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Category: Finance

  • MIL-OSI: SMX Announces Acquisition of cBEYONData

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    HERNDON, Va., Feb. 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — SMX, a leader in next-generation mission support, digital transformation, and IT solutions, today announced the acquisition of cBEYONData. cBEYONData is a provider of implementation, design, and managed service capabilities, as well as a proprietary portfolio of budget management and financial analytics solutions that provide real-time data visibility and transparency to customers within the Department of Defense (DoD) and federal civilian agencies. Together, SMX and cBEYONData (collectively the “Company”) are well-positioned to support customers across the public sector, helping them achieve enhanced visibility, operational efficiency, and financial transparency, each key priorities of Congress and the new administration.

    The acquisition creates a leading provider of differentiated digital transformation capabilities, offering a tailored set of solutions that help government customers manage their increasingly complex financial, planning, and analytical needs. Expertise spans across top financial platforms like Oracle, SAP, and Momentum, while ensuring enhanced scalability, flexibility, and security driven by the Company’s strong relationships with leading cloud infrastructure providers such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud.

    Combined, the Company’s deepened capabilities provide meaningful growth and cross-selling opportunities across its base of complementary customers driven by its end-to-end portfolio of specialized enterprise data and system solutions. One example is CFO Control Tower®, a software suite designed to seamlessly integrate with government ERP systems and provide real-time financial data analytics, robust budget planning capabilities, and enhanced collaboration and automation tools. cBEYONData also offers cBEYONDLab®, a cloud-hosted demonstration environment that allows federal agencies to perform continuous exploration of ERP and ERP-enabled solutions prior to making major software purchases, saving substantial costs associated with process realignment and technology initiatives.

    In recognition of cBEYONData’s breadth of solutions, as well as its multi-decade history serving prominent customers including the U.S. Army, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and other high priority federal agencies, cBEYONData will continue to operate with its current leadership team under a newly established horizontal business unit within SMX—Enterprise Systems and Solutions (ESS)—led by SMX President, Sandeep Dorawala.

    In welcoming cBEYONData, SMX CEO Peter LaMontagne stated, “cBEYONData brings valuable scale and technical expertise to our strategic growth plan to expand our work supporting the business of government. cBEYONData’s successful solutions at the ‘nexus of data and dollars’ is particularly relevant today as government executives and senior military leaders focus on financial transparency and accountability.”

    cBEYONData CEO Dyson Richards commented on the transaction, “In SMX we have found the right partner to accelerate our growth into new areas while embracing our client and employee focused culture. SMX is a great fit for us based on their corporate philosophy and digital transformation acumen, and we see a very bright future together.”

    Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. cBEYONData was a portfolio company of Bluestone Investment Partners (“Bluestone”). KippsDeSanto & Co. and G Squared Capital Partners served as financial advisors, and Holland & Knight as legal counsel to cBEYONData and Bluestone. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP served as legal counsel to SMX.

    About SMX
    SMX is a leader in next-generation cloud, C6ISR, and advanced engineering and IT solutions operating in close proximity to clients across the U.S. and around the globe. SMX delivers scalable and secure solutions combined with the mission expertise needed to accelerate outcomes for the Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, Public Sector, Fortune 1000, and other public and private sector clients. For more information on our services, please visit https://www.smxtech.com/.

    About OceanSound Partners
    OceanSound Partners is a New York-based private equity firm that pursues control investments in technology and technology-enabled services companies serving government and enterprise end-markets. OceanSound employs a partnership approach, working closely with founders, entrepreneurs, and executives of middle market businesses to drive transformational growth. For more information, visit www.oceansoundpartners.com.

    About cBEYONData
    cBEYONData improves the business of government by understanding the overlapping relationship between data and dollars. We diagnose, design, and implement processes, technology platforms, and the tools and methodologies that help government operate effectively. We believe the right mix of advice, technology, and implementation expertise allows our clients to do right by the budgets, the people, and the mission so that the business of government runs at its very best.

    For inquiries about this press release, please contact us at communications@smxtech.com.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Bitdeer Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Earnings Conference Call for February 25, 2025

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SINGAPORE, Feb. 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bitdeer Technologies Group (NASDAQ: BTDR) (“Bitdeer” or the “Company”), a world-leading technology company for blockchain and high-performance computing, today announced that it has scheduled its fourth quarter and full year 2024 earnings conference call and webcast for Tuesday, February 25, 2025 at 8:00 AM EST. During the call, Bitdeer management will discuss the preliminary and unaudited financial and operational results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2024, followed by a question-and-answer session.

    Bitdeer will release its fourth quarter and full year 2024 preliminary and unaudited results before the call at approximately 7:00 AM EST on February 25, 2025. A copy of the earnings release will be available on the Company’s Investor Relations website at https://ir.bitdeer.com.

    Conference Call Information:

    • Date: February 25, 2025
    • Time: 8:00 AM EST / 9:00 PM SGT
    • Participant Call Links:
      • Live Webcast: Link
      • Participant Call Registration: Link

    Participants wishing to join the conference call by phone should register using the Participant Call Registration link provided above. After completing the registration, the participants will receive an email with the necessary details to access the call including dial-in number, passcode, and PIN. To ensure a timely start, the Company encourages all callers to connect about 5 minutes before the scheduled time.

    A live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Investors section of Bitdeer’s website at https://ir.bitdeer.com.

    About Bitdeer Technologies Group

    Bitdeer is a world-leading technology company for blockchain and high-performance computing. Bitdeer is committed to providing comprehensive computing solutions for its customers. The Company handles complex processes involved in computing such as equipment procurement, transport logistics, datacenter design and construction, equipment management, and daily operations. The Company also offers advanced cloud capabilities to customers with high demand for artificial intelligence. Headquartered in Singapore, Bitdeer has deployed datacenters in the United States, Norway, and Bhutan. To learn more, visit https://ir.bitdeer.com/ or follow Bitdeer on X @ BitdeerOfficial and LinkedIn @ Bitdeer Group.

    Investors and others should note that Bitdeer may announce material information using its website and/or on its accounts on social media platforms, including X, formerly known as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Therefore, Bitdeer encourages investors and others to review the information it posts on the social media and other communication channels listed on its website.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    Statements in this press release about future expectations, plans, and prospects, as well as any other statements regarding matters that are not historical facts, may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words “anticipate,” “look forward to,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including factors discussed in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in Bitdeer’s annual report on Form 20-F, as well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties, and other important factors in Bitdeer’s subsequent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof. Bitdeer specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether due to new information, future events, or otherwise. Readers should not rely upon the information on this page as current or accurate after its publication date.

    For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

    Investor Relations
    Orange Group
    Yujia Zhai
    bitdeerIR@orangegroupadvisors.com

    Public Relations
    BlocksBridge Consulting
    Nishant Sharma
    bitdeer@blocksbridge.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Struggling with money? Here are 5 tips for growing your income from a financial expert

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Lisa Kramer, Professor of Finance, University of Toronto

    Whether you are just starting or looking to advance your financial skills, there are steps you can take to improve your financial situation. (Shutterstock)

    Personal finance can often feel overwhelming, with many Millennial and Gen Z individuals struggling with student loans, the high cost of living, housing market challenges and a general sense of financial anxiety. But just as any challenge can be overcome through skill development and persistence, so can your finances.

    Whether you are just starting or looking to advance your financial skills, there are steps you can take to improve your financial situation. From basic recommendations to more advanced strategies, here are some ways to get yourself on the path to financial stability.

    Ready to make a change? The Quarter Life Glow-up is a new, six-week newsletter course from The Conversation’s UK and Canada editions.

    Every week, we’ll bring you research-backed advice and tools to help improve your relationships, your career, your free time and your mental health – no supplements or skincare required. Sign up here to start your glow-up at any time.

    1. Create a budget

    The first step to mastering your finances is working out where your money is going. You may discover, as my now-husband realized when he was a graduate student, that you’re spending a third of your food expenditures on coffee.

    Once you determine where your money is going, you can reign in some of your expenses and ensure some money is left over each month to devote to debt repayment or savings. Creating a budget is essential for doing this.

    The Government of Canada has an online budget planner tool available, as does the United States Federal Trade Commission and the United Kingdom government’s Money and Pensions Service.

    Once your budget is made, you can focus on reducing discretionary costs and redirect those savings toward your financial goals.

    Create a realistic budget that aligns with your financial goals.
    (Shutterstock)

    2. Boosting your income

    It can be difficult to reduce expenses in an inflationary environment — especially when the cost of basic needs like food and shelter are becoming increasingly expensive in Canada, the United States and elsewhere.

    But you can still find ways to boost your income without necessarily getting a second or third job.



    Read more:
    Maths that will help you as an adult: from baking a cake to asking for a pay rise

    It can be daunting to ask your employer for a raise, but you’re much more likely to get one if you ask. Arm yourself with quantifiable evidence about your productivity and work ethic. Then, rehearse your request with a mentor who is further along on your career path.

    If you don’t succeed on your first try, use the experience to understand how to secure a raise in the future. Another way to get a raise? While still employed — and on your own time, not company time — look for a new job, get an offer and use it as leverage to politely negotiate a raise. If you’re still unsuccessful, it may be time to move on to that new job.

    3. Build your pension

    Older generations are more likely to have worked in jobs that came with defined-benefit pensions, a type of pension plan that provides someone with a stream of income after they retire.

    These days, jobs are less likely to come with such perks. A recent World Bank report found about half of gig workers worldwide have no retirement plan; in some countries, that figure is as high as 75 per cent.

    It’s important to check if your current employer offers a defined contribution pension plan, which involves you and your employer contributing to a saving account that grows over time.

    Even if you don’t have access to such a plan, consider using a robo-advisor to replicate one of its key features by setting up an automatic monthly contribution to an investment account. Then, you can increase the amount you contribute every time you get a raise.

    You should also consider allocating that investment to a well-diversified stock index, or to a blend of stocks and bonds if you are relatively risk averse. An exchange-traded fund, also known as an ETF, is a low-cost way to do this compared to buying mutual funds. While the value of your investment may go up and down over the short term, it is likely to perform well over the long term.

    Talking to a financial advisor is always a good idea if you feel stuck.
    (Shutterstock)

    4. Steady does it

    Once you have set up automatic contributions and established a routine of increasing them over time, you will see your investment account balance start to grow. Even if you can put away only small amounts each month in the beginning, you’ll develop good financial habits.

    Your next task should be avoiding the temptation of timing the ups and downs of financial markets by actively trading. To dodge this common pitfall, avoid examining the balance of your investment account on a month-to-month basis and keep contributing, regardless of whatever may be happening in financial markets.



    Read more:
    If you have money anxiety, knowing your financial attachment style can help

    Ironically, overconfident investors often underperform the market when they try — and fail — to outperform by frequently trading their investment holdings. Successful investors understand the most reliable path to wealth accumulation is paved with a buy-and-hold mentality, meaning you should purchase investments with the intention of keeping them long-term rather than frequently buying and selling.

    5. Imagine the future

    When you’re young, it can be hard to identify with an abstract future version of yourself in retirement. Your golden years may be decades in the future, and it can seem like you have ages to prepare for whatever life will bring you at that stage in life.

    However, research shows that the clearer you can mentally picture your future self, the more motivated you will be to make sensible saving and retirement planning decisions for your future self.

    Try imagining what your life will be like when you’re retired, or what you will look like. Will you have grey hair or wrinkles? How will you spend your time? Picture your future self in retirement and the kind of life you would like to have.

    Meet the challenge head-on

    If you still find yourself overwhelmed by these tips and don’t know where to begin, consider contacting a fee-only financial advisor to analyze your situation and provide you with personalized advice.

    Remember, no matter what financial challenge you may face, it’s simply a new opportunity to overcome. With the right strategies and support, you’ll be able to tackle any financial hurdles and work toward a more secure future for yourself.

    Achieving financial stability is a journey that requires ongoing effort and dedication. Each milestone you reach brings you closer to your ultimate goal.

    Lisa Kramer has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Securities Institute Research Foundation.

    – ref. Struggling with money? Here are 5 tips for growing your income from a financial expert – https://theconversation.com/struggling-with-money-here-are-5-tips-for-growing-your-income-from-a-financial-expert-234623

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Murder investigation launched in Ealing

    Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

    A murder investigation has been launched after a fatal stabbing in Ealing.

    Police were called at approximately 22:30hrs on Tuesday, 10 February, to reports of a man found with stab wounds outside an address in Oaklands Road, Hanwell.

    Officers and London Ambulance Service crews attended, but despite their best efforts, the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

    Although formal identification has yet to take place, officers believe the victim was in his 30s.

    A post-mortem examination will be carried out in due course.

    DCI Alison Foxwell, from Major Investigation Team 12, said:

    “Our thoughts today are with the victim’s family and friends in light of this truly tragic event.

    “Local residents will see an increased number of officers in and around Hanwell while our investigative work is carried out. I want to thank residents for their patience while this continues. I would ask anyone who was in the area of Oaklands Road, who may have seen or heard anything suspicious, to come forward to us.”

    Anyone with information is asked to call 101, quoting crime reference CAD7176/10FEB25.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI: UK Approved KK MINER Launches Best Free Cloud Mining for Bitcoin (BTC) and Dogecoin (DOGE)

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    LONDON, Feb. 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Traditionally, cryptocurrency mining requires large capital investments, complex technical setups, and high energy consumption. However, KK MINER is changing the industry by providing accessible, cost-effective cloud mining solutions for Bitcoin (BTC) and Dogecoin (DOGE). As a UK-approved platform, KK MINER democratizes mining by removing the barriers of expensive hardware and technical expertise. With its advanced security, seamless user experience, and guaranteed daily payouts, KK MINER stands out as one of the most promising cloud mining platforms in the crypto ecosystem.

    Features of KK MINER
    KK MINER is designed to provide a safe, efficient and profitable mining experience for users of all levels. Some of its main features include:

    • Enhanced Security: KK MINER integrates McAfee® and Cloudflare® protection to ensure that user data and mining activities are protected from potential cyber threats.
    • Zero Management Fees: Unlike many other platforms that charge hidden fees, KK MINER operates with complete transparency by eliminating unnecessary fees.
    • 100% Uptime Guarantee and 24/7 Technical Support: Users can enjoy continuous mining operations without downtime, ensuring continuous earnings.
    • Multiple Cryptocurrency Support: KK MINER supports mining more than six cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Dogecoin, etc.
    • Daily Payouts and Instant Signup Bonus: New users can get a $10 signup bonus, earn $1 for free every day, and start mining immediately without upfront investment.

    How to start free cloud mining with KK MINER
    KK MINER provides an easy and hassle-free introduction to cloud mining. Users can start mining in just three simple steps:

    Step 1: Choose a cloud mining provider
    KK MINER offers a $10 free mining plan that simplifies the mining process without the need for expensive mining hardware. This free plan allows users to earn $1 in passive income per day for free without taking any financial risk.

    Step 2: Register an account
    The account creation process is very smooth and only requires an email address. After registration, users can immediately access KK MINER’s mining dashboard to monitor their earnings in real time.

    Step 3: Select a mining contract
    KK MINER offers a variety of contract options to meet the needs of different investment levels. Each contract guarantees a fixed return and predictable daily payouts, ensuring a transparent and profitable mining experience.

    Why KK MINER stands out in cloud mining

    Easy access
    KK MINER is designed for both beginners and experienced miners. The user-friendly interface ensures that even people who have no knowledge of cryptocurrency mining can seamlessly participate and earn rewards.

    Profitability and Flexibility
    Unlike traditional mining setups that require long-term commitments and large investments, KK MINER offers flexible contract terms and guaranteed returns. Users can withdraw earnings daily, reinvest for higher returns, or exit at any time.

    Worry-free experience
    KK MINER handles all technical issues of mining, including equipment maintenance and energy costs. This allows users to focus on maximizing their earnings without having to worry about the complexity of the operation.

    Will KK MINER be the next big thing in the cryptocurrency space?
    The rise of cloud mining platforms like KK MINER marks a change in the way users participate in cryptocurrency mining. Several factors contribute to its potential to become a game changer in the industry:

    1. Regulatory Approval and Compliance As a UK-approved platform, KK MINER offers legitimacy and trust, addressing one of the key issues associated with cloud mining – security and reliability.
    2. Sustainable Mining Model Through energy-efficient cloud mining solutions, KK MINER mitigates the environmental impact of traditional mining methods, making it an attractive option for environmentally conscious investors.
    3. High Adoption Rate and Market Potential An increasing number of retail and institutional users are exploring passive income opportunities in crypto mining, suggesting that platforms like KK MINER are likely to see widespread adoption in the coming years.
    4. Competitive Advantages over Traditional Mining Unlike traditional mining, which requires expensive ASIC miners and high electricity consumption, KK MINER offers a cost-effective alternative that lowers barriers to entry while ensuring profitability.

    Final Thoughts
    KK MINER’s innovative approach to cloud mining promises to reshape the industry, making cryptocurrency mining more convenient, safer, and more profitable. With zero-cost onboarding, guaranteed daily payouts, and a user-friendly experience, KK MINER offers an attractive opportunity for those looking to earn passive income through Bitcoin (BTC) and Dogecoin (DOGE) mining.

    As the cryptocurrency space continues to grow, KK MINER could become a key player in the cloud mining space, offering an attractive alternative to traditional mining setups. Whether you are a beginner exploring cryptocurrency mining for the first time, or a seasoned investor seeking a low-risk, high-return opportunity, KK MINER is worth considering as the next big thing in the cryptocurrency space. Visit the official website: https://kkminer.top/

    Contact:
    KK MINER
    Email: info@kkminer.top
    Website: https://kkminer.top/

    Disclaimer: This press release is provided by KKMiner. The statements, views, and opinions expressed in this content are solely those of the sponsor and do not necessarily reflect the views of this media platform. We do not endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information presented. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial, investment, or trading advice. Investing in cloud mining and related opportunities involves significant risks, including the potential loss of capital. Readers are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions.

    Photos accompanying this announcement are available at
    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2d91f593-be07-4bf7-a401-d5042b902cb6
    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1cfa8316-a13a-437d-a29d-fb7525b9712d
    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/463e5de5-b7f1-443d-8ab6-7f9a55a30fcc

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Second India-France AI Policy Roundtable held on the sidelines of AI Action Summit 2025 in Paris, France

    Source: Government of India

    Posted On: 11 FEB 2025 12:27AM by PIB Delhi

    The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India in partnership with Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, IndiaAI Mission and Sciences Po Paris organised an official side-event to the AI Action Summit 2025, titled ‘2nd India-France AI Policy Roundtable’ on 10th February 2025 at the Sciences Po Paris university campus.

    The roundtable discussion started with opening remarks by PSA Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood where he highlighted India’s priorities in global AI policy and governance, including responsible AI development and deployment, equitable benefit sharing, adoption of a techno-legal framework for AI governance, interoperable data flows, and collaboration on AI safety, research, and innovation. Prof. Sood also stressed upon the potential for India and France to synergize on various policy positions and technological initiatives, fostering benefits not only at the bilateral level but also on a global scale by leveraging complementary knowledge and skill sets.

    Shri Amit A. Shukla, Joint Secretary, Cyber Diplomacy Division, Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India and H.E. Henri Verdier, Ambassador for Digital Affairs, French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs gave co-chairs remarks highlighting (a) DPI for AI; (b) AI foundation models; (c) global AI governance and (d) Priority areas, such as integrating AI in addressing global challenges. They also mentioned cross-border data flows lacking arbitration mechanisms and the importance of aligned views on data sovereignty.

    Following the co-chair remarks, interventions were made by Dr. Preeti Banzal (Adviser/Scientist G, Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India);  Smt. Kavita Bhatia (Scientist ‘G’ & Group Coordinator, AI & Emerging Technology and Bhashini, MeitY, Government of India); Mr. Clément Bacchi (International Digital Policy Lead, Directorate General of Enterprises, Ministry of the Economy and Finance); Ms. Hélène Costa (Project Director, French ministry for the ecological transition); Mr. Sharad Sharma (Co-Founder, iSPIRT Foundation); Mr. Francis Rousseaux (International Technical Expert on AI, iSPIRT Foundation); Dr. Sarayu Natarajan (Founder, Aapti Institute); Mr. Charbel-Raphaël Segerie (Executive Director, Centre pour la Sécurité de l’IA); Mr. Saurabh Singh (Head, Digital and AI Policy, AWS India & South Asia); Mr. Alexandre Mariani (International Affairs Manager, Sciences Po Paris); Kapil Vaswani (Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research); Sunu Engineer (Entrepreneur, Co-Founder, Transforming.Legal); Vivek Raghavan (Co-Founder, Sarvam AI).

    The interventions emphasized the need for democratized access to AI resources, and capacity building while recognizing the importance of techno-legal frameworks. The participants highlighted the significance of sovereign AI models, ethical AI deployment and the need to define globally accepted terminologies and standards. Speakers also aligned on multilingual LLMs, federated AI compute infrastructure, and interoperable access to AI research, datasets, and high-performance computing resources. The meeting also covered key discussions on collaboration between India and France. Opportunities mentioned included creating indigenous foundation models and adopting a balanced governance approach to minimize risks while fostering innovation. Sustainable AI and energy-efficient computing was highlighted, alongside the importance of cross-border cooperation in AI research, datasets, and startups. The conversation also touched on AI’s societal impact, data governance, and the role of global institutions in shaping AI safety frameworks.

    The Second Roundtable built upon key objectives from the First Roundtable organised in IISc, Bengaluru during Technology Dialogue 2025 on 25th January 2025. The First Roundtable discussion focussed on inclusive AI frameworks, diverse datasets, infrastructure and skills, and foundational models. It also addressed governance and innovation, public-private partnerships, sustainability and health, and academic and data collaboration. Both discussions highlighted ethical and responsible AI, along with sector-specific and long-term goals.

    For more information, visit: https://technologydialogue.in/ai-rt-feb.html

     

    ***

    MJPS/ST

    (Release ID: 2101570) Visitor Counter : 61

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: EU launches InvestAI initiative to mobilise €200 billion of investment in artificial intelligence

    Source: European Commission

    European Commission Press release Paris, 11 Feb 2025 Today, at the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit in Paris, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has launched InvestAI, an initiative to mobilise €200 billion for investment in AI, including a new European fund of €20 billion for AI gigafactories.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI: Royalty Pharma Reports Q4 and Full Year 2024 Results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    • Portfolio Receipts of $742 million in Q4 2024 and $2,801 million for FY 2024
    • Royalty Receipts growth of 12% in Q4 2024 and 13% for FY 2024
    • Net cash provided by operating activities of $743 million in Q4 2024 and $2,769 million for FY 2024
    • Full year 2025 guidance: Portfolio Receipts expected to be $2,900 to $3,050 million excluding future transactions

    NEW YORK, Feb. 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Royalty Pharma plc (Nasdaq: RPRX) today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2024 and introduced full year 2025 guidance for Portfolio Receipts.

    “We had an incredibly successful 2024, delivering double-digit growth in Royalty Receipts, which was significantly above our initial guidance, and deploying $2.8 billion of capital on value-enhancing royalties” said Pablo Legorreta, Royalty Pharma’s founder and Chief Executive Officer. “We are very excited for the opportunities ahead as the fundamentals of our business have never been stronger. Additionally, we have already taken two major steps at the start of 2025 to enhance shareholder value, announcing the acquisition of our external manager, which is expected to result in multiple financial and strategic benefits, and a new $3 billion share repurchase program, which highlights the confidence we have in our business and the attractive value we see in our shares. With a robust transaction pipeline and significant financial flexibility, I am confident that Royalty Pharma is well positioned to deliver attractive, compounding growth over the long term.”

    Strong Royalty Receipts growth; Portfolio Receipts growth impacted by a high base of comparison

    • Royalty Receipts grew 12% to $729 million in the fourth quarter and 13% to $2,771 million for full year 2024, driven by strong performance from Evrysdi, the CF franchise, Trelegy, Tremfya and new royalty acquisitions.
    • Portfolio Receipts increased 1% to $742 million in the fourth quarter of 2024; Portfolio Receipts decreased 8% from $3,049 million to $2,801 million for full year 2024, largely reflecting $525 million in Biohaven-related milestone payments received in 2023.

    Capital Deployment of $2.8 billion in 2024 with royalties on eight new therapies added to the portfolio

    • Record year for synthetic royalty transactions for Royalty Pharma with $925 million announced in 2024.
    • Significantly expanded development-stage portfolio by acquiring royalties on four potential new therapies.

    Exciting new product launches expected across the royalty portfolio in 2025

    • Royalty Pharma to benefit in 2025 from new product launches, including Servier’s Voranigo, Bristol Myers Squibb’s Cobenfy, Ascendis’ Yorvipath, Syndax and Incyte’s Niktimvo and Geron’s Rytelo.

    Financial guidance for full year 2025 (excludes contribution from future transactions)

    • Royalty Pharma expects 2025 Portfolio Receipts to be between $2,900 million and $3,050 million, representing expected growth of 4% to 9%.

    Financial & Liquidity Summary

      Three Months Ended
    December 31,    		 Twelve Months Ended
    December 31,
      (unaudited)
    ($ and shares in millions) 2024 2023 Change 2024 2023 Change
    Portfolio Receipts 742 736 1% 2,801 3,049 (8)%
    Net cash provided by operating activities 743 773 (4)% 2,769 2,988 (7)%
    Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP)* 669 682 (2)% 2,565 2,806 (9)%
    Portfolio Cash Flow (non-GAAP)* 678 687 (1)% 2,452 2,708 (9)%
    Weighted average Class A ordinary shares outstanding – diluted 589 598 (1)% 594 603 (1)%

    *See “Liquidity and Capital Resources” section. Adjusted EBITDA and Portfolio Cash Flow are non-GAAP liquidity measures calculated in accordance with the credit agreement.

    Portfolio Receipts Highlights

          Three Months Ended December 31,
          (unaudited)
    ($ in millions)     2024 2023 Change
    Products: Marketers: Therapeutic Area:      
    Cystic fibrosis franchise Vertex Rare disease 237 207 14%
    Trelegy GSK Respiratory 74 60 23%
    Tysabri Biogen Neuroscience 61 68 (11)%
    Evrysdi Roche Rare disease 56 20 182%
    Xtandi Pfizer, Astellas Cancer 46 38 20%
    Imbruvica AbbVie, J&J Cancer 46 50 (10)%
    Promacta Novartis Hematology 44 44 (1)%
    Tremfya Johnson & Johnson Immunology 39 35 11%
    Cabometyx/Cometriq Exelixis, Ipsen, Takeda Cancer 20 18 11%
    Spinraza Biogen Rare disease 15 17 (13)%
    Orladeyo BioCryst Rare disease 11 8 36%
    Trodelvy Gilead Cancer 11 10 10%
    Erleada Johnson & Johnson Cancer 11 9 25%
    Nurtec ODT/Zavzpret Pfizer Neuroscience 7 5 49%
    Other products(5) 54 63 (14)%
    Royalty Receipts 729 651 12%
    Milestones and other contractual receipts 13 84 (85)%
    Portfolio Receipts 742 736 1%

    Results for full year 2024 and 2023 are shown in Table 5. Amounts shown in the table may not add due to rounding.

    Royalty Receipts was $729 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, an increase of 12% as compared to $651 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. The increase was primarily driven by strong growth from Evrysdi, the cystic fibrosis franchise, Trelegy, Xtandi and Tremfya. Royalty receipts from Evrysdi included the benefit of the additional royalties acquired in October 2023 and June 2024.

    Portfolio Receipts was $742 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, an increase of 1% as compared to $736 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. The increase was primarily driven by the same Royalty Receipts increases noted above, offset by a decrease in milestones and other contractual receipts, which reflected a $50 million payment related to the oral formulation of zavegepant in the prior period.

    Liquidity and Capital Resources

    Royalty Pharma’s liquidity and capital resources are summarized below:

    As of December 31, 2024, Royalty Pharma had cash and cash equivalents of $929 million and total debt with principal value of $7.8 billion.

    During the fourth quarter of 2024, Royalty Pharma repurchased approximately two million Class A ordinary shares for $50 million. For full year 2024, Royalty Pharma repurchased approximately eight million Class A ordinary shares for $230 million. The weighted-average number of diluted Class A ordinary shares outstanding for the fourth quarter of 2024 was 589 million as compared to 598 million for the fourth quarter of 2023. The weighted-average number of diluted Class A ordinary shares outstanding for full year 2024 was 594 million as compared to 603 million for full year 2023.

    In January 2025, Royalty Pharma’s Board of Directors authorized a new share repurchase program under which Royalty Pharma may repurchase up to $3.0 billion of its Class A ordinary shares. Royalty Pharma intends to repurchase $2.0 billion of its shares in 2025, subject to market conditions. The total value of shares repurchased will depend on the discount to the intrinsic value at which its Class A ordinary shares are trading. This new share repurchase program replaces the unused $465 million of the company’s original $1.0 billion share repurchase program that was announced in March 2023.

    Liquidity Summary

      Three Months Ended
    December 31,    		 Twelve Months Ended
    December 31,
      (unaudited)
    ($ in millions) 2024   2023   2024   2023  
    Portfolio Receipts 742   736   2,801   3,049  
    Payments for operating and professional costs (72)   (54)   (236)   (243)  
    Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) 669   682   2,565   2,806  
    Interest received/(paid), net 8   5   (113)   (98)  
    Portfolio Cash Flow (non-GAAP) 678   687   2,452   2,708  

    Amounts may not add due to rounding.

    • Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) was $669 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. Adjusted EBITDA is calculated as Portfolio Receipts minus payments for operating and professional costs.
    • Portfolio Cash Flow (non-GAAP) was $678 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. Portfolio Cash Flow is calculated as Adjusted EBITDA minus interest paid or received, net. This measure reflects the cash generated by Royalty Pharma’s business that can be redeployed into value-enhancing royalty acquisitions, used to repay debt, returned to shareholders through dividends or share purchases, or utilized for other discretionary investments.

    Refer to Table 4 for Royalty Pharma’s reconciliation of each non-GAAP measure to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, net cash provided by operating activities.

    Capital Deployment was $522 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, consisting primarily of the acquisitions of royalties on Niktimvo and Rytelo. Capital Deployment reflects cash payments during the period for new and previously announced transactions. Capital Deployment was $2.8 billion for full year 2024.

    The table below details Capital Deployment by category:

    Capital Deployment

      Three Months Ended
    December 31,    		 Twelve Months Ended
    December 31,
      (unaudited)
    ($ in millions) 2024   2023   2024   2023  
    Acquisitions of financial royalty assets (496)   (1,002)   (2,506)   (2,116)  
    Development-stage funding payments – upfront and milestone —   —   —   (50)  
    Development-stage funding payments – ongoing (1)   (1)   (2)   (2)  
    Purchases of available for sale debt securities —   —   (150)   —  
    Milestone payments (25)   —   (75)   (12)  
    Investments in equity method investees —   (2)   (11)   (13)  
    Acquisitions of other financial assets —   —   (18)   —  
    Contributions from legacy non-controlling interests – R&D 0   0   1   1  
    Capital Deployment (522)   (1,005)   (2,761)   (2,192)  

    Amounts may not add due to rounding.

    In January 2025, Royalty Pharma announced the sale of the MorphoSys Development Funding Bonds for $511 million in upfront cash (press release). This payment, combined with payments previously received, results in total cash proceeds of $530 million on the $300 million investment that was made in September 2022. The proceeds strengthen Royalty Pharma’s balance sheet and provide added flexibility to pursue its disciplined capital allocation strategy.

    Royalty Transactions

    For full year 2024, Royalty Pharma announced new transactions of up to approximately $2.8 billion. The announced transactions amount reflects the entire amount of capital committed for new transactions during the year, including potential future milestones.

    Recent transactions include:

    • In November 2024, Royalty Pharma acquired a synthetic royalty on Rytelo from Geron Corporation for an upfront payment of $125 million (press release). Rytelo is approved for the treatment of certain adult patients with low- to intermediate-1 risk myelodysplastic syndromes with transfusion-dependent anemia. Following the acquisition, Royalty Pharma is entitled to receive tiered royalties on U.S. net sales on Rytelo.
    • In November 2024, Royalty Pharma acquired a synthetic royalty on Niktimvo from Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for an upfront payment of $350 million (press release). Niktimvo is approved for the treatment of chronic graft-versus-host disease and will be co-commercialized by Incyte. Following the acquisition, Royalty Pharma is entitled to receive royalties on U.S. net sales on Niktimvo.

    The information in this section should be read together with Royalty Pharma’s reports and documents filed with the SEC at www.sec.gov and the reader is also encouraged to review all other press releases and information available in the Investors section of Royalty Pharma’s website at www.royaltypharma.com.

    Internalization Transaction

    In January 2025, Royalty Pharma agreed to acquire its external manager, RP Management, LLC (the “Manager”) (press release). This transaction to simplify Royalty Pharma’s corporate structure is expected to result in multiple benefits for shareholders. On a financial basis, the acquisition is expected to reduce costs and enhance economic returns on investments. Specifically, the acquisition will generate cash savings of greater than $100 million in 2026, rising to greater than $175 million in 2030 and driving cumulative savings of greater than $1.6 billion over ten years. The acquisition also increases shareholder alignment, enhances corporate governance, ensures management continuity and simplifies Royalty Pharma’s corporate structure.

    The total transaction value of approximately $1.1 billion(7) consists of approximately 24.5 million shares of Royalty Pharma equity that will vest over five to nine years, approximately $100 million in cash(8), and the assumption of $380 million of the Manager’s existing debt.

    The closing of the internalization transaction is subject to shareholders’ approval of the issuance of the share consideration and other customary closing conditions, including required regulatory approvals. The transaction is estimated to close during the second quarter of 2025.

    Key Developments Relating to the Portfolio

    The key developments related to Royalty Pharma’s royalty interests are discussed below based on disclosures from the marketers of the products.

    TEV-‘749 In January 2025, Teva announced that TEV-‘749 (olanzapine LAI) achieved Phase 3 targeted injections without PDSS (post-injection delirium/sedation syndrome), and the full safety presentation is expected in the second quarter of 2025.
    Cystic fibrosis franchise In December 2024, Vertex announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the new triple-combination modulator Alyftrek (vanzacaftor triple) for the treatment of cystic fibrosis in people ages 6 and older with at least one responsive mutation.

    In November 2024, Vertex announced that it had completed regulatory submissions for the vanzacaftor triple in the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland, and reviews are underway.
    Skytrofa In December 2024, Ascendis announced the U.S. FDA accepted for review its supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) in adult growth hormone deficiency for Skytrofa. The FDA set a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) goal date of July 27, 2025.
    aficamten In December 2024, Cytokinetics announced that the FDA accepted its New Drug Application (NDA) for aficamten for the treatment of Obstructive Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. The FDA has assigned the NDA a Prescription Drug User Fee Act date of September 26, 2025. Additionally, the European Medicines Agency validated the Marketing Authorization Application for aficamten, and it will now be reviewed by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP).
    Trodelvy In November 2024, Gilead announced plans to voluntarily withdraw the U.S. accelerated approval of Trodelvy for use in pre-treated adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer, following the results of the Phase 3 TROPiCS-04 trial.
    Airsupra In October 2024, AstraZeneca announced that positive high-level results from the BATURA Phase 3b trial showed Airsupra met the primary endpoint, demonstrating a statistically significant and clinically meaningful reduction in the risk of a severe exacerbation when used as an as-needed rescue medication in response to symptoms compared to as-needed albuterol. These positive results triggered a milestone payment from AstraZeneca, of which Royalty Pharma received its pro rata portion of $27 million in January 2025.
    MK-8189 In October 2024, Merck updated its public disclosures to remove MK-8189 from its pipeline chart and Royalty Pharma does not anticipate making a further investment in this program.
    pelabresib In October 2024, Novartis announced that based on its review of 48-week data from the Phase 3 MANIFEST-2 study, longer follow-up time is needed to determine the regulatory path for pelabresib in myelofibrosis. Novartis will continue to follow patients in MANIFEST-2 and evaluate the potential for additional studies to support registration.
    trontinemab In October 2024, Roche presented its latest Phase 1b/2a interim results for trontinemab at the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD) conference, which demonstrated rapid and robust amyloid plaque depletion after 12 to 28 weeks of treatment and an overall favorable safety profile with very limited amyloid related imaging abnormalities (ARIA-E) observed.


    2025 Financial Outlook

    Royalty Pharma has provided guidance for full-year 2025, excluding new transactions and borrowings announced after the date of this release, as follows:

      Provided February 11, 2025
    Portfolio Receipts $2,900 million to $3,050 million
    (Growth of ~+4% to 9% year/year)
    Payments for operating and professional costs Approximately 10% of Portfolio Receipts(1)
    Interest paid $260 million

    The above Portfolio Receipts guidance represents expected growth of 4% to 9% in 2025. Royalty Pharma’s full-year 2025 guidance reflects a negligible estimated foreign exchange impact to Portfolio Receipts, assuming current foreign exchange rates prevail for the rest of 2025.

    2025 guidance for payments for operating and professional costs and interest paid does not reflect the impact of the internalization transaction announced on January 10, 2025 and will be updated following the closing of the internalization transaction, which is expected to be in the second quarter of 2025.

    Total interest paid is based on the semi-annual interest payment schedule of Royalty Pharma’s existing notes and is anticipated to be approximately $260 million in 2025. Interest paid is anticipated to be approximately $138 million in the first quarter of 2025, which includes the first interest payment on the $1.5 billion notes issued in June 2024. Interest paid in the third quarter of 2025 is anticipated to be $119 million. De minimis amounts are anticipated in the second and fourth quarter of 2025. These projections assume no additional debt financing in 2025, including no drawdown on the revolving credit facility. In 2024, Royalty Pharma collected interest of $46 million on its cash and cash equivalents.

    Royalty Pharma today provides this guidance based on its most up-to-date view of its prospects. This guidance assumes no major unforeseen adverse events or changes in foreign exchange rates and excludes the contributions from transactions announced subsequent to the date of this press release.

    Financial Results Call

    Royalty Pharma will host a conference call and simultaneous webcast to discuss its fourth quarter and full year 2024 results today at 8:30 a.m., Eastern Time. Please visit the “Investors” page of the company’s website at https://www.royaltypharma.com/investors/events to obtain conference call information and to view the live webcast. A replay of the conference call and webcast will be archived on the company’s website for at least 30 days.

    About Royalty Pharma plc

    Founded in 1996, Royalty Pharma is the largest buyer of biopharmaceutical royalties and a leading funder of innovation across the biopharmaceutical industry, collaborating with innovators from academic institutions, research hospitals and non-profits through small and mid-cap biotechnology companies to leading global pharmaceutical companies. Royalty Pharma has assembled a portfolio of royalties which entitles it to payments based directly on the top-line sales of many of the industry’s leading therapies. Royalty Pharma funds innovation in the biopharmaceutical industry both directly and indirectly – directly when it partners with companies to co-fund late-stage clinical trials and new product launches in exchange for future royalties, and indirectly when it acquires existing royalties from the original innovators. Royalty Pharma’s current portfolio includes royalties on more than 35 commercial products, including Vertex’s Trikafta, GSK’s Trelegy, Roche’s Evrysdi, Johnson & Johnson’s Tremfya, Biogen’s Tysabri and Spinraza, AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson’s Imbruvica, Astellas and Pfizer’s Xtandi, Novartis’ Promacta, Pfizer’s Nurtec ODT and Gilead’s Trodelvy, and 14 development-stage product candidates.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    The information set forth herein does not purport to be complete or to contain all of the information you may desire. Statements contained herein are made as of the date of this document unless stated otherwise, and neither the delivery of this document at any time, nor any sale of securities, shall under any circumstances create an implication that the information contained herein is correct as of any time after such date or that information will be updated or revised to reflect information that subsequently becomes available or changes occurring after the date hereof.

    This document contains statements that constitute “forward-looking statements” as that term is defined in the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements that express the company’s opinions, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or projections regarding future events or future results, in contrast with statements that reflect historical facts. Examples include discussion of Royalty Pharma’s strategies, financing plans, growth opportunities, market growth and plans for capital deployment, plus the benefits of the benefits of the internalization transaction, including expected accretion, enhanced alignment with shareholders, increased investment returns, expectations regarding management continuity, transparency and governance, and the benefits of simplification to its structure. In some cases, you can identify such forward-looking statements by terminology such as “anticipate,” “intend,” “believe,” “estimate,” “plan,” “seek,” “project,” “expect,” “may,” “will,” “would,” “could” or “should,” the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s current beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to the company. However, these forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of Royalty Pharma’s performance, and you should not place undue reliance on such statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to many risks, uncertainties and other variable circumstances, and other factors. Such risks and uncertainties may cause the statements to be inaccurate and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements. Many of these risks are outside of the company’s control and could cause its actual results to differ materially from those it thought would occur. The forward-looking statements included in this document are made only as of the date hereof. The company does not undertake, and specifically declines, any obligation to update any such statements or to publicly announce the results of any revisions to any such statements to reflect future events or developments, except as required by law.

    Certain information contained in this document relates to or is based on studies, publications, surveys and other data obtained from third-party sources and the company’s own internal estimates and research. While the company believes these third-party sources to be reliable as of the date of this document, it has not independently verified, and makes no representation as to the adequacy, fairness, accuracy or completeness of, any information obtained from third-party sources. In addition, all of the market data included in this document involves a number of assumptions and limitations, and there can be no guarantee as to the accuracy or reliability of such assumptions. Finally, while the company believes its own internal research is reliable, such research has not been verified by any independent source.

    For further information, please reference Royalty Pharma’s reports and documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) by visiting EDGAR on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

    Portfolio Receipts

    Portfolio Receipts is a key performance metric that represents Royalty Pharma’s ability to generate cash from Royalty Pharma’s portfolio investments, the primary source of capital that is deployed to make new portfolio investments. Portfolio Receipts is defined as the sum of Royalty Receipts and Milestones and other contractual receipts. Royalty Receipts includes variable payments based on sales of products, net of contractual payments to the legacy non-controlling interests, that are attributed to Royalty Pharma.

    Milestones and other contractual receipts include sales-based or regulatory milestone payments and other fixed contractual receipts, net of contractual payments to legacy non-controlling interests, that are attributed to Royalty Pharma. Portfolio Receipts does not include proceeds from equity securities or proceeds from purchases and sales of marketable securities, both of which are not central to Royalty Pharma’s fundamental business strategy.

    Portfolio Receipts is calculated as the sum of the following line items from Royalty Pharma’s GAAP statements of cash flows: Cash collections from financial royalty assets, Cash collections from intangible royalty assets, Other royalty cash collections, Proceeds from available for sale debt securities and Distributions from equity method investees less Distributions to legacy non-controlling interests – Portfolio Receipts, which represent contractual distributions of Royalty Receipts, milestones and other contractual receipts to RPSFT and the Legacy Investors Partnerships. Distributions to RPSFT substantially ended in December 2023 when Royalty Pharma acquired the remaining interest in RPCT held by RPSFT.

    Use of Non-GAAP Measures

    Adjusted EBITDA and Portfolio Cash Flow are non-GAAP liquidity measures that exclude the impact of certain items and therefore have not been calculated in accordance with GAAP.

    Management believes that Adjusted EBITDA and Portfolio Cash Flow are important non-GAAP measures used to analyze liquidity because they are key components of certain material covenants contained within Royalty Pharma’s credit agreement. Royalty Pharma cautions readers that amounts presented in accordance with the definitions of Adjusted EBITDA and Portfolio Cash Flow may not be the same as similar measures used by other companies or analysts. These non-GAAP liquidity measures have limitations as analytical tools, and you should not consider them in isolation or as a substitute for the analysis of Royalty Pharma’s results as reported under GAAP.

    The definitions of Adjusted EBITDA and Portfolio Cash Flow used by Royalty Pharma are the same as the definitions in the credit agreement. Noncompliance with the interest coverage ratio, leverage ratio and Portfolio Cash Flow ratio covenants under the credit agreement could result in lenders requiring the company to immediately repay all amounts borrowed. If Royalty Pharma cannot satisfy these covenants, it would be prohibited under the credit agreement from engaging in certain activities, such as incurring additional indebtedness, paying dividends, making certain payments, and acquiring and disposing of assets. Consequently, Adjusted EBITDA and Portfolio Cash Flow are critical to the assessment of Royalty Pharma’s liquidity.

    Adjusted EBITDA and Portfolio Cash Flow are used by management as key liquidity measures in the evaluation of the company’s ability to generate cash from operations. Management uses Adjusted EBITDA and Portfolio Cash Flow when considering available cash, including for decision-making purposes related to funding of acquisitions, debt repayments, dividends and other discretionary investments. Further, these non-GAAP liquidity measures help management, the audit committee and investors evaluate the company’s ability to generate liquidity from operating activities.

    The company has provided reconciliations of these non-GAAP liquidity measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, being net cash provided by operating activities in Table 4.

    Royalty Pharma Investor Relations and Communications

    +1 (212) 883-6772
    ir@royaltypharma.com

     
    Royalty Pharma plc
    Condensed Consolidated Operations (unaudited)
    Table 1
     
      Three Months Ended
    December 31,    		 Twelve Months Ended
    December 31,
    ($ in millions) 2024   2023   2024   2023  
    Income and other revenues        
    Income from financial royalty assets 562   523   2,149   2,198  
    Other royalty income and revenues 32   73   114   157  
    Total income and other revenues 594   596   2,264   2,355  
    Operating expense/(income)        
    Provision for changes in expected cash flows from financial royalty assets 164   (77)   732   561  
    Research and development funding expense 1   1   2   52  
    General and administrative expenses 68   59   237   250  
    Total operating expense/(income), net 232   (17)   971   862  
    Operating income 362   613   1,292   1,492  
    Other (income)/expense        
    Equity in earnings of equity method investees (32)   (0)   (30)   (29)  
    Interest expense 66   47   226   187  
    Other income, net (7)   (152)   (234)   (366)  
    Total other expense/(income), net 27   (105)   (38)   (208)  
    Consolidated net income before tax 334   718   1,331   1,700  
    Income tax expense —   —   —   —  
    Consolidated net income 334   718   1,331   1,700  
    Net income attributable to non-controlling interests 126   223   472   565  
    Net income attributable to Royalty Pharma plc 208   494   859   1,135  

    Amounts may not add due to rounding.

     
    Royalty Pharma plc
    Selected Balance Sheet Data (unaudited)
    Table 2
     
    ($ in millions) As of December 31, 2024 As of December 31, 2023
    Cash and cash equivalents 929 477
    Total current and non-current financial royalty assets, net 15,911 14,827
    Total assets 18,223 16,382
    Current portion of long-term debt 998 —
    Long-term debt, net of current portion 6,615 6,135
    Total liabilities 7,880 6,298
    Total shareholders’ equity 10,342 10,084
     
    Royalty Pharma plc
    Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (unaudited)
    Table 3
     
      Three Months Ended
    December 31,    		 Twelve Months Ended
    December 31,
    ($ in millions) 2024   2023   2024   2023  
    Cash flows from operating activities:        
    Cash collections from financial royalty assets 777   747   2,983   3,201  
    Cash collections from intangible royalty assets 0   0   15   1  
    Other royalty cash collections 30   75   109   159  
    Distributions from equity method investees —   —   13   19  
    Interest received 9   8   46   72  
    Development-stage funding payments – ongoing (1)   (1)   (2)   (2)  
    Development-stage funding payments – upfront and milestone —   —   —   (50)  
    Payments for operating and professional costs (72)   (54)   (236)   (243)  
    Interest paid (1)   (3)   (160)   (169)  
    Net cash provided by operating activities 743   773   2,769   2,988  
    Cash flows from investing activities:        
    Distributions from equity method investees 3   5   24   44  
    Investments in equity method investees —   (2)   (11)   (13)  
    Purchases of equity securities —   —   (63)   —  
    Proceeds from equity securities —   —   99   —  
    Purchases of available for sale debt securities —   —   (150)   —  
    Proceeds from available for sale debt securities 13   1   20   1  
    Proceeds from sales and maturities of marketable securities —   —   —   24  
    Acquisitions of financial royalty assets (496)   (1,002)   (2,506)   (2,116)  
    Acquisitions of other financial assets —   —   (18)   —  
    Milestone payments (25)   —   (75)   (12)  
    Other —   (2)   2   (2)  
    Net cash used in investing activities (506)   (1,000)   (2,678)   (2,073)  
    Cash flows from financing activities:        
    Distributions to legacy non-controlling interests – Portfolio Receipts (81)   (92)   (362)   (377)  
    Distributions to continuing non-controlling interests (31)   (24)   (125)   (120)  
    Dividends to shareholders (94)   (89)   (376)   (358)  
    Repurchases of Class A ordinary shares (53)   (30)   (230)   (305)  
    Contributions from legacy non-controlling interests – R&D 0   0   1   1  
    Contributions from non-controlling interests – other 1   1   4   7  
    Cash acquired in connection with purchase of non-controlling interest —   5   —   5  
    Proceeds from revolving credit facility —   350   —   350  
    Repayment of revolving credit facility —   (350)   —   (350)  
    Repayment of long-term debt —   —   —   (1,000)  
    Proceeds from issuance of long-term debt, net of discount —   —   1,471   —  
    Debt issuance costs and other 0   (2)   (13)   (2)  
    Other 0   —   (9)   —  
    Net cash (used in)/provided by financing activities (258)   (232)   361   (2,149)  
    Net change in cash and cash equivalents (21)   (459)   452   (1,234)  
    Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period 950   936   477   1,711  
    Cash and cash equivalents, end of period 929   477   929   477  

    Amounts may not add due to rounding.

     
    Royalty Pharma plc
    GAAP to Non-GAAP Reconciliation (unaudited)
    Table 4
     
      Three Months Ended
    December 31,    		 Twelve Months Ended
    December 31,
    ($ in millions) 2024   2023   2024   2023  
    Net cash provided by operating activities (GAAP) 743   773   2,769   2,988  
    Adjustments:        
    Proceeds from available for sale debt securities(6) 13   1   20   1  
    Distributions from equity method investees(6) 3   5   24   44  
    Interest (received)/paid, net(6) (8)   (5)   113   98  
    Development-stage funding payments – ongoing 1   1   2   2  
    Development-stage funding payments – upfront and milestone —   —   —   50  
    Distributions to legacy non-controlling interests – Portfolio Receipts(6) (81)   (92)   (362)   (377)  
    Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) 669   682   2,565   2,806  
    Interest received/(paid), net(6) 8   5   (113)   (98)  
    Portfolio Cash Flow (non-GAAP) 678   687   2,452   2,708  

    Amounts may not add due to rounding.

     
    Royalty Pharma plc
    Fourth Quarter and Full Year Portfolio Receipts Highlights (unaudited)
    Table 5
     
      Three Months Ended December 31, Twelve Months Ended December 31,
    ($ in millions) 2024 2023 Change 2024 2023 Change
    Products:            
    Cystic fibrosis franchise 237 207 14% 857 771 11%
    Trelegy 74 60 23% 284 203 40%
    Tysabri 61 68 (11)% 262 279 (6)%
    Imbruvica 46 50 (10)% 191 210 (9)%
    Evrysdi 56 20 182% 174 66 163%
    Xtandi 46 38 20% 169 146 15%
    Promacta 44 44 (1)% 158 161 (2)%
    Tremfya 39 35 11% 140 116 20%
    Cabometyx/Cometriq 20 18 11% 73 66 10%
    Spinraza 15 17 (13)% 45 45 1%
    Trodelvy 11 10 10% 43 33 30%
    Erleada 11 9 25% 39 27 42%
    Orladeyo 11 8 36% 39 29 32%
    Nurtec ODT/Zavzpret 7 5 49% 26 18 39%
    Other products(5) 54 63 (14)% 273 277 (1)%
    Royalty Receipts 729 651 12% 2,771 2,449 13%
    Milestones and other contractual receipts 13 84 (85)% 31 599 (95)%
    Portfolio Receipts 742 736 1% 2,801 3,049 (8)%

    Amounts may not add due to rounding.

    Royalty Pharma plc
    Description of Approved Indications for Select Portfolio Therapies
    Table 6

    Cystic fibrosis franchise Cystic fibrosis
    Trelegy Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma
    Tysabri Relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis
    Evrysdi Spinal muscular atrophy
    Xtandi Prostate cancer
    Imbruvica Hematological malignancies and chronic graft versus host disease
    Promacta Chronic immune thrombocytopenia purpura and aplastic anemia
    Tremfya Plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and ulcerative colitis
    Cabometyx / Cometriq Kidney, liver and thyroid cancer
    Spinraza Spinal muscular atrophy
    Orladeyo Hereditary angioedema
    Trodelvy Breast and bladder cancer
    Erleada Prostate cancer
    Nurtec ODT/Zavzpret Acute and preventative treatment of migraine


    Notes

    (1)  Portfolio Receipts is a key performance metric that represents Royalty Pharma’s ability to generate cash from Royalty Pharma’s portfolio investments, the primary source of capital that Royalty Pharma can deploy to make new portfolio investments. Portfolio Receipts is defined as the sum of Royalty Receipts and Milestones and other contractual receipts. Royalty Receipts include variable payments based on sales of products, net of contractual payments to the legacy non-controlling interests, that are attributed to Royalty Pharma (“Royalty Receipts”). Milestones and other contractual receipts include sales-based or regulatory milestone payments and other fixed contractual receipts, net of contractual payments to the legacy non-controlling interests, that are attributed to Royalty Pharma. Portfolio Receipts does not include proceeds from equity securities or proceeds from purchases and sales of marketable securities, both of which are not central to Royalty Pharma’s fundamental business strategy.

    Portfolio Receipts is calculated as the sum of the following line items from Royalty Pharma’s GAAP statements of cash flows: Cash collections from financial royalty assets, Cash collections from intangible royalty assets, Other royalty cash collections, Proceeds from available for sale debt securities and Distributions from equity method investees less Distributions to legacy non-controlling interests – Portfolio Receipts, which represent contractual distributions of Royalty Receipts and milestones and other contractual receipts to RPSFT and the Legacy Investors Partnerships. Distributions to RPSFT substantially ended in December 2023 when Royalty Pharma acquired the remaining interest in RPCT held by RPSFT.

    (2) Adjusted EBITDA is defined under the credit agreement as Portfolio Receipts minus payments for operating and professional costs. Operating and professional costs reflect Payments for operating and professional costs from the GAAP statements of cash flows. See GAAP to Non-GAAP reconciliation in Table 4.

    (3) Portfolio Cash Flow is defined under the credit agreement as Adjusted EBITDA minus interest paid or received, net. See GAAP to Non-GAAP reconciliation in Table 4. Portfolio Cash Flow reflects the cash generated by Royalty Pharma’s business that can be redeployed into value-enhancing royalty acquisitions, used to repay debt, returned to shareholders through dividends or share purchases or utilized for other discretionary investments.

    (4) Capital Deployment is calculated as the summation of the following line items from Royalty Pharma’s GAAP statements of cash flows: Investments in equity method investees, Purchases of available for sale debt securities, Acquisitions of financial royalty assets, Acquisitions of other financial assets, Milestone payments, Development-stage funding payments – ongoing, Development-stage funding payments – upfront and milestone less Contributions from legacy non-controlling interests – R&D.

    (5) Other products primarily include Royalty Receipts on the following products: Cimzia, Crysvita, Emgality, Entyvio, Farxiga/Onglyza, IDHIFA, Lexiscan, Nesina, Prevymis, Soliqua and distributions from the Legacy SLP Interest, which is presented as Distributions from equity method investees on the GAAP statements of cash flows.

    (6) The table below shows the line item for each adjustment and the direct location for such line item on the GAAP statements of cash flows.

    Reconciling Adjustment Statements of Cash Flows Classification
    Interest received/paid, net Operating activities (Interest paid less Interest received)
    Distributions from equity method investees Investing activities
    Proceeds from available for sale debt securities Investing activities
    Distributions to legacy non-controlling interests – Portfolio Receipts Financing activities

    (7) The total transaction value of approximately $1.1 billion is based on the closing price of Royalty Pharma plc common stock of $26.20 on January 8, 2025.

    (8) Consists of $200 million in cash less the amount of the management fees paid to the Manager from January 1, 2025 through the closing of the transaction.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: EIB and Banco Santander join forces to boost Europe’s wind energy manufacturers

    Source: European Investment Bank

    • The EIB provides a €500 million counter-guarantee enabling Santander to create a portfolio of bank guarantees of up to €1 billion, expected to unlock €8 billion of investment to support wind energy manufacturers in Europe.
    • The agreement is part of the EIB’s €5 billion wind power package to boost Europe’s wind power manufacturing sector and accelerate the energy transition.
    • The operation is backed by InvestEU, the EU programme aiming to mobilise investment of more than €372 billion by 2027.

    The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Santander have signed a €500 million counter-guarantee agreement that Santander will use to create a portfolio of bank guarantees of up to €1 billion, expected to unlock €8 billion of investment to support wind energy equipment manufacturing companies in Europe.

    The guarantees will back investment by companies manufacturing wind energy and grid interconnection equipment, as well as key components for the wind sector. This will enable the manufacturers to receive advance payments as well as to provide performance guarantees when taking on new wind projects. The guarantees scheme also enables manufacturers to pay their suppliers in advance for the supply of wind farms and the related wind value chain components, which include turbines, grid connection infrastructure, cables and transformer stations.  

    The leverage effect of the EIB counter-guarantee is expected to mobilise additional funding from other investors to support increasing production and accelerate wind energy development, helping to stimulate investment in the real economy.

    The deal forms part of the EIB’s €5 billion wind power package launched in 2023, a dedicated package of counter-guarantees to improve access to finance for wind power sector and support increasing newly installed wind energy generation capacity by 32GW. This EIB financing scheme is being activated through agreements with the sector’s main lenders like Santander. It is a key component of the  European Wind Power Package launched by the European Commission, and is designed to further accelerate a just and swift transition to net zero, while boosting home-grown industrial innovation.

    “Wind energy will play a significant role in achieving the EU’s renewable-energy target. To unveil its full potential, the EIB together with Santander is putting in place de-risking instruments that will allow manufacturers to overcome some of the challenges impacting the sector such as supply chain disruptions, high costs or intense international competition,” said EIB Director of Financial Institutions Gemma Feliciani. “This new framework sponsored by the EIB wind package will accelerate the energy transition in Europe while strengthening its industrial competitiveness and strategic autonomy.”

    Ricardo Gamazo, Santander Global Trade Finance team added: “The program has been very welcome by our clients in the wind equipment industry which face a large backlog of orders to meet the energy transition demand. This in turn creates large guarantee issuance requirements and this extra capacity goes a long way in securing credit lines in the market. We believe this agreement is another decisive step in buttressing energy security for the EU in a sustainable fashion”

    Background information

    About the EIB

    The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It finances investments that contribute towards EU policy goals. EIB projects bolster competitiveness, drive innovation, promote sustainable development, enhance social and territorial cohesion, and support a just and swift transition to climate neutrality.

    About Banco Santander

    Banco Santander (SAN SM) is a leading commercial bank, founded in 1857 and headquartered in Spain and one of the largest banks in the world by market capitalization. The group’s activities are consolidated into five global businesses: Retail & Commercial Banking, Digital Consumer Bank, Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB), Wealth Management & Insurance and Payments (PagoNxt and Cards). This operating model allows the bank to better leverage its unique combination of global scale and local leadership. Santander aims to be the best open financial services platform providing services to individuals, SMEs, corporates, financial institutions and governments. The bank’s purpose is to help people and businesses prosper in a simple, personal and fair way. Santander is building a more responsible bank and has made a number of commitments to support this objective, including raising €220 billion in green financing between 2019 and 2030. At the end of 2024, Banco Santander had €1.3 trillion in total funds, 173 million customers, 8,000 branches and 207,000 employees.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: DPG Media signs new loan agreement with EIB

    Source: European Investment Bank

    DPG Media Group has signed a new lending agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB). Built around financing eight core priorities, the EIB finances investments that support EU policy goals, including digitalisation. After a first loan signed in 2022 to support the Group’s digitalisation of media platforms, DPG has now signed a further €120 million in the framework of further digitalisation and innovation of its media.

    DPG Media plans to spend a total of €392 million in this regard over the period 2024-2026, of which 30% will be financed with an EIB loan. This financing will allow DPG Media to accelerate its digital transformation and continue to play a leading role in digital innovation as a local player. As part of the project, DPG Media expects to increase its knowledge and expertise in artificial intelligence and content distribution, in alignment with the objectives of the Digital Europe Programme.

    EIB vice-president Robert de Groot: “Digitalisation and the development of advanced technologies play a key role in Europe’s competitiveness. These technologies must be an intrinsic part of the broad support for European entrepreneurs and companies. DPG’s investments to digitise its offering and services are in line with European ambitions. EIB loans are meant to foster this type of development.”

    Erik Roddenhof, CEO of DPG Media: “We are delighted with this new long-term loan from the European Investment Bank for our investments in our further digital transformation. We deem this necessary to be able to successfully offer independent and strong media as a local media player in a rapidly changing market that is increasingly dominated by global players. With this loan, the group diversifies its debt financing, both in terms of creditors and tenors. We regard the support of the European Investment Bank primarily as a quality stamp, not only for the creditworthiness of DPG Media, but especially for our digital efforts.”

    Looking ahead, DPG will invest to further develop its digital platform for end-users and advertisers, including with AI and text-to-speech applications.

    In recent years the investments in DPG’s advertising platform ‘Trusted Web’ marked a crucial and unique step to reduce dependence on big tech: advertisers no longer need to use third-party big tech purchasing platforms and tools to buy advertising campaigns at DPG Media.

    Furthermore, DPG invested heavily in audio technology, the digitalisation of its magazines and improvement of its streaming platforms on smart TVs, and the platform now also serves multiple users (besides VTM GO, Streamz and RTL Play also use the same platform). DPG Media has also implemented a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy to ensure its platforms remain resistant to emerging threats.

    Background information

    The European Investment Bank (ElB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. Built around eight core priorities, it finances investments that contribute to EU policy objectives by bolstering climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, cohesion, agriculture and bioeconomy, social infrastructure, high-impact investments outside the EU, and the Capital Markets Union.   

    All projects financed by the EIB Group are in line with the Paris Climate Agreement, as pledged in our Climate Bank Roadmap. Almost 60% of the EIB Group’s annual financing supports projects directly contributing to climate change mitigation, adaptation, and a healthier environment.   

    DPG Media Group’s mission is to inform, entertain and inspire people. The headquarters of the international media group, which is active in the Belgian, Dutch and Danish markets, are in Antwerp. DPG Media Group has a workforce of 5,396 employees and a portfolio of 90 strong publishing, broadcasting and services brands. Every day, the DPG Media Group brands reach a total of 15 million media users, both online and offline.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: India: Authorities must uphold human rights and end violence in Manipur following Biren Singh’s resignation

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Responding to the resignation of N Biren Singh as the Chief Minister of the state of Manipur in India yesterday, Aakar Patel, chair of the board at Amnesty International India, said:

    “Biren Singh’s resignation presents in Manipur the opportunity for the authorities to uphold and ensure human rights for everyone, break with the violence and impunity of the past and work towards ending the ethnic violence in the state which has claimed the lives of more than 250 people in the last two years.  The (BJP)-led governments at both state and central level have utterly failed to end the violence in Manipur, impunity of vigilante groups, and the divisive rhetoric that has flamed the ethnic violence. Their actions have led to repression of dissenting voices and an abject humanitarian crisis in the state.

    “By the continued failure to hold to account those suspected to be responsible for serious human rights violations, the government risks sending the message that the impunity for these violations will continue. This in turn will fuel further violations.  Unlike the emblematic cases taken over by the Central Bureau of Investigation, like the case of the gang-rape of two Kuki women in May 2023 that found the Manipur police complicit – many lesser-known ones continue to struggle for attention of the state and central governments. This must change.”

    Biren Singh’s resignation presents in Manipur the opportunity for the authorities to uphold and ensure human rights for everyone, break with the violence and impunity of the past…

    Aakar Patel, chair of the board at Amnesty International India

    Background:

    Since May 2023, more than 60,000 people have been displaced in Manipur due to the ongoing violence between the dominant ethnic community, the Meities and the other minority ethnic communities including the Kukis. Homes, business, villages and places of worship have been burnt down, attacked, looted and vandalised.

    The resignation of Biren Singh comes after the Supreme Court of India earlier this month ordered for a sealed-cover report from the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory into audio tapes that allegedly had him saying that the ethnic violence in the state had been instigated at his insistence.

    In July 2024, Amnesty International documented the ongoing violence and impunity in Manipur state.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Union Budget 2025-26 Strengthens Gender-Focused Allocations: Union Minister Smt. Annpurna Devi Highlights Key Measures for Women and Child Development

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Union Budget 2025-26 Strengthens Gender-Focused Allocations: Union Minister Smt. Annpurna Devi Highlights Key Measures for Women and Child Development

    Transforming Lives, Strengthening India: MoWCD’s Revolutionary Steps in Budget 2025-26

    From Nutrition to Entrepreneurship: MoWCD Unveils Comprehensive Vision for Women & Children

    Posted On: 11 FEB 2025 3:12PM by PIB Delhi

    The Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Smt. Annpurna Devi, addressed the media today in New Delhi, outlining the key provisions of the Union Budget 2025-26 and introducing new initiatives aimed at enhancing child and maternal nutrition while fostering women entrepreneurship.

    The Union Budget 2025-26, presented by Union Minister of Finance, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, reflects a significant rise in gender-focused allocations. The Gender Budget now constitutes 8.86% of the total budget, increasing from 6.8% in FY 2024-25. Union Minister Smt. Annpurna Devi emphasized that the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) plays a key role in advancing these efforts, with a considerable share of its budget dedicated to empowering women and girls through various targeted initiatives. This reaffirms the government’s unwavering commitment to gender equality and women-led development.

    A record allocation of ₹4.49 lakh crore has been designated for women’s welfare, reflecting a 37.25% increase from the previous year. Ministry of Women  and Child Development remains at the forefront, allocating 81.79% of its budget towards gender-focused programs.

    Highlighting the Government’s vision for economic and social empowerment of women, Smt. Annpurna Devi stated, “Women entrepreneurs are a driving force behind India’s economic progress. By providing targeted financial support and skill-building programs, we are fostering an inclusive and equitable entrepreneurial ecosystem.”

    The Union Minister also announced the 7th Poshan Pakhwada, to be observed from 18th March to 2nd April 2025, with outcome-based activities around four key themes:

    • Focus on First 1000 Days of Life
    • Popularization of Beneficiary Module
    • Management of Malnutrition through implementation of the CMAM module
    • Healthy Lifestyle to Address Obesity in Children

    Furthermore, continued sensitization activities for communities will be conducted from Poshan Pakhwada 2025 until the announcement of 1000 Suposhit Gram Panchayats in late 2025.

    As part of its commitment to tackling malnutrition, the Ministry introduced the Suposhit Panchayat Scheme during the national event for Veer Baal Diwas on 26th December, 2024 at Bharat Mandapam. The initiative aims to identify and award the Top 1000 Gram Panchayats across the country as ‘Suposhit Gram Panchayats’ for their exceptional efforts in improving nutrition and health indicators at the grassroots level.

    Under the 100-day campaign to celebrate ten years of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, over 1,342 programmes have been conducted nationwide, engaging more than 13 lakh participants, including 1,410 public representatives. The activities encompassed a diverse range of initiatives, including:

    • Sensitization programs on menstrual hygiene and the PC/PNDT Act
    • Plantation drives promoting environmental sustainability
    • Recognition of meritorious girl students to encourage academic excellence

    The campaign has been instrumental in furthering gender equality, fostering awareness, and strengthening the resolve to ensure the well-being and empowerment of young girls across the country.

    Further showcasing the Ministry’s initiatives, the Union Minister referenced the Ministry’s award-winning tableau from the Republic Day parade, which beautifully illustrated the life-cycle continuum approach of its schemes and reinforced the theme of Women-Led Development, demonstrating Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s commitment to empowering women and children.

    The tableau prominently featured key MWCD schemes such as One Stop Centre, Women Helpline (181), Child Helpline (1098), Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, Saksham Anganwadi, and Poshan Abhiyaan. It also celebrated the 10th anniversary of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao and the 50th anniversary of the Anganwadi Scheme while showcasing women’s growing participation in cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence, technology, and various professional sectors.

    Union Minister Smt. Annpurna Devi reiterated the government’s dedication to women and child development by highlighting key initiatives such as the Chintan Shivir, held from January 10-12, 2025, in Udaipur, Rajasthan. The event brought together delegations from 32 States and Union Territories, including 16 State Ministers from Women and Child Development Departments, to deliberate on important issues relating to the welfare and development of women and children.

    The Chintan Shivir provided a platform for the exchange of innovative ideas, shared experiences, avenues for policy improvements, and the dissemination of best practices across states to ensure the effective implementation of these missions.

    The Ministry of Women and Child Development honoured over 200 field functionaries from across the nation as Special Guests at the Republic Day Ceremony on 26th January 2025. These dedicated individuals, including Anganwadi Workers, Child Development Project Officers, and District Programme Officers, were recognized for their invaluable contributions to the empowerment of women and children.

    Further highlighting its commitment to women’s empowerment, the Ministry has also curated a digital exhibition at Mahakumbh 2025 in Prayagraj. This exhibition presents a compelling narrative of India’s progress in women-led development, showcasing various schemes, policies, and programs through an engaging and interactive experience.

    The Ministry of Women and Child Development remains resolute in its mission to promote holistic development, nutritional security, and economic empowerment for women and children. In alignment with the Prime Minister’s vision of Viksit Bharat, MoWCD continues to drive forward its agenda of building a healthier, stronger, and more empowered India.

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    SS/MS

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Minister of State Prof. S.P. Singh Baghel to Release Devolution Index Report in New Delhi on 13th February 2025

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Minister of State Prof. S.P. Singh Baghel to Release Devolution Index Report in New Delhi on 13th February 2025

    Panchayat Devolution Index to Evaluate How ‘Free’ Panchayats Are; Highlight State Rankings on Rural Local Bodies Autonomy and Empowerment

    Posted On: 11 FEB 2025 2:07PM by PIB Delhi

    In a significant move to further strengthen the rural local self-governance in India, Minister of State, Ministry of Panchayati Raj & Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Prof. S. P. Singh Baghel will release the comprehensive Devolution Index Report on 13th February, 2025, at Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New Delhi. This report titled “Status of Devolution to Panchayats in States – An Indicative Evidence Based Ranking 2024” marks a milestone in India’s journey towards empowering Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and realizing the vision of “Local Self Government” of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment. The event will be attended by Shri Vivek Bharadwaj, Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj and other senior officials of the Ministry and faculty members of IIPA, New Delhi.

    The Devolution Index, a result of meticulous research and empirical analysis, provides insights into the progress of decentralization across States and Union Territories. Going beyond conventional metrics, the Index evaluates six critical dimensions: Framework, Functions, Finances, Functionaries, Capacity Building, and Accountability of the Panchayats. The Index specifically examines how ‘free’ Panchayats are to make and implement independent decisions, reflecting the true spirit of Article 243G of the Constitution. This article empowers State legislatures to devolve powers and responsibilities to Panchayats across 29 subjects listed in the Eleventh Schedule.

    The Devolution Index serves as a tool for strengthening cooperative federalism and local self-governance, enabling States to identify areas for improvement and adopt best practices for more empowered and effective Panchayats. What sets this Devolution Index apart is its practical utility for multiple stakeholders. For citizens, it provides transparency in tracking Panchayat functioning and resource allocation. For elected representatives, it offers data-driven insights for advocacy and reform. For government officials, it serves as a roadmap for implementing effective decentralization policies. Policymakers can use the Devolution Index to assess the overall health of local governance and identify where reforms are most urgently needed. The initiative aligns with the vision of Viksit Bharat, where विकसित and सशक्त Panchayats serve as the foundation for rural transformation, driving inclusive growth and sustainable development at the grassroots level.

    ****

    Aditi Agrawal

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Parliament Question: Impact of PM-Daksh Yojana

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Posted On: 11 FEB 2025 1:51PM by PIB Delhi

    PM-DAKSH Scheme was approved for a period of five years from 2021-22 to 2025-26. As per scheme guidelines, different monitoring mechanism is in place to assess the implementation of the scheme. As per Ministry of Finance’s guidelines, every scheme has to undergo independent third party evaluation to assess the impact of the PM-DAKSH Yojana on ground before its re-appraisal for the next Finance Commission cycle.

    The number of beneficiaries under PM-DAKSH Scheme up to the year 2023-24 is 1,87,305. Under the Scheme, Short Term Training, Upskilling / Re-skilling and Entrepreneurship Development Programme are conducted by the empanelled training institutes for the respective target groups. An amount of Rs. 80 crores has been allocated in the financial year 2024-25 at Revised Estimates stage.

    Since the target group of the scheme belongs to marginalized sections of society, the major challenge is to spread awareness about the scheme among them. In order to address this issue, wider publicity is given in the newspapers and the details of the scheme are uploaded on the official website of Department.

    Under PM-DAKSH Scheme, both Government and Private Training Institutes are empanelled in order to provide skill training to the respective target groups. As per NCVET mandate, if any beneficiary undergoes training in the job role which has mandatory provision ‘On the Job Training (OJT)’, the beneficiary gets associated with private sector industry to complete the OJT which is a part of training programme.

    This information was provided by UNION MINISTER OF STATE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT, SHRI B.L. VERMA, in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

    *****

    VM

    (Lok Sabha US Q1265)

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: NARCOTICS TRADE

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Posted On: 11 FEB 2025 1:20PM by PIB Delhi

    Government has taken various measures to address the issue of illicit narcotics trade and to improve cooperation between local police and anti-narcotics efforts. Some of which are: –

      1. A 4-tier Narco-Coordination Centre (NCORD) mechanism for ensuring better coordination between Central & State Drug Law Enforcement Agencies and other stake holders in the field of controlling drug trafficking and drug abuse in India has been established. An all in-one NCORD portal has been developed for information related to drug law enforcement.
      1. To monitor the investigation of important and significant seizures, a Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) under the Chairmanship of Director General, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has been set up.
      1. A dedicated Anti Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) headed by Additional Director General/ Inspector General level Police Officer has been established in each State/Union Territory and follow-up on compliance of decisions taken in NCORD meetings at different levels.
      1. Government has empowered National Investigation Agency under NDPS Act, 1985 in the year 2020 for investigation of narco-terrorism cases.
      1. Border Guarding Forces (Border Security Force, Assam Rifles and Sashastra Seema Bal) have been empowered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 to carry out search, seizure and arrest for illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs at international border. Further, Railway Protection Force (RPF) has also been empowered under NDPS Act to check drug trafficking along the railway routes.
      1. The Indian Coast Guard has been empowered under the Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 for making interdiction of narcotic drugs in Coastal and high seas.
      1. A high level dedicated group has been created in National Security of Council Secretariat (NSCS) to analyze drug trafficking through maritime routes, challenges and solutions (Maritime Security Group- NSCS).
      1. Narcotics Control Bureau in association with Interoperable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) has created a portal called National Integrated Database About Arrested NDPS Offenders (NIDAAN).
      1. Towards the capacity building of drug law enforcement agencies of the country, Narcotics Control Bureau is continuously imparting training to the officers of other  drug law enforcement agencies.

    A National Narcotics Helpline “Madak-Padarth Nished Asoochana Kendra” (MANAS) has been created as a 24×7, toll-free number – 1933 National Narcotics Call Centre. Accordingly, MANAS has been envisioned as an integrated system providing a single platform for citizens to log, register, track and resolve drug related issues/ problems through various mode of communications like call, SMS, Chat-bot, email & web-link. It has also been integrated with Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) Helpline No.-14446. It has features like 24×7 calls via Toll-free Number, Web-Portal, email, and Mobile App under UMANG. All the information provided by the citizens on MANAS Helpline is kept confidential. In addition to this ANTF of States have been integrated with MANAS for better coordination.

    Government has formulated and implemented the National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR) under which the Government is taking a sustained and coordinated action for arresting the problem of substance abuse among the youth across the country. This includes:

      1. Launching of Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA) in 272 identified most vulnerable  districts, later on extended to all districts of the country. So far NMBA has reached out to more than 14.07 crore people including 4.90 crore youth and 2.93 crore women.
      1. 350 Integrated Rehabilitation Centers for Addicts (IRCAs), 46 Community based Peer Led Intervention (CPLI) Centers, 74 Outreach and Drop in Centers (ODICs), 124 District De-addiction Centres (DDACs) and 125 Addiction Treatment Facilities (ATFs) are supported by the Government.
      1. A Toll-free Helpline No.–14446 for de-addiction is being maintained by the Government for providing primary counseling and immediate assistance to persons seeking help.
      1. Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) have been signed with Spiritual organizations like – The Art of Living, Brahma Kumaris, Sant Nirankari Mission, ISKCON, Shri Ram Chandra Mission and All World Gayatri Pariwar, to support NMBA and conduct mass awareness activities.
      1. Awareness is also being spread through official Social Media accounts of the Abhiyaan on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram.
      1. A mass pledge/oath on NMBA was conducted on 12th August, 2024 and a total of about 3+ crore people from 2+ lakh institutions participated in the nationwide pledge.
      1. National/Regional Conferences under the Chairmanship of Union Home Minister are being held from time to time with the Hon’ble Governors/ Lieutenant Governors and Chief Ministers of States/UTs, wherein effective measures to curb illegal drug peddling and trading to their respective district level are discussed.

    This was stated by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Shri Nityanand Rai, in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.

    ******

    RK/VV/ASH/PR/PS/1343

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: ENHANCEMENT OF E-VEHICLES

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Posted On: 11 FEB 2025 1:00PM by PIB Delhi

    The ₹10,900 crore PM E-Drive scheme aims to enhance electric mobility in India and contribute to the country’s environmental goals through several key strategies.  The scheme is available till 31.03.2026.  The scheme aims to achieve its objective in the following manner:

    1. Faster Adoption of EVs: The scheme seeks to accelerate the uptake of electric vehicles by reducing their upfront costs through demand incentives.
    2. Charging Infrastructure: A significant focus is on establishing a robust charging infrastructure network to build confidence among EV users and support the growing EV fleet.
    3. EV Manufacturing Ecosystem: The scheme promotes the development of a local EV manufacturing ecosystem, ensuring long-term sustainability and reducing reliance on imports.
    4. Emphasis on Public Transport: Prioritising EVs for public transport and commercial use aims to provide environmentally friendly transportation options for the masses, thereby reducing overall emissions.
    5. Reduced Reliance on Fossil Fuels: By promoting electric mobility, the scheme intends to decrease dependence on fossil fuels and lower emissions from the transportation sector.

    The key benefits expected from the implementation of the PM E-Drive scheme for both consumers and manufacturers are as follows:

    1. For Consumers: Demand incentives lower the initial cost of EVs, making them more accessible for EV buyers.
    2. For Manufacturers: Demand incentives directly stimulate the demand for EVs, boosting sales and production volumes. The Phased Manufacturing Programme (PMP) supports the localisation of EV components, fostering domestic manufacturing capabilities.

    The steps taken under the scheme to support and incentivize the adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs) across different regions of India are as follows:

    1. Financial Support: Demand incentives of ₹5,000 per kWh in FY 2024-25 and ₹2,500 per kWh in FY 2025-26 are provided for e-2W and e-3W categories.  These incentives are capped at 15% of the ex-factory price.
    2. E-Buses: The scheme allocates ₹4,391 crore for the rollout of 14,028 e-buses.
    3. Prioritising Scrapping: For grants to deploy e-buses, cities/states that procure new e-buses after scrapping old STU buses through authorised RVSFs are to be preferred.

    To ensure the successful deployment and monitoring of the PM E-DRIVE scheme and to maximize its impact, Project Implementation and Sanctioning Committee (PISC), an inter-ministerial empowered committee, headed by the Secretary of Heavy Industries, is constituted. PISC does overall monitoring, sanctioning, and implementation of the PM E-DRIVE scheme. This committee is also responsible for removing any obstacles or difficulties that may arise during implementation.

    The scheme will facilitate the growth of the electric vehicle industry and create job Opportunities in the sector in the following manner:

    1. Domestic Manufacturing: The Phased Manufacturing Programme (PMP) mandates progressive localisation of EV components, boosting domestic manufacturing and reducing import dependence.
    2. Charging Infrastructure Development: Investment in charging infrastructure creates opportunities for businesses and entrepreneurs in installation, maintenance, and operation.
    3. Incentives for local manufacturing: The minimum of 50% percentage of domestic value addition (DVA) in manufacturing of EV Charger is a boost for local component manufacturer.

    This information was given by the Minister of State for Steel and Heavy Industries, Shri Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

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    TPJ/NJ

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: PRESS RELEASE – Vodafone Samoa: Samoa’s Trusted Business Partner shares its Business Solutions with the Business Community

    Source: Government of Western Samoa

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    (6th February 2025)

    Apia, Samoa – The Samoa Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCI) held its first monthly Members Meeting for the 2025 calendar year on Monday 3rd February 2025. This meeting, hosted by Vodafone Samoa at the Tanoa Tusitala Hotel, shared Vodafone Samoa’s significant journey during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2024 and shared business products and solutions.

    The evening began with an opening prayer from SCCI Finance Manager Faraimo Leaia, followed by a policy presentation from the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labour consultant Leilani Vaa-Tamati on the Foreign Investment Amendment Bill 2025. This opportunity for dialogue strengthens

    SCCI’s Public-Private Partnership with the Government of Samoa and ensures future inclusion to provide feedback on relevant legislation.

    The meeting’s main event was a special presentation from Vodafone Samoa’s Chief Commercial Officer Mr. Tangavel Lutchmoodoo on Vodafone’s Business Solutions and new ICT services. As the Telecom and Digital Partner for CHOGM, Mr. Lutchmoodoo shared their CHOGM story where they played an important role in designing and developing the official website and registration portal as well as officially launching 5G during this period. Mr. Lutchmoodoo then presented Vodafone’s communications and enterprise solutions which included Vodafone as an authorized reseller for Starlink as well as its Cloud Hosting services. “The benefits of moving to Cloud are cost efficiency, innovation, transformation and performance. It will help minimize costs and maximize the return on your spending”, said Mr. Lutchmoodoo as he spoke on Vodafone’s Cloud Solutions.

    The SCCI Members Meetings serve as a forum for its members and the business community, to be given an update on the work conducted by the SCCI Executive Council and Secretariat. The meeting was chaired by Chamber Vice President Tagaloa Nadia Meredith-Hunt and was followed by a networking session.

    ENDS

    SOURCE – Samoa Chamber of Commerce and Industry

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI: ThreeD Capital Inc. Provides Update on TODAQ Investment

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    TORONTO, Feb. 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ThreeD Capital Inc. (“ThreeD” or the “Company”) (CSE:IDK) (OTCQX:IDKFF), a Canadian-based venture capital firm focused on opportunistic investments in companies in the junior resources and disruptive technologies sectors, is pleased to congratulate TODAQ Micro Inc. (“TODAQ Micro”) on the successful commercialization of its technology.

    ThreeD is an investor in TODAQ Micro. Additionally, ThreeD owns 478,739 preferred shares in TODAQ Holdings Inc. (“TODAQ Holdings”), the parent company of TODAQ Micro, as well as owning five TODA Note Royalty Certificates (“TDN Royalties”) with an aggregate maximum value of USD$279,613,283. Each TDN Royalty entitles the holder to receive royalty payments over time to the holder’s micropayment node, subject to certain terms and conditions. Each TDN has been fixed at $USD 1 per TDN by TODAQ Holdings.

    TODAQ Micro is now releasing its groundbreaking TAPPTM micropayments solution to address long-standing inefficiencies in the digital economy.

    The company’s first commercial deployment is in the entertainment industry, where TODAQ Micro is enabling a revolutionary “fair trade Netflix” experience with a new video platform called Truce Plus (‘Truce+’). Producers, studios and distributors that own Tier 1 movie, show, and documentaries face multiple headwinds trying to sell to the leading content platforms. These challenges include poor negotiating power, loss of relationship with the viewing customer, low upfront payments and poor revenue share terms, delayed payments, and limited transparency and recourse to name just a few. By embedding micropayments into Truce+ digital content transactions, TODAQ Micro enables these content owners to go directly to consumer (DTC) with a frictionless, real-time, pay as you go model that also enables users to instantly buy and rent content in a few seconds without needing to subscribe or login. The content producers are paid in real time and can also instantly micro distribute those revenues to cast, crew and other supply chain payees eliminating nearly all back office costs. The first commercial movie powered by TAPP will be available in February and is called the Flamingo Effect and is produced by Truce Studios in Denver, CO. The first half dozen content titles that include both American and Canadian Tier 1 producers of movies and TV shows will be available in Q1 with over 100 titles being put on the platform by the end of the year. The Truce+ platform can also provide instant referral bonuses and awards to studios and viewers that bring in additional followers. Fortune Business Insights values the global video streaming market size at USD 674 billion in 2024 with growth to USD 2,661 billion by 2032, exhibiting a CAGR of 18.7% during the forecast period, driven by Increasing Demand for Video on Demand (VoD) streaming services.

    “There are almost too many places TAPP can be applied. Given the massive size and growth rate of the streaming industry it was a natural first place to focus. In addition, the market pain felt by the subscription fatigued consumer and the content producers who feel that they are not getting a fair deal means we have a unique ability to make the market much better and larger for both parties. TAPP represents the only deeptech powered platform capable of enabling full microtransaction VoD (or MVoD) as a new streaming market category,” said Hassan Khan, CEO of TODAQ Micro.

    TODAQ Micro has garnered significant recognition, recently being named a Top 8 FinTech Startup by the Government of Canada and sent to Silicon Valley as part of the Canadian Technology Accelerator Program with the Canadian Consulate in San Francisco. The company boasts strong strategic partnerships and finalized a partnership with Oracle in the summer of 2024 to ensure it has massive capacity to scale, and to provide the streaming industry with micropayable data labelling for video content and AI conversational agents that can close movie sales, take payments, and initiate micro-distributions. TODAQ Micro has deployed its technology on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) and successfully demonstrated multi-cloud transactions between OCI and Amazon AWS without reliance on traditional payment processors or blockchain networks. This innovation enables businesses to monetize micro-services without locking customers into subscriptions, providing a cost-efficient, pay-as-you-go alternative.

    Traditionally, enabling secure, private online web payments with a 5 second checkout for a consumer have not been possible and micro-payments of less than a dollar are impractical due to high processing costs. TODAQ’s technology eliminates intermediaries, enabling seamless transactions for businesses and consumers alike. Rather than using a blockchain, TODAQ solved the problem by returning to the original architecture of the World Wide Web and added a new Web Application Protocol called ADOT to coexist alongside HTTPS, SMTP and other older protocols built to handle websites, emails and other data. TODAQ also added another cryptographic technology called TODA to ensure portable integrity for these new web asset transactions. Together TODA and ADOT enable any software system to create, update, verify and transfer unique digital assets without requiring payment and authentication rails, or blockchains. This project took over six years, and involved collaboration with Cambridge University researchers at the Cambridge Centre for Redecentralization (CRDC) and support from the UK Research and Innovation Ministry alongside private investment. TAPP is the first ADOT Web native commercial application created.

    Sheldon Inwentash, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ThreeD, commented: “TODAQ Micro has made tremendous advancements, achieving major milestones with the commercialization of its technology and attracting tier one strategic partners. It has emerged as a leader in providing micropayment solutions without the high costs traditionally associated with such transactions. We are very pleased to have been an early-stage investor in TODAQ and look forward to seeing the company continue to scale and disrupt the industry.”

    More information about TODAQ Micro can be found through the ThreeD YouTube channel where Hassan Khan, CEO of TODAQ Micro, is interviewed.

    About ThreeD Capital Inc.

    ThreeD is a publicly-traded Canadian-based venture capital firm focused on opportunistic investments in companies in the junior resources and disruptive technologies sectors. ThreeD’s investment strategy is to invest in multiple private and public companies across a variety of sectors globally. ThreeD seeks to invest in early stage, promising companies where it may be the lead investor and can additionally provide investees with advisory services and access to the Company’s ecosystem.

    For further information:

    Jakson Inwentash
    Vice President Investments
    jinwentash@threedcap.com
    Phone: 416-941-8900 ext 107

    The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release and accepts no responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy hereof.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This news release contains certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively referred to herein as “forward-looking statements”) within the meaning of Canadian securities laws including, without limitation, statements with respect to future investments by the Company. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Often, but not always, these forward looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “believe”, “believes”, “estimate”, “estimates”, “estimated”, “potential”, “open”, “future”, “assumed”, “projected”, “used”, “detailed”, “has been”, “gain”, “upgraded”, “offset”, “limited”, “contained”, “reflecting”, “containing”, “remaining”, “to be”, “periodically”, or statements that events, “could” or “should” occur or be achieved and similar expressions, including negative variations.

    Undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements, which are inherently uncertain, are based on estimates and assumptions, and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties (both general and specific) that contribute to the possibility that the future events or circumstances contemplated by the forward-looking statements will not occur. Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance they will prove accurate. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Lantronix Appoints Steve Burrington as Vice President of Global Research and Development

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Lantronix Inc. (NASDAQ: LTRX) (“the Company”), a global leader of compute and connectivity for IoT solutions enabling AI Edge Intelligence, is proud to announce the appointment of Steve Burrington as Vice President of Global Research and Development. Burrington will oversee all aspects of product development and will play a key role in defining the Company’s technology direction as it continues to deliver innovative solutions to meet the demands of an evolving market.

    “Steve’s deep expertise in advanced product development and engineering leadership perfectly complements our Edge AI focus and mission to drive technological innovation and operational excellence,” said Saleel Awsare, Chief Executive Officer and President at Lantronix. “His leadership will be instrumental as we continue to align our technology and product strategies to achieve sustainable growth and market leadership in enabling Edge Intelligence with compute and connect.”

    Burrington brings more than 25 years of experience in engineering and technology leadership, specializing in LTE IoT, telematics, video product development and global engineering management. He has a proven ability to lead diverse, cross-functional teams and has successfully driven product innovations from concept through high-volume manufacturing. His leadership has consistently delivered results aligned with cost, schedule and performance objectives.

    During his career, Burrington has held senior leadership roles at Sierra Wireless and Netgear, where he managed global teams of over 150 engineers, directed operating budgets exceeding $35 million, and spearheaded the development of industry-leading hardware and firmware products. His extensive experience working with chipset vendors, ODMs, and structured development environments positions him well to enhance Lantronix’s R&D capabilities.

    “I am honored to join Lantronix during such an exciting time for the Company,” said Burrington. “I look forward to collaborating with the talented team here to innovate, execute and deliver products that define the future of Industrial IoT and Edge AI Intelligence. Together, we will continue to set the standard for excellence in our field.”

    About Lantronix

    Lantronix Inc. is a global leader of compute and connectivity IoT solutions that target high-growth markets, including Smart Cities, Enterprise and Transportation. Lantronix’s products and services empower companies to succeed in the growing IoT markets by delivering customizable solutions that enable AI Edge Intelligence. Lantronix’s advanced solutions include Intelligent Substations infrastructure, Infotainment systems and Video Surveillance, supplemented with advanced Out-of-Band Management (OOB) for Cloud and Edge Computing.

    For more information, visit the Lantronix website.

    Lantronix Media Contact:
    Gail Kathryn Miller
    Corporate Marketing &
    Communications Manager
    media@lantronix.com

    Lantronix Analyst and Investor Contact:
    investors@lantronix.com

    © 2024 Lantronix Inc. All rights reserved. Lantronix is a registered trademark, and SLB and SLC are trademarks of Lantronix Inc. Other trademarks and trade names are those of their respective owners.

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b21a60c7-74c8-4d08-9648-e5e8b8798774

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Diversified Energy’s Unique Strategy Produces Reliable Cash Flow and Strong Full Year 2024 Results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Seventh Year in a Row of Approximately 50% or Better Cash Margins

    Cash Flow Growth Initiatives Contributed Over $50 million in Cash Flow

    Company Returned Over $105 million to Shareholders in 2024

    BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Feb. 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Diversified Energy Company PLC (LSE: DEC, NYSE: DEC) (“Diversified” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the following operations and trading update for the year ended December 31, 2024.

    Delivering Reliable Results

    • Full-year 2024 average production of 791 MMcfepd (132 Mboepd)
      • 4Q24 average production of 843 MMcfepd (141 Mboepd)
      • December 2024 exit rate of 864 MMcfepd (144 Mboepd)
    • 2024 Adjusted EBITDA(a) of $470-$475 million; Adjusted Free Cash Flow(b) of $210-$215 million
    • 2024 Adjusted EBITDA Margin(a) of 50%and TTM Adjusted Free Cash Flow Yield(b) of 33%
      • 2024 Total Revenue, Inclusive of Settled Hedges per Unit(c) of $3.21/Mcfe ($19.28/Boe)
      • 2024 Adjusted Operating Cost per Unit(d) of $1.70/Mcfe ($10.22/Boe)

    Cash Flow Growth Initiatives

    • Announced fixed-price contract for gas delivery to a major Gulf Coast LNG export facility
    • Generated ~$42 million year-to-date in cash flow through divestiture of undeveloped leasehold
    • Recorded $8 million in impact to Adjusted EBITDA from Coal Mine Methane (“CMM”) Revenues

    Executing Strategic Objectives and Milestones

    • Retired over $200 million in debt principal through amortizing debt payments
    • Returned $105 million to shareholders, including $21 million in share buybacks(e)
    • Completed $585 million (gross) in strategic and bolt-on acquisition during 2024
    • Announced accretive bolt-on acquisition of southern Appalachia assets from Summit Natural Resources
    • Announced transformative $1.3 billion acquisition of Maverick Natural Resources
    • Marked one full year of trading on the New York Stock Exchange and as is customary, the Company expects to file a shelf registration with the US Securities and Exchange Commission

    Next LVL Milestones

    • The Company retired 202 operated wells in 2024, marking its third consecutive year to exceed its stated goal of retiring 200 wells per year
    • Next LVL Energy completed a total 287 well retirements, including Diversified’s wells and 85 wells associated with state-owned orphan wells and third-party operators

    Rusty Hutson, Jr., CEO of Diversified, commented:

    “Our team executed extremely well and continued to deliver solid results in 2024 that enabled us to advance our balanced capital allocation framework. Our strong results highlight our unique business model that strives to deliver consistent cash flow during the full range and volatility of commodity cycles. Aligned with our priorities, we generated significant cash flows, returned capital to investors, and paid down more than $200 million in debt principal, all while executing and integrating over $585 million in accretive acquisitions. Once again, our ability to deliver durable production and consistent cash flow throughout the year was a result of our team’s relentless execution of our strategies. We are committed to lowering costs and improving operational efficiencies across the organization, along with providing innovative solutions to extract hidden value from our asset base. The results we have achieved in 2024 strike at the heart of our business model and strategy.

    We believe that 2025 has the potential to be a transformative year for the Company as we work to execute our strategic initiative to become the premier public company focused on managing mature producing assets. The Company’s previously announced accretive acquisitions of Summit Natural Resources and Maverick Natural Resources are proceeding as planned, and we have received encouraging comments from both shareholders and the public debt and equity markets. During the past year, we have seen our strategy and our previous investment decisions yield increased performance in all aspects of our business model. We are optimistic about our future and confident that our current efforts will continue to position us well to have a significant positive impact on shareholder value.”

    Operations and Finance Update

    Production

    Diversified exited the year with December 2024 average production of 864 MMcfepd (144 Mboepd), up 11% versus the December 2023 exit rate of 775 MMcfepd (129 Mboepd), reflecting the cumulative effect of the Company’s 2024 acquisitions and industry-leading PDP declines of ~10% per year(f).

    Diversified ended the year with 4Q24 average production of 843 MMcfepd (141 Mboepd) and full-year 2024 average production of 791 MMcfepd (132 Mboepd).

    The Company’s production continues to be positively impacted by Diversified’s Smarter Asset Management (“SAM”) approach focused on the improvement and optimization of production profiles, development of efficiency gains and extension of well life, and the Company is well-positioned to again-deliver on a solid operational foundation for robust cash flows in 2025 with the additional impact of the recently announced acquisitions of Maverick Natural Resources and Summit Natural Resources.

    Margin, Realized Price and Total Cash Expenses per Unit

    Diversified’s resilient cash flow strategy is exemplified by the Company’s 2024 Adjusted EBITDA Margin of 50%, marking the Company’s seventh consecutive annual period of ~50% margins or higher.

    The Company’s commitment to responsibly hedge production and initiatives to expand revenue generation is reflected in 2024 Total Revenue, Inclusive of Settled Hedges per unit of $3.21/Mcfe ($19.28/Boe), with Financial Derivatives Settled in Cash delivering $151 million in cash flows, and Midstream & Other Revenue delivering $63 million in supplemental income during the year.

    Prudent expense management resulted in the stable Adjusted Operating Cost per Unit for 2024 of just $1.70/Mcfe ($10.22/Boe) representing a minimal 1% change when compared to the prior year.

          2024       2023      
        $/Mcfe   $/Boe   $/Mcfe   $/Boe   %
                         
    Total Commodity Revenue,Including the Impact of derivatives settled in cash   $ 3.05   $ 18.30     $ 3.27   $ 19.62     (7 )%
    Other Revenue1     0.16     0.98       0.13     0.75     31 %
    Average Realized Price1   $ 3.21   $ 19.28     $ 3.40   $ 20.37     (5 )%
                         
    Adjusted Operating Cost per Unit(d)     2024       2023      
        $/Mcfe   $/Boe   $/Mcfe   $/Boe   %
                         
    Lease Operating Expense2   $ 0.73   $ 4.40     $ 0.64   $ 3.83     15 %
    Midstream Expense     0.24     1.44       0.23     1.38     4 %
    Gathering and Transportation     0.31     1.86       0.32     1.92     (3 )%
    Production Taxes     0.12     0.72       0.21     1.26     (43 )%
    Total Operating Expense2   $ 1.40   $ 8.42     $ 1.40   $ 8.39     — %
    Employees, Administrative Costs and Professional Fees(g)     0.30     1.80       0.29     1.74     3 %
    Adjusted Operating Cost per Unit2   $ 1.70   $ 10.22     $ 1.69   $ 10.13     1 %
                         
    Adjusted EBITDA Margin(a)     50%       53%      
                         
    12024 excludes $0.06/Mcfe ($0.34/Boe) and 2023 excludes $0.09/Mcfe ($0.57/Boe) of other revenues generated by Next LVL Energy
    Values may not sum due to rounding; 2024 excludes $0.09/Mcfe ($0.54/Boe) & 2023 excludes$0.08/Mcfe ($0.48/Boe) of proceeds from land sales
    22024 excludes $(0.07)/Mcfe ($(0.40)/Boe) and 2023 excludes $(0.07)/Mcfe ($(0.43)/Boe) of expenses attributable to Next LVL Energy
    Values may not sum due to rounding
     

    Results of Hedging and Current Financial Derivatives Portfolio

    Diversified’s consistent application of the Company’s differentiated hedging strategy resulted in a 2024 weighted average natural gas hedge floor of $3.26/MMbtu and realized price of $2.49/MMBtu, providing insulation from historically low commodity prices and representing respective premiums of 44% and 10% to the 2024 NYMEX average Henry Hub settlement price of $2.27/MMbtu(h). The Company enters 2025 with ~80% of consolidated production hedged, and stands to benefit from the recent improvement in the forward strip. The table below reflects Diversified’s full-year hedge positions through calendar year 2027 as of December 31, 2024:

      GAS (Mcf)   NGL (Bbl)   OIL (Bbl)
      Wtd. Avg.
    Hedge
    Price(i)(j)    		   ~ % of
    Production
    Hedged(k)    		   Wtd. Avg.
    Hedge
    Price(i)    		   ~ % of
    Production
    Hedged(k)    		   Wtd. Avg.
    Hedge
    Price(i)    		   ~ % of
    Production
    Hedged(k)
                           
    FY25 $3.32   85%     $33.98   60%     $64.25   90%  
    FY26 $3.25   75%     $32.38   55%     $62.44   55%  
    FY27 $3.27   70%     $32.29   45%     $62.67   50%  
                                 

    Environmental Update

    Asset Retirement Progress and Next LVL Energy Update

    During the year, the Company exceeded its Appalachian well retirement commitments and stated plugging goals by retiring 202 Diversified-operated wells. Total well retirements by Next LVL Energy in Appalachia amounted to 287 wells, including 51 retirements associated with state orphan well programs.

    Next LVL Energy continues to be a strategic and value-additive component of Diversified’s vertically integrated operations focused on the full life cycle of operated wells and to provide third-party revenue to offset the cash costs associated with the retirement of operated wells.

    Acquisition Update

    2024 Acquisitions Update

    The Company’s previously announced acquisition of Oaktree Working Interests, Crescent Pass Energy assets and East Texas assets were successfully closed in the course of the year, representing $585 million (gross) in strategic, accretive acquisitions in 2024. These assets have been fully integrated into Diversified’s systems and processes, and are already benefiting from the Company focus on safe, efficient operations through the application of Smarter Asset Management.

    Summit Natural Resources

    Diversified’s previously announced acquisition of Appalachia and Alabama assets from Summit Natural Resources is proceeding as planned and the Company expects to close the transaction in the first quarter of 2025.

    Maverick Natural Resources

    As previously announced on January 27, 2025, Diversified has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Maverick Natural Resources for total consideration of approximately $1,275 million. The acquisition of Maverick by Diversified (the “Acquisition”) adds immediate scale, increases liquids production, and creates a combined company with long-term free cash flow generation, superior unit cash margins, and a compelling sustainability profile.

    The Acquisition is expected to close during the first half of 2025, subject to customary closing conditions, including, among others, regulatory clearance and approval by Diversified shareholders for the issue and allotment of the Ordinary Shares pursuant to the merger agreement.

    2024 Annual Results and Conference Call Details

    Diversified will release its 2024 full-year results on Monday, March 17, 2025 and will host a conference call that day at 12:30 PM GMT (8:30 AM EDT) to discuss the Annual Results.

    Footnotes:

    (a) Adjusted EBITDA represents earnings before interest, taxes, depletion, and amortization, and includes adjustments for items that are not comparable period-over-period; As presented, Adjusted EBITDA includes the impact of the accounting basis for land sales; Adjusted EBITDA Margin represents Adjusted EBITDA (excluding the adjustment for the accounting basis on land sales) as a percent of Total Revenue, Inclusive of Settled Hedges; For purposes of comparability, Adjusted EBITDA Margin excludes Other Revenue of $16 million in 2024 and $28 million in 2023, and Lease Operating Expense of $19 million in 2024 and $21 million in 2023 associated with Diversified’s wholly owned plugging subsidiary, Next LVL Energy.
    (b) Free Cash Flow represents net cash provided by operating activities less expenditures on natural gas and oil properties and equipment and cash paid for interest; As used herein, Adjusted Free Cash Flow represents Free Cash Flow, plus cash proceeds from undeveloped acreage sales; Adjusted Free Cash Flow Yield is calculated using 2024 Free Cash Flow per share, divided by the 2024 average share price of $13.47; Free Cash Flow per Share calculated as Adjusted Free Cash Flow divided by average shares outstanding of 48,031,916 during the period.
    (c) Includes the impact of derivatives settled in cash; Excludes the impact of land sales during the period; For purposes of comparability, excludes certain amounts related to Diversified’s wholly owned plugging subsidiary, Next LVL Energy.
    (d) Adjusted Operating Cost represent total lease operating costs plus recurring administrative costs. Total lease operating costs include base lease operating expense, owned gathering and compression (midstream) expense, third-party gathering and transportation expense, and production taxes. Recurring administrative expenses (Adjusted G&A) is a Non-IFRS financial measure defined as total administrative expenses excluding non-recurring acquisition & integration costs and non-cash equity compensation; For purposes of comparability, excludes certain amounts related to Diversified’s wholly owned plugging subsidiary, Next LVL Energy.
    (e) Share repurchases include activity by Diversified’s Employee Benefit Trust.
    (f) Calculated as the rate of decline in average daily production from December 2023 to December 2024, adjusted to exclude the impact of acquisitions and divestitures.
    (g) As used herein, employees, administrative costs and professional services represents total administrative expenses excluding cost associated with acquisitions, other adjusting costs and non-cash expenses. We use employees, administrative costs and professional services because this measure excludes items that affect the comparability of results or that are not indicative of trends in the ongoing business.
    (h) Calculated as the average monthly settlement price for NYMEX Henry Hub futures contracts.
    (i) Weighted average price reflects the weighted average of the swap price and floor price for collar contracts as applicable.
    (j) MMBtu prices have been converted to Mcf using a richness factor of 1Mcf=1.036 MMBtu, calculated as the weighted average Btu richness factor for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024.
    (k) Illustrative percent hedged, calculated using December 2024 average production and assuming a consolidated annual corporate decline rate of 10%; Calculation assumes constant product mix over the illustrative decline period.
       

    For Company-specific items, refer also to the Glossary of Terms and/or Alternative Performance Measures found in the Company’s Annual Report and Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2023 filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and available on the Company’s website.

    For further information, please contact:

    About Diversified Energy Company PLC

    Diversified is a leading publicly traded energy company focused on natural gas and liquids production, transport, marketing, and well retirement. Through our unique and differentiated strategy, we acquire existing, long-life assets and invest in them to improve environmental and operational performance until retiring those assets in a safe and environmentally secure manner. Recognized by ratings agencies and organizations for our sustainability leadership, this solutions-oriented, stewardship approach makes Diversified the Right Company at the Right Time to responsibly produce energy, deliver reliable free cash flow, and generate shareholder value.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This announcement contains forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) concerning the financial condition, results of operations and business of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries (the “Group”). All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements, which contain the words “anticipate”, “believe”, “intend”, “estimate”, “expect”, “may”,”should”,”intend”, “will”, “seek”, “continue”, “aim”, “target”, “projected”, “plan”, “goal”, “achieve” and words of similar meaning, reflect the Company’s beliefs and expectations and are based on numerous assumptions regarding the Company’s present and future business strategies and the environment the Company and the Group will operate in and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. No representation is made that any of these statements or forecasts will come to pass or that any forecast results will be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve inherent known and unknown risks, uncertainties and contingencies because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future and may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company or the Group to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond the Company’s or the Group’s ability to control or estimate precisely, such as the expected timing and likelihood of completion of the Acquisition and the risk that problems may arrise in successfully integrating Maverick or that the combined company may not achieve synergies as expected,as well as factors such as future market conditions, currency fluctuations, the behavior of other market participants, the actions of regulators and other factors such as the Company’s or the Group’s ability to continue to obtain financing to meet its liquidity needs, the Company’s ability to successfully integrate its other acquisitions, changes in the political, social and regulatory framework in which the Company or the Group operate or in economic or technological trends or conditions. The list above is not exhaustive and there are other factors that may cause the Company’s or the Group’s actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement, including the risk factors described in the “Risk Factors” section in the Company’s Annual Report and Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ( the “SEC”) and the risk factors descibed in Exhibit 99.2 to the Company’s Form 6-k furnished with the SEC on January 27, 2025.

    Forward-looking statements speak only as of their date and neither the Company nor the Group nor any of its respective directors, officers, employees, agents, affiliates or advisers expressly disclaim any obligation to supplement, amend, update or revise any of the forward-looking statements made herein, except where it would be required to do so under applicable law. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the events described in the forward-looking statements in this announcement, may not occur. As a result, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Past performance of the Company cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance. No statement in this announcement is intended as a profit forecast or a profit estimate and no statement in this announcement should be interpreted to mean that the financial performance of the Company for the current or future financial years would necessarily match or exceed the historical published for the Company.

    Unaudited Financial Information

    Certain financial and operating results included in this announcement are based on unaudited estimated results. These estimated results are subject to change upon completion of the Company’s audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2024, and changes could be material. The Company anticipates publishing its audited financial results for the year ended December 31, 2024 on Tuesday, March 17, 2025.

    Use of Non-IFRS Measures

    Certain key operating metrics that are not defined under IFRS (alternative performance measures) are included in this announcement. These non-IFRS measures are used by us to monitor the underlying business performance of the Company from period to period and to facilitate comparison with our peers. Since not all companies calculate these or other non-IFRS metrics in the same way, the manner in which we have chosen to calculate the non-IFRS metrics presented herein may not be compatible with similarly defined terms used by other companies. The non-IFRS metrics should not be considered in isolation of, or viewed as substitutes for, the financial information prepared in accordance with IFRS. Certain of the key operating metrics are based on information derived from our regularly maintained records and accounting and operating systems. We have not presented reconciliations of the non-IFRS measures included in this announcement because the comparable IFRS measures will not be accessible until the Company’s audited financial results for the year ended December 31, 2024 are complete. The Company will include the comparable IFRS measures and reconciliations of the non-IFRS measures in its release of full-year results, which we expect to publish on Tuesday, March 17, 2025.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Bread Financial Provides Performance Update for January 2025

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    COLUMBUS, Ohio, Feb. 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bread Financial® Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: BFH), a tech-forward financial services company that provides simple, personalized payment, lending, and saving solutions to millions of U.S. consumers, provided a performance update. The following tables present the Company’s net loss rate and delinquency rate for the periods indicated:

      For the
    month ended
    January 31,
    2025    		   For the
    month ended
    January 31,
    2024
      (dollars in millions)
    End-of-period credit card and other loans $ 18,366     $ 18,785  
    Average credit card and other loans $ 18,530     $ 18,915  
    Year-over-year change in average credit card and other loans   (2 %)     (9 %)
    Net principal losses $ 123     $ 128  
    Net loss rate   7.8 %     8.0 %
      As of
    January 31,
    2025    		   As of
    January 31,
    2024
      (dollars in millions)
    30 days + delinquencies – principal $ 1,032     $ 1,170  
    Period ended credit card and other loans – principal $ 16,874     $ 17,311  
    Delinquency rate   6.1 %     6.8 %

    About Bread Financial® 
    Bread Financial® (NYSE: BFH) is a tech-forward financial services company that provides simple, personalized payment, lending and saving solutions to millions of U.S. consumers. Our payment solutions, including Bread Financial general purpose credit cards and savings products, empower our customers and their passions for a better life. Additionally, we deliver growth for some of the most recognized brands in travel & entertainment, health & beauty, jewelry and specialty apparel through our private label and co-brand credit cards and pay-over-time products providing choice and value to our shared customers.

    To learn more about Bread Financial, our global associates and our sustainability commitments, visit breadfinancial.com or follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This release contains 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. Forward-looking statements give our expectations or forecasts of future events and can generally be identified by the use of words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “project,” “plan,” “likely,” “may,” “should” or other words or phrases of similar import. Similarly, statements that describe our business strategy, outlook, objectives, plans, intentions or goals also are forward-looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements we make regarding, and the guidance we give with respect to, our anticipated operating or financial results, future financial performance and outlook, future dividend declarations, and future economic conditions.

    We believe that our expectations are based on reasonable assumptions. Forward-looking statements, however, are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and, in many cases, beyond our control. Accordingly, our actual results could differ materially from the projections, anticipated results or other expectations expressed in this release, and no assurances can be given that our expectations will prove to have been correct. Factors that could cause the outcomes to differ materially include, but are not limited to, the following: macroeconomic conditions, including market conditions, inflation, interest rates, labor market conditions, recessionary pressures or concerns over a prolonged economic slowdown, and the related impact on consumer spending behavior, payments, debt levels, savings rates and other behaviors; global political and public health events and conditions, including ongoing wars and military conflicts and natural disasters; future credit performance, including the level of future delinquency and write-off rates; the loss of, or reduction in demand from, significant brand partners or customers in the highly competitive markets in which we compete; the concentration of our business in U.S. consumer credit; inaccuracies in the models and estimates on which we rely, including the amount of our Allowance for credit losses and our credit risk management models; the inability to realize the intended benefits of acquisitions, dispositions and other strategic initiatives; our level of indebtedness and ability to access financial or capital markets; pending and future federal and state legislation, regulation, supervisory guidance, and regulatory and legal actions, including, but not limited to, those related to financial regulatory reform and consumer financial services practices, as well as any such actions with respect to late fees, interchange fees or other charges; impacts arising from or relating to the transition of our credit card processing services to third party service providers that we completed in 2022; failures or breaches in our operational or security systems, including as a result of cyberattacks, unanticipated impacts from technology modernization projects or otherwise; and any tax or other liability or adverse impacts arising out of or related to the spinoff of our former LoyaltyOne segment or the bankruptcy filings of Loyalty Ventures Inc. (LVI) and certain of its subsidiaries and subsequent litigation or other disputes. In addition, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has issued a final rule that, absent a successful legal challenge, will place significant limits on credit card late fees, which would have a significant impact on our business and results of operations for at least the short term and, depending on the effectiveness of the mitigating actions that we have taken or may in the future take in anticipation of, or in response to, the final rule, may potentially adversely impact us over the long term; we cannot provide any assurance as to the effective date of the rule, the result of any pending or future challenges or other litigation relating to the rule, or our ability to mitigate or offset the impact of the rule on our business and results of operations. The foregoing factors, along with other risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements, are described in greater detail under the headings “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year, which may be updated in Item 1A of, or elsewhere in, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed for periods subsequent to such Form 10-K. Our forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and we undertake no obligation, other than as required by applicable law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, subsequent events, anticipated or unanticipated circumstances or otherwise.

    Contacts 
    Brian Vereb — Investor Relations 
    Brian.Vereb@breadfinancial.com 

    Susan Haugen — Investor Relations 
    Susan.Haugen@breadfinancial.com 

    Rachel Stultz — Media 
    Rachel.Stultz@breadfinancial.com 

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Bishop Fox appoints Christopher Martin as Chief Operating Officer

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    PHOENIX, Feb. 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bishop Fox, the leading authority in offensive security, today announced the addition of Christopher Martin as the company’s new COO. Martin has extensive experience as an entrepreneur, scaling operations and driving growth from startups to multi-billion dollar organizations, while safeguarding culture and quality of services. Martin will be responsible for Bishop Fox Service Delivery, Finance, People, Product and R&D, reporting to Bishop Fox Co-Founder and CEO, Vinnie Liu.

    Martin joins Bishop Fox at a time that has seen the company continue its steady growth and maintain its market leadership in continuous offensive security and penetration testing services. Notably, the company saw Annual Recurring Revenues grow by nearly 60 percent, and year-over-year partner bookings increase by more than 200 percent, beating targets by more than 70 percent. Bishop Fox also expanded its European presence, and added former @Stake and Neohapsis CEO, James Mobley to its Advisory Board.

    Martin brings a wealth of experience in overseeing strong organic and inorganic growth for B2B SaaS and applied AI organizations. In particular he co-founded, grew and executed the successful acquisition of digital marketing services & consultancy firm MightyHive, and later served as public Executive Director of S4 Capital. He has held a number of executive positions including his time in the Controllership of Yahoo!’s $6 billion P&L, and later the Mergers and Acquisitions group, guiding acquisitions and operational integrations. Martin is an active investor and advisor in Applied AI and B2B SaaS startups. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from Lehigh University, and MBA from The Wharton School.

    “Bishop Fox is at the forefront of the evolving offensive security landscape,” commented Martin. “Our technology-driven approach —combining elite human expertise with automation, AI-driven threat emulation, and deep integrations—delivers adaptive, real-time defense at enterprise scale. As attack surfaces expand and adversaries evolve, our ability to provide continuous, intelligence-led security validation, positions us as a strategic partner in fortifying large enterprises against emerging threats. The opportunity to redefine security resilience and drive measurable impact for our clients has never been greater.”

    “Bishop Fox has always had a focus on all around quality – quality of life, quality of work and quality of our business,” added Liu. “So, as we searched for our next COO, we needed to find someone that respected and excelled at all three. In meeting and talking with Chris, his passion for taking care of people, a focus on collaboration, and a forward-thinking mindset came through as strongly as his many career accomplishments. We’re very happy to have him on the team and look forward to continuing to build great things together.”

    About Bishop Fox

    Bishop Fox is the leading authority in offensive security, providing solutions ranging from continuous penetration testing, red teaming, and attack surface management to product, cloud, and application security assessments. We’ve worked with more than 25% of the Fortune 100, half of the Fortune 10, eight of the top 10 global technology companies, and all of the top global media companies to improve their security. Our Cosmos platform, service innovation, and culture of excellence continue to gather accolades from industry award programs including Fast Company, Inc., SC Media, and others, and our offerings are consistently ranked as “world class” in customer experience surveys. We’ve been actively contributing to and supporting the security community for almost two decades and have published more than 16 open-source tools and 50 security advisories in the last five years. Learn more at bishopfox.com or follow us on Twitter.

    Media Contact:

    Kevin Kosh, Senior Director of Communications

    kkosh@bishopfox.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Anterix Announces Industry Engagement Initiative to Accelerate Private Wireless Broadband Opportunity and Engages Morgan Stanley to Initiate Strategic Review Process

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    WOODLAND PARK, N.J., Feb. 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Anterix (NASDAQ: ATEX) announced today that after receiving inbound interest in the Company, it has engaged Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC (“Morgan Stanley”) as its financial advisor to support a formal strategic review process for the Company to capitalize on the growing demand and urgency for private wireless broadband solutions for the utility industry.

    Additionally, as the recognized market leader in the private wireless broadband space for utilities, Anterix has launched a new industry engagement initiative to address and shorten the time to realization of value for Anterix and its customers to allow them to more quickly deploy 900 MHz private wireless broadband networks. This initiative, which will include a significant review of pricing, payment and ownership terms as well as the potential for collaboration with strategic partners on additional products and services with Anterix’s 120+ member ecosystem, is already receiving significant interest from utilities.

    “Anterix has more experience regarding how to enable private networks for utilities than anyone. With this new initiative, we are going to aggressively evolve our product offering to build on that success. With our seven customers across fifteen states, our 120+ member ecosystem, and our fantastic team, we are poised to continue to capture the growing utility wireless broadband marketplace,” said Scott Lang, President & CEO of Anterix.

    Mr. Lang continued, “As the leading provider of private wireless broadband, zero debt, and a strong customer pipeline, it does not surprise us that we have had some inbound strategic interest to participate with us in our efforts. Accordingly, we have turned to the leaders in this field, Morgan Stanley. With them, we will review strategic opportunities to capitalize on the value that lies in front of us, with a focus on what is in the best interest of our shareholders, customers and employees. I am excited to work with Morgan Stanley on this strategic review and equally excited to see the extensive utility interest in the evolution of our product offering.”

    As a reminder, Anterix previously announced that it will be hosting its third quarter fiscal 2025 earnings call tomorrow, Wednesday February 12, 2025, at 9:00 A.M. ET. More information can be found on the Investor Relations section of Anterix’s website at https://investors.anterix.com/events-presentations.

    There is no deadline or definitive timetable for completion of the strategic review, and there can be no assurance regarding the results or the outcome of this review. Anterix does not intend to make any further announcements regarding the strategic review except in accordance with its ongoing disclosure obligations and pursuant to applicable laws and regulations.

    Shareholder Contact 

    Natasha Vecchiarelli
    Vice President, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
    Anterix
    973-531-4397
    nvecchiarelli@anterix.com 

    About Anterix

    At Anterix, we partner with leading utilities and technology companies to harness the power of 900 MHz broadband for modernized grid solutions. Leading an ecosystem of more than 100 members, we offer utility-first solutions to modernize the grid and solve the challenges that utilities are facing today. As the largest holder of licensed spectrum in the 900 MHz band (896-901/935-940 MHz) throughout the contiguous United States, plus Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, we are uniquely positioned to enable private wireless broadband solutions that support cutting-edge advanced communications capabilities for a cleaner, safer, and more secure energy future. To learn more and join the 900 MHz movement, please visit www.anterix.com.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, any statement that may predict, forecast, indicate or imply future events or achievements such as statements in this press release related to Anterix’s industry engagement initiatives or strategic review or business or financial results or outlook. Actual events or results may differ materially from those contemplated in this press release. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such statements, as they are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause Anterix’s actual future results to differ materially from results indicated in the forward-looking statement. Such statements are based on assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including: (i) the timing of payments under customer agreements; (ii) Anterix’s ability to clear the 900 MHz Broadband Spectrum on a timely basis and on commercially reasonable terms; (iii) Anterix’s ability to qualify for and timely secure broadband licenses; (iv) Anterix’s ability to execute on its industry engagement initiatives; (v) the timing and outcome of Anterix’s strategic review process; (vi) whether Anterix will be able to identify, develop or execute on any actions as a result of its strategic review process and (vii) competition in the market for spectrum and spectrum solutions offered by Anterix. Actual events or results may differ materially from those contemplated in this press release. Anterix’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), which you may obtain for free at the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov, discuss some of the important risk factors that may affect the Company’s financial outlook, business, results of operations and financial condition. Anterix undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Beamr to Present at the A.G.P.’s Virtual Technology Conference

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Herzliya Israel, Feb. 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Beamr Imaging Ltd. (NASDAQ: BMR), a leader in video optimization technology and solutions, today announced that it will present virtually at the Alliance Global Partners (A.G.P) Technology Conference. The conference, offering investors one-on-one meetings with Beamr executives, will be held virtually Tomorrow, February 12, 2025. For more information, please visit AGP website.

    Beamr is a world leader in high-performance video processing, trusted by top media companies like Netflix and Paramount. With patented, award-winning technology, Beamr reduces video file sizes and live streams by up to 50%, while securing quality. Available on Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), Beamr Cloud delivers GPU-accelerated video processing to large video users, which includes efficient upgrades to advanced video formats, and scalable video enhancements with AI-powered capabilities.

    For more details, please visit Beamr’s Investors website: https://www.investors.beamr.com/

    About Beamr

    Beamr (Nasdaq: BMR) is a world leader in content-adaptive video optimization and modernization. The company serves top media companies like Netflix and Paramount. Beamr’s inventive perceptual optimization technology (CABR) is backed by 53 patents and won the Emmy® award for Technology and Engineering. The innovative technology reduces video file size by up to 50% while guaranteeing quality.

    Beamr Cloud is a high-performance, GPU-based video optimization and modernization service designed for businesses and video professionals across diverse industries. It is conveniently available to Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) customers. Beamr Cloud enables video modernization to advanced formats such as AV1 and HEVC, and is ready for video AI workflows. For more details, please visit www.beamr.com

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains “forward-looking statements” that are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this communication may include, among other things, statements about Beamr’s strategic and business plans, technology, relationships, objectives and expectations for its business, the impact of trends on and interest in its business, intellectual property or product and its future results, operations and financial performance and condition. 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 the Company’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. For a more detailed description of the risks and uncertainties affecting the Company, reference is made to the Company’s reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including, but not limited to, the risks detailed in the Company’s annual report filed with the SEC on March 4, 2024 and in subsequent filings with the SEC. Forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no duty to update such information except as required under applicable law.
                                                   
    Investor Contact:

    investorrelations@beamr.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: GigaCloud Technology Inc Strengthens Its B2B Marketplace with Leading Furniture Suppliers

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    EL MONTE, Calif., Feb. 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — GigaCloud Technology Inc (Nasdaq: GCT) (“GigaCloud” or the “Company”), a pioneer of global end-to-end B2B ecommerce technology solutions for large parcel merchandise, today announced a strong lineup of new suppliers joining its GigaCloud Marketplace, further solidifying its position as a trusted global B2B wholesale platform.

    New suppliers to the GigaCloud Marketplace include Purple Innovation Inc. (Nasdaq: PRPL), Homestyles, a brand of Flexsteel Industries Inc. (Nasdaq: FLXS), Corsicana Mattress Company, Restonic, Walker Edison, GhostBed, Simpli Home and others. These newly added suppliers have joined the GigaCloud Marketplace as new 3P sellers, encompassing a broad range of home furnishings, including living room furniture, bedroom bedding and furniture, dining room sets, and home office solutions. Many are known for their thoughtful design, quality craftsmanship, and versatility, appealing to a range of styles from contemporary to traditional.

    “This latest wave of new suppliers highlights the value and trust our platform brings to the evolving B2B market, demonstrating GigaCloud’s commitment to accelerating growth and product diversity,” said Larry Wu, Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of GigaCloud. “By welcoming these esteemed suppliers, we continue to enhance our market leadership in large-parcel B2B ecommerce—empowering suppliers with expanded market reach, providing resellers with a broader selection of trusted products, and facilitating seamless global wholesale trade for businesses of all sizes.”

    “Partnering with GigaCloud has opened up exciting new avenues for Purple to extend our market presence,” said Mason Stephens, Vice President, Head of Wholesale at Purple Innovation Inc. “GigaCloud’s robust marketplace provides an efficient way to connect with a broader reseller base, enabling us to further drive our growth and bring Purple’s innovative comfort solutions to more businesses and their customers. We look forward to a promising future of growth and collaboration with GigaCloud.”

    “We are excited to partner with GigaCloud to bring our Homestyles brand to an innovative digital marketplace,” said Andrew Surdyka, VP of Strategic Accounts at Flexsteel Industries Inc. “This collaboration represents an exciting opportunity for us to enhance our digital presence and reach new customers while maintaining the high standards of quality and service that Flexsteel Industries is known for.”

    About GigaCloud Technology Inc 

    GigaCloud Technology Inc is a pioneer of global end-to-end B2B ecommerce technology solutions for large parcel merchandise. The Company’s B2B ecommerce platform, the “GigaCloud Marketplace,” integrates everything from discovery, payments and logistics tools into one easy-to-use platform. The Company’s global marketplace seamlessly connects manufacturers, primarily in Asia, with resellers, primarily in the U.S., Asia and Europe, to execute cross-border transactions with confidence, speed and efficiency. GigaCloud offers a comprehensive solution that transports products from the manufacturer’s warehouse to the end customer’s doorstep, all at one fixed price. The Company first launched its marketplace in January 2019 by focusing on the global furniture market and has since expanded into additional categories, including home appliances and fitness equipment. For more information, please visit the Company’s website: https://www.gigacloudtech.com.

    Forward-Looking Statements  

    This press release contains “forward-looking statements.” Forward-looking statements reflect our current view about future events. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on the Company’s current expectations and projections about future events that the Company believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. Investors can identify these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as “may,” “will,” “could,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “aim,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “is/are likely to,” “propose,” “potential,” “continue” or similar expressions. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent occurring events or circumstances, or changes in its expectations, except as may be required by law. Although the Company believes that the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot assure you that such expectations will turn out to be correct, and the Company cautions investors that actual results may differ materially from the anticipated results and encourages investors to review other factors that may affect its future results in the Company’s registration statement and other filings with the SEC. 

    For investor and media inquiries, please contact: 

    GigaCloud Technology Inc 
    Investor Relations 
    ir@gigacloudtech.com 

    PondelWilkinson, Inc. 
    Laurie Berman (Investors) – lberman@pondel.com 
    George Medici (Media) – gmedici@pondel.com 

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Video: Financing for Development – Press Conference | United Nations

    Source: United Nations (Video News)

    Press conference by José Antonio Ocampo, Chair of International Commission of Experts (ICE), on Financing for Development.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti5VEHM6FR4

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Security guard convicted for using fake licence

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    A man who tried to use a cloned Security Industry Authority (SIA) licence to work in the security industry has been prosecuted.

    A man who tried to use a cloned Security Industry Authority (SIA) licence to work in the security industry has been given a community order and must pay almost £4,000 in costs.

    Luke Donnelly paid an unknown man £300 for a cloned security licence to work illegally, without proper training. Active Security Solutions Ltd, the company he applied to work for, spotted the deception while conducting routine checks.

    The company alerted the SIA, who launched an investigation into Mr Donnelly.

    Following the investigation, Mr Donnelly was charged and ordered to appear in court for his trial. He failed to appear at Dudley Magistrates’ Court and was found guilty in his absence on 13 December 2024.

    A warrant was then issued for Mr Donnelly’s arrest. He was arrested and appeared at Walsall Magistrates’ Court on 9 January 2025. He was sentenced for using a cloned licence and for failing to surrender to bail. He was given a community order of 120 hours unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £3,903 prosecution costs and a victim surcharge of £114.

    Mark Chapman, Criminal Investigations Manager for the SIA, said:

    When somebody works in the private security industry with a cloned licence they put the public, their colleagues and themselves at risk.

    In this case, Mr Donnelly thought he could take a shortcut by avoiding the training necessary to safely de-escalate conflict and deal with dangerous situations. He claimed he believed the licence he bought was genuine. However, having held a genuine licence previously, he would have known that this was not the case and that he was breaking the law. This sentence serves as a warning to others who may try to circumvent the legal requirements to hold a valid licence and then avoid being held to account when caught.

    I would like to thank Active Security Solutions Ltd for reporting this to us so that we could prosecute an individual trying to break the law.

    Notes to editors

    Licensed security operatives are subject to robust training requirements to help them protect the public. Deploying untrained and unvetted security operatives with fake or cloned licences puts the public at risk. Anyone suspected of breaking the law should be reported to the SIA.

    If you suspect an individual of using a cloned licence you should report it.

    By law, security operatives working under contract must hold and display a valid SIA licence. Learn how we enforce SIA regulation.

    The offence relating to the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981 that is mentioned above is:

    • Section 3 – knowingly using a false instrument

    Further information

    The Security Industry Authority is the regulator of the UK’s private security industry. Our purpose is to protect the public through effective regulation of the private security industry and working with partners to raise standards across the sector. We are responsible for licensing people who do certain jobs in the private security industry and for approving private security companies who wish to be part of the voluntary Approved Contractor Scheme.

    For further information about the SIA or to sign up for email updates visit www.gov.uk/sia. We also post articles and updates on WordPress. The SIA is on LinkedIn, Facebook (Security Industry Authority) and X (@SIAuk).

    For media enquiries only, please contact media.enquiries@sia.gov.uk.

    Updates to this page

    Published 11 February 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Security boss convicted of obstructing regulator’s investigation

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    The director of a Manchester-based security company has been prosecuted after failing to comply with an investigation.

    The director of a Manchester-based security company has been ordered to pay over £3,500 after failing to comply with an investigation into the suspected deployment of unlicensed security operatives.

    Katie O’Neill, the director of I-Guard Security Ltd, ignored several requests for information and invitations to interview from the Security Industry Authority (SIA) last year.

    The SIA first began investigating I-Guard Security Ltd after receiving intelligence from Merseyside Police that unlicensed security operatives had been deployed to a venue in Liverpool. The SIA requested information from O’Neill in March 2024 regarding security provision for the venue but received no reply.

    On 22 April 2024 the SIA sent a further request for information. O’Neill did not respond to this second request. The SIA then invited her to attend an interview under caution in respect of her refusal to provide the information requested. When she did not respond the SIA began prosecution proceedings.

    Manchester Magistrates’ Court sentenced O’Neill on 9 January 2025. The court fined her £1,100 and ordered her to pay a victim surcharge of £440 plus prosecution costs of £2,000.

    Mark Chapman, Criminal Investigations Manager at the SIA, said:

    As regulator for the private security sector, our priority is ensuring that security companies operate within the law, and that their staff are properly trained and licensed to perform their role. When we suspect wrongdoing and need information for our investigations, we have the statutory powers to request this.

    Katie O’Neill failed to respond to such a request. It is an offence to ignore our requests or obstruct our investigation and she has now paid the price. I hope this case serves as a warning to others that we at the SIA take these matters seriously and will not hesitate to act to ensure those who break the law are held accountable for their actions.

    Notes to editors

    By law, security operatives working under contract must hold and display a valid SIA licence. Information about SIA enforcement and penalties can be found on GOV.UK/SIA.

    The offence relating to the Private Security Industry Act 2001 that is mentioned above is:

    • Section 19 – obstructing SIA officials or those with delegated authority, or failing to respond to a request for information

    Further information

    The SIA is the organisation responsible for regulating the private security industry in the UK, reporting to the Home Secretary under the terms of the Private Security Industry Act 2001. The SIA’s main duties are the compulsory licensing of individuals undertaking designated activities and managing the voluntary Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS).

    For further information about the SIA or to sign up for email updates visit www.gov.uk/sia. We also post articles and updates on WordPress. The SIA is on LinkedIn, Facebook (Security Industry Authority) and X (@SIAuk).

    For media enquiries only, please contact media.enquiries@sia.gov.uk.

    Updates to this page

    Published 11 February 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Principality of Andorra: Staff Concluding Statement of the 2025 Article IV Mission

    Source: IMF – News in Russian

    February 11, 2025

    A Concluding Statement describes the preliminary findings of IMF staff at the end of an official staff visit (or ‘mission’), in most cases to a member country. Missions are undertaken as part of regular (usually annual) consultations under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, in the context of a request to use IMF resources (borrow from the IMF), as part of discussions of staff monitored programs, or as part of other staff monitoring of economic developments.

    The authorities have consented to the publication of this statement. The views expressed in this statement are those of the IMF staff and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF’s Executive Board. Based on the preliminary findings of this mission, staff will prepare a report that, subject to management approval, will be presented to the IMF Executive Board for discussion and decision.

    Andorra La Vella – February 11, 2025

    The Andorran economy is doing well. This provides a window of opportunity to address substantial long-term challenges. The authorities have consolidated the country’s macro-financial framework and reinforced buffers. However, Andorra’s real GDP per capita—while high in absolute terms—has remained flat over the last 50 years, with growth largely driven by population increases. Going forward, population aging is both an economic and a fiscal concern, and climate change challenges an economic model largely dependent on winter tourism. Ambitious structural reforms are needed to unlock investment and lift productivity.

    Economic Outlook

    The Andorra economy continues to show resilience and to grow above its potential. Growth in 2024 surprised slightly on the upside, at an estimated 2.1 percent, driven by the service, banking and construction sectors. Inflation is subsiding gradually, reaching 2.6 percent at the end of 2024, despite limited economic slack and a still tight labor market. The current account surplus remains very large, estimated at 15.1 percent of GDP in 2024. The strong performance of banks continued in 2024 supported by high interest margins and increased fees and commissions.

    Going forward, GDP is expected to slow to the level of potential growth. Real GDP growth is forecasted at 1.7 percent in 2025 and 1.5 percent from 2027 onwards. Inflation is projected to stabilize at 1.7 percent over the medium term. Short-term risks are balanced: greater uncertainty in the global economy and the potential for adverse shocks such as deepening geoeconomic fragmentation, supply disruptions, recurrent commodity price fluctuations and a reversal of monetary policy loosening are downside risks to growth and inflation. On the upside, Andorra, like other service-oriented economies in Europe, could benefit from stronger demand, and grow faster than projected. Solid buffers mitigate risks.

    Challenges are concentrated over the medium-term, as stagnating income growth makes it challenging to address the impact of population aging and climate change. With long life expectancy and low fertility rates, Andorra’s population is expected to age rapidly—removing an engine for GDP growth and creating fiscal liabilities over the long term. Fiscal costs from pensions and healthcare will be substantial. More frequent climate shocks can affect the economic cycle in an economy largely reliant on winter tourism, and structurally warmer temperatures will require extensive adaptation.

    Policy priorities

    The solid macroeconomic position and the credibility of the policy framework provide Andorra with an opportunity for implementing far-reaching structural reforms. Diversifying the economy to enhance resilience, unlocking investment and lifting productivity to raise income levels, and addressing the costs of aging and climate change should be driving the policy agenda. The recently negotiated EU Association Agreement (EUAA), if approved by referendum, could offer an opportunity to support the reform momentum, but would also bring challenges.

    Maintaining a solid fiscal framework given spending pressures over the medium term

    Maintaining a disciplined fiscal policy within the fiscal framework is important and will provide room for more public investment. In a microstate that needs fiscal buffers against external shocks, entrenching fiscal space is important. In addition, the credibility of the fiscal framework and the primary surplus provide room for higher public investment to support potential growth and mitigate structural bottlenecks.

    • A balanced 2025 budget focused on economic priorities. The 2025 budget finds a welcome balance between maintaining a conservative fiscal stance but building on the authorities’ structural priorities, with a focus on health, housing, maintaining purchasing power, and education. Overall, the 2025 budget foresees a deficit of 0.9 percent of GDP. Given past practice of adjusting expenditures in line with incoming revenues, staff forecasts a small surplus of about 0.3 percent of GDP.
    • Room for growth-enhancing public spending. The fiscal framework, which prescribes an overall deficit limit of 1 percent of GDP and a central government debt ceiling of 40 percent of GDP, provides room for higher public spending targeted towards growth-enhancing investment. Spending should be focused on the structural needs of the economy: social and affordable housing, upskilling the workforce and addressing labor shortages, connectivity to support economic diversification, and investments to lift potential growth. As under-execution of budgeted public investment is customary, delivering on investment plans should be a policy objective.

    Over the medium term, Andorra faces rising spending pressures from aging, as well as a need to adapt to climate change—engaging reforms early is paramount. Staff estimates that by 2050, pension system expenditures will rise by 6.7 percentage points while healthcare expenditures will increase by 2 percentage points. Acting early on pension and healthcare reforms is needed to anticipate and mitigate the fiscal impact of aging.

    • Pension reform has been on the government’s agenda for some time and is overdue. The menu of options to put the system on the sustainable path is well understood, from increasing contribution rates and reducing conversion rates to increasing the retirement age. Concluding the reform in an expeditious and comprehensive manner is needed to ensure the sustainability of the social security fund in the long run.
    • A reform of the healthcare system should aim to contain long-term costs while raising healthcare revenues . Experience from other advanced economies provides a blueprint for potential measures, in 4 areas: (i) enhance cost efficiency, (ii) strengthen preventive care, (iii) increase revenues for healthcare while preserving equity, and (iv) improve governance. The National Pact brought together stakeholders and should continue its work to strengthen the healthcare system.

    · Beyond direct policies in the pension and healthcare areas, broader measures would be helpful to buffer the additional long-term fiscal costs of aging. Domestic revenue mobilization and migration policies can help.

    • Climate change also exposes the government to future contingent liabilities. Public investment needs to increase to meet Andorra’s climate change mitigation targets and to provide adequate support to the adaptation of the private sector. In addition, fiscal space will be increasingly needed to buffer the negative impact of climate shocks.

    Precautionary borrowing and a rapid reduction in public debt provide the authorities with flexibility in managing the debt profile. The authorities are reaping the benefits of an effective debt management strategy that is projected to bring public debt down to 30 percent of GDP by 2026, that lengthened its maturity to 6.3 years and that keeps public debt service low. The authorities should continue to monitor market conditions for an upcoming debt maturity of €500 million public bonds in 2027, including for further diversifying debt and extending its maturity to decrease rollover risks and mitigate consequences from potential increases in interest rates.

    Consolidating banking performance in a changing environment

    Strengthening further the resilience of the banking system during periods of high profitability is appropriate. The banking sector displays solid fundamentals, with large capital and liquidity buffers. However, given the large size of the banking sector, the supervisor should remain vigilant. Available supervisory tools should complement each other, including by supporting the lender of last resort facility introduced in 2022 by continued close supervision and a well-designed resolution framework to ensure that critical problems are identified and addressed early. The activation of a countercyclical capital buffer in 2024 was timely to increase banking system resilience during high bank profitability.

    The changing financial landscape, notably with the continued international expansion of banks and a possible EUAA, brings opportunities and challenges for Andorran banks. Banks have been growing in the EU where they run independent subsidiaries focused on private banking services, and the EUAA would facilitate this expansion, notably in the asset management business. Domestically, the EUAA has the potential to create a more dynamic domestic market but also to open Andorra to greater competition. The authorities should work closely with banks to prepare for the transition and safeguard financial stability.

    Ambitious structural reforms to unlock investment and lift productivity, support the diversification of the economy and help mitigate climate change.

    A comprehensive set of structural measures is important and should focus on the following:

    • Addressing frictions, notably labor and housing shortages. Public investment in education and well-designed immigration policies can improve knowledge capital in Andorra and raise labor productivity. Multiple housing measures were implemented recently—including the extension of existing rental contracts, the creation of a public affordable housing park, tax incentives for owners who offer affordable housing, suspension of tourist accommodation licenses, fees on empty houses and on real estate purchases by foreigners. The authorities should aim at providing market-based incentives for investing in affordable housing while minimizing distortions.
    • Creating a business environment conducive to higher investment. Recommendations encompass reducing administrative rigidities associated with doing business in Andorra, promoting access to financing, and implementing measures to attract and retain talent.
    • Supporting the development of higher value-added sectors, including the digital economy. With limited space for manufacturing, Andorra can look at the experience of peer countries that have successfully diversified towards the digital economy. Government policies, including the 2022 Law on the digital economy, entrepreneurship, and innovation and the Digitalization Strategy 2020-2030 were welcome initial steps.

    The EUAA could provide further momentum for reforms towards diversification, unlock investment, and raise productivity in Andorra, but is not without its own challenges. The agreement signals a strong commitment to deeper integration with the EU and to reinforce Andorran institutions in their coherence with EU standards. Empirical evidence on the benefits of EU membership provides useful lessons for EU association. It suggests that while the impact can be significant and positive, it builds up over time, and is conditional on well-designed domestic reforms during the accession period. While the impact varies with country-specific circumstances, it materializes through a few channels: structural reforms in the period preceding accession/association, greater capital accumulation, notably FDI, and higher productivity. In Andorra, room for increasing investment and productivity is substantial. Transition periods for key sectors such as telecom and banking mitigate the risks of disruption and fiscal space can cover transition costs. Preparedness is essential to realize the benefits of association, and reduce potential downsides, such as greater regional competition.

    The climate adaptation strategy needs to be accelerated given the macrocriticality of global warming for Andorra. Because of its higher altitude, Andorra is less exposed than other winter tourism locations in the region and should use this window of opportunity to enact needed policies, support the development of higher value-added service sectors and diversify away from winter tourism. The authorities should expedite the development and execution of a climate adaptation strategy.

    *

    The mission thanks the authorities and all our counterparts for a constructive and candid policy dialogue, for engaging in a productive and transparent collaboration, and for their hospitality during the official visit of the IMF to Andorra.

    Andorra: Selected Social and Economic Indicators

    I. Social Indicators

    Population (2023)

    85101

    Population at risk of poverty (percent, 2020)

    13

    Per capita income (2023, euros)

    40511

    Human Development Index Rank (2021)

    40 (out of 189)

    Gini Index (2020)

    32

    Life expectancy at birth (2024)

    83.9

    II. Economic Indicators

    Projections

    2022

    2023

    2024

    2025

    2026

    2027

    2028

    2029

    2030

    NATIONAL ACCOUNTS AND PRICES

    (annual change, percent, unless otherwise indicated)

    Real GDP

    9.6

    2.6

    2.1

    1.7

    1.6

    1.5

    1.5

    1.5

    1.5

    Nominal GDP

    14.2

    9.0

    5.0

    3.7

    3.4

    3.3

    3.2

    3.2

    3.2

    GDP deflator

    4.2

    6.3

    2.9

    1.9

    1.8

    1.7

    1.7

    1.7

    1.7

    (contribution to nominal GDP growth, percentage points)

    Consumption

    6.5

    7.0

    3.6

    2.5

    2.5

    2.5

    2.5

    2.4

    2.4

    Private

    6.2

    3.5

    1.7

    1.5

    1.5

    1.5

    1.5

    1.4

    1.4

    Public

    0.3

    3.4

    1.9

    1.0

    1.0

    1.0

    1.0

    1.0

    1.0

    Investment

    6.8

    -2.2

    0.9

    0.5

    0.6

    0.3

    0.3

    0.4

    0.5

    Private 1/

    6.4

    -3.1

    0.2

    0.0

    0.4

    0.1

    0.1

    0.2

    0.3

    Public

    0.4

    0.9

    0.7

    0.5

    0.2

    0.2

    0.2

    0.2

    0.2

    Net exports of goods and services

    0.9

    4.3

    0.7

    0.6

    0.4

    0.4

    0.4

    0.4

    0.4

    Exports

    18.8

    10.4

    4.2

    3.3

    2.8

    2.8

    2.9

    2.9

    2.8

    Imports

    18.0

    6.1

    3.5

    2.7

    2.5

    2.4

    2.5

    2.5

    2.4

    Prices

    Inflation (percent, period average)

    6.2

    5.6

    3.1

    2.2

    1.8

    1.7

    1.7

    1.7

    1.7

    Inflation (percent, end of period)

    7.2

    4.6

    2.6

    2.0

    1.7

    1.7

    1.7

    1.7

    1.7

    Unemployment rate (percent)

    2.1

    1.6

    1.6

    1.6

    1.8

    1.8

    1.9

    2.0

    2.0

    EXTERNAL SECTOR

    (percent of GDP, unless otherwise indicated)

    Current account

    11.6

    14.2

    15.1

    17.0

    17.0

    17.0

    17.0

    17.0

    17.0

    Balance on goods and services

    8.8

    12.0

    12.0

    12.2

    12.1

    12.1

    12.1

    12.1

    12.1

    Exports of goods and services

    80.9

    83.7

    83.7

    83.9

    83.8

    83.9

    84.1

    84.2

    84.3

    Imports of goods and services

    72.2

    71.8

    71.6

    71.7

    71.7

    71.8

    71.9

    72.1

    72.2

    Primary income, net

    4.3

    3.5

    4.3

    6.1

    6.1

    6.1

    6.1

    6.1

    6.1

    Secondary income, net

    -1.4

    -1.3

    -1.3

    -1.3

    -1.3

    -1.3

    -1.3

    -1.3

    -1.3

    Capital account

    0.0

    -0.1

    0.0

    0.0

    0.0

    0.0

    0.0

    0.0

    0.0

    Financial account

    12.7

    13.5

    15.1

    17.0

    17.0

    17.0

    17.0

    17.0

    17.0

    Errors and omissions

    1.1

    -0.6

    0.0

    0.0

    0.0

    0.0

    0.0

    0.0

    0.0

    Gross international reserves (millions of euros) 2/

    338.4

    338.7

    399.0

    399.0

    399.0

    399.0

    399.0

    399.0

    399.0

    FISCAL SECTOR

    (percent of GDP, unless otherwise indicated)

    General Government 3/

    Revenue

    39.7

    38.0

    37.9

    37.8

    37.7

    37.8

    37.8

    37.7

    37.8

    Expenditure

    34.9

    35.9

    36.5

    36.7

    36.6

    36.9

    36.9

    37.0

    37.0

    Interest

    0.7

    0.6

    0.6

    0.6

    0.6

    0.8

    0.8

    0.8

    0.8

    Primary balance

    5.6

    2.7

    2.0

    1.7

    1.6

    1.6

    1.7

    1.6

    1.6

    Net lending/borrowing (overall balance)

    4.8

    2.1

    1.5

    1.1

    1.1

    0.8

    0.9

    0.8

    0.8

    Public debt

    38.9

    35.5

    33.7

    32.5

    31.5

    30.5

    30.0

    29.5

    29.0

    Central Government 4/

    Revenue

    21.7

    19.8

    21.3

    20.8

    20.8

    20.8

    20.8

    20.8

    20.9

    Expenditure

    18.7

    19.1

    20.4

    20.5

    20.5

    20.6

    20.7

    20.6

    20.7

    Interest

    0.7

    0.5

    0.5

    0.5

    0.5

    0.7

    0.7

    0.7

    0.7

    Primary balance

    3.6

    1.2

    1.4

    0.8

    0.8

    0.9

    0.8

    0.9

    0.9

    Net lending/borrowing (overall balance)

    2.9

    0.7

    0.9

    0.3

    0.3

    0.2

    0.1

    0.2

    0.2

    Public debt

    37.1

    34.0

    32.3

    31.2

    30.1

    29.2

    28.7

    28.3

    27.9

    BANKING SECTOR5 /

    (percent, unless otherwise indicated)

    Regulatory capital to risk-weighted assets

    20.3

    21.7

    21.2

    …

    …

    …

    …

    …

    …

    Nonperforming loans to total gross loans

    3.3

    2.2

    2.1

    …

    …

    …

    …

    …

    …

    Credit to nonfinancial private sector

    Level (percent of GDP)

    116.4

    101.3

    94.5

    …

    …

    …

    …

    …

    …

    Corporates

    61.8

    55.1

    51.1

    …

    …

    …

    …

    …

    …

    Households

    54.6

    46.2

    43.4

    …

    …

    …

    …

    …

    …

    Growth (nominal)

    -1.7

    -5.2

    -2.0

    …

    …

    …

    …

    …

    …

    Corporates

    2.6

    -2.8

    -2.5

    …

    …

    …

    …

    …

    …

    Households

    -6.1

    -7.8

    -1.3

    …

    …

    …

    …

    …

    …

    Credit to public sector

    Level (percent of GDP)

    2.2

    1.8

    1.5

    …

    …

    …

    …

    …

    …

    Growth (nominal)

    -8.4

    -10.0

    -13.0

    …

    …

    …

    …

    …

    …

    Memorandum items

    Exchange rate (€/USD, period average) 6/

    0.95

    0.92

    0.92

    0.97

    0.97

    0.97

    0.97

    0.97

    0.97

    Nominal GDP (millions of euros)

    3,210

    3,501

    3,676

    3,811

    3,942

    4,070

    4,202

    4,338

    4,478

    Sources: Andorran authorities, Eurostat, and IMF staff calculations.

    1/ The contribution of private investment is derived as a residual and includes investments of state-owned enterprises.

    2/ The increase of gross international reserves in 2022 is due to €100 million deposited at the Bank of Spain, €40 million at the Banque de France, and €60 million at the Nederlandsche Bank as gross international reserves. In 2024, additional €60 million reserves were accounted, mainly deposited at the Bank of Spain.

    3/ The general government comprises the central government, local governments, and the social security fund.

    4/ The central government comprises Govern d’Andorra, as well as nonmarket, nonprofit institutional units.

    5/ 2024 data corresponds to 2024Q3.

    6/ The table reports the exchange rate €/USD because Andorra is a euroized economy.
    IMF Communications Department
    MEDIA RELATIONS

    PRESS OFFICER: Camila Perez

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

    https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2025/02/11/andorra-cs-2025

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