 were $10.4 million, down 5% year-over-year. The decrease was primarily due to the decrease in research and product development personnel-related expenses. Research and product development expenses as a percentage of net revenues were 10%, down from 40% during the same period last year. Sales and marketing expenses for the fourth quarter of 2023 were 33.2 million, up 45% year-over-year. The increase was primarily due to the increase in promotion expenses. Sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of net revenues were 33%, down from 84% during the same period last year. General and administrative expenses for the fourth quarter of 2023 were 42.1 million, up 27% year-over-year. The increase was primarily due to the employment of property and equipment not recorded in the fourth quarter of 2023. General and administrative expenses as a percentage of net revenues were 42%, down from 121% during the same period last year. Net was attributable to ordinary shareholders of two new corporations worth $132.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Non-GAAP net income attributable to ordinary shareholders of two new corporations, which excluded share-based compensation expenses, amortization of acquired intangible assets, impingement of goodwill, and impingement of property and equipment net worth 0.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. As of December 30th, 2023, the company had cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments of 1.2 billion. Capital expenditures for the fourth quarter of 2023 were 1.3 million. Now moving to a full year 2023 results. In 2023, Net revenues were 441.3 million, representing a 140% year-over-year increase. The increase was primarily due to the growth of package tours as the travel market recovers. Revenues from package tours were up 374% year-over-year to 333.4 million. and accounted for 76% of our total net revenues in 2023. The increase was primarily due to the growth of organized tours. Our revenues were down 5% year-over-year to $107.9 million and accounted for 24% of our total net revenues in 2023. The decrease was primarily due to the decrease in revenues generated from financial services. Gross profit was 293.7 million in 2023, up 228% year-over-year. Operating expenses were 395.6 million in 2023, up 32% year-over-year. Research and product development expenses were 57 million in 2023, up 12% year over year. The increase was primarily due to the increase in research and product development personnel related expenses. Research and product development expenses as a percentage of net revenues were 13% in 2023, down from 28% of the previous year. Sales and marketing expenses were 117.7 million in 2023, up 14% year-over-year. The increase was primarily due to the increase in promotion expenses. Sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of net revenues were 27% in 2023, decreasing from 56% of the previous year. General and administrative expenses were $113.2 million in 2023, up 4% year-over-year. The increase was primarily due to the employment of property and equipment, net recorded in 2023. General and administrative expenses as a percentage of net revenues were 26% in 2023. decreasing from 59% of the previous year. Net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders of two new corporations was $99.3 million in 2023. Non-GAAP net income attributable to ordinary shareholders of two new corporations, which excluded shell-based compensation expenses, amortization of acquired intangible assets, employment of goodwill and employment of property and equipment, net was 52.6 million in 2023. Cash flow generated from operations for 2023 was 253.3 million. Capital expenditures were 10.2 million in 2023. For the first quarter of 2024, 2 new EBITDA to generate 101.1 million to $107.4 million of net revenues, which represents a 60% to 70% increase year-over-year, compared with net revenues in the corresponding period in 2023. Please note that these forecasts reflect two new current and preliminary reviews on the industry and its operations, which is subject to change. Thank you for listening. We are now ready for your questions. Operator?
spk04: The question and answer session of this conference call will start in a moment. In order to be fair to all callers who wish to ask questions, we will take one question at a time from each caller. If you have more than one question, please request to join the question queue again after your first question has been addressed. To ask a question, you may press star, then 1 on your touch-tone phone. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. To withdraw your question, please press star then 2. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble the roster. Once again, if you would like to ask a question, please press star, then one on your telephone keypad. And our first question comes from Rita Lee, a private investor. Please go ahead.
spk02: Thank you, operator. Hi, men and men. First of all, congratulations on achieving a profitable year. Generally speaking, the financial performance is good, but for the fourth quarter, we see a gap net loss. Could you please specify the core causes? And another question is about this year's outlook. Can you share any strategic plan in both business and finance? Thank you.
spk01: Thank you for the questions. For the fourth quarter last year, we achieved a non-GAAP profitability for the third consecutive quarter. It's also the first time since our listing that we achieved profitability in the fourth quarter, which is the off-season. Well, on the GAAP basis, we still incurred net loss this quarter. The main difference between GAAP and non-GAAP results is that we recorded over 100 million RMB of goodwill impairment in the GAAP result. This is the financial treatment based on an asset required by US GAAP. We conducted the assessment at year end. comparing the company's net assets with the market value. When the market value is lower, impairment will be triggered. However, given our rapid business recovery, improved profitability as well as positive operating cash flow for the full year, we believe our share price is undervalued. So we proposed a share buyback plan of approaching up to $10 million worth of shares on Uber. We have faith in the continuous growth of both travel industry and our company, and we want to deliver this confidence to the public while announcing our positive year achievements as well as new year resolutions. Turning to the plans for 2024. Firstly, we will continue to focus on the development of our in-house product, say 2NEW. High-quality in-house products are our protective mode and differentiate 2NEW from platform OTAs. Moreover, for 2NEW brand products such as Neutro, we have the pricing power so new tools contribute steadily to both our revenues and profits. This year, we'll continue to increase both SQUs and revenue contribution of new tools. For example, we'll develop more small-group and private-group tools in new tool series. Cutting for current demand trends. These tools usually contain two to eight people and are more flexible than traditional optimized tools. For example, customers in the same group may choose different airlines and even hotels. And the price of these tools is lower than customized tools. These tools are favored by young people and families. Secondly, we'll continue to expand our sales channels such as live streaming and offline stores. These channels are good complement to traditional online channels such as app and website. Live streaming is popular among young people while offline stores can better serve senior citizens. Furthermore, compared with traditional online channels, Live streaming and offline stores provide more interactions between customers and our tour advisors, creating more sales opportunities. So for live streaming, we'll consolidate our position in Douyin at both sales and supply end this year, introducing more and better products to the market. we'll also try to expand to more platforms such as Little Red Book and Oriental Selection. For offline stores, we'll continue to explore opportunities in lower tier cities. Lastly, to better serve our customers, we'll improve our services for other travel-related products such as air tickets and hotels. For example, we provide no bundling to any air tickets, which simplifies the booking process, making the experience at Tuneo more convenient and enjoyable. We also restart our special offered air ticket channel, providing discount tickets for our customers. For hotels, we'll increase the level of direct procurement to enhance the competitive needs of our hotels. In terms of financial performance, in the first quarter, we expect a 60% to 70% year-over-year increase in our net revenues. We will try to maintain a higher than industry average growth rate for this year. We will also continue to increase our profitability and create more value to our shareholders. Thank you.
spk04: Once again, if you would like to ask a question, please press star, then 1. There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call over to Tuneo's Director of Investor Relations, Mary, for closing remarks.
spk03: Once again, thank you for joining us today. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions. Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to speaking with you in the coming months.
spk04: Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This concludes the presentation and you may now disconnect.
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