Yalla Group Limited

Good morning and good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by for YALA Group Limited's first quarter 2024 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. After management's prepared remarks, there will be a question and answer session. Today's conference call is being recorded. Now, I would like to turn the call over to your speaker host today, Ms. Carrie Gao, IR Director of the company. Please go ahead, ma'am.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to YALA's first quarter 2024 earnings conference call. We released our earnings press release earlier today, and the release is now available on our IR website as well as on newswire outlets. Before we continue, please note that the discussion today will contain forward-looking statements made under the safe harbor provision of the U.S. Private Security Certification Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. As such, our future results may be materially different from the views expressed today. Further information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties is included in our earnings release and our annual report filed with the SEC. Yala does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Please also note that Yala's earnings press release and this conference call include a discussion of unaudited gap financial information, as well as unaudited non-gap financial measures. Yala's press release contains a reconciliation of the unaudited non-gap measures to the unaudited most directly comparable gap measures. Today, you will hear from Mr. Tao Yang, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer We will provide an overview of our latest achievements and growth strategies. He will be followed by Mr. Saifis Mayu, the company's president, who will briefly review our recent business developments. Mrs. Karen Hu, our chief financial officer, will then provide additional details on the company's financial results and discuss our financial outlook. Following management's prepared remarks, we will open the call to questions. Mr. Jeff Xu, our chief operating officer, will join the Q&A session. With that said, I would now like to turn the call over to our chairman and chief executive officer, Mr. Tao Yang. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, everyone, for joining our first quarter 2024 earnings conference call. We kicked off 2024 with solid first quarter results, even with the impact of Ramadan, which started on March 11th this year. Our Q1 revenue field reached $78.7 million, holding into the upper end of our guidance, and once again demonstrating the remarkable strength of our flagship applications, Yala and Yalalido. Our persistent efforts to deliver quality growth and enhance our operating efficiency are also yielding positive results. In Q1, our net margin reached 39.5%. Our solid quarterly performance showcases our dedication to refining our operations and our ability to enhance our flagship application gamification as well as optimize our user acquisition strategies. Thanks to these successes, we ultimately delivered a better experience for our users, further boosting Yala's and Yala leaders' users' willingness to stay and pay. In 2024, we anticipated continued advancement in an acceleration of digital transformation across the MENA region. As the largest MENA-based online social networking and gaming company, Yala will continue to enrich our services and expand the boundaries of our business. Launching innovative products to fulfill Mina users' evolving needs online. Turning to Yala Games development and further strategy. As we continue to explore and invest in games, our growing expertise and capabilities have strengthened our determination to expand our footprint in Mina's mid-core and hardcore games. Looking ahead, we will continue to prepare our team and grow our game pipeline. As we mentioned on our last call, mid-core games, which we can leverage our extensive expertise, talented workforce, and abundant resources in Nina's casual gaming sector, will be one major focus for the team this year. We look forward to better utilizing our advantages and delivering our exceptional gaming experiences to our users. The Middle East gaming industry is constantly booming with one of the world's fastest growth rates. Global top-tier game developers are increasingly maximizing the Near Eastern gaming market's immense potential. and the region has emerged as a retail growth market for game companies from around the world. As the largest media-based online social networking and gaming company, Yala is actively engaged in discussions with renowned gaming studios on a global scale, exploring potential collaborations in the region. I want to highlight that Yella recently joined the UK Interactive Entertainment Association, UKEE, the oldest video game and interactive entertainment trade body in the world, via invitation from UKEE's CEO and Vice Chairman. UKEE represents nearly 650 businesses across the UK, including major video game platforms, local and international publishers. independent developers and a vast area of service providers. Our goal is to align ourselves with the game developers worldwide and foster greater connectivity within the industry. We aspire to contribute to the Middle Eastern gaming community by delivering a wide range of high-quality game content to players in the region that enhances the gaming experience and building future gaming options for our users. Next, I'd like to elaborate on AI, which has great significance for our business. We have consistently kept pace with the evolving trend and currently have our dedicated AI team focused on researching algorithms, motors, especially tailored to the Arab culture and user habits. We're already reaping the rewards of their work, which is helping us enhance the company's management and efficiency in areas such as content recommendation, content moderation, and customer service. For example, the accuracy rate of our self-developed image review system is already leading in the region, outperforming a number of similar tools developed by major service providers. We have also accumulated considerable expertise in image models. AI now plays a crucial role in tasks such as image recognition and basic artistic creation, enhancing our team's productivity and efficiency. By harnessing the power of AI, we aim to optimize team resources, save time and money, and ultimately improve our overall operational efficiency. Our commitment to leveraging AI also ensures that we can better understand and cater to the needs and the preferences of our users, and provide our users with improved services as well as personalized Before I conclude, a brief ESG update. YALA recently published its 2023 ESG report detailing the company's performance and future goals across five major areas, including responsible governance, environment, trust, people, and community. ESG has been an essential component of our long-term business vision and core values since day one, and we were pleased to share our ongoing progress in terms of sustainability and social responsibility. We look forward to reaching new heights in ESG performance and sustainably enriching local digital lives. In sum, we remain confident in the growth opportunities presented by MENA's increasingly pivotal role on the global stage and the region's rapid digital transformation. As the number one MENA-based online social networking and gaming company, we are dedicated to building relationships locally and globally to broaden our business horizons and contribute to MENA's economic development. With our strong business fundamentals and outstanding product portfolio, we believe we are well positioned to capitalize on potential growth opportunities. Now I will turn this call over to our president, Mr. Saifi Ismail, for a closer look at our recent developments.

Hello, everyone. Thanks for joining us today. I would like to start with a closer look at our operations and our products performances for quarter one. Our average monthly active users increased by 14.6% year over year to 37.8 million. Our average revenue per bank user also increased to 6.03 US dollars in the first quarter from 5.39 US dollars in the same period last year. Our ongoing adjustments to our game mechanism aimed at improving user engagement and experience have proven effective, paying users increased by 7.3% quarter over quarter, demonstrating users' growing willingness to pay on our platform. Following our successful offline Yalla Ludo tournament in Riyadh in quarter four last year, we hosted a second offline tournament in Baghdad in quarter one. Over 10,000 players resisted an impressive response. 128 outstanding finalists competed in the live final round. The success and popularity of these events reflects Yalla Ludo's growing influence and appeal in the mobile gaming world. Conducting offline tournaments and other regional events also strengthen our partnerships with local channels, deepen our product penetration among local gamer communities, and enhances our brand awareness. We are excited to bring more thrilling experiences to our users, continually pushing the boundaries of mobile gaming and ensuring that Yellow Ludo remains an industry leader. Now for a few highlights from our industry activities this quarter. We are very proud to announce that for the fourth consecutive year, Yellow Group was recognized by Data.ai's annual Top Publisher Awards as one of the top 30 publishers headquarters in the Europe, the Middle East, and Africa region. Data.ai is the premier global platform offering unified data analytics for the mobile app market. Since 2012, the Top Publisher Awards have acknowledged outstanding mobile publishers worldwide. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Data.ai for this distinguished award and remain committed to delivering high-quality, tailored digital products that cater to the evolving needs of MENA users in the online social networking and gaming sector. Next, Yalla hosted a Suhoor gathering in Dubai during the holy month of Ramadan. bringing together more than 100 governmental officials, business partners, industry experts, and local media leaders to discuss the latest technology industry trends. The festivities also allowed us to thank and celebrate our partners who have always trusted and supported Yalla Group. As the largest local online social networking and gaming company in the MENA region, we strongly believe that good friendships and extensive cooperation among our stakeholders can accelerate our companies and the industry's development. Bring better experiences to users and invigorate regional economic development. We will maintain our strong relationships with local governments, business partners, and media to jointly promote the development of the digital economy in the MENA region. and promote and preserve our unique local cultural traditions. Finally, Jella was invited to share our success story at the WN Conference 2024 in Abu Dhabi, a hallmark of the global gaming industry since 2012. The WN Conference spans nearly 10 cities worldwide. This year's event in Abu Dhabi drew over 800 attendees, primarily from the GCC video game market. and featured leading international players. It was a phenomenal platform for discovering new partners and exploring diverse topics within the gaming sphere. From game analytics to AI integration, as a pioneering local internet company EMEA, events like this provide us with vast opportunities to contribute to the region's digital transformation goals. We remain committed to enhancing our socio-economic value by improving digital access and advancing the digital lifestyle throughout MENA. In conclusion, we are poised to drive progress in MENA's digital transformation. As the region's leader in online social networking and gaming, we will continue to deepen our partnership locally and globally to broaden our business horizon and embrace the opportunities brought by the transformation. As always, Our vision is to become number one online social networking and entertainment platform in the MENA region. With that, I will now turn the call over to our CFO, Karen, who will discuss our key financial and operational reasons.

Thank you, Saifi. Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. Our financial performance remained robust throughout the first quarter of 2024. Our ongoing efforts to deliver high-quality growth and enhance our operating efficiency resulted in meaningful profitability improvements, with net income increasing 56.2% year-over-year to US$31.1 million and net margin expanding from 27.1% to 39.5%. Looking ahead, We are confident that our strong cash position and excellent execution will empower us to capitalize on future opportunities, driving sustainable growth and creating value for all our stakeholders. Let's move on to our detailed financials for the first quarter of 2024. Our revenues were $78.7 million in the first quarter of 2024. a 7.1% increase from $73.5 billion in the first quarter of last year. The increase was primarily driven by our broadening user base and enhanced monetization capability. Our solid revenue growth was also partially attributable to the significant increase in APU, which grew from $5.39 in the first quarter of 2023 to $6.03 US dollars in the first quarter of 2024. Now let's take a look at our costs and expenses. Our total costs and expenses were 49.6 million US dollars in the first quarter of 2024, a 12.7% decrease from 56.8 million US dollars in the same period of last year. Our cost of revenues increased by 2.6% to $28.6 million in the first quarter of 2024 from $27.9 million in the same period of last year, primarily due to higher commission fees paid to third-party payment platforms as a result of increasing revenue generated. Cost of revenues as a percentage of total revenues decreased to 36.3% in the first quarter of 2024 compared with 37.9% in the same period of last year. Our selling and marketing expenses were $8.1 million in the first quarter of 2024, a 28.7% decrease from $11.4 million in the same period of last year, primarily driven by our more disciplined advertising and promotion approach and the lower share-based compensation expenses recognized in the first quarter of 2024. Selling and marketing expenses as a percentage of total revenues decreased from 15.4% in the first quarter of 2023 to 10.3% in the first quarter of 2024. Our general and administrative expenses were $6.6 million in the first quarter of 2024. a 13.4.6% decrease from 10.2 million U.S. dollars in the same period of last year, primarily driven by lower share-based compensation expenses recognized in the first quarter of 2024 and a decrease in professional service fees. General and administrative expenses as percentage of total revenues decreased from 13.8% in the first quarter of 2023 to 8.4% in the first quarter of 2024. Our technology and the product development expenses was $6.3 million in the first quarter of 2024, a 15.5% decrease from $7.4 million in the same period of last year, primarily due to a lower amount in performance-based bonuses recognized during this quarter. Technology and product development expenses as percentage of total revenue decreased from 10.1% in the first quarter to 2023 to 8% in the first quarter of 2024. As such, our operating income was 29.1 million US dollars in the first quarter of 2024. a 74.2% increase from $16.7 million in the same period of last year. Excluding share-based compensation expenses, our non-GAAP operating income in the first quarter of 2024 was $13.3 million, up 49.3% year-over-year. Our interest income was $6.6 million in the first quarter of 2024, compared with $3.1 million in the same period of 2023, primarily due to an increase in the interest rates applicable to the company's bank deposits. Our income tax expense was $3.5 million in the first quarter of 2024, compared with $0.6 million in the same period of last year. The increase was primarily due to the introduction and the implementation of the UAE corporate tax law, which is effective for the financial years starting on or after June 1, 2023. Moving to our bottom line, our net income increased by 56.2% to $31.1 million in the first quarter of 2024. compared with 19.9 million U.S. dollars in the same period of last year. Next, I would like to briefly review our liquidity and capital resources. Our cash position remains solid. As of March 31, 2024, we had cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, term deposits, and short-term investments $82.7 million, compared with $535.7 million as of December 31, 2023. The decrease was primarily due to the reallocation of some of the company's cash reserves to long-term investments in the first quarter of 2024. Under our $150 million share repurchase program that began on May 21, 2021, and has since been extended by our board through May 21, 2024. We have accumulatively repurchased 3,972,876 ADS or Class A ordinary shares in open market cash repurchases, totaling approximately $35.5 million as of March 31, 2024. On May 16, 2024, our board of directors approved an extension of expiration date of the share repurchase program to May 21, 2025. Moving to our outlook, for the second quarter of 2024, we expect our revenues to be between US$72 million and US$79 million. The above outlook is based on the current market conditions and reflects the company's management's current and preliminary estimates of the market and operating conditions and customer demand, which are all subject to change. This concludes our prepared remarks for today. Operator, we are now ready to take questions.

Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press star, then one on your touch-tone phone. If you are using a speaker phone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. If at any time your question has been addressed and you would like to withdraw your question, please press star and two. At this time, we will pause for a moment to assemble our roster. Our first question today will come from Shiquan Zhang of CICC. Please go ahead.

Thanks, management, for taking my question, and congratulations on the strong result. I have two questions. The first one is about flagship products. Can management show some color on the recent progress of the two flagship products, Yala and Yalalitho, and the main strategy this year? And the second one is about financial outlook. Can management update on the revenue growth and the net profit margin change this year? Thank you.

Hi, Shuxing. This is Saifi, and I will answer your first question. Yellows and yellow ludo performances are currently remaining stable. Over the years, we have gradually cultivated a loyal user community that loves the Mejlis culture and is highly vibrant and engaged on the platform. Of course, this year we will continue working on upgrades and roll out more fresh features and functions for our users to enjoy. Additionally, as I just mentioned, for Yalla Ludo, the team is actively organizing more offline tournaments to strengthen our brand's local impact and to better penetrate the market through offline channels. We will also continue to look for growth opportunities for both legacy products.

Hi Xuxin, this is Karen and I will take you the second question. For 2024, we are very confident of maintaining our current stable top line performance for our existing product portfolio. Our new products may also contribute to revenue growth later this year. We will update the market on our progress when we have a clear picture of our product launches. Regarding the net margin, we think it's fair to expect around 40%, excluding any potential investments in new products. However, if we take into account of the new products' potential impact, our margin may end up in the 35% range. Thank you. Thank you for your question.

Our next question today will come from Sanha Li of CICC. Please go ahead.

Hi, management. Thanks for taking my question, and congratulations on a solid quarter. My question is related to our external cooperation. Can we expect more external cooperation to settle this year, and could management share more color about the strategy of future cooperation direction? Thank you.

Hi, Cheng Hao. This is Tao Yang. Thank you very much for your question. As MENA's digital transformation continues to advance rapidly, we are being approached by many companies from Europe, the States, and China to discuss potential opportunities in the region, mostly in the gaming and social networking sectors. We're open to this discussion, and our strategic team is consistently exploring these opportunities. In terms of strategy, we consider the synergies with our current businesses, the team's expertise, or the fundamental quality of the assets, and lastly, the ROI, of course. In terms of the timeline, we will keep you updated once there is anything we can share with the public. Thank you, Chen Hao.

Our next question will come from Xiao Yu Xu of Hypo. Please go ahead.

Hello, management. Thank you for taking my question. Can I please ask what management think about the TikTok ban in the US? What would be the impact on us? Thank you.

Hi Sarah, thank you for your question. TikTok entered the MENA market around 2021 and 2022. It's a very strong player that had a big impact on the live streaming landscape in MENA upon entry. Now that TikTok has been in the Middle East market for a while, we believe the competitive landscape has re-stabilized. I would like also to remind you that we don't compete with TikTok directly. Since we are not a live streaming platform, we meet a different set of needs for our users. Unlike TikTok's global strategy, Jella is rooted deeply in the Mina tradition and serves a group of loyal Mina users who love the Majlis culture, love voice chatting, and love the pure and equal social networking atmosphere our platform offers. Our team has been monitoring the situation closely, but nothing significant has happened recently, so we will share new observations, if any, on future calls. Thank you. Yes.

Our next question will come from Kaifam Zia of CITIC. Please go ahead.

Hi, management. Thanks for taking my question. And I have a question about your regional strategy. So does the company have any plan to expand into other regions outside of Mainland? Thank you.

Hi, Kaifeng. Good morning. This is Taoyang. And I will answer your question. And as we always emphasize, our primary focus will continue to be the Middle East. Of course, at the same time, we will remain alert and open to opportunities in overseas markets. With our current products, we have already gained access to certain user groups from overseas markets, including South America and Southeast Asia. For certain new products in our pipeline, we may conduct global promotional activities to realize greater potential and the health ROI, we identify solid opportunities for distribution beyond the market. However, our primary emphasis unquestionably lies in where we present distinct advantages and can best utilize our core capabilities to drive growth. Thank you, Kaifeng.

Our next question will come from Lincoln Kahn of Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.

Thank you, management, for taking my question. My question is, one is, can I just share some color on Yala Games' outlook and publishing strategy? And what about the strategy to expand in those gaming business? And my follow-up is, you know, are there any updates in terms of, I'd say, all 810? I can't imagine, sir. Thank you.

Hi, Lincoln. Thank you for the question. This is Jeff. I will take your first two questions and leave the last one to Karen. So we are working on the beta version of one of our new products and optimizing its design before the official launch. For the other new products in our pipeline, we will keep you posted on their progress. Regarding our game strategy, First, going forward, we will look to collaborate with more mature gaming studios or those with successful track records in gaming publishing. We will also carefully select game content that is suitable for the MENA market, leveraging our localized expertise. Second, we plan to explore collaborations with global players who are interested in the MENA market, utilizing our expertise in community engagement and our deep local know-how to drive win-win outcomes. Finally, we are committed to growing our in-house development team and expect to introduce a series of new self-development core games this year. Thank you.

Hi, Lincoln. Glad you're here. Yala is dedicated to return value to shareholders throughout our share repurchase program. As of March 31, 2024, we have deployed a total of US$35.5 million for share repurchases. Also, as we mentioned in our prepared remarks, we have extended our share repurchase program for another year to ensure that the company can repurchase shares from the market at any time during the next 12 months. Given our solid fundamentals, we will continue to conduct our share repurchase program while considering cash dividend payments in due course. We will keep you posted if we have any more updates. In short, we believe strongly in YALA's long-term potential and are dedicated to generating value for all parties involved. I hope this answer will make you feel satisfied. Thank you.

Thank you.

If there are no further questions now, I'd like to turn the call back over to management for closing remarks.

Thank you once again for joining us today. We look forward to speaking with you in the next quarter. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact Yala's Investor Relations or PS&T Financial Communications. Both parties' contact information is available in today's press release as well as on our company website. Thank you.

This concludes the conference call. You may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.