NewzIntel.com

Category: Asia

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: PM greets everyone on the occasion of World Radio Day

    Source: Government of India

    Posted On: 13 FEB 2025 9:36AM by PIB Delhi

    The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi greeted everyone on the occasion of World Radio Day today. He also invited everyone to share their ideas and inputs for this month’s Mann Ki Baat, scheduled on the 23rd. 

    In a post on X, Shri Modi wrote:

    “Happy World Radio Day! 

    Radio has been a timeless lifeline for several people—informing, inspiring and connecting people. From news and culture to music and storytelling, it is a powerful medium that celebrates creativity.

    I compliment all those associated with the world of radio. I also invite you all to share your ideas and inputs for this month’s #MannKiBaat, which will take place on the 23rd. 

    https://www.mygov.in/group-issue/inviting-ideas-mann-ki-baat-prime-minister-narendra-modi-23rd-february-2025”

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    MJPS/SR

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Government posts land resumption notices for road improvement works at Hoi Sha Path in Cheung Sha, Lantau Island

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

         The Lands Department today (February 13) posted land resumption notices in accordance with section 14 of the Roads (Works, Use and Compensation) Ordinance (Chapter 370) for the implementation of road improvement works at Hoi Sha Path in Cheung Sha, Lantau Island.
          
         Two private lots with a total area of about 120 square metres will be resumed by the Government. The land will revert to the Government upon the expiry of a period of three months from the date of affixing the notices (i.e. May 14, 2025).
          
         The Government will maintain close liaison with the relevant land owners and affected parties, and properly handle their compensation matters.
          
         The aforementioned works aim to cater for the anticipated increase in traffic and pedestrian flow arising from a proposed residential development in the area.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: U.S Director of National Intelligence calls on Prime Minister

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Posted On: 13 FEB 2025 8:15AM by PIB Delhi

    The U.S. Director of National Intelligence, Ms. Tulsi Gabbard, called on Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today.

    Prime Minister fondly recalled his earlier interactions with Ms Gabbard. The discussions touched on enhancing bilateral intelligence cooperation, particularly in counter-terrorism, cybersecurity, emerging threats, and strategic intelligence sharing. They also exchanged views on regional and global developments of mutual interest, reaffirming their commitment to a secure, stable, and rules-based international order.

     

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    MJPS/SR

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Mahakumbh 2025: Millions of Devotees take the Holy Dip at Triveni Sangam during the Fourth Amrit Snan on Magh Purnima

    Source: Government of India

    Posted On: 13 FEB 2025 7:34AM by PIB Delhi

    The largest religious and cultural event in the world, the Mahakumbh 2025, saw the successful completion of the fourth Amrit Snan on the auspicious occasion of Magh Purnima today. Millions of devotees took the Holy Dip at the sacred Triveni Sangam in Prayagraj.

    Alongside Indians, a significant number of foreign devotees also participated in the Amrit Snan. According to data released by the State Government, by 6 PM on Magh Purnima a total of 1.90 crore devotees had taken the holy dip.

    According to the Hindu calendar, the bath on this auspicious day holds special significance, which is why long queues formed at the Sangam from the night. The period for the sacred bath on Magh Purnima began at 6:55 PM on 11th February and ended at 7:22 PM on 12th February.

    The Mahakumbh Mela administration had made extensive arrangements across the Mela grounds to ensure that no devotee faced any inconvenience. Additionally, devotees were continuously urged not to spend too much time at the ghats after taking the dip, to quickly proceed to their destinations. These efforts made the Magh Purnima Snan a highly organized and smooth event.

    To help manage such a massive influx of devotees and ensure their safe return after the sacred bath, large Variable Messaging Displays (VMDs) were set up across the Mela area from Tuesday night, providing essential instructions and messages for their convenience.

    On Magh Purnima, the Kalpavasis took their final dip in the Triveni during Brahma Muhurat and then returned to their camps. After performing their rituals, over 10 lakh Kalpvasis bid farewell to the Mahakumbh and began their journey home. Special arrangements were made by the Mahakumbh administration to ensure the safe return of Kalpvasis, which were effectively executed.

    The success of the Magh Purnima Snan festival was made possible through the combined efforts of the Mahakumbh Mela administration, local authorities, police, sanitation workers, volunteer organizations, boatmen, and various departments of the central and state governments, who worked tirelessly to ensure that this historic event was safe and well-organized.

    *****

    AD/VM

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI: Onity Group Announces Full-Year and Fourth Quarter 2024 Results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Feb. 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Onity Group Inc. (NYSE: ONIT) (“Onity” or the “Company”) today announced its full-year and fourth quarter 2024 results and provided a business update.

    Full-Year 2024:

    • Net income attributable to common stockholders of $33 million, highest since 2013; diluted EPS of $4.13; return on equity (“ROE”) of 8%
    • Adjusted pre-tax income* of $90 million, resulting in adjusted ROE* of 20%
    • $86 billion in total servicing additions ($47 billion in subservicing additions)
    • Book value per share improved $4 year-over-year to $56 as of December 31, 2024
    • Reduced corporate debt by $145 million; debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96 to 1

    Fourth Quarter 2024:

    • Net loss attributable to common stockholders of $29 million; diluted EPS of ($3.63); ROE of (25%); includes previously disclosed $41 million of net corporate debt restructuring charges
    • Adjusted pre-tax income* of $11 million, resulting in annualized adjusted ROE* of 10%
    • $25 billion in total servicing additions ($8 billion in subservicing additions)
    • Successfully executed planned corporate debt restructuring, closed the sale of the Company’s joint venture interest in MAV and the Waterfall asset purchase transaction

    2025 Outlook:

    • Increased adjusted ROE* guidance to 16% – 18%

    * See “Note Regarding Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below

    “In 2024 we delivered powerful financial results, with net income reaching an eleven-year high, adjusted pre-tax income nearly doubling from the prior year, and adjusted ROE exceeding our guidance,” said Onity Group Chair, President and CEO Glen Messina. “The year was marked by several significant milestones, including successfully completing a series of transactions to reduce our corporate debt, lower cost and extend maturities, rebranding to Onity, and expanding our digital capabilities. Fourth quarter results were consistent with the guidance we provided at the end of the third quarter, and even with the previously disclosed debt restructuring costs, we ended the year with book value per share at $56, up $4 from prior year-end.”

    Messina continued, “Our results demonstrate that our best-in-class servicing platform and broad originations capabilities across our balanced business continued to deliver strong operating and financial performance regardless of interest rate cycles. I’d like to thank our global team and business partners who helped to enable a successful year. Looking ahead, I am confident in our strategy, team and capabilities. I believe we are well positioned to accelerate growth, improve returns and deliver substantial value to our customers, business partners and shareholders in 2025 and beyond.”

    Additional Full-Year and Fourth Quarter 2024 Operating and Business Highlights

    • Funded recapture volume for full-year 2024 up 2.5x over 2023; fourth quarter 2024 up 4.2x over fourth quarter 2023 and up 64% over third quarter 2024
    • Originations volume of $30 billion in 2024, up 33% compared to 2023; $10 billion in fourth quarter, up 72% over fourth quarter 2023 and up 12% over third quarter 2024
    • Total servicing UPB of $302 billion at December 31, 2024, up $13 billion over December 31, 2023; sold $15 billion of MSR UPB servicing released above book value
    • Total liquidity (unrestricted cash plus available credit) maintained year-over-year at $248 million as of December 31, 2024
    • MSR fair value change, net of hedge, resulted in a net gain in 2024
    • Extended subservicing agreement for existing MSR Asset Vehicle LLC (“MAV”) portfolio for an initial term of five years; renewed subservicing agreement with Rithm Capital to January 31, 2026
    • Achieved HUD Tier 1 servicer rating for fourth consecutive year; recognized by 2024 Freddie Mac SHARPSM program for subservicing

    Webcast and Conference Call

    Onity will hold a conference call on Thursday, February 13, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. (ET) to review the Company’s full-year and fourth quarter 2024 operating results. All interested parties are welcome to participate. You can access the conference call by dialing (800) 274-8461 or (203) 518-9814 approximately 10 minutes prior to the call; please reference the conference ID “Onity.” Participants can also access the conference call through a live audio webcast available from the Shareholder Relations page at onitygroup.com under Events and Presentations. An investor presentation will accompany the conference call and be available by visiting the Shareholder Relations page at onitygroup.com prior to the call. A replay of the conference call will be available via the website approximately two hours after the conclusion of the call. A telephonic replay will also be available approximately three hours following the call’s completion through February 27, 2025, by dialing (844) 512-2921 or (412) 317-6671; please reference access code 11157783.

    About Onity Group

    Onity Group Inc. (NYSE: ONIT) is a leading non-bank financial services company providing mortgage servicing and originations solutions through its primary brands, PHH Mortgage and Liberty Reverse Mortgage. PHH Mortgage is one of the largest servicers in the country, focused on delivering a variety of servicing and lending programs to consumers and business clients. Liberty is one of the nation’s largest reverse mortgage lenders dedicated to providing loans that help customers meet their personal and financial needs. We are headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida, with offices and operations in the United States, the U.S. Virgin Islands, India and the Philippines, and have been serving our customers since 1988. For additional information, please visit onitygroup.com.

    Forward Looking Statements

    This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements may be identified by a reference to a future period or by the use of forward-looking terminology. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as “expect”, “believe”, “foresee”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “estimate”, “goal”, “strategy”, “plan” “target” and “project” or conditional verbs such as “will”, “may”, “should”, “could” or “would” or the negative of these terms, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words, and includes statements in this press release regarding our ability to accelerate growth, improve returns and deliver substantial value to our customers, business partners and shareholders in 2025 and beyond. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. Readers should bear these factors in mind when considering such statements and should not place undue reliance on such statements.

    Forward-looking statements involve a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. In the past, actual results have differed from those suggested by forward looking statements and this may happen again. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the potential for ongoing disruption in the financial markets and in commercial activity generally as a result of U.S. and global political events, changes in monetary and fiscal policy, and other sources of instability; the impacts of inflation, employment disruption, and other financial difficulties facing our borrowers; the adequacy of our financial resources, including our sources of liquidity and ability to sell, fund and recover servicing advances, forward and reverse whole loans, future draws on existing reverse loans, and HECM and forward loan buyouts and put backs, as well as repay, renew and extend borrowings, borrow additional amounts as and when required, meet our MSR or other asset investment objectives and comply with our debt agreements, including the financial and other covenants contained in them; our ability to interpret correctly and comply with current or future liquidity, net worth and other financial and other requirements of regulators, the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (together, the GSEs), and the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae), including our ability to implement a cost-effective response to Ginnie Mae’s risk-based capital requirements by the extended deadline granted to us by Ginnie Mae of May 1, 2025; our ability to timely reduce operating costs, or generate offsetting revenue, in proportion to the industry-wide decrease in originations activity; the impact of cost-reduction initiatives on our business and operations; the impact of our rebranding initiative; the amount of senior debt or common stock or that we may repurchase under any repurchase programs, the timing of such repurchases, and the long-term impact, if any, of repurchases on the trading price of our securities or our financial condition; breach or failure of Onity’s, our contractual counterparties’, or our vendors’ information technology or other security systems or privacy protections, including any failure to protect customers’ data, resulting in disruption to our operations, loss of income, reputational damage, costly litigation and regulatory penalties; our reliance on our technology vendors to adequately maintain and support our systems, including our servicing systems, loan originations and financial reporting systems, and uncertainty relating to our ability to transition to alternative vendors, if necessary, without incurring significant cost or disruption to our operations; the future of our long-term relationship with Rithm Capital Corp. (Rithm); our ability to close acquisitions of MSRs and other transactions, including the ability to obtain regulatory approvals; our ability to grow our reverse servicing business; our ability to retain clients and employees of acquired businesses, and the extent to which acquisitions and our other strategic initiatives will contribute to achieving our growth objectives; increased servicing costs based on increased borrower delinquency levels or other factors; uncertainty related to past, present or future claims, litigation, cease and desist orders and investigations regarding our servicing, foreclosure, modification, origination and other practices brought by government agencies and private parties, including state regulators, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), State Attorneys General, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Department of Justice or the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); the reactions of key counterparties, including lenders, the GSEs and Ginnie Mae, to our regulatory engagements and litigation matters; increased regulatory scrutiny and media attention; any adverse developments in existing legal proceedings or the initiation of new legal proceedings; our ability to effectively manage our regulatory and contractual compliance obligations; our ability to comply with our servicing agreements, including our ability to comply with the requirements of the GSEs and Ginnie Mae and maintain our seller/servicer and other statuses with them; our ability to fund future draws on existing loans in our reverse mortgage portfolio; our servicer and credit ratings as well as other actions from various rating agencies, including any future downgrades; as well as other risks and uncertainties detailed in our reports and filings with the SEC, including our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 and for the year ended December 31, 2024 when available. Anyone wishing to understand Onity’s business should review our SEC filings. Our forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and, we disclaim any obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

    Note Regarding Non-GAAP Financial Measures

    This press release contains references to adjusted pre-tax income (loss) and adjusted ROE, both non-GAAP financial measures.

    We believe these non-GAAP financial measures provide a useful supplement to discussions and analysis of our financial condition, because they are measures that management uses to assess the financial performance of our operations and allocate resources. In addition, management believes that this presentation may assist investors with understanding and evaluating our initiatives to drive improved financial performance. Management believes, specifically, that the removal of fair value changes of our net MSR exposure due to changes in market interest rates and assumptions provides a useful, supplemental financial measure as it enables an assessment of our ability to generate earnings regardless of market conditions and the trends in our underlying businesses by removing the impact of fair value changes due to market interest rates and assumptions, which can vary significantly between periods. However, these measures should not be analyzed in isolation or as a substitute to analysis of our GAAP pre-tax income (loss) or GAAP pre-tax ROE nor a substitute for cash flows from operations. There are certain limitations to the analytical usefulness of the adjustments we make to GAAP pre-tax income (loss) and GAAP pre-tax ROE and, accordingly, we use these adjustments only for purposes of supplemental analysis. Non-GAAP financial measures should be viewed in addition to, and not as an alternative for, Onity’s reported results under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. Other companies may use non-GAAP financial measures with the same or similar titles that are calculated differently to our non-GAAP financial measures. As a result, comparability may be limited. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on analysis of the adjustments we make to GAAP pre-tax income (loss) and GAAP pre-tax ROE.

    The Company has not provided reconciliations of guidance for adjusted ROE, in reliance on the unreasonable efforts exception provided under Item 10(e)(1)(i)(B) of Regulation S-K. The Company is unable, without unreasonable efforts, to forecast certain items required to develop meaningful comparable GAAP financial measures. These items include the change in fair value of our net MSR exposure due to changes in market interest rates and assumptions which can vary significantly between periods and are difficult to predict in advance in order to include in a GAAP estimate.

    Notables

    In the table below, we adjust GAAP pre-tax income for the following factors: MSR valuation adjustments, expense notables, and other income statement notables. MSR valuation adjustments are comprised of changes to Forward MSR and Reverse mortgage valuations due to rates and assumption changes. Expense notables include significant legal and regulatory settlement expenses, severance and retention costs, LTIP stock price changes, consolidation of office facilities and other expenses (such as costs associated with strategic transactions). Other income statement notables include non-routine transactions that are not categorized in the above.

    Beginning with the three months ended December 31, 2024, for purposes of calculating Income Statement Notables and Adjusted Pre-Tax Income, we changed the methodology used to calculate Other Income Statement Notables to include change in fair value due to interest rates for reverse loan buyouts (reported in gain/loss on loans held for sale, at fair value). We made this change to align with the change to our risk management approach to include changes in fair value of reverse loan buyouts due to interest rates in our MSR hedge strategy, consistent with other notables, such as Forward MSR Valuation Adjustments due to rates and assumption changes, net and Reverse Mortgage Fair Value Change due to rates and assumption changes.

    Other Income Statement Notables (a component of Other Notables) for the first three quarters of 2024 have been revised from prior presentations to reflect the methodology we adopted during the fourth quarter of 2024.

     (Dollars in millions) FY’24 FY’23 Q4’24 Q3’24
    I Reported Net Income (Loss) 34 (64) (28) 21
      A. Income Tax Benefit (Expense) (5) (6) 6 (6)
    II Reported Pre-Tax Income (Loss) [I – A] 39 (58) (34) 28
      Forward MSR Valuation Adjustments due to rates and assumption changes, net (a)(b) 17 (121) 14 (1)
      Reverse Mortgage Fair Value Change due to rates and assumption changes (b)(c) (7) (3) (15) 9
    III Total MSR Valuation Adjustments due to rates and assumption changes, net 10 (124) (1) 8
      Significant legal and regulatory settlement expenses (8) 21 (2) (6)
      Severance and retention (d) (3) (7) (0) (0)
      LTIP stock price changes (e) 1 3 (1) (1)
      Office facilities consolidation (0) 0 (0) (0)
      Other expense notables (f) (1) 2 (0) 0
      B. Total Expense Notables (11) 18 (4) (7)
      C. Gain (loss) on extinguishment of debt (49) 1 (51) 0
      D. Gain on sale of MAV canopy 14   14  
      E. Other Income Statement Notables (g) (13) (2) (3) (5)
    IV Total Other Notables [B + C + D + E] (60) 17 (44) (12)
    V Total Notables (h) [III + IV] (51) (107) (45) (4)
    VI Adjusted Pre-Tax Income (i) [II – V] 90 49 11 31
    a) MSR valuation adjustments that are due to changes in market interest rates, valuation inputs or other assumptions, net of overall fair value gains / (losses) on MSR hedge, including FV changes of Pledged MSR liabilities associated with MSR transferred to MAV, Rithm and others and ESS financing liabilities that are due to changes in market interest rates, valuation inputs or other assumptions, a component of MSR valuation adjustments, net
    b) The changes in fair value due to market interest rates were measured by isolating the impact of market interest rate changes on the valuation model output as provided by our third-party valuation expert
    c) FV changes of loans HFI and HMBS related borrowings due to market interest rates and assumptions, a component of gain on reverse loans held for investment and HMBS-related borrowings, net
    d) Severance and retention due to organizational rightsizing or reorganization
    e) Long-term incentive program (LTIP) compensation expense changes attributable to stock price changes during the period
    f) Includes costs associated with but not limited to rebranding, MAV upsize, and other strategic initiatives and transactions
    g) Contains non-routine transactions including but not limited to early asset retirement and fair value assumption changes on other investments recorded in other income/expense
    h) Certain previously presented notable categories with nil numbers for each period shown have been omitted
    i) Effective in Q4’24, change in fair value due to interest rates for reverse loan buyouts is now recognized as a notable (previously reported in gain/loss on loans held for sale, at fair value); presentation of past periods has been conformed to the current presentation; without this change, adjusted pre-tax income would be $89M in FY’24, $8M in Q4’24 and $35M in Q3’24; see note titled “Note Regarding Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for more information
       

    Adjusted ROE Calculation

    (Dollars in millions) FY’24 FY’23 Q4’24 Q3’24
    I Reported Net Income (Loss) 34 (64) (28) 21
    II Notable Items (51) (107) (45) (4)
    III Income Tax Benefit (Expense) (5) (6) 6 (6)
    IV Adjusted Pre-Tax Income (Loss) [I – II – III] 90 49 11 31
    V Annualized Adjusted Pre-tax Income [IV * 4 for qtr.] 90 49 46 126
      Equity        
      A Beginning Period Equity 402 457 468 446
      C Ending Period Equity 443 402 443 468
      D Equity Impact of Notables 51 107 45 4
      B Adjusted Ending Period Equity [C + D] 493 509 488 472
    VI Average Adjusted Equity [(A + B) / 2] 448 483 478 459
    VII Adjusted ROE (a) [V / VI] 20% 10% 10% 27%
    a) Effective in Q4’24, change in fair value due to interest rates for reverse loan buyouts is now recognized as a notable (previously reported in gain/loss on loans held for sale, at fair value); presentation of past periods has been conformed to the current presentation; without this change, adjusted pre-tax income would be $89M in FY’24, $8M in Q4’24, and $35M in Q3’24; without this change, adjusted ROE would be 20% in FY’24, 7% in Q4’24, and 31% in Q3’24; see note titled “Note Regarding Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for more information
       

    Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (unaudited)

    Assets (Dollars in millions) December 31,
    2024    		 December 31,
    2023
    Cash and cash equivalents 184.8 201.6
    Restricted cash 80.8 53.5
    Mortgage servicing rights (MSRs), at fair value 2,466.3 2,272.2
    Advances, net 577.2 678.8
    Loans held for sale, at fair value 1,290.2 677.3
    Loans held for investment, at fair value 11,125.3 7,975.5
    Receivables, net 176.4 154.8
    Investment in equity method investee – 37.8
    Premises and equipment, net 11.0 13.1
    Other assets 111.3 106.2
    Contingent loan repurchase asset 412.2 343.0
    Total Assets 16,435.4 12,513.7
         
    Liabilities, Mezzanine & Stockholders’ Equity (Dollars in millions) December 31,
    2024    		 December 31,
    2023
    Home Equity Conversion Mortgage-Backed Securities (HMBS) related borrowings, at fair value 10,872.1 7,797.3
    Other financing liabilities, at fair value 846.9 900.0
    Advance match funded liabilities 417.1 499.7
    Mortgage loan financing facilities, net 1,528.2 710.6
    MSR financing facilities, net 957.9 916.2
    Senior notes, net 487.4 595.8
    Other liabilities 420.6 349.3
    Contingent loan repurchase liability 412.2 343.0
    Total Liabilities 15,942.5 12,111.9
    Mezzanine Equity 49.9 –
    Stockholders’ Equity 442.9 401.8
    Total Liabilities, Mezzanine and Stockholders’ Equity 16,435.4 12,513.7
         

    Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (unaudited)

    (Dollars in millions) For the Years Ended
    December 31,
    2024
    		 December 31,
    2023
    Revenue    
    Servicing and subservicing fees   832.5     947.3  
    Gain on reverse loans held for investment and HMBS-related borrowings, net   42.5     46.7  
    Gain on loans held for sale, net   59.0     40.6  
    Other revenue, net   42.0     32.0  
    Total revenue   976.0     1,066.7  
    MSR valuation adjustments, net   (96.2)     (232.2)  
    Operating expenses    
    Compensation and benefits   232.5     229.2  
    Servicing and origination   52.3     57.3  
    Technology and communications   52.9     52.5  
    Professional services   52.6     22.3  
    Occupancy, equipment and mailing   31.4     31.8  
    Other expenses   14.7     19.0  
    Total operating expenses   436.5     412.1  
    Other income (expense)    
    Interest income   93.3     78.0  
    Interest expense   (288.9)     (273.6)  
    Pledged MSR liability expense   (175.4)     (296.3)  
    Gain (loss) on extinguishment of debt   (49.4)     1.3  
    Earnings of equity method investee   22.9     7.3  
    Other, net   (6.6)     2.8  
    Other income (expense), net   (404.1)     (480.5)  
    Income before income taxes   39.3     (58.1)  
    Income tax expense   5.3     5.6  
    Net Income (Loss)   33.9     (63.7)  
    Preferred stock dividend   (0.5)     –  
    Net Income (Loss) attributable to common stockholders   33.4     (63.7)  
    Basic EPS   $4.28     ($8.34)  
    Diluted EPS   $4.13     ($8.34)  
                 

    For Further Information Contact:

    Investors:
    Valerie Haertel, VP, Investor Relations
    (561) 570-2969
    shareholderrelations@onitygroup.com

    Media:
    Dico Akseraylian, SVP, Corporate Communications
    (856) 917-0066
    mediarelations@onitygroup.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: GobizKOREA Online Exhibition Launch: Korean SMEs Unveil Cutting-Edge Products to the Global Market

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SEOUL, KOREA, Feb. 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The GobizKOREA Online Exhibition is officially underway, bringing together innovative and competitive products from Korean small and medium-sized enterprises for a global business showcase. This dynamic online event, powered by the GobizKOREA global B2B platform, eliminates time and location barriers, enabling real-time interaction and efficient connections between exhibitors and buyers, as Korea’s latest trendy products make their grand debut on the international stage.

    This online exhibition aims to introduce innovative and competitive products from Korean small and medium-sized suppliers to the global market and strengthen business networks.

    Based on GobizKOREA’s online platform, this exhibition showcases products from various industries including health and beauty, agriculture and food, clothing and accessories. Additionally, it has significantly enhanced accessibility between global buyers and Korean companies by providing an environment where anyone can participate anytime, without time or location constraints.

    Participating companies are strengthening their credibility by sharing detailed company and product information, along with various certifications to increase the chance of securing deals with buyers.

    Buyers interested in trading can access the GobizKOREA website (https://www.gobizkorea.com), browse the various showcased products, and submit purchase inquiries for products of interest.

    Considering the nature of this non-face-to-face online exhibition, GobizKOREA is actively supporting smooth communication between participating companies and buyers through trade experts, aiming to facilitate practical business cooperation.

    GobizKOREA is a global B2B platform initiated in 1996 by The Korea SMEs & Startups Agency (KOSME), a government agency of the Republic of Korea. It plays a pivotal role in introducing outstanding products from Korean small and medium-sized suppliers to overseas markets through online channels and supporting global business.

    Looking for trendy new products with immediate sales potential in the market? Please participate in this online exhibition and directly explore the products. Don’t miss out on valuable business opportunities.

    Media contact

    Brand: GobizKOREA

    Contact: Ru Jieun

    E-mail: ruji@Gobizkorea.com

    Website: https://gobizkorea.com

    Phone: +82-70-4771-1751

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: VATICAN/GENERAL AUDIENCE – Pope Francis: “God does not destroy the structures of the world, but wants to recreate them from within”

    Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

    Wednesday, 12 February 2025

    Vatican Media

    Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – When the Evangelist Luke tells us about the birth of Jesus, he shows us “the humility of a God who comes into history, does not dismantle the structures of the world, but wants to illuminate them and recreate them from within”, says the Pope’s catechesis at the general audience, read for the Pope by a member of the Secretariat of State, Father Pierluigi Giroli.In the cycle of catechesis – Jubilee 2025, Jesus Christ our Hope, the Pope deals with the event of the birth of Jesus with numerous quotes from the book “The Infancy Narratives” by Benedict XVI.The Son of God, says the Pope, “enters history as our travelling companion, and begins to travel while still in His mother’s womb. As soon as He was conceived, He went from Nazareth to the house of Zechariah and Elizabeth; and then, at the end of the pregnancy, from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census. The long-awaited Messiah, allows Himself to be counted, that is, counted and registered, like any other citizen. He submits to the decree of an emperor, Caesar Augustus, who thinks he is the master of all the earth.”Luke places Jesus’ birth in “an exactly datable time” and in “an exactly indicated geographical setting”, so that “the universal and the concrete touch each other”. However, “Jesus is born a way entirely unprecedented for a king. The Son of God is not born in a royal palace, but at the back of a house, in the space where the animals are kept”.The evangelist “shows us that God does not come into the world with resounding proclamations, he does not manifest himself with noise, but begins his journey in humility”. And “the first witnesses” of this event are “the shepherds”, men who are “on the margins of society”. Nevertheless, the Pope said, “they practice the occupation by which God himself makes himself known to his people (cf. Gen 48:15; 49:24; Ps 23:1; 80:2; Is 40:11)”. They are the ones chosen by God “as the recipients of the most beautiful news that has ever resounded in history”.They are the first to learn “that the long-awaited Messiah is born in a very humble place, and he is born for them, to be their Saviour, their shepherd. This news opens their hearts to wonder, praise and joyful proclamation,” so that they “become the first to see the most essential thing of all: the gift of salvation”.At the end of the catechesis and the greetings in the other languages, the Pope took the microphone only for the greetings in Spanish and Italian to make another appeal for peace: “I think of the many countries that are at war. Sisters, brothers, let us pray for peace. Let us do our utmost for peace. Do not forget that war is a defeat. Always. We were not born to kill, but to make peoples grow. May pathways of peace be found. Please, in your daily prayer, ask for peace. Tormented Ukraine… how it suffers. Then, think of Palestine, Israel, Myanmar, North Kivu, South Sudan. So many countries at war. Please, let us pray for peace. Let us do penance for peace,” he concluded. (F.B.) (Agenzia Fides, 12/2/2025)
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    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Briefing – India’s Parliament and other political institutions – 13-02-2025

    Source: European Parliament

    India is a pluralistic, multi-faith, multilingual (with 22 recognised languages), and multi-ethnic country. In April 2023 it overtook China as the world’s most populous country (it had a population of 1.44 billion in 2024). India’s 1950 Constitution provides for a quasi-federal set-up, with powers separated between the central union and the 28 state governments. Competences are distributed by administrative level – between the Union (the Centre), the states, or ‘concurrently’. The Prime Minister possesses the country’s effective executive power. As ‘Leader of the House’ in the lower chamber, the Prime Minister also holds decisive power in deciding the House’s agenda. However, the real power of initiating legislation belongs to the government, and the Parliament has no say on foreign affairs. India’s Parliament is bicameral: it includes the Lok Sabha – the lower house – and the Rajya Sabha – the upper house. The two houses are equal, but the Lok Sabha dominates in deciding certain financial matters and on the collective responsibility of the Council of Ministers. General elections take place for Lok Sabha members every five years. The last elections took place in April-May 2024, when Narendra Modi obtained his third mandate as Prime Minister. The Rajva Sabha is a permanent body consisting of members indirectly elected by the states, and it is not subject to dissolution. India has a common law legal system. The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal, headed by the Chief Justice of India. It arbitrates on any dispute between the Union and the states, as well as between states, and on the enforcement of fundamental rights. It has powers of judicial review over legislation adopted by both the Union and the states. This is an update of a briefing published in March 2020.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI: TransUnion Announces Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2024 Results and Refreshed Capital Allocation Framework

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    • Exceeded fourth quarter 2024 financial guidance for revenue with 9 percent growth driven by U.S. Markets Financial Services and Insurance verticals, and our International segment
    • Delivered strong financial results in 2024 while executing on technology modernization and delivering ~$85 million of transformation program savings
    • Announcing new freemium direct-to-consumer credit education and monitoring offering, enabled in collaboration with Credit Sesame
    • Providing 2025 financial guidance, we expect to deliver 3.5 to 5 percent revenue growth (4.5 to 6 percent organic constant currency)
    • Refreshing capital allocation framework – lowering target Leverage Ratio to under 2.5x, raising quarterly dividend to $0.115 and announcing new $500 million share repurchase program authorization

    CHICAGO, Feb. 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — TransUnion (NYSE: TRU) (the “Company”) today announced financial results for the quarter and full-year ended December 31, 2024.

    Fourth Quarter 2024 Results

    Revenue:

    • Total revenue for the quarter was $1,037 million, an increase of 9 percent (9 percent on an organic constant currency basis), compared with the fourth quarter of 2023.

    Earnings:

    • Net income attributable to TransUnion was $66 million for the quarter, compared with $6 million for the fourth quarter of 2023. Diluted earnings per share was $0.34, compared with $0.03 in the fourth quarter of 2023. Net income attributable to TransUnion margin was 6 percent, compared with 1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023.
    • Adjusted Net Income was $192 million for the quarter, compared with $156 million for the fourth quarter of 2023. Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share for the quarter was $0.97, compared with $0.80 in the fourth quarter of 2023.
    • Adjusted EBITDA was $378 million for the quarter, an increase of 16 percent (16 percent on a constant currency basis) compared with the fourth quarter of 2023. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 36 percent, compared with 34 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023.

    “TransUnion finished the year with strong revenue growth and margin expansion,” said Chris Cartwright, President and CEO. “U.S. Markets grew by high single-digits in the fourth quarter against subdued but stable market conditions, driven by mortgage pricing, improving non-mortgage Financial Services growth and Insurance strength. Our International segment delivered double-digit growth led by India, Asia Pacific and Latin America.”

    “In 2025, we expect to deliver 4.5 to 6 percent organic constant currency revenue growth with modest margin expansion, assuming a continuation of current subdued conditions. We remain highly focused on driving strong financial results while executing on our transformation initiatives – refining and strengthening our global operating model; completing U.S. and India technology modernization; and accelerating innovation and growth across our solution suites. We took a key step in reinvigorating Consumer Interactive growth with today’s announcement of our new freemium credit education and monitoring offering, enabled in collaboration with Credit Sesame.”

    “Following strong de-levering throughout 2024, we are providing a refreshed capital allocation framework. We are lowering our Leverage Ratio target to under 2.5x, raising our quarterly dividend to $0.115, and announcing a new $500 million share repurchase program. Given the strength of our portfolio and our ongoing transformation, the bar for M&A is high, and we are not seeking large-scale acquisitions. In 2025, we plan to deploy cash for a combination of further debt prepayment, share repurchases and partially funding of the recently announced Trans Union de Mexico acquisition.”

    Fourth Quarter 2024 Segment Results

    U.S. Markets:

    U.S. Markets revenue was $792 million, an increase of 8 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2023.

    • Financial Services revenue was $356 million, an increase of 21 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2023.
    • Emerging Verticals revenue was $302 million, an increase of 4 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2023.
    • Consumer Interactive revenue was $134 million, a decrease of 11 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2023.

    Adjusted EBITDA was $312 million, an increase of 16 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2023.

    International:

    International revenue was $245 million, an increase of 11 percent (12 percent on a constant currency basis) compared with the fourth quarter of 2023.

    • Canada revenue was $39 million, an increase of 5 percent (8 percent on a constant currency basis) compared with the fourth quarter of 2023.
    • Latin America revenue was $34 million, an increase of 7 percent (15 percent on a constant currency basis) compared with the fourth quarter of 2023.
    • United Kingdom revenue was $59 million, an increase of 6 percent (3 percent on a constant currency basis) compared with the fourth quarter of 2023.
    • Africa revenue was $18 million, an increase of 13 percent (8 percent on a constant currency basis) compared with the fourth quarter of 2023.
    • India revenue was $67 million, an increase of 17 percent (18 percent on a constant currency basis) compared with the fourth quarter of 2023.
    • Asia Pacific revenue was $29 million, an increase of 19 percent (20 percent on a constant currency basis) compared with the fourth quarter of 2023.

    Adjusted EBITDA was $107 million, an increase of 11 percent (13 percent on a constant currency basis) compared with the fourth quarter of 2023.

    Full Year 2024 Results

    Revenue:

    • Total revenue for the year was $4,184 million, an increase of 9 percent (9 percent on a constant currency basis) compared with 2023.

    Earnings:

    • Net income (loss) attributable to TransUnion was $284 million for the year, compared with $(206) million in 2023. Diluted earnings (loss) per share was $1.45, compared with $(1.07) in 2023. Net income (loss) attributable to TransUnion margin was 7 percent, compared with (5) percent in 2023. Our net income attributable to TransUnion, diluted earnings per share and net income attributable to TransUnion margin include expenses associated with our transformation plan. Our 2023 net income attributable to TransUnion, diluted earnings per share and net income attributable to TransUnion margin include a goodwill impairment recognized in the third quarter of 2023.
    • Adjusted Net Income was $769 million for the year, compared with $655 million in 2023. Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share was $3.91, compared with $3.37 in 2023.
    • Adjusted EBITDA was $1,506 million for the year, compared to $1,344 million in 2023, an increase of 12 percent (an increase of 12 percent on a constant currency basis) compared with 2023. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 36 percent, compared with 35 percent in 2023.

    Liquidity and Capital Resources

    Cash and cash equivalents were $679 million at December 31, 2024 and $476 million at December 31, 2023. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2024, we prepaid $150.0 million of our Senior Secured Term Loans, funded from our cash on hand.

    For the year ended December 31, 2024, cash provided by operating activities was $832 million compared with $645 million in 2023. For 2024, the increase in cash provided by operating activities was primarily due to improved operating performance and lower net interest expense, partially offset by employee separation payments and a penalty paid for the early termination of a facility lease, both of which were in connection with our operating model optimization program. For the year ended December 31, 2024, cash used in investing activities was $307 million for 2024 compared with $319 million in 2023. The decrease in cash used in investing activities was primarily due to lower investments in nonconsolidated affiliates. Capital expenditures as a percent of revenue represented 8% for 2024 and 2023. For the year ended December 31, 2024, cash used in financing activities was $309 million compared with $439 million in 2023. The decrease in cash used in financing activities was due primarily to a decrease in debt repayments.

    The Company’s Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of up to $500 million of the Company’s common stock. These repurchases may be made from time to time in the open market, in privately negotiated transactions, or otherwise, including pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan, hybrid open market repurchases or an accelerated share repurchase transaction, at prices that the Company deems appropriate and subject to market conditions, applicable law and other factors deemed relevant in the Company’s sole discretion. The share repurchase authorization does not obligate the Company to repurchase any dollar amount or number of shares of common stock, and may be suspended or discontinued at any time. This new share repurchase authorization replaces all previous authorizations.

    The Company’s Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend of $0.115 per share for the fourth quarter of 2024. The dividend will be payable on March 14, 2025, to shareholders of record on February 27, 2025.

    First Quarter and Full Year 2025 Outlook

    Our guidance is based on a number of assumptions that are subject to change, many of which are outside of the control of the Company, including general macroeconomic conditions, interest rates and inflation. There are numerous evolving factors that we may not be able to accurately predict. There can be no assurance that the Company will achieve the results expressed by this guidance.

        Three Months Ended March 31, 2025   Year Ended December 31, 2025
    (in millions, except per share data)   Low   High   Low   High
    Revenue, as reported   $ 1,060     $ 1,074     $ 4,333     $ 4,393  
    Revenue growth1:                
    As reported     4 %     5 %     3.5 %     5 %
    Constant currency1, 2     5 %     6 %     4.5 %     6 %
    Organic constant currency1, 3     5 %     6 %     4.5 %     6 %
                     
    Net income attributable to TransUnion   $ 71     $ 77     $ 335     $ 362  
    Net income attributable to TransUnion growth     9 %     18 %     18 %     27 %
    Net income attributable to TransUnion margin     6.7 %     7.1 %     7.7 %     8.3 %
                     
    Diluted Earnings per Share   $ 0.36     $ 0.39     $ 1.68     $ 1.82  
    Diluted Earnings per Share growth     7 %     16 %     16 %     26 %
                     
    Adjusted EBITDA, as reported5   $ 376     $ 384     $ 1,549     $ 1,590  
    Adjusted EBITDA growth, as reported4     5 %     7 %     3 %     6 %
    Adjusted EBITDA margin     35.5 %     35.8 %     35.8 %     36.2 %
                     
    Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share5   $ 0.96     $ 0.99     $ 3.93     $ 4.08  
    Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share growth     4 %     8 %     1 %     4 %
                                     

            

    1. Additional revenue growth assumptions:
      1. The impact of changing foreign currency exchange rates is expected to be approximately 1% of headwind for Q1 2025 and FY 2025.
      2. There is no impact from recently announced acquisitions for Q1 2025 and FY 2025.
      3. The impact of mortgage is expected to be approximately 2 points of benefit for Q1 2025 and approximately 2 points of benefit for FY 2025.
      4. Constant currency growth rates assume foreign currency exchange rates are consistent between years. This allows financial results to be evaluated without the impact of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.
      5. Organic constant currency growth rates are constant currency growth excluding inorganic growth. Inorganic growth represents growth attributable to the first twelve months of activity for recent business acquisitions. There is no impact from recent business acquisitions in Q1 2025 and FY 2025.
      6. Additional Adjusted EBITDA assumptions:
        1. The impact of changing foreign currency exchange rates is expected to have approximately 2% of headwind for Q1 2025 and approximately 1% of headwind for FY 2025.
        2. For a reconciliation of the above non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, refer to Schedule 7 of this Earnings Release.

          3. Earnings Webcast Details

          In conjunction with this release, TransUnion will host a conference call and webcast today at 8:30 a.m. Central Time to discuss the business results for the quarter and certain forward-looking information. This session and the accompanying presentation materials may be accessed at www.transunion.com/tru. A replay of the call will also be available at this website following the conclusion of the call.

          About TransUnion (NYSE: TRU)

          TransUnion is a global information and insights company with over 13,000 associates operating in more than 30 countries. We make trust possible by ensuring each person is reliably represented in the marketplace. We do this with a Tru™ picture of each person: an actionable view of consumers, stewarded with care. Through our acquisitions and technology investments we have developed innovative solutions that extend beyond our strong foundation in core credit into areas such as marketing, fraud, risk and advanced analytics. As a result, consumers and businesses can transact with confidence and achieve great things. We call this Information for Good® — and it leads to economic opportunity, great experiences and personal empowerment for millions of people around the world.

          http://www.transunion.com/business

          Availability of Information on TransUnion’s Website

          Investors and others should note that TransUnion routinely announces material information to investors and the marketplace using SEC filings, press releases, public conference calls, webcasts and the TransUnion Investor Relations website. While not all of the information that the Company posts to the TransUnion Investor Relations website is of a material nature, some information could be deemed to be material. Accordingly, the Company encourages investors, the media and others interested in TransUnion to review the information that it shares on www.transunion.com/tru.

          Forward-Looking Statements

          This earnings release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on the current beliefs and expectations of TransUnion’s management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Any statements made in this earnings release that are not statements of historical fact, including statements about our beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include information concerning possible or assumed future results of operations, including our guidance and descriptions of our business plans and strategies. These statements often include words such as “anticipate,” “expect,” “guidance,” “suggest,” “plan,” “believe,” “intend,” “estimate,” “target,” “project,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “may,” “will,” “forecast,” “outlook,” “potential,” “continues,” “seeks,” “predicts,” or the negatives of these words and other similar expressions.

          Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements, or that could materially affect our financial results or such forward-looking statements include:

        • macroeconomic effects and changes in market conditions, including the impact of inflation, risk of recession, and industry trends and adverse developments in the debt, consumer credit and financial services markets, including the impact on the carrying value of our assets in all of the markets where we operate;
        • our ability to provide competitive services and prices;
        • our ability to retain or renew existing agreements with large or long-term customers;
        • our ability to maintain the security and integrity of our data;
        • our ability to deliver services timely without interruption;
        • our ability to maintain our access to data sources;
        • government regulation and changes in the regulatory environment;
        • litigation or regulatory proceedings;
        • our approach to the use of artificial intelligence;
        • our ability to effectively manage our costs;
        • our efforts to execute our transformation plan and achieve the anticipated benefits and savings;
        • our ability to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting or disclosure controls and procedures;
        • economic and political stability in the United States and risks associated with the international markets where we operate;
        • our ability to effectively develop and maintain strategic alliances and joint ventures;
        • our ability to timely develop new services and the market’s willingness to adopt our new services;
        • our ability to manage and expand our operations and keep up with rapidly changing technologies;
        • our ability to acquire businesses, successfully secure financing for our acquisitions, timely consummate our acquisitions, successfully integrate the operations of our acquisitions, control the costs of integrating our acquisitions and realize the intended benefits of such acquisitions;
        • our ability to protect and enforce our intellectual property, trade secrets and other forms of unpatented intellectual property;
        • our ability to defend our intellectual property from infringement claims by third parties;
        • the ability of our outside service providers and key vendors to fulfill their obligations to us;
        • further consolidation in our end-customer markets;
        • the increased availability of free or inexpensive consumer information;
        • losses against which we do not insure;
        • our ability to make timely payments of principal and interest on our indebtedness;
        • our ability to satisfy covenants in the agreements governing our indebtedness;
        • our ability to maintain our liquidity;
        • stock price volatility;
        • our dividend payments;
        • share repurchase plans;
        • dividend rate;
        • our reliance on key management personnel; and
        • changes in tax laws or adverse outcomes resulting from examination of our tax returns.

        There may be other factors, many of which are beyond our control, that may cause our actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements, including factors disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, to be filed with the SEC in February 2025, and our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, as well as our quarterly reports for the quarters ended September 30, 2024, June 30, 2024 and March 31, 2024, and any subsequent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q or Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should evaluate all forward-looking statements made in this report in the context of these risks and uncertainties.

        The forward-looking statements contained in this earnings release speak only as of the date of this earnings release. We undertake no obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect the impact of events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this earnings release.

        For More Information

        E-mail:         Investor.Relations@transunion.com

        Telephone:   312.985.2860

        TRANSUNION AND SUBSIDIARIES
        Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited)
        (in millions, except per share data)

          December 31,
        2024        		   December 31,
        2023
        Assets      
        Current assets:      
        Cash and cash equivalents $ 679.5     $ 476.2  
        Trade accounts receivable, net of allowance of $19.9 and $16.4   798.9       723.0  
        Other current assets   323.4       275.9  
        Total current assets   1,801.8       1,475.1  
        Property, plant and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation and amortization of $506.3 and $804.4   203.5       199.3  
        Goodwill   5,144.3       5,176.0  
        Other intangibles, net of accumulated amortization of $2,294.5 and $2,719.8   3,257.5       3,515.3  
        Other assets   577.7       739.4  
        Total assets $ 10,984.8     $ 11,105.1  
        Liabilities and stockholders’ equity      
        Current liabilities:      
        Trade accounts payable $ 294.6     $ 251.3  
        Current portion of long-term debt   70.6       89.6  
        Other current liabilities   694.4       661.8  
        Total current liabilities   1,059.6       1,002.7  
        Long-term debt   5,076.6       5,250.8  
        Deferred taxes   415.3       592.9  
        Other liabilities   114.5       153.2  
        Total liabilities   6,666.0       6,999.6  
        Stockholders’ equity:      
        Preferred stock, $0.01 par value; 100.0 million shares authorized; none issued or outstanding as of December 31, 2024 and 2023   —       —  
        Common stock, $0.01 par value; 1.0 billion shares authorized at December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023; 201.5 million and 200.0 million shares issued as of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively; and 194.9 million and 193.8 million shares outstanding as of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively   2.0       2.0  
        Additional paid-in capital   2,558.9       2,412.9  
        Treasury stock at cost; 6.6 million and 6.2 million shares at December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively   (334.6 )     (302.9 )
        Retained earnings   2,357.9       2,157.1  
        Accumulated other comprehensive loss   (367.2 )     (260.9 )
        Total TransUnion stockholders’ equity   4,217.0       4,008.2  
        Noncontrolling interests   101.8       97.3  
        Total stockholders’ equity   4,318.8       4,105.5  
        Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity $ 10,984.8     $ 11,105.1  
                       

        TRANSUNION AND SUBSIDIARIES
        Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)
        (in millions, except per share data)

          Three Months Ended   December 31,   Years Ended December 31,
            2024       2023       2024       2023  
        Revenue $ 1,036.8     $ 954.3     $ 4,183.8     $ 3,831.2  
        Operating expenses              
        Cost of services (exclusive of depreciation and amortization below)   411.6       380.6       1,673.3       1,517.3  
        Selling, general and administrative   317.2       303.9       1,239.3       1,171.6  
        Depreciation and amortization   137.3       133.3       537.8       524.4  
        Goodwill impairment   —       —       —       414.0  
        Restructuring   —       75.3       66.8       75.3  
        Total operating expenses   866.0       893.0       3,517.1       3,702.7  
        Operating income   170.8       61.3       666.7       128.5  
        Non-operating income and (expense)              
        Interest expense   (62.0 )     (71.0 )     (265.2 )     (288.2 )
        Interest income   8.6       5.7       28.5       20.7  
        Earnings from equity method investments   4.2       4.6       18.3       16.3  
        Other income and (expense), net   (20.9 )     (6.4 )     (47.1 )     (22.7 )
        Total non-operating income and (expense)   (70.1 )     (67.1 )     (265.5 )     (273.9 )
        Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes   100.6       (5.8 )     401.1       (145.3 )
        Provision for income taxes   (29.9 )     15.4       (98.8 )     (44.7 )
        Income (loss) from continuing operations   70.7       9.5       302.3       (190.1 )
        Discontinued operations, net of tax   —       —       —       (0.7 )
        Net income (loss)   70.7       9.5       302.3       (190.8 )
        Less: net income attributable to noncontrolling interests   (4.5 )     (3.5 )     (18.0 )     (15.4 )
        Net income (loss) attributable to TransUnion $ 66.2     $ 6.1     $ 284.4     $ (206.2 )
                       
        Income (loss) from continuing operations $ 70.7     $ 9.5     $ 302.3     $ (190.1 )
        Less: income from continuing operations attributable to noncontrolling interests   (4.5 )     (3.5 )     (18.0 )     (15.4 )
        Income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to TransUnion   66.2       6.0       284.4       (205.4 )
        Discontinued operations, net of tax   —       —       —       (0.7 )
        Net income (loss) attributable to TransUnion $ 66.2     $ 6.1     $ 284.4     $ (206.2 )
                       
        Basic earnings (loss) per common share from:              
        Income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to TransUnion $ 0.34     $ 0.03     $ 1.46     $ (1.06 )
        Discontinued operations, net of tax   —       —       —       —  
        Net income (loss) attributable to TransUnion $ 0.34     $ 0.03     $ 1.46     $ (1.07 )
        Diluted earnings (loss) per common share from:              
        Income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to TransUnion $ 0.34     $ 0.03     $ 1.45     $ (1.06 )
        Discontinued operations, net of tax   —       —       —       —  
        Net income (loss) attributable to TransUnion $ 0.34     $ 0.03     $ 1.45     $ (1.07 )
                       
        Weighted-average shares outstanding:              
        Basic   194.9       193.7       194.4       193.4  
        Diluted   197.3       194.3       196.7       193.4  
                                       

        As a result of displaying amounts in millions, rounding differences may exist in the table above.

        TRANSUNION AND SUBSIDIARIES
        Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited)
        (in millions)

          Years Ended December 31,
            2024       2023  
        Cash flows from operating activities:      
        Net income (loss) $ 302.3     $ (190.8 )
        Less: Discontinued operations, net of tax   —       (0.7 )
        Income (loss) from continuing operations   302.3       (190.1 )
        Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities:      
        Depreciation and amortization   537.8       524.4  
        Goodwill impairment   —       414.0  
        Loss on repayment of loans   7.4       7.6  
        Deferred taxes   (157.3 )     (162.7 )
        Stock-based compensation   121.2       100.3  
        Loss on early termination of lease   40.5       —  
        Other   34.3       26.0  
        Changes in assets and liabilities:      
        Trade accounts receivable   (105.6 )     (135.1 )
        Other current and long-term assets   46.0       (12.7 )
        Trade accounts payable   39.2       (6.5 )
        Other current and long-term liabilities   (33.3 )     80.4  
        Cash provided by operating activities of continuing operations   832.5       645.6  
        Cash used in operating activities of discontinued operations   —       (0.2 )
        Cash provided by operating activities   832.5       645.4  
        Cash flows from investing activities:      
        Capital expenditures   (315.8 )     (310.7 )
        Proceeds from sale/maturity of other investments   0.2       82.3  
        Purchases of other investments   (0.2 )     (53.5 )
        Investments in nonconsolidated affiliates   (5.9 )     (36.9 )
        Proceeds from the sale of investments in nonconsolidated affiliates   7.7       —  
        (Payments) proceeds related to disposal of discontinued operations   —       (0.5 )
        Other   6.6       0.4  
        Cash used in investing activities   (307.4 )     (318.9 )
        Cash flows from financing activities:      
        Proceeds from Term Loans   1,793.1       655.8  
        Repayments of Term Loans   (1,786.1 )     (347.7 )
        Repayments of debt   (198.9 )     (650.0 )
        Debt financing fees   (16.5 )     (3.3 )
        Proceeds from issuance of common stock and exercise of stock options   24.9       23.1  
        Dividends to shareholders   (82.7 )     (81.8 )
        Employee taxes paid on restricted stock units recorded as treasury stock   (31.7 )     (18.4 )
        Distributions to noncontrolling interests   (10.8 )     (16.5 )
        Cash used in financing activities   (308.7 )     (438.8 )
        Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents   (13.1 )     3.2  
        Net change in cash and cash equivalents   203.3       (109.1 )
        Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period   476.2       585.3  
        Cash and cash equivalents, end of period $ 679.5     $ 476.2  
                       

        As a result of displaying amounts in millions, rounding differences may exist in the table above.

        TRANSUNION AND SUBSIDIARIES
        Non-GAAP Financial Measures

        We present Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA, Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share, Adjusted Provision for Income Taxes, Adjusted Effective Tax Rate and Leverage Ratio for all periods presented. These are important financial measures for the Company but are not financial measures as defined by GAAP. These financial measures should be reviewed in conjunction with the relevant GAAP financial measures and are not presented as alternative measures of GAAP. Other companies in our industry may define or calculate these measures differently than we do, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures. Because of these limitations, these non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation or as substitutes for performance measures calculated in accordance with GAAP, including operating income, operating margin, effective tax rate, net income (loss) attributable to the Company, diluted earnings per share or cash provided by operating activities. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are presented in the tables below.

        We present Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA, Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share, Adjusted Provision for Income Taxes and Adjusted Effective Tax Rate as supplemental measures of our operating performance because these measures eliminate the impact of certain items that we do not consider indicative of our cash operations and ongoing operating performance. These are measures frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties in their evaluation of the operating performance of companies similar to ours.

        Our board of directors and executive management team use Adjusted EBITDA as an incentive compensation measure for most eligible employees and Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share as an incentive compensation measure for certain of our senior executives.

        Under the credit agreement governing our Senior Secured Credit Facility, our ability to engage in activities such as incurring additional indebtedness, making investments and paying dividends is tied to our Leverage Ratio which is partially based on Adjusted EBITDA. Investors also use our Leverage Ratio to assess our ability to service our debt and make other capital allocation decisions.

        Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA

        Management has excluded the following items from net income (loss) attributable to TransUnion in order to calculate Adjusted EBITDA for the periods presented:

        • Discontinued operations, net of tax, as reported on our Consolidated Statements of Operations. We exclude discontinued operations, net of tax because we believe it does not reflect the underlying and ongoing performance of our business operations.
        • Net interest expense, which is the sum of interest expense and interest income as reported on our Consolidated Statements of Operations.
        • Provision for income taxes, as reported on our Consolidated Statements of Operations.
        • Depreciation and amortization, as reported on our Consolidated Statements of Operations.
        • Goodwill impairment, as reported on our Consolidated Statements of Operations. We exclude goodwill impairment because the amount of such expenses in any specific period may not directly correlate to the underlying performance of our business operations during that period and such expense can vary significantly between periods.
        • Stock-based compensation is used as an incentive to engage and retain our employees. It is predominantly a non-cash expense. We exclude stock-based compensation because it may not correlate to the underlying performance of our business operations during the period since it is measured at the grant date fair value and it is subject to variability as a result of performance conditions and timing of grants. These expenses are reported within cost of services and selling, general and administrative on our Consolidated Statements of Operations.
        • Operating model optimization program represents employee separation costs, facility lease exit costs and other business process optimization expenses incurred in connection with the transformation plan discussed further in “Results of Operations – Factors Affecting Our Results of Operations.” We exclude these expenses as we believe they are not directly correlated to the underlying performance of our business. Further, these costs will vary and may not be comparable during the transformation initiative as we progress toward an optimized operating model. These costs are reported primarily in restructuring and selling, general and administrative on our Consolidated Statements of Operations.
        • Accelerated technology investment includes Project Rise and the final phase of our technology investment announced in November 2023. Project Rise was announced in February 2020 and was originally expected to be completed in 2022. Following our acquisition of Neustar in December 2021, we recognized the opportunity to take advantage of Neustar’s capabilities to enhance and complement our cloud-based technology already under development as part of Project Rise. As a result, we extended Project Rise’s timeline to 2024 and increased the total estimated cost to approximately $240 million. In November 2023, we announced our plans to further leverage Neustar’s technology to standardize and streamline our product delivery platforms and to build a single global platform for fulfillment of our product lines. The additional investment is expected to be approximately $90 million during 2024 and 2025 and represents the final phase of the technology investment in our global technology infrastructure and core customer applications. We expect that the accelerated technology investment will fundamentally transform our technology infrastructure by implementing a global cloud-based approach to streamline product development, increase the efficiency of ongoing operations and maintenance and enable a continuous improvement approach to avoid the need for another major technology overhaul in the foreseeable future. The unique effort to build a secure, reliable and performant hybrid cloud infrastructure requires us to dedicate separate resources in order to develop the new cloud-based infrastructure in parallel with our current on-premise environment by maintaining our existing technology team to ensure no disruptions to our customers. The costs associated with the accelerated technology investment are incremental and redundant costs that will not recur after the program has been completed and are not representative of our underlying operating performance. Therefore, we believe that excluding these costs from our non-GAAP measures provides a better reflection of our ongoing cost structure. These costs are primarily reported in cost of services and therefore do not include amounts that are capitalized as internally developed software.
        • Mergers and acquisitions, divestitures and business optimization expenses are non-recurring expenses associated with specific transactions (exploratory or executed) and consist of (i) transaction and integration costs, (ii) post-acquisition adjustments to contingent consideration or to assets and liabilities that occurred after the acquisition measurement period, (iii) fair value and impairment adjustments related to investments and call and put options, (iv) transition services agreement income, and (v) a loss on disposal of a business. We exclude these expenses as we believe they are not directly correlated to the underlying performance of our business operations and vary depending upon the timing of such transactions. These expenses are reported in costs of services, selling, general and administrative and other income and (expenses), net, on our Consolidated Statements of Operations.
        • Net other adjustments principally relate to: (i) deferred loan fee expense from debt prepayments and refinancing, (ii) currency remeasurement on foreign operations, (iii) other debt financing expenses consisting primarily of revolving credit facility deferred financing fee amortization and commitment fees and expenses associated with ratings agencies and interest rate hedging, (iv) legal and regulatory expenses, net, and (v) other non-operating (income) expense. We exclude these expenses as we believe they are not directly correlated to the underlying performance of our business and create variability between periods based on the nature and timing of the expense or income. These costs are reported in selling, general and administrative and in non-operating income and expense, net as applicable based on their nature on our Consolidated Statements of Operations.

        Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA Margin

        Management defines Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA Margin as Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA divided by total revenue as reported.

        Adjusted Net Income

        Management has excluded the following items from net income (loss) attributable to TransUnion in order to calculate Adjusted Net Income for the periods presented:

        • Discontinued operations, net of tax (see Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA above)
        • Goodwill impairment (see Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA above)
        • Amortization of certain intangible assets presents non-cash amortization expenses related to assets that arose from our 2012 change in control transaction and business combinations occurring after our 2012 change in control. We exclude these expenses as we believe they are not directly correlated to the underlying performance of our business operations and vary dependent upon the timing of the transactions that give rise to these assets. Amortization of intangible assets is included in depreciation and amortization on our Consolidated Statements of Operations.
        • Stock-based compensation (see Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA above)
        • Operating model optimization program (see Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA above)
        • Accelerated technology investment (see Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA above)
        • Mergers and acquisitions, divestiture and business optimization (see Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA above)
        • Net other is consistent with the definition in Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA above except that other debt financing expenses and certain other miscellaneous income and expense that are included in the adjustment to calculate Adjusted EBITDA are excluded in the adjustment made to calculate Adjusted Net Income.
        • Total adjustments for income taxes relates to the cumulative adjustments discussed below for Adjusted Provision for Income Taxes. This adjustment is made for the reasons indicated in Adjusted Provision for Income Taxes below. Adjustments related to the provision for income taxes are included in the line item by this name on our consolidated statement of operations.

        Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share

        Management defines Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share as Adjusted Net Income divided by the weighted-average diluted shares outstanding.

        Adjusted Provision for Income Taxes

        Management has excluded the following items from our provision for income taxes for the periods presented:

        • Tax effect of above adjustments represents the income tax effect of the adjustments related to Adjusted Net Income described above. The tax rate applied to each adjustment is based on the nature of each line item. We include the tax effect of the adjustments made to Adjusted Net Income to provide a comprehensive view of our adjusted net income.
        • Excess tax expense (benefit) for stock-based compensation is the permanent difference between expenses recognized for book purposes and expenses recognized for tax purposes, in each case related to stock-based compensation expense. We exclude this amount from the Adjusted Provision for Income Taxes in order to be consistent with the exclusion of stock-based compensation from the calculation of Adjusted Net Income.
        • Other principally relates to (i) deferred tax adjustments, including rate changes, (ii) infrequent or unusual valuation allowance adjustments, (iii) return to provision, tax authority audit adjustments, and reserves related to prior periods, and (iv) other non-recurring items. We exclude these items because they create variability that impacts comparability between periods.

        Adjusted Effective Tax Rate

        Management defines Adjusted Effective Tax Rate as Adjusted Provision for Income Taxes divided by Adjusted income from continuing operations before income taxes. We calculate adjusted income from continuing operations before income taxes by excluding the pre-tax adjustments in the calculation of Adjusted Net Income discussed above and noncontrolling interest related to these pre-tax adjustments from (loss) income from continuing operations before income taxes.

        Leverage Ratio

        Management defines Leverage Ratio as net debt divided by Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA for the most recent twelve-month period including twelve months of Adjusted EBITDA from significant acquisitions. Net debt is defined as total debt less cash and cash equivalents as reported on the balance sheet as of the end of the period.

        This earnings release presents constant currency growth rates assuming foreign currency exchange rates are consistent between years. This allows financial results to be evaluated without the impact of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. This earnings release also presents organic constant currency growth rates, which assumes consistent foreign currency exchange rates between years and also eliminates the impact of our recent acquisitions. This allows financial results to be evaluated without the impact of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates and the impacts of recent acquisitions.

        Free cash flow is defined as cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures and is a measure we may refer to.

        Refer to Schedules 1 through 7 for a reconciliation of our non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.

        SCHEDULE 1
        TRANSUNION AND SUBSIDIARIES
        Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA growth rates as Reported, CC, Inorganic, Organic and Organic CC
        (Unaudited)
                 
            For the Three Months Ended December 31, 2024 compared with
        the Three Months Ended December 31, 2023        		   For the Year Ended December 31, 2024 compared with
        the Year Ended December 31, 2023
            Reported   CC Growth1   Organic CC Growth2   Reported   CC Growth1   Organic CC Growth2
        Revenue:                        
        Consolidated   8.6 %   8.9 %   8.9 %   9.2 %   9.3 %   9.3 %
        U.S. Markets   7.6 %   7.7 %   7.7 %   8.2 %   8.2 %   8.2 %
        Financial Services   20.6 %   20.6 %   20.6 %   15.2 %   15.2 %   15.2 %
        Emerging Verticals   4.2 %   4.2 %   4.2 %   4.0 %   4.0 %   4.0 %
        Consumer Interactive   (11.1)%   (11.1)%   (11.1)%   1.5 %   1.6 %   1.6 %
        International   10.7 %   11.7 %   11.7 %   12.7 %   13.0 %   13.0 %
        Canada   5.3 %   7.9 %   7.9 %   9.9 %   11.5 %   11.5 %
        Latin America   7.0 %   15.2 %   15.2 %   10.6 %   12.0 %   12.0 %
        United Kingdom   5.8 %   2.7 %   2.7 %   5.1 %   2.6 %   2.6 %
        Africa   13.0 %   8.2 %   8.2 %   9.5 %   9.8 %   9.8 %
        India   16.7 %   18.3 %   18.3 %   23.1 %   24.7 %   24.7 %
        Asia Pacific   19.3 %   20.2 %   20.2 %   15.1 %   15.8 %   15.8 %
                                 
        Adjusted EBITDA:                        
        Consolidated   15.9 %   16.4 %   16.4 %   12.1 %   12.3 %   12.3 %
        U.S. Markets   16.3 %   16.4 %   16.4 %   10.2 %   10.2 %   10.2 %
        International   11.3 %   12.8 %   12.8 %   15.8 %   16.6 %   16.6 %
                                             
        1. Constant Currency (“CC”) growth rates assume foreign currency exchange rates are consistent between years. This allows financial results to be evaluated without the impact of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.
        2. We have no inorganic revenue or Adjusted EBITDA for the periods presented. Organic CC growth rate is the CC growth rate less inorganic growth rate.
           
        SCHEDULE 2
        TRANSUNION AND SUBSIDIARIES
        Consolidated and Segment Revenue, Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted EBITDA Margins (Unaudited)
        (dollars in millions)
               
          Three Months Ended December 31,   Years Ended December 31,
            2024       2023       2024       2023  
        Revenue:              
        U.S. Markets gross revenue              
        Financial Services $ 356.1     $ 295.3     $ 1,433.8     $ 1,244.9  
        Emerging Verticals   302.3       290.3       1,215.5       1,168.2  
        Consumer Interactive   133.5       150.3       588.7       579.7  
        U.S. Markets gross revenue $ 792.0     $ 735.8     $ 3,237.9     $ 2,992.8  
                       
        International gross revenue              
        Canada $ 38.5     $ 36.6     $ 154.4     $ 140.5  
        Latin America   33.8       31.6       134.7       121.8  
        United Kingdom   59.2       55.9       227.7       216.6  
        Africa   18.4       16.3       66.4       60.6  
        India   66.6       57.1       269.4       218.9  
        Asia Pacific   28.6       24.0       105.8       91.9  
        International gross revenue $ 245.1     $ 221.5     $ 958.4     $ 850.4  
                       
        Total gross revenue $ 1,037.1     $ 957.3     $ 4,196.3     $ 3,843.1  
                       
        Intersegment revenue eliminations              
        U.S. Markets $ 1.3     $ (1.6 )   $ (6.2 )   $ (6.2 )
        International   (1.6 )     (1.4 )     (6.4 )     (5.7 )
        Total intersegment revenue eliminations $ (0.3 )   $ (3.0 )   $ (12.6 )   $ (11.9 )
                       
        Total revenue as reported $ 1,036.8     $ 954.3     $ 4,183.8     $ 3,831.2  
                       
        Adjusted EBITDA:              
        U.S. Markets $ 311.9     $ 268.1     $ 1,232.8     $ 1,119.0  
        International   107.4       96.5       425.5       367.5  
        Corporate   (41.4 )     (38.6 )     (152.0 )     (142.8 )
                       
        Adjusted EBITDA Margin:1              
        U.S. Markets   39.4 %     36.4 %     38.1 %     37.4 %
        International   43.8 %     43.6 %     44.4 %     43.2 %
                                       
        1. Segment Adjusted EBITDA Margins are calculated using segment gross revenue and segment Adjusted EBITDA. Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA Margin is calculated using total revenue as reported and consolidated Adjusted EBITDA.
           
          Three Months Ended December 31,   Years Ended December 31,
            2024       2023       2024       2023  
        Reconciliation of Net income (loss) attributable to TransUnion to consolidated Adjusted EBITDA:              
        Net income (loss) attributable to TransUnion $ 66.2     $ 6.1     $ 284.4     $ (206.2 )
        Discontinued operations, net of tax   —       —       —       0.7  
        Income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to TransUnion $ 66.2     $ 6.0     $ 284.4     $ (205.4 )
        Net interest expense   53.4       65.4       236.7       267.5  
        Provision (benefit) for income taxes   29.9       (15.4 )     98.8       44.7  
        Depreciation and amortization   137.3       133.3       537.8       524.4  
        EBITDA $ 286.8     $ 189.4     $ 1,157.7     $ 631.2  
        Adjustments to EBITDA:              
        Stock-based compensation $ 35.6     $ 27.3     $ 121.2     $ 100.6  
        Goodwill impairment1   —       —       —       414.0  
        Mergers and acquisitions, divestitures and business optimization2   9.4       10.1       26.5       34.6  
        Accelerated technology investment3   25.6       17.0       84.2       70.6  
        Operating model optimization program4   8.4       77.6       94.8       77.6  
        Net other5   12.1       4.6       21.8       15.2  
        Total adjustments to EBITDA $ 91.1     $ 136.6     $ 348.7     $ 712.5  
        Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA $ 377.9     $ 326.0     $ 1,506.3     $ 1,343.7  
                       
        Net income (loss) attributable to TransUnion margin   6.4 %     0.6 %     6.8 %   (5.4)%
        Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA margin6   36.5 %     34.2 %     36.0 %     35.1 %
                                       

        As a result of displaying amounts in millions, rounding differences may exist in the tables above and footnotes below.

        1. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we recorded a goodwill impairment of $414.0 million related to our United Kingdom reporting unit in our International segment.
        2. Mergers and acquisitions, divestitures and business optimization consisted of the following adjustments:
           
            Three Months Ended December 31,   Years Ended December 31,
              2024       2023       2024     2023  
        Transaction and integration costs   $ 4.2     $ 9.9     $ 11.2   $ 30.9  
        Fair value and impairment adjustments     7.6       0.9       8.4     1.6  
        Post-acquisition adjustments     (2.3 )     (0.5 )     7.0     4.3  
        Transition services agreement income     —       (0.1 )     —     (2.5 )
        Loss on business disposal     —       —       —     0.3  
        Total mergers and acquisitions, divestitures and business optimization   $ 9.4     $ 10.1     $ 26.5   $ 34.6  
                                       
        3.  Represents expenses associated with our accelerated technology investment to migrate to the cloud. There are three components of the accelerated technology investment: (i) building foundational capabilities, which includes establishing a modern, API-based and services-oriented software architecture, (ii) the migration of each application and customer data to the new enterprise platform, including the redundant software costs during the migration period, as well as the efforts to decommission the legacy system, and (iii) program enablement, which includes dedicated resources to support the planning and execution of the program. The amounts for each category of cost are as follows:
           
            Three Months Ended December 31,   Years Ended December 31,
              2024     2023     2024     2023
        Foundational Capabilities   $ 10.7   $ 8.0   $ 35.7   $ 35.8
        Migration Management     13.3     7.7     43.2     29.6
        Program Enablement     1.6     1.3     5.4     5.2
        Total accelerated technology investment   $ 25.6   $ 17.0   $ 84.2   $ 70.6
                                 
        4. Operating model optimization consisted of the following adjustments:
           
            Three Months Ended December 31,   Years Ended December 31,
              2024     2023     2024     2023
        Employee separation   $ —   $ 71.9   $ 24.7   $ 71.9
        Facility exit     —     3.4     42.1     3.4
        Business process optimization     8.4     2.3     28.0     2.3
        Total operating model optimization   $ 8.4   $ 77.6   $ 94.8   $ 77.6
                                 
        5. Net other consisted of the following adjustments:
           
            Three Months Ended December 31,   Years Ended December 31,
              2024     2023       2024       2023  
        Deferred loan fee expense from debt prepayments and refinancings   $ 8.6   $ 6.2     $ 17.8     $ 9.3  
        Other debt financing expenses     0.7     0.7       2.4       2.2  
        Currency remeasurement on foreign operations     2.5     (1.8 )     2.1       4.8  
        Other non-operating (income) and expense     0.2     (0.5 )     (0.5 )     (1.0 )
        Total other adjustments   $ 12.1   $ 4.6     $ 21.8     $ 15.2  
                                       
        6. Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA margin is calculated by dividing Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA by total revenue.
           
        SCHEDULE 3
        TRANSUNION AND SUBSIDIARIES
        Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share (Unaudited)
        (in millions, except per share data)
                 
            Three Months Ended December 31,   Years Ended December 31,
              2024       2023       2024       2023  
        Net income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to TransUnion   $ 66.2     $ 6.0     $ 284.4     $ (205.4 )
        Discontinued operations, net of tax     —       —       —       (0.7 )
        Income (loss) attributable to TransUnion   $ 66.2     $ 6.1     $ 284.4     $ (206.2 )
                         
        Weighted-average shares outstanding:                
        Basic     194.9       193.7       194.4       193.4  
        Diluted     197.3       194.3       196.7       193.4  
                         
        Basic earnings (loss) per common share from:                
        Income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to TransUnion   $ 0.34     $ 0.03     $ 1.46     $ (1.06 )
        Discontinued operations, net of tax     —       —       —       —  
        Net income (loss) attributable to TransUnion   $ 0.34     $ 0.03     $ 1.46     $ (1.07 )
        Diluted earnings (loss) per common share from:                
        Income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to TransUnion   $ 0.34     $ 0.03     $ 1.45     $ (1.06 )
        Discontinued operations, net of tax     —       —       —       —  
        Net income (loss) attributable to TransUnion   $ 0.34     $ 0.03     $ 1.45     $ (1.07 )
                         
        Reconciliation of Net income (loss) attributable to TransUnion to Adjusted Net Income:                
        Net income (loss) attributable to TransUnion   $ 66.2     $ 6.1     $ 284.4     $ (206.2 )
        Discontinued operations, net of tax     —       —       —       0.7  
        Income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to TransUnion   $ 66.2     $ 6.0     $ 284.4     $ (205.4 )
        Adjustments before income tax items:                
        Amortization of certain intangible assets     71.3       72.4       286.1       293.6  
        Stock-based compensation     35.6       27.3       121.2       100.6  
        Goodwill impairment1     —       —       —       414.0  
        Mergers and acquisitions, divestitures and business optimization2     9.4       10.1       26.5       34.6  
        Accelerated technology investment3     25.6       17.0       84.2       70.6  
        Operating model optimization program4     8.4       77.6       94.8       77.6  
        Net other5     11.6       4.4       20.2       14.0  
        Total adjustments before income tax items   $ 161.9     $ 208.8     $ 633.1     $ 1,005.0  
        Total adjustments for income taxes6   $ (35.9 )   $ (58.9 )   $ (148.7 )   $ (144.1 )
        Adjusted Net Income   $ 192.2     $ 156.0     $ 768.8     $ 655.4  
                         
        Weighted-average shares outstanding:                
        Basic     194.9       193.7       194.4       193.4  
        Diluted     197.3       194.3       196.7       194.7  
                         
        Adjusted Earnings per Share:                
        Basic   $ 0.99     $ 0.81     $ 3.95     $ 3.39  
        Diluted   $ 0.97     $ 0.80     $ 3.91     $ 3.37  
                                         

                

            Three Months Ended December 31,   Years Ended December 31,
              2024       2023       2024       2023  
        Reconciliation of Diluted earnings (loss) per share from Net income attributable to TransUnion to Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share:                
        Diluted earnings (loss) per common share from:                
        Net income (loss) attributable to TransUnion   $ 0.34     $ 0.03     $ 1.45     $ (1.07 )
        Discontinued operations, net of tax     —       —       —       —  
        Income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to TransUnion   $ 0.34     $ 0.03     $ 1.45     $ (1.06 )
        Adjustments before income tax items:                
        Amortization of certain intangible assets     0.36       0.37       1.45       1.51  
        Stock-based compensation     0.18       0.14       0.62       0.52  
        Goodwill impairment1     —       —       —       2.13  
        Mergers and acquisitions, divestitures and business optimization2     0.05       0.05       0.13       0.18  
        Accelerated technology investment3     0.13       0.09       0.43       0.36  
        Operating model optimization program4     0.04       0.40       0.48       0.40  
        Net other5     0.06       0.02       0.10       0.07  
        Total adjustments before income tax items   $ 0.82     $ 1.07     $ 3.22     $ 5.16  
        Total adjustments for income taxes6     (0.18 )     (0.30 )     (0.76 )     (0.74 )
        Impact of additional dilutive shares7     —       —       —       0.02  
        Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share   $ 0.97     $ 0.80     $ 3.91     $ 3.37  
                                         

        Each component of earnings per share is calculated independently, therefore, rounding differences exist in the table above.

        1. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we recorded a goodwill impairment of $414.0 million related to our United Kingdom reporting unit in our International segment.
        2. Mergers and acquisitions, divestitures and business optimization consisted of the following adjustments:
           
            Three Months Ended December 31,   Years Ended December 31,
              2024       2023       2024     2023  
        Transaction and integration costs   $ 4.2     $ 9.9     $ 11.2   $ 30.9  
        Fair value and impairment adjustments     7.6       0.9       8.4     1.6  
        Post-acquisition adjustments     (2.3 )     (0.5 )     7.0     4.3  
        Transition services agreement income     —       (0.1 )     —     (2.5 )
        Loss on business disposal     —       —       —     0.3  
        Total mergers and acquisitions, divestitures and business optimization   $ 9.4     $ 10.1     $ 26.5   $ 34.6  
                                       
        3. Represents expenses associated with our accelerated technology investment to migrate to the cloud. There are three components of the accelerated technology investment: (i) building foundational capabilities which includes establishing a modern, API-based and services-oriented software architecture, (ii) the migration of each application and customer data to the new enterprise platform, including the redundant software costs during the migration period, as well as the efforts to decommission the legacy system, and (iii) program enablement, which includes dedicated resources to support the planning and execution of the program. The amounts for each category of cost are as follows:
           
            Three Months Ended December 31,   Years Ended December 31,
              2024     2023     2024     2023
        Foundational Capabilities   $ 10.7   $ 8.0   $ 35.7   $ 35.8
        Migration Management     13.3     7.7     43.2     29.6
        Program Enablement     1.6     1.3     5.4     5.2
        Total accelerated technology investment   $ 25.6   $ 17.0   $ 84.2   $ 70.6
                                 
        4. Operating model optimization consisted of the following adjustments:
           
            Three Months Ended December 31,   Years Ended December 31,
              2024     2023     2024     2023
        Employee separation   $ —   $ 71.9   $ 24.7   $ 71.9
        Facility exit     —     3.4     42.1     3.4
        Business process optimization     8.4     2.3     28.0     2.3
        Total operating model optimization   $ 8.4   $ 77.6   $ 94.8   $ 77.6
                                 
        5. Net other consisted of the following adjustments:
           
            Three Months Ended December 31,   Years Ended December 31,
              2024     2023       2024     2023
        Deferred loan fee expense from debt prepayments and refinancing   $ 8.6   $ 6.2     $ 17.8   $ 9.3
        Currency remeasurement on foreign operations     2.5     (1.8 )     2.1     4.8
        Other non-operating expense     0.4     —       0.3     —
        Total other adjustments   $ 11.6   $ 4.4     $ 20.2   $ 14.0
                                   
        6. Total adjustments for income taxes represents the total of adjustments discussed to calculate the Adjusted Provision for Income Taxes.
        7.  Diluted share counts for Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share includes an additional 1.3 million of dilutive securities for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, which are not included in GAAP diluted weighted-average shares outstanding due to the Company’s net loss position for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023.
           
        SCHEDULE 4
        TRANSUNION AND SUBSIDIARIES
        Adjusted Provision for Income Taxes, Effective Tax Rate and Adjusted Effective Tax Rate (Unaudited)
        (dollars in millions)
               
          Three Months Ended December 31,   Years Ended December 31,
            2024       2023       2024       2023  
        Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes $ 100.6     $ (5.8 )   $ 401.1     $ (145.3 )
        Total adjustments before income tax items from Schedule 3   161.9       208.8       633.1       1,005.0  
        Adjusted income from continuing operations before income taxes $ 262.5     $ 203.0     $ 1,034.3     $ 859.7  
                       
        Reconciliation of Provision for income taxes to Adjusted Provision for Income Taxes              
        (Provision) benefit for income taxes   (29.9 )     15.4       (98.8 )     (44.7 )
        Adjustments for income taxes:              
        Tax effect of above adjustments   (37.0 )     (45.5 )     (145.5 )     (135.6 )
        Eliminate impact of excess tax (benefit) expenses for stock-based compensation   (0.1 )     0.2       (1.5 )     3.0  
        Other1   1.3       (13.7 )     (1.7 )     (11.5 )
        Total adjustments for income taxes $ (35.9 )   $ (58.9 )   $ (148.7 )   $ (144.1 )
        Adjusted Provision for Income Taxes $ (65.8 )   $ (43.5 )   $ (247.6 )   $ (188.8 )
                       
        Effective tax rate   29.7 %     263.1 %     24.6 %   (30.8)%
        Adjusted Effective Tax Rate   25.1 %     21.4 %     23.9 %     22.0 %
                                       

        As a result of displaying amounts in millions, rounding differences may exist in the table above.

        1. Other adjustments for income taxes include:
           
            Three Months Ended December 31,   Years Ended December 31,
              2024       2023       2024       2023  
        Deferred tax adjustments   $ 15.2     $ (13.5 )   $ 13.8     $ (12.9 )
        Valuation allowance adjustments     (10.6 )     4.8       (12.7 )     4.0  
        Return to provision, audit adjustments, and reserves related to prior periods     (3.5 )     (3.6 )     (2.3 )     (1.0 )
        Other adjustments     0.1       (1.4 )     (0.5 )     (1.6 )
        Total other adjustments   $ 1.3     $ (13.7 )   $ (1.7 )   $ (11.5 )
                                         

        SCHEDULE 5
        TRANSUNION AND SUBSIDIARIES
        Leverage Ratio (Unaudited)
        (dollars in millions)

            Years Ended December 31,
              2024     2023  
        Reconciliation of Net income (loss) attributable to TransUnion to Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA:        
        Net income (loss) attributable to TransUnion   $ 284.4   $ (206.2 )
        Discontinued operations, net of tax     —     0.7  
        Income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to TransUnion   $ 284.4   $ (205.4 )
        Net interest expense     236.7     267.5  
        Provision for income taxes     98.8     44.7  
        Depreciation and amortization     537.8     524.4  
        EBITDA   $ 1,157.7   $ 631.2  
        Adjustments to EBITDA:        
        Stock-based compensation   $ 121.2   $ 100.6  
        Goodwill impairment1     —     414.0  
        Mergers and acquisitions, divestitures and business optimization2     26.5     34.6  
        Accelerated technology investment3     84.2     70.6  
        Operating model optimization program4     94.8     77.6  
        Net other5     21.8     15.2  
        Total adjustments to EBITDA   $ 348.7   $ 712.5  
        Leverage Ratio Adjusted EBITDA   $ 1,506.3   $ 1,343.7  
                 
        Total debt   $ 5,147.2   $ 5,340.4  
        Less: Cash and cash equivalents     679.5     476.2  
        Net Debt   $ 4,467.8   $ 4,864.2  
                 
        Ratio of Net Debt to Net income (loss) attributable to TransUnion     15.7     (23.6 )
        Leverage Ratio6     3.0     3.6  
                       

        As a result of displaying amounts in millions, rounding differences may exist in the table above.

        1. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we recorded a goodwill impairment of $414.0 million related to our United Kingdom reporting unit in our International segment.
        2. Mergers and acquisitions, divestitures and business optimization consisted of the following adjustments:
           
          Years Ended December 31,
            2024     2023  
        Transaction and integration costs $ 11.2   $ 30.9  
        Fair value and impairment adjustments   8.4     1.6  
        Post-acquisition adjustments   7.0     4.3  
        Transition services agreement income   —     (2.5 )
        Loss on business disposal   —     0.3  
        Total mergers and acquisitions, divestitures and business optimization $ 26.5   $ 34.6  
                     
        3. Represents expenses associated with our accelerated technology investment to migrate to the cloud. There are three components of the accelerated technology investment: (i) building foundational capabilities which includes establishing a modern, API-based and services-oriented software architecture, (ii) the migration of each application and customer data to the new enterprise platform, including the redundant software costs during the migration period, as well as the efforts to decommission the legacy system, and (iii) program enablement, which includes dedicated resources to support the planning and execution of the program. The amounts for each category of cost are as follows:
           
          Years Ended December 31,
            2024     2023
        Foundational Capabilities $ 35.7   $ 35.8
        Migration Management   43.2     29.6
        Program Enablement   5.4     5.2
        Total accelerated technology investment $ 84.2   $ 70.6
                   
        4. Operating model optimization consisted of the following adjustments:
           
          Years Ended December 31,
            2024     2023
        Employee separation $ 24.7   $ 71.9
        Facility exit   42.1     3.4
        Business process optimization   28.0     2.3
        Total operating model optimization $ 94.8   $ 77.6
                   
        5. Net other consisted of the following adjustments:
           
          Years Ended December 31,
            2024       2023  
        Deferred loan fee expense from debt prepayments and refinancings $ 17.8     $ 9.3  
        Other debt financing expenses   2.4       2.2  
        Currency remeasurement on foreign operations   2.1       4.8  
        Other non-operating (income) and expense   (0.5 )     (1.0 )
        Total other adjustments $ 21.8     $ 15.2  
                       
        6. We define Leverage Ratio as net debt divided by Leverage Ratio Adjusted EBITDA as shown in the table above.
           
        SCHEDULE 6
        TRANSUNION AND SUBSIDIARIES
        Segment Depreciation and Amortization (Unaudited)
        (in millions)
               
          Three Months Ended December 31,   Years Ended December 31,
            2024     2023     2024     2023
                       
        U.S. Markets $ 101.1   $ 101.3   $ 400.5   $ 393.6
        International   35.2     30.9     133.3     126.4
        Corporate   0.9     1.1     3.9     4.4
        Total depreciation and amortization $ 137.3   $ 133.3   $ 537.8   $ 524.4

        As a result of displaying amounts in millions, rounding differences may exist in the table above.

        SCHEDULE 7
        TRANSUNION AND SUBSIDIARIES
        Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Guidance (Unaudited)
        (in millions, except per share data)

          Three Months Ended March 31, 2025   Year Ended December 31, 2025
          Low   High   Low   High
        Guidance reconciliation of Net income attributable to TransUnion to Adjusted EBITDA:              
        Net income attributable to TransUnion $ 71     $ 77     $ 335     $ 362  
        Interest, taxes and depreciation and amortization   222       225       923       935  
        EBITDA $ 293     $ 301     $ 1,258     $ 1,298  
        Stock-based compensation, mergers, acquisitions divestitures and business optimization-related expenses and other adjustments1   83       83       292       292  
        Adjusted EBITDA $ 376     $ 384     $ 1,549     $ 1,590  
                       
        Net income attributable to TransUnion margin   6.7 %     7.1 %     7.7 %     8.3 %
        Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA margin2   35.5 %     35.8 %     35.8 %     36.2 %
                       
        Guidance reconciliation of Diluted earnings per share to Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share:              
        Diluted earnings per share $ 0.36     $ 0.39     $ 1.68     $ 1.82  
        Adjustments to diluted earnings per share1   0.60       0.60       2.25       2.26  
        Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share $ 0.96     $ 0.99     $ 3.93     $ 4.08  

        As a result of displaying amounts in millions, rounding differences may exist in the table above.

        1. These adjustments include the same adjustments we make to our Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Net Income as discussed in the Non-GAAP Financial Measures section of our Earnings Release.
        2. Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA margin is calculated by dividing Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA by total revenue.

        The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI China: China intensifies crackdown on telecom, online fraud

    Source: China State Council Information Office 2

    China’s prosecutorial authorities charged over 67,000 individuals with telecom and online fraud between January and November 2024, marking a 58.5 percent increase compared to the previous year, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) said Thursday.
    Since the launch of a special campaign in July 2023, police have apprehended over 53,000 Chinese suspects involved in telecom and internet fraud operating from northern Myanmar, a region bordering China and notorious for such crimes.
    By the end of November 2024, more than 29,000 of these fraud suspects had been indicted and were facing trial, according to the SPP.
    Telecom and internet fraud remain rampant, said Du Xueyi of the SPP, pledging to intensify efforts and impose stricter penalties on these crimes. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Asian Development Blog: A Fork in the Road: Will Asia Prioritize Safety or Suffer Rising Fatalities?

    Source: Asia Development Bank

    While road fatalities in Asia and the Pacific have fallen 11% since 2010, progress remains uneven, with low- and middle-income countries lagging behind. Strengthening infrastructure, enforcing safety regulations, and securing sustainable financing are critical to meeting the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety goal.

    On average, one person dies on Asia’s roads every minute. In 2021 alone, the region recorded over 694,000 road fatalities—nearly 60% of the global total of 1.19 million, according to the World Health Organization. These deaths overwhelmingly occur in Asia’s low- and middle-income countries, which account for 99% of the region’s road fatalities.

    Road crashes in Asia have a particularly severe impact on young people. They are the leading cause of death for those aged 15 to 29, and the second leading cause of death for children aged 5 to 14. Vulnerable road users are disproportionately affected. In 2021, one-third of all road fatalities involved pedestrians and cyclists, while 35% involved motorized two- and three-wheelers.

    The WHO estimates that road traffic deaths have fallen by 5% globally from 2010. In comparison, Asia and the Pacific has outpaced this trend, achieving an overall reduction of 11%. Meanwhile, the overall landscape indicates mixed progress across the region. While 67% of countries in the region have reduced road fatalities, only eight achieved a substantial decrease of 30% or more.

    Most of the decline in road fatalities has occurred in high-income Asian countries, which saw a 46% reduction between 2010 and 2021—an average decrease of 5% per year. In contrast, low- and middle-income countries in the region achieved only a 4% reduction over the same period, with an average annual decline of just 0.3%.
    While progress is being made, accelerated efforts are needed to realize the target. If current trends continue, about two-thirds of countries in the region — accounting for 86% of current road crash fatalities — will not be able to achieve the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety goal of achieving a 50% reduction.  

    While discrepancies exist between the various available datasets, they all paint the same scenario, that the majority of the countries in Asia will fail to meet the 2030 target under current trajectories.

    Regulations in the region focus on users and usage of the roads. For example, 97% of Asian countries have a national law setting speed limits, and 95% have national motorcycle helmet laws.

    With nearly 1.8 billion Asian people lacking access to urban transit and rural roads, countries must invest in safer road infrastructure.

    Targeted steps are needed to establish safe systems — which look beyond individual road behavior and address the underlying environment affecting road user safety, including safe roads and roadsides; safe vehicles; post-crash care; safe speeds and safe road use.

    For example, technical standards for new roads – which affect all road users – are only present in 78% of the countries. Only half have targets to have their streets meet “technical safety standards for all users.”

    There is a dire need to accelerate the improvement of road infrastructure. For example, road user surveys utilizing the IRAP star rating system indicate that the share of roads in Asia with good (3 stars or more) ratings is still quite low. With nearly 1.8 billion Asian people lacking access to urban transit and rural roads, countries must invest in safer road infrastructure.

    On the institutions, while 95% of Asian countries have identified national focal agencies for implementing road safety action plans, more detailed responsibilities also need focal points. Less than half of the countries in the region have identified funds to implement their road safety strategies.    

    Targets and ambitions also need to increase and expand. In the last two decades, Asian countries have added a billion vehicles to the road, and projections suggest that countries will motorize further. However, it is concerning to note that only 68% of the countries in the region have legislation on periodic vehicle technical inspection. 

    Also, considering the import of used vehicles in developing countries, only 56% of the developing countries in the region have high-quality standards for used vehicle imports. 

    Measures—and their implementation—matter. The case of the Republic of Korea, which now leads Asia in terms of progress towards the 2030 target, shows that regulations backed by effective implementation can result in significant impact, saving lives and reducing serious injuries.

    Broader uptake of monitoring mechanisms is also crucial for elevating our collective awareness of road safety, particularly for low- and middle-income countries. 

    The Asian Transport Observatory, for example, has developed road safety profiles for Asian economies. These can support the monitoring of progress towards the implementation of the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030.  

    The overall road safety landscape in Asia presents progress but also persistent challenges. We need to turn incremental improvements into transformative actions. This includes boosting investments and standards for safer infrastructure; strengthening and enforcing regulations for ensuring safe vehicles, securing sustainable financing to implement road safety strategies; strengthening institutional capacities and accountability; and enhancing monitoring systems. 

    We are at a turning point, not just a checkpoint, towards achieving the collective goal towards reducing road fatalities. 

    This blog post is related to 4th Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, which assesses the progress in implementing the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030. The plan aims to achieve a 50% reduction in road traffic fatalities by 2030. Sudhir Gota, Co-Team Lead, Asian Transport Observatory, contributed to this article.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Will New Zealand invade the Cook Islands to stop China? Seriously

    The Chinese have politely told the Kiwis to back off.  Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters that China and the Cook Islands have had diplomatic relations since 1997 which “should not be disrupted or restrained by any third party”.

    “New Zealand is rightly furious about it,” a TVNZ Pacific affairs writer editorialised to the nation. The deal and the lack of prior consultation was described by various journalists as “damaging”, “of significant concern”, “trouble in paradise”, an act by a “renegade government”.

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters, not without cause, railed at what he saw as the Cook Islands government going against long-standing agreements to consult over defence and security issues.

    “Should New Zealand invade the Cook islands?” . . . New Zealand Herald columnist Matthew Hooton’s view in an “oxygen-starved media environment” amid rattled nerves. Image: New Zealand Herald screenshot APR

    ‘Clearly about secession’
    Matthew Hooton, who penned the article in The Herald, is a major commentator on various platforms.

    “Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown’s dealings with China are clearly about secession from the realm of New Zealand,” Hooton said without substantiation but with considerable colonial hauteur.

    “His illegal moves cannot stand. It would be a relatively straightforward military operation for our SAS to secure all key government buildings in the Cook Islands’ capital, Avarua.”

    This could be written off as the hyperventilating screeching of someone trying to drum up readers but he was given a major platform to do so and New Zealanders live in an oxygen-starved media environment where alternative analysis is hard to find.

    The Cook Islands, with one of the largest Exclusive Economic Zones in the world — a whopping 2 million sq km — is considered part of New Zealand’s backyard, albeit over 3000 km to the northeast.  The deal with China is focused on economics not security issues, according to Cooks Prime Minister Mark Brown.

    Deep sea mining may be on the list of projects as well as trade cooperation, climate, tourism, and infrastructure.

    The Cook Islands seafloor is believed to have billions of tons of polymetallic nodules of cobalt, copper, nickel and manganese, something that has even caught the attention of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Various players have their eyes on it.

    Glen Johnson, writing in Le Monde Diplomatique, reported last year:

    “Environmentalists have raised major concerns, particularly over the destruction of deep-sea habitats and the vast, choking sediment plumes that excavation would produce.”

    All will be revealed
    Even Cook Island’s citizens have not been consulted on the details of the deal, including deep sea mining.  Clearly, this should not be the case. All will be revealed shortly.

    New Zealand and the Cook Islands have had formal relations since 1901 when the British “transferred” the islands to New Zealand.  Cook Islanders have a curious status: they hold New Zealand passports but are recognised as their own country. The US government went a step further on September 25, 2023. President Joe Biden said:

    “Today I am proud to announce that the United States recognises the Cook Islands as a sovereign and independent state and will establish diplomatic relations between our two nations.”

    A move to create their own passports was undermined by New Zealand officials who successfully stymied the plan.

    New Zealand has taken an increasingly hostile stance vis-a-vis China, with PM Luxon describing the country as a “strategic competitor” while at the same time depending on China as our biggest trading partner.  The government and a compliant mainstream media sing as one choir when it comes to China: it is seen as a threat, a looming pretender to be South Pacific hegemon, replacing the flip-flopping, increasingly incoherent USA.

    Climate change looms large for island nations. Much of the Cooks’ tourism infrastructure is vulnerable to coastal inundation and precious reefs are being destroyed by heating sea temperatures.

    “One thing that New Zealand has got to get its head round is the fact that the Trump administration has withdrawn from the Paris Climate Accord,” Dr Robert Patman, professor of international relations at Otago University, says. “And this is a big deal for most Pacific Island states — and that means that the Cook Islands nation may well be looking for greater assistance elsewhere.”

    Diplomatic spat with global coverage
    The story of the diplomatic spat has been covered in the Middle East, Europe and Asia.  Eyebrows are rising as yet again New Zealand, a close ally of Israel and a participant in the US Operation Prosperity Guardian to lift the Houthi Red Sea blockade of Israel, shows its Western mindset.

    Matthew Hooton’s article is the kind of colonialist fantasy masquerading as geopolitical analysis that damages New Zealand’s reputation as a friend to the smaller nations of our region.

    Yes, the Chinese have an interest in our neck of the woods — China is second only to Australia in supplying much-needed development assistance to the region.

    It is sound policy not insurrection for small nations to diversify economic partnerships and secure development opportunities for their people. That said, serious questions should be posed and deserve to be answered.

    Geopolitical analyst Dr Geoffrey Miller made a useful contribution to the debate saying there was potential for all three parties to work together:

    “There is no reason why New Zealand can’t get together with China and the Cook Islands and develop some projects together,” Dr Miller says. “Pacific states are the winners here because there is a lot of competition for them”.

    I think New Zealand and Australia could combine more effectively with a host of South Pacific island nations and form a more effective regional voice with which to engage with the wider world and collectively resist efforts by the US and China to turn the region into a theatre of competition.

    We throw the toys out
    We throw the toys out of the cot when the Cooks don’t consult with us but shrug when Pasifika elders like former Tuvalu PM Enele Sopoaga call us out for ignoring them.

    In Wellington last year, I heard him challenge the bigger powers, particularly Australia and New Zealand, to remember that the existential threat faced by Pacific nations comes first from climate change. He also reminded New Zealanders of the commitment to keeping the South Pacific nuclear-free.

    To succeed, a “Pacific for the peoples of the Pacific” approach would suggest our ministries of foreign affairs should halt their drift to being little more than branch offices of the Pentagon and that our governments should not sign up to US Great Power competition with China.

    Ditching the misguided anti-China AUKUS project would be a good start.

    Friends to all, enemies of none. Keep the Pacific peaceful, neutral and nuclear-free.

    Eugene Doyle is a community organiser and activist in Wellington, New Zealand. He received an Absolutely Positively Wellingtonian award in 2023 for community service. His first demonstration was at the age of 12 against the Vietnam War. This article was first published at his public policy website Solidarity and is republished here with permission.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI: ThinkMarkets Celebrates Its 15-year Anniversary

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    LONDON, Feb. 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ThinkMarkets, a globally recognized leader in multi-asset online trading, is celebrating 15 years of serving traders worldwide. For over a decade, the broker has provided traders in more than 165 countries with a premium trading experience, combining best-in-class charting, execution, and a multi-asset trading product mix into one offering. To mark this milestone, ThinkMarkets is launching initiatives to thank the people who have been instrumental in its journey and success. 

    Advancing Global Trading Since 2010
    Since its inception, ThinkMarkets has continuously enhanced the trading experience with its innovative platform, ThinkTrader. Continuous investment in server infrastructure and a strong focus on implementing cutting-edge technology have positioned ThinkMarkets at the forefront of the industry, with a commitment to innovation driving its evolution. 

    Recognizing People and Progress
    ThinkMarkets’ growth has been driven by the support of its traders, partners, and employees around the world. To acknowledge their contributions, the company is launching a series of initiatives, including: 

    • Competitions and giveaways: A year-long calendar of events, competitions, and prizes.
    • Media interviews: Exclusive interviews with long-standing personnel, instrumental to the company’s success.
    • Reward incentives: New initiatives bring added benefits to its clients and partners. 

    Commenting on the milestone, Nauman Anees, Co-CEO of ThinkMarkets, said: 
    “ThinkMarkets started with a vision to build a global financial market trading platform that empowers clients with the best technology. Over the past 15 years, we’ve grown into a global brokerage with a presence in over 165 countries, serving all types of traders. To celebrate this major milestone, we’re launching a series of initiatives that honor our journey and achievements. As we mark 15 years, our commitment to innovation, transparency, and client satisfaction remains clear and will always be at the core of our approach.” 

    To learn more about its 15-year anniversary, users can visit thinkmarkets.com.

    About ThinkMarkets 
    ThinkMarkets is a global, multi-regulated online brokerage established in 2010, offering clients quick and easy access to 4,000+ CFD instruments across FX, indices, commodities, equities, and more. ThinkMarkets has offices in London, Melbourne, and Tokyo, and hubs in the Asia-Pacific, Europe, and South Africa. It also operates with several financial licenses around the globe and delivers some of the industry’s most recognized trading platforms, including its award-winning platform, ThinkTrader. 

    Contact

    ThinkMarkets
    pr@thinkmarkets.com

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at:
    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/efcfd4c2-f03e-4bbd-a157-b7d74a91c387

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Altus Group Releases its Q4 2024 Pan-European Dataset Analysis on CRE Valuation Trends

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    LONDON, Feb. 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Altus Group Limited (“Altus”) (TSX: AIF), a leading provider of asset and fund intelligence for commercial real estate (“CRE”), today released its Q4 2024 Pan-European dataset analysis on European property market valuation trends.

    Each quarter, Altus Group centralizes and aggregates CRE valuation data for the European market, pulling insights into the factors driving commercial property valuations. The Q4 2024 aggregate dataset included Pan-European open-ended diversified funds, representing €29 billion in assets under management. The funds cover 17 countries and primarily span the industrial, office, retail and residential property sectors.

    “The latest data across the Pan-European valuation dataset suggests that real estate markets in parts of Europe are entering a recovery phase, with values now rising for two consecutive quarters after two years of declines,” said Phil Tily, Senior Vice President at Altus Group. “The industrial and residential sectors led the rebound in the fourth quarter of 2024, with yield stabilization and improving cashflows signalling a more positive market outlook moving forward.”

    Commercial property values across the Pan-European valuation dataset increased for the second consecutive quarter in Q4, rising 0.8% over Q3, with all sectors seeing gains, albeit with a mixed set of results from a yield and cashflow perspective. Values rose 0.4% overall in 2024, as gains in Q3 and Q4 offset declines from the first half of the year, driven mainly by industrial, residential, and other property categories.

    Key highlights by sector include:

    • Industrial: The industrial sector was the top performer in Q4 with a 1.0% value increase over Q3 2024 and 1.6% annually. The improvement was supported by a positive pricing adjustment with yields declining, although cashflow fundamentals eased as rental growth slowed during the back end of the year. The largest valuation gains were reported in Germany.
    • Residential: Residential values rose by 0.9% in Q4 and 1.4% for the full year – both above average. The improvement was driven by comparatively strong cash flow fundamentals with above-average rent growth. Values in the two largest residential markets in the dataset, the Netherlands and Germany, continued to strengthen, increasing 1.0% and 0.8% respectively in the quarter.
    • Office: Office values rose 0.8% over Q3 2024, up for two consecutive quarters now. Further yield expansion, reflecting ongoing investor caution towards the sector, was counterbalanced by strengthening cashflow resulting in office values continuing to rise over the quarter. Sweden was the standout performer in this sector in Q4.
    • Retail: After leading performance in Q3 2024, the retail sector saw only modest growth in Q4, with values still rising 0.3%. Rising yields held back values for high street stores and shopping centres, while falling yields for retail warehouses helped boost values by 1.9%.
    • Other: Outside of the main sectors, hotels had another strong quarter, with positive investor sentiment driving yield improvements and above-average value growth.

    For detailed review of the sector trends by asset class, please click here.

    About Altus Group

    Altus Group is a leading provider of asset and fund intelligence for commercial real estate. We deliver intelligence as a service to our global client base through a connected platform of industry-leading technology, advanced analytics, and advisory services. Trusted by the largest CRE leaders, our capabilities help commercial real estate investors, developers, lenders, and advisors manage risks and improve performance returns throughout the asset and fund lifecycle. Altus Group is a global company headquartered in Toronto with approximately 1,900 employees across North America, EMEA and Asia Pacific. For more information about Altus (TSX: AIF) please visit www.altusgroup.com.

    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

    Elizabeth Lambe
    Director, Global Communications, Altus Group
    +1-416-641-9787
    elizabeth.lambe@altusgroup.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Ragnarok Begins (RO仙境傳說：一定要可愛) Official Launching in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau on February 13, 2025

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Seoul, South Korea, Feb. 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — GRAVITY Co., Ltd. (NasdaqGM: GRVY) (“Gravity” or “Company”), a developer and publisher of online and mobile games, announced that Gravity Communications Co., Ltd., Gravity’s wholly-owned subsidiary, officially launched Ragnarok Begins (RO 仙境傳說：一定要可愛), an Action Side-scrolling MMORPG Mobile and PC game, in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau on February 13, 2025 at 9:00 p.m. (Taiwan local time).

    Ragnarok Begins (RO仙境傳說：一定要可愛) is an Action Side-scrolling MMORPG set 100 years before the events of Ragnarok Online, supporting cross-play between PC and mobile platforms. The game offers a detailed class and advancement system, allowing for character growth and extensive equipment customization. It enhances community features with systems such as guilds, DIY housing and world boss cooperative battles. Players can also engage in PVP content, Arena of Valhalla, compete in teamwork and participate in ranking matches. Additionally, the Tower of Infinity dungeon offers the challenge of progressing through multiple floors, either solo or in a team. The game is available for download in Google Play and Apple App Store.  

    Ragnarok Begins (RO仙境傳說：一定要可愛) was launched in North America in 2022 and in South Korea in 2023, and has continued to provide stable service while gaining a strong and loyal following from users.

    Gravity stated, “ We plan to provide excellent service in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, and encourage users to participate in the pre-launch event, where those who register early will receive in-game currency and the exclusive item ‘Tebirus Headband.’ We appreciate your interest and participation.”

    [Gravity Official Website]
    http://www.gravity.co.kr

    [RO仙境傳說：一定要可愛 Official Website]
    https://roc.gnjoy.com.tw/

    [RO仙境傳說：一定要可愛 Google Play Download Page]
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gravity.cute.tw.and

    [RO仙境傳說：一定要可愛 Apple App Store Download Page]
    在 App Store 上的「RO仙境傳說：一定要可愛」

    About GRAVITY Co., Ltd. —————————————————

    Gravity is a developer and publisher of online and mobile games. Gravity’s principal product, Ragnarok Online, is a popular online game in many markets, including Japan and Taiwan, and is currently commercially offered in 91 regions. For more information about Gravity, please visit http://www.gravity.co.kr.

    Contact:

    Mr. Heung Gon Kim
    Chief Financial Officer
    Gravity Co., Ltd.
    Email: kheung@gravity.co.kr

    Ms. Jin Lee
    Ms. Yujin Oh
    IR Unit
    Gravity Co., Ltd.
    Email: ir@gravity.co.kr
    Telephone: +82-2-2132-7801

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Ormat Technologies Awarded Tolling Agreements for Two Energy Storage Facilities in Israel

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    RENO, Nev., Feb. 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Ormat Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ORA), (“Ormat” or the “Company”) a leading geothermal and renewable energy technology company, today announced that it has won a tender issued by the Israeli Electricity Authority and has been awarded two separate 15-year tolling agreements for two Energy Storage facilities. The facilities under the tolling agreements are expected to have a combined capacity of approximately 300MW/1200MWh.

    These projects are developed in partnership with Allied Infrastructure LTD (“Allied”), a leading infrastructure company in Israel. The ownership of the projects will be shared, 50/50 between Ormat and Allied. This marks Ormat’s and the partnership’s first major entry into the Israeli utility scale energy storage market. The partnership intends to develop this activity and develop additional Energy Storage facilities.

    The parties are in advanced stages of obtaining the interconnection for the two projects, and the necessary land use permits ahead of starting construction. Commercial operation date is expected during 2028. The tolling agreement includes an option for termination of the initial contract and move to participation in the merchant market.

    “We are delighted to announce the award of these two tolling agreements, marking another key strategic milestone for our growing Energy Storage business,” said Doron Blachar, Chief Executive Officer of Ormat Technologies. “These long-term agreements highlight our team’s ability to advance and execute Ormat’s Energy Storage portfolio expansion strategy. The tolling agreements for these two assets will further enhance the Company’s portfolio profitability and add stability to margin performance, each a key element of our growth strategy in our storage business.”

    Blachar concluded, “These energy storage contracts mark the Company’s first owned project in Israel, and we look forward to continuing to work with Allied as Ormat’s capabilities and assets will now help drive Israel’s efforts to achieve its renewable energy and energy continuity goals.”

    ABOUT ORMAT TECHNOLOGIES

    With over five decades of experience, Ormat Technologies, Inc. is a leading geothermal company and the only vertically integrated company engaged in geothermal and recovered energy generation (“REG”), with robust plans to accelerate long-term growth in the energy storage market and to establish a leading position in the U.S. energy storage market. The Company owns, operates, designs, manufactures and sells geothermal and REG power plants primarily based on the Ormat Energy Converter – a power generation unit that converts low-, medium- and high-temperature heat into electricity. The Company has engineered, manufactured and constructed power plants, which it currently owns or has installed for utilities and developers worldwide, totaling approximately 3,400MW of gross capacity. Ormat leveraged its core capabilities in the geothermal and REG industries and its global presence to expand the Company’s activity into energy storage services, solar Photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage plus Solar PV. Ormat’s current total generating portfolio is 1.5GW with a 1.2GW geothermal and solar generation portfolio that is spread globally in the U.S., Kenya, Guatemala, Indonesia, Honduras, and Guadeloupe, and a 290MW energy storage portfolio that is located in the U.S.

    ABOUT THE ISRAELI ELECTRICITY AUTHORITY

    The Israeli Electricity Authority is a government authority charged with providing utility services, setting tariffs, regulation, and oversight of the electricity market in Israel.

    ABOUT ALLIED INFRASTRUCTURE LTD

    Allied Infrastructure LTD is a multi-disciplined specialist contractor working primarily in the Airports, Highways, Defense and Construction sectors. Allied is delivering innovative and quality services using specially developed materials to offer complete solutions to preserve, protect, maintain and restore infrastructure assets, especially in the airside environment.

    ORMAT’S SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT

    Information provided in this press release may contain statements relating to current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about future events that are “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that we expect or anticipate will or may occur in the future, including such matters as our projections of annual revenues, expenses and debt service coverage with respect to our debt securities, future capital expenditures, business strategy, competitive strengths, goals, development or operation of generation assets, market and industry developments and the growth of our business and operations, are forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, the words “may”, “will”, “could”, “should”, “expects”, “plans”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “estimates”, “predicts”, “projects”, “potential”, or “contemplate” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such words or expressions. These forward-looking statements generally relate to Ormat’s plans, objectives and expectations for future operations and are based upon its management’s current estimates and projections of future results or trends. Although we believe that our plans and objectives reflected in or suggested by these forward-looking statements are reasonable, we may not achieve these plans or objectives. Actual future results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties and other risks described under “Risk Factors” as described in Ormat’s annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on February 23, 2024, and in Ormat’s subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q that are filed from time to time with the SEC.

    These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and, except as legally required, we undertake no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

    Ormat Technologies Contact:
    Smadar Lavi
    VP Head of IR and ESG Planning & Reporting
    775-356-9029 (ext. 65726)
    slavi@ormat.com    		   Investor Relations Agency Contact:
    Joseph Caminiti or Josh Carroll
    Alpha IR Group
    312-445-2870
    ORA@alpha-ir.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Myanmar: Recklessly abrupt US aid stoppage poses existential threat to human rights – Amnesty International

    Source: Amnesty International

    The United States government’s abrupt and sweeping freeze on foreign aid is severely imperiling the human rights of refugees, civilians in armed conflict areas and individuals fleeing persecution in Myanmar, Amnesty International said today.

    The organization warned that lives could be lost unless the decision is urgently reversed, amended or if waivers for life-saving assistance are not immediately granted and swiftly implemented for those working on the ground.

    “The Trump administration’s cruel decision to issue immediate stop work orders on foreign aid is having an instant and devastating impact across the globe, and in Myanmar it is hitting people at a particularly dark hour,” said Amnesty International’s Myanmar Researcher Joe Freeman.

    “The decision has abruptly shut down hospitals in refugee camps, put fleeing human rights defenders at risk of deportation and imperiled programs helping people prevent atrocities, survive in conflict zones and rebuild their lives amid ongoing waves of violence.”

    On 20 January, US President Donald Trump signed a presidential executive order pausing all foreign aid amid a 90-day review of whether it is consistent with American foreign policy. On 24 January, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a stop work order to those delivering assistance worldwide as part of the review, but carved out exemptions to the pause for emergency food assistance, as well as military aid to Israel and Egypt.

    An additional waiver dated 28 January exempted “life-saving humanitarian assistance” from the stoppage, while follow-up clarifications in the first week of February broadened the exemptions for specific activities. However, based on Amnesty’s latest research, implementation of these waivers has yet to trickle down to many organizations working along the Thai-Myanmar border.

    “The US government’s shocking move has had immediate global impacts whose real-life consequences are still being felt and understood. Our findings from Myanmar and Thailand provide just one example of the damage wrought by this heartless decision,” Joe Freeman said.

    In Myanmar, the funding pause has further devastated a civilian population already enduring escalating armed conflict, widespread displacement and severe human rights violations by a military that seized power in a coup more than four years ago. It has also sowed chaos, desperation and anguish among tens of thousands of Myanmar refugees living in Thailand.

    To date, US funding has helped many endure the upheaval by supporting emergency shelter or relocation for activists, delivering food aid, helping create early-warning systems for air strikes, delivering medical treatment in war zones and providing education opportunities to those who have lost all hope of a future.

    From 3-10 February, Amnesty International spoke to 12 Myanmar refugees living in camps along the border in Thailand, along with representatives from 14 organizations with Myanmar-focused activities. They include health workers, human rights researchers and NGOs providing cross-border assistance as well as media and education providers. All warned of severe consequences if the decision was not reversed or amended. Not one had received a communication or confirmation of a waiver from the US government to continue operations.

    ‘The mission is not to die”

    Despite the promise of waivers for life-saving humanitarian assistance, the aid stoppage is posing serious risks to the rights to health of more than 100,000 people living in nine refugee camps on the Thai side of the border with Myanmar. The majority have been there for years, fleeing previous waves of violence in Myanmar, but the camps have grown in size since the coup.

    Amnesty International spoke to refugees living in two separate camps along the border. All said hospitals in the camp, which are run by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) through USAID funding, had abruptly shut down after the stop work order. Though Thai authorities and hospitals have been able to step in and provide services for camp residents, their resources are stretched. As of 11 February, the IRC had still not received a waiver to continue their work.

    The impact of the initial shutdown was felt immediately. In the Umpien camp, for example, residents said at least four people have died as a result of not receiving oxygen provided by the hospitals. Amnesty could not independently confirm the claim. Reuters reported on 7 February that Pe Kha Lau, 71, died four days after she was sent home from a healthcare facility funded by the US through the IRC.

    “It was so scary, they forced everyone to go out of the hospital…and some people died because they lost their oxygen. We were not only sad but also scared of what is coming next,” said U Htan Htun, 62.

    Ma Su Su, a volunteer community medical worker in the Umpien camp, also said that on the day the order was announced people who needed treatment were told to leave the hospital. She said she witnessed staff removing an IV-drip from a patient and described how someone without proper training had to provide stitches to a wounded resident.

    “I told everyone it’s only 90 days. We’ll be okay after 90 days. But I feel hopeless,” she said. “The mission is not to die.”

    Water services at the camps were disrupted, according to residents, while food aid is also at risk of disappearing.

    Maximillian Morch from the Thai Border Consortium (TBC), which provides food and cooking fuel to all the nine camps along the Thai-Myanmar border, said they were trying to get approval for a life-saving waiver from the US government but had no confirmation yet.

    Just over 60% of the Consortium’s funding is from the US through the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) at the US State Department. The bulk of that is food and cooking assistance. While they have not been told to stop work, they will run out of funds for food in four to six weeks if their funding is discontinued as part of the review of foreign aid.

    “Food is as inoffensive as you can be. And if you stop funding food this is not just a TBC problem, it’s an international humanitarian problem,” Morch said.

    “Very tough days for us”

    Since the Myanmar military took power in a 2021 coup, armed conflict has intensified across the country. Ever-increasing military air strikes have killed civilians and targeted schools, hospitals and monasteries, while elsewhere the military has targeted protesters, activists and journalists. Funded by USAID, civil society organizations across Myanmar help civilians, journalists and human rights defenders find shelter, aid and safety in exile if they have to flee the country.

    Groups in southeastern Myanmar, an area particularly hard-hit by military air strikes, run several US-funded programs which can be considered life-saving. They provide mobile medical units in frontline areas, help pay for hospital referrals for more advanced care and assist civilians in the aftermath of an air strike to find food and shelter.

    “At the same time as all the air strikes, all the bombings…artillery attacks, displacement…the funding has been stopped,” said Saw Diamond Khin, director of the Karen Department of Health and Welfare, which assists seven districts in southeastern Myanmar. “It is very tough days for us.”

    No waivers for life-saving work

    Saw Thar Win, from the Ethnic Health Systems Strengthening Group, said his organization had planned to deliver portable, battery-charged ultrasound and X-ray machines to conflict-affected communities in Myanmar. One set can serve an estimated 50,000 people. But the stop work order meant the machines were just sitting in boxes in his office because the funding for transporting it had been impacted.

    Another community-based health provider said the pause in US funding meant that they can no longer support urgent life-saving treatment inside Myanmar. Their funding had supported costs for emergency surgery to treat wounds from air strikes or other armed conflict injuries, as well as neonatal emergency treatment and surgery for appendicitis and blood transfusions.

    Despite the announcement of waivers at the end of January, medicines for HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, as well as support for mental health services for those traumatized by the armed conflict, have been similarly affected. Not one group Amnesty spoke to said they had been given any communication or confirmation of a waiver for life-saving work, even though their operations, such as helping feed, shelter and treat people in war zones, would clearly qualify.

    All said they lacked clear communication from US agencies such as USAID and their partners on the grounds. The Overseas Irrawaddy Association – which provides emergency relocation for hundreds of activists inside Myanmar, where protesters are routinely imprisoned and tortured by the military – said the freeze has affected their ability to support hundreds of at-risk individuals.

    “By removing the ability of these organizations to protect some of the most vulnerable people inside Myanmar, the US is effectively giving the rights-abusing Myanmar military an invaluable gift in their crackdown on the right to freedom of expression and information,” Freeman said.

    “People are now more vulnerable to arrest, to torture, and for those who have fled to Thailand and rely on funding for shelter, to deportation back to Myanmar. The US must immediately and directly communicate that groups working on life-saving assistance in Myanmar can continue their work.”

    MIL OSI – Submitted News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: UNECE Inland Transport Committee advances international cooperation for sustainable and resilient future of transport

    Source: United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

    Gathering at this week’s 87th annual session of the UNECE Inland Transport Committee (ITC) at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, global transport leaders shared commitments aimed at  forging a sustainable, efficient, and resilient future of inland transport. 

    Looking to 2030 and beyond – and recognizing the need for scaled-up action in response to climate change, technological advancements, and shifting global trade patterns – several countries announced pledges that reaffirm their commitment to regional cooperation, enhanced connectivity, innovation, and environmental sustainability in inland transport. 

    “The challenges before us are immense, but so are the opportunities,” noted UNECE Executive Secretary Tatiana Molcean at the opening of the session. “We are here today to chart the course for the future, ensuring that inland transport is not only a driver of economic growth but also a catalyst for sustainability, resilience, and innovation.” 

    Enhanced connectivity and sustainability  

    The Netherlands and Türkiye pledged to continue supporting efforts to advance digitalization, infrastructure development, and border-crossing efficiency along the Trans-Caspian and Almaty-Tehran-Istanbul corridors, with a strong emphasis on greening the corridors, reducing their environmental impact, and lowering greenhouse gas emissions.  

    This joint commitment highlights the importance of collaboration to advance regional integration, promote sustainable transport practices, and enhance the economic and environmental performance of these strategic corridors.   

    “Transport corridors provide an essential backbone structure for the functioning of our economies,” said Chris Jansen, Minister for the Environment and Public Transportation of The Netherlands. “Let us try to unlock this potential together and use our combined efforts of cooperation within the UNECE Inland Transport Committee to achieve this work.”  

    “By strengthening our transport corridors, we will also make significant contributions to reducing economic inequalities between regions, facilitating access to markets for underdeveloped regions and promoting sustainable development,” emphasized Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Türkiye. 

    Advancing decarbonization and innovation 

    Underlining ITC’s unique role as the only global UN platform for road, rail and inland waterway transport, Georgia, The Netherlands and Türkiye reaffirmed their commitment to leverage its capacity to drive innovation and strategic foresight in the inland transport sector.  

    The three countries pledged to support the effective implementation of the ITC Decarbonization Strategy and to contribute to its other critical work streams, including climate change adaptation for transport infrastructure, cycling infrastructure, e-mobility, and the use of GIS mapping for transport infrastructure planning through the International Transport Infrastructure Observatory. 

    Accelerating e-mobility and smart charging solutions 

    Recognizing that inland transport sector plays a pivotal role in achieving global climate goals, The Netherlands and Türkiye pledged to support the UNECE Informal Task Force on E-Mobility to advance zero-emission policies, align regulatory frameworks, and facilitate the development of critical infrastructure for alternative energy carriers, in particular electric mobility, alongside hydrogen and biofuels.  

    The Netherlands will lead efforts on smart charging and energy system optimization, while Türkiye will spearhead best practices for EV infrastructure planning. 

    In line with the ITC Decarbonization Strategy, Germany pledged to work to swiftly expand the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles and to drive the uptake of climate-friendly fuels. Furthermore, Germany committed to fostering key technology innovations, such as automated/autonomous driving on the road to reach a more sustainable, safe, digital, accessible and affordable mobility. 

    Global relevance of ITC work 

    Reflecting the global relevance of ITC not only in harmonization of vehicle standards, but also in development of transport infrastructure, and smart and clean mobility solutions, Cambodia announced that it will seek to actively participate in the UNECE World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) and join working parties dealing with the transport of dangerous goods, intermodal transport and logistics, as well as to join the Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR).   

    As a small island developing state, facing frequent storm surges and flooding that threaten its critical road network, Seychelles appreciated the ITC as a vital platform to advance solutions for climate-resilient road infrastructure, maintenance and environmentally friendly engineering, as well as energy-efficient public transport options.  

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI: Himax Technologies, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Financial Results; Provides First Quarter 2025 Guidance

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Q4 2024 Revenues, Gross Margin and EPS All Surpassed Guidance Range Issued on November 7, 2024
    Company Q1 2025 Guidance: Revenues to Decrease 8.5% to 12.5% QoQ,
    Gross Margin is Expected to be Around 30.5%. Profit per Diluted ADS to be 9.0 Cents to 11.0 Cents

    • Q4 2024 revenues registered $237.2 million, an increase of 6.7% QoQ, significantly exceeding guidance range of a slight decrease to flat, primarily driven by stronger order momentum across product lines
    • Q4 2024 Gross margin reached 30.5%, exceeding guidance of flat to slightly up, driven by a favorable product mix and cost improvements. Up from 30.0% in the Q3 2024
    • Q4 2024 after-tax profit was $24.6M, or 14.0 cents per diluted ADS, considerably above the guidance range of 9.3 cents to 11.0 cents
    • Company’s full year 2024 revenues were $906.8 million, and gross margin was 30.5%. 2024 profit attributable to shareholders was $0.46 per fully diluted ADS
    • Company’s Q1 2025 revenues to decline 8.5% to 12.5% QoQ, reflecting the low season demand due to Lunar New Year holidays. The Q1 revenue guidance implies flat to 4.6% increase YoY. Gross margin to be around 30.5%, up from 29.3% same quarter last year. Profit per diluted ADS to be in the range of 9.0 cents to 11.0 cents, implying the increase of 26% to 54% YoY
    • Himax sales revenues in each quarter of 2024 consistently outperformed guidance, demonstrating its ability to handle most of rush orders, underscoring its strong ability in inventory management and swift market responsiveness
    • Full year 2024 automotive driver IC sales increased nearly 20% YoY, significantly outpacing global automotive growth, largely driven by the continued TDDI adoption among major customers across all continents. Himax continues to reinforce its market leadership in automotive TDDI, holding well over 50% market share
    • Himax’s WLO technology plays a critical role in CPO by providing essential optical coupling capability, making it a core element of the solution. Small-scale production of the first-gen CPO underway, with acceleration of future CPO generation development, in close collaboration with AI customers/partners. Company believes prospect of CPO remains unchanged
    • WiseEye, building on the success with Dell, has achieved notable progress with other leading NB brands. Also made breakthroughs in smart door lock, palm vein authentication and smart home. Himax anticipates a strong growth trajectory in WiseEye business in 2025 and beyond
    • At CES 2025, Himax showcased a wide range of innovative achievements, including automotive display technology, WiseEye AI, and advanced optical technologies for AR/VR
    • Rising enthusiasm in AR glasses with Gen AI in CES 2025. Himax offers three critical technologies for AR glasses, namely LCoS microdisplay, WLO waveguide, and ultralow power WiseEye AI
    • Himax is well-positioned to capitalize on the trend of the premium NB to adopt OLED displays and touch features. Confident to lead in the rapidly evolving landscape of AI PCs and premium NB, offering a comprehensive IC portfolio for both LCD and OLED NB

    TAINAN, Taiwan, Feb. 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Himax Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: HIMX) (“Himax” or “Company”), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2024 ended December 31, 2024.

    “In 2024, our sales revenues in each quarter consistently outperformed guidance. We have consistently demonstrated our ability to handle most of rush orders, underscoring our agility, adaptability, strong capabilities in inventory management, and swift market responsiveness,” said Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax.

    “At CES this year, Himax showcased a wide range of innovative achievements, including automotive display technology, WiseEye AI, and advanced optical technologies for AR/VR. Notably, a clear trend emerged at this year’s CES as the industry demonstrated growing enthusiasm for AR glasses, fueled by more companies entering the space and integrating generative AI to accelerate the development of lightweight, compact, and all-day AR glasses. For AR glasses, Himax offers three critical technologies, namely LCoS microdisplay, WLO waveguide, and ultralow power WiseEye AI,” continued Mr. Jordan Wu.

    “Himax’s WLO technology plays a critical role in CPO by providing essential optical coupling capability, making it a core element of the solution. The prospect of CPO remains unchanged and the widespread adoption of CPO for data transmission to be conducted via optics instead of metal wire is on track in high-performance AI applications. Through WLO and CPO technologies, Himax is well-positioned to engage in the high-speed AI computing market with high expectations for its growth,” concluded Mr. Jordan Wu.

    Fourth Quarter 2024 Financial Results

    Himax net revenues registered $237.2 million, an increase of 6.7% sequentially, significantly exceeding Company’s guidance range of a slight decrease to flat, and up 4.2% year-over-year. Gross margin reached 30.5%, exceeding its guidance of flat to slightly up from 30.0% in the previous quarter, and up from 30.3% in the same period last year. The sequential increase was driven by a favorable product mix and cost improvements. Q4 profit per diluted ADS was 14.0 cents, considerably above the guidance range of 9.3 cents to 11.0 cents, thanks to better-than-expected revenues and improved costs.

    Revenue from large display drivers came in at $25.0 million, reflecting a 18.6% sequential decline. The decrease was primarily attributed to continued customer destocking after substantial Q2 replenishment for shopping festivals, as well as heightened price competition from Chinese peers. Sales of large panel driver ICs accounted for 10.5% of total revenues for the quarter, compared to 13.8% last quarter and 14.8% a year ago.

    Small and medium-sized display driver segment totaled $166.8 million, an increase of 7.4% sequentially, exceeding its guidance of flat quarter-over-quarter, thanks to stronger-than-expected sales in the automotive and tablet markets. Q4 automotive driver sales, including both traditional DDIC and TDDI, experienced mid-teens increase, significantly outperforming Company’s expectation of a single digit increase, with both DDIC and TDDI showing stronger-than-expected sales. This surge was primarily driven by continued rush orders from Chinese panel customers, carried over from Q3, following the Chinese government’s renewed trade-in stimulus initiative announced in mid-August 2024 to boost automobile consumption. Remarkably, Himax’s Q4 automotive TDDI sales have exceeded DDIC sales for the first time, underscoring the global adoption of Company’s TDDI solutions, which are increasingly essential in modern vehicles, and reflects the growing demand for more intuitive, interactive, and cost-effective touch panel features powered by TDDI technology. Himax’s automotive business, comprising drivers, Tcon, and OLED IC sales, accounted for around 50% of total Q4 revenues. Meanwhile, Q4 tablet IC sales exceeded the guidance of a low teens decline, with sales up slightly sequentially driven by rush orders from leading end customers. Q4 smartphone IC sales declined slightly, in line with its guidance. The small and medium-sized driver IC segment accounted for 70.3% of total sales for the quarter, compared to 69.9% in the previous quarter and 71.6% a year ago.

    Fourth quarter revenues from its non-driver business reached $45.4 million, exceeding the guidance range, with a 24.9% increase from the previous quarter. The growth was primarily driven by a one-time ASIC Tcon product shipment to a leading projector customer and Tcon for monitor application. In Q4, automotive Tcon sales continued to grow sequentially, due to the widespread adoption of Himax’s market-leading local dimming Tcon with over two hundred secured design-win projects across major panel makers, Tier 1 suppliers, and automotive manufacturers worldwide. Non-driver products accounted for 19.2% of total revenues, as compared to 16.3% in the previous quarter and 13.6% a year ago.  

    Fourth quarter operating expenses were $49.2 million, a decrease of 19.1% from the previous quarter and a decline of 6.0% from a year ago. The sequential decrease stemmed primarily from a reduction in annual employee bonuses, partially offset by an increase in R&D expenses. As part of Company’s standard practice, Himax grants annual bonuses, including cash and RSUs, to employees at the end of September each year. This results in higher IFRS operating expenses in the third quarter compared to the other quarters of the year. The year-over-year decrease was mainly due to a decline in employee bonus compensation as the amortized portion of prior year’s bonuses for 2023 was higher than that for 2024, offsetting the higher annual bonus compensation grant for 2024 compared to 2023. Amid ongoing macroeconomic challenges, Himax is strictly enforcing budget and expense controls, with full-year 2024 operating expenses declining 5.6% compared to last year.

    Fourth quarter operating income was $23.1 million or 9.7% of sales, compared to 2.6% of sales last quarter and 7.3% of sales for the same period last year. The sequential increase was primarily the result of higher sales, improved gross margin, and lower operating expenses. The year-over-year increase was primarily the result of higher sales, higher gross margin, and lower employee bonus compensation due to the amortized portion of the prior year’s bonuses. Fourth-quarter after-tax profit was $24.6 million, or 14.0 cents per diluted ADS, reflecting a meaningful increase from $13.0 million, or 7.4 cents per diluted ADS last quarter, and up from $23.6 million, or 13.5 cents in the same period last year.

    Full Year 2024 Financial

    Revenues totaled $906.8 million, a slight decline of 4.1% compared to 2023. Persistent global demand weakness, coupled with uncertainty about market trends, led to conservative purchasing decisions and inventory management by Company’s panel customers. Given this uncertainty, Himax implemented strict expense controls, resulting in a 5.6% reduction in operating expenses for the year. However, Company’s optimism in the automotive business remains unwavering, with automotive IC sales increasing by nearly 20% year-over-year in 2024, far outpacing the overall automotive market growth. Among Company’s automotive product lines, automotive TDDI and Tcon sales, both relatively new technologies, surged by more than 70%, driven by accelerated adoption across the board. This growth strengthened Company’s market leadership and positions Himax well for continued success as the automotive sector embraces more advanced technology resulting from the mega trend of increasing size, quantity, and sophistication of displays inside vehicles.

    Revenue from large panel display drivers totaled $125.9 million in 2024, marking a decrease of 28.3% year-over-year, and representing 13.9% of total sales, as compared to 18.6% in 2023. Small and medium-sized driver sales totaled $625.4 million, reflecting a slight decrease of 0.6% year-over-year, and accounting for 69.0% of its total revenues, as compared to 66.5% in 2023. Non-driver product sales totaled $155.5 million, an increase of 10.6% year-over-year, and representing 17.1% of Company’s total sales, as compared to 14.9% a year ago.

    Gross margin in 2024 was 30.5%, up from 27.9% in 2023. The margin expansion was driven by a strategic focus on cost improvements and operational efficiency optimization, combined with a favorable product mix that included a higher percentage of high-margin products such as automotive and Tcon. The successful diversification of foundry sources also contributed to the margin increase.

    Operating expenses in 2024 were $208.0 million, a decline of 5.6% from 2023, primarily due to lower employee bonus compensation, as the amortized portion of bonuses in 2023 was higher than that in 2024. 2024 operating income was $68.2 million, or 7.5% of sales, an increase from $43.2 million, or 4.6% of sales, in 2023. Himax’s net profit for 2024 was $79.8 million, or $0.46 per diluted ADS, significantly up from $50.6 million, or $0.29 per diluted ADS in 2023.

    Balance Sheet and Cash Flow

    Himax had $224.6 million of cash, cash equivalents and other financial assets as of December 31, 2024. This compares to $206.4 million at the same time last year and $206.5 million a quarter ago. Himax achieved a strong positive operating cash flow of $35.4 million for the fourth quarter, compared to a cash outflow of $3.1 million in Q3. Company made a total of $30.1 million annual cash bonus to employees, resulting in the low operating cash flow of the quarter. As of December 31, 2024, Himax had $34.5 million in long-term unsecured loans, with $6.0 million representing the current portion.

    The Company’s inventories as of December 31, 2024 were $158.7 million, lower than $192.5 million last quarter and $217.3 million at the end of last year. Company’s inventory levels have steadily declined over the past couple of quarters and are now at a healthy level. Accounts receivable at the end of December 2024 was $236.8 million, little changed from $224.6 million last quarter and $235.8 million a year ago. DSO was 96 days at the quarter end, as compared to 92 days last quarter and 91 days a year ago. Fourth quarter capital expenditures were $3.2 million, versus $2.6 million last quarter and $15.1 million a year ago. Fourth quarter capex was mainly for R&D related equipment for Company’s IC design business. Total capital expenditures for 2024 were $13.1 million as compared to $23.4 million in 2023. The decrease was primarily due to reduced spending on in-house testers for Company’s IC design business in 2024.

    Outstanding Share

    As of December 31, 2024, Himax had 174.9 million ADS outstanding, little changed from last quarter. On a fully diluted basis, the total number of ADS outstanding for the fourth quarter was 175.1 million.  

    Q1 2025 Outlook

    In 2024, Himax’s sales revenues in each quarter consistently outperformed guidance. While this strong performance is certainly commendable, it also highlights the challenges Company faced such as limited market visibility and conservative customer demand, where many customers relied on rush orders to address their actual demands. On the other hand, rush orders are indicative of the tight inventory position of Company’s panel customers in general. In the past few quarters, Himax has consistently demonstrated its ability to handle most of such rush orders, underscoring Company’s agility, adaptability, strong capabilities in inventory management, and swift market responsiveness.

    The automotive IC sales remained Company’s largest revenue contributor in 2024, accounting for almost half of total revenues and achieving close to 20% annual growth. This performance highlights Himax’s automotive leadership in technological innovations, product development, and market share. Looking ahead, Himax expects its automotive TDDI and Tcon technologies to maintain growth momentum, further strengthening its market competitiveness. Beyond LCD technology, Himax is advancing development in the automotive OLED sector, with numerous projects currently underway in partnership with leading panel makers. Company anticipates that automotive OLED IC will serve as one of the key growth drivers for Himax in the coming years, further solidifying its leadership in automotive display market.

    Meanwhile, Himax is actively expanding its technology development beyond display ICs. To that end, in the WiseEye AI segment, Company has made notable progress with leading notebook brands and achieved significant breakthroughs in smart door lock, palm vein authentication, and smart home applications, collaborating with world-leading customers to develop new innovations. Himax anticipates a strong growth trajectory in its WiseEye business in 2025 and beyond.

    Himax’s proprietary wafer-level optics (WLO) technology for co-packaged optics (CPO) has recently garnered significant attention in the capital markets. In fact, as early as June 2024, Himax and FOCI, a global leader in silicon photonics connectors, jointly announced the industry-leading CPO technology. The collaboration, spanning several years, unites Himax’s WLO technology with FOCI’s CPO solutions for cutting-edge AI multi-chip modules (MCM). Since the announcement, Himax has provided updates on the latest progress in each quarterly earnings call. Himax’s WLO technology plays a critical role in CPO by providing essential optical coupling capability, making it a core element of the solution. CPO significantly enhances bandwidth and accelerates data transmission while reducing signal loss, latency, and power consumption. Additionally, it can help drastically decrease the size and cost of MCM.

    While CPO is still in engineering validation and trial production stage this year, with customer’s mass production timelines undisclosed and the recent AI market disruptions from DeepSeek, the prospect of CPO remains unchanged. The widespread adoption of CPO for data transmission to be conducted via optics instead of metal wire is on track in high-performance AI applications. This is evident by the significant increase in customer’s recent trial production volume forecast, indicating an accelerated timeline for CPO technology to enter mass production. Furthermore, Himax and FOCI, in close collaboration with leading AI customers and partners, are actively developing future generations of CPO technologies to meet the explosive high-speed optical data transmission demand in HPC and AI. Through WLO and CPO technologies, Himax is well-positioned to engage in the high-speed AI computing market with high expectations for its growth. Company believes that CPO technology, beyond cloud applications, will see further adoption in sectors such as automotive and robot in the future. Himax’s current goal is to accelerate CPO adoption in cloud applications, thereby helping drive broader CPO adoption in AI applications.

    At CES this year, Himax showcased a wide range of innovative achievements, including automotive display technology, WiseEye AI, and advanced optical technologies for AR/VR. Notably, a clear trend emerged at this year’s CES as the industry demonstrated growing enthusiasm for AR glasses, fueled by more companies entering the space and integrating generative AI to accelerate the development of lightweight, compact, and all-day AR glasses. For AR glasses, Himax offers three critical technologies, namely LCoS microdisplay, WLO waveguide, and ultralow power WiseEye AI. Company’s latest, patented Front-lit LCoS Microdisplay delivers unparalleled brightness with an industry-leading 400k nits, exceptional optical power efficiency, compact form factor, lightweight, and superior display quality, making it one of the most viable solutions in the see-through AR glasses market. In waveguide, in collaboration with leading tech names, Himax leverages proprietary WLO expertise, built on advanced nanoimprint technology, to offer industry-leading optical solutions that optimize light transmission and display efficiency. In the field of AI sensing for AR glasses, Himax’s WiseEye provides always-on AI sensing capabilities which are being applied by developers to significantly enhance AR interactivity while consuming just a few milliwatts of power.

    In automotive display IC technology, Himax unveiled the industry’s most comprehensive LCD and OLED solutions at CES, showcasing a range of next-generation smart cabin technologies. These solutions not only improve the intuitive operation of smart cabins but also enhance driving safety and provide an exceptional user experience. A prime example is the advanced Display HMI solution developed in collaboration with AUO which meets the demands for large-size, high-resolution, and freeform automotive displays.

    At CES, Himax also partnered with several AI ecosystem partners to showcase its ultralow power WiseEye Modules over a range of innovative, production-ready AIoT applications. These applications include palm vein authentication, baby cry detection, people flow management, and human sensing detection. The modules are designed for easy integration, making it highly suitable for various AIoT applications.

    Display Driver IC Businesses

    LDDIC

    In Q1 2025, Himax anticipates a single digit sequential sales increase for large display driver ICs, driven by demand spurred by Chinese government subsidies for household appliances aimed at reviving demand in the sluggish household sector. Notebook and monitor sales are expected to increase in Q1. In contrast, TV IC sales are set to decline as customers pulled forward their inventory purchases in the prior quarter, coupled with the seasonal slowdown in Q1.

    Looking ahead in the notebook sector, Company is seeing an increase in demand for premium notebooks to adopt OLED displays and touch features, partially fueled by the rise of AI PC. Himax is well-positioned to capitalize on this trend, offering a comprehensive range of ICs for both LCD and OLED notebooks, including DDIC, Tcon, touch controllers, and TDDI. A standout innovation is Company’s pioneering in-cell touch TDDI for LCD displays, which improves the ease of system design and integration by embedding the touch controller within the TDDI chip while maintaining the conventional display driver setup for Tcon data transmission. This design simplifies integration for customers, reducing engineering complexity and speeding up product development. This solution also supports high-resolution displays up to 4K and larger screens up to 16 inches, aligning with the growing demand for advanced, visually stunning, and immersive laptops. With mass production already underway for a leading notebook vendor’s AI PC, more projects are lined up. For OLED notebooks, in addition to Company’s OLED DDIC and Tcon solutions, Himax is also developing on-cell touch controller technology, with multiple projects underway with top panel makers and notebook vendors. Last but not least, progress has been made on the next-generation eDP 1.5 display interface for Tcon for both LCD and OLED panels. This interface will support high frame rates, low power consumption, adaptive sync, and high resolution, key features essential for next-generation AI PCs. By delivering innovative, cutting-edge technologies, Himax is well-positioned to lead in the rapidly evolving landscape of AI PCs and premium notebooks.

    SMDDIC

    On SMDDIC revenue, for the full year 2024, Himax’s automotive driver IC sales, comprising of TDDI and traditional DDIC, increased nearly 20% year-over-year, significantly outpacing global automotive growth, largely driven by the continued adoption of TDDI technology among major customers across all continents. However, Himax anticipates Q1 automotive revenue to decline low teens sequentially, following two quarters of surge demand. Despite this, Q1 automotive sales are still projected to increase by mid-teens on a year-over-year basis. In the automotive TDDI sector, with cumulative shipments significantly surpassing those of Himax’s competitors, Company continues to reinforce its market leadership, which currently stands at well over 50%. With nearly 500 design-in projects secured and a continuous influx of new pipeline and design-wins across the board, of which only 30% already in mass production, Himax expects to sustain this decent growth in the years ahead. While traditional automotive DDIC sales for 2024 declined due to their gradual, partial replacement by TDDI, Company’s DDIC shipment volume still saw a modest increase in the last year. This demonstrates the steady demand for mature DDIC products, such as those used in cluster displays, HUDs, and rear- and side-view mirrors, which do not require touch functionality. Furthermore, the long-term trust and loyalty from Company’s DDIC customers, some of whom have relied on Himax’s solutions for over a decade, is indicative of Company’s strong customer retention. Himax continues to lead the automotive DDIC market, maintaining a global market share of approximately 40%.

    Himax continues to lead in automotive display IC innovation by pioneering solutions that deliver superior performance, power efficiency, and enhanced user experiences. As part of this ongoing innovation, Company’s latest TED (Tcon Embedded Driver IC) solution, which combines TDDI with local dimming Tcon into a single chip, provides a cost-effective, flexible, and comprehensive solution for its customers. Another new technology worth highlighting is Himax’s automotive TDDI with advanced user-aware touch control, which differentiates between driver and passenger touches to prevent cross-touch and enhance driving safety. In addition, Company offers a unique knob-on-in-cell-display solution that combines a physical knob with a TDDI. This design seamlessly merges in-cell touch technology with tactile controls, offering drivers a safer, more intuitive interaction that reduces distractions and enhances the overall driving experience.

    Moving to smartphone and tablet IC sales, Himax expects a sequential decline in both product lines, as is typical during the low season in Q1 due to the Lunar New Year.

    On OLED business update. In the automotive OLED market, Company has established strategic partnerships with leading panel makers in Korea, China, and Japan. As OLED technology extends beyond premium car models, Himax is well-positioned as the preferred partner, leveraging Company’s strong presence and proven track record in the automotive LCD display sector. Capitalizing on Himax’s first-mover advantage, Himax aims to drive the growing adoption of OLED in automotive displays by offering a comprehensive range of solutions, including DDIC, Tcon, and on-cell touch controller. Company believes this positions it as a primary beneficiary of the anticipated shift toward OLED displays for high end vehicles in a couple of years, enabling Himax to capture new growth opportunities and further strengthen its market leadership.

    Beyond the automotive sector, Company has also made strides in the tablet and notebook markets, partnering with leading OLED panel makers in Korea and China. Himax’s comprehensive OLED product portfolio, covering DDIC, Tcon, and touch controllers, has driven several new projects that are on track to begin mass production this year. In the smartphone OLED market, Company is making solid progress in collaborations with customers in Korea and China and anticipates mass production to start later this year.

    First quarter small and medium-sized display driver IC business is expected to decline low teens sequentially.

    Non-Driver Product Categories

    Q1 non-driver IC revenues are expected to decrease high teens sequentially.

    Timing Controller (Tcon)

    Himax anticipates Q1 2025 Tcon sales to decrease mid-teens sequentially, primarily due to the non-recurrence of a one-time ASIC Tcon shipment to a leading projector customer last quarter, as well as a moderation in automotive Tcon shipments following several quarters of strong growth. That being said, Himax maintains an unchallenged position in local dimming Tcon, evidenced by growing validation and widespread adoption in both premium and mainstream car models worldwide. Company is confident in the continued growth of its automotive Tcon business, supported by its strong market presence in local dimming Tcon, with strong pipeline of over two hundred design-win projects set to gradually enter production in the coming years. Heads-up display (HUD) is another field gaining traction within automotive displays, driving increased adoption of local dimming Tcon technology and emerging as a particularly promising application. Himax’s industry-leading local dimming Tcon provides distinct advancements with high contrast ratio and optimized power consumption. It effectively eliminates the “postcard effect” often seen in HUDs, caused by backlight leakage typical of conventional TFT LCD panels, ensuring clear and precise images on the windshield. Additionally, the Tcon features advanced transparency detection to prevent the display from obstructing the driver’s view, thereby ensuring driving safety. Several HUD projects are already in progress, and Himax is excited about the potential opportunities ahead. Company is well positioned for continuous growth in automotive Tcon over the next few years.

    WiseEye™ Ultralow Power AI Sensing

    On the update of WiseEye™ ultralow power AI sensing solution, a cutting-edge endpoint AI integration featuring industry-leading ultralow power AI processor, always-on CMOS image sensor, and CNN-based AI algorithm. WiseEye AI delivers a significant competitive edge in the rapidly growing AI market through its ultralow power consumption and context-aware, on-device AI inferencing that seamlessly integrates vision and other sensing capabilities into endpoint applications, particularly battery-powered devices. This not only enhances intuitive user interaction but also makes AI more practical and accessible. Additionally, WiseEye AI offloads tasks from the main processor, effectively extending battery lifespan and improving overall data processing efficiency. Building on the success with Dell notebooks, Himax WiseEye AI is continuing to expand its market presence, with additional use cases expected across other leading notebook brands, some of which are set for production later this year.

    WiseEye also continues to achieve significant market success across various sectors. For smart door lock, Company collaborated with DESMAN, a leading high-end brand in China, to introduce the world’s first smart door lock with 24/7 sentry monitoring and real-time event recording. Building on this achievement, Himax is expanding globally by collaborating with other leading door lock makers worldwide to integrate innovative AI features, including parcel recognition, anti-pinch protection, and palm vein biometric access, further extending application possibilities. Several of these value-added solutions are set to enter production later this year. At CES 2025, Himax joined forces with ecosystem partners to unveil a suite of innovative, production-ready AIoT applications, powered by Company’s tiny form factor, plug-and-play WiseEye Modules. Himax offers a series of modules, each incorporating an ultralow power WiseEye AI processor, an AoS image sensor, and advanced algorithms. The modules feature no-code/low-code AI platform capabilities, simplifying AI integration and supporting diverse use cases, such as human presence detection, gender and age recognition, gesture recognition, face mesh, voice command, thermal image sensing, pose estimation and people flow management. By streamlining deployment and reducing development costs, WiseEye Modules open new opportunities for automation, enhance interactivity, and elevate user experiences across a variety of industries.

    A broad range of innovative, ultralow power WiseEye Modules are also under development in collaboration with ecosystem partners, such as crying baby detection, dynamic gesture recognition, and human sensing, among others. One standout in Himax’s WiseEye Module portfolio is the Himax WiseEye PalmVein solution, which has quickly gained traction since its introduction just one year ago. Company has secured multiple design wins, with mass production already underway by a US customer for smart access applications and a Taiwan-based door lock vendor for its leading smart door lock brands. To meet growing customer demand for flexibility across various environments, the upgraded WiseEye PalmVein suite now features bimodal authentication, combining both palm vein and face recognitions. This dual-authentication solution enhances security by offering two layers of biometric verification, which not only increases reliability but also makes it highly adaptable to various environments.

    The rise of physical AI agents marks a significant shift in human-machine interaction, enabling devices to perceive, process, and respond to their surroundings in real time. A key emerging trend is the integration of cloud-based large language models (LLMs), which enables these agents’ advanced reasoning and language understanding, enhancing their ability to interact with and adapt to the physical world. Himax WiseEye AI is at the forefront of this revolution, delivering always-on sensor fusion, ultralow power on-device processing, while seamlessly interfacing with LLMs, to provide the essential real-time AI capabilities for next-generation applications. A good illustration of this innovation was showcased at CES 2025, where Himax and Seeed Studio introduced the SenseCAP Watcher, a physical AI agent powered by WiseEye AI. Equipped with vision and audio sensor fusion, along with a speaker, this battery-powered IoT device combines on-device AI with cloud-based LLMs to interpret commands, recognize objects, respond to events, and facilitate real-time interaction. Drawing from the success of SenseCAP Watcher, Himax is actively working on multiple projects leveraging WiseEye AI to further drive advancements in physical AI agent applications.

    Separately, Himax is excited about its collaboration with a leading AR player to integrate WiseEye AI into the next generation of AR glasses. At CES, there was a renewed enthusiasm on AR glasses with AI becoming an integral component to enable intuitive and seamless human-device interaction. WiseEye AI addresses two critical challenges in AR glasses, namely real-time responsiveness and power efficiency. For example, WiseEye supports always-on outward sensing, enabling AR glasses to detect and analyze the surrounding environment with real time context-aware AI. This capability powers instant response, real-time object recognition, navigation assistance, translation, and environmental mapping, enhancing the overall AR experience. Notably, WiseEye AI’s exceptional ultralow power consumption, measured in single digit milliwatts, also make it perfectly suited for AR glasses for all-day wear. In another example, Company collaborates with Ganzin on eyeball tracking technology, which, powered by WiseEye, precisely detects subtle eyeball movements, gaze direction, pupil size, and blinking, thereby providing critical data for the enhancement of user interaction in AR glasses.

    Wafer Level Optics (WLO)

    In June 2024, Himax, in partnership with FOCI, a world leader in silicon photonics connector, unveiled an industry-leading co-packaged optics (CPO) technology, leveraging Himax state-of-the-art WLO technology. This innovation integrates silicon photonic chips and optical connectors within MCM, replacing traditional metal wire transmission with high-speed optical communication. The technology significantly enhances bandwidth, boosts data transmission rates, reduces signal loss and latency, lowers power consumption, and significantly minimizes the size and cost of MCM. In working closely with FOCI, Himax is making significant strides through a solid partnership with leading AI semiconductor companies and foundry, with small-scale production of the first-generation CPO solution already underway. The significant increase in Q1 engineering validation and trial production volume, combined with the anticipated sample volume increases in the coming quarters, is a strong indication that CPO technology is being accelerated toward mass production. In addition, in close collaboration with leading AI customers/partners, Himax is speeding up the development of CPO technology for the next few generations. Himax is more optimistic than ever about the outlook for its WLO business, which is poised to generate significant growth opportunities and become a major revenue and profit contributor in the years ahead.

    Alongside the CPO progress, Company is witnessing a rise in engineering collaborations with global technology leaders who are utilizing Himax’s WLO expertise to make advanced waveguides for AR glasses, highlighting the growing recognition of Company’s WLO capabilities.

    LCoS

    On the update on LCoS, Company recently introduced its industry-leading 400K nits ultra-luminous Front-lit LCoS Microdisplay, setting a new benchmark for brightness with extremely low power consumption of merely 300mW. At CES 2025, Company showcased an AR glasses POC (Proof-Of-Concept) featuring the microdisplay with a third-party waveguide, achieving over 1,000 nits of brightness to the eye. This demonstration highlighted its suitability for outdoor, high ambient light conditions. With a lightweight of just 0.98 grams and ultra-compact form factor of less than 0.5 c.c., combined with excellent color performance, Himax’s Front-lit LCoS Microdisplay is ideal for all-day AR glasses and underscores the technology’s readiness for real-world applications.

    Following the recent release of Himax’s 400K nits ultra-luminous Front-lit LCoS Microdisplay, Himax is actively engaged in significant projects through strategic collaborations with industry leaders. Himax’s proven track record of over a decade in LCoS technology, coupled with a history of successful production shipments, highlights Company’s readiness to meet the demands of large-scale production of AR glasses.

    First Quarter 2025 Guidance
    Net Revenue: Decrease 8.5% to 12.5% QoQ, Flat to Up 4.6% YoY
    Gross Margin: Around 30.5%, depending on final product mix
    Profit: 9.0 cents to 11.0 cents per diluted ADS, Up 26% to 54% YoY  
       

    Himax noticed that some peers’ customers placed orders early due to tariff factors, especially in the consumer electronics sector, resulting in Q1 revenue forecasts exceeding normal seasonal demand. In contrast, no similar trend has been observed in the automotive semiconductor market. Since Himax’s automotive business accounts for more than half of its total revenues, Himax’s Q1 revenue forecast has not benefited from tariff factors.

    HIMAX TECHNOLOGIES FOURTH QUARTER AND FULL YEAR 2024 EARNINGS CONFERENCE CALL
    DATE: Thursday, February 13, 2025
    TIME: U.S.       8:00 a.m. EST
    Taiwan  9:00 p.m.
       
    Live Webcast (Video and Audio): http://www.zucast.com/webcast/br8wqbB4
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    Participant PIN Code: 3329013 # 
       

    If you choose to attend the call by dialing in via phone, please enter the Participant PIN Code 3329013 # after the call is connected. A replay of the webcast will be available beginning two hours after the call on www.himax.com.tw. This webcast can be accessed by clicking on this link or Himax’s website, where it will remain available until February 13, 2026.

    About Himax Technologies, Inc.
    Himax Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: HIMX) is a leading global fabless semiconductor solution provider dedicated to display imaging processing technologies. The Company’s display driver ICs and timing controllers have been adopted at scale across multiple industries worldwide including TVs, PC monitors, laptops, mobile phones, tablets, automotive, ePaper devices, industrial displays, among others. As the global market share leader in automotive display technology, the Company offers innovative and comprehensive automotive IC solutions, including traditional driver ICs, advanced in-cell Touch and Display Driver Integration (TDDI), local dimming timing controllers (Local Dimming Tcon), Large Touch and Display Driver Integration (LTDI) and OLED display technologies. Himax is also a pioneer in tinyML visual-AI and optical technology related fields. The Company’s industry-leading WiseEye™ Ultralow Power AI Sensing technology which incorporates Himax proprietary ultralow power AI processor, always-on CMOS image sensor, and CNN-based AI algorithm has been widely deployed in consumer electronics and AIoT related applications. Himax optics technologies, such as diffractive wafer level optics, LCoS microdisplays and 3D sensing solutions, are critical for facilitating emerging AR/VR/metaverse technologies. Additionally, Himax designs and provides touch controllers, OLED ICs, LED ICs, EPD ICs, power management ICs, and CMOS image sensors for diverse display application coverage. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Tainan, Taiwan, Himax currently employs around 2,200 people from three Taiwan-based offices in Tainan, Hsinchu and Taipei and country offices in China, Korea, Japan, Germany, and the US. Himax has 2,649 patents granted and 402 patents pending approval worldwide as of December 31, 2024.

    http://www.himax.com.tw

    Forward Looking Statements

    Factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those described in this conference call include, but are not limited to, the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Company’s business; general business and economic conditions and the state of the semiconductor industry; market acceptance and competitiveness of the driver and non-driver products developed by the Company; demand for end-use applications products; reliance on a small group of principal customers; the uncertainty of continued success in technological innovations; our ability to develop and protect our intellectual property; pricing pressures including declines in average selling prices; changes in customer order patterns; changes in estimated full-year effective tax rate; shortage in supply of key components; changes in environmental laws and regulations; changes in export license regulated by Export Administration Regulations (EAR); exchange rate fluctuations; regulatory approvals for further investments in our subsidiaries; our ability to collect accounts receivable and manage inventory and other risks described from time to time in the Company’s SEC filings, including those risks identified in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in its Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2023 filed with the SEC, as may be amended.

    Company Contacts:

    Eric Li, Chief IR/PR Officer
    Himax Technologies, Inc.
    Tel: +886-6-505-0880
    Fax: +886-2-2314-0877
    Email: hx_ir@himax.com.tw
    www.himax.com.tw
      
    Karen Tiao, Investor Relations
    Himax Technologies, Inc.
    Tel: +886-2-2370-3999
    Fax: +886-2-2314-0877
    Email: hx_ir@himax.com.tw
    www.himax.com.tw

    Mark Schwalenberg, Director
    Investor Relations – US Representative
    MZ North America
    Tel: +1-312-261-6430
    Email: HIMX@mzgroup.us
    www.mzgroup.us

    -Financial Tables-

    Himax Technologies, Inc.
    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Profit or Loss
    (These interim financials do not fully comply with IFRS because they omit all interim disclosure required by IFRS)
    (Amounts in Thousands of U.S. Dollars, Except Share and Per Share Data)
      Three Months
    Ended December 31,
    		   3 Months
    Ended
    September 30,
        2024       2023       2024  
               
    Revenues          
    Revenues from third parties, net $ 237,182     $ 227,664     $ 222,401  
    Revenues from related parties, net   41       14       6  
        237,223       227,678       222,407  
               
    Costs and expenses:          
    Cost of revenues   164,963       158,669       155,795  
    Research and development   37,584       41,088       46,880  
    General and administrative   5,711       5,831       6,828  
    Sales and marketing   5,886       5,409       7,048  
    Total costs and expenses   214,144       210,997       216,551  
               
    Operating income   23,079       16,681       5,856  
               
    Non operating income (loss):          
    Interest income   2,042       1,934       2,297  
    Changes in fair value of financial assets at fair value through profit or loss   1,245       1,710       27  
    Foreign currency exchange gains (losses), net   690       (1,525 )     457  
    Finance costs   (964 )     (1,140 )     (1,018 )
    Share of losses of associates   (360 )     (14 )     (143 )
    Other losses   –       (1,932 )     –  
    Other income (losses)   60       (362 )     105  
        2,713       (1,329 )     1,725  
    Profit before income taxes   25,792       15,352       7,581  
    Income tax expense (benefit)   761       (7,933 )     (5,174 )
    Profit for the period   25,031       23,285       12,755  
    Loss (profit) attributable to noncontrolling interests   (423 )     280       268  
    Profit attributable to Himax Technologies, Inc. stockholders $ 24,608     $ 23,565     $ 13,023  
               
    Basic earnings per ADS attributable to Himax Technologies, Inc. stockholders $ 0.141     $ 0.135     $ 0.075  
    Diluted earnings per ADS attributable to Himax Technologies, Inc. stockholders $ 0.140     $ 0.135     $ 0.074  
               
    Basic Weighted Average Outstanding ADS   175,008       174,724       174,727  
    Diluted Weighted Average Outstanding ADS   175,146       174,979       174,987  
    Himax Technologies, Inc.
    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Profit or Loss
    (Amounts in Thousands of U.S. Dollars, Except Share and Per Share Data)
       
        Twelve Months
    Ended December 31,
          2024       2023  
             
    Revenues        
    Revenues from third parties, net   $ 906,737     $ 945,309  
    Revenues from related parties, net     65       119  
          906,802       945,428  
             
    Costs and expenses:        
    Cost of revenues     630,601       681,931  
    Research and development     160,329       171,392  
    General and administrative     24,121       25,037  
    Sales and marketing     23,530       23,856  
    Total costs and expenses     838,581       902,216  
             
    Operating income     68,221       43,212  
             
    Non operating income (loss):        
    Interest income     9,907       8,746  
    Changes in fair value of financial assets at fair value through profit or loss     1,363       1,655  
    Foreign currency exchange gains (losses), net     2,491       (768 )
    Finance costs     (4,014 )     (6,080 )
    Share of losses of associates     (831 )     (598 )
    Other losses     –       (1,932 )
    Other income     198       158  
          9,114       1,181  
    Profit before income taxes     77,335       44,393  
    Income tax benefit     (2,435 )     (5,028 )
    Profit for the period     79,770       49,421  
    Loss (profit) attributable to noncontrolling interests     (15 )     1,195  
    Profit attributable to Himax Technologies, Inc. stockholders   $ 79,755     $ 50,616  
             
    Basic earnings per ADS attributable to Himax Technologies, Inc. stockholders   $ 0.456     $ 0.290  
    Diluted earnings per ADS attributable to Himax Technologies, Inc. stockholders   $ 0.456     $ 0.290  
             
    Basic Weighted Average Outstanding ADS     174,796       174,495  
    Diluted Weighted Average Outstanding ADS     175,014       174,783  
    Himax Technologies, Inc.
    IFRS Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Position
    (Amounts in Thousands of U.S. Dollars)
     
        December 31,
    2024    		   December 31,
    2023    		   September 30,
    2024
    Assets            
    Current assets:            
    Cash and cash equivalents   $ 218,148     $ 191,749     $ 194,139  
    Financial assets at amortized cost     4,286       12,511       12,335  
    Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss     2,140       2,117       –  
    Accounts receivable, net (including related parties)     236,813       235,829       224,589  
    Inventories     158,746       217,308       192,458  
    Income taxes receivable     726       1,454       986  
    Restricted deposit     503,700       453,000       503,700  
    Other receivable from related parties     13       69       22  
    Other current assets     43,471       86,548       42,581  
    Total current assets     1,168,043       1,200,585       1,170,810  
    Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss     23,554       21,650       26,383  
    Financial assets at fair value through other comprehensive income     28,226       1,635       22,457  
    Equity method investments     8,571       3,490       2,945  
    Property, plant and equipment, net     121,280       130,109       122,333  
    Deferred tax assets     21,193       14,196       13,806  
    Goodwill     28,138       28,138       28,138  
    Other intangible assets, net     636       816       717  
    Restricted deposit     31       32       31  
    Refundable deposits     221,824       222,025       221,879  
    Other non-current assets     18,025       20,728       18,484  
          471,478       442,819       457,173  
         Total assets   $ 1,639,521     $ 1,643,404     $ 1,627,983  
    Liabilities and Equity            
    Current liabilities:            
    Current portion of long-term unsecured borrowings   $ 6,000     $ 6,000     $ 6,000  
    Short-term secured borrowings     503,700       453,000       503,700  
    Accounts payable (including related parties)     113,203       107,342       121,384  
    Income taxes payable     9,514       15,309       2,324  
    Other payable to related parties     –       110       –  
    Contract liabilities-current     10,622       17,751       25,694  
    Other current liabilities     63,595       109,291       54,673  
    Total current liabilities     706,634       708,803       713,775  
    Long-term unsecured borrowings     28,500       34,500       30,000  
    Deferred tax liabilities     564       520       505  
    Other non-current liabilities     7,496       35,879       11,361  
          36,560       70,899       41,866  
    Total liabilities     743,194       779,702       755,641  
    Equity            
    Ordinary shares     107,010       107,010       107,010  
    Additional paid-in capital     115,376       114,648       115,285  
    Treasury shares     (5,546 )     (5,157 )     (4,714 )
    Accumulated other comprehensive income     8,621       (180 )     3,507  
    Retained earnings     664,600       640,447       644,596  
    Equity attributable to owners of Himax Technologies, Inc.     890,061       856,768       865,684  
    Noncontrolling interests     6,266       6,934       6,658  
    Total equity     896,327       863,702       872,342  
         Total liabilities and equity   $ 1,639,521     $ 1,643,404     $ 1,627,983  
    Himax Technologies, Inc.
    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
    (Amounts in Thousands of U.S. Dollars)
     
        Three Months
    Ended December 31,    		   Three Months Ended
    September 30,
          2024       2023       2024  
                 
    Cash flows from operating activities:            
    Profit for the period   $ 25,031     $ 23,285     $ 12,755  
    Adjustments for:            
    Depreciation and amortization     5,564       5,115       5,640  
    Share-based compensation expenses     103       346       407  
    Losses (gains) on disposals of property, plant and equipment, net     4       (368 )     –  
    Loss on re-measurement of the pre-existing relationships in a business combination     –       1,932       –  
    Changes in fair value of financial assets at fair value through profit or loss     (1,245 )     (1,710 )     (27 )
    Interest income     (2,042 )     (1,934 )     (2,297 )
    Finance costs     964       1,140       1,018  
    Income tax expense (benefit)     761       (7,933 )     (5,174 )
    Share of losses of associates     360       14       143  
    Inventories write downs     4,037       5,727       2,269  
    Unrealized foreign currency exchange losses (gains)     (159 )     1,517       228  
          33,378       27,131       14,962  
    Changes in:            
    Accounts receivable (including related parties)     (27,302 )     8,163       8,548  
    Inventories     29,675       36,580       8,964  
    Other receivable from related parties     9       (29 )     33  
    Other current assets     2,502       (5,682 )     (778 )
    Accounts payable (including related parties)     (7,706 )     (627 )     (26,101 )
    Other payable to related parties     1       363       (102 )
    Contract liabilities     6       (958 )     667  
    Other current liabilities     2,508       3,014       (4,161 )
    Other non-current liabilities     71       393       (3,354 )
    Cash generated from operating activities     33,142       68,348       (1,322 )
    Interest received     3,513       2,665       860  
    Interest paid     (1,047 )     (1,140 )     (1,018 )
    Income tax paid     (191 )     (1,131 )     (1,658 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities     35,417       68,742       (3,138 )
                 
    Cash flows from investing activities:            
    Acquisitions of property, plant and equipment     (3,222 )     (15,052 )     (2,551 )
    Proceeds from disposal of property, plant and equipment     –       111       –  
    Acquisitions of intangible assets     –       (40 )     (9 )
    Acquisitions of financial assets at amortized cost     (2,286 )     (4,573 )     (1,500 )
    Proceeds from disposal of financial assets at amortized cost     10,289       784       617  
    Acquisitions of financial assets at fair value through profit or loss     (6,807 )     (5,375 )     (27,934 )
    Proceeds from disposal of financial assets at fair value through profit or loss     3,722       1,645       33,036  
    Acquisitions of financial assets at fair value through other comprehensive income     –       (1,379 )     –  
    Proceeds from disposal of financial assets at fair value through other comprehensive income     –       99       –  
    Acquisition of a subsidiary, net of cash acquired (paid)     (5,416 )     433       –  
    Proceeds from capital reduction of investment     338       360       –  
    Acquisitions of equity method investment     (1,236 )     –       –  
    Decrease (increase) in refundable deposits     (8 )     –       11,339  
    Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities     (4,626 )     (22,987 )     12,998  
                 
    Cash flows from financing activities:            
    Purchase of treasury shares     (832 )     –       –  
    Prepayments for purchase of treasury shares     (2,168 )     –       –  
    Payments of cash dividends     –       –       (50,670 )
    Payments of dividend equivalents     –       –       (233 )
    Proceeds from issuance of new shares by subsidiaries     –       916       –  
    Purchases of subsidiaries shares from noncontrolling interests     –       (9 )     –  
    Proceeds from short-term unsecured borrowings     –       36,932       –  
    Repayments of short-term unsecured borrowings     –       (37,226 )     –  
    Repayments of long-term unsecured borrowings     (1,500 )     (1,500 )     (1,500 )
    Proceeds from short-term secured borrowings     461,400       427,100       522,600  
    Repayments of short-term secured borrowings     (461,400 )     (427,100 )     (471,900 )
    Pledge of restricted deposit     –       –       (50,700 )
    Payment of lease liabilities     (1,340 )     (1,244 )     (979 )
    Guarantee deposits received (refunded)     219       (5 )     –  
    Net cash used in financing activities     (5,621 )     (2,136 )     (53,382 )
    Effect of foreign currency exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents     (1,161 )     873       985  
    Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents     24,009       44,492       (42,537 )
    Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period     194,139       147,257       236,676  
    Cash and cash equivalents at end of period   $ 218,148     $ 191,749     $ 194,139  
                 
    Himax Technologies, Inc.
    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
    (Amounts in Thousands of U.S. Dollars)
        Twelve Months
    Ended December 31,
          2024       2023  
             
    Cash flows from operating activities:        
    Profit for the period   $ 79,770     $ 49,421  
    Adjustments for:        
    Depreciation and amortization     22,354       20,322  
    Share-based compensation expenses     1,247       2,663  
    Losses (gains) on disposals of property, plant and equipment, net     4       (368 )
    Loss on re-measurement of the pre-existing relationships in a business combination     –       1,932  
    Changes in fair value of financial assets at fair value through profit or loss     (1,363 )     (1,655 )
    Interest income     (9,907 )     (8,746 )
    Finance costs     4,014       6,080  
    Income tax benefit     (2,435 )     (5,028 )
    Share of losses of associates     831       598  
    Inventories write downs     13,551       21,540  
    Unrealized foreign currency exchange losses (gains)     (171 )     624  
          107,895       87,383  
    Changes in:        
    Accounts receivable (including related parties)     (40,738 )     20,804  
    Inventories     45,011       132,090  
    Other receivable from related parties     56       5  
    Other current assets     3,941       (3,863 )
    Accounts payable (including related parties)     14,567       7,676  
    Other payable to related parties     (110 )     (268 )
    Contract liabilities     45       (37,051 )
    Other current liabilities     (9,010 )     1,246  
    Other non-current liabilities     (2,260 )     (4,602 )
    Cash generated from operating activities     119,397       203,420  
    Interest received     9,732       8,567  
    Interest paid     (4,015 )     (6,080 )
    Income tax paid     (9,138 )     (53,066 )
    Net cash provided by operating activities     115,976       152,841  
             
    Cash flows from investing activities:        
    Acquisitions of property, plant and equipment     (13,054 )     (23,378 )
    Proceeds from disposal of property, plant and equipment     –       111  
    Acquisitions of intangible assets     (153 )     (115 )
    Acquisitions of financial assets at amortized cost     (11,236 )     (6,911 )
    Proceeds from disposal of financial assets at amortized cost     19,457       3,099  
    Acquisitions of financial assets at fair value through profit or loss     (76,003 )     (82,628 )
    Proceeds from disposal of financial assets at fair value through profit or loss     70,389       75,539  
    Acquisitions of financial assets at fair value through other comprehensive income     (17,164 )     (1,379 )
    Proceeds from disposal of financial assets at fair value through other comprehensive income     –       99  
    Acquisition of a subsidiary, net of cash acquired (paid)     (5,416 )     433  
    Proceeds from capital reduction of investment     338       360  
    Acquisitions of equity method investment     (1,236 )     –  
    Decrease (increase) in refundable deposits     33,562       (56,933 )
    Cash received in advance from disposal of land     –       2,821  
    Net cash used in investing activities     (516 )     (88,882 )
             
    Cash flows from financing activities:        
    Purchase of treasury shares     (832 )     –  
    Prepayments for purchase of treasury shares     (2,168 )     –  
    Payments of cash dividends     (50,670 )     (83,720 )
    Payments of dividend equivalents     (233 )     (148 )
    Proceeds from issuance of new shares by subsidiary     71       916  
    Purchases of subsidiaries shares from noncontrolling interests     (190 )     (9 )
    Proceeds from short-term unsecured borrowings     –       47,226  
    Repayments of short-term unsecured borrowings     –       (47,226 )
    Repayments of long-term unsecured borrowings     (6,000 )     (6,000 )
    Proceeds from short-term secured borrowings     1,780,300       1,383,300  
    Repayments of short-term secured borrowings     (1,729,600 )     (1,299,600 )
    Pledge of restricted deposit     (50,700 )     (83,700 )
    Payment of lease liabilities     (5,032 )     (4,830 )
    Guarantee deposits received (refunded)     (23,163 )     200  
    Net cash used in financing activities     (88,217 )     (93,591 )
    Effect of foreign currency exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents     (844 )     (200 )
    Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents     26,399       (29,832 )
    Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period     191,749       221,581  
    Cash and cash equivalents at end of period   $ 218,148     $ 191,749  

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Open Market Operation (OMO) – Purchase of Government of India Securities held on February 13, 2025: Cut-Offs

    Source: Reserve Bank of India

    Security 7.17% GS 2030 7.18% GS 2033 7.10% GS 2034 7.54% GS 2036 7.18% GS 2037
    Total amount notified Aggregate amount of ₹40,000 crore
    (no security-wise notified amount)
    Total amount (face value) accepted by RBI (₹ in crores) 7,315 8,840 4,105 10,000 9,740
    Cut off yield (%) 6.7306 6.8051 6.7643 6.8866 6.8914
    Cut off price (₹) 101.88 102.39 102.25 105.05 102.38
    Detailed results will be issued shortly.

    Ajit Prasad          
    Deputy General Manager
    (Communications)    

    Press Release: 2024-2025/2145

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Governor, Reserve Bank of India meets MD & CEOs of Select NBFCs at Mumbai on February 13, 2025

    Source: Reserve Bank of India

    The Governor, Reserve Bank of India today held a meeting with the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officers of select Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) across all layers, including Government NBFCs, Housing Finance Companies and Micro-Finance Institutions. These NBFCs constitute nearly 50 per cent of the total assets of the NBFC sector. Representatives from Self-Regulatory Organizations (SROs), Sa-Dhan and Micro Finance Institutions Network (MFIN), as well as from Finance Industry Development Council (FIDC) also participated in the meeting.

    The meeting was a part of the Reserve Bank’s series of engagement with the Boards and Senior Management of its Regulated Entities. The previous such meeting with select NBFCs was held on August 25, 2023.

    The meeting was also attended by Deputy Governors Shri M. Rajeshwar Rao, Shri T. Rabi Sankar and Shri Swaminathan J., along with Executive Directors-in-Charge of Regulation, Supervision and Financial Inclusion.

    The Governor, in his opening remarks, underscored the significant role played by NBFCs in credit intermediation, particularly in making credit available for small businesses and niche segments. Highlighting the collaborative efforts required between the Reserve Bank and the NBFCs, the Governor stressed upon balancing growth aspirations with sound practices for ensuring inclusive development, customer protection and financial stability. He also underscored the significance of ensuring fair treatment to customers and putting in place a prompt grievance redress mechanism. Urging the NBFCs to further their contribution towards financial inclusion, the Governor requested them to become part of Unified Lending Interface (ULI) being put in place by the Reserve Bank.   

    During the interactive session the participants shared their feedback on the sector, various industry level initiatives and their expectations from the Reserve Bank.

    (Puneet Pancholy)  
    Chief General Manager

    Press Release: 2024-2025/2144

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: New Zealand life insurance market to reach $4.8 billion by 2029, forecasts GlobalData

    Source: GlobalData

    New Zealand life insurance market to reach $4.8 billion by 2029, forecasts GlobalData

    Posted in Insurance

    The life insurance market in New Zealand is projected to grow from NZD5.9 billion ($3.5 billion) in 2024 to NZD8.3 billion ($4.8 billion) in 2029 registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.0%, in terms of gross written premium (GWP), driven by increasing demand for whole life and personal accident and health (PA&H) insurance, as well as a growing awareness of protection policies, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

    GlobalData’s Insurance database indicates that the New Zealand life insurance market is expected to reach NZD6.4 billion ($3.8 billion) in gross written premiums (GWP) in 2025, registering an 8.2% annual growth. Factors fueling this growth include an aging population, heightened health awareness, and the rising cost of living, which have increased the need for financial protection.

    New Zealand’s economy, primarily driven by agriculture and services, is projected to rebound with a real GDP growth rate of 2% in 2025, compared to 0.73% in 2023 and 0.24% in 2024.

    Swarup Kumar Sahoo, Senior Insurance Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Economic recovery, coupled with easing inflation and increased private investment, will support household consumption and drive demand for life insurance products. However, challenges such as high unemployment and inflation could pose risks to this growth.”

    Life personal accident and health (PA&H) insurance represents the largest line of business in the New Zealand life insurance industry, accounting for 65.3% of the life insurance GWP in 2024. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.9% over 2025-29, driven by rising healthcare expenditure and a resultant 10%-15% increase in premium prices in 2024.

    According to the Financial Services Council (FSC), the percentage of New Zealanders with health insurance rose from 32% in 2022 to 37% in 2023, indicating a higher uptake of health policy due to growing concern regarding access to quality healthcare.

    Term life insurance, which holds a 27.8% share of the life insurance GWP in 2024, is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.4% during 2025–2029.

    Sahoo adds: “Term life policies are favored for their affordability and are popular for covering mortgages and personal loans. As a result, despite economic challenges, term life insurance remains resilient.”

    Whole-life insurance, the third-largest line of business, accounted for only 3.8% of the total life insurance GWP in 2024. However, it recorded an impressive CAGR of 19.2% during 2020-24 and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 8.0% over 2025-29. According to Stats NZ, the population over 65 years old is projected to reach 1.3 million by 2040, which will drive the demand for whole-life insurance products in the country. Also, life expectancy at birth has increased from 81.6 years in 2015 to 82.9 years in 2024.

    Other life insurance products are expected to make up the remaining 3.1% share of the life insurance GWP in 2024.

    Sahoo concludes: “The lower life insurance penetration rate in New Zealand (1.3%) in 2023 compared to other APAC peers such as South Korea (7.4%), Hong Kong (China SAR) (15.9%), Japan (6.3%), and Singapore (7.5) provides ample growth opportunity to insurers.

    “However, the rising cost of living will result in underinsurance and hinder the growth of the life insurance market. To address this issue, insurers need to introduce innovative products and leverage digital technologies to make insurance more affordable and accessible.”

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Global deal activity down 8.4% YoY in January 2025, reveals GlobalData

    Source: GlobalData

    Global deal activity (mergers & acquisitions (M&A), private equity (PE) and venture financing) experienced an 8.4% decline year-on-year (YoY) in January 2025 with decrease in deal volume observed across all the regions. Asia-Pacific and Europe faced the sharpest declines, while certain markets like India, Japan, and Germany saw growth according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

    An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database revealed that a total of 3,800 deals were announced globally during January 2025, which is a fall from 4,148 deals announced globally during the same period in the previous year.

    Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The decline in deal activity across all the regions reflects the current challenges and uncertainties. Asia-Pacific and Europe experienced the most significant downturns, with their respective deal volume declining by 10.2% and 14.5% YoY during January 2025.”

    On the other hand, the total number of deals announced in North America, Middle East and Africa, and South and Central American regions were down by 1.9%, 5.5% and 23.8%, respectively.

    Among the select key markets, China, the UK, Canada, South Korea, France and Australia experienced YoY decline in their deal volume by 30.4%, 20.5%, 18.9%, 28.3%, 16.7% and 17.3% respectively, while markets such as India, Japan, and Germany showed improvement in deal activity by 27.3%, 35% and 8.2%, respectively.

    Meanwhile the trend remained a mixed bag across the different deal types under coverage. Venture financing deals volume saw YoY decline of 9.4% during January 2025 while the number of M&A deals fell by 8.6%. However, private equity deals experienced improvement in volume by 4.5% during the review period.

    Bose concludes: “The data reveals a challenging landscape for global deal activity, with a broad decline in deal volumes, particularly in certain key markets. In this shifting environment, it will be crucial for investors to stay vigilant, closely monitor these trends, and adjust their strategies to effectively navigate the evolving market dynamics.”

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Secretary-General of ASEAN meets with Minister of International Development of Canada

    Source: ASEAN

    Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, today met with Minister of International Development of Canada Ahmed Hussen, at the ASEAN Headquarters/ASEAN Secretariat. They discussed ways to further strengthen and deepen the ASEAN-Canada Strategic Partnership, through cooperation in areas of mutual interest, among others.

    The post Secretary-General of ASEAN meets with Minister of International Development of Canada appeared first on ASEAN Main Portal.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: ASEAN, China strengthen commitment to closer cooperation

    Source: ASEAN

    NINGBO, CHINA, 13 February 2025 – ASEAN and China reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) at the 31st ASEAN-China Senior Officials’ Consultation, held today in Ningbo City, China.  

    China reiterated its support for ASEAN Community-building efforts and ASEAN’s central role in regional affairs. China also reaffirmed the high priority it places on its relationship with ASEAN as part of its neighbourhood diplomacy.

    Both sides reviewed the continued progress of ASEAN-China cooperation over the past year. Substantive progress has been achieved in the final year of the implementation of the ASEAN-China Plan of Action 2021-2025 and its Annex to advance the CSP. ASEAN and China continued to enhance cooperation under the CSP, with a focus placed on key areas such as trade and investment, green economy, connectivity, digital ecosystems, blue economy, clean energy, agriculture and food security, culture, and tourism.

    The meeting also discussed deliverables of ASEAN-China cooperation for 2025 and preparations for the upcoming ASEAN-China Ministerial Meeting in July. These deliverables include the signing of the ASEAN-China FTA 3.0 upgrade, the adoption of the new ASEAN-China Plan of Action for 2026-2030, and the establishment of the ASEAN-China Tourism Ministers meeting, among others.

    China also put forward proposals for enhancing cooperation in maritime cooperation, artificial intelligence, transport, blue economy, women and children health, and environment.

    Under the theme of the ASEAN-China Year of People-to-People Exchanges, various projects and activities are planned and will be implemented in ASEAN Member States and China to foster greater cultural and people-to-people connectivity.

    The Senior Officials exchanged views on regional and international developments of mutual concern, underscoring the importance of strengthened cooperation in addressing security challenges, including terrorism, human trafficking, illicit drug abuse, and cybercrime.

    The meeting was co-chaired by Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia, Dato’ Sri Amran Mohamed Zin, and  Vice Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China, Sun Weidong, and attended by Senior Officials from ASEAN Member States or their representatives and the Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Political-Security Community. Timor-Leste attended as Observer.

    *******

    Images Credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The People’s Republic of China
    The post ASEAN, China strengthen commitment to closer cooperation appeared first on ASEAN Main Portal.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI China: Chinese premier to attend closing ceremony of 9th Asian Winter Games

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    BEIJING, Feb. 13 — Chinese Premier Li Qiang will attend the closing ceremony of the 9th Asian Winter Games on Friday in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson announced on Thursday.

    Li will hold a welcoming banquet and bilateral events for foreign leaders attending the closing ceremony, the spokesperson said.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Foreign visitors to Asian Winter Games enjoy Harbin’s traditional culture

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    Foreign participants at the ongoing 9th Asian Winter Games in northeast China’s Harbin have taken time away from the sporting competitions to enjoy the rich cultural offerings of the “ice city” at an event dedicated to showcasing local and traditional intangible cultural heritages.

    Running from February 7 to 14, the Asian Winter Games has brought together over 1,200 competitors from 34 countries and regions, making this the largest ever edition of the Games in terms of overall participation.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Bluewater to Sell Apex International Energy, Highlighting Full-Cycle Private Equity (PE) Investment Model in Africa’s Oil and Gas Sector

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

    PARIS, France, February 13, 2025/APO Group/ —

    Private equity is playing an increasingly pivotal role in Africa’s energy sector, driving growth and innovation in the continent’s oil and gas markets. This week, specialist energy private equity firm Bluewater announced the sale of Apex International Energy – transformed under its stewardship into a leading player in Egypt’s energy market – to a subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed United Energy Group. The transaction underscores the full-cycle nature of private equity investing and its potential to unlock value in Africa’s resource-rich markets. 

    Bluewater, which invested in Apex in 2018 as part of its second fund, saw the opportunity to develop the Houston-based company into a significant contributor to Egypt’s oil and gas industry. Under Bluewater’s stewardship, Apex grew from a small, independent exploration and production company into a top-ten producer in Egypt. Over the course of six years, Apex expanded its portfolio to include interests in eight concessions, with production averaging over 11,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2024. 

    This transformation was driven by strategic acquisitions, new discoveries and a laser focus on operational excellence. Key milestones included the 2021 oil discovery in the Southeast Meleiha concession, which saw first production later that year. In 2023, Apex expanded its footprint with the acquisition of six concessions in Egypt’s Western Desert from Italian energy giant Eni, as well as began first gas production. These strategic moves not only boosted Apex’s production levels, but also reinforced its position as a key contributor to Egypt’s energy security. 

    For Bluewater, this growth was a result of carefully managed investments that allowed Apex to capitalize on Egypt’s favorable energy market while navigating the complexities of local regulations and political landscapes. By taking a hands-on approach to governance and working closely with Apex’s leadership team, Bluewater was able to foster a culture of growth and innovation that delivered tangible results. 

    The sale exemplifies how private equity firms complete the full investment cycle – starting with identifying a promising asset, nurturing its growth and ultimately realizing value through a sale or exit strategy. In this case, the sale to United Energy Group positions Apex for continued growth and expansion under new ownership, while providing Bluewater with a profitable return on its investment. This model of buying, growing and exiting is at the heart of private equity’s role in driving value creation and economic development in emerging markets like Africa. 

    The transaction also underscores the increasing confidence that private equity investors are placing in Africa’s energy sector. Despite challenges like fluctuating commodity prices and complex regulatory environments, the energy sector in countries like Egypt offers substantial growth opportunities. For private equity firms, the continent’s untapped reserves, coupled with a growing demand for energy, make it an attractive destination for long-term investments. 

    Looking to the future, the role of private equity in African oil and gas is expected to grow further. The upcoming Invest in African Energy Forum in Paris will serve as a key platform for private equity firms to explore investment opportunities in Africa’s growing energy sector, where strategic partnerships and capital infusion are driving innovation and growth. In particular, firms that focus on full-cycle investment strategies – such as Bluewater’s approach with Apex – are well-positioned to thrive in this evolving landscape. They can bring capital, technical expertise and a deep understanding of local markets, enabling them to navigate challenges and capitalize on emerging opportunities in Africa’s energy sector. 

    IAE 2025 (https://apo-opa.co/3CMcOXk) is an exclusive forum designed to facilitate investment between African energy markets and global investors.Taking place May 13-14, 2025 in Paris, the event offers delegates two days of intensive engagement with industry experts, project developers, investors and policymakers. For more information, please visit www.Invest-Africa-Energy.com. To sponsor or participate as a delegate, please contact sales@energycapitalpower.com.

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Empowering Albertans with disabilities | Autonomiser les Albertains en situation de handicap

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    People with disabilities shouldn’t have to choose between getting the support they need and having the opportunity to pursue a meaningful career. Albertans with disabilities and the organizations that support them have said loud and clear they want supports that meet their unique needs and abilities, rather than the current one-size-fits-all solution.

    In response to that request, Alberta’s government is creating a new Alberta Disability Assistance Program (ADAP), which will launch in July 2026. This new benefit program for people with disabilities will empower Albertans with disabilities to pursue fulfilling job opportunities while continuing to receive the benefits they need.

    “People with disabilities should not be punished for getting a job. Every dollar they earn on a paycheque should be helping make them better off, not threatening their access to the medication they need. That’s why I am excited to announce the new Alberta Disability Assistance Program, and I look forward to seeing the positive impact that it will have on Albertans with disabilities.”

    Jason Nixon, Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services

    ADAP was thoughtfully designed based on input from Albertans with disabilities, who stressed the importance of providing pathways to employment for individuals who are able to work but still need supports. Albertans on ADAP will be able to earn more from working while continuing to receive their financial benefits, with higher earning exemptions than any other program. Those on ADAP will also be able to receive the health benefits they need, regardless of their employment income. This new program will ensure more Albertans with disabilities can enjoy the benefits of working like earning a paycheque, developing skills and building relationships, while still receiving supports that meet their unique needs and abilities.

    “I strongly believe in empowering persons with disabilities to reach their full potential, and I also strongly believe that all people deserve to pursue their goals and aspirations without barriers. By creating this program, the province is making it easier for Albertans to find success. ADAP will truly help to improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities, and I look forward to seeing the positive impact of this new program.”

    Greg McMeekin, Alberta’s advocate for persons with disabilities

    Through ADAP, Albertans with disabilities will not only receive the financial and health benefits they rely on, but they will also have access to the resources and tools they need to gain new skills and work to their full potential. To support this, Alberta’s government will be investing more to expand employment supports and encourage private sector employers to break down barriers to employment for people with disabilities. By providing pathways to employment for individuals who are able to work but still need supports, Alberta’s government is empowering people with disabilities to pursue their passions, leading to a greater sense of purpose and improved quality of life.

    “At Prospect Human Services, we’ve been helping individuals with disabilities build sustainable, well-paying careers for more than 60 years – and we know it’s possible. With ADAP, Alberta is breaking down the barriers that have long separated support from opportunity, creating a pathway for people to realize their full potential while maintaining essential benefits. We applaud the Alberta government for designing a flexible initiative that offers stability and empowers Albertans with disabilities to embrace the transformative power of employment.”

    Kevin McNichol, CEO of Prospect Human Services

    Alberta provides some of the most comprehensive supports in the country for people with disabilities, and the long-standing Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) program will still be there for those with permanent and severe disabilities who are unable to work. Those currently on AISH will continue to receive their benefits, and applications will continue to be processed to ensure eligible applicants receive benefits as soon as possible. Alberta’s government is committed to ensuring that the province continues to have the best disability programs in Canada.

    “Today is a tremendous day that has been a long time coming. ADAP means faster access to more appropriate support and will be a significant step toward making Alberta the most accessible province in Canada. This will encourage participation and connection in our communities, while maintaining predictable, vital supports for every Albertan who needs them. We look forward to helping shape this groundbreaking program.”

    Jacob McGregor, chair of Premier’s Council for the Status of Persons with Disabilities

    Starting in July 2026, disability income assistance applicants will be assessed for both the new program and AISH, ensuring eligible applicants are placed in the program best suited to their unique situation. To make the medical assessment process quicker and more accessible, applicants will be connected with a roster of pre-qualified medical professionals who are able to complete their comprehensive medical assessment. Additionally, application approvals will be streamlined by establishing a new review panel made up of medical professionals with the expertise required to better understand the needs of applicants. These improvements will ensure Albertans with disabilities are able to get the supports they need sooner.

    “For many people with disabilities, employment isn’t just about earning a paycheck – it’s about purpose, independence and inclusion. This program can allow for new opportunities for individuals to contribute to their communities in ways that work for them.”

    Katherine Such, CEO of Easter Seals Alberta Society

    Quick facts

    • In 2024, the province invested more than $3.5 billion to support Albertans with disabilities, the highest amount ever.
    • The new Alberta Disability Assistance Program will become operational in July 2026.
    • Those currently on AISH will continue to receive their benefits.
      • All existing AISH clients will receive more information about the new program in March.
      • Clients can also contact their worker or Alberta Supports if they have questions or want additional information. 

    Related information

    • Alberta Disability Assistance Program
    • Fact sheet

    Multimedia

    • Watch the news conference
    • Listen to the news conference

    Le gouvernement de l’Alberta lancera un nouveau programme destiné aux Albertains en situation de handicap afin qu’ils puissent recevoir le soutien dont ils ont besoin tout en poursuivant une carrière valorisante.

    Les personnes en situation de handicap ne devraient pas avoir à choisir entre obtenir un soutien nécessaire et avoir la possibilité de mener une carrière enrichissante. Les Albertains en situation de handicap et les organisations qui les soutiennent ont clairement exprimé leur souhait d’un accompagnement mieux adapté aux besoins individuels, plutôt qu’une approche unique et standardisée.

    En réponse à cette demande, le gouvernement de l’Alberta met en place un nouveau programme d’aide aux personnes en situation de handicap, le Programme d’Aide aux Personnes en Situation de Handicap de l’Alberta (ADAP), qui sera lancé en juillet 2026. Ce nouveau programme d’aide offrira aux Albertains en situation de handicap la possibilité d’accéder à des emplois épanouissants tout en leur permettant de recevoir les prestations dont ils ont besoin.

    “Les personnes en situation de handicap ne devraient pas être pénalisées parce qu’elles ont un travail. Chaque dollar qu’elles gagnent grâce à leur emploi devrait les aider à mieux vivre, et non rendre problématique l’accès à des médicaments essentiels. C’est pourquoi je suis ravi d’annoncer le lancement du Programme d’Aide aux Personnes en Situation de Handicap de l’Alberta, et je me réjouis des retombées positives qu’il aura sur les Albertains concernés.”

    Jason Nixon, ministre des Aînés, des Communautés et des Services sociaux

    L’ADAP a été conçu avec soin en tenant compte de l’avis des Albertains en situation de handicap. Ces derniers ont, en effet, souligné l’importance d’offrir des voies d’accès à l’emploi aux personnes handicapées capables de travailler même si elles ont toujours besoin de soins ou de soutien. Grâce à l’ADAP, les Albertains admissibles pourront augmenter leur revenu d’emploi tout en conservant leurs prestations financières, bénéficiant ainsi des exemptions de revenu les plus avantageuses de tous les programmes existants. Les bénéficiaires de l’ADAP pourront également continuer de recevoir les prestations de santé dont ils ont besoin, quel que soit leur revenu d’emploi. Grâce à ce nouveau programme, plus d’Albertains en situation de handicap pourront travailler et profiter des bienfaits d’un emploi, comme recevoir une paie, apprendre de nouvelles compétences et tisser des liens, tout en conservant un soutien adapté à leurs besoins spécifiques.

    “Je crois fermement qu’il est essentiel de donner aux personnes en situation de handicap les moyens d’atteindre leur plein potentiel. Et je suis tout aussi convaincu que chacun mérite de poursuivre ses objectifs et ses aspirations sans obstacle. Grâce à ce programme, la province aide les Albertains à atteindre leurs objectifs et à réussir. L’ADAP contribuera à améliorer réellement la qualité de vie des personnes en situation de handicap, et je me réjouis des effets positifs que ce programme apportera.”

    Greg McMeekin, défenseur des droits des personnes en situation de handicap de l’Alberta

    Grâce à l’ADAP, les Albertains en situation de handicap recevront non seulement les prestations financières et de santé sur lesquelles ils comptent, mais ils auront aussi accès aux ressources et aux outils nécessaires pour acquérir de nouvelles compétences et exploiter pleinement leur potentiel professionnel. Pour soutenir cette initiative, le gouvernement de l’Alberta investira davantage afin d’élargir les mesures de soutien à l’emploi et inciter les employeurs du secteur privé à éliminer les obstacles à l’embauche des personnes en situation de handicap. Le gouvernement de l’Alberta met en place des voies d’accès à l’emploi pour les personnes capables de travailler mais qui ont toujours besoin de soutien. Cette initiative donne à chacun les moyens de poursuivre ses passions et contribue à un plus grand épanouissement ainsi qu’à une meilleure qualité de vie.

    “Chez Prospect Human Services, nous aidons les personnes en situation de handicap à bâtir des carrières durables et bien rémunérées depuis plus de 60 ans – et nous savons que c’est possible. Avec l’ADAP, l’Alberta supprime les obstacles qui, depuis trop longtemps, ont séparé le besoin de soutien et l’accès aux opportunités, permettant aux personnes de développer pleinement leur potentiel tout en maintenant les prestations dont elles ont besoin. Nous remercions le gouvernement de l’Alberta d’avoir conçu une initiative souple qui garantit la stabilité et donne aux Albertains en situation de handicap les moyens de profiter pleinement des bienfaits de l’emploi.”

    Kevin McNichol, président-directeur général de Prospect Human Services

    L’Alberta met à disposition certains des programmes de soutien les plus complets du pays pour les personnes en situation de handicap. Le programme de revenu pour les personnes gravement handicapées (AISH), qui existe depuis longtemps, restera en place pour les personnes qui ont un handicap permanent et sévère les empêchant de travailler. Les bénéficiaires actuels de l’AISH continueront de recevoir leurs prestations, et les demandes continueront d’être traitées afin que les personnes admissibles reçoivent leur aide dans les meilleurs délais. Le gouvernement de l’Alberta s’engage à faire en sorte que la province continue d’offrir les meilleurs programmes de soutien aux personnes en situation de handicap au Canada.

    “C’est un jour marquant qui a été espéré et attendu pendant longtemps. L’ADAP offrira un accès plus efficace à des soutiens mieux adaptés, ce qui fait de l’Alberta un modèle en matière d’accessibilité au Canada. Cette mesure incitera à une plus grande inclusion sociale et communautaire, garantissant aux Albertains en situation de handicap des soutiens fiables et essentiels. Nous nous réjouissons à l’idée de pouvoir apporter notre contribution à ce programme innovant.”

    Jacob McGregor, président du Conseil du premier ministre sur la condition des personnes en situation de handicap

    À compter de juillet 2026, les demandeurs d’aide au revenu pour les personnes en situation de handicap seront évalués à la fois pour le nouveau programme et pour l’AISH, afin de s’assurer que les personnes admissibles soient orientées vers le programme le mieux adapté à leur situation. Pour accélérer et faciliter le processus d’évaluation médicale, les demandeurs seront mis en relation avec un réseau de professionnels de la santé préqualifiés, en mesure de réaliser leur évaluation médicale complète. De plus, l’approbation des demandes sera simplifiée grâce à la mise en place d’un nouveau comité d’examen composé de professionnels de la santé possédant l’expertise nécessaire pour mieux comprendre les besoins des demandeurs. Ces améliorations permettront aux Albertains en situation de handicap d’obtenir plus rapidement le soutien dont ils ont besoin.

    “Pour de nombreuses personnes en situation de handicap, l’emploi ne se résume pas à un salaire – c’est aussi une source d’épanouissement, d’autonomie et d’inclusion. Ce programme offrira de nouvelles occasions aux personnes de contribuer à leur communauté d’une manière qui correspond à leurs capacités et à leurs besoins.”

    Katherine Such, présidente-directrice générale de la Easter Seals Alberta Society

    Faits en bref

    • En 2024, la province a investi plus de 3,5 milliards de dollars pour soutenir les Albertains en situation de handicap, un montant sans précédent.
    • Le Programme d’aide aux personnes en situation de handicap de l’Alberta (ADAP) entrera en vigueur en juillet 2026.
    • Les bénéficiaires actuels de l’AISH continueront de recevoir leurs prestations.
      • Tous les bénéficiaires de l’AISH recevront plus d’informations sur le nouveau programme en mars.
      • Ils peuvent également contacter leur travailleur social ou Alberta Supports pour toute question ou information complémentaire. 

    Informations connexes

    • Programme d’aide aux personnes en situation de handicap de l’Alberta
    • Fiche d’information

    Multimédia

    • Voir la conférence de presse

    Translations

    • Arabic
    • Simplified Chinese
    • Traditional Chinese
    • Hindi
    • Korean
    • Persian
    • Punjabi
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    • Tagalog
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    • Urdu
    • Vietnamese

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Introducing $15 a day child care for families | Lancement d’un service de garde d’enfants à 15 $ par jour pour les familles

    As part of the $3.8-billion Canada-Alberta Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, Alberta is supporting families to access affordable child care across the province with their choice in provider.

    Starting Apr. 1, parents with children zero to kindergarten age attending full-time licensed daycare facilities and family day home programs across the province will be eligible for a flat parent fee of $326.25 per month, or roughly $15 a day. Parents requiring part-time care will pay $230 per month.

    To support these changes and high-quality child care, about 85 per cent of licensed daycare providers will receive a funding increase once the new fee structure is in place on Apr. 1.

    Every day, parents and families across Alberta rely on licensed child-care providers to support their children’s growth and development while going to work or school. Licensed child-care providers and early childhood educators play a crucial role in helping children build the skills they need to support their growth and overall health. As Alberta’s population grows, the need for high-quality, affordable and accessible licensed and regulated child care is increasing.

    While Alberta already reduced parent fees to an average of $15 a day in January 2024, many families are still paying much more depending on where they live, the age of their child and the child-care provider they choose, which has led to inconsistency and confusion. Many families find it difficult to estimate their child-care fees if they move or switch providers, and providers have expressed concerns about the fairness and complexity of the current funding framework.

    A flat monthly fee will provide transparency and predictability for families in every part of the province while also improving fairness to providers and increasing overall system efficiency. On behalf of families, Alberta’s government will cover about 80 per cent of child-care fees through grants to daycare facilities and family day homes.

    This means a family using full-time daycare could save, on average, $11,000 per child per year. A flat monthly parent fee will ensure child care is affordable for everyone and that providers are compensated for the important services they offer.

    As opposed to a flat monthly parent fee, Alberta’s government will reimburse preschools up to $100 per month per child on parents’ behalf, up from $75.

    “Albertans deserve affordable child-care options, no matter where they are or which type of care works best for them. We are bringing in flat parent fees for families so they can all access high-quality child care for the same affordable, predictable fee.”

    Matt Jones, Minister of Jobs, Economy and Trade

    “Reducing child care fees makes life more affordable for families and gives them the freedom to make choices that work for them—whether that’s working, studying or growing their family. We’ll keep working to bring costs down, create more spots, and reduce waitlists for families in Alberta and across the country, while ensuring every child gets the best start in life.”

    Jenna Sudds, federal minister of Families, Children, and Social Development

    To make Alberta’s child-care system affordable for all families, the flat monthly parent fee is replacing the Child Care Subsidy Program for children zero to kindergarten age attending child care during regular school hours. The subsidy for children attending out-of-school care is not changing.

    As the province transitions to the new flat parent fee, child-care providers will have flexibility to offer optional services for an additional supplemental parent fee. These optional services must be over and above the services that are provided to all children in individual child-care programs. Clear requirements will be in place for providers to prevent preferential child-care access for families choosing to pay for optional services.

    Cutting red tape and supporting child-care providers

    By moving to a flat monthly parent fee, Alberta’s government is continuing the transition to a primarily publicly funded child care system. To support high-quality child care, approximately 85 per cent of licensed daycare providers will receive a funding increase once the new structure is in place on Apr. 1.

    The province is enhancing the system to streamline the child-care claims process used to reimburse licensed child-care providers on behalf of Alberta parents. Alberta’s government is also putting technological solutions in place to reduce administrative burden and red tape.

    Looking ahead

    Over the final year of the federal agreement, Alberta’s government is working to support the child-care system while preparing to negotiate the next term of the agreement, reflective of the needs of Albertans and providers. Alberta joins its provincial and territorial partners across the country in calling for a sustainable, adequately funded system that works for parents and providers long term.

    Quick facts

    • In line with requirements under the Canada-Alberta Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, the flat monthly parent fee only applies to children zero to kindergarten age requiring care during regular school hours.
    • Children attending 100 or more hours in a month are considered full-time and parents will pay $326.25 a month. Children attending between 50 and 99 hours are considered part-time and parents will pay $230 a month.
    • Families with children attending preschool for up to four hours a day are eligible for up to $100 per month.
    • There are no changes to the out-of-school care Child Care Subsidy Program for children requiring care outside of school hours in grades 1 to 6 and attending full-time kindergarten.
    • Programs may choose to provide optional services for a supplemental fee. Examples may include transportation, field trips and food. Child-care programs are not required to charge parents additional supplemental fees.

    Related information

    • Federal-provincial child care agreement

    Related news

    • Alberta strengthens child care safety (Oct. 30, 2024)

    L’Alberta instaure des frais mensuels fixes de 326,25 $ pour les services de garde d’enfants agréés à temps plein, soit environ 15 $ par jour.

    Dans le cadre de l’Accord entre le Canada et l’Alberta sur l’apprentissage et la garde des jeunes enfants à l’échelle du Canada d’une valeur de 3,8 milliards de dollars, l’Alberta aide les familles à avoir accès à des services de garde d’enfants abordables partout dans la province auprès du service de garde de leur choix.

    À compter du 1er avril, les parents ayant des enfants de la naissance à la maternelle qui fréquentent une garderie agréée à temps plein ou un service de garde en milieu familial partout dans la province seront admissibles à des frais fixes de 326,25 $ par mois, soit environ 15 $ par jour. Les parents qui ont besoin de services de garde à temps partiel paieront 230 $ par mois.

    Pour appuyer ces changements et des services de garde d’enfants de grande qualité, environ 85 % des fournisseurs de services de garde agréés recevront une augmentation du financement lorsque la nouvelle structure tarifaire sera en place le 1er avril.

    Chaque jour, les parents et les familles de l’Alberta comptent sur des fournisseurs de services de garde d’enfants agréés pour appuyer la croissance et le développement de leurs enfants pendant qu’ils vont au travail ou à l’école. Les fournisseurs de services de garde d’enfants agréés et les éducateurs de la petite enfance jouent un rôle crucial en aidant les enfants à acquérir les compétences dont ils ont besoin pour soutenir leur croissance et leur santé globale. À mesure que la population de l’Alberta augmente, le besoin de services de garde d’enfants agréés et réglementés de grande qualité, abordables et accessibles s’accroît.

    Bien que l’Alberta ait déjà réduit les frais pour les parents à une moyenne de 15 $ par jour en janvier 2024, de nombreuses familles paient encore beaucoup plus selon l’endroit où elles vivent, l’âge de leur enfant et le fournisseur de services de garde d’enfants qu’elles choisissent, ce qui a entraîné des incohérences et de la confusion. De nombreuses familles ont de la difficulté à estimer leurs frais de garde d’enfants si elles changent de fournisseur, et les fournisseurs ont exprimé des préoccupations au sujet de l’équité et de la complexité du cadre de financement actuel.

    Des frais mensuels fixes assureront la transparence et la prévisibilité pour les familles de toutes les régions de la province, tout en améliorant l’équité envers les fournisseurs et en augmentant l’efficacité globale du système. Au nom des familles, le gouvernement de l’Alberta couvrira environ 80 % des frais de garde d’enfants grâce à des subventions accordées aux garderies et aux services de garde en milieu familial.

    Cela veut dire qu’une famille dont un enfant fréquente une garderie à temps plein pourrait économiser 11 000 $ par enfant par année en moyenne. Des frais mensuels fixes pour les parents garantiront que les services de garde d’enfants sont abordables pour tous et que les fournisseurs sont rémunérés pour les services importants qu’ils offrent.

    Contrairement aux frais mensuels fixes pour les parents, le gouvernement de l’Alberta remboursera jusqu’à 100 $ par mois aux parents pour les enfants d’âge préscolaire, comparativement à 75 $.

    « Les Albertaines et les Albertains méritent des options abordables en matière de garde d’enfants, peu importe où ils se trouvent ou quel type de services leur convient le mieux. Nous instaurons des frais fixes pour les parents afin qu’ils puissent tous avoir accès à des services de garde d’enfants de grande qualité, à un coût abordable et prévisible. »

    Matt Jones, ministre de l’Emploi, de l’Économie et du Commerce

    « La réduction des frais de garde d’enfants rend la vie plus abordable pour les familles et leur donne la liberté de faire des choix qui leur conviennent, qu’il s’agisse de travailler, d’étudier ou d’agrandir leur famille. Nous continuerons de travailler pour réduire les coûts, créer plus de places et réduire les listes d’attente pour les familles en Alberta et partout au pays, tout en veillant à ce que chaque enfant ait le meilleur départ possible dans la vie. »

    Jenna Sudds, ministre fédérale de la Famille, des Enfants et du Développement social

    Afin de rendre le système de garde d’enfants de l’Alberta abordable pour toutes les familles, les frais mensuels fixes pour les parents remplacent le programme de subventions pour la garde d’enfants destiné aux enfants de la naissance à la maternelle qui fréquentent un service de garde pendant les heures scolaires normales. La subvention pour les enfants pris en charge à l’extérieur de l’école ne change pas.

    À mesure que la province adoptera les nouveaux frais fixes pour les parents, les fournisseurs de services de garde d’enfants auront la possibilité d’offrir des services facultatifs moyennant des frais supplémentaires pour les parents. Ces services facultatifs doivent s’ajouter aux services offerts à tous les enfants dans le cadre de programmes individuels de garde d’enfants. Des exigences claires seront mises en place pour les fournisseurs afin d’empêcher l’accès préférentiel aux services de garde pour les familles qui choisissent de payer pour des services facultatifs.

    Réduire les formalités administratives et soutenir les fournisseurs de services de garde d’enfants

    En passant à des frais mensuels fixes pour les parents, le gouvernement de l’Alberta poursuit la transition vers un système de garde d’enfants financé principalement par l’État. Pour appuyer des services de garde d’enfants de grande qualité, environ 85 % des fournisseurs de services de garde agréés recevront une augmentation du financement lorsque la nouvelle structure sera en place le 1er avril.

    La province améliore le système afin de simplifier le processus de demande de remboursement des frais de garde d’enfants utilisé pour rembourser les fournisseurs de services de garde d’enfants agréés au nom des parents albertains. Le gouvernement de l’Alberta met également en place des solutions technologiques pour réduire le fardeau administratif et les formalités administratives.

    Regard vers l’avenir

    Au cours de la dernière année de l’accord fédéral, le gouvernement de l’Alberta s’efforce d’appuyer le système de garde d’enfants tout en se préparant à négocier la prochaine durée de l’accord, en tenant compte des besoins de sa population et des fournisseurs. L’Alberta se joint à ses partenaires provinciaux et territoriaux partout au pays pour réclamer un système durable et financé adéquatement qui fonctionne pour les parents et les fournisseurs à long terme.

    Faits en bref

    • Conformément aux exigences de l’Accord entre le Canada et l’Alberta sur l’apprentissage et la garde des jeunes enfants à l’échelle du Canada, les frais mensuels fixes pour les parents ne s’appliquent qu’aux enfants de la naissance à la maternelle qui ont besoin de services de garde pendant les heures scolaires normales.
    • Les enfants qui fréquentent une garderie pendant 100 heures ou plus par mois sont considérés comme des enfants qui fréquentent à temps plein et les parents paieront 326,25 $ par mois. Les enfants qui fréquentent une garderie entre 50 et 99 heures sont considérés comme des enfants qui fréquentent à temps partiel et les parents paieront 230 $ par mois.
    • Les familles qui ont des enfants qui fréquentent un programme préscolaire pendant jusqu’à quatre heures par jour sont admissibles à un montant maximum de 100 $ par mois.
    • Aucun changement n’est apporté au Programme de subventions pour les services de garde d’enfants à l’extérieur de l’école pour les enfants qui doivent être pris en charge en dehors des heures d’école de la 1re à la 6e année et qui fréquentent la maternelle à temps plein.
    • Les programmes peuvent choisir de fournir des services facultatifs moyennant des frais supplémentaires. Les exemples peuvent inclure le transport, les sorties scolaires et la nourriture. Les programmes de garde d’enfants ne sont pas tenus de facturer des frais supplémentaires aux parents.

    Renseignements connexes

    • Entente fédérale-provinciale sur les services de garde d’enfants (en anglais seulement)

    Nouvelles connexes

    • Alberta strengthens child care safety (30 octobre 2024)

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