Yalla Group Limited

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 will turn the call over to your speaker host today, Ms. Carrie Gao, IR Director of the company. Please go ahead.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to YALA's fourth quarter and four-year 2024 earnings conference. We issued our earnings release earlier today and it 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 Securities Litigation 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 specified 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 executive officer, who will provide an overview of our latest achievements and growth strategies. He will be followed by Mr. Sathith 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 fourth quarter and full year 2024 conference call. We concluded 2024 with robust fourth quarter results. Our revenue rose to USD 91 million. reaching a new record high for the second conductive culture and once again beating the upper end of our guidance. We are bringing our annual revenue to USD 340 million. This exceptional performance is a testament to our deep commitment to enhancing user experiences and boosting user engagement across our ecosystem with content tailored to the local culture. Additionally, we have made significant strides in improving our operational efficiency by enhancing management practices with our service providers, optimizing user acquisition strategies, and refining our internal processes, which led to a 26% year-over-year increase in operating profitability for full year 2024. This impressive result further demonstrated our ability to drive high-quality growth and fulfill MENA users' evolving online, social networking, and gaming needs. Looking back at 2024, the thriving digital economy in the MENA region continued to attract attention globally. An increasing number of global leading Internet companies are investing more resources and talent into the MENA market. driving evolving demand trends among local users. This vibrant landscape underscores MENA's potential as one of the fastest-growing mobile Internet markets. On a related note, according to industry research, the digital transformation market in MENA was valued at USD $55 billion in 2024, and it is expected to grow a compound annual growth rate of 22.5%, reaching USD 418.54 billion by 2034. This dynamic expansion creates tremendous profit and growth opportunities for businesses. Leveraging nearly a decade of experience in the MENA region, a well-established product portfolio and flourishing online social and gaming community. Yella is well-positioned for continued market leadership in the MENA region. We remain dedicated to serving local users' evolving needs for social interaction and entertainment, and we'll stay closely attuned to local trends as we create and launch new products. tailored to MENA users' preference. The MENA region has also experienced significant advancement in artificial intelligence, with countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE at the forefront of AI infrastructure investments. In the first half of 2024, Abu Dhabi's AI sector grew by 41.3%, bringing the total number of AI companies to 400. Drawing upon Yela's decade of expertise in MENA's internet industry and our deep understanding of local culture and user behaviors, we continued to strengthen our capabilities in developing AI algorithm models that are tailored to local culture and user preference. Our dedicated AI team is rapidly integrating AI-driven automation and data analytics into our products and operations to optimize R&D efficiency and improve the user experience across our product offerings. For example, we have increased the role of our self-developed AI art platform in virtual product design, training it to better align with Mina users aesthetic preference. This has significantly enhanced design efficiency and accuracy. Additionally, we utilize AI algorithm to comprehensively analyze users' characteristics and employ personalized recommendations to improve user interaction and re-engage domain users. These enhanced features not only boost user engagement but also drive profitability. Going forward, we will continue to drive innovation in AI applications to provide local users more efficient and engaging services. At the same time, MENA's gaming industry continues to maintain a strong growth trend. As one of the fastest growing regions in terms of global gaming industry revenue, the MENA market shows a high willingness to download and pay for various types of games. As always, we remain committed to enriching our gaming product portfolio with a continuous focus on R&D for Yellow Game. As we've shared previously, Yellow Game's product line is vibrant with several self-developed medical games in the pipeline. Two of these games have completed development and are in the testing phase. We are also consistently discussing collaboration opportunities with potential partners from gaming studios around the world. We look forward to seeing these new products capture their corresponding user base and drive revenue growth in the coming year. 2025 marks the 10th anniversary of Yellow Group. We are excited to see our new products and the diverse efforts we've made recently come to fruition this milestone year. The MENA market is experiencing an incredible opportunity for growth, with local government support for digital development laying a solid foundation for future expansion. As MENA's largest online social networking and gaming company, we remain confident in our ability to navigate the ever-evolving digital landscape and deliver value to all of our stakeholders. Now I will turn this call over to our president, Mr. Saifi Ismail, for a closer look at our recent developments.