A Conference callis scheduled for Tuesday April 1st, 2025, 11:00am Eastern Time
See dial in number below
TABER, ALBERTA, March 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FLEXIBLE SOLUTIONS INTERNATIONAL, INC. (NYSE-AMERICAN: FSI), is the developer and manufacturer of biodegradable polymers for oil extraction, detergent ingredients and water treatment as well as crop nutrient availability chemistry. Flexible Solutions also manufactures biodegradable and environmentally safe water and energy conservation technologies. In addition, FSI is increasing its presense in the food and nutrition supplement manufacturing markets. Today the Company announces financial results for full year ended December 31, 2024.
Mr. Daniel B. O’Brien, CEO, states, “2024 was a significant improvement over 2023. Net income was up and non-GAAP cash flow improved even more. Of particular note is the assessment of a temporary loss of $385 thousand related to our sale of units in the Florida LLC which reduced net income by 3 cents even though the full term of the sale will result in a large profit.”
Mr. O’Brien continues, “During 2024, we progressed toward potential purchase orders that could increase our revenue by Q4 2025 and could increase our 2026 revenue significantly. We have also taken concrete steps to limit the effects of tariffs on our international sales, which we hope will generate growth in the next two years and we increased our efforts to recover the rebates of previously paid tariffs that are due to us.”
Sales for the Full Year were $38,234,860 compared to sales of $38,324,806 in the corresponding period a year ago.
Full Year, 2024 net income was $3,038,529 or $0.24 per share, compared to a net income of $2,775,864, or $0.22 per share, in Full Year, 2023.
Basic weighted average shares used in computing earnings per share amounts were 12,454,957 and 12,434,886 for full year, 2024 and full year, 2023 respectively.
2024 Non-GAAP operating cash flow: The Company shows 12 months operating cash flow of $7,082,952, or $0.57 per share. This compares with operating cash flow of $4,604,320, or $0.37 per share, in the corresponding 12 months of 2023 (see the table that follows for details of these calculations).
The NanoChem division and ENP subsidiary continue to be the dominant sources of revenue and cash flow for the Company. New opportunities continue to unfold in detergent, water treatment, oil field extraction, turf, ornamental and agricultural use to further increase sales in these divisions. More recently, opportunities in the food and nutrition supplement manufacturing markets have emerged.
Conference call
Due to business travel obligations a conference call has been scheduled for 11:00 am Eastern Time, 8:00 am Pacific Time, on Tuesday April 1st, 2025. CEO, Dan O’Brien will be presenting and answering questions on the conference call. To participate in this call please dial 1-888-999-5318 (or 1-848-280-6460) just prior to the scheduled call time. To join the call participants will be requested to give their name and company affiliation. The conference_ID:SOLUTIONS and/or call title Flexible Solutions International ‑ Full Year 2024 Financials may be requested
Note: The above information and following table contain supplemental information regarding income and cash flow from operations for the period ended December 31, 2024. Adjustments to exclude depreciation, stock option expenses and one time charges are given. This financial information is a Non-GAAP financial measure as defined by SEC regulation G. The GAAP financial measure most directly comparable is net income.
The reconciliation of each Non-GAAP financial measure is as follows:
FLEXIBLE SOLUTIONS INTERNATIONAL, INC. Consolidated Statement of Operations For Full Year Ended December 31 (12 Months Operating Cash Flow) (Unaudited)
12 months ended December 31
2024
2023
Revenue
$
38,234,860
$
38,324,806
Income (loss) before income tax – GAAP
$
4,952,800
$
3,623,250
Provision for Income tax(recovery) – net – GAAP
$
851,211
$
(132,735
)
Net income (loss) – GAAP
$
3,038,529
$
2,775,864
Net income (loss) per common share – basic. – GAAP
$
0.24
$
0.22
12 month weighted average shares used in computing per share amounts – basic.- GAAP
12,454,957
12,434,886
12 month Operating Cash Flow Ended December 31
Operating Cash Flow (12 months). NON-GAAP
$
7,082,952
a,b,c
$
4,604,320
a,b,c
Operating Cash Flow per share excluding non-operating items and items not related to current operations (12 months) – basic. –NON-GAAP
$
0.57
a,b,c
$
0.37
a,b,c
Non-cash Adjustments (12 month) –GAAP
$
2,630,606
d
$
2,081,399
d
Shares (12 month basic weighted average) used in computing per share amounts – basic –GAAP
12,454,957
12,434,886
Notes: certain items not related to “operations” of the Company’s net income are listed below.
a) Non-GAAP – Flexible Solutions International owns 65% of ENP and 80% of 317 Mendota. Therefore Operating Cash Flow is adjusted by the pre tax Net income or loss of the non-controlling interest(minority interest) in both entities. A pretax minority interest number now appears in the financials for full year 2023 and future years. b) Non-GAAP – amounts exclude certain cash and non-cash items: Depreciation and Stock compensation expense (2024 = $2,630,606, 2023 = $2,081,399), Interest expense (2024 = $610,265, 2023 = $498,666), Interest income (2024 = $196,464, 2023 = $113,809), Gain on investment (2024 = $245,631, 2023 = 505,065), Loss on sale of investment (2024 = $353,076, 2023 = N/A), Loss on lease termination (2024 = $41,350, 2023 = N/A) Deferred income tax (expense) benefit (2024 = $(146,767), 2023 = $250,917), Current Income tax expense (2024 = $704,444, 2023 = $118,182), and pretax Net income attributable to non-controlling interests (2024 = $1,063,060, 2023 = $980,121) are removed to arrive at Operating Cash Flow. Although included in operating expenses these expenditures were not related to operations of FSI. *See the financial statements for all adjustments. c) The revenue and gain from the investment in the private Florida LLC announced in January 2019 are not treated as revenue or profit from operations by Flexible Solutions. The profit is treated as investment income and therefore occurs below Operating income in the Statement of Operations. As a result, the gains from all investments (2024 – 245,631, 2023 = $505,065), including those from the Florida LLC, are removed from the calculation to arrive at Operating Cash Flow. d) Non-GAAP – amounts represent depreciation and stock compensation expense.
Safe Harbor Provision
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a “Safe Harbor” for forward-looking statements. Certain of the statements contained herein, which are not historical facts, are forward looking statement with respect to events, the occurrence of which involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements may be impacted, either positively or negatively, by various factors. Information concerning potential factors that could affect the company is detailed from time to time in the company’s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Flexible Solutions International 6001 54thAve, Taber, Alberta, CANADA T1G 1X4 Company Contacts
Headline: WTO members make progress in revitalizing trade and development work
Members examined special and differential treatment provisions across WTO agreements based on an analysis by the WTO Secretariat. Welcoming insights from the WTO Secretariat, members called for further examining other provisions. It was noted that special and differential treatment provisions were an integral part of WTO rules designed to help developing economies participate more fully in global trade.
Members also continued debating the relevant WTO rules under which the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Customs Union could be considered. They welcomed the WTO Secretariat’s note on this issue and will continue exploring how to consider this trading arrangement.
The WTO’s Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation provided an update on the financial situation of the Global Trust Fund, which finances WTO-led training programmes for government officials from developing economies to help them participate in international trade. It also talked about preparations for the next technical assistance plan for 2026 and 2027. Members called for innovative solutions for the delivery of technical assistance and said they would consider exploring additional support depending on needs expressed by beneficiaries.
Members also continued debating the relevant WTO rules under which the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Customs Union could be considered. They welcomed the WTO Secretariat’s note on this issue and will continue exploring ways of considering this trading arrangement.
The WTO’s LDC Group updated members on their request to resume preparations for the duty-free and quota-free market access for LDCs report. The objective is to facilitate the annual review of the steps members are taking to provide LDCs with market access free of duties and quotas. Members noted that consultations are ongoing with interested delegations to find a way forward.
The Committee on Trade and Development considered two requests from India on improving the functioning of the Committee and on the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce. Members will continue informal consultations on these requests.
Members also considered the Economic Complementarity Agreement between Argentina and Mexico based on the WTO Secretariat’s factual presentation.
Members elected Ambassador Mzukisi Qobo of South Africa as the chair of the Committee on Trade and Development and re-elected Ambassador Ib Petersen (Denmark) as chair of the Sub-Committee on Least- Developed Countries.
Small economies
Members welcomed the WTO Secretariat report entitled “Challenges and opportunities for small economies in using e-commerce and digital ecosystem to drive competitiveness” on 27 March.
“Many small and vulnerable economies still face high costs to access the internet, inadequate digital infrastructure and gaps in digital literacy, all of which hinder their ability to participate effectively in the global digital economy,” said Ana Libertad Guzman Villeda from Guatemala, which coordinates the Small, Vulnerable Economies. “Addressing these challenges requires targeted investments, capacity-building initiatives and policies that foster inclusive digital transformation,” she added.
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) highlighted its work to support small economies in building their digital capacities, including several key initiatives ranging from implementation of national single windows for customs processes to upgrading e-commerce laws. The role of UNCTAD’s eTrade Reform Tracker in supporting developing economies with their e-commerce strategies was underscored. Members also drew attention to expanding coverage of UNCTAD’s eTrade Readiness Assessments, which provide a snapshot of the e-commerce ecosystem in developing economies.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Jenniffer González-Colón (Puerto Rico)
Washington, D.C – Yesterday, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) sent a letter to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics demanding an ethics investigation into Commerce Secretary Lutnick for potentially violating federal ethics laws. This letter comes on the heels of Secretary Lutnick urging Fox News viewers topurchase Tesla Stock.
Executive Branch employees are barred from using their public position for their own private gain. In the letter, the lawmakers highlighted several ways that Secretary Lutnick potentially violated the law. Cantor Fitzgerald is Secretary Lutnick’s family firm, and it has hundreds of millions of dollars in Tesla stock.
“Perhaps more concerning, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Tesla stock to a “buy” rating the same day Mr. Lutnick urged the public to buy shares in the company. Mr. Lutnick’s apparent attempt to manipulate Tesla’s share price in a manner potentially benefiting his family’s and friend’s financial position could violate applicable ethics law,” wrote the lawmakers.
The lawmakers conclude that ethics officials at the Commerce Department should investigate and take any appropriate disciplinary action against Secretary Lutnick.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, a top contender for the title of Great American Novel, turns 100 on April 10.
A century later, it is invoked to help make sense of a world that still confuses “material enterprise with moral achievement” – as critic Sarah Churchwell wrote in the foreword to Gatsby’s centennial edition.
A Meta insider’s memoir takes its title, Careless People, from Fitzgerald’s novel. The same phrase circulated on social media and in The New York Times during Donald Trump’s first presidency, referring to his administration’s downplaying of COVID-19.
In 2018, The Atlantic compared Trump to Tom Buchanan, one of Fitzgerald’s “careless people”, describing “an eerie symmetry […] as if the villain of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel had been brought to life in a louder, gaudier guise for the 21st century”. More recently, others have compared Trump to Gatsby himself.
The Great Gatsby tells the tale of a lovesick man striving for social acceptance, believing personal reinvention and riches can help to rewrite the past. It is a story of longing: not just for lost love, but for an unattainable ideal.
The centenary couldn’t be more timely for this literary masterpiece, preoccupied by the same things we are: immense affluence, privilege, the limits of social mobility and the hidden underbelly of the American Dream. The Great Gatsby, while a relative literary failure in Fitzgerald’s lifetime, is enduringly popular today, with at least 25 million copies sold to date, numerous film and stage adaptations (and literary riffs), and a staple position on school and university reading lists.
“What we think about Gatsby illuminates what we think about money, race, romance and history,” wrote The New York Times’ A.O. Scott recently. “How we imagine him has a lot to do with how we see ourselves.”
The Great Gatsby is set against the backdrop of Roaring Twenties America: an era Fitzgerald famously dubbed the Jazz Age.
Fuelled by the infectious rhythms of jazz, driven by the economic forces of market prosperity and mass consumerism, and heady on the alcoholic vapours and illicit thrills associated with Prohibition-era nightlife, the 1920s were a decade where American fortunes were made and lost.
It was also, as Fitzgerald’s novel outlines, a period where individual ambition burned as fiercely as desire.
Picryl
The plot follows the enigmatic Jay Gatsby, a spotlight-eschewing, self-made millionaire whose seemingly breezy approach to life masks a singular obsession: the rekindling of a lost romance with a beautiful woman from his past.
Born James Gatz, Fitzgerald’s charismatic protagonist reinvents himself in the hope of winning back the love of his life, wealthy socialite Daisy Buchanan. Taken at face value, Gatsby’s world is one of incredible luxury and dazzling excess – lavish parties, fast cars and ostentatious attire – all designed to lure Daisy back into his arms.
But as we begin to scratch beneath the surface, the glittering facade Gatsby has constructed gives way to something far more fragile and tragic: an impossible fantasy driven by jealously, obsession and self-deception.
As the reader comes to appreciate, Gatsby’s accumulated gains may grant him partial access to the world of old money, but he will never truly be accepted by America’s elite. No matter how hard he might try, he cannot surmount the barriers of class and entitlement.
Ultimately, Gatsby’s misguided belief that he can somehow crowbar his way into the upper echelons of high society while simultaneously turning back the hands of time leads to his downfall. In Fitzgerald’s words, he ends up paying “a high price for living too long with a single dream”.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel is still invoked to help make sense of a world that often confuses ‘material enterprise with moral achievement’. Nickolas Muray/Picryl
F. Scott Fitzgerald, literary celebrity
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on September 24 1896. The son of middle-class Catholic parents, he spent much of his youth living in upstate New York. In 1913, he enrolled at Princeton University, where he formed a lasting friendship with future literary critic Edmund Wilson.
More absorbed in literary and dramatic endeavours than his studies, Fitzgerald’s grades suffered and he dropped out in 1917 – though not before falling deeply in love with Ginevra King, an heiress who would leave an indelible imprint on his writing. She would inspire many of his fictional female characters, including Daisy Buchanan.
Fitzgerald first encountered King during a winter vacation in St. Paul in January 1915. The debutante daughter of a wealthy Chicago stockbroker, she quickly became the object of Fitzgerald’s intense devotion (much to the disapproval of her family, who thought him beneath her).
In the wake of his heartbreak after the relationship broke down, Fitzgerald enlisted in the United States Army, earning a commission as a second lieutenant. During his military service, he met Zelda Sayre, the woman he would eventually marry. Meanwhile, he began work on his first novel, This Side of Paradise.
Released in 1920, Fitzgerald’s formally adventurous debut was a critical success and cultural sensation, capturing the restless energy and shifting moral landscape of a cohort coming of age in the wake of World War I.
The novel’s transparently autobiographical narrative centres on Amory Blaine, a young Midwesterner whose intellectual and romantic adventures at Princeton – especially a doomed affair with the beautiful, elusive Isabelle Borgé – struck a chord with readers. It turned Fitzgerald into a media celebrity and unofficial spokesman for his generation.
Two years later, Fitzgerald published The Beautiful and Damned. It details the disintegration of a wealthy, aimless couple – Anthony and Gloria Patch – whose hedonistic lifestyle and misplaced belief in their own brilliance leads to ruin.
Fitzgerald’s tonally pessimistic second novel was again shaped by his own experiences, drawing heavily on his tempestuous marriage to Zelda, who was exhibiting symptoms of profound mental instability.
However, in stark contrast to This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned sold well, but received a lukewarm reception from reviewers. Some found its characters unappealing and its plot depressing.
By then, the Fitzgeralds had grown accustomed to the finer things in life. Which meant they needed money. Lots of it. To keep up with their lavish spending, Fitzgerald started to churn out short stories for popular magazines at a rapid pace. While this move provided him with a degree of financial security, some critics and contemporaries questioned whether he was squandering his literary gifts. Ernest Hemingway, for one, was “shocked” by his friend’s willingness to pander to commercial tastes and imperatives.
‘I want to write something new’
That said, while he was generating copy for mass-market publication, Fitzgerald was also hard at work on The Great Gatsby. In July 1922, he declared:
I want to write something new – something extraordinary and beautiful and simple + intricately patterned.
Determined to prove his worth as an artist, Fitzgerald, who wanted “to write a novel better than any ever written in America”, began to play with “form and emotion”. As his ideas for the new novel – which at one point bore the working title Trimalchio – took shape, Fitzgerald set up shop in Great Neck, Long Island. This location became the inspiration for East and West Egg, the fictionalised island communities that are the novel’s primary setting.
Fitzgerald, clearly not lacking in confidence, set his sights high for his third novel, taking inspiration from James Joyce’s Ulysses and T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land.
Departing from conventional realism, Fitzgerald experimented with modernist techniques, layering his narrative with symbolic depth, synesthetic imagery, fragmented storytelling and complex characterisation.
The result was a work both lyrical and impressionistic. Here’s a vivid, illustrative excerpt:
The lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun, and now the orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music, and the opera of voices pitches a key higher. […] The groups change more swiftly, swell with new arrivals, dissolve and form in the same breath; already there are wanderers, confident girls who weave here and there among the stouter and more stable, become for a sharp, joyous moment the center of a group, and then, excited with triumph, glide on through the sea-change of faces and voices and color under the constantly changing light.
Fitzgerald’s Midwestern narrator, Nick Carraway, is describing one of Gatsby’s legendary West Egg parties. He is renting the house next to Gatsby’s mansion,
“a colossal affair by any standard”, with “a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden”.
At first, Nick is fascinated by his enigmatic neighbour, drawn in by the sheer force of Gatsby’s optimism and his unrelenting faith in the transformative power of love and the trappings of wealth. But as the novel progresses, events lead Nick to reevaluate. He describes his charming friend as possessing “one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life”.
He continues, outlining attributes essential to a good confidence man:
It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey.
When he isn’t with Gatsby, Nick is often with his cousin Daisy and her husband, Tom, the embodiment of American aristocracy and snobbery. They are, in Nick’s damning estimation, “careless” and “rotten” people.
An unreconstructed white supremacist prone to casual displays of extreme prejudice and physical violence, the adulterous Tom – who wouldn’t be out of place in the more dismal real-world and online recesses of today – is, in particular, deeply suspicious of Gatsby, regarding him as an interloper with dubious intentions.
The Atlantic wrote that Tom, “the Yale man, the football star, the spender of old money, the scion of what he calls the Nordic race – embodies the peak of social status in his century”. And that “Trump – the former Playboy-cover subject, the billionaire celebrity, the most powerful man in America – does the same for his”.
And their shared personality traits are the product of their shared relationship to power – the casual unreflective certainty that comes from inheritance, and enables its holders to wield its blunt force as both a weapon and a shield.
Tom’s “little investigation” into Gatsby’s background and finances reveals they are not what they seem. This leads to unintended, disastrous consequences.
Nick, our disillusioned observer, doesn’t quite know what to make of it all. We take leave of him at the end of the novel, on “the beach and sprawled out on the sand”, reminiscing about “Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock”.
‘A flying leap into the future’
Fitzgerald knew he had achieved something special with The Great Gatsby. His peers did too. T.S. Eliot considered it “the first step” forward “American fiction has taken since Henry James”. Edith Wharton concurred, calling it “a flying leap into the future.”
Yet, for all this critical acclaim, The Great Gatsby failed to resonate with the reading public – much to Fitzgerald’s dismay. By October, the book had sold less than 20,000 copies. (By comparison, This Side of Paradise had sold nearly 50,000 copies, across multiple printings.) As his biographer Arthur Mizener observed, by February 1926, “a few thousand more copies had been sold and the book was dead”. It was a blow the writer never really recovered from.
Fitzgerald’s personal life was tumultuous, marred by alcoholism, Zelda’s mental health issues and financial debt. This had a negative effect on his work. While he completed one more novel in 1934 – the excellent, darkly romantic Tender is the Night, arguably his best book – Fitzgerald struggled to be productive.
Following several failed suicide attempts, in 1940 he died of a heart attack, believing himself an abject failure and his career a total write-off. His most recent royalty cheque had been for $13.13. He was 44.
In the immediate aftermath of his death, writers and critics began to reassess Fitzgerald’s accomplishments. This effort was initially spearheaded by his friends, notably Edmund Wilson, who, in 1941, organised a series of tributes to be published in The New Republic.
In 1945, Viking Press released The Portable F. Scott Fitzgerald, edited by Dorothy Parker, which brought Fitzgerald to the attention of a new generation of readers. At the same time, the US military distributed 150,000 copies of The Great Gatsby to American servicemen during World War II as part of their Armed Services Editions.
Before long, The Great Gatsby made its way into the classroom, where it remains a staple of countless high school and university syllabuses. It continues to inspire readers, many of whom encounter it at a formative stage in their lives.
Amazon
It has been adapted for the screen on multiple occasions – with mixed results. Jack Clayton’s 1974 version, starring Robert Redford as the eponymous Gatsby, was faithful to Fitzgerald’s vision, but utterly lifeless, while Baz Luhrmann’s 2013 adaptation, a hollow exercise in audiovisual bluster, failed to do justice to the novel’s subtleties. For all their shortcomings, these films helped cement Gatsby’s place in the popular imagination.
An ‘uncannily prescient’ enduring classic
Novelist Jesmyn Ward suggests Fitzgerald’s novel is
a book that endures, generation after generation, because every time a reader returns to The Great Gatsby, we discover new revelations, new insights, new burning bits of language.
I agree – and I think Fitzgerald would have had rich material to work with, had he been alive today. Ours, lest we forget, is a world where ersatz robber barons hoard nearly all our shared available assets and resources, where racist discourse resounds, and where rampant consumerism remains unchecked.
Last year America magazine argued Gatsby himself “gives the greatest insight into why Mr. Trump is still popular”, comparing Trump’s “fraudulent real estate deals” to Gatsby’s nefarious way of making his money, and Gatsby’s huge parties to Trump’s rallies. Both, the writer argued, are nouveau riche outsiders, “hell-bent on being accepted by the Manhattan set”, and scorned by the elites. (Though Trump’s second presidency seems to be ushering in a new elite.)
Thinking aloud, perhaps it’s more accurate to say Trump is a weird combination of characters. On one hand, he resembles Gatsby: a self-mythologising social climber, nostalgic for a past that never really existed. On the other, he shares much with Tom Buchanan: unscrupulous, self-interested and protected by his wealth.
In a historical moment that mirrors his own in many ways, Fitzgerald’s essentially tragic masterwork, which ends suggesting we are all forever “borne back ceaselessly into the past”, strikes me as uncannily prescient and relevant today.
Alexander Howard does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
The Social Welfare Department (SWD) today (March 31) held the Kick-off Ceremony themed “Act Together for a Caring Community” to announce the extension of the District Services and Community Care Teams – Scheme on Supporting Elderly and Carers to all 18 districts for a period of 12 months starting from tomorrow (April 1) to provide support and care to elderly persons and carers in need.
​ Addressing the ceremony, the Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Cheuk Wing-hing, said that all 452 Care Teams across the territory will help identify elderly persons and carers in need through visits and contacts in the coming 12 months. Apart from sending them care and providing assistance to ensure elderly persons and carers feel the warmth and support from the community, the Care Teams will also refer those in need to social welfare service units for suitable support.
​ He said that with the extension of the Scheme to 18 districts the Care Teams are expected to reach over 60 000 households in need. He hoped that members of the Care Teams would go beyond serving as care ambassadors in the community by strengthening collaboration with other stakeholders. In addition to encouraging carers to use the Designated Hotline for Carer Support 182 183 and the Information Gateway for Carers (carers.hk), Care Teams will also enhance communications with the Designated Hotline for Carer Support to arrange visits or contacts for the carers in need.
​ At the ceremony, Mr Cheuk presented certificates of appointment to the Care Teams of 18 districts. Accompanied by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun; the Permanent Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Ms Alice Lau; and the Director of Social Welfare, Mr Edward To, he also presided at a pledging ceremony to start the extension of the Scheme.
​ Immediately after the ceremony, the Care Teams of Yau Tsim Mong and Sham Shui Po Districts conducted home visits in the two Districts with the respective District Officers and District Social Welfare Officers to introduce welfare services to households and encourage them to seek help whenever necessary.
​ The SWD will arrange trainings for the Care Teams, covering communication skills, information on local social welfare services and referral procedures. The SWD will also maintain close communication with the Care Teams in various subdistricts and provide assistance to ensure a smooth implementation of the Scheme.
​ Piloted in Tsuen Wan and Southern Districts in the first quarter of 2024 to identify singleton/doubleton elderly persons and carers of elders persons/persons with disabilities in need through visits or contacts by the Care Teams, the Scheme has made great achievements. By the end of February this year, 36 Care Teams in the two Districts had visited or contacted over 7 200 singleton/doubleton elderly persons and carers of elderly persons/persons with disabilities, making over 1 200 referrals for welfare services, including elderly services, services for persons with disabilities, mental health services, family services and financial assistance. Moreover, more than 300 elderly persons and persons with disabilities received subsidies for the installation of emergency alarm systems through referrals made by the Care Teams.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
​The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) Chief Executive, Mr Eddie Yue, and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor, Dr Eli M. Remolona, Jr., led a bilateral meeting to exchange views and strengthen co-operation on various areas of central banking on March 28 in the Philippines.
Hosted by the BSP, officials from the two institutions discussed and shared insights on capital market development, digital payments and connectivity, digital banking, and sustainable finance. In particular, the meeting covered issues such as bond market and ecosystem; multilateral digital payment projects; cybersecurity risk management and consumer protection; digital financial literacy; climate risk stress testing and other green finance initiatives.
The HKMA and the BSP also explored potential collaboration, to further broaden and enhance their longstanding co-operation and bilateral ties.
Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA) today reported significant growth in its financial performance for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, as per provisional data.
Loan sanctions for FY 2024-25 stood at ₹47,453 crore, marking a 27% increase from ₹37,354 crore in the previous year. Loan disbursements rose by 20% to ₹30,168 crore, compared to ₹25,089 crore in FY 2023-24. The outstanding loan book also expanded by 28%, reaching ₹76,250 crore as of March 31, 2025, up from ₹59,698 crore in the previous year.
Shri Pradip Kumar Das, Chairman & Managing Director, IREDA, stated, “Announcing IREDA’s annual performance on the last day of the financial year underscores our strong commitment to the highest standards of corporate governance and transparency with our investors. IREDA’s consistent growth in loan sanctions, disbursements, and loan book reflects our strong dedication to financing renewable energy projects. We remain committed to supporting India’s clean energy transition through innovative and accessible financing solutions.”
“I sincerely thank Hon’ble Union Minister; Hon’ble Union Minister of State, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy; Secretary, MNRE; our Board of Directors; Regulators; and officials of MNRE and other ministries for their unwavering support. I appreciate the dedication and relentless efforts of the Team IREDA, whose commitment drives our success”, Shri Das added.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
The Government announced today (March 31) its financial results for the 11 months ended February 28, 2025.
Expenditure and revenue from April 2024 to February 2025 amounted to HK$670.3 billion and HK$475.7 billion respectively, resulting in a deficit of HK$92.3 billion after taking into account HK$124.3 billion received from issuance of Government Bonds and repayment of HK$22 billion principal on Government Bonds.
The fiscal reserves stood at HK$642.3 billion as at February 28, 2025.
Detailed figures are shown in Tables 1 and 2.
TABLE 1. CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNT (Note 1)
Month ended February 28, 2025 HK$ million
11 months ended February 28, 2025 HK$ million
Revenue
34,681.8
475,731.0
Expenditure
(73,142.6)
(670,328.6)
Deficit before issuance and repayment of Government Bonds
(38,460.8)
(194,597.6)
Proceeds received from issuance of Government Bonds
6,125.4
124,269.5
Repayment of Government Bonds*
(46.4)
(21,953.7)
Deficit after issuance and repayment of Government Bonds
(32,381.8)
(92,281.8)
Financing
Domestic
Banking Sector (Note 2)
32,004.1
89,515.2
Non-Banking Sector
377.7
2,766.6
External
–
–
Total
32,381.8
92,281.8
* Being repayment of principal on Government Bonds and does not include the associated interest and other expenses.
Government Debts as at February 28, 2025 (Note 3) HK$291,839 million Debts Guaranteed by Government as at February 28, 2025 (Note 4) HK$128,207 million
TABLE 2. FISCAL RESERVES
Month ended February 28, 2025 HK$ million
11 months ended February 28, 2025 HK$ million
Fiscal Reserves at start of period
674,685.4
734,585.4
Consolidated Deficit after issuance and repayment of Government Bonds
(32,381.8)
(92,281.8)
Fiscal Reserves at end of period (Note 5)
642,303.6
642,303.6
Notes:
1. This Account consolidates the General Revenue Account and the following eight Funds: Capital Works Reserve Fund, Capital Investment Fund, Civil Service Pension Reserve Fund, Disaster Relief Fund, Innovation and Technology Fund, Land Fund, Loan Fund and Lotteries Fund. It excludes the Bond Fund, the balance of which is not part of the fiscal reserves. The Bond Fund balance as at February 28, 2025, was HK$226,359 million.
2. Includes transactions with the Exchange Fund and resident banks.
3. The Government Debts, with proceeds credited to the Capital Works Reserve Fund, comprise:
(i) the Green Bonds (equivalent to HK$192,627 million as at February 28, 2025) issued under the Government Sustainable Bond Programme. They were denominated in US dollars (US$9,950 million with maturity from January 2026 to January 2053), euros (4,580 million euros with maturity from February 2026 to November 2041), Renminbi (RMB34,000 million with maturity from June 2025 to July 2054) and Hong Kong dollars (HK$42,000 million with maturity from May 2025 to October 2026);
(ii) the Infrastructure Bonds (equivalent to HK$44,381 million as at February 28, 2025) issued under the Infrastructure Bond Programme. They were denominated in Renminbi (RMB10,000 million with maturity from December 2025 to November 2034) and Hong Kong dollars (HK$33,730 million with maturity from November 2025 to December 2039); and
(iii) the Silver Bonds with nominal value of HK$54,831 million (with maturity in October 2027 and may be redeemed before maturity upon request from bond holders) issued under the Infrastructure Bond Programme.
They do not include the outstanding bonds with nominal value of HK$176,454 million and alternative bonds with nominal value of US$1,000 million (equivalent to HK$7,777 million as at February 28, 2025) issued under the Government Bond Programme with proceeds credited to the Bond Fund. Of these bonds under the Government Bond Programme (including Silver Bonds with nominal value of HK$96,454 million, which may be redeemed before maturity upon request from bond holders), bonds with nominal value of HK$75,148 million will mature within the period from March 2025 to February 2026 and the rest within the period from March 2026 to May 2042.
4. Includes guarantees provided under the SME Loan Guarantee Scheme launched in 2001, the Special Loan Guarantee Scheme launched in 2008, the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme launched in 2012, and the Loan Guarantee Scheme for Cross-boundary Passenger Transport Trade, the Loan Guarantee Scheme for Battery Electric Taxis and the Loan Guarantee Scheme for Travel Sector launched in 2023.
5. Includes HK$249,768 million, being the balance of the Land Fund held in the name of “Future Fund”, for long-term investments up to December 31, 2030. The Future Fund also includes HK$4,800 million, being one-third of the actual surplus in 2015-16 as top-up.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released the latest figures on retail sales today (March 31).
The value of total retail sales in February 2025, provisionally estimated at $29.4 billion, decreased by 13.0% compared with the same month in 2024. The revised estimate of the value of total retail sales in January 2025 decreased by 3.1% compared with a year earlier. For the first two months of 2025 taken together, it was provisionally estimated that the value of total retail sales decreased by 7.8% compared with the same period in 2024.
Of the total retail sales value in February 2025, online sales accounted for 7.8%. The value of online retail sales in that month, provisionally estimated at $2.3 billion, decreased by 7.3% compared with the same month in 2024. The revised estimate of online retail sales in January 2025 increased by 2.8% compared with a year earlier. For the first two months of 2025 taken together, it was provisionally estimated that the value of online retail sales decreased by 2.4% compared with the same period in 2024.
After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the provisional estimate of the volume of total retail sales in February 2025 decreased by 15.0% compared with a year earlier. The revised estimate of the volume of total retail sales in January 2025 decreased by 5.1% compared with a year earlier. For the first two months of 2025 taken together, the provisional estimate of the total retail sales decreased by 9.9% in volume compared with the same period in 2024.
In interpreting these figures, it should be noted that retail sales tend to show greater volatility in the first two months of a year due to the timing of the Chinese New Year. Consumer spending in the local market normally attains a seasonal high before the Festival. As the Chinese New Year fell on January 29 this year but on February 10 last year, it is more appropriate to analyse the retail sales figures for January and February taken together in making year-on-year comparison.
Analysed by broad type of retail outlet in descending order of the provisional estimate of the value of sales and comparing the combined total sales for January and February 2025 with the same period a year earlier, the value of sales of other consumer goods not elsewhere classified decreased by 2.0%. This was followed by sales of jewellery, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts (-15.8% in value); commodities in supermarkets (-4.4%); wearing apparel (-5.4%); electrical goods and other consumer durable goods not elsewhere classified (-5.3%); commodities in department stores (-9.9%); fuels (-8.5%); motor vehicles and parts (-49.9%); footwear, allied products and other clothing accessories (-12.3%); books, newspapers, stationery and gifts (-10.9%); furniture and fixtures (-25.6%); Chinese drugs and herbs (-9.1%); and optical shops (-7.6%).
On the other hand, the value of sales of food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco increased by 0.7% in the first two months of 2025 over the same period a year earlier. This was followed by sales of medicines and cosmetics (+0.6% in value).
Based on the seasonally adjusted series, the provisional estimate of the value of total retail sales decreased by 2.0% in the three months ending February 2025 compared with the preceding three-month period, while the provisional estimate of the volume of total retail sales decreased by 4.0%.
Commentary
A government spokesman said that the value of total retail sales increased further in February 2025 over the preceding month on a seasonally adjusted comparison. The year-on-year decline in the value of total retail sales in February 2025 widened, partly due to the earlier arrival of Chinese New Year in late January this year as compared to mid-February last year. Taking the first two months of 2025 together to remove this effect, the value of total retail sales saw a narrower decline on a year-on-year basis than December 2024.
Looking ahead, the spokesman said that the various measures by the Central Government to boost the Mainland economy and benefit Hong Kong, the SAR Government’s proactive efforts to promote tourism and mega events, and the sustained increases in employment earnings in local labour market, would benefit the retail sector, though it would continue to face challenge from the change in consumption patterns of visitors and residents.
Further information
Table 1 presents the revised figures on value index and value of retail sales for all retail outlets and by broad type of retail outlet for January 2025 as well as the provisional figures for February 2025. The provisional figures on the value of retail sales for all retail outlets and by broad type of retail outlet as well as the corresponding year-on-year changes for the first two months of 2025 taken together are also shown.
Table 2 presents the revised figures on value of online retail sales for January 2025 as well as the provisional figures for February 2025. The provisional figures on year-on-year changes for the first two months of 2025 taken together are also shown.
Table 3 presents the revised figures on volume index of retail sales for all retail outlets and by broad type of retail outlet for January 2025 as well as the provisional figures for February 2025. The provisional figures on year-on-year changes for the first two months of 2025 taken together are also shown.
Table 4 shows the movements of the value and volume of total retail sales in terms of the year-on-year rate of change for a month compared with the same month in the preceding year based on the original series, and in terms of the rate of change for a three-month period compared with the preceding three-month period based on the seasonally adjusted series.
The classification of retail establishments follows the Hong Kong Standard Industrial Classification (HSIC) Version 2.0, which is used in various economic surveys for classifying economic units into different industry classes.
These retail sales statistics measure the sales receipts in respect of goods sold by local retail establishments and are primarily intended for gauging the short-term business performance of the local retail sector. Data on retail sales are collected from local retail establishments through the Monthly Survey of Retail Sales (MRS). Local retail establishments with and without physical shops are covered in MRS and their sales, both through conventional shops and online channels, are included in the retail sales statistics.
The retail sales statistics cover consumer spending on goods but not on services (such as those on housing, catering, medical care and health services, transport and communication, financial services, education and entertainment) which account for over 50% of the overall consumer spending. Moreover, they include spending on goods in Hong Kong by visitors but exclude spending outside Hong Kong by Hong Kong residents. Hence they should not be regarded as indicators for measuring overall consumer spending.
Users interested in the trend of overall consumer spending should refer to the data series of private consumption expenditure (PCE), which is a major component of the Gross Domestic Product published at quarterly intervals. Compiled from a wide range of data sources, PCE covers consumer spending on both goods (including goods purchased from all channels) and services by Hong Kong residents whether locally or abroad. Please refer to the C&SD publication “Gross Domestic Product by Expenditure Component” for more details.
Users who have enquiries about the survey results may contact the Distribution Services Statistics Section of C&SD (Tel: 3903 7400; E-mail : mrs@censtatd.gov.hk).
H.R. 1602 would require the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to report annually to the Congress on the number and types of suspicious-activity reports it receives. U.S. financial institutions are required to file such reports with FinCEN listing transactions or patterns of transactions that are unusual or that may involve criminal activity. The bill also would require FinCEN to annually review and update, as appropriate, its protocols for sharing information with other law enforcement, national security, and intelligence agencies. The bill’s requirements would expire seven years after enactment.
Based on the costs of similar activities, CBO expects that FinCEN would need one person each year to comply with the bill’s requirements. On that basis, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 1602 would cost $1 million over the 2025-2030 period. Any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Zunara Naeem. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the appointment of Julia Pollak as Chief Economist. In this role, she will lead the department’s economic research and provide analysis on labor-related policies and programs.
“I am honored to serve this administration and contribute to the Department of Labor’s mission,” said Pollak. “In this pivotal moment for the American workforce, I look forward to using rigorous analysis to promote economic prosperity for job seekers, workers, businesses, and retirees.”
Pollak comes to the department from the hiring site ZipRecruiter, where she served as Chief Economist. Earlier in her career, Pollak was a doctoral fellow and assistant policy analyst at the RAND Corp., and taught economics at Pepperdine University as an adjunct instructor. She also worked as a research assistant for defense studies at the Heritage Foundation.
A graduate of Harvard University, Pollak holds a Master of Philosophy in Policy Analysis from the Pardee RAND Graduate School. She also served as a drilling reservist in the U.S. Navy from 2011 to 2022.
On 11 February 2025, the European Commission adopted the first work programme (2025 CWP) of the von der Leyen II Commission. Building on the reports by Enrico Letta, Mario Draghi and Sauli Niinistö, and in line with the Commission President’s political guidelines, the CWP places a strong emphasis on competitiveness, simplification and implementation, and preparedness. These will remain key horizontal priorities for the entire Commission mandate. In terms of structure, the CWP follows the seven headline ambitions put forward in the political guidelines and is accompanied by a communication on implementation and simplification. The work programme should be read in conjunction with two other recent Commission communications: the ‘Competitiveness Compass’ – itself a flagship initiative under the 2025 CWP, setting out a strategic long-term plan for rebooting Europe’s competitiveness – and the communication on ‘The road to the next multiannual financial framework’ (MFF), which reflects on how to align the MFF with evolving needs and priorities. Annex I of the 2025 CWP puts forward 52 major new policy initiatives, over 40 % of which fall under the competitiveness headline ambition. Only 18 new initiatives are of a legislative nature, with a further one listed as ‘legislative or non-legislative’. Fourteen of the legislative initiatives aim to revise existing legislation; 11 of these have a strong simplification dimension, and only nine are set to be supported by an impact assessment. The relatively low number of legislative files is not uncommon at the beginning of a new mandate, where (non-legislative) strategies, compasses, roadmaps and action plans lay out the new priorities. Several of them, such as the Competitiveness Compass and the Clean Industrial Deal, imply intense legislative activity in the years ahead. The annual plan of evaluations and fitness checks included in Annex II is a novelty – and a step towards increased transparency.
European Parliament resolution on targeted attacks against Christians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – defending religious freedom and security
–having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966,
–having regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, in particular Article 10 thereof on freedom of thought, conscience and religion,
–having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),
–having regard to the statements by the European External Action Service on the security and human rights situation in the DRC,
–having regard to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights,
–having regard to Rule 136(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A.whereas the DRC is experiencing an escalation of violence, particularly in the eastern regions, where armed groups such as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) have targeted Christian communities;
B.whereas between 12 and 15 February 2025, more than 70 Christians were found dead in a Protestant church near Kazanga, North Kivu province in the DRC; whereas the victims had been beheaded by the Islamist ADF, an affiliate militia of Islamic State Central Africa Wilayat (ISCAP);
C.whereas according to BBC Monitoring analysis, ISCAP is now the deadliest armed group in the DRC; whereas from 1 January to 30 June 2024, Islamic State claimed responsibility for killing a total of 698 African Christians; whereas ISCAP claimed responsibility for killing 639 Christians;
D.whereas the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) has amplified Pope Francis’s appeals for an end to the violence and has initiated discussions between the government and rebel groups, with consultations ongoing; whereas CENCO and the Church of Christ in Congo have launched an appeal for 2025 to be a ‘Year of Peace and Good Coexistence’ to address the ongoing violence;
E.whereas churches and Christian institutions have increasingly become targets of violence and persecution by terrorist groups, including the ADF, which has pledged allegiance to Islamic State; whereas the ADF, originally an armed Ugandan rebel movement, has evolved into a jihadist terrorist group operating in the eastern DRC, conducting mass killings, attacking civilian populations and disrupting agricultural and economic activities; whereas despite military operations by Congolese and Ugandan forces, the ADF continues to perpetrate violence and instability in the region;
F.whereas ISIS-DRC continues to pose a severe threat in the region, carrying out deadly attacks against civilians, including the January 2025 massacre in Makoko, North Kivu, and the December 2024 attack in Batangi-Mbau; whereas recent operations by Interpol and Afripol have led to the arrest of 37 suspected terrorists across East Africa, yet ISIS-DRC remains active, exploiting instability and weak governance to sustain its violent campaign;
G.whereas the appointment of a new EU Special Envoy for religious freedom by the Commission on 7 December 2022 followed a three-year standstill, during which the former Special Envoy who had been appointed in 2021 returned his mandate after a few months to assume another position in a national government;
H.whereas in 2016 the Hungarian Government set up a special department for persecuted Christians around the world; whereas the State Secretariat for the Aid of Persecuted Christians supports, through its ‘Hungary Helps’ programme, faith-based initiatives in more than 50 countries, with hundreds of humanitarian and development projects; whereas in 2019 the Italian Government established a fund for persecuted Christian communities; whereas in May 2022 the Italian Government led by Mario Draghi appointed a special envoy for the protection of religious freedom and interreligious dialogue; whereas in 2023 the Italian Government led by Giorgia Meloni appointed a special envoy attached to the foreign ministry to protect Christian communities around the world;
I.whereas over the past decade, the EU has provided significant financial assistance to the DRC, including over EUR 272 million in humanitarian aid between 2023 and 2025 to address urgent needs such as shelter, clean water, food and education for vulnerable populations; whereas the EU allocated EUR 584 million through the European Development Fund for the period 2008-2013 to support stability and development projects; whereas the EU has also been involved in security and peacekeeping efforts, deploying missions such as the EU Security Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (EUSEC) and the EU Police Mission for the DRC (EUPOL RD Congo) to assist in rebuilding the Congolese security forces;
L.whereas the DRC has consistently ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world, scoring 20 out of 100 in the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International and ranking 162nd out of 180 countries; whereas a conservative estimate of 30 % of the approximately EUR 1.2 billion in aid funded with EU taxpayers’ money, provided between 2008 and 2024, suggests that at least EUR 360 million may have been misappropriated by corrupt officials, seriously undermining efforts to enhance governance, stability, safety and living conditions in the DRC;
M.whereas the EU and Rwanda signed a memorandum of understanding on sustainable raw materials value chains in February 2024, granting the EU access to sources of raw materials and rare earth elements in Rwanda; whereas several UN reports state that Rwanda supports the M23 group as a means of extracting and exporting minerals from the DRC; whereas the US Embassy in the DRC confirmed that Congolese minerals are being transported, with the support of armed groups, to Rwanda, where they are subsequently sold to international buyers;
N.whereas this conflict has been overshadowed by global attention focused on crises in the Middle East and Ukraine, despite over 10 million lives lost in years of violence and an estimated 3 000 people killed in just a few days;
1.Strongly condemns the murder of Christians in the DRC, and all acts of violence targeting them, and expresses its solidarity with the victims;
2.Notes that the DRC ranks 35th on the Open Doors’ World Watch List 2025 of countries where Christians are persecuted because of their faith; emphasises that Christians face severe persecution and violence especially from Islamist groups; emphasises that the ADF abduct and kill Christians and attack churches, leading to terror, insecurity and population displacement; emphasises that the M23 group also targets Christian civilians; is concerned about the involvement of the M23 group in the widespread violence in the DRC; takes note of the EU sanctions against people holding leading positions in the Rwanda Defence Force and M23; demands that the Rwandan Government withdraw its troops from the DRC and cease its cooperation with M23; notes that the DRC ranks fourth on Global Christian Relief’s Red List of countries where Christians have been forced to flee their homes due to violence;
3.Is worried about the growing threat posed by ISCAP in Central Africa; notes that the increasing number of violent attacks demonstrates both ISCAP’s willingness and operational capability to intensify its campaign of terror and violent attacks against Christians; is worried that the expansion of Islamic State in Central Africa poses a danger to the security of the whole continent;
4.Is of the opinion that by stalling the process of mandating an EU Special Envoy for religious freedom for almost three years, the Commission signalled to the outside world that the issue of the persecution of Christians worldwide is not one of the EU’s priorities; notes that this reflects its policy in the EU, only appointing a coordinator for combating Muslim hatred, and neglecting the rising violence against Christians in the EU; finds this lack of commitment highly regrettable and problematic in the light of the rising violence against Christians worldwide; is of the opinion that the significant delay in appointing the EU Special Envoy for religious freedom undermines the credibility of the EU’s commitment to protecting religious freedom and belief beyond its borders;
5.Welcomes the ‘Hungary Helps’ programme, which helps Christian communities rebuild after persecution and manages projects, reconstructing institutions and improving education and healthcare after violent persecution by Islamic terrorist groups; emphasises that the Hungarian initiative, enabling people to build their future in their own country, is also an important migration prevention policy; welcomes the fact that the ‘Hungary Helps’ programme and the Reformed Church of Hungary will give donations to help the victims of the Islamist terrorist attacks on Christians in the DRC; welcomes the cooperation between the Hungarian and Italian Governments to undertake joint initiatives in Africa, with a focus on supporting persecuted Christians; hopes that Hungarian and Italian policy will inspire other Member States to follow suit;
6.Calls for the EU and the EU Special Envoy for religious freedom to take all the necessary diplomatic and political initiatives to protect Christians in the DRC;
7.Calls on the DRC and its authorities to conduct a thorough investigation of the murders and to ensure that the criminals responsible are brought to justice;
8.Calls on the DRC and its authorities to take immediate and effective action to protect Christian communities and all religious minorities from further violence and persecution;
9.Calls on the DRC and its authorities to provide financial and logistical support for local and international humanitarian organisations assisting the victims of religious persecution in the DRC;
10.Welcomes the efforts of religious leaders to foster peace and dialogue and urges all parties involved to seek constructive solutions rather than resorting to violence;
11.Encourages regional and international African bodies such as the African Union and the East African Community to take the lead in addressing the conflict, as they are the best suited for this task; encourages these African bodies to enhance counter-terrorism cooperation, intelligence-sharing and military coordination against extremist groups operating in the region;
12.Calls strongly for the EU to work with regional and international actors to protect civilians and Christian communities and bring the perpetrators of these criminal acts to justice;
13.Emphasises the need to address these crimes at the African Union level;
14.Calls on the Commission to suspend the implementation of the memorandum of understanding on sustainable raw materials value chains signed with Rwanda in February 2024, in the light of credible reports linking Rwanda to the illicit exploitation and export of minerals from the eastern DRC, including through its support for the M23 armed group; stresses that the continuation of this agreement risks fuelling the ongoing conflict, undermining regional stability and leading to the further killing of Christians in the region;
15.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the EU Special Envoy for religious freedom, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, the Special Rapporteur on Torture, Degrading and Inhuman Treatment, the African Union Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, the Government and Parliament of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the African Union and the East African Community.
European Parliament resolution on the targeted attacks against Christians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: defending religious freedom and security
–having regard to its previous resolutions on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC),
–having regard to the UN Report of the Mapping Exercise documenting the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed within the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between March 1993 and June 2003, of August 2010,
–having regard to UN Security Council Resolution 2773 (2025) of 21 February 2025 on the situation concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
–having regard to the Partnership Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Members of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, of the other part[1](the Samoa Agreement),
–having regard to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which was adopted on 27 June 1981 and entered into force on 21 October 1986,
–having regard to the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, adopted on 18 February 2006,
–having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
–having regard to the Charter of the United Nations,
–having regard to Rule 136(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A.whereas there has been a deterioration in the security situation in the eastern DRC over the past year, with different armed groups, and at times government soldiers, committing widespread violence, unlawful killings and other grave abuses, putting civilians at great risk;
B.whereas the UN Group of Experts, established pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 1533 (2004), estimates that between 3 000 and 4 000 Rwandan army troops are on the ground in the DRC, and considers that the deployment of the Rwanda Defence Force violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the DRC, and that Rwanda’s de facto control and direction over M23 operations also renders Rwanda liable for the actions of M23;
C.whereas the World Religion Database estimates that 95.1 % of the population in the DRC is Christian, 1.5 % is Muslim and 2.5 % has no religious affiliation; whereas the Constitution of the DRC provides for freedom of religion and prohibits discrimination based on religious belief;
D.whereasa group referred to as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), with links to the Islamic State,has reportedly carried out continued indiscriminate attacks against civilians in North Kivu and Ituri Provinces, on occasion targeting churches and religious leaders; whereas such violence targets all communities, but most victims have been Christian, belonging to the religious majority;whereas the deaths of at least 849 men, women and children were attributed to the ADF in North Kivu and Ituri Provinces in 2020, according to the UN Joint Human Rights Office in the DRC; whereas the ADF allegedly also carried out an attack on a church baptism in Kasindi, North Kivu Province in February 2023, killing 16 and injuring at least 62, as well as different attacks on villages in North Kivu in March 2023, killing more than 83 civilians, including children;
E.whereas, since 2015, the ADF has released increasing amounts of propaganda that reflect the group’s ‘ideological alignment with the Islamic State’, including, among other objectives, ‘an increased focus on efforts to kill non-Muslim civilians’, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies; whereas both local Christian and Muslim leaders, with vocal support from the government, have again condemned the ADF’s attacks on civilians;
F.whereas the UN and the DRC had agreed on the withdrawal of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) in mid-2024, leading to a degradation of the security situation and affecting civilians, who were left exposed to human rights abuses by state security forces and armed actors;
G.whereas the DRC has one of the highest rates of internal displacement in the world; whereas many women and children live in precarious conditions and are being exposed to the risk of harassment, assault or sexual exploitation; whereas displaced populations often receive no basic life-saving services and are at risk of malnutrition and disease; whereas cities that host internally displaced people in precarious circumstances are also targets of attack by different militias, causing great distress to the displaced communities and to the local population;
H.whereas state authorities and rebel groups have obligations to civilians under international humanitarian law, including protecting and facilitating access to humanitarian assistance, and permitting freedom of movement;
I.whereas the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigations in the DRC have focused on alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed mainly in the eastern DRC, in the Ituri region and the North and South Kivu Provinces, since 1 July 2002; whereas the DRC made a second referral in May 2023 concerning alleged crimes committed in North Kivu since 1 January 2022;
1.Is concerned by the humanitarian and security situation in the DRC and the findings in the recent reports of the UN Group of Experts established pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1533 (2004), and fully supports the reports’ recommendations;
2.Welcomes the Council’s decision on 17 March 2025[2]to impose restrictive measures on nine individuals and one entity responsible for acts that constitute serious human rights violations and abuses in the DRC and for sustaining the armed conflict, instability and insecurity in the DRC and exploiting the armed conflict through the illicit exploitation or trade of natural resources;
3.Commends the announcement of the ICC Prosecutor that the ICC will continue to investigate alleged crimes committed by any person, irrespective of affiliation or nationality; is highly concerned about the fragile situation of the ICC, noting that this fragility is already undermining the ICC’s crucial work to bring justice to victims of the most serious crimes worldwide; reiterates the EU’s unwavering support for the ICC and calls on the European Council and the Commission to fulfil their obligations to ensure the functioning and effectiveness of the ICC;
4.Calls on the Commission to continue supportinganti-corruption efforts and strengthening governance in the DRC; stresses the primary responsibility of the Government of the DRC to ensure security in its territory and protect its civilians, while respecting the rule of law, international human rights law and international humanitarian law;
5.Welcomes the special session of the UN Human Rights Council of 7 February 2025 on the human rights situation in the east of the DRC; supports the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry into serious violations committed since January 2022;
6.Reiterates its condemnation of hate speech, xenophobia, ethnic-based politics, and attacks on religious freedom; underlines that all those responsible for sustaining armed conflict, instability and insecurity in the DRC must be held accountable;
7.Recalls that human rights violations are being used as a weapon of war and that the vast majority of attacks against civilians in the DRC are not motivated by religion but are most often committed on ethnic, political, terrorist or financial grounds;
8.Calls upon the relevant parties to provide a safe environment for civil society organisations and human rights defenders to enable them to carry out their work freely;
9.Calls on the Government of the DRC to implement the recommendations of the 2010 Mapping Report, particularly regarding security sector reforms, the strengthening of institutions and the rule of law, the fight against corruption, and regional cooperation efforts for the arrest and prosecution of perpetrators of serious crimes;
10.Urges neighbouring states of the DRC to withdraw their troops, to cease all military activities on the soil of the DRC, unless expressly invited to conduct such activities by the Government of the DRC, and to stop their support to armed groups; emphasises that incursions by certain actors in the region, such as the Rwandan forces and M23, further destabilise the DRC by forcing the its army to engage on multiple fronts, making it more difficult to combat armed and terrorist groups;
11.Calls for a quick resumption of negotiations within the Luanda Process to find a lasting, peaceful and political solution, and urges all sides to fully honour their engagements within the Luanda Process, specifically the ceasefire agreed on 30 July 2024, the neutralisation of theDemocratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwandaand M23 rebel groups, and the withdrawal of Rwandan forces from the territory of the DRC; calls for the EU to have an active role in the diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the conflict, advocating for an immediate ceasefire and a renewed commitment to dialogue, with the protection of civilians at the core of negotiations, in particular women and children;
12.Deplores the fact that fighting and the shelling of medical infrastructure in and around Goma has severely limited the delivery of humanitarian aid to those in need;
13.Calls on all countries neighbouring the DRC, in particular Rwanda, to facilitate access of humanitarian equipment and personnel to all areas occupied by the rebels groups in the eastern DRC, including through the reopening of Goma airport and of borders;
14.Calls on the Commission to suspend the EU-Rwanda Memorandum of Understanding on sustainable raw materials value chains, put a halt to any plans to support any mining projects in Rwanda, put in place a trade embargo on all minerals imported from Rwanda into the EU and an export ban on weapons from the EU to Rwanda, and suspend any further military and security assistance to Rwanda until the territorial integrity of the DRC is restored; calls on the Commission to proactively engage with Rwanda’s main partners to ensure coordinated action;
15.Calls for the Government of the DRC and its international partners, including the EU, to establish new monitoring mechanisms for the implementation of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the DRC and the region, signed in Addis Ababa;
16.Deplores the fact that Rwanda announced the termination of its diplomatic relations with Belgium, and expresses its solidarity with Belgium;
17.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Government and Parliament of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the African Union, the secretariats of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Southern African Development Community and the East African Community, and other relevant international bodies.
This study seeks to provide a concise and succinct overview of the structure, key facts and figures, and rules and procedures of the EU budget, and informs on the latest developments in EU finances and budgeting. It aims to serve both as a reference guide for experienced EU budget actors and as a primer for newcomers to the EU budget. It continues an annual series of ‘Outlooks’ produced by the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) over the past eight years. This study analyses the expenditure challenges for the EU’s next multiannual financial framework, including financing EU defence, further support for Ukraine, the costs of enlargement, the financing of competitiveness and the repayment of debt incurred by Next Generation EU grants. The study examines EU budget revenues and a reform of the own resources system, including the option to increase EU debt. Finally, it analyses the annual budget, the discharge procedure, rule of law conditionality, and budgetary scrutiny.
The 2022 Council Recommendation on cancer screening[1] states that screen-and-treat strategies for the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, responsible for around 89% of all gastric cancers, should be considered in countries or regions with high gastric cancer incidence and death rates. Such pilot studies are considered necessary before population-based screening programmes can be implemented.
The Commission has been providing funding through the EU4Health Programme to the projects EUROHELICAN[2] and TOGAS[3].
They aim to help policymakers across the EU to incorporate gastric cancer screening into their healthcare priorities and balance effectiveness, feasibility and acceptability with potential adverse long-term effects.
Additionally, through the Joint Action EUCanScreen[4], a pilot study will look into the feasibility of integrating gastric cancer screening into colorectal cancer screening programmes.
The EU4Health-funded project CAN.HEAL[5] is focusing on the implementation of genomics and personalised medicine in clinical practice, including non-invasive screening methods, such as next-generation sequencing and liquid biopsy.
The Horizon Europe[6] EU Mission: ‘Cancer’[7] and the European partnership on Personalised Medicine[8] drive research into the development and uptake of as well as access to screening and early detection technologies in national healthcare systems.
Both initiatives will cooperate with the Joint Action on Personalised Cancer Medicine which is expected to be launched in the second half of 2025.
The latter Joint Action will also build on OncNGS[9], Instand NGS4P[10], and other Horizon Europe-funded collaborative projects, which develop and address uptake of genomics and personalised medicine.
According to the Critical Raw Materials (CRM) Act[1], projects will be considered strategic when they meet the criteria listed in Article 6, without prioritisation system or ranking.
The Commission assesses all complete applications with the help of external experts in technical, financial, and environmental, social and governance-related aspects as well as experts in the United Nations Framework Classification for Resources.
The outcome of this assessment is summarised in a consensus report, endorsed by all experts who contributed to it. As requested by the CRM Act, the Commission shares its assessment with the CRM Board, which shall issue an opinion on whether the proposed projects fulfil the assessment criteria.
Member States whose territory is concerned by a proposed project have the right to object against the recognition of that project as a strategic project.
Moreover, for strategic projects in third countries or overseas countries or territories, the Commission will not approve the application before receiving the explicit approval of the third country concerned.
The Commission adopted a first list of strategic projects on 25 March 2025. A second list of non-EU project will be adopted at a later stage.
1. The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)[1] supports Member States and regions in improving water management systems and infrastructures. Under the Regional Programme Apulia ERDF-ESF+ (European Social Fund+) 2014-2020 and 2021-2027, around EUR 530 million have been allocated to sustainable water management in the region, focusing on reducing water loss, upgrading networks, improving reservoirs and the treatment of wastewater.
2. In line with the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC[2], responsibility for decisions regarding water management rests with Member States, which ensure that the objectives of the directive are met. Additional water supply options could be considered by the Italian Government and the regional authorities as part of an integrated strategy, to better balance water demand and supply, considering long-term climate scenarios. As outlined by the Commission’s 2007 Communication[3], policy making should be based on a water hierarchy, implementing where possible water-saving and efficiency measures, including effective water pricing policy and cost-effective alternatives. Adverse effects linked to additional water supply infrastructure must be considered in the environmental assessment.
3. While Italy’s recovery and resilience plan (RRP)[4] allocates EUR 4.8 billion to enhance water supply management, the Council Implementing Decision (CID) Annex[5] does not allocate resources specifically to Apulia. Any allocation is therefore a decision of national and regional authorities only. Apulia’s projects relevant to RRP reporting align with CID Annex milestones and targets. Their implementation status is evaluated during assessment of milestones and targets, coinciding with current and future payment requests.
[2] Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy, OJ L 327, 22.12.2000, p.1.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, March 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Red Cat Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: RCAT) (“Red Cat” or “Company”), a drone technology company integrating robotic hardware and software for military, government, and commercial operations, reports its financial results for the 2024 Transition Period (as of December 31, 2024 and the eight months then ended) and provides a corporate update.
Recent Operational Highlights:
Black Widow selected as the sole winner and provider of the U.S. Army’s Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) Program of Record.
Closed the acquisition of FlightWave Aerospace Systems Corporation. The acquisition officially brings the Edge 130, FlightWave’s Blue UAS approved military-grade tri-copter, into Red Cat’s Family of Systems.
Partnered with Palantir to integrate Visual Navigation software (VNav) into Red Cat’s Black Widow drones. This collaboration will transform autonomous sUAS operations for modern warfare by utilizing Palantir’s Visual Navigation in GPS denied environments.
Partnered with Palantir to deploy Warp Speed, Palantir’s manufacturing OS. This collaboration will transform our supply and manufacturing operations with Palantir’s AI enabled monitoring, process flow enhancement and comprehensive data analysis. Palantir’s Warp Speed will optimize Red Cat’s production and streamline its supply chain, change management, and quality assurance, ultimately reducing costs and improving margins.
Announced that the Black Widow drone and FlightWave Edge 130 were included on the list of 23 platforms and 14 unique components and capabilities selected as winners of the Blue UAS Refresh. The platforms will undergo National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) verification and cyber security review with the ultimate goal of joining the Blue UAS List.
Introduced our Black Widow™ short-range reconnaissance drone and Edge 130 Tricopter to the Middle East market at the International Defense Exhibition and Conference in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Feb 17-21 2025.
Will be introducing Black Widow™ and Edge 130 drones to the Latin American market at LAAD 2025 in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil in April 2025.
Introduced Black Widow™ to the Asia Pacific Market at the AISSE conference in Putrajaya, Malaysia in January 2025.
Expanded our Red Cat Futures Industry Consortium to include Palantir and Palladyne to boost AI capabilities in contested environments, including visual navigation.
2024 Transition Period (as of December 31, 2024 and the eight months then ended) Financial Highlights:
Transition period revenue of $4.9 million
Ended the period with cash and accounts receivable of $9.6 million
Closed an additional $6 million financing since prior quarter end
Guidance of $80-$120 million for calendar year 2025 , which consists of:
$25 million in Non-SRR Black Widow sales
$25 million in Edge 130 sales
$5 million in Fang FPV sales
$25 to $65 million in SRR-related Black Widow sales
“Red Cat’s partnerships and global expansion strategy is already yielding strong results. Over the past few months, we’ve introduced the Black Widow and Edge 130 drones to key international markets, including the Middle East, Asia Pacific, and soon Latin America,” said Jeff Thompson, Red Cat CEO. “This momentum underscores growing global interest in our Family of Systems. The ongoing development of Black Widow for the U.S. Army’s SRR Program of Record, bolstered by AI partners like Palantir and Palladyne, we’re not only meeting immediate defense needs—we’re ensuring our warfighters and allies are well equipped for rapidly-evolving battlefield.”
“Our financial position remains solid as we scale to meet increased demand,” added Thompson. “With over $9 million in cash and receivables and the recently secured debt financing of $15 million, we’ve significantly strengthened our capital position heading into a pivotal year. This infusion of non-dilutive capital allows us to aggressively scale production, and meet accelerating demand tied to the U.S. Army’s SRR program and international opportunities. Combined with our strong cash balance and operational discipline, we are confident in our ability to support 2025 revenue guidance and deliver long-term shareholder value.”
Conference Call Today
CEO Jeff Thompson will host an earnings conference call at 4:30 p.m. ET on Monday, March 31, 2025 to review financial results and provide an update on corporate developments. Following management’s formal remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session.
About Red Cat Holdings, Inc. Red Cat (Nasdaq: RCAT) is a drone technology company integrating robotic hardware and software for military, government, and commercial operations. Through two wholly owned subsidiaries, Teal Drones and FlightWave Aerospace, Red Cat has developed a leading-edge Family of Systems. This includes the flagship Black Widow™, a small unmanned ISR system that was awarded the U.S. Army’s Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) Program of Record contract. The Family of Systems also includes TRICHON™, a fixed wing VTOL for extended endurance and range, and FANG™, the industry’s first line of NDAA compliant FPV drones optimized for military operations with precision strike capabilities. Learn more at www.redcat.red.
Forward Looking Statements This press release contains “forward-looking statements” that are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release may be identified by the use of words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “seek,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “target,” “aim,” “should,” “will” “would,” or the negative of these words or other similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements are based on Red Cat Holdings, Inc.’s current expectations and are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Further, certain forward-looking statements are based on assumptions as to future events that may not prove to be accurate. These and other risks and uncertainties are described more fully in the section titled “Risk Factors” in the Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 27, 2023. Forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are made as of this date, and Red Cat Holdings, Inc. undertakes no duty to update such information except as required under applicable law.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark., March 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bank OZK (the “Bank”) (Nasdaq: OZK) expects to report its first quarter 2025 earnings after the market closes on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. Management’s comments on the first quarter of 2025 will be released simultaneously with the earnings press release and will be available on the Bank’s investor relations website.
Management will conduct a conference call to take questions at 7:30 a.m. CT (8:30 a.m. ET) on Thursday, April 17, 2025. Interested parties may access the conference call live via webcast on the Bank’s investor relations website at https://ir.ozk.com/news/event-calendar, or may participate via telephone by registering using this online form. Upon registration, all telephone participants will receive the dial-in number along with a unique PIN number that can be used to access the call. A replay of the conference call webcast will be archived on the Bank’s website for at least 30 days.
GENERAL INFORMATION Bank OZK (Nasdaq: OZK) is a regional bank providing innovative financial solutions delivered by expert bankers with a relentless pursuit of excellence. Established in 1903, Bank OZK conducts banking operations in more than 240 offices in nine states including Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, New York, California and Mississippi and had $38.26 billion in total assets as of December 31, 2024. For more information, visit www.ozk.com.
The Bank files annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy materials, and other information required by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), copies of which are available electronically at the FDIC’s website at https://efr.fdic.gov/fcxweb/efr/index.html and are also available on the Bank’s investor relations website at ir.ozk.com. To receive automated email alerts for these materials please visit https://ir.ozk.com/other/email-alerts to sign up.
NEW YORK, NY, March 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Samsara Luggage Inc. (OTC: SAML), a publicly traded company focused on acquiring and growing businesses in the public safety sector, today announced the streamlining of its operations to enhance efficiency and position the company for future growth. Additionally, the company is completing feasibility studies, due diligence, and/or contract negotiations on several potential acquisitions and growth initiatives.
SAML currently operates seven public safety subsidiaries across the United States and the United Arab Emirates, along with an industrial electric vehicle (EV) business in Serbia. These businesses are undergoing efficiency and cost-reduction initiatives to better align resources and optimize cash flow while building a robust management team to support the company’s uplisting ambitions.
Like many OTC companies, the company has faced challenges raising capital over the past two years, significantly affecting the growth and operations of its operating companies and its parent company, Ilustrato Pictures International Inc. (“ILUS”). However, ILUS believes it has a clear path to significant capital access during the next quarter. It’s anticipated that SAML will benefit greatly from improved investment, cash flow, and liquidity, allowing it to revitalize the cash-starved subsidiaries and reignite its growth and acquisition plans.
Streamlining the Public Safety Division
In 2024, SAML faced challenges scaling its public safety division due to the business’s capital-intensive nature and limited access to growth capital. To address these challenges, the company has implemented operational improvements to enhance cost efficiency and plans to advance previously delayed product certifications.
“There is no beating around the bush. The last 18 months in the ERT businesses have been extremely tough, with limited access to working capital. However, we expect those days are rapidly ending as the parent company anticipates being in a stronger position to assist with working capital. We remain committed to advancing our public safety ERT businesses and positioning the company for an uplisting alongside simultaneous M&A activities. I’m expecting an exciting time, with lots of hard work bringing our visions to reality, but we are ready,” said Nicolas Link, Interim CEO of SAML.
SAML is exploring non-cash-intensive acquisitions that can add scale and enhance the company’s market presence to supplement organic growth.
Revitalizing the Industrial Electric Vehicle Business
SAML’s Eraptor division, which focuses on industrial electric vehicles, will also receive renewed focus in 2025. Resource constraints in 2024 led to stalled production and R&D activities. Management aims to resume production and enhance R&D efforts to capitalize on the growing demand for innovative industrial EV solutions.
The Eraptor business is strategically aligned with SAML’s public safety operations, sharing a similar customer base and target markets. This alignment offers opportunities for cross-sector synergies and market penetration.
Exploring opportunities
Over the past 36 months, the world has changed considerably in almost all areas, including but not limited to governments, costs, inflation, financing, access to capital, technology, geopolitics, energy demands, defense, remote working, and nearly every aspect of daily life. These changes have drastically altered global dynamics. For this reason, we will explore opportunities that will add value to shareholders and generate positive cash flow, focusing on areas that align with our management skill set.
Corporate Updates
SAML also provides the following updates regarding its corporate structure and leadership. The company had previously filed for a name change to Emergency Response Technologies Inc. and a new trading symbol (RESQ). Although the application was initially declined due to a lender relationship, the company has since resolved the matter. Management expects to refile an application after its audited 2024 financials are completed.
Mr. John-Paul Backwell has stepped down as CEO and a Director of the Company to devote his efforts to developing Nasdaq-listed Fusion Fuel Green Plc (Nasdaq: HTOO), a corporation in which SAML’s parent entity, ILUS, maintains a substantial shareholding. Mr. Nicolas Link will temporarily assume the duties of CEO while the company recruits a new permanent CEO and Mr. Backwell will remain as an advisor to the company.
“We will undoubtedly miss John Paul Backwell’s involvement in ERT, but he remains a part of our extended ILUS family. He remains an advisor to ERT while focusing primarily on the HTOO business. I want to thank JP for his incredible sacrifice and commitment to the ERT business and to the group, for that matter. We are actively recruiting for a CEO to lead the SAML business into the next stage,” said Nicolas Link, Chairman and Interim CEO.
SAML notifies shareholders that it will file an NT 10-K and will file its financials late for a number of reasons, including but not limited to the following:
Addressing several SEC comments on its previous filings and disclosures, many of which are technical accounting issues, with numerous comments dating back to a period before our takeover.
There have been a number of changes within the group, including acquisitions, mergers, and share swaps. All of these have a knock-on effect in terms of accounting and consolidation that can only be completed once the subsidiaries have been audited and can be consolidated. We are mindful that we want to file the 2024 financials and any prior amendments correctly, providing a clean runway for upcoming registrations across the group. We have engaged consultants to assist with this, who have been working on it for several months.
In 2024, we changed auditors across the group, who are re-auditing the entire two-year period and can only complete their audits sequentially as the group finishes each part.
We also underwent software integration across the companies of an integrated ERP system, which naturally took time.
To prevent this scenario from happening again, we have hired additional accounting resources, highly experienced specialists in management within this area, and consultants with extensive PCAOB and SEC experience to ensure that we are accurate going forward.
The team is working diligently to complete the filing as soon as possible. Management thanks shareholders for their patience and assures them that the delay is not due to any legal problems. Instead, it is for continued improvement and to address previously raised regulatory comments, allowing for smoother registration processes in the future.
SAML will hold its annual shareholder meeting on June 20, 2025, as part of the broader ILUS group shareholder meeting, with further information to be published in due course.
Certain information set forth in this press release contains “forward-looking information”, including “future-oriented financial information” and “financial outlook”, under applicable securities laws (collectively referred to herein as forward-looking statements). Except for statements of historical fact, the information contained herein constitutes forward-looking statements and includes, but is not limited to, the (i) projected financial performance of the Company; (ii) completion of, and the use of proceeds from, the sale of the shares being offered hereunder; (iii) the expected development of the Company’s business, projects, and joint ventures; (iv) execution of the Company’s vision and growth strategy, including with respect to future M&A activity and global growth; (v) sources and availability of third-party financing for the Company’s projects; (vi) completion of the Company’s projects that are currently underway, in development or otherwise under consideration; (vii) renewal of the Company’s current customer, supplier and other material agreements; and (viii) future liquidity, working capital, and capital requirements. Forward-looking statements are provided to allow potential investors the opportunity to understand management’s beliefs and opinions in respect of the future so that they may use such beliefs and opinions as one factor in evaluating an investment. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and undue reliance should not be placed on them. Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future performance or result expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although forward-looking statements contained in this presentation are based upon what management of the Company believes are reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management’s estimates or opinions should change except as required by applicable securities laws. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has provided guidance to issuers regarding the use of social media to disclose material non-public information. In this regard, investors and others should note that we announce material financial information via official Press Releases, in addition to SEC filings, press releases, Questions & Answers sessions, public conference calls and webcasts also may take time from time to time. We use these channels as well as social media to communicate with the public about our company, our services, and other issues. It is possible that the information we post on social media could be deemed to be material information. Therefore, considering the SEC’s guidance, we encourage investors, the media, and others interested in our company to review the information we post on social & media channels.
First Half Fiscal Year 2025 Revenue up 13.1% to $16.4 Million Period over Period
Accelerating Enterprise AI Adoption Fuels Market Expansion, Unlocking New Opportunities in AI-Powered Customer Engagement
Management to Host Conference Call Today, March 31, 2025 at 4:30 PM ET
SINGAPORE and SAN DIEGO, March 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Helport AI Limited (NASDAQ: HPAI) (“Helport AI” or the “Company”), an AI technology company serving enterprise clients with intelligent customer communication software and services, today announced financial results for the six months ended December 31, 2024.
First Half Fiscal Year 2025 Highlights
Average monthly subscribed seats were 6,469 for the six months ended December 31, 2024, representing an increase of 29.1% from 5,011 in the same period of 2023.
Revenue for the six months ended December 31, 2024, was $16.4 million, representing an increase of 13.1% from $14.5 million in the six months ended December 31, 2023, driven by increased enterprise adoption of AI-driven solutions.
Gross profit for the first half of fiscal year 2025 was $9.0 million, representing a decrease of 7.7% from $9.7 million in the first half of fiscal year 2024, as a result of continued investment in AI infrastructure and product innovation.
Net income was $1.1 million in the first half of fiscal year 2025, compared to $6.2 million in the first half of fiscal year 2024, representing a decrease of 82.9%, as a result of our increased investments in R&D, public company regulatory compliance costs, and global expansion expenses.
Net cash provided by operating activities was $3.9 million for the six months ended December 31, 2024, supporting business expansion and strategic initiatives.
As of December 31, 2024, there were 37,132,968 ordinary shares and 18,845,000 warrants issued and outstanding.
Subsequent Operational Milestones
As of December 2024, Helport AI Assist software is officially approved and available on Google Cloud Marketplace, allowing businesses across sectors to access Helport’s AI-driven software.
Successful rollout of partnership with Google by delivering AI-driven software and services to one of its US west coast government accounts. First phase completed with further collaboration underway.
In December 2024, Helport AI formed a strategic partnership with a US wholesale mortgage lender to offer Helport AI Assist software to its network of over 100,000 loan officers nationwide.
Opened new office in the Philippines in January 2025, establishing a ‘Global Center of Excellence’ to drive artificial intelligence operations and service offerings in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. In less than three months, headcount has grown to more than 100 workers, reflecting strong demand from customers in the region.
Appointed Amy Fong as President, Director, and Interim Chief Financial Officer, bringing over 25 years of experience as a seasoned professional across multiple industries, including banking, private equity, management consulting, and the not-for-profit sector.
Progress in the debt collection space since January 2025, having secured partnerships with three consumer financing companies in Southeast Asia, two of which are publicly listed in the U.S.
Since February 2025, the Company has signed partnerships with seven U.S. insurance agencies to pilot Helport AI Assist software.
Company to host “Investor/Analyst Day” at its North America HQ in San Diego in Q2 of 2025.
Outlook for Second Half Fiscal Year 2025 & Beyond:
Revenue Growth: Accelerating revenue materialization from a robust pipeline of customers in our core sectors of insurance, mortgage sales, BPO call centers, consumer financing, and government services. Driving further expansion in the U.S. and Southeast Asia through enterprise partnerships and focused execution in these core industries.
Profitability & Cost Optimization: Improving AI training efficiency and cloud infrastructure to enhance margins over time.
AI+BPO Monetization: Expanding in-house AI + human service delivery model to facilitate new customer acquisition and rapid proof of concept. Leveraging this software plus service offering to efficiently scale user base and revenue generation across global markets.
Continued R&D Innovation: Investing in AI capabilities, including voice cloning, multilingual automation, and industry-specific integrations.
Management Commentary
“The first half of fiscal year 2025 delivered revenue growth of 13.1%, which was driven by continued enterprise adoption of AI-powered software, technology improvements, and the scaling of our international sales and operations teams,” said Guanghai Li, Chief Executive Officer of Helport AI. “During this time, we made significant investments in product development, cloud infrastructure, and international expansion, which temporarily impacted gross margins and profitability. However, we believe that these investments are essential to scaling our platform and expanding into new markets, and we maintained profitability despite these investments. Moreover, we have seen our enterprise customers increasingly leverage our AI-powered BPO solutions to drive cost efficiencies and improve customer engagement, helping differentiate ourselves as a market leader in the AI-driven customer contact space.”
“On the technology front, our products are now comprehensively integrated with large language models (LLMs), which has been shown to enhance their ability to digest raw, unstructured information and provide smart, domain-specific applications for our growing customer base. We have also built new industry-specific knowledge bases, achieving major milestones for the Company across key sectors. Demonstrating this ability to penetrate new industries where we see vast growth potential, we have partnered with U.S.-based LendSure Mortgage Corp. (“LendSure”), a wholesale lender with a network of over 100,000 loan officers, as well as with seven insurance agencies across multiple US states. These scalable seeds represent early traction across multiple industry sectors, each of which represents significant market opportunities.”
“Operationally, we continued to make strategic investments in our team and infrastructure to strengthen and expand our capabilities and global reach. We have established offices in the Philippines and the U.S. and are in the process of opening additional offices in North America and Southeast Asia to execute on both existing and potential demand in these regions. We also welcomed Amy Fong as President, Director, and Interim CFO. Amy is a seasoned executive who is now overseeing our finance functions, leading strategy across capital markets, partner and customer development, and global operations.”
“Looking ahead to the second half of fiscal year 2025, we are building on our foundation and doubling down on strategic initiatives to accelerate revenue growth and enhance profitability. We are deepening penetration in what we anticipate will be high-growth markets, specifically North America and Southeast Asia. As demonstrated with our recent customer acquisitions across mortgage, insurance, and debt collection, we are tailoring our AI-powered solutions for industry-specific needs, aiming to expand adoption among BPOs, financial services, and public sector industries. We are driving monetization and acceleration of our AI+BPO offering, which has seen noteworthy demand in new segments such as consumer financing, which we expect will allow us to capture greater market share in AI-driven customer engagement solutions.”
“We will continue to prioritize R&D investments and building next-generation AI products that further differentiate Helport AI in the market. We are also focusing on cost efficiencies, including optimizing AI training costs and cloud infrastructure, and improving unit economics per deployment, to strengthen profitability and deliver long-term value to our shareholders,” concluded Li.
Financial Review for the Six Months Ended December 31, 2024 and 2023
Revenue
During the six months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, all of our revenue was derived from AI services. Revenue increased by approximately US$1.9 million, or 13.1%, from US$14.5 million for the six months ended December 31, 2023 to US$16.4 million for the six months ended December 31, 2024. The increase was primarily attributable to the average monthly subscribed seats, which grew from 5,011 for the six months ended December 31, 2023 to 6,469 for the six months ended December 31, 2024. The growth was driven by (i) our efforts in continuous optimization and development in our service offerings and software platform, (ii) our abilities to improve overall cost performance for customers in their business management process, and (iii) the growing demand for AI software in the professional technology services market. During the first half of FY2025, the Company entered the U.S. market and secured several customers, demonstrating initial business traction and expansion potential.
Cost of Revenue
Cost of revenue primarily consists of amortization of software, payments to a third-party service provider for outsourced operations, as well as cloud infrastructure costs. Cost of revenue related to AI services increased by approximately US$2.6 million, or 55.2%, from US$4.8 million for the six months ended December 31, 2023 to US$7.4 million for the six months ended December 31, 2024, mainly due to the corresponding rise in outsourced operation costs as revenue increased. The growth rate of cost of revenue is proportionally higher than that of revenue, primarily due to investments required to serve new markets and customers. These investments enable us to enhance our product and service offerings with differentiated, competitive technology—particularly through the development of industry-specific application scenarios. These tailored solutions are essential for entering new sectors such as insurance, mortgage sales, and government services, as well as for localizing our platform to meet the regulatory and operational demands of new geographic regions like North America and Southeast Asia.
Gross Profit
As a result of the foregoing, we recorded gross profit of US$9.0 million and US$9.7 million for the six months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. This reduction of gross profit margin from 67.0% to 54.6% is the result of the aforementioned elevated amortization costs from software R&D, increased outsourcing operation fees, and expanded cloud infrastructure, which we believe are necessary for our future growth and profitability.
Selling and Marketing Expenses
Our selling and marketing expenses increased by 953.0% from US$50,214 for the six months ended December 31, 2023 to US$528,746 for the six months ended December 31, 2024, which was mainly due to (i) the increase of payroll expenses of US$303,050, primarily driven by the establishment and ramp-up of dedicated sales and marketing teams in our U.S. subsidiary; and (ii) the increase of share-based compensation expense of US$121,800, resulting from share grants under the Company’s 2024 Equity Incentive Plan. The U.S. team expansion is part of our broader international growth strategy, aimed at strengthening our presence in North America—a key strategic market. As part of this effort, we significantly expanded our U.S. office presence, increasing headcount to support go-to-market execution, client onboarding, business development, and marketing in the region. In February 2024, we established the U.S. team, and by December 2024, it had expanded to twenty-two staff, among whom eight were engaged in selling and marketing activities.
General and Administrative Expenses
Our general and administrative expenses increased by 125.2% from US$2.0 million for the six months ended December 31, 2023 to US$4.6 million for the six months ended December 31, 2024, which was primarily attributable to: (i) an increase of US$1.5 million in professional service fees such as advisory fees, audit fees and legal fees for overseas listing; (ii) an increase of US$0.4 million in insurance expenses; (iii) an increase of US$0.2 million in payroll expenses resulting from the expansion of the management team’s headcount; and (iv) an increase of US$0.2 million in withholding tax incurred from 10% withholding tax on AI services provided to our customers in China.
Research and Development Expenses
Our research and development expenses increased by US$1.3 million from US$78.8 thousand for the six months ended December 31, 2023 to US$1.4 million for the six months ended December 31, 2024. The increase was attributable to an additional US$0.8 million in AI training service fees and US$0.3 million in product development fees incurred during the six months ended December 31, 2024, allowing us to better differentiate and diversify our product and services offerings with competitive technologies, especially as they relate to the development of industry-specific application scenarios.
Financial Expenses, net
Our financial expenses, net increased from US$19,162 for the six months ended December 31, 2023 to US$312,437 for the six months ended December 31, 2024, primarily due to an increase in foreign exchange loss of US$266,669 and the increase in interest expenses accrued for convertible promissory notes and the loan from a third party of US$22,139.
Income Tax Expenses
As a result of our operating income position for the six months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, we incurred income tax expenses of US$0.7 million and US$1.3 million for the six months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
Net Income
As a result of the foregoing, our net income decreased by US$5.1 million, or 82.9%, from US$6.2 million for the six months ended December 31, 2023 to US$1.1 million for the six months ended December 31, 2024. The decrease in net income was mainly due to a US$2.6 million increase in general and administrative expenses, a US$1.4 million increase in research and development expenses, and a US$0.7 million decrease in gross profit.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Cash was $0.9 million as of December 31, 2024, as compared to $0.1 million on December 31, 2023. We had a positive working capital of $7.6 million and $10.6 million as of December 31, 2024 and June 30, 2024, respectively. Our liquidity is based on our ability to enhance our operating cash flow position and obtain financing from equity and debt investors to fund our general operations and capital expenditure. Our ability to further enhance our liquidity depends on management’s ability to execute our business plan successfully, which includes optimizing accounts receivable collection and striking a balance between revenue growth and investments in R&D activities.
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
We consider adjusted net income, a non-GAAP financial measure, as a supplemental measure to review and assess our operating performance. We define adjusted net income for a specific period as net income in the same period excluding share-based compensation expenses and changes in fair value of warrant liabilities.
We present this non-GAAP financial measure because it is used by our management to evaluate our operating performance and formulate business plans. Accordingly, we believe that adjusted net income helps identify underlying trends in our business that could otherwise be distorted by the effect of certain expenses that are included in net income and certain expenses that are not expected to result in future cash payments or that are non-recurring in nature. We also believe that the use of the non-GAAP financial measure facilitates investors’ assessment of our operating performance, enhances the overall understanding of our past performance and future prospects and allows for greater visibility with respect to key metrics used by our management in its financial and operational decision making.
The non-GAAP financial measure should not be considered in isolation from or construed as an alternative to its most directly comparable financial measure prepared in accordance with GAAP. Investors are encouraged to review the historical non-GAAP financial measure in reconciliation to its most directly comparable GAAP financial measure. As the non-GAAP financial measure has material limitations as an analytical metric and may not be calculated in the same manner by all companies, such measure may not be comparable to other similarly titled measure used by other companies. In light of the foregoing limitations, you should not consider the non-GAAP financial measure as a substitute for, or superior to, its most directly comparable financial measure prepared in accordance with GAAP. We encourage investors and others to review our financial information in its entirety and not rely on a single financial measure.
The following table reconciles our adjusted net income for the periods indicated to the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP, which is net income.
For the six months ended December 31,
2024
2023
Net income
$
1,066,894
$
6,243,606
Add:
Share-based compensation expenses
223,933
–
Change in fair value of warrant liabilities
336,136
–
Total
$
1,626,963
$
6,243,606
First Half Fiscal Year 2025 Financial Results Conference Call
Guanghai Li, Chief Executive Officer, and Amy Fong, President and Interim Chief Financial Officer, will host the conference call, followed by a question-and-answer session. The conference call will be accompanied by a presentation, which can be viewed during the webcast or accessed via the investor relations section of the Company’s website here.
To access the call, please use the following information:
Date:
Monday, March 31, 2025
Time:
4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time
Toll-free dial-in number:
1-800-274-8461
International dial-in number:
1-203-518-9814
Conference ID (Required for Entry):
HELPORT
Please call the conference telephone number 5-10 minutes prior to the start time. An operator will register your name and organization. If you have any difficulty connecting with the conference call, please contact MZ Group at 1-949-491-8235.
The conference call will be broadcast live and available for replay at https://viavid.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1712485&tp_key=f52524cadf and via the investor relations section of the Company’s website here.
A replay of the webcast will be available after 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time through July 1, 2025.
Toll-free replay number:
1-844-512-2921
International replay number:
1-412-317-6671
Replay ID:
11158521
About Helport AI Limited
We are a global AI technology company serving enterprise clients with intelligent customer communication software and services. Our proprietary software offering, Helport AI Assist (“AI Assist”), is a real-time, AI-driven “co-pilot” providing intelligent guidance for customer contact professionals across business settings. In addition, we provide AI+BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) services to facilitate customer engagement, helping clients grow sales, improve customer service, and reduce operational costs.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this announcement are forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, HPAI’s business plan and outlook. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on HPAI’s current expectations and projections about future events that HPAI believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. Investors can identify these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as “approximates,” “believes,” “hopes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “projects,” “intends,” “plans,” “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “may” or other similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. HPAI undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent occurring events or circumstances, or changes in its expectations, except as may be required by law. Although HPAI believes that the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot assure you that such expectations will turn out to be correct, and HPAI cautions investors that actual results may differ materially from the anticipated results and encourages investors to review other factors that may affect its future results in HPAI’s registration statement and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
External Investor Relations Contact: Chris Tyson Executive Vice President MZ North America Direct: 949-491-8235 HPAI@mzgroup.us www.mzgroup.us
HELPORT AI LIMITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Amounts in and U.S. dollars (“US$”), except share data)
As of December 31,
As of June 30,
2024
2024
(unaudited)
Cash
$
852,463
$
2,581,086
Accounts receivable
22,016,884
21,313,735
Deferred offering costs
–
817,871
Prepaid expenses and other receivables
2,027,167
41,966
Total current assets
24,896,514
24,754,658
Intangible assets, net
8,592,817
2,425,694
Right-of-use assets, net
762,644
–
Total non-current asset
9,355,461
2,425,694
Total assets
$
34,251,975
$
27,180,352
Accounts payable
$
3,280,565
$
284,067
Income tax payable
2,508,021
2,724,998
Amount due to related parties
536,538
965,776
Convertible promissory notes
–
4,889,074
Warrant liabilities
4,782,915
–
Accrued expenses and other liabilities
5,684,775
5,263,239
Lease liabilities, current
110,832
–
Deferred tax liabilities
332,626
–
Total current liabilities
17,236,272
14,127,154
Lease liabilities, non-current
687,093
–
Total non-current liabilities
687,093
–
Total liabilities
17,923,365
14,127,154
Commitments and contingencies
Ordinary shares (US$0.0001 par value per share; 500,000,000 authorized as of December 31, 2024 and June 30, 2024, respectively; 37,132,968 and 30,280,768 issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2024 and June 30, 2024, respectively)*
3,713
3,028
Additional paid-in capital*
2,212,361
4,528
Retained earnings
14,112,536
13,045,642
Shareholders’ equity
16,328,610
13,053,198
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity
$
34,251,975
$
27,180,352
*Par value of ordinary shares, additional paid-in capital and share data have been retroactively restated to give effect to the reverse recapitalization that is discussed in Note 1 to the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.
HELPORT AI LIMITED UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (Amounts in and U.S. dollars (“US$”), except share data)
For the six months ended December 31,
2024
2023
(unaudited)
(unaudited)
Revenue
$
16,406,402
$
14,506,363
Cost of revenue
(7,440,338
)
(4,793,021
)
Gross profit
8,966,064
9,713,342
Selling expenses
(528,746
)
(50,214
)
General and administrative expenses
(4,598,484
)
(2,042,289
)
Research and development expenses
(1,448,115
)
(78,757
)
Total operating expenses
(6,575,345
)
(2,171,260
)
Income from operation
2,390,719
7,542,082
Financial expenses, net
(312,437
)
(19,162
)
Change in fair value of warrant liabilities
(336,136
)
–
Income before income tax expense
1,742,146
7,522,920
Income tax expense
(675,252
)
(1,279,314
)
Net income
$
1,066,894
$
6,243,606
Total comprehensive income
$
1,066,894
$
6,243,606
Earnings per ordinary share
Basic
0.03
0.21
Diluted
0.03
0.21
Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding*
Basic
35,990,935
30,280,768
Diluted
35,990,935
30,280,768
*Share data have been retroactively restated to give effect to the reverse recapitalization that is discussed in Note 1 to the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.
HELPORT AI LIMITED UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONDOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (Amounts in and U.S. dollars (“US$”), except share data)
For the six months ended December 31,
2024
2023
(unaudited)
(unaudited)
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
Net income
$
1,066,894
$
6,243,606
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Amortization of intangible assets
1,957,877
1,166,667
Amortization of right-of-use assets
36,806
–
Share-based compensation
223,933
–
Change in fair value of warrant liabilities
336,136
–
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable
(703,149
)
(5,809,454
)
Prepaid expenses and other receivables
1,028,346
(57,896
)
Accounts payable
2,996,498
1,654,223
Amount due to related parties
–
10,800
Accrued expenses and other liabilities
(3,196,882
)
1,939,154
Income tax payable
(216,977
)
1,279,315
Deferred tax liabilities
332,626
–
Lease liabilities
(10,810
)
–
Net cash provided by operating activities
3,851,298
6,426,415
CASH FLOWS FORM INVESTING ACTIVITY
Purchase of intangible assets
(8,125,000
)
(7,000,000
)
Net cash used in investing activity
(8,125,000
)
(7,000,000
)
CASH FLOWS FORM FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Deferred offering costs
(213,052
)
(467,465
)
Loan from a third party
–
954,909
Repayment of loans from a third party
(199,582
)
–
Repayment of loans from related parties
(429,238
)
(5,143
)
Cash inflow from reverse recapitalization
1,136,951
–
Proceeds from PIPE investments
2,600,000
–
Repayment of sponsor loans
(350,000
)
–
Net cash provided by financing activities
2,545,079
482,301
Effect of exchange rate changes
–
(130
)
Net change in cash
(1,728,623
)
(91,414
)
Cash at the beginning of the period
2,581,086
142,401
Cash at the end of the period
$
852,463
$
50,987
SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURE OF CASH FLOW INFORMATION:
Recognition of right-of use assets and lease liabilities
Board Chair Jessica Buss Appointed Chief Executive Officer
Charles “Chuck” Jehl will Continue to Serve as Interim Chief Financial Officer and a Member of the Board of Directors
Michelle Glasl Appointed Chief Operating Officer
AUSTIN, Texas, March 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Open Lending Corporation (Nasdaq: LPRO) (the “Company” or “Open Lending”), an industry trailblazer in lending enablement and risk analytics solutions for financial institutions, today announced that its Board of Directors (the “Board”) has appointed Jessica Buss as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Chuck Jehl will continue to serve as Interim Chief Financial Officer and as a member of the Board. The Board also has appointed Michelle Glasl as Chief Operating Officer. The Board is conducting a comprehensive search process to identify a permanent Chief Financial Officer.
“We are thrilled to announce Jessica as our new CEO,” said Thomas Hegge, a member of the Board. “Her extensive experience in the insurance industry will be instrumental in ensuring a seamless and profitable collaboration between Open Lending, our insurance carrier partners, and our automotive lending partners. Our focus remains on enhancing loan performance, minimizing potential loan defaults, and improving our underwriting processes to more accurately price insurance premiums for the risk. We remain committed to serving our near and non-prime consumers alongside our valued partners.”
“We are grateful that Chuck stepped in to lead Open Lending through a challenging and volatile period for our Company and industry,” added Mr. Hegge. “He is passing the baton to Jessica to continue to execute our strategic plan and usher in the next phase of growth. Meanwhile, Chuck will continue to support Open Lending during this transitionary period as Interim Chief Financial Officer and a valued member of the Board.
“In addition to serving on Open Lending’s Board for the last five years, Jessica brings decades of executive experience in the insurance industry,” said Mr. Jehl. “She understands the opportunities and challenges of our industry, and I believe she will continue our legacy of serving our underserved near- and non-prime consumers.”
“I’d like to thank Chuck for his many contributions in various executive leadership roles at Open Lending since 2020, including taking the Company public,” said Ms. Buss. “He has been a critical part of the management team, and I am looking forward to continuing to work with him as a member of our Board.
Jessica Buss previously served as the CEO of Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd. a subsidiary of Brookfield Reinsurance Ltd (NYSE, TSX: BNRE), a leading capital solutions business providing insurance and reinsurance services to individuals and institutions. She was previously the president, U.S. insurance, of Argo prior to its acquisition by Brookfield Re. Prior to joining Argo, she was President and CEO of GuideOne Insurance Company and, prior to that, she was senior vice president – Commercial and Specialty Lines at State Auto Insurance Companies. Jessica held several other positions during her tenure at State Auto, including chief operating officer and chief financial officer of the company’s specialty subsidiary, and senior vice president of Specialty. Prior to joining State Auto, Jessica was a member of a three-person team that raised the capital for the formation and start-up operations of Rockhill Holdings, a niche property and casualty business that was purchased by State Auto in 2009. She was also CFO for Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. In 2016, Jessica was named one of Insurance Business’ Elite Women of the Year. Jessica earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Wisconsin and her Master of Business Administration from the University of Florida.
Michele Glasl also joins Open Lending from Argo Group, where she has served as Head of Operations since 2022. As Head of Operations, she oversaw information technology, security, operations and communications. Glasl previously served as SVP of Strategy and Business Development at Argo Group. Prior to that, she served as Chief Information Officer at GuideOne Insurance from June 2017 to June 2022. She previously served as Vice President of Technology at State Auto from February 2009 to June 2017. Ms. Glasl holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee.
Board Changes Jessica Buss will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board but will no longer be a member of the nominating and corporate governance and audit committees of the Board. Thomas Hegge will join the audit committee. Chuck Jehl will continue to serve as a member of the Board.
About Open Lending Open Lending (Nasdaq: LPRO) provides loan analytics, risk-based pricing, risk modeling and default insurance to auto lenders throughout the United States. For over 20 years, we have been empowering financial institutions to create profitable auto loan portfolios with less risk and more reward. For more information, please visit www.openlending.com.
Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes certain statements that are not historical facts but are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements related to the benefits of any leadership transition and future strategic plans. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied by words such as “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “should,” “would,” “plan,” “predict,” “potential,” “seem,” “seek,” “future,” “outlook,” and similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. These statements are based on various assumptions and on the current expectations of the Company’s management and are not predictions of actual performance. These forward-looking statements are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to serve as, and must not be relied on by any investor as, a guarantee, an assurance, a prediction or a definitive statement of fact or probability. Actual events and circumstances are difficult or impossible to predict and will differ from assumptions. Many actual events and circumstances are beyond the Company’s control. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including general economic, market, political and business conditions; applicable taxes, inflation, supply chain disruptions including global hostilities and responses thereto, interest rates and the regulatory environment; the outcome of judicial proceedings to which Open Lending may become a party; and other risks discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024. If the risks materialize or assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. There may be additional risks that the Company presently does not know or that it currently believes are immaterial that could also cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s expectations, plans or forecasts of future events and views as of the date of this press release. The Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause its assessments to change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company’s assessments as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed upon the forward-looking statements.
Annualized Recurring Revenue (“ARR”) of $836 million Grew 48% year-over-year Revenue of $238 million Grew 29% year-over-year ShareFile Integration Underway
BURLINGTON, Mass., March 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Progress (Nasdaq: PRGS), the trusted provider of AI-powered digital experience and infrastructure software, today announced financial results for its fiscal first quarter ended February 28, 2025.
FirstQuarter2025Highlights:
Revenue and non-GAAP revenue of $238 million increased 29% year-over-year on an actual and 30% on a constant currency basis.
Annualized Recurring Revenue (“ARR”) of $836 million increased 48% year-over-year on a constant currency basis.
Operating margin was 14% and non-GAAP operating margin was 39%.
Diluted earnings per share was $0.24 compared to $0.51 in the same quarter last year, a decrease of 53%.
Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share was $1.31 compared to $1.25 in the same quarter last year, an increase of 5%.
“We’re extremely pleased with our excellent Q1 results,” said Yogesh Gupta, CEO of Progress. “We are ahead, or on plan, with all our ShareFile integration milestones, which are providing significant contributions to ARR and revenues, as well as expense savings. Our solid performance on the top line was again driven by our product portfolio across the board, with our data platform and infrastructure management products having a particularly solid quarter. Our Net Retention Rate again surpassed 100%, which reflects the resiliency of our business and the strength of our customer relationships. Operationally, our first quarter was solid by every metric, and I am extremely proud of our team for their dedication and relentless commitment to our customers.”
Additional financial highlights included:
Three Months Ended
GAAP
Non-GAAP
(In thousands, except percentages and per share amounts)
See Important Information Regarding Non-GAAP Financial Measures, Liquidity Measures, and Select Performance Metrics and a reconciliation of non-GAAP adjustments to Progress’ GAAP financial results at the end of this press release.
Other fiscalfirstquarter2025metrics and recent results included:
Cash and cash equivalents were $124.2 million at the end of the quarter.
Days sales outstanding was 48 days compared to 50 days in the fiscal first quarter of 2024 and 67 days in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2024.
“We’re off to a very strong start for FY25, as our Q1 results demonstrate. Revenues at the high end of guidance reflect steady demand; expenses remain well-controlled; cash flow was again strong; and our bottom-line results and raised EPS guidance reflect numerous positives,” said Anthony Folger, CFO of Progress. “Beyond excellent financial performance, we repurchased $30 million of Progress shares and accelerated repayment of the revolving credit line used to partially finance the ShareFile acquisition, paying down $30 million during Q1. The ShareFile integration is tracking well, and we expect to complete the integration by year-end.”
2025Business Outlook
Progress provides the following guidance for the fiscal year ending November 30, 2025 and the fiscal second quarter ending May 31, 2025:
Updated FY 2025 Guidance (March 31, 2025)
Prior FY 2025 Guidance (January 21, 2025)
(In millions, except percentages and per share amounts)
Based on current exchange rates, the expected negative currency translation impact on our:
Fiscal year 2025 business outlook compared to 2024 exchange rates is approximately $2.8 million on revenue.
Fiscal Q2 2025 business outlook compared to 2024 exchange rates is approximately $0.1 million on revenue.
Based on current exchange rates, the currency translation impact is expected to be immaterial on our GAAP and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share for both fiscal year 2025 and Q2 2025.
To the extent that there are changes in exchange rates versus the current environment and/or our expectations, this may have an impact on Progress’ business outlook.
Conference Call
Progress will hold a conference call to review its financial results for the fiscal first quarter of 2025 at 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday, March 31, 2025. Participants must register for the conference call here: https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BIb86bb577ced14b9fa67069eb761f36a9. The webcast can be accessed at: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/bt5rgqn7. The conference call will include comments followed by questions and answers. Attendees must register for the webcast and an archived version of the conference call and supporting materials will be available on the Progress website within the investor relations section after the live conference call.
About Progress
Progress (Nasdaq: PRGS) empowers organizations to achieve transformational success in the face of disruptive change. Our software enables our customers to develop, deploy and manage responsible AI-powered applications and digital experiences with agility and ease. Customers get a trusted provider in Progress, with the products, expertise and vision they need to succeed. Over 4 million developers and technologists at hundreds of thousands of enterprises depend on Progress. Learn more at www.progress.com.
Progress and Progress Software are trademarks or registered trademarks of Progress Software Corporation and/or its subsidiaries or affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Any other names contained herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Investor Contact:
Press Contact:
Michael Micciche
Jeff Young
Progress Software
Progress Software
+1 781 850 8450
+1 781 280 4000
Investor-Relations@progress.com
PR@progress.com
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited)
Three Months Ended
(In thousands, except per share data)
February 28, 2025
February 29, 2024
% Change
Revenue:
Software licenses
$
58,445
$
64,100
(9
)%
Maintenance, SaaS, and professional services
179,570
120,585
49
%
Total revenue
238,015
184,685
29
%
Costs of revenue:
Cost of software licenses
2,925
2,731
7
%
Cost of maintenance, SaaS, and professional services
32,884
22,219
48
%
Amortization of acquired intangibles
10,422
7,859
33
%
Total costs of revenue
46,231
32,809
41
%
Gross profit
191,784
151,876
26
%
Operating expenses:
Sales and marketing
51,296
39,111
31
%
Product development
46,375
34,988
33
%
General and administrative
25,623
21,344
20
%
Amortization of acquired intangibles
25,808
17,389
48
%
Cyber vulnerability response expenses, net
737
987
(25
)%
Restructuring expenses
7,029
2,349
199
%
Acquisition-related expenses
2,490
702
255
%
Total operating expenses
159,358
116,870
36
%
Income from operations
32,426
35,006
(7
)%
Other expense, net
(19,124
)
(7,399
)
158
%
Income before income taxes
13,302
27,607
(52
)%
Provision for income taxes
2,356
4,968
(53
)%
Net income
$
10,946
$
22,639
(52
)%
Earnings per share:
Basic
$
0.25
$
0.52
(52
)%
Diluted
$
0.24
$
0.51
(53
)%
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic
43,256
43,802
(1
)%
Diluted
44,887
44,826
—
%
Cash dividends declared per common share
$
—
$
0.175
(100
)%
Stock-based compensation is included in the condensed consolidated statements of operations, as follows:
Cost of revenue
$
1,195
$
986
21
%
Sales and marketing
3,032
2,312
31
%
Product development
4,410
3,665
20
%
General and administrative
6,046
5,501
10
%
Total
$
14,683
$
12,464
18
%
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Unaudited)
(In thousands)
February 28, 2025
November 30, 2024
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents
$
124,161
$
118,077
Accounts receivable, net
126,366
163,575
Unbilled receivables
35,454
34,672
Other current assets
54,694
52,489
Total current assets
340,675
368,813
Property and equipment, net
13,233
13,746
Goodwill and intangible assets, net
1,980,181
2,015,748
Right-of-use lease assets
28,308
30,894
Long-term unbilled receivables
30,416
28,893
Other assets
69,605
68,872
Total assets
$
2,462,418
$
2,526,966
Liabilities and shareholders’ equity
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable and other current liabilities
$
90,768
$
113,801
Short-term operating lease liabilities
8,975
9,202
Short-term deferred revenue, net
328,798
332,142
Total current liabilities
428,541
455,145
Long-term debt, net
700,000
730,000
Convertible senior notes, net
797,277
796,267
Long-term operating lease liabilities
24,260
26,259
Long-term deferred revenue, net
71,508
72,270
Other long-term liabilities
8,985
8,237
Stockholders’ equity:
Common stock and additional paid-in capital
353,469
354,592
Retained earnings
78,378
84,196
Total stockholders’ equity
431,847
438,788
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity
$
2,462,418
$
2,526,966
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (Unaudited)
Three Months Ended
(In thousands)
February 28, 2025
February 29, 2024
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net income
$
10,946
$
22,639
Depreciation and amortization
39,209
27,544
Stock-based compensation
14,683
12,464
Other non-cash adjustments
3,070
1,327
Changes in operating assets and liabilities
1,039
6,530
Net cash flows from operating activities
68,947
70,504
Capital expenditures
(1,290
)
(309
)
Repurchases of common stock, net of issuances
(23,870
)
(14,917
)
Dividend equivalent and dividend payments to stockholders
(359
)
(8,171
)
Payments for acquisitions
(1,195
)
—
Principal payment on term loan and repayment of revolving line of credit
(30,000
)
(33,437
)
Other
(6,149
)
(7,406
)
Net change in cash and cash equivalents
6,084
6,264
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period
118,077
126,958
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period
$
124,161
$
133,222
RECONCILIATIONS OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP SELECTED FINANCIAL MEASURES (Unaudited)
(1)Total adjustments include preliminary estimates relating to the valuation of intangible assets acquired from ShareFile and restructuring expenses. The final amounts will not be available until the Company’s internal procedures and reviews are completed.
Fiscal Year2025Updated Non-GAAP Earnings per Share and Effective Tax Rate Guidance
Fiscal Year Ending November 30, 2025
(In millions, except per share data)
Low
High
GAAP net income
$
53.2
$
60.9
Adjustments (from previous table)
227.3
227.3
Income tax adjustment(2)
(46.1
)
(46.2
)
Non-GAAP net income
$
234.4
$
242.0
GAAP diluted earnings per share
$
1.19
$
1.35
Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share
$
5.25
$
5.37
Diluted weighted average shares outstanding
44.7
45.1
2 Tax adjustment is based on a non-GAAP effective tax rate of approximately 20%, calculated as follows:
Fiscal Year Ending November 30, 2025
Low
High
Non-GAAP income from operations
$
364.5
$
373.0
Other (expense) income
(71.5
)
(70.5
)
Non-GAAP income from continuing operations before income taxes
293.0
302.5
Non-GAAP net income
234.4
242.0
Tax provision
$
58.6
$
60.5
Non-GAAP tax rate
20
%
20
%
RECONCILIATIONS OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES FOR FISCAL YEAR2025GUIDANCE (Unaudited)
RECONCILIATIONS OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES FORQ2 2025GUIDANCE (Unaudited)
Q2 2025Non-GAAP Earnings per Share Guidance
Three Months Ending May 31, 2025
Low
High
GAAP diluted earnings per share
$
0.24
$
0.30
Acquisition-related expense
0.04
0.04
Restructuring expense
0.03
0.03
Stock-based compensation
0.38
0.38
Amortization of acquired intangibles
0.83
0.83
Cyber vulnerability response expenses, net
0.01
0.01
Total adjustments(1)
1.29
1.29
Income tax adjustment
(0.25
)
(0.25
)
Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share
$
1.28
$
1.34
(1)Total adjustments include preliminary estimates relating to the valuation of intangible assets acquired from ShareFile and restructuring expenses. The final amounts will not be available until the Company’s internal procedures and reviews are completed.
Important Information Regarding Non-GAAP Financial Measures, Liquidity Measures and Select Performance Metrics
Progress furnishes certain non-GAAP supplemental information to our financial results. We use such non-GAAP financial measures to evaluate our period-over-period operating performance because our management team believes that excluding the effects of certain GAAP-related items helps to illustrate underlying trends in our business and provides us with a more comparable measure of our continuing business, as well as greater understanding of the results from the primary operations of our business. Management also uses such non-GAAP financial measures to establish budgets and operational goals, evaluate performance, and allocate resources. In addition, the compensation of our executives and non-executive employees is based in part on the performance of our business as evaluated by such non-GAAP financial measures. We believe these non-GAAP financial measures enhance investors’ overall understanding of our current financial performance and our prospects for the future by: (i) providing more transparency for certain financial measures, (ii) presenting disclosure that helps investors understand how we plan and measure the performance of our business, (iii) affords a view of our operating results that may be more easily compared to our peer companies, and (iv) enables investors to consider our operating results on both a GAAP and non-GAAP basis (including following the integration period of our prior and proposed acquisitions). However, this non-GAAP information is not in accordance with, or an alternative to, generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”) and should be considered in conjunction with our GAAP results as the items excluded from the non-GAAP information may have a material impact on Progress’ financial results. A reconciliation of non-GAAP adjustments to Progress’ GAAP financial results is included in the tables above.
In the noted fiscal periods, we adjusted for the following items from our GAAP financial results to arrive at our non-GAAP financial measures:
Amortization of acquired intangibles – We exclude amortization of acquired intangibles because those expenses are unrelated to our core operating performance and the intangible assets acquired vary significantly based on the timing and magnitude of our acquisition transactions and the maturities of the businesses acquired. Adjustments include preliminary estimates relating to the valuation of intangible assets from ShareFile. The final amounts will not be available until the Company’s internal procedures and reviews are completed.
Stock-based compensation – We exclude stock-based compensation to be consistent with the way management and, in our view, the overall financial community evaluates our performance and the methods used by analysts to calculate consensus estimates. The expense related to stock-based awards is generally not controllable in the short-term and can vary significantly based on the timing, size and nature of awards granted. As such, we do not include these charges in operating plans.
Restructuring expenses – In all periods presented, we exclude restructuring expenses incurred because those expenses distort trends and are not part of our core operating results. Adjustments include preliminary estimates relating to restructuring expenses from ShareFile. The final amounts will not be available until the Company’s internal procedures and reviews are completed.
Acquisition-related expenses – We exclude acquisition-related expenses in order to provide a more meaningful comparison of the financial results to our historical operations and forward-looking guidance and the financial results of less acquisitive peer companies. We consider these types of costs and adjustments, to a great extent, to be unpredictable and dependent on a significant number of factors that are outside of our control. Furthermore, we do not consider these acquisition-related costs and adjustments to be related to the organic continuing operations of the acquired businesses and are generally not relevant to assessing or estimating the long-term performance of the acquired assets. In addition, the size, complexity and/or volume of past acquisitions, which often drives the magnitude of acquisition-related costs, may not be indicative of the size, complexity and/or volume of future acquisitions.
Cyber vulnerability response expenses, net – We exclude certain expenses resulting from the zero-day MOVEit Vulnerability, as more thoroughly described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission since June 5, 2023. Expenses include costs to investigate and remediate these cyber related matters, as well as legal and other professional services related thereto. Expenses related to such cyber matters are provided net of expected insurance recoveries, although the timing of recognizing insurance recoveries may differ from the timing of recognizing the associated expenses. Costs associated with the enhancement of our cybersecurity program are not included within this adjustment. We expect to continue to incur legal and other professional services expenses in future periods associated with the MOVEit vulnerability. Expenses related to such cyber matters are expected to result in operating expenses that would not have otherwise been incurred in the normal course of business operations. We believe that excluding these costs facilitates a more meaningful evaluation of our operating performance and comparisons to our past operating performance.
Provision for income taxes – We adjust our income tax provision by excluding the tax impact of the non-GAAP adjustments discussed above.
Constant currency – Revenue from our international operations has historically represented a substantial portion of our total revenue. As a result, our revenue results have been impacted, and we expect will continue to be impacted, by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. As exchange rates are an important factor in understanding period-to-period comparisons, we present revenue growth rates on a constant currency basis, which helps improve the understanding of our revenue results and our performance in comparison to prior periods. The constant currency information presented is calculated by translating current period results using prior period weighted average foreign currency exchange rates.
In the noted fiscal periods, we also present the following liquidity measures:
Adjusted free cash flow (“AFCF”) and unlevered free cash flow (“Unlevered FCF”) – AFCF is equal to cash flows from operating activities less purchases of property and equipment, plus restructuring payments. Unlevered FCF is AFCF plus tax-effected interest expense on outstanding debt.
In the noted fiscal periods, we also present the following select performance metrics:
Annualized Recurring Revenue (“ARR”) – We disclose ARR as a performance metric to help investors better understand and assess the performance of our business because our mix of revenue generated from recurring sources currently represents the substantial majority of our revenues and is expected to continue in the future. We define ARR as the annualized revenue of all active and contractually binding term-based contracts from all customers at a point in time. ARR includes revenue from maintenance, software upgrade rights, public cloud, and on-premises subscription-based transactions and managed services. ARR mitigates fluctuations in revenue due to seasonality, contract term and the sales mix of subscriptions for term-based licenses and SaaS. We use ARR to understand customer trends and the overall health of our business, helping us to formulate strategic business decisions.
We calculate the annualized value of annual and multi-year contracts, and contracts with terms less than one year, by dividing the total contract value of each contract by the number of months in the term and then multiplying by 12. Annualizing contracts with terms less than one-year results in amounts being included in our ARR that are in excess of the total contract value for those contracts at the end of the reporting period. We generally do not sell non-SaaS-based contracts with a term of less than one year unless a customer is purchasing additional licenses under an existing annual or multi-year contract. The expectation is that at the time of renewal, such contracts with a term less than one year will renew with the same term as the existing contracts being renewed, such that both contracts are co-termed. Historically, such contracts with a term of less than one year renew at rates equal to or better than annual or multi-year contracts.
For SaaS-based contracts, there is a meaningful percentage of monthly auto-renewing contracts for which annualizing the contracts results in amounts being included in our ARR that are in excess of the total contract value for those contracts at the end of the reporting period.
Revenue from term-based license and on-premises subscription arrangements include a portion of the arrangement consideration that is allocated to the software license that is recognized up-front at the point in time control is transferred under ASC 606 revenue recognition principles. ARR for these arrangements is calculated as described above. The expectation is that the total contract value, inclusive of revenue recognized as software license, will be renewed at the end of the contract term.
The calculation is done at constant currency using the current year budgeted exchange rates for all periods presented.
ARR is not defined in GAAP and is not derived from a GAAP measure. Rather, ARR generally aligns to billings (as opposed to GAAP revenue which aligns to the transfer of control of each performance obligation). ARR does not have any standardized meaning and is therefore unlikely to be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. ARR should be viewed independently of revenue and deferred revenue and is not intended to be combined with or to replace either of those items. ARR is not a forecast and the active contracts at the end of a reporting period used in calculating ARR may or may not be extended or renewed by our customers.
Net Retention Rate (“NRR”) – We calculate net retention rate as of a period end by starting with the ARR from the cohort of all customers as of 12 months prior to such period end (“Prior Period ARR”). We then calculate the ARR from these same customers as of the current period end (“Current Period ARR”). Current Period ARR includes any expansion and is net of contraction or attrition over the last 12 months but excludes ARR from new customers in the current period. We then divide the total Current Period ARR by the total Prior Period ARR to arrive at the net retention rate. Net retention rate is not calculated in accordance with GAAP and is not derived from a GAAP measure.
Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains statements that are “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. Progress has identified some of these forward-looking statements with words like “believe,” “may,” “could,” “would,” “might,” “should,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “target,” “anticipate” and “continue,” the negative of these words, other terms of similar meaning or the use of future dates. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding Progress’ business outlook (including future acquisition activity) and financial guidance. There are a number of factors that could cause actual results or future events to differ materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: (i) economic, geopolitical and market conditions can adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition, including our revenue growth and profitability, which in turn could adversely affect our stock price; (ii) our international sales and operations subject us to additional risks that can adversely affect our operating results, including risks relating to foreign currency gains and losses; (iii) we may fail to achieve our financial forecasts due to such factors as delays or size reductions in transactions, fewer large transactions in a particular quarter, fluctuations in currency exchange rates, or a decline in our renewal rates for contracts; (iv) if the security measures for our software, services, other offerings or our internal information technology infrastructure are compromised or subject to a successful cyber-attack, or if our software offerings contain significant coding or configuration errors or zero-day vulnerabilities, we may experience reputational harm, legal claims and financial exposure; and the results of inquiries, investigations and legal claims regarding the MOVEit Vulnerability remain uncertain, while the ultimate resolution of these matters could result in losses that may be material to our financial results for a particular period; and (v) future acquisitions may not be successful or may involve unanticipated costs or other integration issues that could disrupt our existing operations; and (vi) expected synergies and benefits of the ShareFile acquisition may not be realized which could negatively impact our future results of operations and financial condition. For further information regarding risks and uncertainties associated with Progress’ business, please refer to our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended November 30, 2024. Progress undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.
Q4 Sequential Revenue Growth of 43% Driven by New Products and Technologies, and 131% Year over Year
New OEM and Distributor Relationships to Equip New Campers and RVs with Advanced Lithium-Ion Batteries
Began Shipping e360 Home Energy Storage Solutions
REDMOND, Ore., March 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Expion360 Inc. (Nasdaq: XPON) (“Expion360” or the “Company”), an industry leader in lithium-ion battery power storage solutions, today reported its financial and operational results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2024.
Q4 2024 revenue totaled $2.0 million, up 131% from Q4 2023, and 43% sequentially from Q3 2024.
Began fulfilling purchase orders for its Home Energy Storage Solutions (“HESS”).
Signed a non-binding letter of intent with NeoVolta Inc. (“NeoVolta”), a leading innovator in energy storage solutions, providing the framework for a potential collaboration that aims to engineer a state-of-the-art battery manufacturing facility and develop innovative lithium-ion battery cell and module product designs, marking a significant milestone in the production of American-made batteries.
Partnered with Scout Campers, a subsidiary of Adventurer Manufacturing, Inc., to equip its high-quality campers with Expion360’s advanced lithium-ion batteries as a standard option, enhancing the energy efficiency and reliability of Scout Campers’ products.
Added several new original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) and one new distributor reflecting successful ongoing sales efforts to expand customer base across the United States.
Closed a $2.6 million registered direct offering and private placement priced at the market under Nasdaq rules.
Management Commentary
“The fourth quarter of 2024 and early 2025 was highlighted by robust sequential revenue growth, a strengthened balance sheet, and the addition of new OEM customers,” said Brian Schaffner, Chief Executive Officer and Interim Chief Financial Officer of Expion360. “Revenue grew sequentially for a fourth consecutive quarter, improving 43% from Q3 2024, demonstrating the successful execution of our efforts to expand sales with our more than 300 resellers across the United States, consisting of dealers, wholesalers, private-label customers and OEMs who then sell our products to end consumers. Year-over-year sales continued to be impacted by the downturn in the RV market with the persistence of high interest rates. We believe the RV market will continue to gain ground through 2025, with shipments remaining steady in the short term and increasing traction heading into next year. In January we took the opportunity to strengthen our balance sheet with the close of a $2.6 million registered direct offering and private placement.
“We are making significant progress against our goals with the ongoing expansion of our OEM relationships and acquisition of several new OEM partnerships. New customers, including Scout Campers, Alaskan Campers, and K-Z Recreational Vehicles, are driving demand for high-quality lithium battery technology for their premium campers and vehicles.
“We are working with NeoVolta to combine our strengths toward a potential collaboration that aims to engineer a US-based state-of-the-art battery manufacturing facility and develop innovative lithium-ion battery cell and module product designs. A formal engagement would enable us to contribute our expertise in design and engineering, while NeoVolta plans to provide the necessary capital and manpower. Together we expect to bring high-performance, sustainable energy storage solutions to the market to address the growing demand for efficient energy management in both residential and commercial applications.
“We have continued our progress in our Home Energy Storage Solutions vertical, with production shipments beginning in January 2025. We believe the HESS product line will benefit from a fast-growing battery energy storage market, and consumer uptake can rapidly scale with the introduction of products that improve price, flexibility, and integration. We also anticipate HESS will benefit from incentives available through California’s Self-Generation Incentive Program and federal tax credits available through the Inflation Reduction Act for home battery systems.
“Looking ahead, we anticipate our new OEM partnerships and distributors to generate incremental revenue of approximately $5.0 million for fiscal year 2025, with additional new customers expressing interest across our product line, including our next generation GC2, Group 27, and new Edge batteries. The anticipated revenue growth is expected to increase gross profits by an estimated $1.4 million for fiscal year 2025. We are also highly focused on further development of HESS and the introduction of new technologies and batteries. We look forward to announcements of additional wins and milestones in the months ahead,” concluded Mr. Schaffner.
Fourth Quarter 2024 Financial Summary
Revenue in the fourth quarter of 2024 totaled $2.0 million, an increase of 131% from $0.9 million in the prior year period. The increase was primarily due to increased OEM sales with existing and new customers.
Gross profit in the fourth quarter of 2024 totaled $438,552 or 22.1% of revenue, as compared to $205,114 or 23.9% of revenue in the prior year period. The decrease in gross profit was primarily due to OEM customer discounts issued in connection with higher-volume purchases.
Selling, general and administrative expenses in the fourth quarter of 2024 decreased to $1.6 million compared to $2.4 million in the prior year period. The decrease was primarily due to reductions in salaries related to a lower employee headcount and lower stock-based compensation.
Net loss in the fourth quarter of 2024 totaled $251,647, an 88% improvement from a net loss of $2.2 million in the prior year period. The decrease in net loss was primarily due to our sales growth.
Full Year 2024 Financial Summary
For the year ended December 31, 2024, revenue totaled $5.6 million, decreasing 6.0% from $6.0 million in the prior year. The decrease was primarily attributable to softness in the recreational market during the first two quarters, driving decreases in OEM sales during those same two periods.
Gross profit for the full year of 2024 totaled $1.2 million, a 20.5% gross margin as compared to $1.6 million or 26.3% of revenue in the same year-ago period. The decrease in gross profit was primarily attributable to lower sales volumes due to the slowdown in the RV industry resulting in lower economies of scale on fixed costs, as well as the liquidation of non-core product increasing cost of sales above what they would have been without the liquidation.
Selling, general and administrative expenses for the full year of 2024 decreased 9.6% to $7.9 million compared to $8.7 million in the prior year period. The decrease was primarily due to decreases in legal and professional fees, as well as salaries and benefits, which was partially offset by an increase in license and fee cash premiums paid when making repayment on our convertible note, as well as fees incurred in connection with our termination of our warehouse lease.
Net loss for the year ended December 31, 2024, totaled $13.5 million or $(21.03) per share, compared to net loss of $7.5 million or $(108.25) per share in the prior year. The net loss was primarily the result of $5.0 million in suspended liability expense due to our reverse stock split cash true-up payment provision in the Series A Warrants issued and sold in a public offering we consummated in August 2024, as well as increased interest incurred under our convertible note, and increased settlement expenses.
Cash and cash equivalents totaled $0.5 million as of December 31, 2024, compared to $3.9 million as of December 31, 2023. On January 3, 2025, the Company closed a $2.6 million registered direct offering and private placement priced at the market under Nasdaq rules.
Net cash used in operating activities totaled $9.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to $5.5 million in the prior year period.
The share, per share, and resulting financial amounts in this press release, including prior period metrics, have been adjusted to reflect the reverse stock split of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share, which was effective on October 8, 2024.
Fourth Quarter & Full Year 2024 Results Conference Call
Brian Schaffner, Chief Executive Officer of Expion360, will host the conference call, followed by a question-and-answer period. The conference call will be accompanied by a presentation, which can be viewed during the webcast or accessed via the investor relations section of the Company’s website here.
To access the call, please use the following information:
A telephone replay will be available approximately three hours after the call and will remain available through April 14, 2025, by dialing 1-844-512-2921 from the U.S., or 1-412-317-6671 from international locations, and entering replay pin number: 10196334. The replay can also be viewed through the webcast link above and the presentation utilized during the call will be available via the investor relations section of the Company’s website here.
About Expion360
Expion360 is an industry leader in premium lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries and accessories for recreational vehicles, marine applications, Light EV and residential energy storage.
The Company’s lithium-ion batteries feature half the weight of standard lead-acid batteries while delivering three times the power and ten times the number of charging cycles. Expion360 batteries also feature better construction and reliability compared to other lithium-ion batteries on the market due to their superior design and quality materials. Specially reinforced, fiberglass-infused, premium ABS and solid mechanical connections help provide top performance and safety. With Expion360 batteries, adventurers can enjoy the most beautiful and remote places on Earth even longer.
The Company is headquartered in Redmond, Oregon. Expion360 lithium-ion batteries are available today through more than 300 dealers, wholesalers, private-label customers, and OEMs across the country. To learn more about the Company, visit expion360.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
The foregoing material may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, each as amended. Forward-looking statements include all statements that do not relate solely to historical or current facts, including without limitation statements regarding the Company’s business prospects, and can be identified by the use of words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “project,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “believe,” “potential,” “should,” “continue” or the negative versions of those words or other comparable words. Forward-looking statements included in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the Company’s beliefs, plans, and expectations about its operations, product development and pipeline, growth prospects, market opportunity, potential partnership with NeoVolta, the anticipated incremental revenue to be generated from new OEM partnerships and distributors, and the expected timing of the Company’s next conference call to discuss the Company’s financial results. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future actions or performance. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to the Company and its current plans or expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect current plans. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may differ significantly from those anticipated, believed, estimated, expected, intended, or planned. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, the Company cannot guarantee future results, performance, or achievements. Except as required by applicable law, including the security laws of the United States, the Company does not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements to conform these statements to actual results.
Company Contact: Brian Schaffner, CEO and Interim CFO 541-797-6714 Email Contact
External Investor Relations: Chris Tyson, Executive Vice President MZ Group – MZ North America 949-491-8235 XPON@mzgroup.us www.mzgroup.us
Expion360 Inc. Balance Sheets
As of December 31, 2024
As of December 31, 2023
Assets
Current Assets
Cash and cash equivalents
$
547,565
$
3,932,698
Accounts receivable, net
613,022
154,935
Inventory
4,831,461
3,825,390
Prepaid/in-transit inventory
1,612,686
163,948
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
236,461
189,418
Total current assets
7,841,195
8,266,389
Property and equipment
914,081
1,348,326
Accumulated depreciation
(430,191
)
(430,295
)
Property and equipment, net
483,890
918,031
Other Assets
Operating leases – right-of-use asset
754,832
2,662,015
Deposits
27,471
58,896
Total other assets
782,303
2,720,911
Total assets
$
9,107,388
$
11,905,331
Liabilities and stockholders’ equity
Current liabilities
Accounts payable
$
338,091
$
286,985
Customer deposits
48,474
17,423
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities
187,464
292,515
Convertible note
—
2,082,856
Current portion of operating lease liability
256,153
522,764
Current portion of stockholder promissory notes
—
762,500
Current portion of long-term debt
31,758
50,839
Suspended Liability
4,985,948
—
Total current liabilities
5,847,888
4,015,882
Long-term debt, net of current portion and discount
198,412
298,442
Operating lease liability, net of current portion
542,764
2,241,325
Total liabilities
$
6,589,064
$
6,555,649
Stockholders’ equity
Preferred stock, par value $.001; 20,000,000 shares authorized; zero shares issued and outstanding
—
—
Common stock, par value $.001; 200,000,000 shares authorized; 2,096,082 and 69,230 issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively
2,096
69
Additional paid-in capital
37,091,468
26,445,378
Accumulated deficit
(34,575,240
)
(21,095,765
)
Total stockholders’ equity
2,518,324
5,349,682
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity
$
9,107,388
$
11,905,331
Expion360 Inc. Statements of Operations
For the Years Ended December 31,
2024
2023
Net sales
$
5,624,939
$
5,981,134
Cost of sales
4,469,711
4,405,611
Gross profit
1,155,228
1,575,523
Selling, general and administrative
7,909,219
8,745,135
Loss from operations
(6,753,991
)
(7,169,612
)
Other (Income) / Expense
Interest income
(86,121
)
(125,854
)
Interest expense
976,618
124,511
Loss on sale of property and equipment
146,760
3,426
Settlement expense
709,900
281,680
Suspended liability expense
4,985,948
—
Other income
(6,073
)
(394
)
Total other expense
6,727,032
283,369
Loss before taxes
(13,481,023
)
(7,452,981
)
Tax (income) / expense
(1,548
)
3,293
Net loss
$
(13,479,475
)
$
(7,456,274
)
Net loss per share (basic and diluted)
$
(21.03
)
$
(108.25
)
Weighted-average number of common shares outstanding
641,011
68,882
Expion360 Inc. Statements of Cash Flows
For the Years Ended December 31,
2024
2023
Cash flows from operating activities
Net loss
$
(13,479,475
)
$
(7,456,274
)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities:
Depreciation
173,973
205,723
Amortization of convertible note costs
667,144
—
Loss on sale of property and equipment
146,760
3,426
Decrease in allowance for doubtful accounts
—
(18,804
)
Stock-based settlement
209,000
251,680
Stock-based compensation
616,632
560,365
Decrease in right-of-use assets and lease liabilities
(67,778
)
—
Increase in suspended liability
4,985,948
—
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
(Increase) / Decrease in accounts receivable
(458,087
)
161,904
(Increase) / Decrease in inventory
(1,006,071
)
704,746
Increase in prepaid/in-transit inventory
(1,448,738
)
(22,338
)
Increase in prepaid expenses and other current assets
(47,043
)
(17,626
)
Decrease in deposits
31,425
5,005
Increase in accounts payable
51,106
56,735
Increase in customer deposits
31,051
17,365
Increase / (Decrease) in accrued expenses and other current liabilities
21,819
(13,649
)
Increase in right-of-use assets and lease liabilities
9,789
30,510
Net cash used in operating activities
(9,562,545
)
(5,531,232
)
Cash flows from investing activities
Purchases of property and equipment
(19,203
)
(20,170
)
Net proceeds from sale of property and equipment
132,611
36,748
Net cash provided by investing activities
113,408
16,578
Cash flows from financing activities
Proceed from / (Principal payment on) convertible note
(2,750,000
)
2,420,025
Principal payments on long-term debt
(119,111
)
(161,194
)
Principal payments on stockholder promissory notes
(762,500
)
(62,500
)
Proceeds from exercise of warrants
185,434
49,800
Settlement of fractional shares for cashless warrant exercise
AUSTIN, Texas, March 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Open Lending Corporation (Nasdaq: LPRO) (the “Company” or “Open Lending”), an industry trailblazer in lending enablement and risk analytics solutions for financial institutions, today reported financial results for its fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2024.
In a separate press release today, the Company announced that its Board of Directors (the “Board”) has appointed Jessica Buss, Chairman of the Board, as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. The Board has also appointed Michelle Glasl as Chief Operating Officer. Charles Jehl will continue to serve as Interim Chief Financial Officer and as a member of the Board.
Three Months EndedDecember 31, 2024Highlights
The Company facilitated 26,065 certified loans during the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to 26,263 certified loans in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Total revenue was $(56.9) million during the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $14.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. The fourth quarter of 2024 was negatively impacted by a $81.3 million reduction in estimated profit share revenues related to business in historic vintages as compared to a $14.3 million reduction in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Gross loss was $63.2 million during the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to gross profit of $9.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Net loss was $144.4 million during the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to a net loss of $4.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. The fourth quarter of 2024 was negatively impacted by the recording of a valuation allowance on our deferred tax assets of $86.1 million, which increased our income tax expense during the period.
Adjusted EBITDA was $(73.1) million during the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $(2.1) million in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Twelve Months EndedDecember 31, 2024Highlights
The Company facilitated 110,652 certified loans during the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to 122,984 certified loans in the prior year.
Total revenue was $24.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to $117.5 million in the prior year. The year ended December 31, 2024 was negatively impacted by a $96.1 million reduction in estimated profit share revenues related to business in historic vintages as compared to a $22.8 million reduction in the prior year.
Gross profit was $0.2 million during the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to $95.2 million in the prior year.
Net loss was $135.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to net income of $22.1 million in the prior year.
Adjusted EBITDA was $(42.9) million during the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to $50.2 million in the prior year.
Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. A reconciliation of this non-GAAP financial measure to its most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is provided in the financial table included at the end of this press release. An explanation of this measure and how it is calculated is also included under the heading “Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”
Fourth Quarter 2024 Impact Related to Profit Share Revenue Change in Estimates Each quarter, the Company evaluates and updates its profit share revenue forecast and makes adjustments to its profit share revenue and related contract assets accordingly. Following this evaluation, for the fourth quarter of 2024, adjustments attributable to the Company’s profit share revenue forecast resulted in a negative change in estimate of $81.3 million, primarily due to heightened delinquencies and corresponding defaults associated with loans originated in 2021 through 2024.
As discussed below, three factors primarily contributed to this reduction of estimated profit share.
First, there was continued deterioration of the Company’s 2021 and 2022 vintages. These certified loans were generated when used car values reached an all-time high in late 2021, driven by pandemic-related disruptions in the supply chain. The subsequent decline in used car values has increased the likelihood of default on vehicles that are now worth significantly less than their corresponding outstanding loan balances. Adjustments to the forecasted performance of the Company’s 2021 and 2022 vintages accounted for approximately 40% of the Company’s total negative change in estimate for the fourth quarter of 2024.
Second, continued elevated delinquencies and ultimate defaults as a result of broader macroeconomic conditions accounted for approximately 20% of the Company’s total negative change in estimate for the fourth quarter of 2024.
Finally, the Company identified two cohorts of borrowers, borrowers with credit builder tradelines and borrowers with fewer positive tradelines, that caused its 2023 and 2024 vintages to underperform. Adjustments to the forecasted performance of loans to these two cohorts of borrowers accounted for approximately 40% of the Company’s total negative change in estimate for the fourth quarter of 2024.
As a result of the profit share change in estimate adjustment, for the fourth quarter of 2024, the Company reduced its contract assets by $33.7 million and recorded an excess profit share receipts liability of $47.6 million, attributable to the change in its expected profit share revenue. Any future adjustments to the Company’s profit share revenue forecasts, positive or negative, will impact profit share revenue.
First Quarter 2025 Outlook For the first quarter of 2025, the Company currently expects total certified loans to be between 27,000 and 28,000.
The guidance provided includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of U.S. securities laws. See “Forward-Looking Statements” below.
Board Changes Jessica Buss will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board but will no longer be a member of the nominating and corporate governance and audit committees of the Board. Thomas Hegge will join the audit committee effective immediately.
Conference Call Open Lending will host a conference call to discuss the fourth quarter and full year 2024 financial results tomorrow, April 1, 2025, at 8:00 am ET. The conference call will be webcast live from the Company’s investor relations website at https://investors.openlending.com/ under the “Events” section. The conference call can also be accessed live over the phone by dialing (877) 407-4018, or for international callers (201) 689-8471; the conference ID is 13752724. An archive of the webcast will be available at the same location on the website shortly after the call has concluded.
About Open Lending Open Lending (Nasdaq: LPRO) provides loan analytics, risk-based pricing, risk modeling and default insurance to auto lenders throughout the United States. For over 20 years, we have been empowering financial institutions to create profitable auto loan portfolios with less risk and more reward. For more information, please visit www.openlending.com.
Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes certain statements that are not historical facts but are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements related to market trends, consumer behavior and demand for automotive loans, as well as future financial performance under the heading “First Quarter 2025 Outlook” above. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied by words such as “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “should,” “would,” “plan,” “predict,” “potential,” “seem,” “seek,” “future,” “outlook,” and similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. These statements are based on various assumptions and on the current expectations of the Company’s management and are not predictions of actual performance. These forward-looking statements are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to serve as, and must not be relied on by any investor as, a guarantee, an assurance, a prediction or a definitive statement of fact or probability. Actual events and circumstances are difficult or impossible to predict and will differ from assumptions. Many actual events and circumstances are beyond the Company’s control. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including general economic, market, political and business conditions; applicable taxes, inflation, tariffs, supply chain disruptions including global hostilities and responses thereto, interest rates and the regulatory environment; the outcome of judicial proceedings to which Open Lending may become a party; and other risks discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024. If the risks materialize or assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. There may be additional risks that the Company presently does not know or that it currently believes are immaterial that could also cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s expectations, plans or forecasts of future events and views as of the date of this press release. The Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause its assessments to change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company’s assessments as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed upon the forward-looking statements.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures The non-GAAP financial measures included in this press release are financial information that has not been prepared in accordance with GAAP. The Company uses Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin internally in analyzing our financial results and believes these measures are useful to investors, as a supplement to GAAP measures, in evaluating our ongoing operational performance. The Company believes that the use of non-GAAP financial measures provides an additional tool for investors to use in evaluating ongoing operating results and trends and in comparing our financial results with other companies in our industry, many of which present similar non-GAAP financial measures to investors.
The Company believes these measures provide useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating its operating results in the same manner as its management and board of directors. In addition, these measures provide useful measures for period-to-period comparisons of our business, as they remove the effect of certain non-cash items and certain non-recurring variable charges. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as GAAP net income (loss) excluding interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization expense, and share-based compensation expense. Adjusted EBITDA margin is defined as Adjusted EBITDA expressed as a percentage of total revenue.
Non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. Investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measure provided in the financial statement tables included below in this press release.
OPEN LENDING CORPORATION Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited, in thousands, except share data)
December 31, 2024
December 31, 2023
Assets
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents
$
243,164
$
240,206
Restricted cash
10,760
6,463
Accounts receivable, net
5,055
4,616
Current contract assets, net
9,973
28,704
Income tax receivable
3,558
7,035
Other current assets
3,215
2,852
Total current assets
275,725
289,876
Property and equipment, net
729
826
Capitalized software development costs, net
5,386
3,087
Operating lease right-of-use assets, net
3,878
3,990
Contract assets
5,094
610
Deferred tax asset, net
—
70,113
Other assets
5,556
5,535
Total assets
$
296,368
$
374,037
Liabilities and stockholders’ equity
Current liabilities
Accounts payable
$
953
$
375
Accrued expenses
5,166
8,131
Current portion of debt
7,500
4,688
Third-party claims administration liability
10,797
6,464
Current portion of excess profit share receipts
19,346
—
Other current liabilities
3,490
932
Total current liabilities
47,252
20,590
Long-term debt, net of deferred financing costs
132,217
139,357
Operating lease liabilities
3,273
3,450
Excess profit share receipts
28,210
—
Other liabilities
7,329
5,060
Total liabilities
218,281
168,457
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders’ equity
Preferred stock, $0.01 par value; 10,000,000 shares authorized and none issued and outstanding
—
—
Common stock, $0.01 par value; 550,000,000 shares authorized, 128,198,185 shares issued and 119,350,001 shares outstanding as of December 31, 2024 and 128,198,185 shares issued and 118,819,795 shares outstanding as of December 31, 2023
1,282
1,282
Additional paid-in capital
502,664
502,032
Accumulated deficit
(328,759
)
(193,749
)
Treasury stock at cost, 8,848,184 shares at December 31, 2024 and 9,378,390 at December 31, 2023
(97,100
)
(103,985
)
Total stockholders’ equity
$
78,087
$
205,580
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity
$
296,368
$
374,037
OPEN LENDING CORPORATION Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited, in thousands, except share data)
Three Months Ended December 31,
Year Ended December 31,
2024
2023
2024
2023
Revenue
Program fees
$
13,734
$
13,482
$
57,040
$
64,092
Profit share
(73,160
)
(1,132
)
(43,123
)
43,301
Claims administration and other service fees
2,502
2,589
10,107
10,067
Total revenue
(56,924
)
14,939
24,024
117,460
Cost of services
6,265
5,365
23,855
22,282
Gross profit (loss)
(63,189
)
9,574
169
95,178
Operating expenses
General and administrative
10,549
12,002
43,867
43,043
Selling and marketing
3,958
4,349
17,218
17,485
Research and development
861
1,500
4,462
5,575
Total operating expenses
15,368
17,851
65,547
66,103
Operating income (loss)
(78,557
)
(8,277
)
(65,378
)
29,075
Interest expense
(2,849
)
(2,820
)
(11,317
)
(10,661
)
Interest income
2,812
3,018
12,090
10,335
Other income (expense), net
—
118
—
109
Income (loss) before income taxes
(78,594
)
(7,961
)
(64,605
)
28,858
Income tax expense (benefit)
65,842
(3,119
)
70,405
6,788
Net income (loss)
$
(144,436
)
$
(4,842
)
$
(135,010
)
$
22,070
Net income (loss) per common share
Basic
$
(1.21
)
$
(0.04
)
$
(1.13
)
$
0.18
Diluted
$
(1.21
)
$
(0.04
)
$
(1.13
)
$
0.18
Weighted average common shares outstanding
Basic
119,331,553
119,366,013
119,179,766
120,826,644
Diluted
119,331,553
119,366,013
119,179,766
121,474,880
OPEN LENDING CORPORATION Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited, in thousands)
Year Ended December 31,
2024
2023
Cash flows from operating activities
Net income (loss)
$
(135,010
)
$
22,070
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities:
Share-based compensation
8,677
9,492
Depreciation and amortization
1,674
1,159
Amortization of debt issuance costs
427
428
Non-cash operating lease cost
705
620
Deferred income taxes
70,113
(4,985
)
Other
127
15
Changes in assets & liabilities:
Accounts receivable, net
(439
)
1,105
Contract assets, net
14,247
46,116
Excess profit share receipts
47,556
—
Other current and non-current assets
(429
)
(507
)
Accounts payable
578
86
Accrued expenses
(2,473
)
1,183
Income tax receivable, net
4,198
2,699
Operating lease liabilities
(624
)
(561
)
Third-party claims administration liability
4,333
2,409
Other current and non-current liabilities
3,938
1,329
Net cash provided by operating activities
17,598
82,658
Cash flows from investing activities
Purchase of property and equipment
(165
)
(123
)
Capitalized software development costs
(3,731
)
(2,055
)
Net cash used in investing activities
(3,896
)
(2,178
)
Cash flows from financing activities
Payments on term loans
(4,688
)
(3,750
)
Payment of excise tax on shares repurchased
(314
)
—
Shares repurchased
—
(37,322
)
Shares withheld for taxes related to restricted stock units
(1,445
)
(1,258
)
Net cash used in financing activities
(6,447
)
(42,330
)
Net change in cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash
7,255
38,150
Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash at the beginning of the period
246,669
208,519
Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash at the end of the period
$
253,924
$
246,669
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information:
Interest paid
$
12,590
$
10,313
Income tax paid (refunded), net
(3,907
)
9,075
Non-cash investing and financing:
Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for lease obligations
$
594
$
—
Share-based compensation for capitalized software development
285
88
Capitalized software development costs accrued but not paid
15
248
Accrued excise tax associated with share repurchases
—
314
OPEN LENDING CORPORATION Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures (Unaudited, in thousands)
Wendel completes the acquisition of a controlling stake in Monroe Capital LLC, a transformational transaction in line with its strategic roadmap
Wendel’s Asset Management platform now represents c.€34 billion1 of AuM in private assets and is expected to generate, on a full year basis, c.€160 million2 of Fee Related Earnings and c.€185 million of total pre-tax profit in 2025
Wendel (MF-FP) today announced that it has completed the definitive partnership agreement including the acquisition, together with AXA IM Prime, of 75% of Monroe Capital LLC (“Monroe Capital” or “the Company”), and a sponsoring program of $800 million to accelerate Monroe Capital’s growth, and will invest in GP commitment for up to $200 million.
As part of the initial transaction, Wendel has invested $1.133 billion to acquire 72% of Monroe Capital’s shares (from Monroe Capital management and Bonaccord Capital Partners which owns is a minority interest in Monroe Capital) together with rights to c.20% of the carried interest generated on past and future funds. The sellers will continue to own 25% of the Company post-closing of the initial transaction.
AXA IM Prime, through its GP4 Stake strategy, has completed the acquisition alongside Wendel, of a minority equity stake in Monroe Capital. This investment is made in conjunction with Wendel’s acquisition of its majority stake in Monroe Capital and reflects AXA IM Prime’s robust relationship with both managers.
This initial transaction involving 75% of Monroe Capital would be complemented by an earn-out mechanism with a maximum amount of $255 million, subject to Fee Related Earnings (“FRE”) performance thresholds (Max if CAGR above c.26%) in the period, and if achieved would be paid in cash in 2028.
Wendel will have a path to purchase the remaining 25% of Monroe Capital’s shares in subsequent transactions (put / call mechanisms) that would take place in three instalments over 2028 and 2032 and be payable in cash. The purchase of the remaining 25% shares would be valued through variable purchase multiples determined depending on realized FRE growth.
A private credit leader in the U.S. middle market with a demonstrated strong track record across market cycles
Founded in 2004 by Ted Koenig, Monroe Capital provides private credit solutions to borrowers in the U.S. and Canada, managing more than $205 billion of assets across 45+ investment vehicles. Monroe Capital’s strategic verticals are Lower Middle Market Direct Lending, Alternative Credit, Software & Technology, Real Estate, Venture Debt, Independent Sponsor and Middle Market CLOs. Each vertical has demonstrated strong investment performance and offers potential for significant organic growth.
Through December 31, 2024, Monroe Capital has directly originated over 800 transactions, has invested over $47 billion and has earned c.10% gross unlevered IRR6 for its directly originated transactions. Monroe Capital’s LP base is very broad and diversified, including public pensions, insurance companies, family offices and high net worth investors from across the globe.
The firm, which is headquartered in Chicago maintains eleven locations. Monroe Capital has grown to a team of over 275 employees, including 115 investment professionals. The firm currently has employees in the United States, South Korea, Australia and United Arab Emirates.
Wendel Third Party Asset Management Platform has reached a meaningful scale alongside its historical Principal Investment activity
Wendel’s ambition is to build a sizeable Asset Management platform managing investments in multiple private asset classes, alongside its historical Principal Investment activity. The development of the third-party Asset Management platform will provide Wendel with recurring and growing cashflows as well as exposure to multiple and high performing asset classes. As a result, Wendel’s dual business model is expected to generate an attractive and recurring return to shareholders.
With IK Partners and Monroe Capital, Wendel’s third party private asset management platform will reach c.€34 billion in AUM7, and on a full year basis, c.€ 455 million revenues, c.€160 million pre-tax FRE8 (c.€100 million in pre-tax FRE (Wendel share) by 2025 and has the objective to reach €150 million (Wendel share) in pre-tax FRE by 2027 .
This evolution of Wendel’s business model is designed to enable the development, over time, of a value-creating platform with the potential to generate operational synergies.
The third-party Asset Management platform will be developed alongside Wendel’s Principal Investment strategy, with the objective of generating double-digit Total Shareholder Return.
Laurent Mignon, Wendel Group CEO, commented:
“This acquisition marks an important step forward for Wendel’s asset management platform, which we are committed to scaling. Wendel is now becoming an asset manager alongside our decades-long activity as a long-term equity investor. Monroe Capital, founded by Ted Koenig in 2004, is a terrific company that has consistently delivered strong performance across various market cycles in North America, bolstered by a surge in demand for private credit solutions and with the scale to capitalize on the growing opportunity set we see in private credit. Monroe Capital is strategically positioned to capitalize on this increasing demand, attracting both institutional and retail investors. We are thrilled to collaborate with Ted Koenig, Chairman and CEO, Zia Uddin, President, and their talented teams to support their success and their ability to deliver robust financial performance over the coming years.
It will be also a great privilege for Wendel to partner with such a renowned investor as AXA IM Prime. This first partnership with a leading global player such as AXA IM is for us a strong sign of confidence in the model we are building in private asset management.
Wendel is executing its strategic plan with determination, rigor and financial discipline, as demonstrated by this transformational acquisition, while also focusing on premium assets in our principal investment activities. Our transformation to a dual-strategy model is now well-grounded, with top partners in asset management such as IK Partners in private equity and now Monroe Capital in private credit. Our priority for the near future will be to build our platform and to work on the rotation of our Principal Investment assets.
I would like to express my gratitude to the Wendel teams for their unwavering dedication and to the Supervisory Board of Wendel for its constant support in driving this ambitious strategy forward.”
Theodore L. Koenig, Chairman & CEO of Monroe Capital commented:
“”We are proud to finalize our partnership with Wendel and AXA IM Prime, a milestone achievement in our two-decade journey. Together, we are eager to collaborate and align our efforts to deliver exceptional results for our investors and clients worldwide.”
Gilles Dusaintpère, Head of AXA IM Prime GP Stake Investments at AXA IM said: “We are proud and excited to partner with two institutions we know well and to further strengthen our existing relationship with Monroe, a franchise we have been investing with foryears and that we are now happy to accompany as a minority shareholder. Our GP Stake strategy aims to partner with best-in-class private markets players and we look forward to supporting Monroe and its team, alongside Wendel, to help further grow its impressive platform.”
UBS acted as exclusive financial advisor to Wendel and Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal counsel to Wendel. Wendel was also assisted by Fenchurch Advisory for this transaction. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor to Monroe Capital, and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP acted as legal counsel to Monroe Capital.
About Monroe Capital
Monroe Capital LLC (“Monroe”) is a premier asset management firm specializing in private credit markets across various strategies, including direct lending, technology finance, venture debt, alternative credit solutions, structured credit, real estate and equity. Since 2004, the firm has been successfully providing capital solutions to clients in the U.S. and Canada. Monroe prides itself on being a value-added and user-friendly partner to business owners, management, and both private equity and independent sponsors. Monroe’s platform offers a wide variety of investment products for both institutional and high net worth investors with a focus on generating high quality “alpha” returns irrespective of business or economic cycles. The firm is headquartered in Chicago and has 11 locations throughout the United States, Asia and Australia.
Visit our website: http://www.monroecap.com
About AXA IM Prime
Launched in 2022, AXA IM Prime is the Private Markets Enabler and Hedge Funds platform of AXA IM with c. €40 billion of assets under management as at the end of September 2024. It offers global and diversified private market solutions through primaries, secondaries and co-investments across private equity, infrastructure equity, private debt and hedge funds.
As both a principal investor and a General Partner, AXA IM Prime holds a deep understanding of client needs and offers a differentiated, global perspective of the investment world. It aims to create sustainable value for its clients, integrating ESG practices and encouraging ESG best practices within the industry.
Q1 2025 Trading update – Publication of NAV as of March 31, 2025 (post-market release)
Thursday, May 15, 2025
Annual General Meeting
Wednesday, July 30, 2025
H1 2025 results – Publication of NAV as of June 30, 2025, and condensed Half-Year consolidated financial statements (post-market release)
Thursday, October 23, 2025
Q3 2025 Trading update – Publication of NAV as of September 30, 2025 (post-market release)
Friday, December 12, 2025
2025 Investor Day
About Wendel
Wendel is one of Europe’s leading listed investment firms. Regarding its principal investment strategy, the Group invests in companies which are leaders in their field, such as ACAMS, Bureau Veritas, Crisis Prevention Institute, Globeducate, IHS Towers, Scalian, Stahl and Tarkett. In 2023, Wendel initiated a strategic shift into third-party asset management of private assets, alongside its historical principal investment activities. In May 2024, Wendel completed the acquisition of a 51% stake in IK Partners, a major step in the deployment of its strategic expansion in third-party private asset management and also announced in October 2024 the acquisition of 75% of Monroe Capital. Pro forma of Monroe Capital, Wendel manages more than 33 billion euros on behalf of third-party investors, and c.7.4 billion euros invested in its principal investments activity.
Wendel is listed on Eurolist by Euronext Paris.
Standard & Poor’s ratings: Long-term: BBB, stable outlook – Short-term: A-2
Wendel is the Founding Sponsor of Centre Pompidou-Metz. In recognition of its long-term patronage of the arts, Wendel received the distinction of “Grand Mécène de la Culture” in 2012.
For more information: wendelgroup.com
Follow us on LinkedIn @Wendel
1 As of December 2024
2 c.€100m of FRE expected in 2025, Wendel share. EURUSD @ 1.05
3 This amount includes usual closing adjustments
4 General Partner
5 Committed and managed capital (as of December 31, 2024)
ROSEMONT, Ill., March 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Wintrust Financial Corporation (“Wintrust”) (Nasdaq: WTFC) today announced it will release first quarter 2025 earnings results after the market closes on Monday, April 21, 2025 and host a conference call on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 at 9:00 a.m. (CDT).
For individuals wanting to listen to a simultaneous audio-only web cast, this may be accessed at Webcast Link.
Individuals interested in participating in the call by addressing questions to management should register for the call at Conference Call Link to receive a dial-in number and unique PIN to access the call seamlessly. It is recommended that you join 10 minutes prior to the event start (although you may register and dial in at any time during the call).
An accompanying slide presentation will be available on the Company’s web site at http://www.wintrust.com, Investor Relations link.
A replay of the audio-only webcast and an accompanying slide presentation will subsequently be available at http://www.wintrust.com, Investor Relations, Investor News and Events, Presentations & Conference Calls link. The text of the first quarter 2025 earnings release will be available at http://www.wintrust.com, Investor Relations, Investor News and Events, Press Releases link.
About Wintrust
Wintrust is a financial holding company with approximately $65 billion in assets whose common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market. Guided by its “Different Approach, Better Results” philosophy, Wintrust offers the sophisticated resources of a large bank while providing a community banking experience to each customer. Wintrust operates more than 200 retail banking locations through 16 community bank subsidiaries in the greater Chicago, southern Wisconsin, west Michigan, northwest Indiana, and southwest Florida market areas. In addition, Wintrust operates various non-bank business units, providing residential mortgage origination, wealth management, commercial and life insurance premium financing, short-term accounts receivable financing/outsourced administrative services to the temporary staffing services industry, and qualified intermediary services for tax-deferred exchanges. For more information, please visit www.wintrust.com.
Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Investors are cautioned that such statements are predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. Wintrust’s expected financial results or other plans are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see “Risk Factors” and the forward-looking statement disclosure contained in Wintrust’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made and Wintrust undertakes no duty to update the information.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Timothy S. Crane, President & Chief Executive Officer David A. Dykstra, Vice Chairman & Chief Operating Officer (847) 939-9000 Website address: www.wintrust.com
While this political climate brings uncertainty at an international level, it comes with fear of job loss for many Canadians at a time when the cost of living is already straining many families’ finances.
These topics may appear to be concerns for adults, but children may also feel the effects. As psychology researchers studying parent-child relationships and child mental health, we believe it is important to consider children’s potential fears and anxiety in the current political climate.
Here, we explain why it’s important to address this topic with children, and how parents can do so in a reassuring and informative manner.
Children’s concerns and emotions
While the economy and politics could seem like topics that children would not really care about, recent research suggests that many children and youth actually worry about these topics.
Studies suggest children worry about issues affecting their families. (Shutterstock)
Similarly, studies elsewhere suggest children and youth worry about issues affecting their families. Based on these numbers, we can assume that many Canadian children also worry about the current Canada-U.S. political climate.
Of course, it’s worth remembering not all families experience political and economic events in the same way. For example, children whose families face economic precarity are likely already living with stressors affecting their households like unemployment or food insecurity. Current tensions may also exacerbate children’s existing concerns.
When children are able to talk about what concerns them with their parents, they learn important emotional regulation and coping skills. For example, they learn how to identify and understand their emotions, and how to regulate those emotions. Discussions between parents and children also help foster a climate of trust, in which children feel like they can rely on their parents in moments of need.
Noticing, tackling children’s anxiety and fears
Children may not always have the words to articulate their concerns in the same way that adults do. Parents should watch for anxiety symptoms in their children, which may manifest in various ways, including having mood changes, being more irritable or sad, having difficulty sleeping, being more clingy than usual, or withdrawing from activities. There are also signs that may be harder to spot.
We present five ways to address the situation with your children:
1. Use direct questions to understand how children feel. Direct questions can help understand how children feel. For example, you may ask: “What have you heard about what’s happening?” or “How do you feel about it?” These questions can help understand what specifically is scary to them.
Children could be worried about no longer seeing family in the U.S., or some may even fear a military clash. (Shutterstock)
This is especially important given that children tend to worry about different things than adults. For example, younger children with family in the U.S. may worry they will no longer be able to see their family members anymore. Older children may be worried about a parent losing a job, the country’s economic instability or environmental impacts. Some children may even fear a military clash.
2. Be sensitive to how the conflict is presented. In the media, it is common to refer to the diplomatic and economic tensions as a “trade war.” While adults understand that trade wars do not involve military attacks, this concept is much more abstract for children.
It’s important to reframe the conflict in ways that children can understand. For example, parents can compare the conflict between two children. Parents might say: “You know when there are two children upset with each other at school, and they have a big disagreement. Sometimes it can take a lot of time to find a solution that works for everyone. The conflict between Canada and the U.S. is a bit like that. It could take a lot of time and trouble to find a solution.”
3. Avoid misinformation. When discussing these topics, parents should seek to clarify any misinformation and provide reassurance. They should also help ensure children receive information from credible sources rather than social media or peers, who may sensationalize or misinterpret events. Providing factual but age-appropriate explanations is a key ingredient in mitigating fear and uncertainty.
4. Focus on co-operation and opportunities instead of boycotting.
Many Canadian families are choosing to boycott American products. In order to ease the emotional burden on children, it can be helpful to reframe the boycott as an opportunity for co-operation. For instance, parents can highlight how they are trying to support local businesses.
Similarly, for families with resources to travel, changes in travel plans can be framed as a way to discover new places. A parent might frame it as: “This year, instead of going to the beach, we’re going to be exploring some incredible places closer to home. We’re going to have so much fun trying new things!” This approach creates curiosity and control, not anxiety. It can also be beneficial for children’s development to learn to be more flexible with change.
5. Create a sense of normalcy and routine. As important as it is to validate children’s fears, it is equally important to help them maintain a sense of normalcy. Families should strive to balance discussions about the trade war and its potential ramifications with more light, mundane topics. Similarly, limiting the time that children watch the news or when it is audible can help limit further concerns from developing.
Routines are also beneficial for children’s development and well-being. Maintaining a predictable schedule, such as a bedtime routine, can help children feel safe and less anxious. Focus on adding fun and soothing activities to the daily routine. This lets children know life goes on.
Navigating turbulent times
As the trade war with the U.S. plays out, parents should consider how it may impact their children’s emotions and sense of safety. Even serious conflicts such as this one don’t last forever, and solutions will come.
In the meantime, parents can help children cope with these challenging times by offering age-appropriate explanations and encouraging resilience.
Jean-François Bureau receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Consortium National de Formation en Santé.
Audrey-Ann Deneault receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Centre de recherche universitaire sur les jeunes et les familles.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Kat Cammack (R-FL-03)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL-03), Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI-02), Senator Shelley Moore Capitol (R-WV), and Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) introduced the Alleviating Barriers to Caregivers Act (ABC Act). The legislation would require the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Social Security Administration (SSA), and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to review their eligibility, processes, procedures, forms, and communications to reduce the administrative burden on family caregivers. The legislation would then require CMS, SSA, and CHIP to report to Congress after two years about any issues they are facing and any next steps they are taking to support family caregivers.
Family caregivers serve as a primary source of support for seniors and people with disabilities of all ages. In the United States alone, there are more than 48 million family caregivers. More than half of family caregivers act as an advocate for their loved one with care providers, community services, or government agencies. However,one in fourfamily caregivers say they want help with forms, paperwork, and eligibility for services. Many report competing responsibilities while experiencing serious emotional, physical, and finance challenges.
“America’s family caregivers work around-the-clock to provide essential care for their loved ones, and over half act as advocates on behalf of their family members. The last thing these caregivers need is more red tape that distracts from their support for those in their care,” said Representative Cammack. “I’m honored to introduce this bipartisan and bicameral ABC Act with my colleagues to lower the burden around the important medical decisions caregivers must make every day. Together we can support the 48 million caregivers that make up a critical part of our health care landscape in the U.S.”
“Family caregivers have a lot on their plates, devoting their lives to support others,” said Representative Magaziner. “They shouldn’t have to struggle with confusing paperwork and delays on top of their essential work. The bipartisanABC Actwill make it easier for families to get the support they need so caregivers can focus on what matters most — caring for their loved ones.”
“More than 1 in 4 Americans over 50 are now caregivers. I was one of these caregivers for my parents during their struggle with Alzheimer’s disease and know personally how hard it can be to balance all of the responsibilities put on individuals caring for their loved ones,”Senator Capito said.“One of the most common frustrations I hear from caregivers in West Virginia is how difficult it is to navigate federal processes and procedures. TheAlleviating Barriers for Caregivers Actwould attempt to ease this often-stressful time by requiring federal agencies, such as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Social Security Administration, to review their processes, procedures, forms, and communications to reduce the administrative burden on family caregivers.”
“Caregivers, like my father was, serve on the frontlines of our nation’s health care system by giving our families and friends the care and support they need to remain in their homes and communities with their loved ones,”said Senator Markey. “But caregivers are struggling needlessly to navigate complex, burdensome, and stressful processes each and every day while also still managing day-to-day family and professional responsibilities. TheAlleviating Barriers for Caregivers Actwill help lift the weight off caregivers by clearing the red tape that so often gets in their way. I thank Senator Capito and Representatives Magaziner and Cammack for their partnership on this critical legislation.”
Cosponsors in the Senate include John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawai’i), Mike Rounds (R-S.Dak.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Chris Coons (D-DE), and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.).
Cosponsors in the House include Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-19), Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ-02), Steve Cohen (D-TN-09), Nick Langworthy (R-NY-23), Sharice Davids (D-KS-03), Rob Wittman (R-VA-01), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-05), Jen Kiggans (R-VA-02), Jared Golden (D-ME-02), Greg Steube (R-FL-17), Deborah Ross (D-NC-02), August Pfluger (R-TX-11), Ed Case (D-HI-01), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY-11), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL-25), Mike Lawler (R-NY-17), Darren Soto (D-FL-09), and Vern Buchanan (R-FL-16).
TheABC Actis endorsed by: AARP, ADA Watch/Coalition for Disability Rights & Justice, Aging Life Care Association, Alliance for Aging Research, Alliance for Retired Americans, Allies for Independence, ALS Association, Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, American Academy of Nursing, American Association on Health and Disability, American Heart Association, American Network of Community Organizations and Resources (ANCOR), American Psychological Association Services, American Society for Transportation and Cellular Therapy, American Society on Aging, Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, Association of University Centers on Disabilities, Autism Society of America, Autism Speaks, Caregiver Action Network, Caring Across Generations, Child Neurology Foundation, Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, Davis Phinney Foundation for Parkinson’s, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), Diverse Elders Coalition, Elder Services of Berkshire County Inc., Elizabeth Dole Foundation, Family Caregiver Alliance, National Center on Caregiving, Fight Colorectal Cancer, Gerontological Society of America, Grayce, Greater Lynn Senior Services, Hispanic Federation, Huntington’s Disease Society of America, Japanese American Citizens League, Justice in Aging, Lakeshore Foundation, LeadingAge, LifePath, Lymphoma Research Foundation, Massachusetts Councils on Aging, Medical Alley, Mystic Valley Elder Services, National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, National Adult Day Services Association, National Alliance on Caregiving, National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA), National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities, National Council on Aging, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, National Disability Rights Network, National Down Syndrome Congress, National Federation of Filipino American Associations, National Fragile X Foundation, National Health Council, National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation, National Patient Advocate Foundation, National Respite Coalition, NMDP, OCA- Asian Pacific American Advocates, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers, Senior Connection, Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services, Southeast Asian Resource Action Center (SEARAC), Speak Foundation, the Arc of the United States, The ERISA Industry Committee, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, Third Way, USAging, Village to Village Network, and Well Spouse Association.
