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Category: Asia Pacific

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Government Cuts – $1b cut in Budget operating allowance ‘unnecessary and damaging’

    Source: Better Taxes for a Better Future Campaign

    The announcement by the Government that it will cut $1b to its Budget operating allowance is unnecessary and damaging, according to the Better Taxes for a Better Future Campaign.

    “This cut, on top of last year’s mean spirited Budget, is a result of the 2024 tax cuts, which overwhelmingly favoured the wealthiest New Zealanders, including the $2.9b tax break for landlords,” says Glenn Barclay, spokesperson for the Better Taxes Campaign.

    “The Government has painted itself into a fiscal corner as a consequence and is making decisions that are both unnecessary and damaging because of their unwillingness to recognise that our tax system is broken and that we need to raise more revenue for the betterment of all New Zealanders.”

    “We are seeing the health system in crisis and other essential public services being squeezed,” says Glenn Barclay.

    “While this is an immediate problem, it reflects the failure of successive governments to ensure that we collect sufficient revenue to meet our needs and that those who can afford to pay more in tax do so.”

    New Zealand’s core Crown revenue has averaged around 30% of GDP historically and this is low compared to many European countries, which have much better health systems and public services.

    In 2023, research by Inland Revenue demonstrated that the the wealthiest 310 families in New Zealand had an effective tax rate of around 9% whereas the average New Zealander paid over 20% in tax.

    “It is clear that our health system and public services need better funding, that we need more resources for tackling climate change and that inequality is eating away at our society,” says Glenn Barclay.

    “Our broken tax system lies at the heart of all these pressing issues and we call on the Government and opposition parties to recognise the need to introduce taxes that many other countries have – such as a capital gains tax, an excess profits tax, wealth taxes and wealth transfer taxes.”

    The Better taxes for a Better Future Campaign was launched in June 2023 with the support of 21 partner organisations. It is seeking a tax system that:

    • Is fully transparent.
    • Ensures people who have more to contribute make that contribution: that we gather more revenue from wealth, gains from wealth, all forms of income, and corporates.
    • Makes greater use of fair taxes to promote good health and environmental health.
    • Addresses the tax impact on the least well-off in our society.
    • Raises more revenue to enable us to address the social, economic and environmental challenges we face.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Arrest made following serious assualt – Palmerston North

    Source: New Zealand Police (National News)

    Please attribute to Detective Senior Sergeant Dave Thompson:

    A 42-year-old Palmerston North man has been arrested and charged in relation to a serious assault in Cloverlea last month.

    A man was found at a Cecil Place address with critical injuries on 1 March 2025 and continues to recover in hospital.

    The 42-year-old has been charged with Wounding with Intent to Cause Grievous Bodily Harm and will appear in court today.

    He was arrested at 2pm yesterday in the Roslyn area.

    Over the past few weeks, a huge effort has gone into locating this man with several addresses searched. 

    It is great that yesterday’s coordinated response and arrest means we can put him before the courts.  

    ENDS

    Issued by Police Media Centre.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Statement by Minister Todd McClay following the March 2025 Pastoral Sector Group meeting

    Source: New Zealand Government

    The Pastoral Sector Group (PSG) has held its first meeting, discussing farm emissions.
    The group consists of Agriculture, Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts, and Chairs and CEOs from: Beef + Lamb New Zealand, Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand, Dairy NZ, Deer Industry New Zealand, Federated Farmers, and the Meat Industry Association.
    Pasture Sector
    Sector representatives contributed perspectives on the current state of the industry and a desire to work constructively toward a positive outcome for the rural sector.
    They underlined the significant effort made by farmers to date. 
    They stressed the need for any consideration of emissions reduction to be based upon science and to be solutions driven. 
    They stressed the need to revise the domestic methane target based on the principle of no additional warming. 
    They stressed the need for any solutions to be affordable for farmers; and for the need to avoid imposing costs upon industry and government. 
    They voiced concerns about the effects afforestation was having on the pastoral sector and welcomed the Government’s recent announcement to restrict farm to forest conversions. 
    They raised concerns about the negative impact that a price on agricultural emissions would have on production. 
    They stressed the need for certainty and time for the primary sector.
    Government
    Ministers reiterated that this group was to allow the sector to provide their views to government directly and to engage in a respectful dialogue.
    Ministers thanked the primary sector for their significant contribution to New Zealand, and in particular, the importance of a strong primary sector to the New Zealand economy.
    They stressed that the PSG was an opportunity to talk openly and that it was not a decision-making body.
    The members of the group agreed that New Zealand farmers are among the world’s most carbon-efficient food producers and were willing to do their part for New Zealand’s overall commitment to reduce emissions.
    Ministers confirmed the following:

    That the Government has removed agriculture from the Emissions Trading Scheme.
    That the Government has disbanded He Waka Eka Noa.
    That the Government is committed to a split gas approach.
    That the Government commissioned an independent scientific review on the role of biogenic methane against additional warming.
    That the Government will pass legislation this year to implement its decision of 4 December 2024 to restrict full farm to forest conversions.
    That the Government is committed to meeting New Zealand’s climate obligations without closing down farms or sending jobs and production overseas.
    That all decisions in respect to farm emissions will be informed by accepted science.
    That the Government is mindful of the impact of costs related to emissions reduction on farmers; and the implications that cost could have for production.
    That a revised 2050 biogenic methane target will be set this year.
    That the Government is committed to the use of science and innovation to reduce emissions, not reducing on farm production.
    That it is for New Zealand to decide how to reduce emissions.
    That New Zealand has climate change obligations under some trade agreements and that the Government will be guided by domestic considerations and interests including those of New Zealand producers and the economy.
    The Government currently has a plan that shows New Zealand can meet its obligations while growing the economy and without closing down farms or sending production or jobs overseas.
    That the Government will continue to build confidence in the primary sector.

    The PSG will meet again next month.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Budget 2025: The Growth Budget

    Source: New Zealand Government

    Tēna koutou kātoa.  Greetings everyone. Can I thank you Malcolm for that kind introduction and thank everyone who has taken the time to be here today. My special thanks go to our hosts Metco Engineering and the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce.
    Let me also acknowledge my colleagues who join us today – your local MP and my Associate Minister of Finance the Hon Chris Bishop, together with the Minister of Education the Hon Erica Stanford. 
    This factory is a bit of a different setting than the conference centre or ballroom Ministers typically use for a pre-Budget speech. Why?
    Because places like this are the engine room of the New Zealand economy.
    Our Government knows that to speed up the economic recovery New Zealanders need we have to get this growth engine cranking.
    I appreciate that economic growth can be a bit of an abstract concept: the work that happens on this factory floor is what it’s all about.
    The workers at Metco solve problems, coming up with new products and manufacturing processes for a range of industries. They design and create clever components for customers around the world – producing everything from window stays through to bus stops.
    Metco has grown successfully by making investments in its own machinery and technology and by hiring and up-skilling great people who come up with innovative ideas and then make them happen.
    The growth of businesses like MetCo, and indeed of all the businesses represented in this room today, has created good jobs and livelihoods for the people of the Hutt Valley community. 
    It’s also allowed your businesses to make healthy tax contributions, which helps fund the Government’s investment in health services, schools, vital infrastructure and other important public spending. 
    Thank you for that contribution, we don’t take it for granted.
    New Zealand needs more success stories like MetCo: Your growth is what’s needed to deliver the kind of country we all want: with better living standards, better job opportunities and more financially secure families.
    That’s why our Government is going for growth.
    Earlier this year we released a snapshot of the work we have underway to support this growth agenda. Going for Growth sets out 87 specific actions we are taking under five key themes: 

    Developing talent
    Competitive business settings
    Innovation, technology and science
    Overseas investment and trade
    Infrastructure for growth

    I encourage you to check out the plan and the work underway. There’s more to come.  
    For today though, I’m going to switch out of my Economic Growth hat and into my Minister of Finance hat and focus my remarks on this year’s Budget. 
    The Context for Budget 2025
    The Government’s growth ambition has been front and centre as we’ve put the Budget together.  
    We know that global uncertainty is challenging for many of you and we’re determined our Budget will play a role in giving you confidence for the future.  
    But let me be blunt: it’s not the easiest time to be putting together a Budget.
    New Zealand is still recovering from the economic damage inflicted during the Covid period and we’re now facing the headwinds of further global instability.
    There is a pressing need for greater investments in our health system, our education system, our defence force and other areas, and very little money to pay for those investments.   
    Our Government is also acutely conscious of the challenging economic circumstances many New Zealanders have experienced in the past few years as we’ve emerged from a period of very high inflation and rapidly rising interest rates. 
    The pain is still rippling through our communities. Kiwis feel it in the higher prices they still pay for almost everything, in higher levels of unemployment and in struggling local businesses. The cost of living remains a top-of-mind concern.  
    The good news is that, despite significant global challenges, a steady economic recovery is now taking place here, with export-led growth gathering strength, business confidence coming off its lows and the primary sector benefiting from higher commodity prices and mostly favourable growing conditions. 
    Having considered everything happening around the world, the Treasury is continuing to forecast accelerating growth in the New Zealand economy over the coming year, with falling unemployment forecast to follow in the second half of the year. 
    There’s no magic wand to wish away the price rises baked in over recent years, but getting inflation and interest rates under control has been essential to achieving this economic recovery.  
    That’s why I always take pause to celebrate that since our Government came to office inflation has returned to normal levels, resulting in a 200 basis point reduction in interest rates. 
    We must not take this progress for granted. 
    While some pretend we can fix all the post-Covid damage with yet more extravagant government spending, the economic truth is that they are wrong. 
    The only way to sustainably overcome cost of living pressures is through successive years of stable inflation, careful investment and sustained economic growth. 
    Our Government is committed to the responsible fiscal management and growth supporting policies needed to make that happen. 
    Debt, deficit and the path out
    An important part of that effort is getting our own books in order. That’s a big task.
    The previous Government’s spending decisions during and after Covid have left New Zealand with a sea of debt and red-ink in the government finances.
    Government debt leapt up by almost $120 billion between 2019 and 2024, soaring from under $58 billion to $175 billion. 
    Those are big numbers, almost too big to comprehend, so let me explain it this way: That amounts to $22,000 more in debt for every New Zealander.
    You may well ask: what do we have to show for all that debt? 
    To give you some further historical context, New Zealand’s net core Crown debt, which once hovered between five and 25 per cent of GDP, rose to around 42 per cent last year. That’s the highest level of government debt New Zealand has shouldered since the mid-1990s.    
    Servicing that debt is expensive.  
    The interest bill on government debt has soared from $3.6 billion in 2014 to $8.9 billion last year.  That sum is more than annual core Crown expenses for the Police, Corrections, the Ministry of Justice, Customs and the Defence Force combined.
    Our Government’s goal is to put net core Crown debt on a downward trajectory towards 40 per cent of GDP and in the longer term keep it below that percentage. 
    Why?  Because allowing debt to keep spiralling would threaten the livelihood of every New Zealander.  
    We must ensure our country is financially strong and resilient enough to effectively respond to whatever the future may throw: be it earthquakes, extreme climatic events, biosecurity incursions or whatever. We need the world to keep seeing us as a good country to invest in and lend to. Manageable debt levels are an essential foundation for a strong economy and for your financial future.
    Achieving lower debt levels isn’t easy: especially because the government books remain out of balance.
    The post-Covid ‘structural deficit’ has left a big gap between what the country needs to fund to deliver on the spending commitments previous Budgets have made and what we need to earn to pay for that spending.  
    The Government is currently borrowing billions to bridge the gap.
    Every Thursday afternoon, New Zealand Debt Management issues around $500 million of Government bonds. Some of this is to that roll over existing bonds that have expired, but large chunks of it are for new borrowing. 
    That level of borrowing obviously can’t go on forever, or else our kids and grandkids will be left with unsustainable debt and considerable economic uncertainty. 
    Most of you can probably relate to this if you think about your own household budget: sure, sensible borrowing has its place, but no overdraft can be extended forever, and while you can keep giving the credit card a hammering, left unpaid, it does, eventually, get declined.  
    It’s worth bearing this in mind next time somebody tries to suggest to you that the New Zealand Government needs to spend more on something.  
    The second question always needs to be: but how will we pay for it?  
    Our Government’s strategy is to reduce the deficit over time, through a gradual programme of consolidation and careful spending choices.  
    We are committed to maintaining stability for New Zealanders, by continuing to invest in essential frontline services, infrastructure for growth and social supports like superannuation. 
    But delivering those things requires us to make careful choices about what we spend elsewhere. 
    That’s why we’ve committed ourselves to ongoing reprioritisation and fiscal restraint. It isn’t easy, but it is essential. 
    Believe me, I’d rather we were in clover, with money to spend on all the good ideas we hear. But the reality is that we are governing in tighter times.  
    Economic growth is essential to our fiscal repair job.  It’s simply the most effective way to raise government revenue, and to give us better choices for the future.
    Some have suggested a different approach. They say New Zealand should seek to close the deficit by simply adding more and higher rates of taxes to Kiwis’ wages, savings, wealth or capital.  
    We reject that approach.
    Punishing Kiwis with higher taxes right now would undermine our recovery, strangle growth and threaten the economic stability New Zealand needs. 
    It would pull the rug out from all those businesses and industries who are already just hanging on. And it would send an exodus of Kiwi talent and wealth to Australia and beyond.  
    It would be exactly the wrong recipe for a country whose future prospects depend on investment and growth.  
    Changes in the economic and fiscal outlook since HYEFU
    The Treasury’s last set of economic forecasts was presented at the Half Year Update in December.
    As you know, the global economic outlook has worsened considerably since that update.
    Tarriff announcements by the US government, countervailing tariffs being imposed by China and an uncertain path for future tariffs and exemptions have created volatile global economic conditions with forecasters around the world agreeing that global growth will be lower this year and next year than they were previously predicting.  
    New Zealand can’t escape the fallout. 
    Accordingly, Treasury has adjusted the forecasts it presented in December, reducing their assumptions of real GDP growth in New Zealand in 2025 and 2026.  
    New Zealand’s economy will still be growing, but not as fast as forecast a few months ago.
    That lower growth trajectory has an inevitable impact on the government books, reducing revenue and threatening our already difficult return to surplus and debt reduction.  
    At the same time, it’s clear that the country’s need for investment has not lessened: whether it be in the infrastructure we need for a more productive future, the funding needed to meet pressures in our health service and education system; or the need to rebuild our defence capability to meet the challenges of a less stable world.
    On top of all of that, it’s also the case that New Zealand’s long-term productivity and savings challenges haven’t gone away. 
    So there’s a huge amount to juggle in this year’s Budget.
    How has the Government managed these challenges?
    We started with that question that I suggested to you earlier:  How do we pay for the things we need now without putting our future economic stability at risk?  
    Our approach has been threefold.  
    First, there has been a very high bar for new initiatives in the Budget.  I can confirm today that there will be no lolly scramble in Budget 2025.  New spending initiatives are strictly limited to the most important priorities: our focus has been on health, education, law and order, defence, and a small number of critical social investments. We have also found room for modest measures to support business growth and to provide some carefully targeted cost of living relief.
    Second, beyond a small number of exceptions, government departments are not receiving additional funding in the Budget. We expect government agencies to adjust themselves to New Zealand’s limited fiscal means. This will require restraint in public sector wage increases and an ongoing commitment to getting more impact out of every dollar spent.  
    Third, we have undertaken a significant savings drive.  
    That effort has involved Ministers identifying areas of previously committed spending that can no longer be justified in light of the challenging circumstances New Zealand now faces.   
    We’ve analysed spending decisions made by previous governments and re-evaluated them in the context of today’s constraints. This has involved a line-by-line review of previous funding commitments, including money put aside in contingency.
    This reprioritisation exercise has required careful consideration and some tough, but necessary, choices. 
    At every step, we’ve asked ourselves two questions:

    Can these dollars be justified when we are borrowing to pay for them?
    Can we be sure these dollars will do more good in this area than if invested in our most pressing priorities – like funding essential health services, better educating our kids, defending New Zealand’s security or ensuring our future growth?

    Taken together, the Government’s savings drive has freed-up billions of dollars. Those savings will now be re-deployed to fund New Zealand’s most pressing priorities.
    Sticking to the fiscal strategy
    In this year’s Budget we’ve also had to carefully consider whether, in light of major global economic events, our fiscal strategy still remains achievable.
    The strategy is focused on two key goals: putting net debt on a downward trajectory and returning the books to an OBEGALx surplus by 2028.  
    This strategy matters, it matters for getting the books back in order and that’s about more than a set of numbers. It’s about keeping interest rates lower and providing a solid platform for future growth. It’s about ensuring New Zealand continues to be seen as a stable, reliable place to invest in and lend to. It’s about making sure we don’t leave our kids and grandkids with debts they just can’t repay. 
    At our last update in December – well before President Trump’s “Liberation Day” – we were expecting a small surplus in 2029, and it remained our intention to returning it a year earlier if possible.  
    I can confirm that our Government remains committed to those goals. 
    Sticking to them has required some careful adjustments in this year’s Budget.
    The key change we have made is to the size of this year’s “operating allowance” – that is the amount of money put aside for new spending.   
    At the Half Year Update, the Treasury forecast that the “allowance” in Budget 2025 would be $2.4 billion. 
    That was always a small envelope. However, as I outlined earlier, our approach has been to supplement our new spending by reprioritising funds from elsewhere.
    I am confirming today that the Government has reduced the size of our Budget 2025 operating allowance to $1.3 billion.
    This means we will be spending billions less over the forecast period than would have otherwise been the case. This will reduce the amount of extra borrowing our country needs to do over the next few years and it will keep us on track towards balanced books and debt reduction.
    The fiscal forecasts will not be finalised until later this week, but according to the latest numbers I have seen, this smaller operating allowance means we will continue to forecast a surplus in 2029. 
    The reality of global economic events is that if we’d pushed on with a larger operating allowance then we would be staring down the barrel of even bigger deficits and debt.  
    Let me emphasise once again: our Budget will still deliver increased investment in the things that really matter to Kiwis: like health, education, law and order, the defence force, business growth and targeted cost of living relief. Those things are important to you and they’re important to our Government. 
    Our careful reprioritisation approach means we can continue to make progress on today’s priorities while ensuring we are better positioned to face the challenges tomorrow will bring.
    Yes, those challenges loom large. 
    But let’s get real: global instability may not be a passing trend. New Zealand can’t expect to keep borrowing as much as we are now. The world doesn’t owe us any favours.
    This is not the time to kick the can down the road.  
    We must act now to secure our financial future.  
     
    Conclusion
    In conclusion, Budget 2025 takes place against a difficult global backdrop. 
    We can’t wish that away. What we can do is focus on the things in our control.
    Our Government is doing just that, by providing a predictable, steady approach to economic and fiscal management. 
    In an unstable world we are staying the course with responsible policies that provide stability, support investment and make New Zealand an attractive place for the world to trade and do business with.  
    These sensible policy approaches are the base from which we will deliver better choices and investments in the years ahead.
    With those basics in place, there is much for Kiwi businesses to feel optimistic about.  
    New Zealand has enormous economic growth potential. 
    We are a safe, secure country with a growing constellation of free trade agreements and a global reputation as a good place to do business.
    We are blessed with abundant natural resources – everything from ocean to freshwater, fertile land and temperate weather to abundant minerals.
    In a world worried about food security, we feed more than 40 million people with levels of efficiency and sustainability that are the envy of many.
    We have a long history of stable democracy, strong institutions and rule of law.
    We’ve delivered scientific breakthroughs and global success stories and we will continue to do so.  As I stand here today, we are world leaders in sending rocket to space – rockets that include components made right here in this factory. 
    Fundamentally, I’m optimistic about New Zealand’s economic future because I have faith in you: the New Zealanders who get out of bed each morning and go and make things happen.  
    I’m optimistic because I see how hard Kiwis work. I see how much effort Kiwi parents go to for their kids. I see how much employers and workers care about their communities. We are a smart, innovative, resilient people.  
    The next decade can be our decade. That requires good and steady government and careful spending choices. This year’s Budget will not be a lolly scramble.  What this Budget will be is a responsible Budget that secures New Zealand’s future.
     

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Transport Minister to visit Sydney

    Source: New Zealand Government

    Transport and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Sydney today to further promote New Zealand’s infrastructure investment opportunities following the NZ Infrastructure Investment Summit last month.
    “The Government has signalled that New Zealand is open for business and going for economic growth. In Sydney I will present a New Zealand Government Infrastructure Investment update to the International Project Finance Association, highlighting the range of upcoming investment opportunities across New Zealand’s infrastructure pipeline,” Mr Bishop says.
    “I will attend the 2025 National Infrastructure Awards dinner, hosted by Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, and host an NZTE Investors Roundtable lunch with a range of major potential investors in New Zealand.
    “While there I will also visit a range of transport projects, including the WestConnex toll road, and the Paramatta Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) programme. All of these projects offer lessons for New Zealand as we embark on our ambitious transport investment programme.”
    Mr Bishop leaves for Sydney today and will conclude his visit on Friday 2 May.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Huge benefits available from medical conferences

    Source: New Zealand Government

    Outdated regulations stopping trained medical professionals from learning about new medicines through trade show advertising are out of step with other countries and disadvantage New Zealanders, Regulation Minister David Seymour, Health Minister Simeon Brown and Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston say.
    “New Zealand’s prohibition on advertising medicines yet to be consented by Medsafe is a barrier to New Zealand’s ability to host medical conferences and trade shows. The opportunity cost of New Zealand missing out on these is huge,” Mr Seymour says.
    These laws will be reformed so medicines yet to be consented by Medsafe can be advertised at medical conferences in New Zealand, instead of New Zealand health professionals needing to travel overseas.
    “Prohibition was introduced in response to the perceived risk that pharmaceutical companies may attempt to circumvent formal medicine approval processes. The Ministry for Regulation has investigated and found this overly cautious approach is out of step with other recognised jurisdictions and is not proportionate to the perceived risk,” Mr Seymour says.
    “Other nations like Australia, Canada, and the European Union allow advertising to generate revenue and provide medical professionals with information on cutting edge medicines. New Zealand doesn’t need to be left behind because of outdated red tape.
    “This change is estimated to generate $90 million in associated revenue over the next few years.
    “Prohibition also contradicts this Government’s efforts to increase medicines access. Allowing these products to be advertised would upskill doctors and give them the knowledge and skills to prescribe these treatments safely to Kiwis who need them.”
    “This Government is committed to removing regulatory barriers so that we can drive economic growth. Removing the red tape around medical conferences will make New Zealand a better destination for conference organisers, while also making it easier for our own healthcare professionals to keep up with the latest innovations in health products and medicines,” Mr Brown says.
    “New Zealand’s current health regulations can be overly bureaucratic, and this is slowing down access to care, increasing costs, and making it harder for patients to get the services they need.
    “Our regulations can also make it harder to attract, train and retain healthcare workers. Workers want to work with top class treatments and patients want to be able to access them.
    “Medical conferences are a great way to expand the collective knowledge and skill of the health workforce through the transfer of ideas and technologies.
    “The Government is investing more than ever into our health system – a record $30 billion each year – and we expect it to deliver more for patients as a result.”
    “Removing these barriers will also give us an opportunity to showcase our new conference facilities, fantastic hotels, and experiences, and pitch New Zealand as a world class location for business events like medical conferences,” Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston says.
    “Business event participants spend an average of $175 more per day than other visitors, and often travel during the off-peak season, boosting tourism and economic activity year-round.
    “Our message is clear, New Zealand is open for business. We are looking forward to welcoming more medical conferences to New Zealand, and we have great facilities to host them.”

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Taupō Hospital accredited to train next generation of rural doctors

    Source: New Zealand Government

    Taupō Hospital has become the first hospital in the North Island to receive accreditation to deliver Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) training, Health Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Health Minister Matt Doocey have announced.“The Government is committed to growing and strengthening our health workforce, and a strong rural workforce is a key part of that,” Mr Brown says.“In rural settings where access to specialist health services can be limited, generalist doctors – who can work flexibly across multiple disciplines and service areas – play a vital role.“This accreditation is a significant step towards building a stronger rural health workforce in Taupō. It will help increase the number of doctors trained with the broad skills needed to support the surrounding rural communities.“Rural generalists can sustainably manage a broad range of patient needs and work within clinical networks to ensure patients get access to specialist teams when required.“The ACRRM programme will enable registrars to train to work in Taupō Hospital while also developing advanced skills in fields such as obstetrics, anaesthetics, mental health, or endoscopy.Mr Doocey says being an accredited ACRRM training location means Taupō can attract both New Zealand and Australian registrars and graduates and provides an opportunity for some New Zealand doctors working overseas to return home during their training.“One of the five priorities of the National Rural Health Strategy is to create a valued and flexible rural health workforce, and training young doctors as rural generalists directly supports this goal,” Mr Doocey says.“Taupō Hospital’s new accreditation complements the existing pathway for New Zealand doctors through the New Zealand Rural Hospital Medicine Training Programme. “All New Zealanders deserve timely access to quality healthcare, and the Government is committed to improving health outcomes, particularly for the one in five Kiwis living in rural areas.“To improve access and rural health outcomes, we must invest in growing and supporting the rural health workforce. Taupō Hospital’s accreditation is an important step towards that.”

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Greasing the wheels of the energy transition to address climate change and fossil fuels phase out

    Source:

    29 April 2025

    The global energy system may be faced with an inescapable trade-off between urgently addressing climate change versus avoiding an energy shortfall, according to a new energy scenario tool developed by University of South Australia researchers and published in the open access journal Energies.

    The Global Renewable Energy and Sectoral Electrification model, dubbed ‘GREaSE’, has been developed by UniSA Associate Professor James Hopeward with three civil engineering graduates.

    ‘In essence, it’s an exploratory tool, designed to be simple and easy for anyone to use, to test what-if scenarios that aren’t covered by conventional energy and climate models,’ Assoc Prof Hopeward says.

    Three Honours students – Shannon O’Connor, Richard Davis and Peter Akiki – started working on the model in 2023, hoping to answer a critical gap in the energy and climate debate.

    ‘When we hear about climate change, we’re typically presented with two opposing scenario archetypes,’ Assoc Prof Hopeward says.

    “On the one hand, there are scenarios of unchecked growth in fossil fuels, leading to climate disaster, while on the other hand there are utopian scenarios of renewable energy abundance.”

    The students posed the question: what if the more likely reality is somewhere in between the two extremes? And if it is, what might we be missing in terms of risks to people and the planet?

    After graduating, the team continued to work with Assoc Prof Hopeward to develop and refine the model, culminating in the publication of ‘GREaSE’ in Energies.

    Using the model, the researchers have simulated a range of plausible future scenarios including rapid curtailment of fossil fuels, high and low per-capita demand, and different scenarios of electrification.

    According to Richard Davis, “a striking similarity across scenarios is the inevitable transition to renewable energy – whether it’s proactive to address carbon emissions, or reactive because fossil fuels start running short.”

    But achieving the rapid cuts necessary to meet the 1.5°C targets set out in the Paris Agreement presents a serious challenge.

    As Ms O’Connor points out, “even with today’s rapid expansion of renewable energy, the modelling suggests it can’t expand fast enough to fill the gap left by the phase-out of fossil fuels, creating a 20 to 30-year gap between demand and supply.

    “By 2050 or so, we could potentially expect renewable supply to catch up, meaning future demand could largely be met by renewables, but while we’re building that new system, we might need to rebalance our expectations around how much energy we’re going to have to power our economies.”

    The modelling does not show that emissions targets should be abandoned in favour of scaling up fossil fuels. The researchers say this would “push the transition a few more years down the road”.

    Assoc Prof Hopeward says it is also unlikely that nuclear power could fill the gap, due to its small global potential.

    “Even if the world’s recoverable uranium resources were much larger, it would scale up even more slowly than renewables like solar and wind,” he says.

    “We have to face facts: our long-term energy future is dominated by renewables. We could transition now and take the hit in terms of energy supply, or we could transition later, once we’ve burned the last of the fossil fuel. We would still have to deal with essentially the same transformation, just in the midst of potentially catastrophic climate change.

    “It’s a bit like being told by your doctor to eat healthier and start exercising. You’ve got the choice to avoid making the tough changes now, and just take your chances with surviving the heart attack later, or you get on with what you know you need to do. We would argue that we really need to put our global energy consumption on a diet, ASAP.”

    The researchers have designed the model to be simple, free and open source, in the hope that it sparks a wider conversation around energy and climate futures.

     

    Full paper details:

    Hopeward, J., Davis, R., O’Connor, S. and Akiki, P. (2025) The Global Renewable Energy and Sectoral Electrification (GREaSE) Model for Rapid Energy Transition Scenarios, Energies 18(9). https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/9/2205  

     

    …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    Contact for interview: Assoc Prof James Hopeward
    M: +61 408 819 175       E: james.hopeward@unisa.edu.au

    Media contact: Candy Gibson
    M: +61 434 605 142       E: candy.gibson@unisa.edu.au

    MIL OSI News –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Manufacturing Masterminds Q&A With Matt Ringer

    Source: US National Renewable Energy Laboratory

    The Shy Kid Who Left Law To Forge Chemical (and Human) Bonds

    Photo by Dennis Schroeder, NREL; graphic by Katie Carney, NREL

    This article is part of the Manufacturing Masterminds profile series, which provides an inside look into the lives, research, and impact of NREL’s advanced manufacturing researchers.

    At 8 years old, Matt Ringer already had the deep, booming voice of a radio announcer but not the personality to match.

    He was a shy, track-and-field kid who spent hours running (and not talking), chasing the coveted 4-minute-mile barrier (he likely would have broken it, too, if a college injury did not thwart his plans). Even when Ringer did talk, he discovered his syrupy voice resonated more with adults than kids.

    “Those things change who you are in certain ways,” Ringer said.

    For a long time, Ringer was not sure who he was—at least in terms of his career. He revered James Bond and other fictional spies who schemed their ways out of no-win situations. He loved planes and Tom Cruise’s character in “Top Gun” and considered becoming a fighter pilot. But he also admired Mark Greene, the main character on the medical drama “ER” and the sharp-suited lawyers on “L.A. Law.”

    In college, Ringer chose suits over lab coats—at least at first. He started as a political science major with law school ambitions, but his dad, an electrical engineer, had one request: “Sure, go be a political science major, but take a few math classes and an engineering class.” Ringer agreed and threw in a chemistry course, too. Soon, atoms and molecules and their frenetic energy seemed far more exciting than dense, prelaw readings.

    “My skill set is not in reading massive amounts of material; it never has been. It’s doing things,” Ringer said. “I had to do a lot of work to get into chemical engineering. But I did.”

    Matt Ringer may have started out as a shy track star running toward the 4-minute-mile barrier, but he ended up a charismatic leader running NREL’s advanced manufacturing program. Photos from Matt Ringer, NREL

    Today, after 23 years at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Ringer has become a bit like one of his beloved energetic atoms. As the laboratory program manager for NREL’s advanced manufacturing program, he helps build teams (aka molecules), connecting experts, organizations, and resources. These bonds are what ensure the laboratory’s researchers can turn theoretical concepts—like wide-bandgap power electronics, novel polymer formulations, more efficient grid technologies, or more stable water supplies—into real solutions.

    “I’m not going to be the person who creates the next sensor for an automotive manufacturing plant in Detroit, right?” Ringer said. “But I can help get the right people together to make that a reality.”

    In the latest Manufacturing Masterminds Q&A, Ringer shares how he ended up in a people-centered role despite his shy childhood and why he joined NREL despite knowing nothing about the laboratory and its mission. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

    So, how did you go from political science to chemical engineering?

    When I applied to college, I was wrapped up in the imaginary life of “L.A. Law.” But the first quarter, I took chemistry again, and it really resonated with me. I liked understanding how you could use the energy molecules contained. But I never had a desire to get a Ph.D., and my dad always said that if I added engineering to something, that would make me more hirable. Lo and behold, there was a major called chemical engineering, and I thought, “Well, that’s probably what I need to do.”

    “I do love being the center of attention,” Ringer said. “Put me on a pedestal and let me talk, and I’ll do it.” Photo by Dennis Schroeder, NREL

    What did you do after you graduated with your chemical engineering degree?

    I worked as a research engineer at a startup membrane company in the San Francisco Bay Area called Membrane Technology and Research. I did a lot of pilot tests of our materials at larger companies and realized I was pretty good at talking to everybody from the senior manager all the way to the operator, technician, or mechanic. And I had an opportunity to shift from being a researcher to what we called more of a “sales engineer,” so I took it.

    What did you do as a “sales engineer”?

    I would prepare a quote, work with vendors to get costs for equipment, and then pull a bid package together. I also got to help manufacture the membranes that we sold. I would get all garbed up, get a glue gun, and roll sheets of membrane into a spiral-wound module. One of my sales highlights was spending about six months working with a Malaysian company to create a customized membrane system for their facility. That was my first sale and my one and only patent. That has long since expired, and I don’t believe it ever got used, but I still have a copy of it.

    Why did you leave? Sounds like you were enjoying that role.

    I had been there for six years, and I just needed to do something different and get out of California where I grew up. San Francisco was skyrocketing with dot-com craziness. And I had never envisioned how I would go to a dot-com with my background.

    My girlfriend at the time—who’s now my wife—was from Colorado, so we decided to come back here. And my former boss found a job posting at NREL. I’ll be honest—I knew nothing about NREL.

    Then why did you go for the NREL job?

    NREL wanted a process engineer. Being a chemical engineer, I thought I needed to go work at a refinery, but I would have had to move to a very remote location to get started. And I wasn’t ready to do that. During my NREL interview, they asked what I knew about biomass, and I went on a diatribe about anaerobic digesters that wasn’t exactly correct. But apparently, my sales persona, coupled with some of the industry experience I had, fit what they needed here.

    Ringer, seen here with his daughter Makena, may have bungled the biomass portion of his NREL interview, but his sales persona and industry experience earned him the role anyway. Photo from Matt Ringer, NREL

    How did you become a laboratory program manager?

    When I was here for about three years, I wanted to add a little more education into my background. I could go to law school and be an intellectual property attorney, but that’s a lot of reading. I could go to business school or get a master’s in engineering. Business school resonated with me. So, I went to talk to my boss. I had a whole pitch about why I should get my Master of Business Administration (MBA) and NREL should help pay for it. I said, “Hey, I want to get an MBA,” and he said, “Don’t say any more. I’ll use you in a different role.”

    One of my first opportunities after I finished my MBA was creating a program where NREL works with small businesses or startups that wanted to develop our technologies. For the first time, I got to work with DOE (the U.S. Department of Energy) in a more formal way, which I really enjoyed. 

    For me, it always comes back to people, right? There were people at DOE who I just connected with—I understood their world a little bit. And I thought, “Well, how can I do that and help NREL at the same time?” And being a laboratory program manager was that role.

    “I love winning races,” Ringer said. “But I can’t run races like I used to, which sucks.” Luckily, Ringer can still experience vicarious wins through his daughters, who both play soccer.

    And what does a laboratory program manager do, exactly?

    One of the amazing things for somebody like me who doesn’t have a Ph.D. is working with the researchers to understand the work they’re doing. I’m curious by nature, so the more I asked, the more people wanted to tell me. I’m not going to lie, there were things I didn’t understand. As a chemical engineer, I understand atoms and molecules more than I understand electrons. I’ve had to build a bridge between those things. That’s exactly what you do as a laboratory program manager. You bring different things together. You arrange teams. You try to be strategic.

    To be successful as a laboratory program manager, you have to know people from throughout the lab: receivables, travel, human resources, web developers, technicians. And you need to ensure the operational side of the lab connects with the needs of the technical side. So, while I’m not doing the research, I can help you find the opportunities, develop stronger proposals, and then execute them.

    What’s it like to work in advanced manufacturing, specifically?

    It’s inspiring. The energy space is an opportunity to grow domestic manufacturing. I knew about 3D manufacturing but not what to do with it. But I learned. Now, if I go and talk to some of our researchers about power electronics, I’m not going to understand it all, but I know why they’re needed to advance manufacturing.

    In an ideal world, what would you most hope to accomplish over the course of your career?

    When I was 25 years old, I wanted to make lots of money. Now, I want to see our technologies make an impact. I also like to help new creative people come into NREL, so they can carry on our work. I don’t know if I’m the greatest mentor in the world. But I have a lot of experience that I can share with people, and I like seeing people grow.

    What advice would you give to someone just starting their career?

    You can’t skip steps. You can’t come into NREL as a researcher and expect to be a research fellow or senior director in five years. A lot of people just want to be the boss—whatever that means—and that’s a recipe for disaster. You have to put in the time, be patient, and not always think, “What am I going to be doing in five years?” You’re doing what you’re doing, and you need to get it done right.

    And accept who you are. I’m bald. It’s fine. I enjoy it. Accepting who you are and where you are is so important to be happy. Otherwise, you’re fighting something that’s not real. And there are enough real things to fight.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Durbin Reflects On The Life And Legacy Of The Late Pope Francis

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin
    April 28, 2025
    Durbin: In a world of hate and fear, the Pope’s message of peace and understanding is needed now more than ever
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today delivered a speech on the Senate floor commemorating and honoring the late Pope Francis. This weekend, Durbin attended the late Pope’s funeral in the Vatican along with U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Ed Markey (D-MA), Mike Rounds (R-SD), and Eric Schmitt (R-MO).
    “Today I join people across the world and mourn the passing of Pope Francis. He was forgiving, hopeful, and committed to the notion of peace. Francis taught us that there is no one ‘right’ way to be a Catholic. That the Church can shape you, and you can shape the Church. And in the process, he made the Church stronger,” said Durbin.
    During his speech, Durbin also noted he attended the Pope’s Joint Address to Congress in 2015—the first Pope to ever do so. Durbin then praised Pope Francis for using his platform to highlight the plight of immigrants and refugees, to ask compassion for those in the LGBTQ+ community whom the Church has historically shunned, and to advocate for peace in distant wars and to protect our environment.
    “Like myself, Pope Francis was the child of immigrants, and he often reminded us of our responsibility to welcome the stranger. In a recent letter to American Catholic bishops, Pope Francis affirmed our nation’s right to ‘defend itself and keep communities safe.’ But he raised serious concerns about mass deportation, which ‘damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness.’ His message is so timely as our government ignores due process and through an ‘administrative error,’ sends individuals to a hell-hole prison in El Salvador and deports a two-year-old to Honduras,” said Durbin.
    Durbin praised Pope Francis for the speech he prepared for Easter Sunday—one day before he passed away. The Pope was so ill that he was unable to deliver the speech himself, so it was read by one of his aides.
    Durbin continued, “It was a speech of peace. It was a speech of hope. It was the speech of a truly good man. In it, he pled, ‘On this day, I would like all of us to hope anew and to revive our trust in others, including those who are different than ourselves, or who come from distant lands, bringing unfamiliar customs, ways of life and ideas.’”
    Durbin concluded by reflecting on the Pope’s funeral—where hundreds of thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican City to mourn the death of Pope Francis.
    “The crowd was overwhelming. Estimated in the hundreds of thousands, they represented every corner of the Earth. Just in our small section was a delegation in business suits from Lesotho in Africa, Buddhists in bright orange robes, members of the Italian Parliament, a turbaned Sikh delegation from India, and our bipartisan House delegation led by Nancy Pelosi and Republican Leader Steve Scalise. Thousands of Catholic clergy on the altar and in the audience wore vestments presenting every shade of scarlet and red. But the vast crowds of mourners and celebrants were simply admirers of Francis who, in his humble way, touched so many lives. At the front of the altar was his simple wooden casket,” Durbin continued.
    “The funeral ceremony was in Latin, the language of the Catholic Church when I was a young altar boy at St. Elizabeth’s Church in East St. Louis, Illinois, in the 1950’s. As I witnessed this solemn mass and read from the text, I could hear in my mind the rusty hinges of an opening door taking me back to the Latin mass and Gregorian chant of my childhood. It is all still there, ‘deo gratias,’” said Durbin.
    “How did this Mass differ from the Funeral of John Paul II decades ago?  I remember the crowds of Polish mourners with their red and white flags for John Paul II,” Durbin continued. “But with Francis, what struck me were the many waves of spontaneous cheering from the vast crowd when reference was made to his simple message for immigrants, peace, understanding. Who can forget his five words: ‘Who am I to judge?’ defined his humility and humanity for so many of us. After the ceremony, I went back to my hotel room and turned on my TV. There was a recurring segment every few minutes. It showed a simple photograph of Francis and the Italian words: ‘Grazie Francesco, il Papa della gente.’ Translated to English: ‘Thank you, Francis. The Pope of the people.’ We must continue to hold fast to the message of Pope Francis to love and respect one another.  In a world of hate and fear, his message of peace and understanding is needed now more than ever,”Durbin concluded.
    Video of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.
    Audio of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.
    Footage of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here for TV Stations.
    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. Reports 2025 First-Quarter Financial Results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    ARCHBOLD, Ohio, April 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: FMAO) today reported financial results for the 2025 first quarter ended March 31, 2025.

    2025 First Quarter Financial and Operating Highlights
    (at March 31, 2025 and on a year-over-year basis unless noted)

    • 88 consecutive quarters of profitability
    • Total interest income increased 6.1% to $41.0 million, driven by a 19-basis point improvement in the yield on earning assets and a higher average loan balance
    • Total loans increased by $40.5 million, or 1.6% to $2.58 billion
    • Total assets increased by $101.2 million, or 3.1% to $3.39 billion
    • Total deposits increased by $78.9 million, or 3.0% to $2.70 billion
    • Efficiency ratio improved to 66.79%, compared to 74.08%
    • Pre-tax, pre-provision income increased 49.6% to $9.3 million, from $6.2 million
    • Net income increased 29.7% to $7.0 million, or $0.51 per basic and diluted share
    • Asset quality remains at historically strong levels with nonperforming loans of only $4.5 million and net charge-offs to average loans of 0.01%
    • Tier 1 leverage ratio was 8.44%

    Lars B. Eller, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “2025 is off to a solid start, reflecting the positive impacts our strategic priorities are having on our financial performance. Throughout the first quarter we made progress enhancing profitability, controlling growth, driving innovation, and achieving greater operational efficiency. Most importantly, our strong first-quarter results underscore the excellent execution by our team and F&M’s ongoing commitment to delivering local, personalized financial services to our communities in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan.”

    Mr. Eller continued, “For the first quarter of 2025 our net interest margin grew 43-basis points year-over year to 3.03% and increased 19-basis points from the fourth quarter of 2024. This growth demonstrates the benefits of continued loan repricing, as well as our disciplined approach to new loan originations and strategic efforts underway to improve our cost of funds. Total revenue – defined by net interest income plus noninterest income – increased 16.7% year-over-year, while noninterest expense rose 5.2%. This favorable spread strengthened our efficiency ratio and drove a 49.6% increase in pre-tax, pre-provision income. As we continue to successfully execute against our 2025 strategic priorities, we expect continued year-over-year growth in net income.”

    Income Statement
    Net income for the 2025 first quarter ended March 31, 2025, was $7.0 million, compared to $5.4 million for the same period last year. Net income per basic and diluted share for the 2025 first quarter was $0.51, compared to $0.39 for the same period last year.

    Deposits
    At March 31, 2025, total deposits were $2.70 billion, an increase of 3.0% from March 31, 2024. The Company’s cost of interest-bearing liabilities was 2.76% for the quarter ended March 31, 2025, compared to 3.06% for the quarter ended March 31, 2024.

    Mr. Eller commented, “We continue to pursue opportunities that optimize our deposit base and grow low-cost checking deposits. As a result, more expensive time-account balances have declined year-over-year by $19.5 million, while total deposits have increased by $78.9 million reflecting growth in lower cost core deposits. These trends have reduced our cost of funds, while improving our loan-to-deposit ratio.”

    Loan Portfolio and Asset Quality
    “Offices opened in 2023 continue to add new loans and new deposits at a faster pace than our legacy locations, which we believe demonstrates the need for the local community banking services F&M provides. Overall, we are experiencing stable demand across all of our markets, as a result of the addition of proven bankers to our team, our regional structure, new financial products, and growing commercial relationships. Positive demand trends allow us to control growth, expand our yield on loans, and maintain excellent asset quality. Our credit quality remains strong with nonperforming loans to total loans of just 0.17% at March 31, 2025 – the fourth quarter in a row this metric has remained below 0.20%,” continued Mr. Eller.

    Total loans, net at March 31, 2025, increased 1.6%, or by $40.5 million to $2.58 billion, compared to $2.54 billion at March 31, 2024. The year-over-year increase was driven primarily by higher agricultural, commercial and industrial, and commercial real estate loans, partially offset primarily by lower consumer, agricultural real estate, and consumer real estate loans. Compared to the quarter ended December 31, 2024, total loans, net at March 31, 2025, increased by 0.8% or $20.0 million.

    F&M continues to closely monitor its loan portfolio with a particular emphasis on higher risk sectors. Nonperforming loans were $4.5 million, or 0.17% of total loans at March 31, 2025, compared to $19.4 million, or 0.76% of total loans at March 31, 2024, and $3.1 million, or 0.12% at December 31, 2024.

    F&M maintains a well-balanced, diverse and high performing CRE portfolio. CRE loans represented 51.3% of the Company’s total loan portfolio at March 31, 2025. In addition, F&M’s commercial real estate office credit exposure represented 5.4% of the Company’s total loan portfolio at March 31, 2025, with a weighted average loan-to-value of approximately 63% and an average loan of approximately $965,366.

    F&M’s CRE portfolio included the following categories at March 31, 2025:

    CRE Category

    		  

    Dollar
    Balance

    		   Percent of
    CRE
    Portfolio    (*)    		   Percent of
    Total Loan
    Portfolio    (*)
                 
    Industrial   $ 281,484   21.2%   10.9%
    Multi-family     217,903   16.4%   8.4%
    Retail     213,281   16.1%   8.3%
    Hotels     157,139   11.8%   6.1%
    Office     139,069   10.5%   5.4%
    Gas Stations     70,983   5.3%   2.7%
    Food Service     52,827   4.0%   2.0%
    Senior Living     31,400   2.4%   1.2%
    Development     29,907   2.3%   1.2%
    Auto Dealers     27,294   2.1%   1.1%
    Other     104,411   7.9%   4.0%
    Total CRE   $ 1,325,698   100.0%   51.3%
                   

    * Numbers have been rounded

    At March 31, 2025, the Company’s allowance for credit losses to nonperforming loans was 586.38%, compared to 127.28% at March 31, 2024. The allowance to total loans was 1.07% at March 31, 2025, compared to 1.05% at March 31, 2024. Including accretable yield adjustments, associated with the Company’s prior acquisitions, F&M’s allowance for credit losses to total loans was 1.08% at March 31, 2025, compared to 1.11% at March 31, 2024.

    Mr. Eller concluded, “While the near-term economic environment has become more fluid, we believe F&M is in a strong position because of the platform we have built and the strategies we are pursuing to transform our business in 2025. As a result, we continue to believe 2025 will be another good year for F&M.”

    Stockholders’ Equity and Dividends
    Total stockholders’ equity increased 8.5% to $344.6 million, or $25.12 per share at March 31, 2025, from $317.7 million, or $23.22 per share at March 31, 2024. The Company had a Tier 1 leverage ratio of 8.44%, compared to 8.40% at March 31, 2024.

    Tangible stockholders’ equity increased to $263.0 million at March 31, 2025, compared to $256.5 million at March 31, 2024. On a per share basis, tangible stockholders’ equity at March 31, 2025, was $19.17 per share, compared to $18.75 per share at March 31, 2024.

    For the three months ended March 31, 2025, the Company declared cash dividends of $0.22125 per share, representing a 0.6% increase over the same period last year. F&M is committed to returning capital to shareholders and has increased the annual cash dividend for 30 consecutive years. For the three months ended March 31, 2025, the dividend payout ratio was 43.10% compared to 55.52% for the same period last year.

    About Farmers & Merchants State Bank:
    F&M Bank is a local independent community bank that has been serving its communities since 1897. F&M Bank provides commercial banking, retail banking and other financial services. Our locations are in Butler, Champaign, Fulton, Defiance, Hancock, Henry, Lucas, Shelby, Williams, and Wood counties in Ohio. In Northeast Indiana, we have offices located in Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Jay, Steuben and Wells counties. The Michigan footprint includes Oakland County, and we have Loan Production Offices in Troy, Michigan; Muncie, Indiana; and Perrysburg and Bryan, Ohio.

    Safe Harbor Statement
    Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. (“F&M”) wishes to take advantage of the Safe Harbor provisions included in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements by F&M, including management’s expectations and comments, may not be based on historical facts and are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21B of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Actual results could vary materially depending on risks and uncertainties inherent in general and local banking conditions, competitive factors specific to markets in which F&M and its subsidiaries operate, future interest rate levels, legislative and regulatory decisions, capital market conditions, or the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its impacts on our credit quality and business operations, as well as its impact on general economic and financial market conditions. F&M assumes no responsibility to update this information. For more details, please refer to F&M’s SEC filing, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Such filings can be viewed at the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov or through F&M’s website www.fm.bank.

    Non-GAAP Financial Measures
    This press release includes disclosure of financial measures not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (GAAP). A non-GAAP financial measure is a numerical measure of historical or future financial performance, financial position or cash flows that excludes or includes amounts that are required to be disclosed by GAAP. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc. believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide both management and investors a more complete understanding of the underlying operational results and trends and Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc.’s marketplace performance. The presentation of this additional information is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the numbers prepared in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures is included within this press release.

    FARMERS & MERCHANTS BANCORP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
    CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME & COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
    (Unaudited) (in thousands of dollars, except per share data)
     
      Three Months Ended
      March 31, 2025   December 31, 2024   September 30, 2024   June 30, 2024   March 31, 2024
    Interest Income                  
    Loans, including fees $ 37,072     $ 36,663     $ 36,873     $ 36,593     $ 35,200  
    Debt securities:                  
    U.S. Treasury and government agencies   2,097       1,882       1,467       1,148       1,045  
    Municipalities   382       384       387       389       394  
    Dividends   338       367       334       327       333  
    Federal funds sold   –       24       7       7       7  
    Other   1,113       2,531       2,833       2,702       1,675  
    Total interest income   41,002       41,851       41,901       41,166       38,654  
    Interest Expense                  
    Deposits   13,988       15,749       16,947       16,488       15,279  
    Federal funds purchased and securities sold under agreements to repurchase   271       274       277       276       284  
    Borrowed funds   2,550       2,713       2,804       2,742       2,689  
    Subordinated notes   284       285       284       285       284  
    Total interest expense   17,093       19,021       20,312       19,791       18,536  
    Net Interest Income – Before Provision for Credit Losses   23,909       22,830       21,589       21,375       20,118  
    Provision for (Recovery of) Credit Losses – Loans   811       346       282       605       (289 )
    Recovery of Credit Losses – Off Balance Sheet Exposures   (260 )     (120 )     (267 )     (18 )     (266 )
    Net Interest Income After Provision for Credit Losses   23,358       22,604       21,574       20,788       20,673  
    Noninterest Income                  
    Customer service fees   381       237       300       189       598  
    Other service charges and fees   1,124       1,176       1,155       1,085       1,057  
    Interchange income   1,421       1,322       1,315       1,330       1,429  
    Loan servicing income   762       771       710       513       539  
    Net gain on sale of loans   284       223       215       314       107  
    Increase in cash surrender value of bank owned life insurance   244       248       265       236       216  
    Net gain (loss) on sale of other assets owned   (54 )     22       –       49       –  
    Total noninterest income   4,162       3,999       3,960       3,716       3,946  
    Noninterest Expense                  
    Salaries and wages   7,878       7,020       7,713       7,589       7,846  
    Employee benefits   2,404       2,148       2,112       2,112       2,171  
    Net occupancy expense   1,199       1,072       1,054       999       1,027  
    Furniture and equipment   1,278       1,032       1,472       1,407       1,353  
    Data processing   557       160       339       448       500  
    Franchise taxes   397       312       410       265       555  
    ATM expense   491       328       472       397       473  
    Advertising   503       498       597       519       530  
    FDIC assessment   465       505       516       507       580  
    Servicing rights amortization – net   127       244       219       187       168  
    Loan expense   228       236       244       251       229  
    Consulting fees   745       242       251       198       186  
    Professional fees   559       368       453       527       445  
    Intangible asset amortization   445       446       445       444       445  
    Other general and administrative   1,484       1,465       1,128       1,495       1,333  
    Total noninterest expense   18,760       16,076       17,425       17,345       17,841  
    Income Before Income Taxes   8,760       10,527       8,109       7,159       6,778  
    Income Taxes   1,808       2,146       1,593       1,477       1,419  
    Net Income   6,952       8,381       6,516       5,682       5,359  
    Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) (Net of Tax):                  
    Net unrealized gain (loss) on available-for-sale securities   6,464       (7,403 )     11,664       2,531       (1,995 )
    Reclassification adjustment for realized loss on sale of available-for-sale securities   –       –       –       –       –  
    Net unrealized gain (loss) on available-for-sale securities   6,464       (7,403 )     11,664       2,531       (1,995 )
    Tax expense (benefit)   1,358       (1,554 )     2,449       531       (418 )
    Other comprehensive income (loss)   5,106       (5,849 )     9,215       2,000       (1,577 )
    Comprehensive Income $ 12,058     $ 2,532     $ 15,731     $ 7,682     $ 3,782  
    Basic Earnings Per Share $ 0.51     $ 0.61     $ 0.48     $ 0.42     $ 0.39  
    Diluted Earnings Per Share $ 0.51     $ 0.61     $ 0.48     $ 0.42     $ 0.39  
    Dividends Declared $ 0.22125     $ 0.22125     $ 0.22125     $ 0.22     $ 0.22  
                       
    FARMERS & MERCHANTS BANCORP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
    CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
    (Unaudited) (in thousands of dollars, except share data)
     
      March 31, 2025   December 31, 2024   September 30, 2024   June 30, 2024   March 31, 2024
      (Unaudited)       (Unaudited)   (Unaudited)   (Unaudited)
    Assets                  
    Cash and due from banks $ 172,612     $ 174,855     $ 244,572     $ 191,785     $ 186,541  
    Federal funds sold   425       1,496       932       1,283       1,241  
    Total cash and cash equivalents   173,037       176,351       245,504       193,068       187,782  
                       
    Interest-bearing time deposits   1,992       2,482       2,727       3,221       2,735  
    Securities – available-for-sale   438,568       426,556       404,881       365,209       347,516  
    Other securities, at cost   14,062       14,400       15,028       14,721       14,744  
    Loans held for sale   2,331       2,996       1,706       1,628       2,410  
    Loans, net of allowance for credit losses   2,555,552       2,536,043       2,512,852       2,534,468       2,516,687  
    Premises and equipment   33,163       33,828       33,779       34,507       35,007  
    Construction in progress   –       –       35       38       9  
    Goodwill   86,358       86,358       86,358       86,358       86,358  
    Loan servicing rights   5,805       5,656       5,644       5,504       5,555  
    Bank owned life insurance   35,116       34,872       34,624       34,359       34,123  
    Other assets   42,802       45,181       46,047       49,552       54,628  
                       
    Total Assets $ 3,388,786     $ 3,364,723     $ 3,389,185     $ 3,322,633     $ 3,287,554  
                       
    Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity                  
    Liabilities                  
    Deposits                  
    Noninterest-bearing $ 502,318     $ 516,904     $ 481,444     $ 479,069     $ 510,731  
    Interest-bearing                  
    NOW accounts   874,881       850,462       865,617       821,145       829,236  
    Savings   696,635       671,818       661,565       673,284       635,430  
    Time   626,450       647,581       676,187       667,592       645,985  
    Total deposits   2,700,284       2,686,765       2,684,813       2,641,090       2,621,382  
                       
    Federal funds purchased and securities                  
    sold under agreements to repurchase   27,258       27,218       27,292       27,218       28,218  
    Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) advances   245,474       246,056       263,081       266,102       256,628  
    Subordinated notes, net of unamortized issuance costs   34,846       34,818       34,789       34,759       34,731  
    Dividend payable   2,997       2,996       2,998       2,975       2,975  
    Accrued expenses and other liabilities   33,326       31,659       40,832       27,825       25,930  
    Total liabilities   3,044,185       3,029,512       3,053,805       2,999,969       2,969,864  
                       
    Commitments and Contingencies                  
                       
    Stockholders’ Equity                  
    Common stock – No par value 20,000,000 shares authorized; issued                  
    14,564,425 shares 3/31/25 and 12/31/24; outstanding 13,718,336 shares 3/31/25 and 13,699,536 shares 12/31/24   135,407       135,565       135,193       135,829       135,482  
    Treasury stock – 846,089 shares 3/31/25 and 864,889 shares 12/31/24   (10,768 )     (10,985 )     (10,904 )     (11,006 )     (10,851 )
    Retained earnings   240,079       235,854       230,465       226,430       223,648  
    Accumulated other comprehensive loss   (20,117 )     (25,223 )     (19,374 )     (28,589 )     (30,589 )
    Total stockholders’ equity   344,601       335,211       335,380       322,664       317,690  
                       
    Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity $ 3,388,786     $ 3,364,723     $ 3,389,185     $ 3,322,633     $ 3,287,554  
                       
    FARMERS & MERCHANTS BANCORP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
    SELECT FINANCIAL DATA
                                   
        For the Three Months Ended
    Selected financial data   March 31, 2025   December 31, 2024   September 30, 2024   June 30, 2024   March 31, 2024
    Return on average assets     0.85 %     0.99 %     0.78 %     0.69 %     0.66 %
    Return on average equity     8.31 %     10.00 %     7.93 %     7.13 %     6.76 %
    Yield on earning assets     5.19 %     5.20 %     5.27 %     5.22 %     5.00 %
    Cost of interest bearing liabilities     2.76 %     3.01 %     3.21 %     3.18 %     3.06 %
    Net interest spread     2.43 %     2.19 %     2.06 %     2.04 %     1.94 %
    Net interest margin     3.03 %     2.84 %     2.71 %     2.71 %     2.60 %
    Efficiency ratio     66.79 %     59.82 %     67.98 %     69.03 %     74.08 %
    Dividend payout ratio     43.10 %     35.75 %     45.99 %     52.35 %     55.52 %
    Tangible book value per share   $ 17.71     $ 17.74     $ 17.72     $ 16.79     $ 16.51  
    Tier 1 leverage ratio     8.44 %     8.12 %     8.04 %     8.02 %     8.40 %
    Average shares outstanding     13,706,003       13,699,869       13,687,119       13,681,501       13,671,166  
                                   
    Loans   March 31, 2025   December 31, 2024   September 30, 2024   June 30, 2024   March 31, 2024
    (Dollar amounts in thousands)                              
    Commercial real estate   $ 1,325,698     $ 1,310,811     $ 1,301,160     $ 1,303,598     $ 1,304,400  
    Agricultural real estate     215,898       216,401       220,328       222,558       227,455  
    Consumer real estate     523,383       520,114       524,055       525,902       525,178  
    Commercial and industrial     278,254       275,152       260,732       268,426       256,051  
    Agricultural     153,607       152,080       137,252       142,909       127,670  
    Consumer     60,115       63,009       67,394       70,918       74,819  
    Other     24,985       24,978       25,916       26,449       26,776  
    Less: Net deferred loan fees, costs and other (1)     (36 )     (676 )     1,499       (1,022 )     (982 )
    Total loans, net   $ 2,581,904     $ 2,561,869     $ 2,538,336     $ 2,559,738     $ 2,541,367  
                                   
                                   
    Asset quality data   March 31, 2025   December 31, 2024   September 30, 2024   June 30, 2024   March 31, 2024
    (Dollar amounts in thousands)                              
    Nonaccrual loans   $ 4,494     $ 3,124     $ 2,898     $ 2,487     $ 19,391  
    90 day past due and accruing   $ –     $ –     $ –     $ –     $ –  
    Nonperforming loans   $ 4,494     $ 3,124     $ 2,898     $ 2,487     $ 19,391  
    Other real estate owned   $ –     $ –     $ –     $ –     $ –  
    Nonperforming assets   $ 4,494     $ 3,124     $ 2,898     $ 2,487     $ 19,391  
                                   
                                   
    Allowance for credit losses – loans   $ 26,352     $ 25,826     $ 25,484     $ 25,270     $ 24,680  
    Allowance for credit losses – off balance sheet credit exposures     1,281       1,541       1,661       1,928       1,946  
    Total allowance for credit losses   $ 27,633     $ 27,367     $ 27,145     $ 27,198     $ 26,626  
    Total allowance for credit losses/total loans     1.07 %     1.07 %     1.07 %     1.06 %     1.05 %
    Adjusted credit losses with accretable yield/total loans     1.08 %     1.08 %     1.10 %     1.10 %     1.11 %
    Net charge-offs:                              
    Quarter-to-date   $ 285     $ 4     $ 68     $ 15     $ 55  
    Year-to-date   $ 285     $ 142     $ 138     $ 70     $ 55  
    Net charge-offs to average loans                              
    Quarter-to-date     0.01 %     0.00 %     0.00 %     0.00 %     0.00 %
    Year-to-date     0.01 %     0.01 %     0.01 %     0.00 %     0.00 %
    Nonperforming loans/total loans     0.17 %     0.12 %     0.11 %     0.10 %     0.76 %
    Allowance for credit losses/nonperforming loans     586.38 %     826.70 %     879.37 %     1016.08 %     127.28 %
    NPA coverage ratio     586.38 %     826.70 %     879.37 %     1016.08 %     127.28 %
                                   
    (1) Includes carrying value adjustments of $1.7 million as of March 31, 2025, $1.1 million as of December 31, 2024, $3.0 million as of September 30, 2024, $612 thousand as of June 30, 2024, and $969 thousand as of March 31, 2024 related to interest rate swaps associated with fixed rate loans
                                   
    FARMERS & MERCHANTS BANCORP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
    AVERAGE BALANCE SHEETS AND RELATED YIELDS AND RATES
    (in thousands of dollars, except percentages)
                       
                           
      For the Three Months Ended   For the Three Months Ended
      March 31, 2025   March 31, 2024
    Interest Earning Assets: Average Balance   Interest/Dividends   Annualized
    Yield/Rate    		   Average Balance   Interest/Dividends   Annualized
    Yield/Rate
    Loans $ 2,578,531   $ 37,072   5.75%   $ 2,577,114   $ 35,200   5.46%
    Taxable investment securities   458,519     2,739   2.39%     384,928     1,686   1.75%
    Tax-exempt investment securities   18,310     78   2.16%     21,109     86   2.06%
    Fed funds sold & other   105,770     1,113   4.21%     110,388     1,682   6.09%
    Total Interest Earning Assets   3,161,130   $ 41,002   5.19%     3,093,539   $ 38,654   5.00%
                           
    Nonearning Assets   166,630             159,240        
                           
    Total Assets $ 3,327,760           $ 3,252,779        
                           
    Interest Bearing Liabilities:                      
    Savings deposits $ 1,543,665   $ 8,564   2.22%   $ 1,443,530   $ 9,407   2.61%
    Other time deposits   627,498     5,424   3.46%     650,580     5,872   3.61%
    Other borrowed money   245,734     2,550   4.15%     263,280     2,689   4.09%
    Fed funds purchased & securities                      
    sold under agreement to repurchase   27,480     271   3.94%     28,458     284   3.99%
    Subordinated notes   34,828     284   3.26%     34,712     284   3.27%
    Total Interest Bearing Liabilities $ 2,479,205   $ 17,093   2.76%   $ 2,420,560   $ 18,536   3.06%
                           
    Noninterest Bearing Liabilities   509,190             514,986        
                           
    Stockholders’ Equity $ 339,365           $ 317,233        
                           
    Net Interest Income and Interest Rate Spread     $ 23,909   2.43%       $ 20,118   1.94%
                           
    Net Interest Margin         3.03%           2.60%
                           
    Yields on Tax exempt securities and the portion of the tax-exempt IDB loans included in loans have been tax adjusted based on a 21% tax rate in the charts    
                           
    FARMERS & MERCHANTS BANCORP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
    AVERAGE BALANCE SHEETS AND RELATED YIELDS AND RATES
    (in thousands of dollars, except percentages)
                                       
      For the Three Months Ended March 31, 2025   For the Three Months Ended March 31, 2024
      As Reported   Excluding Acc/Amort Difference   As Reported   Excluding Acc/Amort Difference
      $ Yield   $ Yield   $ Yield   $ Yield   $ Yield   $ Yield
    Interest Earning Assets:                                  
    Loans $ 37,072 5.75 %   $ 36,468 5.66 %   $ 604 0.09 %   $ 35,200 5.46 %   $ 34,525 5.36 %   $ 675   0.10 %
    Taxable investment securities   2,739 2.39 %     2,739 2.39 %     – 0.00 %     1,686 1.75 %     1,686 1.75 %     –   0.00 %
    Tax-exempt investment securities   78 2.16 %     78 2.16 %     – 0.00 %     86 2.06 %     86 2.06 %     –   0.00 %
    Fed funds sold & other   1,113 4.21 %     1,113 4.21 %     – 0.00 %     1,682 6.09 %     1,682 6.09 %     –   0.00 %
    Total Interest Earning Assets   41,002 5.19 %     40,398 5.11 %     604 0.08 %     38,654 5.00 %     37,979 4.92 %     675   0.08 %
                                       
    Interest Bearing Liabilities:                                  
    Savings deposits $ 8,564 2.22 %   $ 8,564 2.22 %   $ – 0.00 %   $ 9,407 2.61 %   $ 9,407 2.61 %   $ –   0.00 %
    Other time deposits   5,424 3.46 %     5,424 3.46 %     – 0.00 %     5,872 3.61 %     5,872 3.61 %     –   0.00 %
    Other borrowed money   2,550 4.15 %     2,547 4.15 %     3 0.00 %     2,689 4.09 %     2,707 4.11 %     (18 ) -0.02 %
    Federal funds purchased and                                  
    securities sold under agreement to                                  
    repurchase   271 3.94 %     271 3.94 %     – 0.00 %     284 3.99 %     284 3.99 %     –   0.00 %
    Subordinated notes   284 3.26 %     284 3.26 %     – 0.00 %     284 3.27 %     284 3.27 %     –   0.00 %
    Total Interest Bearing Liabilities   17,093 2.76 %     17,090 2.76 %     3 -0.00 %     18,536 3.06 %     18,554 3.07 %     (18 ) -0.01 %
                                       
    Interest/Dividend income/yield   41,002 5.19 %     40,398 5.11 %     604 0.08 %     38,654 5.00 %     37,979 4.92 %     675   0.08 %
    Interest Expense / yield   17,093 2.76 %     17,090 2.76 %     3 -0.00 %     18,536 3.06 %     18,554 3.07 %     (18 ) -0.01 %
    Net Interest Spread   23,909 2.43 %     23,308 2.35 %     601 0.08 %     20,118 1.94 %     19,425 1.85 %     693   0.09 %
    Net Interest Margin   3.03 %     2.95 %     0.08 %     2.60 %     2.52 %     0.08 %
                                       
    Company Contact: Investor and Media Contact:
    Lars B. Eller
    President and Chief Executive Officer
    Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, Inc.
    (419) 446-2501
    leller@fm.bank    		 Andrew M. Berger
    Managing Director
    SM Berger & Company, Inc.
    (216) 464-6400
    andrew@smberger.com

    The MIL Network –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: WTT Press Conference Introduces New Concept for Competitive Trading’s Future

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, April 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The World Trading Tournament (WTT) officially launched with a press conference and networking event at Sol 40 @ The Met, introducing an innovative concept that gamifies financial trading through an esports-inspired tournament structure.

    WTT’s Vision for a Connected Trading Ecosystem

    The evening began with an engaging welcome speech by Mr. Arthur, CEO of WTT, who shared the vision behind WTT: a platform designed to democratize access to trading and reimagine it as a community-driven sport. “We believe trading is more than numbers and screens. It’s strategy, discipline, and skill. Now, it’s a tournament anyone can join,” said Mr. Arthur.

    A panel discussion followed, featuring industry leaders from the financial and fintech sectors:

    • Mr. Ariff Bunaya, Head of Official Channel (SEA Region), WikiFX
    • Mr. Wags Ng, CEO, The Firm Capital
    • Mr. Zamrim Bin Arifin, Regional Partner, AIMS Group

    Business Background with WTT

    The panel explored trends in financial gamification, the evolving mindset of traders, and the need for innovation in empowering both retail and professional traders. Their support further emphasized the potential of WTT to shape the future of competitive trading.

    WTT’s mission is to become the world’s most influential trading ecosystem, offering transparent challenges, real rewards, and opportunities for continuous development. The platform aims to inspire and support a global trading community through fair competition and educational resources.

    The event also highlighted strategic collaborations with WikiFX, The Firm Capital, and AIMS Group, which will help scale WTT’s visibility across Asia and beyond.

    Following the press conference, a networking event provided attendees with an opportunity to connect over refreshments, music, and lively discussions. Three lucky draw winners received exclusive entries to the WTT main tournament.

    Supported by key partners WikiFX, The Firm Capital, and AIMS Group, the World Trading Tournament is poised to reshape the competitive trading landscape. As witnessed at the event, this marks just the beginning of a new era in trading. Further announcements will follow.

    Media Contact:
    Clement Metz
    admin@worldtradingtournament.com
    World Trading Tournament

    Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f3c74e6b-6d5a-4fd8-b502-35eabb848549

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/85be50ce-1cb5-400c-8419-d201b6223ab2

    The MIL Network –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Corpus Christi man guilty of sexual exploitation of a child

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 19-year-old Corpus Christi resident has admitted to distribution of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

    The investigation began in December 2023, when Angel Valdez left a comment on a social media page supporting the work of an individual who had recently been sentenced to prison in Australia for animal cruelty.

    Australian law enforcement investigated further and began conversations with Valdez in an undercover capacity. In those communications, Valdez spoke about his interest in animal cruelty which later developed into child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

    On Feb. 14, 2024, Valdez sent a video depicting CSAM which included a video of a nude prepubescent girl and a nude adult female wearing a mask. The depiction showed the young child being forced to perform oral sex on the adult female.

    Law enforcement executed a search warrant June 28, 2024, which resulted in the discovery of a laptop containing CSAM. Valdez also admitted he had participated in the online conversation and to distributing the CSAM.

    U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos will impose sentencing Aug. 12. At the time, Valdez faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine.

    He has been and will remain in custody pending that hearing.

    Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations and Corpus Christi Police Department conducted the investigation with the assistance of authorities in Australia.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Overman is prosecuting the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative the Department of Justice (DOJ) launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section leads PSC, which marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and identifies and rescues victims. For more information about PSC, please visit DOJ’s PSC page. For more information about internet safety education, please visit the resources tab on that page.

    MIL Security OSI –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: Vesicor Therapeutics, Inc. and Black Hawk Acquisition Corporation Enter into a Business Combination Agreement to Create a Biotechnology Company Advancing p53-based Cancer Therapeutics Delivered Via Microvesicles

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    • Transaction Values Vesicor at a Pre-money Equity Value of $70 million
    • Business Combination is Expected to be Completed in the Fourth Quarter of 2025

    DANVILLE, Calif., April 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Black Hawk Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: BKHAU, BKHA, BKHAR), a special purpose acquisition company, (“Black Hawk”) announced the signing of a Business Combination Agreement (“BCA”) on April 26, 2025, with Vesicor Therapeutics, Inc. (“Vesicor”, “Vesicor Therapeutics” or “the Company”), a California-based early development stage biotechnology corporation focused on the development of p53-based cancer therapeutics delivered via precision-engineered microvesicles.

    Vesicor Overview

    Vesicor was founded in 2008 in San Gabriel, California by Luo Feng, Ph.D. The Company is an early development stage biotechnology company focused on the development of p53-based cancer therapeutics delivered via precision-engineered microvesicles.

    The Company’s first product candidate is ecm-RV/p53. This is a genetically engineered cellular microvesicle (“ecm”) non-viral nanoparticle RNA vesicle (“RV”) that is loaded with in vitro transcribed p53 mRNA. Although Vesicor’s ecm-RV/p53 drug candidate is unapproved for use in Japan and the United States, it has been administered to multiple patients in Tokyo, Japan since 2018 under the Japan Medical Practitioner’s Act, also known as Advanced Medical Care B. This mechanism allows unapproved drugs to be used under a physician’s discretion. The Company’s drug candidate has been used in multiple patients with advanced breast, pancreatic, prostate, lung and colorectal cancer. Vesicor believes that its ecm-RV/p53 drug candidate has broad therapeutic potential across a range of solid tumors. The Company intends to begin preclinical testing in the U.S., submit an investigational new drug (“IND”) application to the FDA and then to begin clinical trials, which efforts are expected to commence in 2026.

    Mr. Kent Kaufman, Chief Executive Officer of Black Hawk, stated: “Our aim is to identify a company with solid potential to disrupt an entire industry, a talented and credentialed executive team with a proven track record, and good prospects for future growth. We believe that we have found these qualities in Vesicor. We look forward to completing this transaction and working with Vesicor’s management team to help them thrive as a public company while they continue to grow.”

    “Our mission is to transform the lives of cancer patients and their families. We are focused on completing preclinical testing in the United States, submitting our IND to the FDA and beginning Phase 1 clinical trials,” stated Luo Feng, Ph.D., Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Vesicor Therapeutics.

    “We are excited to partner with Kent and the rest of the Black Hawk team to bring Vesicor to the public markets. We believe that this transaction, if completed, will help facilitate access to the capital markets and will accelerate the validation and deployment of our ecm-RV/p53 drug candidate,” stated Oded Levy, Board Director of Vesicor Therapeutics.

    Key Transaction Terms

    Under the terms of the BCA, Black Hawk’s wholly-owned subsidiary, BH Merger Sub, Inc., will merge with Vesicor, resulting in Vesicor being the wholly owned subsidiary of Black Hawk, who will continue to be the listed company on the Nasdaq Stock Market and change its name to Vesicor Therapeutics (the “Business Combination” and the transactions in connection with the Business Combination collectively, the “Transaction”). At the effective time of the Transaction, Vesicor’s shareholders and management will receive the right to receive a number of shares of Black Hawk’s common stock equal to the consideration ratio as further specified in the BCA. The shares held by certain Vesicor’s shareholders will be subject to lock-up agreements for a period of six (6) months following the closing of the Transaction, subject to certain exceptions.

    The Transaction values Vesicor at a pre-money equity value of $70 million. Existing Vesicor shareholders and management will not receive any cash proceeds as part of the transaction and will roll over 100% of their equity into the combined company.

    The Transaction, which has been approved unanimously by the boards of directors of both Black Hawk and Vesicor, is subject to regulatory approvals, the approvals by the shareholders of Black Hawk and Vesicor, respectively, and the satisfaction of certain other customary closing conditions, including, among others, a Form S-4 registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933, of which the proxy statement/prospectus forms a part, being declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), and the approval by Nasdaq of the listing application of the combined company. The Business Combination is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2025.

    The description of the Business Combination contained herein is only a summary and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Business Combination Agreement relating to the Business Combination and attachments thereto. A more detailed description of the Transaction and a copy of the Business Combination Agreement will be included in a Current Report on Form 8-K to be filed by Black Hawk with the SEC and will be available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

    Advisors

    Celine & Partners, P.L.L.C. and Ogier Global (Cayman) Limited are serving as legal advisors to Black Hawk. PW Richter PLC is serving as a legal advisor to Vesicor.

    About Black Hawk Acquisition Corporation

    Black Hawk Acquisition Corporation is a blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses.

    Participants in the Solicitation

    Black Hawk Acquisition Corporation, and its respective directors, executive officers, employees and other persons may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the holders of Black Hawk’s common stock in respect of the proposed Transaction. Information about Black Hawk’s directors, executive officers and their ownership of Black Hawk’s common stock is currently set forth in Black Hawk’s prospectus related to its initial public offering dated March 22, 2024, as modified or supplemented by any Form 10-K, Form 3 or Form 4 filed with the SEC since the date of such filing. Other information regarding the interests of the participants in the proxy solicitation will be included in a registration statement on Form S-4 (as may be amended from time to time) that will include a proxy statement and a registration statement/preliminary prospectus (the “Registration Statement”) pertaining to the proposed Transaction when it becomes available. These documents can be obtained free of charge from the sources indicated below.

    No Offer or Solicitation

    This press release is not a proxy statement or solicitation of a proxy, consent or authorization with respect to any securities or in respect of the Transaction and does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities of Black Hawk or a solicitation of any vote or approval, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offer of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

    Important Information about the Proposed Business Combination and Where to Find It

    In connection with the Transaction, Black Hawk will file relevant materials with the SEC, including the Registration Statement. Promptly after the Registration Statement is declared effective, the proxy statement/prospectus will be sent to all Black Hawk shareholders entitled to vote at the special meeting relating to the Transaction. Before making any voting decision, securities holders of Black Hawk are urged to read the proxy statement/prospectus and all other relevant documents filed or that will be filed with the SEC in connection with the Transaction as they become available because they will contain important information about the Transaction and the parties to the Transaction.

    Contacts/Information. Stockholders will also be able to obtain copies of the preliminary proxy statement/prospectus, the definitive proxy statement/prospectus, and other documents filed or that will be filed with the SEC through Black Hawk through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov, or by directing a request to the contacts mentioned below.

    Black Hawk Acquisition Corporation
    Kent Louis Kaufman
    Chief Executive Officer and Chairman
    kent@bhspac.com
    Tel: +1(915) 217-4482

    Vesicor Therapeutics, Inc.
    Luo Feng, Ph.D.
    Chief Executive Officer and Founder
    lfeng@vesicor.com

    Forward-Looking Statements.

    This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Black Hawk’s and Vesicor’s actual results may differ from their expectations, estimates and projections and consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Words such as “expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “budget,” “forecast,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “believes,” “predicts,” “potential,” “might” and “continues,” and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the Black Hawk’s and Vesicor’s expectations with respect to future performance and anticipated financial impacts of the Business Combination, the satisfaction of the closing conditions to the Business Combination and the timing of the completion of the Business Combination. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results. Most of these factors are outside the control of the Black Hawk, Vesicor and are difficult to predict. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to: (1) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the Business Combination Agreement relating to the proposed Business Combination; (2) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against the Black Hawk or Vesicor following the announcement of the Business Combination Agreement and the transactions contemplated therein; (3) the inability to complete the Business Combination, including due to failure to obtain approval of the shareholders of the Black Hawk or other conditions to closing in the Business Combination Agreement; (4) delays in obtaining or the inability to obtain necessary regulatory approvals required to complete the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement; (5) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the Business Combination Agreement or could otherwise cause the transaction to fail to close; (6) the inability to obtain or maintain the listing of the post-acquisition company’s ordinary shares on Nasdaq following the Business Combination; (7) the risk that the Business Combination disrupts current plans and operations as a result of the announcement and consummation of the Business Combination; (8) the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the Business Combination, which may be affected by, among other things, competition, the ability of the combined company to grow and manage growth profitably and retain its key employees; (9) costs related to the Business Combination; (10) changes in applicable laws or regulations; (11) the possibility that Vesicor or the combined company, i.e., PubCo, may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors; and (12) other risks and uncertainties to be identified in the Registration Statement filed by PubCo (when available) relating to the Business Combination, including those under “Risk Factors” therein, and in other filings with the SEC made by the Black Hawk and Vesicor. Black Hawk and Vesicor caution that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. Black Hawk and Vesicor caution readers not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Neither Black Hawk nor Vesicor undertakes or accepts any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, subject to applicable law. The information contained in any website referenced herein is not, and shall not be deemed to be, part of or incorporated into this press release.

    The MIL Network –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-Evening Report: ‘Complaining is career suicide’: the hidden mental health crisis turning our screen industry upside down

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Hegedus, Associate Professor, Griffith Film School, Griffith University

    Shutterstock

    The Australian screen industry is often associated with fun, creativity and perhaps even glamour. But our new Pressure Point Report reveals a more troubling reality: a pervasive mental health crisis, which could see the screen industry lose a significant number of workers in the near future.

    The two-year study led by Griffith University found burnout levels mirroring those found among healthcare workers.

    Of the 864 survey responses we analysed, 72% said the screen industry is not a mentally healthy place to work, 36% frequently considered quitting in the past six months, and 25% said they would likely quit within the next six months.

    The human toll of creativity

    Working in film and television industry has been glamourised, with many aspiring creatives willing to endure difficult conditions to be part of making screen magic.

    In a fast-paced environment, where budgets and timelines are squeezed, half of the survey respondents reported facing constant unreasonable deadlines, and 57% described themselves as completely drained by the end of the day.

    Even more alarming, 59% struggled with work-life balance, having “little to no life outside of work”, and 62% felt pressured to not claim basic entitlements such as sick leave or holiday pay.

    As one participant told us:

    I’ve missed birthdays, weddings, and my kid’s school events because of impossible deadlines that could have been managed better with proper planning.

    Historically, the industry has relied on workers’ passion to offset poor conditions. However, we’re now seeing a breaking point where even the most dedicated professionals are questioning if it’s worth the personal cost.

    A culture of silence

    The concerning statistics from our study uncover an underlying culture of misconduct by both practitioners and supervisors. Almost half of respondents experienced bullying in the past year, while 35% encountered sexual harassment or discrimination.

    More troubling still, 36% of victims never formally reported incidents. They feared career damage, or that nothing would be done.

    One respondent confided:

    after witnessing how others were treated when they spoke up, I decided to stay quiet about my own experiences. It feels like complaining is career suicide in this industry.

    This response echoes many of the other voices we heard from. Such experiences can lead to a toxic cycle in which unchecked workplace behaviours further damage people’s mental health across the industry.

    Inequality compounds the problem

    Our research demonstrates the mental health burden falls disproportionately on already marginalised groups.

    Women face higher rates of unmanageable workload (54% compared to 38% for men) and poorer work/life balance. They also reported sexual harassment at more than triple the rate of men.

    LGBTQIA+ practitioners are significantly worse off, too. They experience elevated rates of depression and sleep issues.

    Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, culturally and linguistically diverse practitioners, and those living with a disability also face significantly higher rates of negative experiences.

    The highest rates of adverse interactions were experienced by neurodivergent professionals and those with pre-existing mental health conditions. Many of them told us that others routinely disregard their professional opinions.

    Beyond ‘wellness workshops’

    “This industry needs more than a quick fix — it needs real, lasting change,” one veteran crew member emphasised. “That means calling out toxic behaviour, backing workers with proper support, and creating fair conditions where people are treated with respect.”

    Our study highlights that surface-level solutions, such as isolated mental health workshops, can’t address the industry’s systemic problems.

    Three-quarters of industry workers reported needing mental health support specifically because of their work. We have also found deep flaws in how productions are structured – and a need for the entire industry to see film sets as workplaces just like any other.

    Genuine structural change is needed to stop the talent drain currently facing the screen industry.

    A wake-up call

    We recently presented our findings at Mental Health Matters: A Screen Leaders’ Summit, to a number of screen industry leaders, from producers to screen funding agency representatives.

    The summit discussed potential reform models from other high-stress industries, including the construction industry’s MATES program and the UK Film and TV Charity’s Whole Picture Toolkit.

    Doing more for Australia’s screen industry matters, not just because it produces entertainment for us — but because it captures our national identity and gives us a global voice.

    An exodus of talent would threaten both the quantity and quality of local content. Australia has worked hard to position itself as a global production hub, attracting major international projects and Hollywood blockbusters that create jobs and build expertise.

    If nearly a quarter of the workforce exits, the industry would severely diminish its capacity to capitalise on these opportunities.

    Peter Hegedus receives funding from Screen Queensland for developing and producing documentaries.

    Bobbi-Lea Dionysius receives funding from Screen Queensland for developing and producing documentaries and VR projects. She is affiliated with Women in Film & TV (WIFT).

    – ref. ‘Complaining is career suicide’: the hidden mental health crisis turning our screen industry upside down – https://theconversation.com/complaining-is-career-suicide-the-hidden-mental-health-crisis-turning-our-screen-industry-upside-down-254593

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-Evening Report: Forming new habits can take longer than you think. Here are 8 tips to help you stick with them

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Singh, Research Fellow, Allied Health & Human Performance, University of South Australia

    SarahMcEwan/Shutterstock

    If you’ve ever tried to build a new habit – whether that’s exercising more, eating healthier, or going to bed earlier – you may have heard the popular claim that it only takes 21 days to form a habit.

    It’s a neat idea. Short, encouraging and full of promise. But there’s just one problem: it’s not true.

    The 21-day myth can be traced back to Maxwell Maltz, a plastic surgeon in the 1960s, who observed it took about three weeks for his patients to adjust to physical changes. This idea was later picked up and repeated in self-help books, eventually becoming accepted wisdom.

    But as psychologists and behavioural scientists have since discovered, habit formation is much more complex.

    How long does it really take?

    A 2010 study followed volunteers trying to build simple routines – such as drinking water after breakfast or eating a daily piece of fruit – and found it took a median of 66 days for the behaviour to become automatic.

    We recently reviewed several studies looking at how long it took people to form health-related habits. We found, on average, it took around two to five months.

    Specifically, the studies that measured time to reach automaticity (when a behaviour becomes second nature) found that habit formation took between 59 and 154 days. Some people developed a habit in as few as four days. Others took nearly a year.

    This wide range highlights that habit formation isn’t one-size-fits-all. It depends on what the behaviour is, how often it’s repeated, how complex it is, and who’s doing it.



    Read more:
    Here’s what happens in your brain when you’re trying to make or break a habit

    What determines whether a habit will stick?

    Habit strength plays a key role in consistency. A 2021 systematic review focused on physical activity and found the stronger the habit (meaning the more automatic and less effortful the behaviour felt) the more likely people were to exercise regularly.

    It’s not entirely surprising that easy, low-effort behaviours such as drinking water or taking a daily vitamin tend to form faster than complex ones like training for a marathon.

    But whatever the habit, research shows sticking to it is not just about boosting motivation or willpower. Interventions that actively support habit formation – through repetition, cues and structure – are much more effective for creating lasting change.

    For example, programs that encourage people to schedule regular exercise at the same time each day, or apps that send reminders to drink water after every meal, help build habits by making the behaviour easier to repeat and harder to forget.

    Small, everyday actions can grow into powerful routines.
    areporter/Shutterstock

    Our research, which drew on data from more than 2,600 people, showed habit-building interventions can make a real difference across a range of behaviours – from flossing and healthy eating to regular exercise.

    But what stood out most was that even small, everyday actions can grow into powerful routines, when repeated consistently. It’s not about overhauling your life overnight, but about steadily reinforcing behaviours until they become second nature.

    8 tips for building lasting habits

    If you’re looking to build a new habit, here are some science-backed tips to help them stick:

    1. Give it time. Aim for consistency over 60 days. It’s not about perfection – missing a day won’t reset the clock.

    2. Make it easy. Start small. Choose a behaviour you can realistically repeat daily.

    3. Attach your new habit to an existing routine. That is, make the new habit easier to remember by linking it to something you already do – such as flossing right before you brush your teeth.

    4. Track your progress. Use a calendar or app to tick off each successful day.

    5. Build in rewards, for example making a special coffee after a morning walk or watching an episode of your favourite show after a week of consistent workouts. Positive emotions help habits stick, so celebrate small wins.

    6. Morning is best. Habits practised in the morning tend to form more reliably than those attempted at night. This may be because people typically have more motivation and fewer distractions earlier in the day, making it easier to stick to new routines before daily demands build up.

    7. Personal choice boosts success. People are more likely to stick with habits they choose themselves.

    8. Repetition in a stable context is key. Performing the same behaviour in the same situation (such as walking right after lunch each day) increases the chances it will become automatic.

    Habits practised in the morning tend to form more reliably than those attempted at night.
    Ground Picture/Shutterstock

    Why the 21-day myth matters

    Believing habits form in 21 days sets many people up to fail. When change doesn’t “click” within three weeks, it’s easy to feel like you’re doing something wrong. This can lead to frustration, guilt and giving up entirely.

    By contrast, understanding the real timeline can help you stay motivated when things feel slow.

    Evidence shows habit formation usually takes at least two months, and sometimes longer. But it also shows change is possible.

    Our research and other evidence confirm that repeated, intentional actions in stable contexts really do become automatic. Over time, new behaviours can feel effortless and deeply ingrained.

    So whether you’re trying to move more, eat better, or improve your sleep, the key isn’t speed – it’s consistency. Stick with it. With time, the habit will stick with you.

    Ashleigh E. Smith receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Medical Research Future Fund and a Dementia Australia Research Foundation Henry Brodaty Mid-Career Fellowship.

    Ben Singh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Forming new habits can take longer than you think. Here are 8 tips to help you stick with them – https://theconversation.com/forming-new-habits-can-take-longer-than-you-think-here-are-8-tips-to-help-you-stick-with-them-255118

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Youth Mobility Scheme for Uruguayan and British citizens: 2025

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    World news story

    Youth Mobility Scheme for Uruguayan and British citizens: 2025

    • English
    • Español de América Latina

    The Youth Mobility Scheme allows 500 visas, both for Uruguayan and British nationals, to live, study, work and travel in the UK and Uruguay respectively.

    In 2025, 500 British and 500 Uruguayan nationals aged 18 to 30 years old will be able to experience life and culture in each other’s country for up to 2 years, as established in the agreement that came into effect in both countries on 31 January 2024.

    Uruguayan citizens who would like to travel to the UK under this scheme need to apply for a Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) visa. British citizens who would like to travel to Uruguay should apply for a Working Holiday temporary residency.

    The scheme desires to foster close relations between British and Uruguayan nationals, intending to promote and facilitate access to opportunities that enable youth to gain a better understanding of the other participant’s culture, society, and languages through travel, work, and life experience abroad.

    This is the first YMS between the UK and a South American Country. The agreement was signed in August 2023 at the Uruguayan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during the visit of FCDO Minister for the Americas and Caribbean David Rutley MP to Uruguay.

    UK has YMS agreements in place with Andorra, Australia, Canada, Republic of Korea, Hong Kong, Iceland, Japan, Monaco, New Zealand, San Marino, Taiwan and Uruguay.

    Uruguay has Working Holiday programmes with Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, and United Kingdom.

    Find below information about the scheme and how to apply, for British and Uruguayan nationals.

    Information for British nationals

    British citizens interested in applying for a Working Holiday temporary residency must attend the Uruguayan Consulate in London and submit the following documents:

    • valid passport in good condition, with an expiry date at least one year in the future
    • a medical certificate from the country of residence where it states that you do not have medical conditions that would make it impossible for you to reside in Uruguay
    • evidence of a Police Certificate from the country of origin and from any country that you have lived in for the past 5 years. This should be apostilled or legalised, whichever is appropriate. In the UK you can apply for this at: http://www.gov.uk/copy-of-police-records. The six must have been issued within the 6 months prior to the filing of the application
    • documents that demonstrate that they have sufficient financial resources to meet their needs (such as salary payslips, bank statements, pensions, etc.) issued within 30 days of the application date
    • declaration of the intended time they will remain in Uruguay, which will be up to 2 years
    • apostille or legalised birth certificate (whichever is the case, if the person was born outside the UK) and translated (by a certified Uruguayan translator, by Consul or by consular intervention, depending on the case) will be required in Uruguay in order to obtain the Uruguayan National Identity card

    Once the documentation is submitted, the Consulate will inform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ International Migration Direction, which will notify the National Migration Office. A decision will be made within a maximum of 15 working days.

    If the application is successful, the Consulate will let you will know. You will then need to enter Uruguay within 180 days from the notification day. If you need a visa, the Consulate will issue a tourist visa without consulting with the National Migration Office, referring to the temporary residency granted.

    Once you are in Uruguay, you will need to go in person to the National Migration Office and the National Civil Identification Office to apply for the National Identity card and pay the required fees. If youneed more information, please contact the Uruguayan Consulate or Uruguayan Embassy: cdlondres@mrree.gub.uy or urureinounido@mree.gub.uy, or call: +44 (0)207 584 4200

    Information for Uruguayan nationals:

    • applications to the Youth Mobility Scheme are online. You can apply from any country in the world, except from the UK
    • you can apply if you are a Uruguayan National aged 18-30 years old and hold a Uruguayan passport
    • you can spend up to 2 years in the UK, with multiple entries
    • you can work but it is not compulsory. You can travel, study short courses or volunteer
    • you do not need any language, job or skill requirements
    • you must apply for a visa and pay the Immigration Health Surcharge
    • you need to demonstrate you have the equivalent to £2,530 in a bank account for at least the past 28 days before applying
    • you need to get a Criminal Record Certificate. Please request it for Consulate- Ministry of Foreign Affairs, not the British Embassy
    • you cannot apply if you have any dependants living with you or who are financially dependent on you at the time of application
    • you must not have not previously taken part in the scheme

    Applicants will usually get a decision on their visa within 3 weeks.

    For more information, please go to Youth Mobility Scheme visa: Overview – GOV.UK or contact: public.enquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk.

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    Updates to this page

    Published 28 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Russia: The IMF to Hold the Inaugural Annual Economic Research Conference on Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

    Source: IMF – News in Russian

    April 28, 2025

    Washington, DC: Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department and Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, Economic Counsellor and Director of the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued a statement today:

    “Global shocks are adding to regional factors resulting in exceptionally uncertain economic environment for Middle East and North Africa (MENA) economies. Conflicts, trade tensions, volatile commodity prices, changing climate conditions, energy transitions, rapid technological advances are altering the economic landscape of the region, posing severe challenges but also presenting opportunities for bold reforms that safeguard macroeconomic stability, build resilience, and raise living standards for all. Economic research is essential to provide reliable analysis and develop workable and innovative policy responses.

    “In this context, we are pleased to announce that the IMF will organize an annual Economic Research Conference on MENA, partnering with leading universities in the region. The aim is to establish a forum for dialogue on pressing economic issues, promote policy-oriented academic research tailored to the needs and unique challenges of the region. It will also provide a platform for the exchange of ideas and insights for academics, researchers, and policymakers in the MENA region and worldwide.

    “The inaugural conference, Steering Macroeconomic and Structural Policies in A Shifting Global Economic Landscape, will be co-organized with Onsi Sawiris School of Business at The American University in Cairo and take place in Cairo on May 18-19, 2025. It will feature presentations and panel discussions by leading economists and policymakers. The conference details and agenda are available here.

    “The IMF is a long-standing partner to countries in the MENA region in the quest for more inclusive and resilient growth. The IMF-MENA Annual Research Conference is another step forward to further strengthen that partnership and engagement with the region and its people.” 

    IMF Communications Department
    MEDIA RELATIONS

    PRESS OFFICER: Angham Al Shami

    Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

    @IMFSpokesperson

    https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2025/04/28/pr-25125-imf-to-hold-inaugural-ann-economic-research-conf-on-middle-east-and-north-africa

    MIL OSI

    MIL OSI Russia News –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-Evening Report: New survey shows business outlook is weakening and uncertainty rising as the trade war bites

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Simon, Adjunct Fellow in Economics, Macquarie University

    Vivid Brands/Shutterstock

    Uncertainty is everywhere these days.

    There is even uncertainty about the uncertainty.

    The Reserve Bank of Australia, for example, noted in the minutes from its April 1 meeting:

    The most significant development in the period leading up to the meeting had been the significant rise in uncertainty about global trade policy, although the effect of this on sentiment and economic developments in Australia was not yet clear.

    A new monthly business survey, developed by a team of researchers at Macquarie University, the Business Outlook Scenarios Survey (BOSS), provides some clarity.

    A key feature of the survey, which distinguishes it from other business surveys, is its focus on uncertainty about the future, not just expectations about the most likely outcome.

    The most recent survey was conducted between April 10–17, after the announcement of the US “liberation day” tariffs on April 2. The results are concerning, but not yet alarming.

    Big rise in uncertainty

    The results suggest there has been a significant increase in business uncertainty stemming from the tariff and geopolitical tensions.

    Our survey asks roughly 500 Australian businesses about their expectations for, and perceptions of uncertainty about, key business and macroeconomic conditions.

    Running since June 2024, it tracks a sample that is representative of Australian businesses. It surveys key decision makers, such as chief financial officers and business owners, who have a detailed knowledge of their own business, and a general knowledge of the broader economy.

    The jump in uncertainty is leading to an increase in pessimistic views about businesses’ prospects. Moreover, these expectations are surrounded by elevated uncertainty.

    While this has yet to translate into plans to reduce employment and investment, businesses on average expect their costs will rise, and plan to counter the effect through increasing prices.

    More importantly, uncertainty generally leads people to defer decisions, and we see evidence of that in the April survey. Firms on average are not expecting to reduce investment or employment – but neither are they planning on increasing it.

    Inflation worries are off the boil

    When asked about the main source of uncertainty over the next 12 months, businesses used to point to inflation. In June 2024, more than 65% of businesses cited inflation as the main source of business uncertainty. While this is still a significant concern, it has fallen to 48% of respondents.

    More dramatically, however, geopolitical risk and tariffs combined were nominated by 52% of businesses in April as one of the main sources of uncertainty. This is up from about 20% of firms in June last year.

    This global uncertainty is translating into uncertainty about individual business conditions. There is an increase in the percentage of businesses that expect deteriorating conditions for their business. And there is also an increase in uncertainty about the likely outcomes for their industry conditions, product demand, and access to credit and business inputs.

    Risks for hiring and investment

    While deteriorating expectations are a source of concern, the rise in uncertainty is like a one-two punch. Businesses that are uncertain about the future will stop hiring or investing until they have a better idea of what the future holds.

    Indeed, during the Great Depression in the 1930s, uncertainty about the future exacerbated the initial downturn and helped turn it from a recession into a depression. This paralysing uncertainty is what led US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to utter the famous line “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

    While the situation in Australia is not nearly that dire, you can see the consequences of the uncertainty in businesses’ expectations for both their own businesses and the economy more generally.

    In light of the tariff tensions, the majority of businesses are adopting a “wait and see” approach and expect to keep employment and investment unchanged in the next 12 months. The majority (62%) also expect their costs will be higher and, consequently, that they will have to raise their prices.

    What it means for the RBA

    Most businesses surveyed also anticipate higher inflation and lower economic growth in Australia. That is, stagflation.

    This has important consequences for the next Reserve Bank board meeting in May.

    The March quarter consumer price index, to be released on April 30, is unlikely to show the effects of the trade tensions. But monetary policy needs to be set in a forward-looking manner. That means business expectations of higher costs, prices and inflation over the next 12 months could argue for higher interest rates than otherwise.

    Complicating the picture is the expectation of slower economic growth, which would usually argue for lower interest rates.

    On balance, the majority of businesses surveyed in April expect the Reserve Bank to lower the cash rate in response to the trade war.

    Regardless, what is undeniable is that uncertainty has increased in the last few months. And that means that policymakers need to deal with the uncertainty itself. Slightly lower interest rates or a little extra government spending cannot, of themselves, overcome the paralysing effects of uncertainty.

    As such, the Reserve Bank and the government need to talk about not just their central expectations, but their strategy for dealing with the uncertainty around those expectations.

    The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. New survey shows business outlook is weakening and uncertainty rising as the trade war bites – https://theconversation.com/new-survey-shows-business-outlook-is-weakening-and-uncertainty-rising-as-the-trade-war-bites-255101

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: Two Senior Executives Join the Diginex Team to Drive Sustainable Finance Initiatives and strategic M&A

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    LONDON, April 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Diginex Limited (“Diginex”) (NASDAQ: DGNX), a leading impact technology company focused on solving pressing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) challenges, is thrilled to announce the appointment of two senior executives to the Diginex team. This builds off recent news of strategic alliances signed with Russell Bedford International, Forvis Mazars, and Baker Tilly Singapore, marking a significant step for Diginex to support a sustainable and innovation-driven economy.

    Dan Campion was appointed as Diginex’s Global Chief Commercial Officer. With a distinguished career in strategic leadership and business development, Mr. Campion will spearhead Diginex’s efforts to expand its ESG solutions and sustainable finance offerings, reinforcing the Diginex’s commitment to creating a more responsible and resilient global economy.  

    Mr. Campion brings a wealth of experience to Diginex, having held senior leadership roles across multiple industries, including most recently as Global Head of “Markets” Sales at S&P Global. His expertise in navigating complex markets and delivering client-focused solutions aligns seamlessly with Diginex’s mission to empower organizations with cutting-edge tools for sustainability and ethical governance. In his new role, Mr. Campion will oversee Diginex’s global commercial strategy, help to accelerate market penetration, and strengthen Diginex’s position as a trusted partner in ESG and sustainable finance.  

    Lorenzo Romano was appointed as Diginex’s Lead Strategic Advisor on M&A. Mr. Romano is a seasoned banking executive with a distinguished track record in private banking, wealth management, and strategic growth advisory. Formerly Head of Private Banking at EFG Bank, Geneva, Mr. Romano spearheaded key initiatives to elevate client experience and expand the bank’s footprint. Prior to that, Mr. Romano served as Head of Switzerland, Europe, and the Middle East at Syz Bank, where he successfully led cross-border operations and business development across multiple regions. Leveraging over two decades of leadership in the financial sector, Mr. Romano will help to identify and execute accretive transactions across the Sustainability RegTech sector as the Company pursues a strategy of growth through acquisitions to complement the organic growth of its existing product lines.

    “We are delighted to welcome both Dan Campion and Lorenzo Romano to the Diginex team,” said Miles Pelham, Chairman and Founder of Diginex. “Their deep understanding of commercial dynamics and passion for sustainable innovation makes them the ideal leaders to advance our Sustainable RegTech solutions. Their appointments mark an exciting step forward as we continue to support businesses worldwide in achieving their sustainability goals as well as look to grow through accretive M&A transactions.”  

    About Diginex Limited

    Diginex Limited (Nasdaq: DGNX; ISIN KYG286871044), headquartered in London, is a sustainable RegTech business that empowers businesses and governments to streamline ESG, climate, and supply chain data collection and reporting. The Company utilizes blockchain, AI, machine learning and data analysis technology to lead change and increase transparency in corporate regulatory reporting and sustainable finance. Diginex’s products and services solutions enable companies to collect, evaluate and share sustainability data through easy-to-use software. 

    The award-winning diginexESG platform supports 17 global frameworks, including GRI (the “Global Reporting Initiative”), SASB (the “Sustainability Accounting Standards Board”), and TCFD (the “Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures”). Clients benefit from end-to-end support, ranging from materiality assessments and data management to stakeholder engagement, report generation and an ESG Ratings Support Service.

    For more information, please visit the Company’s website: https://www.diginex.com/.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    Certain statements in this announcement are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on the Company’s current expectations and projections about future events that the Company believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. Investors can identify these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as “approximates,” “believes,” “hopes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “projects,” “intends,” “plans,” “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “may” or other similar expressions. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent occurring events or circumstances, or changes in its expectations, except as may be required by law. Although the Company believes that the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot assure you that such expectations will turn out to be correct, and the Company cautions investors that actual results may differ materially from the anticipated results and encourages investors to review other factors that may affect its future results disclosed in the Company’s filings with the SEC.

    For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

    Diginex
    Investor Relations
    Email: ir@diginex.com  

    IR Contact – Europe
    Anna Höffken
    Phone: +49.40.609186.0
    Email: diginex@kirchhoff.de

    IR Contact – US
    Kincade Ayers
    Lambert by LLYC
    Phone: +1 (616) 258-5794
    Email: kincade.ayers@llyc.global

    IR Contact – Asia
    Shelly Cheng
    Strategic Public Relations Group Ltd.
    Phone: +852 2864 4857
    Email: sprg_diginex@sprg.com.hk

    The MIL Network –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: Powell Max Limited Announces 2024 Audited Financial Results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    HONG KONG, April 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Powell Max Limited (Nasdaq: PMAX) (the “Company” or “Powell Max”), a financial communications services provider headquartered in Hong Kong, today announced the audited financial results of the Company and its subsidiary for the financial year ended December 31, 2024.

    Overview:

    • Revenue was HK$36.5 million (US$4.7 million) for the year ended December 31, 2024, representing a decrease of 25.7% for the year ended December 31, 2023.
    • Net loss was HK$18.1 million (US$2.3 million) for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared with the profit for the year of HK$7.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2023.

    Financial Results for the year ended December 31, 2024

    Revenue. Revenue decreased by 25.7% from HK$49.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 to HK$36.5 million (US$4.7 million) for the year ended December 31, 2024, which was mainly due to the decrease in both the revenue from corporate financial communications services and IPO financial printing services.

    General and administrative expenses. General and administrative expenses increased by 1.28 times from HK$10.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 to HK$24.9 million (US$3.2 million) for the year ended December 31, 2024, which was mainly due to the incurrence of issuance expenses (which consisted of professional fee and related expenses relating to the equity line of credit under standby equity purchase agreement entered into with YA II PN, Ltd. on November 21, 2024), an increase in professional services fees and an increase in employee benefits expense.

    Selling and distribution expenses. Selling and distribution expenses increased by 55.6% from HK$4.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 to HK$7.0 million (US$0.9 million) for the year ended December 31, 2024, which was mainly due to an increase in the number of staff in our sales team and an increase in other expenses on business development and marketing. In light of the reduction of capital market activities in Hong Kong, we have allocated extra resources on sales and marketing with the view to maintain our market presence.

    Net loss. Net loss for the year ended December 31, 2024 was HK$18.1 million (US$2.3 million), as compared with the profit for the year of HK$7.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2023.

    Basic and diluted loss per share. Basic and diluted loss per share was HK$1.37 (US$0.18) per ordinary share for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to a basic and diluted earning per share of HK$0.56 per ordinary share for the year ended December 31, 2023.

    About Powell Max Limited

    Powell Max Limited is a financial communications services provider headquartered in Hong Kong. The Company engages in the provision of financial communications services that support capital market compliance and transaction needs for corporate clients and their advisors in Hong Kong. Its financial communications services cover a full range of financial printing, corporate reporting, communications and language support services from inception to completion, including typesetting, proofreading, translation, design, printing, electronic reporting, newspaper placement and distribution. The Company’s clients consist of domestic and international companies listed in Hong Kong, together with companies who are seeking to list in Hong Kong, as well as their advisors.

    Exchange Rate Information

    The Company is a holding company with operations conducted in Hong Kong through JAN Financial Press Limited and Miracle Media Production Limited (which was acquired after the reporting period), its direct wholly-owned operating subsidiaries. The operating subsidiaries’ reporting currency is Hong Kong dollars. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from Hong Kong dollars to United States Dollars in this press release were calculated the noon middle rate of US$1 — HK$7.7677, as published in the H.10 statistical release of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on December 31, 2024, respectively. No representation is made that the HK$ amount represents or could have been, or could be, converted, realized or settled into US$ at that rate, or at any other rate.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. Words such as “will,” future,” “expects,” “believes,” and “intends,” or similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to inherent uncertainties in predicting future results and conditions. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

    Rounding Amounts and Percentages

    Certain amounts and percentages included in this press release have been rounded for ease of presentation. Percentage figures included in this press release have not in all cases been calculated on the basis of such rounded figures, but on the basis of such amounts prior to rounding.

    For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

    Company Info:

    Powell Max Limited
    Investor Relations
    ir@janfp.com
    (852) 2158 2888

    POWELL MAX LIMITED AND ITS SUBSIDIARY
    CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION    		  
       
        As of December 31  
        2023     2024  
        HK$     HK$     US$  
    ASSETS                  
    Non-current assets                  
    Property, plant and equipment     5,819,230       4,253,686       547,612  
    Total non-current assets     5,819,230       4,253,686       547,612  
                             
    Current assets                        
    Trade and other receivables     13,510,032       16,096,160       2,072,191  
    Cash and bank balances     3,660,213       42,222,014       5,435,588  
    Total current assets     17,170,245       58,318,174       7,507,779  
                             
    Total assets     22,989,475       62,571,860       8,055,391  
                             
    LIABILITIES AND EQUITY                        
    Current liabilities                        
    Trade and other payables     27,376,032       12,990,458       1,672,368  
    Contract liabilities     1,524,761       1,310,435       168,703  
    Bank borrowings     4,767,829       3,845,863       495,110  
    Lease liabilities     3,361,230       1,376,122       177,159  
    Derivative     —       6,756,516       869,822  
    Convertible promissory notes     —       13,860,647       1,784,395  
    Total current liabilities     37,029,852       40,140,041       5,167,557  
                             
    Non-current liabilities                        
    Trade and other payables     150,000       150,000       19,311  
    Lease liabilities     1,122,591       1,014,182       130,564  
    Total non-current liabilities     1,272,591       1,164,182       149,875  
                             
    Total liabilities     38,302,443       41,304,223       5,317,432  
                             
    Equity attributable to owners of the Company                        
    Share capital     9,750       11,457       1,475  
    Accumulated losses     (15,680,728 )     (33,754,822 )     (4,345,537 )
    Reserves     358,010       55,011,002       7,082,021  
    Total equity     (15,312,968 )     21,267,637       2,737,959  
                             
    Total liabilities and equity     22,989,475       62,571,860       8,055,391  
     
    POWELL MAX LIMITED AND ITS SUBSIDIARY
    CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF PROFIT OR LOSS
    AND OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
     
        Year ended December 31,  
        2022     2023     2024  
        HK$     HK$     HK$     US$  
    Revenue     37,772,821       49,121,839       36,461,260       4,693,958  
    Cost of sales     (22,217,680 )     (25,238,821 )     (22,081,030 )     (2,842,673 )
    Gross profit     15,555,141       23,883,018       14,380,230       1,851,285  
                                     
    Other income and gain     1,851,815       54,116       1,952,986       251,425  
    General and administrative expenses     (10,723,611 )     (10,862,255 )     (24,854,036 )     (3,199,665 )
    Selling and distribution expenses     (5,250,421 )     (4,530,134 )     (7,049,538 )     (907,545 )
    Allowance of expected credit loss – trade receivables     (841,051 )     (914,788 )     (488,640 )     (62,908 )
                                     
    Profit/(Loss) from operations     591,873       7,629,957       (16,058,998 )     (2,067,408 )
    Finance costs     (690,476 )     (550,714 )     (2,015,096 )     (259,418 )
                                     
    (Loss)/Profit before income tax     (98,603 )     7,079,243       (18,074,094 )     (2,326,826 )
    Income tax expense     —       —       —       —  
    (Loss)/Profit for the year     (98,603 )     7,079,243       (18,074,094 )     (2,326,826 )
                                     
    Other comprehensive (loss)/income:                                
    Exchange differences on foreign currency translations     25,138       (47,378 )     48,424       6,234  
    Total comprehensive (loss)/income for the year     (73,465 )     7,031,865       (18,025,670 )     (2,320,592 )
                                     
    (Loss)/Earnings per share attributable to owners of the Company                                
    Basic and diluted     (0.01 )     0.56       (1.37 )     (0.18 )
                                     
    Weighted average number of ordinary shares                                
    Basic and diluted     12,500,000       12,500,000       13,178,314       13,178,314  

    The MIL Network –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: RBB Bancorp Reports First Quarter 2025 Earnings

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    LOS ANGELES, April 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — RBB Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBB) and its subsidiaries, Royal Business Bank (the “Bank”) and RBB Asset Management Company (“RAM”), collectively referred to herein as the “Company,” announced financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2025.

    First Quarter 2025 Highlights

    • Net income totaled $2.3 million, or $0.13 diluted earnings per share
    • Return on average assets of 0.24%, compared to 0.44% for the quarter ended December 31, 2024
    • Net interest margin expanded to 2.88%, up from 2.76% for the quarter ended December 31, 2024
    • Net loans held for investment growth of $89.8 million, or 12% annualized 
    • Nonperforming assets decreased $16.5 million, or 20.3%, to $64.6 million at March 31, 2025, down from $81.0 million at December 31, 2024
    • Book value and tangible book value per share(1) increased to $28.77 and $24.63 at March 31, 2025, up from $28.66 and $24.51 at December 31, 2024 

    The Company reported net income of $2.3 million, or $0.13 diluted earnings per share, for the quarter ended March 31, 2025, compared to net income of $4.4 million, or $0.25 diluted earnings per share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2024. First quarter of 2025 net income included $6.7 million in pre-tax provision for credit losses mostly related to reducing exposure to nonperforming loans, including higher specific reserves.

    “First quarter net income declined to $2.3 million, or 13 cents per share, as we took decisive action to address our nonperforming loans,” said David Morris, Chief Executive Officer of RBB Bancorp. “We reduced our net exposure to nonperforming loans to $51 million, including specific reserves, or 32% since year end. We remain focused on resolving our nonperforming loans as quickly as possible while minimizing the impact to earnings and capital and we think our actions in the first quarter reflect this.”

    “Our loan production was relatively strong during the first quarter driven by continued execution of our initiatives, which resulted in 12% annualized net loan growth. Our loan prospect pipeline continues to be healthy, and we anticipate loan growth to continue in the second quarter, albeit likely at a more moderate pace,” said Johnny Lee, President of RBB Bancorp and President and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank. “While the market environment is volatile, we have not observed significant signs of financial impact to our clients at this time.”

    (1 ) Reconciliations of the non–U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) measures included at the end of this press release.

    Net Interest Income and Net Interest Margin

    Net interest income was $26.2 million for the first quarter of 2025, compared to $26.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2024. The $186,000 increase was due to a $2.4 million decrease in interest expense, offset by a $2.2 million decrease in interest income. The decrease in interest income was mostly due to the impact of fewer days in the quarter of $1.2 million and lower average excess liquidity (cash and cash equivalents and investment securities) of $1.5 million. The decrease in interest expense was mostly due to the impact of lower average funding rates of $1.5 million, fewer days in the quarter of $621,000 and lower average interest-bearing liabilities of $336,000. The $1.5 million attributed to lower average funding rates included $1.8 million due to a 29 basis point decrease in the average cost of interest-bearing deposits.

    The net interest margin (“NIM”) was 2.88% for the first quarter of 2025, an increase of 12 basis points from 2.76% for the fourth quarter of 2024. The NIM expansion was due to a 17 basis point decrease in the overall cost of funds, partially offset by a 3 basis point decrease in the yield on average interest-earning assets. The yield on average interest-earning assets decreased to 5.76% for the first quarter of 2025 from 5.79% for the fourth quarter of 2024 due mainly to a decrease in the yield on average cash and cash equivalents of 32 basis points and average loans of 2 basis points, partially offset by the benefit of a change in the mix in average-earning assets. Average loans represented 84% of average interest-earning assets in the first quarter of 2025, as compared to 82% in the fourth quarter of 2024.

    The average cost of funds decreased to 3.15% for the first quarter of 2025 from 3.32% for the fourth quarter of 2024, driven by a 29 basis point decrease in the average cost of interest-bearing deposits, partially offset by a 38 basis point increase in the average cost of borrowings. The average cost of interest-bearing deposits decreased to 3.77% for the first quarter of 2025 from 4.06% for the fourth quarter of 2024. During the first quarter of 2025, $150.0 million in Federal Home Loan Bank (“FHLB”) advances with an average cost of 1.18% matured and were largely replaced with $110.0 million in FHLB advances with various terms at an average rate of 3.88%. The overall funding mix for the first quarter of 2025 remained relatively unchanged from the fourth quarter of 2024 with total deposits representing 90% of the funding mix and average noninterest-bearing deposits representing 17% of average total deposits. The all-in average spot rate for total deposits was 3.06% at March 31, 2025.

    Provision for Credit Losses

    The provision for credit losses was $6.7 million for the first quarter of 2025 compared to $6.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2024. The first quarter of 2025 provision for credit losses was due to an increase in specific reserves of $2.8 million, net charge-offs of $2.6 million and an increase in general reserves of $1.3 million due mainly to net loan growth. The first quarter increase in specific reserves related mostly to two lending relationships. Net charge-offs included $1.4 million related to a bulk sale of $10.8 million in underperforming single-family residential (“SFR”) mortgage loans, of which $6.5 million were on nonaccrual at the end of the year, and $1.2 million related to an $8.8 million loan transferred to other real estate owned (“OREO”) and subsequently sold. Net charge-offs on an annualized basis represented 0.35% of average loans for the first quarter of 2025 compared to 0.26% for the fourth quarter of 2024. The first quarter provision also took into consideration factors such as changes in loan balances, the loan portfolio mix, the outlook for economic conditions and market interest rates, and changes in credit quality metrics, including changes in nonperforming loans, special mention and substandard loans during the period.

    Noninterest Income

    Noninterest income for the first quarter of 2025 was $2.3 million, a decrease of $434,000 from $2.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2024. This decrease was mostly due to the fourth quarter of 2024 including $258,000 of income from a Bank Enterprise Award grant (included in other income) and lower net gain on sale of loans as compared to the fourth quarter of 2024.

    Noninterest Expense

    Noninterest expense for the first quarter of 2025 was $18.5 million, an increase of $873,000 from $17.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2024. This increase was mostly due to higher salaries and employee benefits expense of $716,000 attributed to higher payroll taxes and annual pay increases, which are typically reflected in the first quarter of the year. The annualized noninterest expenses to average assets ratio was 1.90% for the first quarter of 2025, up from 1.76% for the fourth quarter of 2024. The efficiency ratio was 65.1% for the first quarter of 2025, up from 61.5% for the fourth quarter of 2024 due mostly to higher noninterest expense.

    Income Taxes

    The effective tax rate was 28.2% for the first quarter of 2025 and 13.3% for the fourth quarter of 2024. The increase in the effective tax rate for the first quarter was due in part to lower tax credits combined with higher estimated pre-tax net income for the full year of 2025 as compared to the prior quarter.2

    Balance Sheet

    At March 31, 2025, total assets were $4.0 billion, a $16.9 million increase compared to December 31, 2024, and a $131.4 million increase compared to March 31, 2024.

    Loan and Securities Portfolio

    Loans held for investment (“HFI”) totaled $3.1 billion as of March 31, 2025, an increase of $89.8 million, or 12% annualized, compared to December 31, 2024 and an increase of $115.7 million, or 3.8%, compared to March 31, 2024. The first quarter of 2025 net loan growth included $201 million in new production with an average yield of 6.77%. When loan sales, charge-offs, and foreclosures totaling $28.6 million are considered, the annualized first quarter net loan growth rate was 16%. The increase from December 31, 2024 was primarily due to a $51.8 million increase in SFR mortgage loans, a $44.0 million increase in commercial real estate (“CRE”) loans, a $6.0 million increase in commercial and industrial (“C&I”) loans and a $3.4 million increase in Small Business Administration (“SBA”) loans, partially offset by a $14.4 million decrease in construction and land development (“C&D”) loans. The loan to deposit ratio was 98.4% at March 31, 2025, compared to 97.5% at December 31, 2024 and 98.6% at March 31, 2024. 

    As of March 31, 2025, available for sale securities totaled $378.2 million, a decrease of $42.0 million from December 31, 2024, primarily related to the net decrease in short-term commercial paper of $41.4 million due to maturity and purchase activity during the first quarter of 2025. As of March 31, 2025, net unrealized losses totaled $25.0 million, a $4.2 million decrease, when compared to net unrealized losses of $29.2 million as of December 31, 2024.

    Deposits

    Total deposits were $3.1 billion as of March 31, 2025, an increase of $58.8 million, or 7.7% annualized, compared to December 31, 2024 and an increase of $114.3 million, or 3.8%, compared to March 31, 2024. The increase during the first quarter of 2025 was due to a $93.6 million increase in interest-bearing deposits, while noninterest-bearing deposits decreased $34.8 million. The increase in interest-bearing deposits included increases in non-maturity deposits of $58.2 million and time deposits of $35.5 million. Wholesale deposits totaled $158.5 million at March 31, 2025, and $147.5 million at December 31, 2024. Noninterest-bearing deposits totaled $528.2 million and represented 16.8% of total deposits at March 31, 2025 compared to $563.0 million and 18.3% at December 31, 2024.

    Credit Quality

    Nonperforming assets totaled $64.6 million, or 1.61% of total assets, at March 31, 2025, down from $81.0 million, or 2.03% of total assets, at December 31, 2024. The $16.5 million decrease in nonperforming assets was due to sales totaling $20.0 million and payoffs or paydowns of $1.8 million, partially offset by the addition of one $5.3 million CRE loan placed on nonaccrual status in the first quarter of 2025. Nonperforming assets included one $4.2 million OREO (included in “Accrued interest and other assets”) at March 31, 2025, which was a nonaccrual loan at December 31, 2024.

    Special mention loans totaled $64.3 million, or 2.05% of total loans, at March 31, 2025, down from $65.3 million, or 2.14% of total loans, at December 31, 2024. The $1.1 million decrease was primarily due to the upgrade of one $1.7 million CRE loan to a pass-rated loan, offset by the addition of one $578,000 C&I loan. All special mention loans are paying current.

    Substandard loans totaled $76.4 million at March 31, 2025, down from $100.3 million at December 31, 2024. This $24.0 million decrease was primarily due to loan sales totaling $11.7 million, transfers to OREO totaling $12.8 million, of which $8.8 million was subsequently sold during the first quarter of 2025, and payoffs and paydowns totaling $5.4 million, partially offset by the downgrade of two loans totaling $6.2 million. Of the total substandard loans at March 31, 2025, there were $16.0 million on accrual status.

    30-89 day delinquent loans, excluding nonperforming loans, totaled $5.9 million, or 0.19% of total loans, at March 31, 2025, down from $22.1 million, or 0.72% of total loans, at December 31, 2024. The $16.2 million decrease was mostly due to $16.3 million in loans returning to current status, $2.9 million in SFR mortgage loans included in the bulk sale of several underperforming SFR mortgage loans and $398,000 in paydowns and payoffs, offset by $3.5 million in new delinquent loans.3

    As of March 31, 2025, the allowance for credit losses totaled $52.6 million and was comprised of an allowance for loan losses of $51.9 million and a reserve for unfunded commitments of $629,000 (included in “Accrued interest and other liabilities”). This compares to the allowance for credit losses of $48.5 million, comprised of an allowance for loan losses of $47.7 million and a reserve for unfunded commitments of $729,000 at December 31, 2024. The $4.1 million increase in the allowance for credit losses for the first quarter of 2025 was due to a $6.7 million provision for credit losses offset by net charge-offs of $2.6 million. Net charge-offs included $1.4 million related to a bulk sale of $10.8 million in underperforming SFR mortgage loans, of which $6.5 million were on nonaccrual at the end of the year, and $1.2 million related to an $8.8 million loan transferred to OREO and subsequently sold. The allowance for loan losses as a percentage of loans HFI increased to 1.65% at March 31, 2025, compared to 1.56% at December 31, 2024, due to an increase in specific reserves. The allowance for loan losses as a percentage of nonperforming loans HFI was 86% at March 31, 2025, an increase from 68% at December 31, 2024. 

        For the Three Months Ended March 31, 2025  
    (dollars in thousands)   Allowance for
    loan losses    		     Reserve for
    unfunded loan
    commitments    		     Allowance for
    credit losses    		  
    Beginning balance   $ 47,729     $ 729     $ 48,458  
    Provision for (reversal of) credit losses     6,846       (100 )     6,746  
    Less loans charged-off     (2,727 )     —       (2,727 )
    Recoveries on loans charged-off     84       —       84  
    Ending balance   $ 51,932     $ 629     $ 52,561  

    Shareholders’ Equity

    At March 31, 2025, total shareholders’ equity was $510.3 million, a $2.4 million increase compared to December 31, 2024, and a $3.7 million decrease compared to March 31, 2024. The increase in shareholders’ equity for the first quarter of 2025 was due to lower net unrealized losses on available for sale securities of $3.0 million, net income of $2.3 million and equity compensation activity of $43,000, offset by common stock cash dividends paid of $2.9 million. The decrease in shareholders’ equity for the last twelve months was due to common stock repurchases of $19.2 million and dividends paid of $11.6 million on common stock, offset by net income of $20.9 million, lower net unrealized losses on available for sale securities of $3.7 million, and equity compensation activity of $2.5 million. Book value per share and tangible book value per share(1) increased to $28.77 and $24.63 at March 31, 2025, up from $28.66 and $24.51 at December 31, 2024 and up from $27.67 and $23.68 at March 31, 2024.

    (1 ) Reconciliations of the non–U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) measures included at the end of this press release.

    Corporate Overview

    RBB Bancorp is a community-based financial holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California. As of March 31, 2025, the Company had total assets of $4.0 billion. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, Royal Business Bank, is a full service commercial bank, which provides consumer and business banking services predominately to the Asian-centric communities in Los Angeles County, Orange County, and Ventura County in California, in Las Vegas, Nevada, in Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan in New York, in Edison, New Jersey, in the Chicago neighborhoods of Chinatown and Bridgeport, Illinois, and on Oahu, Hawaii. Bank services include remote deposit, E-banking, mobile banking, commercial and investor real estate loans, business loans and lines of credit, commercial and industrial loans, SBA 7A and 504 loans, 1-4 single family residential loans, trade finance, a full range of depository account products and wealth management services. The Bank has nine branches in Los Angeles County, two branches in Ventura County, one branch in Orange County, California, one branch in Las Vegas, Nevada, three branches and one loan operation center in Brooklyn, three branches in Queens, one branch in Manhattan in New York, one branch in Edison, New Jersey, two branches in Chicago, Illinois, and one branch in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Company’s administrative and lending center is located at 1055 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90017, and its operations center is located at 7025 Orangethorpe Ave., Buena Park, California 90621. The Company’s website address is www.royalbusinessbankusa.com.

    Conference Call

    Management will hold a conference call at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time/2:00 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, to discuss the Company’s first quarter 2025 financial results.

    To listen to the conference call, please dial 1-888-506-0062 or 1-973-528-0011, the Participant ID code is 534591, conference ID RBBQ125. A replay of the call will be made available at 1-877-481-4010 or 1-919-882-2331, the passcode is 52277, approximately one hour after the conclusion of the call and will remain available through May 13, 2025.

    The conference call will also be simultaneously webcast over the Internet; please visit our Royal Business Bank website at www.royalbusinessbankusa.com and click on the “Investors” tab to access the call from the site. This webcast will be recorded and available for replay on our website approximately two hours after the conclusion of the conference call.

    Disclosure

    This press release contains certain non-GAAP financial disclosures for tangible common equity and tangible assets and adjusted earnings. The Company uses certain non-GAAP financial measures to provide meaningful supplemental information regarding the Company’s operational performance and to enhance investors’ overall understanding of such financial performance. Please refer to the tables at the end of this release for a presentation of performance ratios in accordance with GAAP and a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to the GAAP financial measures.

    Safe Harbor

    Certain matters set forth herein (including the exhibits hereto) constitute forward-looking statements relating to the Company’s current business plans and expectations and our future financial position and operating results. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance and/or achievements to differ materially from those projected. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures; the potential for additional material weaknesses in the Company’s internal controls over financial reporting or other potential control deficiencies of which the Company is not currently aware or which have not been detected; business and economic conditions generally and in the financial services industry, nationally and within our current and future geographic markets, including the tight labor market, ineffective management of the United States (“U.S.”) federal budget or debt or turbulence or uncertainly in domestic or foreign financial markets; the strength of the U.S. economy in general and the strength of the local economies in which we conduct operations; adverse developments in the banking industry highlighted by high-profile bank failures and the potential impact of such developments on customer confidence, liquidity and regulatory responses to these developments; possible additional provisions for credit losses and charge-offs; credit risks of lending activities and deterioration in asset or credit quality; extensive laws and regulations and supervision that we are subject to, including potential supervisory action by bank supervisory authorities; compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and other money laundering statutes and regulations; potential goodwill impairment; liquidity risk; failure to comply with debt covenants; fluctuations in interest rates; risks associated with acquisitions and the expansion of our business into new markets; inflation and deflation; real estate market conditions and the value of real estate collateral; the effects of having concentrations in our loan portfolio, including commercial real estate and the risks of geographic and industry concentrations; environmental liabilities; our ability to compete with larger competitors; our ability to retain key personnel; successful management of reputational risk; severe weather, natural disasters, earthquakes, fires, including direct and indirect costs and impacts on clients, the Company and its employees from the January 2025 Los Angeles County wildfires; or other adverse external events could harm our business; geopolitical conditions, including acts or threats of terrorism, actions taken by the U.S. or other governments in response to acts or threats of terrorism and/or military conflicts, including the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, in the Middle East, and increasing tensions between China and Taiwan, which could impact business and economic conditions in the U.S. and abroad; tariffs, trade policies, and related tensions, which could impact our clients, specific industry sectors, and/or broader economic conditions and financial market; public health crises and pandemics, and their effects on the economic and business environments in which we operate, including our credit quality and business operations, as well as the impact on general economic and financial market conditions; general economic or business conditions in Asia, and other regions where the Bank has operations; failures, interruptions, or security breaches of our information systems; climate change, including any enhanced regulatory, compliance, credit and reputational risks and costs; cybersecurity threats and the cost of defending against them; our ability to adapt our systems to the expanding use of technology in banking; risk management processes and strategies; adverse results in legal proceedings; the impact of regulatory enforcement actions, if any; certain provisions in our charter and bylaws that may affect acquisition of the Company; changes in tax laws and regulations; the impact of governmental efforts to restructure the U.S. financial regulatory system and increased costs of compliance and other risks associated with changes in regulation, including any amendments to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act; the impact of changes in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) insurance assessment rate and the rules and regulations related to the calculation of the FDIC insurance assessments; the effect of changes in accounting policies and practices or accounting standards, as may be adopted from time-to-time by bank regulatory agencies, the SEC, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the Financial Accounting Standards Board or other accounting standards setters; fluctuations in the Company’s stock price; restrictions on dividends and other distributions by laws and regulations and by our regulators and our capital structure; our ability to raise additional capital, if needed, and the potential resulting dilution of interests of holders of our common stock; the soundness of other financial institutions; our ongoing relations with our various federal and state regulators, including the SEC, FDIC, FRB and California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation; our success at managing the risks involved in the foregoing items and all other factors set forth in the Company’s public reports, including its Annual Report as filed under Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, and particularly the discussion of risk factors within that document. The Company does not undertake, and specifically disclaims any obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect occurrences or unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statements except as required by law. Any statements about future operating results, such as those concerning accretion and dilution to the Company’s earnings or shareholders, are for illustrative purposes only, are not forecasts, and actual results may differ.

    RBB BANCORP AND SUBSIDIARIES
    CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
    (Unaudited)
    (Dollars in thousands)
     
        March 31,     December 31,     September 30,     June 30,     March 31,  
        2025     2024     2024     2024     2024  
    Assets                                        
    Cash and due from banks   $ 25,315     $ 27,747     $ 26,388     $ 23,313     $ 21,887  
    Interest-earning deposits with financial institutions     213,508       229,998       323,002       229,456       247,356  
    Cash and cash equivalents     238,823       257,745       349,390       252,769       269,243  
    Interest-earning time deposits with financial institutions     600       600       600       600       600  
    Investment securities available for sale     378,188       420,190       305,666       325,582       335,194  
    Investment securities held to maturity     5,188       5,191       5,195       5,200       5,204  
    Loans held for sale     655       11,250       812       3,146       3,903  
    Loans held for investment     3,143,063       3,053,230       3,091,896       3,047,712       3,027,361  
    Allowance for loan losses     (51,932 )     (47,729 )     (43,685 )     (41,741 )     (41,688 )
    Net loans held for investment     3,091,131       3,005,501       3,048,211       3,005,971       2,985,673  
    Premises and equipment, net     24,308       24,601       24,839       25,049       25,363  
    Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) stock     15,000       15,000       15,000       15,000       15,000  
    Cash surrender value of bank owned life insurance     60,699       60,296       59,889       59,486       59,101  
    Goodwill     71,498       71,498       71,498       71,498       71,498  
    Servicing assets     6,766       6,985       7,256       7,545       7,794  
    Core deposit intangibles     1,839       2,011       2,194       2,394       2,594  
    Right-of-use assets     26,779       28,048       29,283       30,530       31,231  
    Accrued interest and other assets     87,926       83,561       70,644       63,416       65,608  
    Total assets   $ 4,009,400     $ 3,992,477     $ 3,990,477     $ 3,868,186     $ 3,878,006  
    Liabilities and shareholders’ equity                                        
    Deposits:                                        
    Noninterest-bearing demand   $ 528,205     $ 563,012     $ 543,623     $ 542,971     $ 539,517  
    Savings, NOW and money market accounts     721,216       663,034       666,089       647,770       642,840  
    Time deposits, $250,000 and under     1,000,106       1,007,452       1,052,462       1,014,189       1,083,898  
    Time deposits, greater than $250,000     893,101       850,291       830,010       818,675       762,074  
    Total deposits     3,142,628       3,083,789       3,092,184       3,023,605       3,028,329  
    FHLB advances     160,000       200,000       200,000       150,000       150,000  
    Long-term debt, net of issuance costs     119,624       119,529       119,433       119,338       119,243  
    Subordinated debentures     15,211       15,156       15,102       15,047       14,993  
    Lease liabilities – operating leases     28,483       29,705       30,880       32,087       32,690  
    Accrued interest and other liabilities     33,148       36,421       23,150       16,818       18,765  
    Total liabilities     3,499,094       3,484,600       3,480,749       3,356,895       3,364,020  
    Shareholders’ equity:                                        
    Common stock     260,284       259,957       259,280       266,160       271,645  
    Additional paid-in capital     3,360       3,645       3,520       3,456       3,348  
    Retained earnings     263,885       264,460       262,946       262,518       259,903  
    Non-controlling interest     72       72       72       72       72  
    Accumulated other comprehensive loss, net     (17,295 )     (20,257 )     (16,090 )     (20,915 )     (20,982 )
    Total shareholders’ equity     510,306       507,877       509,728       511,291       513,986  
    Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity   $ 4,009,400     $ 3,992,477     $ 3,990,477     $ 3,868,186     $ 3,878,006  
     
    RBB BANCORP AND SUBSIDIARIES
    CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
    (Unaudited)
    (In thousands, except share and per share data) 
     
        For the Three Months Ended  
        March 31, 2025     December 31, 2024     March 31, 2024  
    Interest and dividend income:                        
    Interest and fees on loans   $ 45,621     $ 46,374     $ 45,547  
    Interest on interest-earning deposits     2,014       3,641       5,040  
    Interest on investment securities     4,136       3,962       3,611  
    Dividend income on FHLB stock     330       330       331  
    Interest on federal funds sold and other     235       248       266  
    Total interest and dividend income     52,336       54,555       54,795  
    Interest expense:                        
    Interest on savings deposits, NOW and money market accounts     4,468       4,671       4,478  
    Interest on time deposits     19,084       21,361       23,322  
    Interest on long-term debt and subordinated debentures     1,632       1,660       1,679  
    Interest on FHLB advances     989       886       439  
    Total interest expense     26,173       28,578       29,918  
    Net interest income before provision for credit losses     26,163       25,977       24,877  
    Provision for credit losses     6,746       6,000       —  
    Net interest income after provision for credit losses     19,417       19,977       24,877  
    Noninterest income:                        
    Service charges and fees     1,017       988       992  
    Gain on sale of loans     81       376       312  
    Loan servicing fees, net of amortization     588       492       589  
    Increase in cash surrender value of life insurance     403       407       382  
    Gain on OREO     —       —       724  
    Other income     206       466       373  
    Total noninterest income     2,295       2,729       3,372  
    Noninterest expense:                        
    Salaries and employee benefits     10,643       9,927       9,927  
    Occupancy and equipment expenses     2,407       2,403       2,443  
    Data processing     1,602       1,499       1,420  
    Legal and professional     1,515       1,355       880  
    Office expenses     408       399       356  
    Marketing and business promotion     197       251       172  
    Insurance and regulatory assessments     730       677       982  
    Core deposit premium     172       182       201  
    Other expenses     848       956       588  
    Total noninterest expense     18,522       17,649       16,969  
    Income before income taxes     3,190       5,057       11,280  
    Income tax expense     900       672       3,244  
    Net income   $ 2,290     $ 4,385     $ 8,036  
                             
    Net income per share                        
    Basic   $ 0.13     $ 0.25     $ 0.43  
    Diluted   $ 0.13     $ 0.25     $ 0.43  
    Cash dividends declared per common share   $ 0.16     $ 0.16     $ 0.16  
    Weighted-average common shares outstanding                        
    Basic     17,727,712       17,704,992       18,601,277  
    Diluted     17,770,588       17,796,840       18,666,683  
                             
    RBB BANCORP AND SUBSIDIARIES
    AVERAGE BALANCE SHEET AND NET INTEREST INCOME
    (Unaudited)
     
        For the Three Months Ended  
        March 31, 2025     December 31, 2024     March 31, 2024  
    (tax-equivalent basis,    Average     Interest     Yield /     Average     Interest     Yield /     Average     Interest     Yield /  
      dollars in thousands)   Balance     & Fees     Rate     Balance     & Fees     Rate     Balance     & Fees     Rate  
    Interest-earning assets                                                                        
    Cash and cash equivalents (1)   $ 194,236     $ 2,249       4.70 %   $ 308,455     $ 3,890       5.02 %   $ 364,979     $ 5,306       5.85 %
    FHLB Stock     15,000       330       8.92 %     15,000       330       8.75 %     15,000       331       8.88 %
    Securities                                                                        
    Available for sale (2)     390,178       4,113       4.28 %     361,253       3,939       4.34 %     320,015       3,589       4.51 %
    Held to maturity (2)     5,189       49       3.83 %     5,194       48       3.68 %     5,207       46       3.55 %
    Total loans (3)     3,079,224       45,621       6.01 %     3,059,786       46,374       6.03 %     3,018,423       45,547       6.07 %
    Total interest-earning assets     3,683,827     $ 52,362       5.76 %     3,749,688     $ 54,581       5.79 %     3,723,624     $ 54,819       5.92 %
    Total noninterest-earning assets     260,508                       244,609                       246,341                  
    Total average assets   $ 3,944,335                     $ 3,994,297                     $ 3,969,965                  
                                                                             
    Interest-bearing liabilities                                                                        
    NOW     61,222       321       2.13 %   $ 53,879     $ 254       1.88 %   $ 58,946     $ 298       2.03 %
    Money market     463,443       3,625       3.17 %     463,850       3,735       3.20 %     411,751       3,526       3.44 %
    Saving deposits     155,116       522       1.36 %     162,351       682       1.67 %     157,227       654       1.67 %
    Time deposits, $250,000 and under     989,622       10,046       4.12 %     1,034,946       11,583       4.45 %     1,175,804       13,805       4.72 %
    Time deposits, greater than $250,000     864,804       9,038       4.24 %     835,583       9,778       4.66 %     785,172       9,517       4.88 %
    Total interest-bearing deposits     2,534,207       23,552       3.77 %     2,550,609       26,032       4.06 %     2,588,900       27,800       4.32 %
    FHLB advances     176,833       989       2.27 %     200,000       886       1.76 %     150,000       439       1.18 %
    Long-term debt     119,562       1,295       4.39 %     119,466       1,295       4.31 %     119,180       1,295       4.37 %
    Subordinated debentures     15,175       337       9.01 %     15,121       365       9.60 %     14,957       384       10.33 %
    Total interest-bearing liabilities     2,845,777       26,173       3.73 %     2,885,196       28,578       3.94 %     2,873,037       29,918       4.19 %
    Noninterest-bearing liabilities                                                                        
    Noninterest-bearing deposits     520,145                       539,900                       528,346                  
    Other noninterest-bearing liabilities     66,151                       56,993                       55,795                  
    Total noninterest-bearing liabilities     586,296                       596,893                       584,141                  
    Shareholders’ equity     512,262                       512,208                       512,787                  
    Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity   $ 3,944,335                     $ 3,994,297                     $ 3,969,965                  
    Net interest income / interest rate spreads           $ 26,189       2.03 %           $ 26,003       1.85 %           $ 24,901       1.73 %
    Net interest margin                     2.88 %                     2.76 %                     2.69 %
                                                                             
    Total cost of deposits   $ 3,054,352     $ 23,552       3.13 %   $ 3,090,509     $ 26,032       3.35 %   $ 3,117,246     $ 27,800       3.59 %
    Total cost of funds   $ 3,365,922     $ 26,173       3.15 %   $ 3,425,096     $ 28,578       3.32 %   $ 3,401,383     $ 29,918       3.54 %
    (1 ) Includes income and average balances for interest-earning time deposits and other miscellaneous interest-earning assets.
    (2 ) Interest income and average rates for tax-exempt securities are presented on a tax-equivalent basis.
    (3 ) Average loan balances relate to loans held for investment and loans held for sale and include nonaccrual loans. Interest income on loans includes the effects of discount accretion and net deferred loan origination fees and costs accounted for as yield adjustments.
    RBB BANCORP AND SUBSIDIARIES
    SELECTED FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
    (Unaudited)
     
        At or for the Three Months Ended  
        March 31,     December 31,     March 31,  
        2025     2024     2024  
    Per share data (common stock)                        
    Book value   $ 28.77     $ 28.66     $ 27.67  
    Tangible book value (1)   $ 24.63     $ 24.51     $ 23.68  
    Performance ratios                        
    Return on average assets, annualized     0.24 %     0.44 %     0.81 %
    Return on average shareholders’ equity, annualized     1.81 %     3.41 %     6.30 %
    Return on average tangible common equity, annualized (1)     2.12 %     3.98 %     7.37 %
    Noninterest income to average assets, annualized     0.24 %     0.27 %     0.34 %
    Noninterest expense to average assets, annualized     1.90 %     1.76 %     1.72 %
    Yield on average earning assets     5.76 %     5.79 %     5.92 %
    Yield on average loans     6.01 %     6.03 %     6.07 %
    Cost of average total deposits (2)     3.13 %     3.35 %     3.59 %
    Cost of average interest-bearing deposits     3.77 %     4.06 %     4.32 %
    Cost of average interest-bearing liabilities     3.73 %     3.94 %     4.19 %
    Net interest spread     2.03 %     1.85 %     1.73 %
    Net interest margin     2.88 %     2.76 %     2.69 %
    Efficiency ratio (3)     65.09 %     61.48 %     60.07 %
    Common stock dividend payout ratio     123.08 %     64.00 %     37.21 %
                             
    (1 ) Non-GAAP measure. See Non–GAAP reconciliations set forth at the end of this press release.
    (2 ) Total deposits include non-interest bearing deposits and interest-bearing deposits.
    (3 ) Ratio calculated by dividing noninterest expense by the sum of net interest income before provision for credit losses and noninterest income.
    RBB BANCORP AND SUBSIDIARIES
    SELECTED FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
    (Unaudited)
    (Dollars in thousands)
     
        At or for the quarter ended  
        March 31,     December 31,     March 31,  
        2025     2024     2024  
    Credit Quality Data:                        
    Special mention loans   $ 64,279     $ 65,329     $ 20,580  
    Special mention loans to total loans     2.05 %     2.14 %     0.68 %
    Substandard loans HFI   $ 76,372     $ 89,141     $ 57,170  
    Substandard loans HFS   $ —     $ 11,195     $ —  
    Substandard loans HFI to total loans HFI     2.43 %     2.92 %     1.89 %
    Loans 30-89 days past due, excluding nonperforming loans   $ 5,927     $ 22,086     $ 20,950  
    Loans 30-89 days past due, excluding nonperforming loans, to total loans     0.19 %     0.72 %     0.69 %
    Nonperforming loans HFI   $ 60,380     $ 69,843     $ 35,935  
    Nonperforming loans HFS   $ —     $ 11,195     $ —  
    OREO   $ 4,170     $ —     $ 1,071  
    Nonperforming assets   $ 64,550     $ 81,038     $ 37,006  
    Nonperforming loans HFI to total loans HFI     1.92 %     2.29 %     1.19 %
    Nonperforming assets to total assets     1.61 %     2.03 %     0.95 %
                             
    Allowance for loan losses   $ 51,932     $ 47,729     $ 41,688  
    Allowance for loan losses to total loans HFI     1.65 %     1.56 %     1.38 %
    Allowance for loan losses to nonperforming loans HFI     86.01 %     68.34 %     116.01 %
    Net charge-offs   $ 2,643     $ 2,006     $ 184  
    Net charge-offs to average loans     0.35 %     0.26 %     0.02 %
                             
    Capital ratios (1)                        
    Tangible common equity to tangible assets (2)     11.10 %     11.08 %     11.56 %
    Tier 1 leverage ratio     12.07 %     11.92 %     12.16 %
    Tier 1 common capital to risk-weighted assets     17.87 %     17.94 %     19.10 %
    Tier 1 capital to risk-weighted assets     18.45 %     18.52 %     19.72 %
    Total capital to risk-weighted assets     24.41 %     24.49 %     25.91 %
    (1 ) March 31, 2025 capital ratios are preliminary.
    (2 ) Non-GAAP measure. See Non-GAAP reconciliations set forth at the end of this press release.
    RBB BANCORP AND SUBSIDIARIES
    SELECTED FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
    (Unaudited)
     
    Loan Portfolio Detail   As of March 31, 2025   As of December 31, 2024     As of March 31, 2024  
    (dollars in thousands)   $   %   $     %     $     %  
    Loans:                                          
    Commercial and industrial   $ 135,538   4.3 %   $ 129,585       4.2 %   $ 121,441       4.0 %
    SBA     50,651   1.6 %     47,263       1.5 %     54,677       1.8 %
    Construction and land development     158,883   5.1 %     173,290       5.7 %     198,070       6.5 %
    Commercial real estate (1)     1,245,402   39.6 %     1,201,420       39.3 %     1,178,498       38.9 %
    Single-family residential mortgages     1,545,822   49.2 %     1,494,022       48.9 %     1,463,497       48.4 %
    Other loans     6,767   0.2 %     7,650       0.4 %     11,178       0.4 %
    Total loans (2)   $ 3,143,063   100.0 %   $ 3,053,230       100.0 %   $ 3,027,361       100.0 %
    Allowance for loan losses     (51,932 )       (47,729 )             (41,688 )        
    Total loans, net   $ 3,091,131       $ 3,005,501             $ 2,985,673          
    (1 ) Includes non-farm and non-residential loans, multi-family residential loans and non-owner occupied single family residential loans.
    (2 ) Net of discounts and deferred fees and costs of $808, $488, and $474 as of March 31, 2025, December 31, 2024, and March 31, 2024, respectively.
    Deposits   As of March 31, 2025   As of December 31, 2024     As of March 31, 2024  
    (dollars in thousands)   $   %   $     %     $     %  
    Deposits:                                          
    Noninterest-bearing demand   $ 528,205   16.8 %   $ 563,012       18.3 %   $ 539,517       17.8 %
    Savings, NOW and money market accounts     721,216   22.9 %     663,034       21.5 %     642,840       21.2 %
    Time deposits, $250,000 and under     863,962   27.5 %     882,438       28.6 %     901,738       29.8 %
    Time deposits, greater than $250,000     870,708   27.8 %     827,854       26.8 %     746,611       24.7 %
    Wholesale deposits (1)     158,537   5.0 %     147,451       4.8 %     197,623       6.5 %
    Total deposits   $ 3,142,628   100.0 %   $ 3,083,789       100.0 %   $ 3,028,329       100.0 %
    (1 ) Includes brokered deposits, collateralized deposits from the State of California, and deposits acquired through internet listing services.

    Non-GAAP Reconciliations

    Tangible Book Value Reconciliations

    Tangible book value per share is a non-GAAP disclosure. Management measures tangible book value per share to assess the Company’s capital strength and business performance and believes this is helpful to investors as additional tools for further understanding our performance. The following is a reconciliation of tangible book value to the Company shareholders’ equity computed in accordance with GAAP, as well as a calculation of tangible book value per share as of March 31, 2025, December 31, 2024, and March 31, 2024.

                           
    (dollars in thousands, except share and per share data)   March 31, 2025     December 31, 2024     March 31, 2024  
    Tangible common equity:                        
    Total shareholders’ equity   $ 510,306     $ 507,877     $ 513,986  
    Adjustments                        
    Goodwill     (71,498 )     (71,498 )     (71,498 )
    Core deposit intangible     (1,839 )     (2,011 )     (2,594 )
    Tangible common equity   $ 436,969     $ 434,368     $ 439,894  
    Tangible assets:                        
    Total assets-GAAP   $ 4,009,400     $ 3,992,477     $ 3,878,006  
    Adjustments                        
    Goodwill     (71,498 )     (71,498 )     (71,498 )
    Core deposit intangible     (1,839 )     (2,011 )     (2,594 )
    Tangible assets   $ 3,936,063     $ 3,918,968     $ 3,803,914  
    Common shares outstanding     17,738,628       17,720,416       18,578,132  
    Common equity to assets ratio     12.73 %     12.72 %     13.25 %
    Tangible common equity to tangible assets ratio     11.10 %     11.08 %     11.56 %
    Book value per share   $ 28.77     $ 28.66     $ 27.67  
    Tangible book value per share   $ 24.63     $ 24.51     $ 23.68  

    Return on Average Tangible Common Equity

    Management measures return on average tangible common equity (“ROATCE”) to assess the Company’s capital strength and business performance and believes this is helpful to investors as an additional tool for further understanding our performance. Tangible equity excludes goodwill and other intangible assets (excluding mortgage servicing rights) and is reviewed by banking and financial institution regulators when assessing a financial institution’s capital adequacy. This non-GAAP financial measure should not be considered a substitute for operating results determined in accordance with GAAP and may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures used by other companies. The following table reconciles ROATCE to its most comparable GAAP measure:

        Three Months Ended  
    (dollars in thousands)   March 31, 2025     December 31, 2024     March 31, 2024  
    Net income available to common shareholders   $ 2,290     $ 4,385     $ 8,036  
    Average shareholders’ equity     512,262       512,208       512,787  
    Adjustments:                        
    Average goodwill     (71,498 )     (71,498 )     (71,498 )
    Average core deposit intangible     (1,951 )     (2,129 )     (2,726 )
    Adjusted average tangible common equity   $ 438,813     $ 438,581     $ 438,563  
    Return on average common equity, annualized     1.81 %     3.41 %     6.30 %
    Return on average tangible common equity, annualized     2.12 %     3.98 %     7.37 %

    The MIL Network –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: Trident Filed 2024 Annual Report on Form 20-F

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SINGAPORE, April 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Trident Digital Tech Holdings Ltd (“Trident” or the “Company,” NASDAQ: TDTH), a leading catalyst for digital transformation in technology optimization services and Web 3.0 activation based in Singapore, today announced that it has filed its annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 28, 2025 Eastern Time. The annual report can be accessed on the Company’s investor relations website at https://investors.tridentity.me.

    About Trident
    Trident is a leading catalyst for digital transformation in digital optimization, technology services, and Web 3.0 activation worldwide, based in Singapore. The Company offers commercial and technological digital solutions designed to optimize its clients’ experience with their end-users by promoting digital adoption and self-service.

    Tridentity, the Company’s flagship product, is an innovative and highly secure blockchain-based identity solution designed to provide secure single sign-on authentication capabilities to integrated third-party systems across various industries. Tridentity aims to offer unparalleled security features, ensuring the protection of sensitive information and preventing potential threats, thus promising a new secure era in the global digital landscape in general, and in South Asia etc.

    Beyond Tridentity, the Company’s mission is to become the global leader in Web 3.0 activation, notably connecting businesses to a reliable and secure technological platform, with tailored and optimized customer experiences.

    For Investor/Media Enquiries
    Investor Relations
    Robin Yang, Partner
    ICR, LLC
    Email: investor@tridentity.me
    Phone: +1 (212) 321-0602

    The MIL Network –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-Evening Report: Here’s how to make your backyard safer and cooler next summer

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pui Kwan Cheung, Research Fellow in Urban Microclimates, The University of Melbourne

    Varavin88, Shutterstock

    Our backyards should be safe and inviting spaces all year round, including during the summer months.

    But the choices we make about garden design and maintenance, such as whether to have artificial turf or real grass for a lawn, can have serious consequences. Children, elderly people and pets are particularly susceptible to burns from contact with artificial turf on a hot day.

    Watering your lawn or planting a shady tree can also dramatically change how hot your backyard feels in summer. Ultimately, these factors will influence how much time you and your family spend outside.

    No matter where in the world you live, it is never too late to find out how to make your backyard safer and cooler next summer.

    The case against artificial turf

    Artificial turf or synthetic grass, commonly used on sports fields, has become popular in private outdoor spaces such as backyards.

    People may think it’s cheaper and easier to maintain than real turf. Perhaps they like the idea of saving water and having the look of lawn without the hassle of mowing and fertilising it.

    But this type of plastic surface is known to become very hot on a sunny day.

    We wanted to find out just how hot artificial turf can get in a suburban backyard over summer.

    So we set up an experiment to compare the temperatures of artificial turf, dry natural turf, and watered natural turf in Melbourne. We took surface temperature measurements continuously for 51 days during the summer of 2023–24.

    The research was part of a project demonstrating the benefits of green space in residential properties. The project received funding from Horticulture Innovation Australia, a grower-owned not-for-profit research and development corporation. That funding, in part, came from three water authorities.

    Thermal imaging reveals artificial turf is hotter than natural turf on a hot sunny day.
    Pui Kwan Cheung

    Feeling the heat

    In adults, irreversible burns occur when the skin is in contact with a surface that is 48°C or hotter for ten minutes.

    The temperature needed to cause skin burns in children is approximately 2°C lower, because their skin is thinner and more sensitive.

    Contact skin burns due to the high surface temperature of artificial turf has been identified as a health risk.

    In our latest research, the artificial turf reached a scorching 72°C, which is sufficient to cause irreversible skin burns in just ten seconds. In contrast, the real turf was never hot enough to cause such burns (maximum temperature of 39°C).

    Over the course of our experiment, the artificial turf was hot enough to cause adults irreversible skin burns for almost four hours a day. While adults might be expected to move away from the heat before it burns, vulnerable people such as babies and the elderly, as well as pets, are most at risk because they may be unable to move away.

    We also took measurements in real backyards on a hot sunny summer’s day. We compared the risk of skin burns on four different surfaces: artificial turf, mulch, timber and real turf. The only surface that did not get hot enough to cause skin burns in adults was real turf.

    Watering the grass can cool your backyard in more ways than one.
    Stephen Livesley

    Why should I water the lawn?

    Grass and other plants release water vapour from little holes in their leaves into the atmosphere. This process helps the plant maintain a liveable leaf temperature on a hot day, but it also cools the air around the leaves.

    It is a good idea to water your lawn throughout summer for two reasons:

    1. well-watered lawn is healthier, stays green for longer, and has more leaves to release water vapour into the air (“transpire”).

    2. more water is available to evaporate from the soil and leaves, adding to the cooling effect.

    If you’re worried about wasting drinking water on your lawn, you can install a rainwater tank or household water recycling plant. Having access to alternative water sources will become increasingly important as the world warms and the climate dries.

    More shade will cool your backyard.
    Stephen Livesley

    What about shade?

    The most effective way to make you feel cooler in your backyard is to provide adequate shade. This reduces the amount of sun energy hitting your body or the ground, heating the surface and warming the surrounding air.

    A single tree can lower the level of heat stress from extreme to moderate. This may be the difference between wanting to spend time outside on a hot day and avoiding your backyard altogether.

    Even small trees can still make you feel cooler, if they provide some shade.

    However, too-dense tree canopy cover may prevent air flow – so there is a happy medium. Air flow is necessary to move the heat away from your backyard and cool your body down.

    Taking all the above measures will keep your backyard safe and cool throughout summer. This will allow you and your family to spend more quality time in your backyard, cool your home, and improve your quality of life.

    Pui Kwan Cheung receives funding from Horticulture Innovation Australia (Hort Innovation) for the research project “demonstrating the benefits of increasing available green infrastructure in residential homes”, which is relevant to this article.
    The project involves co-investment from South East Water, Greater Western Water, Yarra Valley Water, the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (Victoria), Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (New South Wales), The University of Melbourne, and the Australian Government. Hort Innovation is the grower-owned, not-for-profit research and development corporation for Australian horticulture.

    Stephen Livesley receives funding from Horticulture Innovation Australia, the Australian Research Council and various water authorities.

    – ref. Here’s how to make your backyard safer and cooler next summer – https://theconversation.com/heres-how-to-make-your-backyard-safer-and-cooler-next-summer-254928

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-Evening Report: Democracy on display or a public eyesore? The case for cracking down on election corflutes

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer in Marketing, Research School of Management, Australian National University

    In my time researching political advertising, one common communication method that often generates complaints is the proliferation of campaign corflutes.

    Politicians love them. Not so, many members of the general public. People are so fed up with candidate posters that there are numerous tales of late night vandalism, including deliberate acts of road rage aimed at destroying them.

    And yet, at every single election – local, state and federal – the hated signs spring up once again to populate front gardens, streetscapes and open spaces.

    Given how divisive they are, why do politicians persist with them? What are the laws around their use? And is South Australia on the right track by banning corflutes in public places?

    It’s a jungle out there

    To begin with, all corflutes must comply with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), which includes displaying a “written and authorised” statement

    that enables voters to know the source of the electoral or political communication.

    Posters can’t mislead voters regarding candidates’ political affiliation. In 2022, corflutes authorised by Advance Australia in the ACT were ruled misleading because they strongly implied independent Senate candidate David Pocock was running for the Greens.

    But in terms of size, number, and placement – welcome to the wild west of Australian political communications.

    Size varies from the standard 60cm x 90cm corflute, to much larger signs like the one promoting Liberal candidate Amelia Hamer that was stolen by the husband of Teal MP Monique Ryan in the seat of Kooyong.

    Neither the number nor the placement of signs are regulated by electoral law, other than a requirement they not be placed within 6 metres of a polling place.

    Corflutes are governed by local council laws and regulations relating to political signage. This leads to a wide variation around Australia. Some areas have no rules on number or placement, which is where you usually find the issues.

    By contrast, corflutes are strictly regulated in South Australia. Laws passed last year banned election posters from public infrastructure, though they are still permitted on private property.

    Democracy on show

    Corflutes have several purposes, especially for new candidates.

    Independent Jessie Price, who is running for Bean in the ACT, tells me corflutes are important for her to quickly achieve name and face recognition in the campaign.

    Then there is their design. Campaign corflutes have traditionally incorporated faces, colours and slogans. These days, they can also include QR codes, URLs, and social media handles. These formal elements also aid differentiation and awareness.

    Next is the strategy of placement. Being an offline method, you can’t hit “skip” when you see one. And they are often used as a way of marking out turf, especially when placed in front yards.

    For minor parties and independents, they are an affordable way to help level the playing field against Labor and the Coalition. In a way, they act as a basic barometer of the strength of our democracy.

    Do they work?

    Yes. And no.

    When it comes to design, corflutes that closely follow the same principles used for road signs work the most effectively. This is because of the speed at which we process information.

    Research has found that around two seconds is needed to absorb the details printed on signs. Up to five seconds’ exposure is needed to commit the information to short-term memory. Repeated exposure to the same sign helps when it comes to recall.

    That is why colour, font size and word count are all important. The bigger the font, the better the chances of it being seen from further away, and hitting that two-second count. For example, on a 100km/h road, letters need to be at least 35cm in size.

    The same rules apply to election posters. Ideally, an effective corflute would have a single name in 70cm white font on a red background. Two colours for contrast, large lettering and using only two or three words, would have the best chance of being remembered.

    Being novel with design, such as independent candidate Kim Huynh’s striking corflute in the 2016 ACT election, can also boost awareness and differentiation.

    Just an eyesore

    Corflutes will only work if the voter is already predisposed to the candidate being promoted. If that’s not the case, the sign may have the opposite affect by repeatedly reminding the voter of a person they don’t like.

    For some, they will hate corflutes regardless of the candidates. That is because the outdoors is the last true escape from political communications in an era of digital and online advertising that runs up until election day. Some also dislike how politicians can get away with it, while most others would be fined.

    Do they actually change behaviour? Not directly, but they raise awareness and change perceptions towards candidates and parties, which is their ultimate objective.

    Time for a rethink

    There is a case to reform the electoral laws to regulate the size, placement, and number of corflutes.

    One proposal worth considering would be a strict limit of 50 standard-sized signs per candidate, per electorate and erected in designated places. This would mean more equal opportunity for minor parties and independents, and help reduce public anger over the visual pollution we see at election time.

    No matter how much people hate corflutes, they do serve a higher purpose post election. Come Sunday, they will be much sought after as tomato stakes and flooring for chook pens.

    Andrew Hughes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Democracy on display or a public eyesore? The case for cracking down on election corflutes – https://theconversation.com/democracy-on-display-or-a-public-eyesore-the-case-for-cracking-down-on-election-corflutes-255219

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-Evening Report: How ICE is becoming a secret police force under the Trump administration

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee Morgenbesser, Associate Professor, School of Government and International Relations, Griffith University

    Secret police are a quintessential feature of authoritarian regimes. From Azerbaijan’s State Security Service to Zimbabwe’s Central Intelligence Organisation, these agencies typically target political opponents and dissidents through covert surveillance, imprisonment and physical violence.

    In contrast to the regular police and armed forces, secret police primarily use preemptive repression to thwart threats to the government.

    In Nazi Germany, for example, Gestapo informants penetrated all levels of society, producing an atmosphere of distrust among those against Adolf Hitler. In Uganda, Idi Amin’s State Research Bureau employed sophisticated spying equipment and intercepted mail at the post office to root out supposed saboteurs.

    In Syria, Bashar al-Assad relied on the General Intelligence Directorate to oversee a network of torture centres. And in Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro has used the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin) to spy on opponents overseas, often running operations out of diplomatic missions.

    Since US President Donald Trump took power in January, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has become a far more visible and fearsome force on American streets.

    Though ICE is ostensibly still bound by constitutional limits, the way it has been operating bears the hallmarks of a secret police force in the making.

    As an expert on authoritarian regimes, I’ve studied historical and contemporary secret police forces extensively across Africa, Asia and Europe. They typically meet five criteria:

    • they’re a police force targeting political opponents and dissidents

    • they’re not controlled by other security agencies and answer directly to the dictator

    • the identity of their members and their operations are secret

    • they specialise in political intelligence and surveillance operations

    • they carry out arbitrary searches, arrests, interrogations, indefinite detentions, disappearances and torture.

    How close is ICE to becoming a secret police force? Let’s consider each of these criteria.

    Targeting dissidents

    ICE has used the pretext of combating antisemitism to target dissidents. A branch of the agency previously used to target drug smugglers and human traffickers has reportedly been directed to scan social media for posts sympathetic to Hamas.

    On March 8, ICE arrested the prominent pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a legal resident. It was a similar story for Rumeysa Ozturk, a university student grabbed off the street on March 25 by ICE agents.

    Trump has cited the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 as the legal pretext for ICE’s actions in these cases and others. The law allows the US government to deport anyone whose presence has “adverse foreign policy consequences” for the country.

    Because Khalil and others are being targeted for their activism, legal scholars say the government appears to be “retaliating” against constitutionally protected free speech it disagrees with.

    Directly controlled by a dictator

    While ICE does not report directly to Trump, the agency is controlled by people who have shown intense loyalty to him.

    ICE is part of the Department of Homeland Security, which is overseen by stalwart Trump ally Kristi Noem. She is supported by Tom Homan, a former ICE director who Trump appointed as his “border czar” in November 2024.

    Despite a court order barring the deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members to a prison in El Salvador, Homan has remained defiant:

    We are not stopping. I don’t care what the judges think.

    The pertinent question now is whether Noem or Homan would refuse to follow a dictate from Trump in the face of a direct court order.

    Opaque operations

    ICE agents are increasingly operating in secret. The individuals who took Ozturk off the street in a widely shared video claimed to be police officers, even though they were in plain clothes and face marks.

    Similarly, ICE agents in plain clothes detained two men during a raid on a courthouse in Charlottesville, Virginia, on April 22. When two bystanders asked to see a warrant, they were ordered not to “impede” the agents’ lawful duties. ICE later said the two women would be prosecuted.

    Also last week, ICE agents attempted to arrest a man at a Wisconsin courthouse without a warrant. After a judge intervened, she was arrested herself by the FBI and charged with two felonies.

    This shroud of opacity has been accompanied by an end to local agency liaison meetings aimed at helping people seek answers to ICE’s actions.

    Surveillance capabilities

    ICE is organised into two distinct law enforcement components, giving it both political intelligence gathering and surveillance capabilities.

    Its Homeland Security Investigations arm includes an intelligence division, while its Enforcement and Removal Operations arm uses third-party companies such as Geo Group, Giant Oak, and Palantir to conduct mass surveillance.

    Most worryingly, ICE is trying to procure greater intelligence and surveillance capabilities by soliciting pitches from private companies to monitor threats across the internet.

    According to a procurement document, contractors would be directed to focus on the backgrounds of social media users and use facial recognition capabilities to gather information on people. Criticisms of ICE itself would be monitored, too.

    Unlawful policing

    There has been a stream of reports exposing how ICE is conducting arbitrary searches, arrests, interrogations, and indefinite detentions.

    Some of the most egregious reported examples include:

    • entering primary schools under false pretences in search of undocumented students

    • carrying out “collateral arrests”, that is detaining people not previously identified as targets during operations

    • detaining tourists and visa holders for weeks for unknown reasons

    • and disappearing US citizens without any meaningful process.

    Since Trump’s inauguration, at least three people have died in ICE detention facilities, the latest in a string of fatalities in recent years.

    Prolonged solitary confinement is reportedly widespread. UN experts say this can amount to torture.

    Potentially expanded scope

    Overall, the evidence shows ICE meets most of the criteria for being a secret police force. It has yet to target political opponents, which I define narrowly as members of the Democratic Party. And it is not directly controlled by Trump, although the current structure provides him with plausible deniability.

    While the agency is far from resembling history’s most feared secret police forces, there have so far been few constraints on how it operates.

    The worst may be yet to come. A budget bill making its way through Congress would provide ICE with up to US$175 billion (A$274 billion) in funding over the next decade. (Its current annual budget is US$9 billion, or A$14 billion.) This would supercharge its use of surveillance, imprisonment and physical violence.

    When combined with a potential shift towards targeting US citizens for dissent and disobedience, ICE is fast becoming a key piece in the repressive apparatus of American authoritarianism.

    Lee Morgenbesser does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. How ICE is becoming a secret police force under the Trump administration – https://theconversation.com/how-ice-is-becoming-a-secret-police-force-under-the-trump-administration-255019

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: EZCORP Reports Second Quarter Fiscal 2025 Results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    AUSTIN, Texas, April 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ: EZPW), a leading provider of pawn transactions in the United States and Latin America, today announced results for its second quarter ended March 31, 2025.

    Unless otherwise noted, all amounts in this release are in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and comparisons shown are to the same period in the prior year.

    SECOND QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

    • Pawn loans outstanding (PLO) up 11% to $261.8 million.
    • Net income increased 18% to $25.4 million. On an adjusted basis1, net income increased 25% to $26.1 million.
    • Diluted earnings per share increased 14% to $0.33. On an adjusted basis, diluted earnings per share increased 21% to $0.34.
    • Adjusted EBITDA increased 23% to $45.1 million.
    • Total revenues increased 7% to $306.3 million, while gross profit increased 6% to $178.5 million.
    • Completed a $300.0 million private offering of senior notes due 2032.

    CEO COMMENTARY AND OUTLOOK
    Lachie Given, Chief Executive Officer, stated, “Our team delivered another impressive quarter of operational and financial performance, highlighted by record Q2 PLO, which drove strong growth in revenue and pawn service charges. Persistent inflation and economic pressure continue to impact value-conscious consumers who are increasingly turning to us for short-term cash and secondhand goods. Our strengthened operating model and best-in-class customer service also fueled the bottom line, driving a material increase in adjusted EBITDA to $45.1 million, up 23%.

    “Our consistent performance across geographies reflects our company-wide commitment to our core values of People, Pawn and Passion. In the U.S., PLO and adjusted EBITDA increased 15%, reflecting strong loan demand, increased average loan size and disciplined cost management. In Latin America, PLO increased 17% on a constant currency basis, and adjusted EBITDA grew 36%, propelled by robust demand for loans and secondhand goods and our strong operational execution.

    “Our disciplined capital allocation strategy prioritizes substantial liquidity to drive strong organic growth, pursue value-enhancing acquisitions and investments and meet near-term debt maturities. In March, we completed a $300.0 million private offering of senior notes, the Company’s largest financing transaction to date, expanding our financial flexibility for continued growth and meaningfully enhancing our capital structure, as we retire our 2025 convertible notes maturing on May 1.

    “It was another outstanding quarter for EZCORP, and I thank the team for their unwavering commitment to operational excellence as we continue to drive significantly enhanced value for our shareholders.”

    CONSOLIDATED RESULTS

    Three Months Ended March 31 As Reported   Adjusted1
    in millions, except per share amounts 2025
    		   2024
    		   2025
    		   2024
                   
    Total revenues $ 306.3     $ 285.6     $ 318.9     $ 285.6  
    Gross profit $ 178.5     $ 167.6     $ 185.0     $ 167.6  
    Income before tax $ 34.4     $ 28.7     $ 35.4     $ 28.0  
    Net income $ 25.4     $ 21.5     $ 26.1     $ 21.0  
    Diluted earnings per share $ 0.33     $ 0.29     $ 0.34     $ 0.28  
    EBITDA (non-GAAP measure) $ 43.8     $ 37.4     $ 45.1     $ 36.7  
                                   
    • PLO increased 11% to $261.8 million, up $26.1 million. On a same-store2 basis, PLO increased 11% due to increase in average loan size, continued strong pawn demand and improved operational performance.
    • Total revenues increased 7% and gross profit increased 6%, reflecting improved pawn service charge (PSC) revenues due to higher average PLO.
    • PSC increased 8% as a result of higher average PLO.
    • Merchandise sales gross margin at 34%, down from 35%. Aged general merchandise was 2.4% of total general merchandise inventory, up 14 basis points.
    • Net inventory increased 27%, as a result of the increase in PLO and decrease in inventory turnover to 2.5x, from 2.9x.
    • Store expenses increased 2% and were flat on a same-store basis.
    • General and administrative expenses increased 8%, primarily due to labor and a gain on a corporate lease termination in the prior year.
    • Income before taxes was $34.4 million, up 20% from $28.7 million, and adjusted EBITDA increased 23% to $45.1 million.
    • Diluted earnings per share increased 14% to $0.33. On an adjusted basis, diluted earnings per share increased 21% to $0.34.
    • Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the quarter was $505.2 million, up from $170.5 million as of September 30, 2024. The increase was primarily due to $300.0 million (less issuance costs) from the issuance of the Senior Notes due 2032 and cash from operating activities.

    SEGMENT RESULTS
    U.S. Pawn

    • PLO ended the quarter at $199.4 million, up 15% on a total and same-store basis due to increase in average loan size, increased loan demand and improved operational performance.
    • Total revenues increased 7% and gross profit increased 8%, reflecting higher PSC.
    • PSC increased 9% as a result of higher average PLO, partially offset by lower PLO yield.
    • Merchandise sales increased 2%, and gross margin decreased to 36% from 37%. Aged general merchandise decreased by 14 basis points to 2.8%, or $1.3 million of total general merchandise inventory. Excluding our three Max Pawn luxury stores in Las Vegas, aged general merchandise was 1.5%.
    • Net inventory increased 29%, due to increase in PLO, increase in customer layaways and a decrease in inventory turnover to 2.3x, from 2.6x.
    • Store expenses increased 3% (2% on a same-store basis) primarily due to labor, the majority of which was offset by a decrease in expenses related to our loyalty program.
    • Segment contribution increased 16% to $47.1 million.
    • Segment store count remained at 542.

    Latin America Pawn

    • PLO improved to $62.4 million, up 1% (17% on constant currency basis). On a same-store basis, PLO decreased 2% (14% increase on a constant currency basis). The constant currency increase was due to improved operational performance and increased loan demand.
    • Total revenues were up 9% (25% on constant currency basis), and gross profit increased 3% (18% on a constant currency basis), mainly due to increased PSC.
    • PSC increased to $28.3 million, up 4% (19% on a constant currency basis) as a result of higher average PLO.
    • Merchandise sales increased 5% (21% on constant currency basis) and merchandise sales gross margin decreased to 30% from 33%. Aged general merchandise increased to 1.9% from 1.4% of total general merchandise inventory.
    • Net inventory increased 23% (44% on a constant currency basis) due to increase in PLO and decrease in inventory turnover to 3.2x, from 3.6x.
    • Store expenses decreased 2% (13% increase on a constant currency basis) and decreased 4% on a same-store basis (11% increase on a constant currency basis). The constant currency increase was primarily due to increased labor, in line with store activity and minimum wage increases, offset by a decrease in expenses related to our loyalty program.
    • Segment contribution increased 30% to $10.6 million (43% on a constant currency basis). On an adjusted basis, segment contribution was up 42% to $11.6 million.
    • Segment store count increased by one to 742 due to the addition of nine de novo stores, the acquisition of one store, and the consolidation of nine stores.

    FORM 10-Q
    EZCORP’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2025 has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The report is available in the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website at http://investors.ezcorp.com. EZCORP shareholders may obtain a paper copy of the report, free of charge, by sending a request to the investor relations contact below.

    CONFERENCE CALL
    EZCORP will host a conference call on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, at 8:00 am Central Time to discuss Second Quarter Fiscal 2025 results. Analysts and institutional investors may participate on the conference call by registering online at https://registrations.events/direct/NTM1088399. Once registered you will receive the dial-in details with a unique PIN to join the call. The conference call will be webcast simultaneously to the public through this link: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/hqptihjy. A replay of the conference call will be available online at http://investors.ezcorp.com shortly after the end of the call. 

    ABOUT EZCORP
    Formed in 1989, EZCORP has grown into a leading provider of pawn transactions in the United States and Latin America. We also sell pre-owned and recycled merchandise, primarily collateral forfeited from pawn lending operations and merchandise purchased from customers. We are dedicated to satisfying the short-term cash needs of consumers who are both cash and credit constrained, focusing on an industry-leading customer experience. EZCORP is traded on NASDAQ under the symbol EZPW and is a member of the S&P 1000 Index and Nasdaq Composite Index. 

    Follow us on social media:
    Facebook EZPAWN Official https://www.facebook.com/EZPAWN/
    EZCORP Instagram Official https://www.instagram.com/ezcorp_official/
    EZPAWN Instagram Official https://www.instagram.com/ezpawnofficial/
    EZCORP LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/ezcorp/

    FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
    This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements regarding the Company’s strategy, initiatives and expected performance. These statements are based on the Company’s current expectations as to the outcome and timing of future events. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, including all statements regarding the Company’s strategy, initiatives and future performance, that address activities or results that the Company plans, expects, believes, projects, estimates or anticipates, will, should or may occur in the future, including future financial or operating results, are forward-looking statements. Actual results for future periods may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements due to a number of uncertainties and other factors, including operating risks, liquidity risks, legislative or regulatory developments, market factors, current or future litigation and risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. For a discussion of these and other factors affecting the Company’s business and prospects, see the Company’s annual, quarterly and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future operating results over time.

    Contact:
    Email: Investor_Relations@ezcorp.com
    Phone: (512) 314-2220

           
    EZCORP, Inc.
    CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
    (Unaudited)
           
      Three Months Ended
    March 31,    		   Six Months Ended
    March 31,
    (in thousands, except per share amounts) 2025   2024   2025   2024
    Revenues:              
    Merchandise sales $ 169,467     $ 164,687     $ 355,810     $ 344,090  
    Jewelry scrapping sales   20,938       13,714       37,670       27,796  
    Pawn service charges   115,871       107,163       232,923       213,612  
    Other revenues   40       75       83       132  
    Total revenues   306,316       285,639       626,486       585,630  
    Merchandise cost of goods sold   111,555       106,259       233,379       221,469  
    Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold   16,309       11,788       29,251       23,996  
    Gross profit   178,452       167,592       363,856       340,165  
    Operating expenses:              
    Store expenses   116,527       114,582       232,978       225,137  
    General and administrative   19,640       18,266       38,309       34,809  
    Depreciation and amortization   8,020       8,219       16,355       16,784  
    Loss (gain) on sale or disposal of assets and other   17       3       25       (169 )
    Other income   —       (765 )     —       (765 )
    Total operating expenses   144,204       140,305       287,667       275,796  
    Operating income   34,248       27,287       76,189       64,369  
    Interest expense   3,281       3,402       6,428       6,842  
    Interest income   (1,875 )     (2,882 )     (3,968 )     (5,521 )
    Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliates   (1,505 )     (1,719 )     (2,980 )     (2,872 )
    Other (income) expense   (65 )     (165 )     913       (436 )
    Income before income taxes   34,412       28,651       75,796       66,356  
    Income tax expense   9,022       7,172       19,390       16,407  
    Net income $ 25,390     $ 21,479     $ 56,406     $ 49,949  
                   
    Basic earnings per share $ 0.46     $ 0.39     $ 1.03     $ 0.91  
    Diluted earnings per share $ 0.33     $ 0.29     $ 0.74     $ 0.65  
                   
    Weighted-average basic shares outstanding   54,965       55,093       54,895       55,084  
    Weighted-average diluted shares outstanding   83,140       83,045       83,247       84,948  
                                   
    EZCORP, Inc.
    CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
    (Unaudited)
               
    (in thousands, except share and per share amounts) March 31,
    2025    		   March 31,
    2024    		   September 30,
    2024
               
    Assets:          
    Current assets:          
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 505,239     $ 229,111     $ 170,513  
    Restricted cash   9,499       8,581       9,294  
    Pawn loans   261,830       235,773       274,084  
    Pawn service charges receivable, net   42,323       38,268       44,013  
    Inventory, net   207,783       163,429       191,923  
    Prepaid expenses and other current assets   40,283       47,142       39,171  
    Total current assets   1,066,957       722,304       728,998  
    Investments in unconsolidated affiliates   13,967       13,162       13,329  
    Other investments   51,903       51,220       51,900  
    Property and equipment, net   64,150       63,306       65,973  
    Right-of-use assets, net   229,878       243,752       226,602  
    Goodwill   305,239       310,658       306,478  
    Intangible assets, net   57,079       61,714       58,451  
    Deferred tax asset, net   25,090       26,247       25,362  
    Other assets, net   15,365       15,779       16,144  
    Total assets $ 1,829,628     $ 1,508,142     $ 1,493,237  
               
    Liabilities and equity:          
    Current liabilities:          
    Current maturities of long-term debt, net $ 103,325     $ 34,347     $ 103,072  
    Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other current liabilities   70,843       62,838       85,737  
    Customer layaway deposits   31,016       20,352       21,570  
    Operating lease liabilities, current   58,855       55,658       58,998  
    Total current liabilities   264,039       173,195       269,377  
    Long-term debt, net   517,188       326,573       224,256  
    Deferred tax liability, net   1,818       465       2,080  
    Operating lease liabilities   182,873       197,285       180,616  
    Other long-term liabilities   12,135       10,228       12,337  
    Total liabilities   978,053       707,746       688,666  
    Commitments and contingencies          
    Stockholders’ equity:          
    Class A Non-voting Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share; shares authorized: 100 million; issued and outstanding: 52,043,599 as of March 31, 2025; 52,057,309 as of March 31, 2024; and 51,582,698 as of September 30, 2024   520       521       516  
    Class B Voting Common Stock, convertible, par value $0.01 per share; shares authorized: 3 million; issued and outstanding: 2,970,171   30       30       30  
    Additional paid-in capital   347,796       345,174       348,366  
    Retained earnings   561,211       477,683       507,206  
    Accumulated other comprehensive loss   (57,982 )     (23,012 )     (51,547 )
    Total equity   851,575       800,396       804,571  
    Total liabilities and equity $ 1,829,628     $ 1,508,142     $ 1,493,237  
                           
    EZCORP, Inc.
    CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
    (Unaudited)
       
      Six Months Ended
    March 31,
    (in thousands) 2025   2024
       
    Operating activities:      
    Net income $ 56,406     $ 49,949  
    Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:      
    Depreciation and amortization   16,355       16,784  
    Amortization of deferred financing costs   725       807  
    Non-cash lease expense   28,943       29,514  
    Deferred income taxes   10       515  
    Other adjustments   (1,241 )     (1,429 )
    Provision for inventory reserve   39       183  
    Stock compensation expense   5,001       4,844  
    Equity in net income from investment in unconsolidated affiliates   (2,980 )     (2,872 )
    Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of business acquisitions:      
    Pawn service charges receivable   1,547       1,071  
    Inventory   (5,390 )     1,617  
    Prepaid expenses, other current assets and other assets   444       (8,699 )
    Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities   (45,490 )     (57,531 )
    Customer layaway deposits   9,640       886  
    Income taxes   (1,081 )     909  
    Net cash provided by operating activities   62,928       36,548  
    Investing activities:      
    Loans made   (484,611 )     (433,194 )
    Loans repaid   284,095       262,970  
    Recovery of pawn loan principal through sale of forfeited collateral   198,387       188,351  
    Capital expenditures, net   (13,966 )     (13,654 )
    Acquisitions, net of cash acquired   (79 )     (8,610 )
    Investment in unconsolidated affiliate   (509 )     (850 )
    Investment in other investments   —       (15,000 )
    Dividends from unconsolidated affiliates   1,902       1,745  
    Net cash used in investing activities   (14,781 )     (18,242 )
    Financing activities:      
    Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity awards   (3,971 )     (3,253 )
    Proceeds from borrowings   300,000       —  
    Debt issuance cost   (5,310 )     —  
    Purchase and retirement of treasury stock   (3,997 )     (6,010 )
    Payments of finance leases   (266 )     (276 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities   286,456       (9,539 )
    Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash   328       (43 )
    Net increase in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash   334,931       8,724  
    Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of period   179,807       228,968  
    Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of period $ 514,738     $ 237,692  
           
    EZCORP, Inc.
    OPERATING SEGMENT RESULTS
       
      Three Months Ended March 31, 2025
    (Unaudited)
    (in thousands) U.S. Pawn   Latin America
    Pawn    		   Other
    Investments    		   Total Segments   Corporate
    Items    		   Consolidated
                           
    Revenues:                      
    Merchandise sales $ 116,915     $ 52,552     $ —     $ 169,467     $ —     $ 169,467  
    Jewelry scrapping sales   16,898       4,040       —       20,938       —       20,938  
    Pawn service charges   87,548       28,323       —       115,871       —       115,871  
    Other revenues   24       16       —       40       —       40  
    Total revenues   221,385       84,931       —       306,316       —       306,316  
    Merchandise cost of goods sold   74,772       36,783       —       111,555       —       111,555  
    Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold   13,235       3,074       —       16,309       —       16,309  
    Gross profit   133,378       45,074       —       178,452       —       178,452  
    Segment and corporate expenses (income):                      
    Store expenses   83,532       32,995       —       116,527       —       116,527  
    General and administrative   —       —       —       —       19,640       19,640  
    Depreciation and amortization   2,682       1,989       —       4,671       3,349       8,020  
    Loss on sale or disposal of assets and other   17       —       —       17       —       17  
    Interest expense   —       —       —       —       3,281       3,281  
    Interest income   —       (337 )     (605 )     (942 )     (933 )     (1,875 )
    Equity in net (income) loss of unconsolidated affiliates   —       —       (1,866 )     (1,866 )     361       (1,505 )
    Other expense (income)   4       (137 )     —       (133 )     68       (65 )
    Segment contribution $ 47,143     $ 10,564     $ 2,471     $ 60,178          
    Income (loss) before income taxes             $ 60,178     $ (25,766 )   $ 34,412  
                                       
      Three Months Ended March 31, 2024
    (Unaudited)
    (in thousands) U.S. Pawn   Latin America
    Pawn    		   Other
    Investments    		   Total Segments   Corporate
    Items    		   Consolidated
                           
    Revenues:                      
    Merchandise sales $ 114,849     $ 49,838     $ —     $ 164,687     $ —     $ 164,687  
    Jewelry scrapping sales   12,686       1,028       —       13,714       —       13,714  
    Pawn service charges   80,010       27,153       —       107,163       —       107,163  
    Other revenues   29       15       31       75       —       75  
    Total revenues   207,574       78,034       31       285,639       —       285,639  
    Merchandise cost of goods sold   72,798       33,461       —       106,259       —       106,259  
    Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold   10,794       994       —       11,788       —       11,788  
    Gross profit   123,982       43,579       31       167,592       —       167,592  
    Segment and corporate expenses (income):                      
    Store expenses   80,840       33,742       —       114,582       —       114,582  
    General and administrative   —       —       —       —       18,266       18,266  
    Depreciation and amortization   2,516       2,392       —       4,908       3,311       8,219  
    (Gain) loss on sale or disposal of assets and other   (30 )     (66 )     —       (96 )     99       3  
    Other income   —       —       —       —       (765 )     (765 )
    Interest expense   —       —       —       —       3,402       3,402  
    Interest income   —       (608 )     (633 )     (1,241 )     (1,641 )     (2,882 )
    Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliates   —       —       (1,719 )     (1,719 )     —       (1,719 )
    Other expense (income)   —       1       14       15       (180 )     (165 )
    Segment contribution $ 40,656     $ 8,118     $ 2,369     $ 51,143          
    Income (loss) before income taxes             $ 51,143     $ (22,492 )   $ 28,651  
                                       
      Six Months Ended March 31, 2025
    (Unaudited)
    (in thousands) U.S. Pawn   Latin America
    Pawn    		   Other
    Investments    		   Total Segments   Corporate
    Items    		   Consolidated
                           
    Revenues:                      
    Merchandise sales $ 245,715     $ 110,095     $ —     $ 355,810     $ —     $ 355,810  
    Jewelry scrapping sales   32,396       5,274       —       37,670       —       37,670  
    Pawn service charges   175,424       57,499       —       232,923       —       232,923  
    Other revenues   51       32       —       83       —       83  
    Total revenues   453,586       172,900       —       626,486       —       626,486  
    Merchandise cost of goods sold   156,328       77,051       —       233,379       —       233,379  
    Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold   25,203       4,048       —       29,251       —       29,251  
    Gross profit   272,055       91,801       —       363,856       —       363,856  
    Segment and corporate expenses (income):                      
    Store expenses   166,621       66,357       —       232,978       —       232,978  
    General and administrative   —       —       —       —       38,309       38,309  
    Depreciation and amortization   5,399       4,035       —       9,434       6,921       16,355  
    Loss on sale or disposal of assets and other   17       8       —       25       —       25  
    Interest expense   —       —       —       —       6,428       6,428  
    Interest income   —       (539 )     (1,199 )     (1,738 )     (2,230 )     (3,968 )
    Equity in net (income) loss of unconsolidated affiliates   —       —       (3,489 )     (3,489 )     509       (2,980 )
    Other (income) loss   (7 )     (208 )     —       (215 )     1,128       913  
    Segment contribution   100,025       22,148     $ 4,688     $ 126,861          
    Income (loss) before income taxes             $ 126,861     $ (51,065 )   $ 75,796  
                                       
      Six Months Ended March 31, 2024
    (Unaudited)
    (in thousands) U.S. Pawn   Latin America
    Pawn    		   Other
    Investments    		   Total Segments   Corporate
    Items    		   Consolidated
                           
    Revenues:                      
    Merchandise sales $ 240,362     $ 103,728     $ —     $ 344,090     $ —     $ 344,090  
    Jewelry scrapping sales   25,501       2,295       —       27,796       —       27,796  
    Pawn service charges   159,083       54,529       —       213,612       —       213,612  
    Other revenues   66       31       35       132       —       132  
    Total revenues   425,012       160,583       35       585,630       —       585,630  
    Merchandise cost of goods sold   151,507       69,962       —       221,469       —       221,469  
    Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold   22,078       1,918       —       23,996       —       23,996  
    Gross profit   251,427       88,703       35       340,165       —       340,165  
    Segment and corporate expenses (income):                      
    Store expenses   158,095       67,042       —       225,137       —       225,137  
    General and administrative   —       —       —       —       34,809       34,809  
    Depreciation and amortization   5,140       4,731       —       9,871       6,913       16,784  
    (Gain) loss on sale or disposal of assets and other   (4 )     (262 )     —       (266 )     97       (169 )
    Other income   —       —       —       —       (765 )     (765 )
    Interest expense   —       —       —       —       6,842       6,842  
    Interest income   —       (1,028 )     (1,206 )     (2,234 )     (3,287 )     (5,521 )
    Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliates   —       —       (2,872 )     (2,872 )     —       (2,872 )
    Other (income) expense   —       (47 )     15       (32 )     (404 )     (436 )
    Segment contribution $ 88,196     $ 18,267     $ 4,098     $ 110,561          
    Income (loss) before income taxes             $ 110,561     $ (44,205 )   $ 66,356  
                                       
    EZCORP, Inc.
    STORE COUNT ACTIVITY
    (Unaudited)
       
      Three Months Ended March 31, 2025
      U.S. Pawn
    		   Latin America
    Pawn    		   Consolidated
                   
    As of December 31, 2024   542       741       1,283  
    New locations opened   —       9       9  
    Locations acquired   —       1       1  
    Locations combined or closed   —       (9 )     (9 )
    As of March 31, 2025   542       742       1,284  
                           
      Three Months Ended March 31, 2024
      U.S. Pawn   Latin America
    Pawn    		   Consolidated
               
    As of December 31, 2023   530       707       1,237  
    New locations opened   —       9       9  
    Locations acquired   6       —       6  
    Locations combined or closed   (1 )     (5 )     (6 )
    As of March 31, 2024   535       711       1,246  
                           
      Six Months Ended March 31, 2025
      U.S. Pawn
    		   Latin America
    Pawn    		   Consolidated
                   
    As of September 30, 2024   542       737       1,279  
    New locations opened   —       13       13  
    Locations acquired   —       1       1  
    Locations combined or closed   —       (9 )     (9 )
    As of March 31, 2025   542       742       1,284  
                           
      Six Months Ended March 31, 2024
      U.S. Pawn   Latin America
    Pawn    		   Consolidated
               
    As of September 30, 2023   529       702       1,231  
    New locations opened   —       14       14  
    Locations acquired   7       —       7  
    Locations combined or closed   (1 )     (5 )     (6 )
    As of March 31, 2024   535       711       1,246  
                           

    Non-GAAP Financial Information (Unaudited)
    In addition to the financial information prepared in conformity with accounting U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), we provide certain other non-GAAP financial information on a constant currency (“constant currency”) and adjusted basis. We use constant currency results to evaluate our Latin America Pawn operations, which are denominated primarily in Mexican pesos, Guatemalan quetzales and other Latin American currencies. We believe that presentation of constant currency and adjusted results is meaningful and useful in understanding the activities and business metrics of our operations and reflects an additional way of viewing aspects of our business that, when viewed with GAAP results, provides a more complete understanding of factors and trends affecting our business. We provide non-GAAP financial information for informational purposes and to enhance understanding of our GAAP consolidated financial statements. We use this non-GAAP financial information primarily to evaluate and compare operating results across accounting periods.

    Readers should consider the information in addition to, but not instead of or superior to, our financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. This non-GAAP financial information may be determined or calculated differently by other companies, limiting the usefulness of those measures for comparative purposes.

    Constant currency results reported herein are calculated by translating consolidated balance sheet and consolidated statement of operations items denominated in local currency to U.S. dollars using the exchange rate from the prior-year comparable period, as opposed to the current period, in order to exclude the effects of foreign currency rate fluctuations. In addition, we have an equity method investment that is denominated in Australian dollars and is translated into U.S. dollars. We used the end-of-period rate for balance sheet items and the average closing daily exchange rate on a monthly basis during the appropriate period for statement of operations items. The end-of-period and approximate average exchange rates for each applicable currency as compared to U.S. dollars as of and for the three and six months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 were as follows:

      March 31,   Three Months Ended
    March 31,    		   Six Months Ended
    March 31,
      2025
    		   2024
    		   2025
    		   2024
    		   2025
    		   2024
                                                   
    Mexican peso   20.4       16.6       20.4       17.0       20.3       17.3  
    Guatemalan quetzal   7.6       7.6       7.6       7.6       7.5       7.6  
    Honduran lempira   25.2       24.4       25.2       24.4       25.0       24.4  
    Australian dollar   1.6       1.5       1.6       1.5       1.6       1.5  
                                                   

    Our statement of operations constant currency results reflect the monthly exchange rate fluctuations and so are not directly calculable from the above rates. Constant currency results, where presented, also exclude the foreign currency gain or loss.

    Miscellaneous Non-GAAP Financial Measures

      Three Months Ended
    March 31,
    (in millions) 2025   2024
           
    Net income $ 25.4     $ 21.5  
    Interest expense   3.3       3.4  
    Interest income   (1.9 )     (2.9 )
    Income tax expense   9.0       7.2  
    Depreciation and amortization   8.0       8.2  
    EBITDA $ 43.8     $ 37.4  
                   
      Total
    Revenues    		   Gross
    Profit    		   Income
    Before Tax    		   Tax Effect   Net
    Income    		   Diluted EPS   EBITDA
                               
    2025 Q2 Reported $ 306.3     $ 178.5     $ 34.4     $ 9.0     $ 25.4     $ 0.33     $ 43.8  
    FX Impact   —       —       0.1       —       0.1       —       0.1  
    Constant Currency   12.6       6.5       0.9       0.3       0.6       0.01       1.2  
    2025 Q2 Adjusted $ 318.9     $ 185.0     $ 35.4     $ 9.3     $ 26.1     $ 0.34     $ 45.1  
                                                           
      Total
    Revenues    		   Gross
    Profit    		   Income
    Before Tax    		   Tax Effect   Net
    Income    		   Diluted EPS   EBITDA
                               
    2024 Q2 Reported $ 285.6     $ 167.6     $ 28.7     $ 7.2     $ 21.5     $ 0.29     $ 37.4  
    Corporate Lease Termination   —       —       (0.8 )     (0.2 )     (0.6 )     (0.01 )     (0.8 )
    FX Impact   —       —       0.1       —       0.1       —       0.1  
    2024 Q2 Adjusted $ 285.6     $ 167.6     $ 28.0     $ 7.0     $ 21.0     $ 0.28     $ 36.7  
                                                           
      Three Months Ended
    March 31, 2025    		   Six Months Ended
    March 31, 2025
    (in millions) U.S. Dollar
    Amount    		   Percentage
    Change YOY    		   U.S. Dollar
    Amount    		   Percentage
    Change YOY
                   
    Consolidated revenues $ 306.3       7 %   $ 626.5       7 %
    Currency exchange rate fluctuations   12.6           22.0      
    Constant currency consolidated revenues $ 318.9       12 %   $ 648.5       11 %
                   
    Consolidated gross profit $ 178.5       6 %   $ 363.9       7 %
    Currency exchange rate fluctuations   6.5           11.3      
    Constant currency consolidated gross profit $ 185.0       10 %   $ 375.2       10 %
                   
    Consolidated net inventory $ 207.8       27 %   $ 207.8       27 %
    Currency exchange rate fluctuations   8.7           8.7      
    Constant currency consolidated net inventory $ 216.5       32 %   $ 216.5       32 %
                   
    Latin America Pawn gross profit $ 45.1       3 %   $ 91.8       3 %
    Currency exchange rate fluctuations   6.5           11.3      
    Constant currency Latin America Pawn gross profit $ 51.6       18 %   $ 103.1       16 %
                   
    Latin America Pawn PLO $ 62.4       1 %   $ 62.4       1 %
    Currency exchange rate fluctuations   10.0           10.0      
    Constant currency Latin America Pawn PLO $ 72.4       17 %   $ 72.4       17 %
                   
    Latin America Pawn PSC revenues $ 28.3       4 %   $ 57.5       5 %
    Currency exchange rate fluctuations   3.9           6.7      
    Constant currency Latin America Pawn PSC revenues $ 32.2       19 %   $ 64.2       18 %
                   
    Latin America Pawn merchandise sales $ 52.6       5 %   $ 110.1       6 %
    Currency exchange rate fluctuations   7.9           14.5      
    Constant currency Latin America Pawn merchandise sales $ 60.5       21 %   $ 124.6       20 %
                   
    Latin America Pawn segment profit before tax $ 10.6       30 %   $ 22.2       21 %
    Currency exchange rate fluctuations   1.0           2.0      
    Constant currency Latin America Pawn segment profit before tax $ 11.6       43 %   $ 24.2       32 %
                                   

    The MIL Network –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Africa: African Development Bank signs $3.2 billion Exposure Exchange with Inter-American Development Bank

    Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:

    WASHINGTON D.C., United States of America, April 28, 2025/APO Group/ —

    The African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) has signed a $3.2 billion Exposure Exchange Agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), renewing a prior agreement originally executed between the two institutions in 2015. The agreement was signed in Washington DC, on the sidelines of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund Spring meetings.

    This is the fourth exposure exchange undertaken by the African Development Bank with other Multilateral Development Banks, in the continuous pursuit of innovative ways of strengthening the capital adequacy and efficiency of Multilateral Development Banks, as well as boost their development lending capacity.

    Since 2015, the African Development Bank has used these agreements to diversify lending within its sovereign portfolio and deploy capital effectively while preserving a resilient financial base. The tool ensures the African Development Bank remains agile, well-capitalized, and committed to innovation in support of development in Africa.

    Today’s transaction follows previous successful agreements between the African Development Bank and other Multilateral Development Banks, including the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Asian Development Bank. 

    The African Development Bank President Dr Akinwumi Adesina said, “This transaction underpins the African Development Bank’s forward-looking approach to capital and risk management.”

    “We are pleased to continue our positive longstanding collaboration with Inter-American Development Bank in structuring and executing innovative financial solutions to align with the G20’s call for Multilateral Development Banks to work together as a system in expanding development impact to our member countries,” said Adesina. 

    Inter-American Development Bank President Ilan Goldfajn pointed to the success of the first agreement signed with the African Development Bank ten years ago. He said, “This new agreement marks yet another milestone in our strong and fruitful collaboration with the African Development Bank. Thanks to this operation we’re strengthening the financial resilience, creditworthiness, and financing capacity of both of our institutions. A win-win for all, that will benefit the people of Latin America and the Caribbean and Africa”.

    Adesina added that Multilateral Development Banks should do more of such transactions because of their proven success and impact. 

    MIL OSI Africa –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Denis Manturov took part in the main plenary session of Innoprom

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov took part in the international exhibition “Innoprom. Central Asia” and spoke at the main plenary session “Strategic Industrial Partnership in Central Asia: Integration Based on Advanced Technologies”. Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Jamshid Khodjaev also took part in the main session.

    Opening the main session, Denis Manturov noted that today the development of industrial partnership with the Central Asian countries is one of the absolute priorities: “Today, Russian enterprises are widely represented in the region. Their share in the total number of foreign companies in Uzbekistan is about 20%, in Kyrgyzstan more than 30%, and in Kazakhstan already over 40%. The total volume of Russian investments in the economy of the Central Asian states last year alone exceeded 760 billion rubles. This allows us to increase the portfolio of joint projects in agricultural machinery, pharmaceuticals, the automotive industry, the chemical industry, metallurgy and many other industries.”

    The First Deputy Prime Minister noted that, despite the high level of cooperation, the growth potential has not been exhausted, and stressed the need to expand cooperation in response to global challenges, including in the areas of green economy, infrastructure projects, retail, etc.

    “If we talk about promising areas of our cooperation, they are consolidated in national projects of technological leadership. We started their implementation in Russia this year. We place special emphasis on achieving sovereignty over the means of production, including additive solutions and industrial robots. The same applies to the development of all types of transport, including on alternative fuel and with elements of autonomy. Our special focus is the development of new materials and chemicals. As well as improving technologies for medicine, energy, agriculture and expanding the range of space services,” Denis Manturov emphasized.

    “It is gratifying to note that the scale of the exhibition is growing every year, attracting participants not only from Russia and Central Asian countries, but also from a number of other countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Belarus, and Afghanistan. Today we are seeing new promising and large-scale horizons for cooperation. By the end of 2024, Uzbekistan’s trade with Russia and Central Asian countries approached $20 billion. There are about 5,000 enterprises in Uzbekistan with capital from these countries. More than 650 joint projects worth $67 billion are being implemented in various sectors of our country’s economy. Despite such a rich level of relations, we all understand that this is far from the limit,” said Jamshid Khodjaev.

    Denis Manturov and Zhamshid Khodjaev also took part in the ceremony of exchanging folders of signed agreements at Innoprom, aimed at developing cooperation in the trade and economic, scientific and technical, social and cultural and humanitarian spheres.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

    April 29, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: CrpoBase Secures US MSB License, Emerges as Fully Registered Global Compliance Digital Asset Platform

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    New York, NY, April 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CrpoBase has obtained the Money Services Business (MSB) license issued by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, officially completing its compliance registration in the United States. This milestone signifies CrpoBase as one of the very few global cryptocurrency trading platforms with both U.S. domestic registration and licensing, further showcasing its compliance strength and regulatory transparency in the global digital asset industry.

    Compliance has become the core competitive advantage for the platform, with CrpoBase continuously deepening its global regulatory layout.

    CEO Michael Garrett of CrpoBase stated in a media interview, “We have not only established a physical entity in the United States but also chosen the ‘U.S. regulatory structure’ as the cornerstone of the exchange’s governance. This is to provide global users and institutional clients with clearer and more reliable legal and financial security.”

    As of now, CrpoBase Exchange has established comprehensive Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance processes, strictly adhering to the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) 40 recommendations for combating money laundering. Through multi-layer verification mechanisms in registration, trading, withdrawals, custody, and other aspects, user data protection and risk screening are conducted to ensure that user assets are monitorable, auditable, and traceable throughout the entire process.

    Endorsed by the MSB license, CrpoBase attracts global capital and institutional trust.

    The U.S. MSB license, as one of the most authoritative financial regulatory qualifications globally, imposes strict requirements on platform asset security capabilities, risk control capabilities, anti-money laundering mechanisms, customer protection mechanisms, among others. The successful approval of CrpoBase indicates that its technical architecture, financial transparency, and compliance operations have met international financial institution standards.

    According to industry experts’ analysis, against the backdrop of tightening global compliance and stricter reviews, CrpoBase’s acquisition of the MSB qualification is equivalent to obtaining a “passport to the global institutional capital market.” This will not only help the platform expand its high-net-worth and institutional client base in more European and American regions but also lay a solid foundation for future applications for licenses in Singapore (PSA), the EU (MiCA), Japan (FSA), and other countries.

    CrpoBase Exchange: Establishing the cornerstone of compliant, secure, and international digital asset trading

    As one of the leading global digital asset platforms, CrpoBase Exchange has consistently adhered to the core development philosophy of “compliance driving growth, security empowering the ecosystem.” Based in the United States, the platform offers diverse services including spot trading, stablecoin exchanges, DeFi aggregation gateways, institutional custody, and more. It currently serves over 15 million users globally across North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and other core markets.

    Looking ahead, CrpoBase will continue to expand its global compliance footprint, foster deep cooperation with international regulators, sovereign funds, major brokerage firms, and traditional financial institutions, striving to become the most trusted “compliant financial foundation” in the global Web3 infrastructure.

    Media contact 

    Contact: Sandra C. Collins 
    Company Name: CrpoBase LTD
    Website: https://trade.crpobasex.com
    Email: Sandra(at)crpobasex.com

    Disclaimer: The information provided in this press release is not a solicitation for investment, nor is it intended as investment advice, financial advice, or trading advice. It is strongly recommended you practice due diligence, including consultation with a professional financial advisor, before investing in or trading cryptocurrency and securities.

    The MIL Network –

    April 29, 2025
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