Worldsec Ld - Half-year Report
RNS Number : 7811N
Worldsec Ld
26 September 2019
WORLDSEC LIMITED
Interim Report for the six months ended 30 June 2019
Worldsec Limited
Interim Report for the six months ended 30 June 2019
The board (the "Board") of directors of Worldsec Limited (the "Company") hereby submits the interim report on the Company and its subsidiaries (collectively the "Group") for the six months ended 30 June 2019 (the "Interim Report").
For the period under review, the Group recorded a net loss of US$220,000 (equivalent to a loss per share of 0.26 US cent) against a net loss of US$558,000 (equivalent to a loss per share of 0.79 US cent) for the corresponding six months in 2018. The decrease in the loss was principally due to a decline in the negative change in the fair value of financial assets that was recognised through the profit and loss account under International Financial Reporting Standard 9 ("IFRS 9").
During the period under review, the investment portfolio of the Group comprised six investments:
ICBC Specialised Ship Leasing Investment Fund (the "ICBC Ship Fund") - The Group's investment in the ICBC Ship Fund, which is involved in marine vessel leasing, continued to provide a stable return generating monthly dividends that amounted to a total of US$48,000 during the six months ended 30 June 2019.
Offshore term loan issued by a subsidiary of Guangzhou R&F Properties Co., Ltd (the "R&F Term Loan") - Guangzhou R&F Properties Co., Ltd. is a Chinese property company listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. As previously mentioned in the Company's 2018 Annual Report, of the US$1 million invested by the Group in the R&F Term Loan, 15% was repaid in October 2018. The remaining 85% of the outstanding amount, which was due for repayment on 15 October 2019 but was redeemed on 2 August 2019 under an early redemption clause, generated interest income totaling US$36,000 during the six months ended 30 June 2019.
Agrios Global Holdings Ltd. ("Agrios") - Agrios, an investee company of the Group listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange, is the holding company of a data analytics driven agriculture technology group that leases and manages property and equipment for eco-sustainable agronomy and provides advisory services for aeroponic cultivation to the cannabis industry. As the Agrios group was at an early stage of development, it incurred a net loss of US$4.6 million for the year ended 31 March 2019 and a material uncertainty related to going concern opinion was issued by the independent auditor of Agrios. Nonetheless, the Agrois group has been generating from a client in the Washington State of the U.S. quarterly rental, product and service fees in the region or in excess of US1 million over the past several quarters. Furthermore, Agrios has, through various convertible instruments with a conversion price of between C$0.37 and C$0.50 per share, arranged a credit facility of up to C$8.6 million and raised a total of C$2.3 million (including C$1.3 million under the credit facility) to fund its operations. Meanwhile, the 65%-owned joint venture of the Agrios group, Yunnan Hua Ma Biological Development Co. Ltd., has successfully obtained an industrial hemp cultivation permit, an import & export permit and a food trading permit in the Yunnan Province in China and the first crop of hemp is expected to be harvested for biotechnology research in October 2019.
ayondo Ltd. ("Ayondo") - Ayondo, an investee company of the Group listed on the Catalist of the Singapore Exchange, is the holding company of a financial technology group that focuses on social trading activity. Faced with financial difficulty, the Ayondo group proceeded with the restructuring as previously announced. It completed on 5 June 2019 the disposal of ayondo Markets Limited, a subsidiary with a brokerage business regulated in the U.K., to one of its white label partners. This has significantly reduced the liabilities, cost base and regulatory capital requirements of the Ayondo group. Furthermore, as part of its restructuring initiatives and to meet its financial needs, the Ayondo group is also in the process of carrying out a fundraising exercise. It has entered into a number of conditional agreements involving the issue of three separate convertible notes (the "Ayondo Convertible Notes") worth up to a total of S$9.9 million with a conversion price of S$0.007 per share to Golden Nugget Jinzhuan Limited ("Golden Nugget") and a Golden Nugget shareholder. Golden Nugget, a strategic alliance partner of the Ayondo group, operates a social investing platform via a network of social media influencers and key opinion leaders and has a user base of more than 3.5 million registered users. Following the disposal of ayondo Markets Limited and upon the implementation of the fundraising plan, the Ayondo group intends to focus on developing social trading activity primarily in Asia through leveraging on its social trading technology and intellectual property and in collaboration with its Asian based business partners. Trading in the shares of Ayondo remains suspended and the pre-suspension closing price of the Ayondo shares on 29 January 2019 was S$0.048. Should the issue of the Ayondo Convertible Notes, which is subject to, inter alia, the approval of Ayondo shareholders, proceed to completion with a conversion price of S$0.007 per share, further downward adjustment to the fair value of the Group's investment in Ayondo may have to be made in due course.
Velocity Mobile Limited ("Velocity") - Velocity, an unlisted investee company of the Group, is the holding company of a technology group that provides real-time lifestyle mobile applications for premium consumers focusing in the areas of dining, travel, experiences and luxury goods. Following the launch of Velocity for Business, a white-label product designed for enterprise customers, the financial performance of the Velocity group continued to improve. It has secured three corporate clients, including a world-renowned automobile manufacturer, which have been generating revenue on the Velocity for Business platform. In addition, multiple corporate contracts that are expected to bring in tens of thousands of new users are also in the pipeline. To cater for the expected growth, the Velocity group has invested technology and human resources to upgrade its infrastructure and has established a developer team to develop artificial intelligence-based technology.
Oasis Education Group Limited ("Oasis Group") - Oasis Group is a 50% joint venture of the Group. The operating subsidiary of Oasis Group, Oasis Education Consulting (Shenzhen) Company Limited (奧偉詩教育諮詢(深圳)有限公司, "Oasis Shenzhen"), continued to record steady performance. Under the consulting and support services provided by Oasis Shenzhen, the Huizhou Kindergarten, which is located in the Guangdong Province in China, graduated 78 pupils in the summer of 2019. With a steady track record, the Huizhou Kindergarten aims to further raise its pupil enrolment. This could help improve the scale of operations of the Huizhou Kindergarten although any such improvement is unlikely to have a material impact on the financial performance of Oasis Group in the near term.
Subsequent to 30 June 2019, the Group added one new investment to its investment portfolio:
Beijing ByteDance Technology Co. Ltd. ("ByteDance") - In July 2019, shortly prior to receiving the repayment of US$850,000 from the early redemption of the R&F Term Loan as mentioned above, the Group invested US$1 million in the Unicorn Equity Investment Portfolio Class D Shares of the Homaer Asset Management Master Fund SPC, the sole investment of which is an equity interest in ByteDance. Headquartered in Beijing, China, ByteDance is a technology group operating machine learning-enabled content platforms across cultures and geographies. It has a portfolio of mobile applications that is available in over 150 markets and 75 languages and that includes Toutiao, Helo, TikTok, Douyin, News Republic, Vigo Video, Huoshan, Xigua Video, TopBuzz, BuzzVideo and FaceU. As of July 2019, Bytedance had daily active users exceeding 700 million and monthly active users of more than 1.5 billion around the world.
Looking forward, the Group's investment in the ICBC Ship Fund will continue to generate a stable stream of recurring income at a favourable yield under the persistently low interest rate environment. On the other hand, as most of the Group's investee companies remain at an early development phase, they are not expected in the foreseeable future to provide any meaningful contribution to the results of the Group, except for any positive or negative fair value change that may be recognised under IFRS 9. Likewise, Oasis Group is also unlikely to have any meaningful impact on the Group's bottom-line in the near term. The uncertain outcome of Britain's exit from the European Union ("Brexit"), in the meantime, should not directly affect the investing activity of the Group, which focuses mainly on investing in the Greater China and South East Asian region; but on a broader perspective, the additional threat associated with the pervasive uncertainty surrounding Brexit, on top of a slowing world economy that has been disrupted and hampered by the drawn-out trade war between the U.S. and China, would further complicate the investment climate and pose increased challenges for the investment community at large.
By order of the Board
Alastair GUNN-FORBES
Non-Executive Chairman
26 September 2019
PRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES
The Group is exposed to a number of principal risks and uncertainties that could materially and adversely affect its performance for the remaining six months of the year ending 31 December 2019 and beyond. Such risks and uncertainties, the directors believe, remain basically unchanged from those, including, in particular, target market risk, operational risks and financial risks, set out on pages 9 and 10 of the Company's 2018 Annual Report.
RESPONSIBILITY STATEMENT
The Board, comprising Alastair GUNN-FORBES, Henry Ying Chew CHEONG, Ernest Chiu Shun SHE, Mark Chung FONG, Martyn Stuart WELLS and Stephen Lister d'Anyers Willis, confirms to the best of its knowledge and understanding that:
(a) the unaudited consolidated financial statements of the Group for the six months ended 30 June 2019 have been prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standard 34 and give a true and fair view of its assets, liabilities and financial position at that date and its net loss for the period then ended; and
(b) the Interim Report includes a fair review of the information, such as important events and related party transaction that took place during the six months ended 30 June 2019, that is required by Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules 4.2.7R and 4.2.8R.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF PROFIT OR LOSS AND OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2019
| Unaudited | ||||
| Six months ended | ||||
| Notes | 30.6.2019 | 30.6.2018 | ||
| US$'000 | US$'000 | |||
| Revenue | 4 | 84 | 48 | |
| Other income and losses | 5 | (25) | (351) | |
| Staff costs | 7 | (140) | (127) | |
| Other expenses | (131) | (123) | ||
| Finance costs | 8 | (3) | - | |
| Share of losses of a joint venture | (5) ) ) | (5) | ||
| Loss before income tax expense | (220) | (558) | ||
| Income tax expense | 9 | - | - | |
| Loss for the period | (220) | (558) | ||
| Other comprehensive income, net of income tax | ||||
| Exchange differences on translating foreign operations | - | - | ||
| Other comprehensive loss for the period, | ||||
| net of income tax | - | - | ||
| Total comprehensive loss for the period | (220) | (558) | ||
| Loss for the period attributable to: | ||||
| Owners of the Company | (220) | (558) | ||
| Total comprehensive loss for the period attributable to: | ||||
| Owners of the Company | (220) | (558) | ||
| Loss per share- basic and diluted | 10 | US(0.26) cent | US(0.79)cent | |
| Unaudited | Audited | |||
| As at | As at | |||
| Notes | 30.6.2019 | 31.12.2018 | ||
| US$'000 | US$'000 | |||
| Non-current assets | ||||
| Property, plant and equipment | - | - | ||
| Right-of-use assets | 97 | - | ||
| Interest in a joint venture | 101 | 106 | ||
| Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss | 1,623 | 1,649 | ||
| 1,821 | 1,755 | |||
| Current assets | ||||
| Other receivables | 8 | 8 | ||
| Deposits and prepayments | 29 | 30 | ||
| Other financial assets at amortised cost Amount due from a joint venture | 850 257 | 850 257 | ||
| Cash and cashequivalents | 2,348 | 2,607 | ||
| 3,492 | 3,752 | |||
| Current liabilities | ||||
| Other payables and accruals Lease liabilities | 52 79 | 138 - | ||
| 131 | 138 | |||
| Net current assets | 3,361 | 3,614 | ||
| Non-current liabilities | ||||
| Lease liabilities | 20 | - | ||
| Net assets | 5,162 | 5,369 | ||
| Capital and reserves | ||||
| Share capital | 11 | 85 | 85 | |
| Reserves | 5,077 | 5,284 | ||
| Total equity | 5,162 | 5,369 | ||
| Foreign | |||||||||||||||
| Contri- | Share | currency | Accumu- | ||||||||||||
| Share | Share | buted | option | translation | Special | lated | |||||||||
| capital | premium | surplus | reserve | reserve | reserve | losses | Total | ||||||||
| US$'000 | US$'000 | US$'000 | US$'000 | US$'000 | US$'000 | US$'000 | US$'000 | ||||||||
| Balance as at 1 January 2018 | 57 | 3,837 | 9,646 | 206 | (11) | 625 | (11,708) | 2,652 | |||||||
| Loss and total comprehensive loss for the period | - | - | - | - | - | - | (558) | (558) | |||||||
| Issue of new shares by way of open offer | 28 | 4,227 | - | - | - | - | - | 4,255 | |||||||
| Transaction costs attributable to issue of new shares | - | (540) | - | - | - | - | - | (540) | |||||||
| Balance as at 30 June 2018 (Unaudited) | 85 | 7,524 | 9,646 | 206 | (11) | 625 | (12,266) | 5,809 |
| Balance as at 1 January 2019 | 85 | 7,524 | 9,646 | 206 | (30) | 625 | (12,687) | 5,369 | |||||||
| Loss and total comprehensive loss for the period | (220) | (220) | |||||||||||||
| Recognition of share-based payments | - | - | - | 13 | - | - | - | 13 | |||||||
| Balance as at 30 June 2019 (Unaudited) | 85 | 7,524 | 9,646 | 219 | (30) | 625 | (12,907) | 5,162 | |||||||
| Unaudited | |||
| Six months ended | |||
| 30.6.2019 | 30.6.2018 | ||
| US$'000 | US$'000 | ||
| Cash flow from operating activities | |||
| Lossfor the period | (220) | (588) | |
| Adjustments for: Bank interest income Depreciation of right-of-use assets Share-based payment expenses | (1) 39 13 | - - - | |
| Interest expense | 3 | - | |
| Share of losses of a joint venture Change in fair value of financial assets at fair value through profit or loss | 5 26 | 5 351 | |
| Operating loss before working capital changes | (135) | (202) | |
| Decrease in deposits and prepayments Decrease in otherpayablesand accruals | 1 (86) | 1 (110) | |
| Net cash used in operating activities | (220) | (311) | |
| Cash flow frominvestingactivities | |||
| Purchase of financial assets at fair value through profit or loss | - | (249) | |
| Investment in other financial assets at amortised cost | - | (1,000) | |
| Bank interest income received | 1 | - | |
| Net cash from/(used in) investing activities | 1 | (1,249) | |
| Cash flow fromfinancingactivities | |||
| Proceeds from issue of new shares Payment for share issue costs | - - | 4,255 (334) | |
| Repayment of principal portion of lease liabilities | (37) | - | |
| Interest paid | (3) | - | |
| Net cash (used in)/from financing activities | (40) | 3,921 | |
| Net(decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents | (259) | 2,361 | |
| Cash and cash equivalents at beginningoftheperiod | 2,607 | 260 | |
| Effects of exchange rate changes | - | - | |
| Cash and cash equivalentsat endoftheperiod | |||
| Cash and bank balances | 2,348 | 2,621 | |
| Annual improvements to IFRSs 2015-2017 Cycle Annual improvements to IFRSs 2015-2017 Cycle | Amendments to IFRS 3, Business Combinations Amendments to IAS 12, Income Taxes |
| Annual improvements to IFRSs 2015-2017 Cycle | Amendments to IAS 23, Borrowing Costs |
| IFRS 16 Amendments to IAS 19 Amendments to IAS 28 Amendments to IFRS 9 IFRIC 23 | Leases Plan Amendment, Curtailment or Settlement Long-term Interests in Associates and Joint Ventures Prepayment Features with Negative Compensation Uncertainty over Income Tax Treatments |
| Consolidated statement of financial position as at 1 January 2019 | US$'000 |
| Right-of-use assets | 137 |
| Lease liabilities (non-current) | 60 |
| Lease liabilities (current) | 77 |
| Unaudited | |||
| Six months ended | |||
| 30.6.2019 | 30.6.2018 | ||
| US$'000 | US$'000 | ||
| Dividend income from financial assets at fair value through profit or loss | 48 | 48 | |
| Interest income from other financial assets at amortised cost | 36 | - | |
| 84 | 48 | ||
| Unaudited | |||
| Six months ended | |||
| 30.6.2019 | 30.6.2018 | ||
| US$'000 | US$'000 | ||
| Bank interest income | 1 | - | |
| Change in fair value of financial assets at fair value through profit or loss | (26) | (351) | |
| (25) | (351) | ||
| The aggregate staff costs (including directors' remuneration) of the Group were as follows: | |||
| Unaudited | |||
| Six months ended | |||
| 30.6.2019 | 30.6.2018 | ||
| US$'000 | US$'000 | ||
| Wage and salaries | 124 | 124 | |
| Contribution to pension and provident fund Share-based payments (note 13) | 3 13 | 3 - | |
| 140 | 127 | ||
| Key management personnel of the Company are the directors only. | |||
| The directors' remuneration was as follows: | |||
| Unaudited | |||
| Six months ended | |||
| 30.6.2019 | 30.6.2018 | ||
| US$'000 | US$'000 | ||
| Directors' fees Share-based payments (note 13) | 33 11 | 33 - | |
| Other remuneration including contribution to pension and provident fund | - | - | |
| 44 | 33 | ||
| Unaudited | |||
| Six months ended | |||
| 30.6.2019 | 30.6.2018 | ||
| US$'000 | US$'000 | ||
| Interest on lease liabilities | 3 | - | |
| The loss and weighted average number of ordinary shares used in the calculation of basic and diluted loss per share were as follows. | |||
| Unaudited | |||
| Six months ended | |||
| 30.6.2019 | 30.6.2018 | ||
| US$'000 | US$'000 | ||
| Loss for the period attributable to owners of the Company | (220) | (558) | |
| Weighted average number of ordinary shares for the purposes of basic and diluted loss per share | 85,101,870 | 70,526,411 | |
| Loss per share - basic and diluted | US(0.26) cent | US(0.79) cent | |
| Number of | Total value | ||
| shares | US$'000 | ||
| Authorised: | |||
| Ordinary shares of US$0.001 each | |||
| At 1 January 2018, 31 December 2018, 1 January 2019 and 30 June 2019 | 60,000,000,000 | 60,000 | |
| Unaudited | Audited | ||
| As at | As at | ||
| Called up, issued and fully paid: | 30.6.2019 US$ | 31.12.18 US$ | |
| 85,101,870 (2018: 85,101,870) ordinary shares of US$0.001 each | 85,102 | 85,102 | |
| Number of | Total value | ||
| shares | US$ | ||
| At 1 January 2018 | 56,734,580 | 56,735 | |
| Issue of new shares by way of open offer (note) | 28,367,290 | 28,367 | |
| At 31 December 2018, and 1 January 2019 and 30 June 2019 | 85,101,870 | 85,102 | |
| Number of options | |||||||||
| Grantee | Exercisable period | Balance at 1 January 2019 | Granted during the period | Exercised during the period | Forfeited during the period | Lapsed during the period | Balance at 30 June 2019 | Exercise price per share (US$) | |
| Directors | 29 November 2019 to 28 May 2029 | - | 1,750,000 | - | - | - | 1,750,000 | 0.034 | |
| 1 June 2016 to 30 November 2025 | 2,500,000 | - | - | - | - | 2,500,000 | 0.122 | ||
| Employees | 29 November 2019 to 28 May 2029 | - | 300,000 | - | - | - | 300,000 | 0.034 | |
| 1 June 2016 to 30 November 2025 | 450,000 | - | - | - | - | 450,000 | 0.122 | ||
| 2,950,000 | 2,050,000 | - | - | - | 5,000,000 | ||||