News Release – August 28 2019

(Hong Kong, 28 August 2019) – Automated Systems Holdings Limited (“ASL” or “the Group”) (HKEX stock code: 771), a trustworthy and professional global information technology (“IT”) partner, announced its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2019 (the “Review Period”). During the Review Period, total revenue of the Group was HK$1,353.0 million, representing a 20.8% increase from the corresponding period last year; Gross profit was HK$270.7 million, an increase of HK$38.5 million or 16.6% compared with the same period last year. The increase in gross profit of the Group was attributed to the growth in overseas business and continuous enhancement of operational efficiency of local core businesses.

During the period under review, profit of the Group’s core business grew steadily, with a total net profit of HK$43.6 million. In light of the rapid development of Cloud Computing, Big Data, and artificial intelligence (“AI”), the Group continues to increase investment in its US subsidiary, Grid Dynamics International, Inc. (“Grid Dynamics”) for research and development, the transformation of commercial application capabilities, as well as the cross-sector and cross-border business expansion, so as to enlarge the Group’s business in the United States. Besides, the Group has also launched a new equity incentive plan for Grid Dynamics, to encourage its employees in striving to enhance the value of Grid Dynamics and to maintain its momentum of sustainable development. The business in United States recorded a significant growth during the Review Period, reflecting that the aforementioned measures deemed suitable and further strengthening the Group’s support in different regions and global delivery capabilities.

In the Review Period, the basic earnings per share and the diluted earnings per share attributable to equity holders of the Company were 5.14 HK cents and 4.42 HK cents respectively (2018 Interim: 6.40 HK cents and 5.31 HK cents).

The Group maintained a healthy financial position during the Review Period. As at 30 June 2019, the Group’s net cash stood at approximately HK$504.9 million with a working capital ratio of 1.14:1; the outstanding borrowings amounted to HK$477.3 million. During the period under review, orders newly secured by the Group amounted to approximately HK$1,367.5 million. As at 30 June 2019, the Group’s order book balance was approximately HK$1,119.5 million.

As compared with the corresponding period last year, service revenue was increased by 19.3% to HK$851.3 million, and product sales was increased by 23.4% to HK$501.7 million. In addition, product sales and service revenue contributed 37.1% and 62.9% to total revenue respectively (2018 Interim: 36.3% and 63.7%); while commercial and public sector sales contributed 64.0% and 36.0% to total revenue respectively (2018 Interim: 62.7% and 37.3%).

The Group’s local and overseas core businesses achieved satisfactory growth in the first half of 2019. The Group’s core businesses in Hong Kong, Macau, and Asia Pacific grew steadily with its revenue recorded an increase of 16.4% when compared to the corresponding period last year, and the gross profit margin was continuously improving, reflecting the fruitful results from the Group’s ongoing implementation of technological upgrade and service transformation. During the Review Period, the Group’s new technology business has expanded rapidly, creating new growth for business and bringing forth significant contributions to revenue and profits.

With respect to the Innovative Solutions business, the overall orders newly secured recorded a remarkable double-digit growth, which accounted for over 50% of the overall orders newly secured of the Group. During the Review Period, the Group captured its first big data project in Asia by cooperating with a global IT vendor in the retail sector, and successfully obtained large-scale Cloud-related landmark projects from two government departments. In addition, the Group actively promoted the new charging model – Software as a Service (SaaS), and successfully migrated the self-developed software product to a Cloud platform. The Group has collaborated with Alibaba Cloud, the digital transformation expert, since May of this year to launch new services to the market.

With respect to the Intelligent Cyber security business, the Group has obtained orders newly secured with its growth doubled when compared to the corresponding period last year and recorded a double-digit proportion of the overall orders newly secured of the Group. The Group introduced AI and Cloud security solutions and leveraged its advanced 7×24 Security Operation Center Plus (SOC+), thereby obtaining a security managed service project and an SOC+ order. In addition, the Group also launched the A-Tips, an ASL Threat Intelligence Platform to provide customers with better security services.

With respect to the Integrated Managed Services business, this business segment recorded an approximately double-digit growth in its orders newly secured, and accounted for over 30% of the overall orders newly secured of the Group. The Group received an order from an existing real estate services organization for the provision of quality IT support services in Hong Kong and in its Mainland China offices. Besides, the Group has been engaging as a services provider of personal computer support and related services under a 5-year contract for a statutory body, as well as has been obtained a tendering qualification of the long-term large-scale projects from a government organization.

In terms of overseas business, Grid Dynamics showed a robust growth during the Review Period, its revenue and gross profit recorded a remarkable increase of 31.7% and 28.2% respectively when compared to last year. An overall increase of over 50% of orders newly secured led to a significant increase in the overall revenue.

During the first half of 2019, the Group launched the “ASL Solution Tour”, serving as an annual key promotion event of the Group. Through this tour, the Group publicized the message of “Hong Kong Powerhouse, Global Delivery” to promote its one-stop, diversified and innovative IT services and solutions. The tour has achieved an unprecedented success.

Looking forward, the Group expects that the trends of digital transformation, Cloud Computing, Internet of Things and 5G will continue to stimulate strong demand for new technologies. There is thus an increased demand of customers for engaging IT companies that possess IT capabilities in various fields. It is believed that these are enormous potentials for the Group’s development, especially when further expanding its new technology business and facilitating the Group for upgrading and transformation. Meanwhile, the Group plans to invest resources worth tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars in the coming years on the enhancement of service platforms in omni-channel and Cloud services, aiming to increase its potential for sustainable development and to deepen the cooperation with its customers. The relevant plans are underway and are advancing actively. In addition, for overseas business, the Group will continue to inject both internal resources and external investments to facilitate Grid Dynamics in its research and development of cutting-edge technology in areas including AI and machine learning, the transformation of commercial application capabilities, as well as the cross-sector and cross-border expansion of its business.

Lastly, we will adhere to the principle of being proactively cautious, seeking suitable investment opportunities and broadening our market presence. We will persevere and strive to create values for our investors.

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* Please refer to 2019 Interim results announcement published on 27 Aug 2019 for more details.

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News Release – April 11 2019

(Hong Kong, 11 April 2019) – Automated Systems Holdings Limited (“ASL” or “the Group”) (stock code: 771), a trustworthy and professional global information technology (IT) partner, announces today the launch of the first “ASL Solution Tour”, an annual flagship event of the Group, which will be comprehensively introducing the Group’s solutions by regions, businesses or focused technologies. Through this tour, the Group will be promoting the message of “Hong Kong Powerhouse l Global Delivery” to enhance its international brand image, and also promoting its one-stop, diversified and innovative IT services and solutions which assist customers in the process of frontend-to-backend digital transformation. The first stop of the “Macau Forum” held on 11 April in Macau enjoyed an unprecedented success.

The theme of “ASL Solution Tour 2019” is “Leading to Success with Innovation”, and the first stop of this tour was Macau, which will be followed by Taiwan and with Hong Kong as its last stop. It is expected that approximately 600 customers, partners and industry professionals from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan and approximately 50 leading IT providers are brought together in the whole tour to assist customers from different industries in using innovative technologies such as cloud computing, big data, network security, artificial intelligence and Internet of Things, leading them to the path of success.

“ASL Solution Tour 2019 l Macau” was held on 11 April at the Macau Tower, signifying the perfect beginning of the whole tour. As the organizer, ASL, has received strong support from its strategic partner Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing and data intelligence arm of Alibaba Group, and both joined hands to organise this significant event in the industry. The theme and technical focus of the Macau forum was “Leading to Success with Innovation – Cloud and Security”. As a renowned one-stop systems integrator and IT services provider in Macau, and with its strengths of having over 20 years of experience in the industry and a comprehensive delivery network, ASL, apart from partnering with Alibaba Cloud, also invited 6 other IT providers (comprised of leading innovative technology providers of network security and artificial intelligence, including Darktrace, Fortinet, Intsights, McAfee, Sangfor and Megvii) to take part in the event, which attracted senior executives from various industries to attend. Through 9 sharing sessions, technology panel and booth showcases, the event facilitated the discussion of measures to ensure network data security in different cloud computing environments. ASL not only will take an initiative to propel the development of Macau into a Smart City, but also will strive to provide one-stop IT services to corporate customers.

“ASL Solution Tour 2019 l Taiwan” will be held on 18 April at Taipei Marriott Hotel afterwards. Information permeates the world in this digital era. Huge amount of information is generated every day, and many enterprises have been utilizing leading technologies such as data analysis, data science and artificial intelligence to considerably enhance product experience of customers. In view of this, the theme and technical focus of the Taiwan forum will be “Leading to Success with Innovation – Data Transformation”. Apart from sharing the key technologies and development trends of Digital Transformation with the technology experts from Alibaba Cloud, Hitachi Vantara, Micro Focus, MongoDB, TmaxSoft, AgilePoint, Veritas and YITU in the forum, there will also be a “VIP Executive Dinner” to put collaborative efforts in developing a blueprint and strategies for digital enterprises with customers and leading professionals in the industry so as to reinforce the digital transformation of enterprises. Please stay tuned about the latest update of the event.

“ASL Solution Tour 2019 l Hong Kong” will be held on 28 June at JW Marriott in Admiralty, Hong Kong, and the theme and technical focus of the Hong Kong forum will be “Leading to Success with Innovation – Go Smart”. The event program is varied, as it will provide more booths, sessions and arrange technology panel as well as executive luncheon. The event will also gather more local and global leading IT providers to share about the latest Smart Technology and hence guiding enterprises into the digital era. Please stay tuned for the latest update of the event.

“ASL Solution Tour 2019” provides both public and private organisations with practical insights and solutions towards the implementation of digital transformation. As in the past, the Group will continue to leverage its strengths and collaborate with more renowned providers with leading-edge technologies or those who are leaders in the industry, in order to provide one-stop, international-standard and diversified IT solutions and services to global customers and to assist more customers in the process of frontend-to-backend digital transformation. In the future, the Group will continue to strive to bring its three main core values – “EMPOWER”, “SECURE” and “MANAGE” to customers, and to foster its leading position as the “trustworthy and professional global IT partner”.

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News Release – March 20 2019

(Hong Kong, 20 March 2019) – Automated Systems Holdings Limited (“ASL” or “the Group”) (stock code: 771), a trustworthy and professional global information technology (“IT”) partner, announced its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2018 (the “Review Year”). During the Review Year, total revenue of the Group was HK$2,344.5 million, representing a 22.3% increase from last year. The increase in revenue was mainly because (i) the group restructured the focus on the three major IT businesses, which leads the business in Hong Kong, Macau and Asia Pacific recorded a 7.9% growth; and (ii) whole year result of Grid Dynamics International, Inc. (“Grid Dynamics”, a subsidiary of the Group in the United States (“US”)) was consolidated, compared to last year, merely result for the period from 7 April 2017 to 31 December 2017 was consolidated.

The Group’s profit attributable to equity holders was HK$84.3 million, a rise of 60.4% compared to last year of HK$52.6 million. Basic earnings per share increased to 10.48 HK cents, an increase of 39.9% compared to last year. (2017: 7.49 HK cents).

Gross profit for the year ended 31 December 2018 was HK$492.6 million, an increase of HK$148.5 million or 43.1% compared with last year. Gross profit margin for the year also increased from 17.9% to 21.0%.

The Group maintained a healthy financial position. As at 31 December 2018, the Group’s cash stood at approximately HK$292.2 million with a working capital ratio of 1.32:1 and the outstanding borrowings amounted to HK$481.7 million. During the year under review, orders newly secured by the Group amounted to approximately HK$2,376.3 million, an increase of 20.2% from HK$1,976.5 million of last year. As at 31 December 2018, the order book balance was approximately HK$1,128.2 million.

Product sales were increased by 10.1% to HK$818.6 million while service revenue was increased by 30.0% to HK$1,525.8 million. Product sales and service revenue contributed 34.9% and 65.1% to total revenue respectively. Commercial and public sector sales contributed 62.7% and 37.3% to total revenue respectively (2017: 59.1% and 40.9%).

During the year, the Group focused on customer centricity, the optimization of business structure and the reduction of reliance on traditional reseller business as well as placed emphasis on enhancing the capability of the service business, and these factors led to a growth of 30.0% in the revenue of the service business when compared to last year. During the year, the Group also focused on the demands of customers from various industries, and successfully deepened its market penetration within the industries by dint of accumulated professional knowledge and experience, among which the banking and finance industry contributed enormously to the commercial sector sales during the year.

During the year, in order to meet the market needs of digital transformation, the Group reformed its business strategies and focused on three major businesses: leading-edge Innovative Solutions, Intelligent Cybersecurity Services and the next-generation one-stop IT Integrated Managed Services. These three businesses grew steadily during the year.

In respect of the leading-edge Innovative Solutions, it achieved strong performance during the year. Overall orders from this business segment recorded a significant double-digit growth, which included orders obtained from Hong Kong, Macau, Asia Pacific as well as Grid Dynamics, and this business segment accounted for over 50% of the overall orders of the Group. The Group was committed to customer centricity, and it strived to and succeeded in offering tailor-made solutions suitable for the government and the industries which the Group focused on as well as assisting them in the process of frontend-to-backend digital transformation during the year. One of the landmark projects included a new-type infrastructure received from the government in providing assistance to its construction of Smart City and being responsible for the management and implementation of a data platform for the Smart Lampposts. In addition, the Group continued to leverage its strengths in areas such as DevOps, agile software development methodologies, automated testing and Offshore Delivery Excellence Center and took advantage of its leading technologies including artificial intelligence and big data, and through which it obtained numerous orders, among which included winning the award of projects regarding big data consultancy services and application development on customer service enhancement from a private medical institution and a well-known local airline respectively. Moreover, the Group also introduced various innovative technologies (such as face recognition) and successfully extended such services into the Macau market, and were well received by the local customers.

In respect of the Intelligent Cybersecurity Services, orders newly received remained stable, which accounted for approximately double-digit of the overall orders newly secured of the Group. Such business achieved satisfactory performance, partly due to the fact that benefiting from the more stringent or new cybersecurity regulations in the banking industry (such as the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s “Cyber Resilience Assessment Framework” (C-RAF) and the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT)’s Customer Security Programme (CSP)) during the year, the Group obtained numerous security projects from several financial institutions, which led to an increase of the Group’s penetration rate in the financial industry. Moreover, the Group also put its extensive systems integration knowledge acquired from various Cloud platforms and suppliers to good account, by which it successfully assisted a renowned multinational enterprise in transferring the IT infrastructure from its headquarters in Hong Kong to Cloud platform, ensuring the security of its data on different Cloud platforms. By virtue of the Group’s outstanding data security solutions and managed security services, according to the IDC Asia/Pacific Semiannual Services Tracker, 2H 2017, the Group was ranked as one of the top three security service providers in Hong Kong, with it having a leading position in the realm of cybersecurity.

In respect of the next-generation one-stop IT Integrated Managed Services, it achieved considerable progress during the year, which recorded an approximately double-digit growth, and accounted for nearly 40% of the overall orders of the Group. Apart from continually achieving positive results in the IT support service business, the Group also secured long-term one-stop managed service orders in various industries with its extensive experience in the IT industry. By further successfully strengthening the cooperation with its customer in the traditional IT support services, the Group was able to offer comprehensive daily operational support services to an existing customer from the public sector. It is noteworthy that, the Group achieved a breakthrough in its managed service business, successfully expanded into the insurance industry and wherein received long-term IT managed service orders, hence allowing more room for development in this business segment.

In view of the increasing use of Cloud and digital transformation by enterprises, ASL closely cooperated with the world’s leading digital transformation expert Alibaba Cloud, and reached a strategic cooperation agreement in the first half of 2018. Such scope of cooperation included Cloud security solutions and sales and marketing, with an aim to further develop the Cloud market in Hong Kong and Macau. These services have been gradually recognized by customers, and the Group has successfully obtained its first order from the finance industry.

As for the overseas business, Grid Dynamics recorded robust growth during the year. Its revenue and gross profit recorded remarkable increases of 75.0% and 68.4% respectively when compared to last year from the date of acquisition. The revenue derived from existing customers grew progressively, among which the business scale reached ten million US dollars within customers from renowned multinational technology corporations. Meanwhile, during the year, the Group also adopted the new equity incentive plan of Grid Dynamics so as to encourage its employees to strive to enhance the value of Grid Dynamics and to maintain its momentum of sustainable development. In order to further cope with the business expansions, Grid Dynamics opened its 6th research and development center in Serbia and set up a new office in Texas, the US during the year, so as to further strengthen the Group’s support in different regions and its global delivery capabilities to meet different customer needs in various regions.

In the era of Cloud Computing, our provision of safe and reliable Cloud services in the above three major business in order to assist customers in optimizing its existing IT resources, enhancing the efficiency and performance of its IT systems, expanding its IT capability and technological innovation, as well as devising and exploring more effective business models and business opportunities, will undoubtedly be our focus in the next phase of development.

The Group has always been aware of the different needs of its customers, hence it kept adding its own infrastructure to attain service improvement. Subsequent to the introduction of artificial intelligence at the Security Operation Center Plus (SOC+) in 2018 to enhance the capability of customer network protection, the Group is planning to invest resources worth tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars in the coming years on the enhancement of service platforms in omni-channel and Cloud services, aiming to gain potential for sustainable development and to deepen the cooperation with its customers. Moreover, in respect of overseas business, the Group decided to inject a total of more than HK$50 million in 2018 and 2019 to facilitate Grid Dynamics in the research and development of leading-edge technology in areas of artificial intelligence and machine learning, the transformation of commercial application capabilities, as well as the cross-sector cross-border expansion of its business territory.

In terms of risks and challenges, as the Group expects that Cloud platforms and Cloud services will be more widely used by enterprises around the world, it anticipates that this will intensify the downward pressure on the Group’s traditional reseller business, and especially under the impact of the general economic environment, the Group foresees that the increase of its overall business pressure and risk will be more perceptible in the second half of 2019. In view of the above, the Group has developed a risk control system as a solution.

Moreover, the Group will continue to focus its business procedures, optimize and improve its structure and enhance its talent resources, with the aim to achieve breakthroughs in new businesses areas, new technical fields and new customers from various industries.

Looking forward, the Group believes that the Belt and Road and the development of the Greater Bay Area will help to facilitate the connections between Hong Kong and the mainland China, and the Group expects that such development will drive the future demand for IT. The Group will also leverage on its position as an IT service provider to promote mainland China’s advanced technology products to overseas market or to draw international clients into China’s market. The Group will continue to closely cooperate with strategic partners to consolidate its business locations in Greater China and Southeast Asia and to seize global opportunities to accelerate its process of globalization.

“EMPOWER”, “SECURE” and “MANAGE” are the three main core values being brought to customers by the Group. By dint of the Group’s seven research and development centers located worldwide, with over a thousand IT professionals and with over forty years of industry experience in providing professional IT services, we will continue to leverage our strengths to assist customers in their frontend-to-backend digital transformation as well as to strive to provide diversified, one-stop innovative IT solutions and services to customers from various industries.

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News Release – August 15 2018

(Hong Kong, 15 August 2018) – Automated Systems Holdings Limited (“ASL” or “the Group”) (HKEX stock code: 771), a trustworthy and professional global information technology (“IT”) partner, announced its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2018 (the “Review Period”). During the Review Period, total revenue of the Group was HK$1,120.1 million, representing a 20.2% increase from the corresponding period last year.

During the period under review, the Group recorded a profit attributable to the Company’s equity holders of HK$51.5 million, an increase of 185.3% compared to last period of HK$18.0 million. The significant increase was mainly resulted from (i) stable growth of core business in Hong Kong, Macau as well as Asia Pacific, (ii) the net profit of Grid Dynamics International, Inc. (“Grid Dynamics”) for the first six months of the year was consolidated into the interim financial statements of the Group, which is higher than that was consolidated for approximately three months for the corresponding period last year, meanwhile, the US Federal Corporate Income Tax Rate decreases, thus the Group’s core business in the Europe and the United States recorded growth; and (iii) absence of one-off professional fee incurred for acquisition compared to the corresponding period last year.

Gross profit for the six months ended 30 June 2018 was HK$232.3 million, an increase of HK$82.6 million or 55.2% compared with the same period last year. Gross profit margin for the period increased from 16.1% to 20.7%. The increase in gross profit and gross profit margin was mainly attributable to the gross profit contribution from Grid Dynamics. During the Review Period, basic earnings per share and diluted earnings per share were 6.40 HK cents and 5.31 HK cents respectively (2017 Interim (restated): 2.86 HK cents and 2.66 HK cents).

The Group maintained a healthy financial position during the Review Period. As at 30 June 2018, the Group’s cash stood at approximately HK$294.3 million with a working capital ratio of 1.24:1, the outstanding borrowings amounted to HK$487.4 million. During the Review Period, orders newly secured by the Group amounted to approximately HK$1,014.2 million. As at 30 June 2018, the order book balance was approximately HK$1,016.0 million.

As compared with the corresponding period last year, service revenue increased by 42.0% to HK$713.6 million while product sales decreased by 5.4% to HK$406.5 million, contributing 63.7% and 36.3% to total revenue respectively (2017 Interim: 53.9% and 46.1%). Commercial and public sector sales contributed 62.7% and 37.3% to total revenue respectively (2017 Interim: 52.3% and 47.7%).

The Group’s local and overseas core businesses in the first six months of 2018 grew steadily. In respect of the local public sector sales, the Group continued to derive benefit from the government’s policy of actively promoting innovation and making use of IT to improve public services. The Group maintains a steady growth in receiving government orders, not only acquiring new-type infrastructure orders, but also achieving an increase in orders for providing solutions and services. In terms of service order, the Government is building a new generation of government Cloud service, which has led to an increase in the Group’s business to provide related support services to the Government.

In respect of the local commercial sector sales, considering the situation that the banking industry is facing the new cybersecurity regulations and the prevailing trend of smart banking and mobile banking services, the Group has successfully seized the business opportunity and obtained a large number of orders, which has significantly contributed to sales in local commercial sector. During the period under review, the Group also obtained a number of large-scale infrastructure revamp projects, among which it is noteworthy that the Group has successfully penetrated its innovative and large-scale software-defined network solutions from the aviation industry to the education sector, by receiving related orders from universities. In addition, the Group continued to focus on expanding its one-stop IT managed services and cyber security business, which performed excellently and recorded a significant growth during the period.

With an upward trend for enterprises adopting Cloud and digital transformation, ASL worked closely with Alibaba Cloud, the leading digital transformation expert in the world, and reached a strategic partnership agreement in April 2018. Both parties have cooperated in various aspects covering Cloud security solution, sales and marketing, so as to further develop the Cloud market in Hong Kong and Macau.

As for overseas business, in the first half of 2018, Grid Dynamics opened its 6th research and development center in Serbia, Europe, which provides a highly skilled talent pool and a high-quality communications network, so as to further strengthen the Group’s local support and global delivery capabilities to meet different customer needs in various regions.

To meet the market needs of digital transformation, the Group will concentrate its efforts on industry focused and technology-oriented business on the next phase of development. The Group will continue to actively enhance its digital transformation and concentrate the services on the three business areas in which the Group provides to its customers: Innovative Solutions, Intelligent Cybersecurity Services and next generation one-stop IT Integrated Managed Services. Through these services, the value of “EMPOWER”, “SECURE” and “MANAGE” will be brought to customers respectively so as to capture the business opportunities driven by Cloud, Internet of Things and digital transformation.

In respect of Innovative Solutions, the Group expects that enterprises will continue to look for suppliers with industry domain knowledge, and to make use of IT to solve industry-specific problems more efficiently. To satisfy the demand, the Group will take advantage of its leading technologies in Cloud, big data, machine learning and artificial intelligence area and to leverage its strengths in DevOps, agile software development methodologies, automated testing and extensive industry experience, in order to provide clients with more innovative, reliable and industry-specific solutions, facilitate the clients (EMPOWER) to launch higher quality and omni-channels products and services more efficiently, thus to help the clients creating new marketing products and achieving digital transformation.

In respect of Intelligent Cybersecurity Services, the Group will continue to utilize data security solutions and managed security services to capture the business opportunities arising from the security loopholes, ransomware incidents, stricter industry regulations and new security policies. In addition, the Group will also cooperate with vendors with new and leading security technologies such as machine learning, to provide the clients with round-the-clock, comprehensive and real-time security protection through the 7×24 Service Centers and advanced Security Operation Center Plus (SOC+) of the Group.

In respect of the next generation one-stop IT Integrated Managed Services, the increasing complexity of IT environment driven by Cloud and digital transformation will force enterprises, which have insufficient IT resources and professional knowledge, to outsource some or all of their IT operations to third parties, that will raise the demand of IT hosting services. As such, the Group is keen on providing in-depth integrated managed services to industries and clients which the Group has advantages. Supporting services are not only covering the traditional IT infrastructure but also extending to Cloud platforms of different environments (such as private Cloud, public Cloud, hybrid Cloud and multiple Cloud – which places Cloud resources on various Cloud platforms operating by different Cloud providers). The Group will also continue to develop traditional IT supporting services and provide a wider range of professional industry-focused consulting services, to support clients’ daily key business operations. At the same time, the Group will take advantage of SOC+ to ensure clients’ data security and to promote its brand and position as a one-stop leading provider of Information Technology Service Management (ITSM).

In respect of overseas business, the Group expects that Grid Dynamics will continue to benefit from clients’ demand in Cloud, big data analytics and other aspects, which would drive the overseas business continues to grow steadily.

Science and technology develop rapidly in the digital era. With huge demands of IT professionals, recruiting a suitable employee is challenging. Having foreseen such circumstances, the Group expanded the talent pool through internal resource integration, training and university graduate trainee programs, so as to enable employees to continue to acquire new professional knowledge and skills and to fulfill clients’ needs for innovative and customised services.

Looking forward, the Group will continue to seek for opportunities arising from Hong Kong’s policies and China’s Belt and Road. We will continue to keep Hong Kong and Macau as its core business areas, as well as to accelerate the globalization of the Group, and strive to provide professional, reliable and innovative IT services to clients around the world.

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News Release – May 16 2018

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News Release – May 16 2018

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News Release – May 02 2018

(Hong Kong, April 30, 2018) – Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, and Automated Systems (H.K.) Limited (ASL), a subsidiary of Automated Systems Holdings Limited (0771.HK) which is an IT solutions and services provider, today entered into a key strategic partnership to facilitate the development of the cloud market in Hong Kong and Macau. The collaboration will combine Alibaba Cloud’s cloud computing power, IT infrastructure and security expertise with ASL’s extensive experience and know-how in providing technology solutions and its strong client base in the region.

The partnership will cover several crucial areas including go-to-market, solution creation, and cloud security services. Both parties will invest resources to create joint teams for knowledge sharing that will offer innovative cloud solutions and a comprehensive suite of services for businesses in the region.

Leo Liu, General Manager of Hong Kong and Macau, Alibaba Cloud said: “Hong Kong and Macau are two of the key markets for Alibaba Cloud and we are always committed to advancing technologies and introducing new products to empower the digital transformation of various sectors in the region. Partnering with ASL is another milestone since we established the Hong Kong and Macau Eco Alliance. It will help us achieve our goal of growing these markets and providing better service for our clients.”

“We are excited to work closely with Alibaba Cloud, the leading digital transformation expert in the world. The partnership will further our mutual vision of fostering the development of the cloud market in Hong Kong and Macau. In the age of cloud computing and digital transformation, this partnership will build and strengthen ASL’s brand and position as a leading and industry-specific cloud service provider in Hong Kong and Macau” said Wang Yueou, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Automated Systems Holdings Limited.

Through the collaboration, security solutions and services from Alibaba Cloud will enrich ASL’s Security Operation Center Plus (SOC+) offering, leveraging Alibaba Cloud’s security expertise with ASL’s own security infrastructure and experts to provide comprehensive protection for the cloud markets in Hong Kong and Macau.

Alibaba Cloud and ASL will jointly form a solution lab, to work together in advancing solution development for industries such as healthcare, property and financial services. Alibaba Cloud will contribute the technical skillset and licensing for its Apsara Stack, a scalable and built-in hybrid cloud solution and services platform for enterprises. The lab, located at ASL headquarters, will provide a location with both public and private cloud solutions to demonstrate to customers.

Alibaba Cloud will also provide ASL with support to create a technical team that will handle presales, solutions architecture and solutions delivery. Furthermore, ASL will acquire talents through the Alibaba Cloud Associate (ACA) certification and the Alibaba Cloud Professional (ACP) certification to further gear up its strong technical pool for serving business in the region.

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News Release – March 28 2018

(Hong Kong, 28 March 2018) – Automated Systems Holdings Limited (“ASL” or “the Group”) (stock code: 771), a trustworthy and professional global information technology (“IT”) partner, announced its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2017 (the “Review Year”). During the Review Year, total revenue of the Group was HK$1,917.5 million, representing a 26.0% increase from last year.

The Group’s profit attributable to equity holders was HK$52.6 million, a rise of 82.6% compared to last year of HK$28.8 million. Basic earnings per share increased to 8.99 HK cents, an increase of 28.4% compared to last year. (2016: 7.00 HK cents). The Board of Directors recommended the payment of a final dividend of 1.0 HK cent per share for the year ended 31 December 2017. The Board recommended a Bonus Issue on the basis of two Bonus Share, credited as fully paid, for every ten existing shares held by the shareholders of the Group whose names appear on the register of members on Tuesday, 29 May 2018. It is believed that the Bonus Issue will enhance the liquidity on the capital level.

Gross profit for the year ended 31 December 2017 was HK$344.2 million, an increase of HK$177.5 million or 106.5% compared with last year. Gross profit margin for the year also increased from 11.0% to 17.9%. The increase in gross profit and gross profit margin was mainly attributable to the gross profit contribution from Grid Dynamics International, Inc. (“Grid Dynamics”), which was acquired on 7 April 2017.

The Group maintained a healthy financial position. As at 31 December 2017, the Group’s cash stood at approximately HK$286.8 million with a working capital ratio of 1.25:1 and the outstanding borrowings amounted to HK$493.0 million. During the Review Year, orders newly secured by the Group amounted to approximately HK$1,976.5 million. As at 31 December 2017, the order book balance was approximately HK$1,120.4 million, an increase of 16.2% compared to last year.

Product sales was HK$743.4 million (2016: HK$840.0 million) while service revenue was increased by 72.2% to HK$1,174.1 million. Product sales and service revenue contributed 38.8% and 61.2% to total revenue respectively. Commercial and public sector sales contributed 59.1% and 40.9% to total revenue respectively (2016: 48.4% and 51.6%).

In respect of the public sector sales, the Group has always won the trust and support of government bureaux and departments. It was contracted a number of IT professional services projects included in the Standing Offer Agreement for Quality Professional Services 3 during the year under review, ranking among the top in the industry in terms of total contract amount which was a strong track record. In the second half of the year, building on its success, the Group was entrusted as one of the contractors for “Standing Offer Agreement for Quality Professional Services 4” (SOA-QPS4) by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, and was eligible for bidding four categories of IT Services for various government bureaux and departments. In addition, the Group continued to benefit from the government’s policy of actively promoting innovation and utilizing IT to improve public services, and adopted a new delivery model DevOps in various government projects in the second half of this year to enhance the flexibility and effectiveness of delivery services.

In respect of the commercial sector sales, the sales of professional services during the year increased significantly by virtue of the Group’s quality, innovative and one-stop IT services as well as market reputation established, which achieved an encouraging result. With more than 40-year experience in its focused-industries in the area of systems integration and bringing in new capability, the Group not only provided industry-specific professional infrastructure support services to a telecom operator, but also won a number of projects from different industries through the understanding of various industries and continuing to successfully keep up with the trend of big data and analytics, thus further consolidated the Group’s positioning of one-stop IT services provider.

With regard to expanding its managed service business, the Group, as a one-stop Information Technology Service Management (“ITSM”) company, continued to leverage its advantages during the year, received a new long-term managed service order from a renowned bank client. The Group enhances the level and expands the coverage of support services for this bank client, as well as provides consultancy services to meet customers’ buoyant demand on ITSM and fully meets the needs of customers for IT in a flexible way so that they can focus on their own business development.

In addition, the Group strived to improve its service level and technology in the information network security business and achieved good results during the year. Along with the cyberattacks attracted wide public concern in 2017 and the new “Cyber Resilience Assessment Framework” for banks issued by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Group has successfully seized business opportunities to obtain relevant IT security projects in different industries, among which include the landmark project, the signing of a three-year managed security service project contract with a large Hong Kong transport operator, which successfully launched the Security Operation Center Plus (“SOC+”) of its own managed security services together with managed services and service desk services to the market . It has also successfully entered the IT security market in the financial industry. Through the Group’s SOC+ Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) platform, an advanced platform that helps integrating and detecting associated security information/ events, we provide a two-year one-stop managed security service to a well-known bank to assist the bank in meeting statutory cyber security level and effectively detect abnormal network activities for clients at any time.

2017 is the Group’s 20th listing anniversary in Hong Kong. The Group successfully acquired Grid Dynamics, a provider of scalable, next-generation e-commerce digital technology solutions at Silicon Valley, California, the United States. As a result, the Group becomes Hong Kong’s first local IT company which grows beyond Asia and expands its business to global markets, laying a solid foundation for the future development of the Group and marking the Group’s innovation journey of development.

Benefiting from customers’ demand for third platform technologies such as cloud computing and big data analytics, Grid Dynamics expanded its business rapidly, and its number of employees grew from about 600 in early 2017 to over 800 currently to support its business growth. In 2018, Grid Dynamics is also planning to open its sixth research and development center in Serbia, Europe, which provides a highly skilled talent pool and high-quality communications network, to further strengthen the Group’s local support and global delivery capabilities to meet different customers’ needs in various regions.

In order to cope with the challenge of anticipated gradual reduction in demand for IT infrastructure due to cloud computing and to consolidate our market position as a reliable and professional IT partner, the Group was committed to improving its strategy and further promoting the digital transformation of professional services in the second half of 2017. The major businesses of the Group will be divided into the next generation one-stop Integrated Managed Services; providing customers with leading-edge Innovative Solutions; and Intimate Tech Hub.

In respect of the next-generation one-stop Integrated Managed Services, the Group will continue to ensure the quality of IT services through service level agreement (SLA) and upgrade service platform (i.e. to connect customers with our SOC+ through our well-equipped and advanced service center, a service hub, by utilizing omni-channels including phones, emails, websites, instant messages, on-site services, applications on smart phones, etc. and to launch one-stop IT services which better meet customers’ needs with innovative Online to Offline (O2O) model and integrated conceptual model) while achieving efficient synergy of management processes to enhance customer’s IT operation and management level and capability and thus drives business growth and, through provision of high quality customer experience, strengthens the Group’s position as a next-generation one-stop ITSM provider.

In respect of Innovative Solutions, the world is entering a new era of cloud, big data analytics and mobile Internet. Technological changes will bring about major changes in the industry model and competition pattern. Industry vertical integration and convergence of IT products and services are increasingly noticeable. Therefore, it is particularly important for professional service providers to capitalize on their exceptional skills and accumulated experience in their specialized areas. Focusing on industries with competitive edges (namely, government, banking and finance, public healthcare, transportation, real estate and education), the Group further strengthens its innovative ability with regard to Innovative Solutions. With considerable insight into the changes in customers’ needs in various industries, the Group provides leading and high value-added solutions based on the integration and reconstruction of their business procedures and by using technologies that meet the core business needs of customers.

In respect of Intimate Tech Hub, the Group will focus on strengthening the integration of industry-specific knowledge, comprehensive skills and cross-platform technologies in the industry, and deepen cooperation with strategic partners on new technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, machine learning, smart city and grasp business opportunities brought by related application trends. The Group will also provide one-stop innovative IT solutions and services to customers in Hong Kong and around the world through active cooperation with tier-one providers with technology advantages or industry-leading suppliers.

Looking forward, the Group will continue to seek opportunities in Hong Kong and the Mainland China arising from the Belt and Road Initiative to provide leading IT services with higher value for our global customers, so as to speed up the globalization footprint of the Group and consolidate the Group’s position as a professional and reliable IT service partner in the Asia-Pacific region and around the globe.

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News Release – Aug 24 2017

(Hong Kong, 24 Aug 2017) – Automated Systems Holdings Limited (“ASL” or “the Group”) (HKEX stock code: 771), a trustworthy and professional global information technology (“IT”) partner in the region, announced its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2017 (the “Review Period”). During the Review Period, total revenue of the Group was HK$932.2 million, representing a 20.1% increase from the corresponding period last year.

The Group recorded a profit attributable to the Company’s equity holders of HK$18.0 million (2016 Interim: HK$18.3 million) mainly because the profit contribution from Grid Dynamics International, Inc. (“Grid Dynamics”), which was acquired on 7 April 2017, (the “Acquisition”) was offset by the one-off professional fees and finance costs incurred for the acquisition. Gross profit for the six months ended 30 June 2017 was HK$149.6 million, an increase of HK$66.5 million or 79.9% compared with the same period last year. Gross profit margin for the period also increased from 10.7% to 16.1%. The increase in gross profit and gross profit margin was mainly attributable to the gross profit contribution from Grid Dynamics. During the Review Period, basic earnings per share and diluted earnings per share are 3.43 HK cents and 3.19 HK cents respectively (2016 Interim: 4.44 HK cents).

The Group maintained a healthy financial position during the Review Period. As at 30 June 2017, the Group’s net cash stood at approximately HK$343.1 million with a working capital ratio of 1.20:1. During the Review Period, orders newly secured by the Group amounted to approximately HK$816.7 million. As at 30 June 2017, the order book balance was approximately HK$1,041.4 million, an increase of HK$173.6 million compared to the corresponding period last year, while outstanding borrowings amounted to HK$591.9 million.

As compared with the corresponding period last year, service revenue increased by 47.7% to HK$502.4 million while product sales decreased by 1.5% to HK$429.7 million, contributing 53.9% and 46.1% to total revenue respectively. (2016 Interim: 43.8% and 56.2%). The increase in service revenue was mainly attributable to the contribution from Grid Dynamics. Commercial and public sector sales contributed 52.3% and 47.7% to total revenue respectively (2016 Interim: 42.5% and 57.5%).

The development of the Group’s local core business remained stable during the first six months of this year. The Group completed the Acquisition of Grid Dynamics, a company incorporated in California, the United States, at a total consideration of US$118.0 million (equivalent to approximately HK$916.8 million). Grid Dynamics has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Group. Grid Dynamics is a provider of open, scalable, next-generation e-commerce technology solutions in the areas of omni-channel digital platforms, cloud-enablement, big data analytics and continuous delivery. The Acquisition resulted in a significant growth in the Group’s revenue and gross profit during the Review Period, and the coverage of the delivery services also expanded from the Asia-Pacific region to Europe and the United States.

In respect of the public sector sales, the Group continued to be benefited from the Government’s policies on actively promoting innovation and improving public services through the use of IT. In response to the trend of innovation and technology development, the Group has also adopted DevOps (the combination of a new advanced IT service delivery and agile application development methodologies) as a delivery model in governmental projects during the period to enhance the flexibility and effectiveness of delivery services.

In respect of the commercial sector sales, the Group has continued to focus on the managed service business adhering to last year’s development strategy and has successfully obtained a three-year security managed service project contract from a large transport operator in Hong Kong during the period. The Group believes that the success is not merely attributable to winning the project contract, but also successfully further launching the Security Operation Center Plus (SOC+) of its own security managed services together with managed services and service desk services to the market. This evidenced that the Group was one of a few one-stop IT service providers which possesses both local supporting services capability and world-class security managed services.

New generation of digital technologies are growing rapidly and becoming increasingly popular in IT application across every industry while clients from commercial sector are open to cloud services. Meanwhile, due to large cloud service providers entering the market in Hong Kong in recent years, the Group expects that the demand from enterprises to invest in IT infrastructure will gradually decrease. These changes will bring challenges to the Group. However, the Group believes that the demand for IT infrastructure investment from financial industry clients will remain at a certain level; therefore, there will not be a significant impact on the Group’s IT infrastructure business in the short term.

The Group’s next stage major development strategy is to seize the opportunities bought by the development of the third generation IT platform. The Group will continue to make use of its current market position and advantages, further promoting the digital transformation of professional services. The Group will, depend on the needs of the customer, use the third platform technologies to develop new mission-critical business applications based on the concept of “customer-oriented” to meet customers’ long-term needs for digital technologies, and to help customers reduce operating costs, streamline operational procedures and improve business agility.

With the convergence of IT products and services, it is particularly important for professional service providers to make use of their special skills and accumulated experience in their respective industries to make a profit. The Group will concentrate on further strengthening its innovative capabilities for particular industry solutions in emerging industries with advantages. In this regard, the Group will seek to understand the changes in customers’ needs and to provide solutions that meet the core business needs of our customers based on the integration and reconstruction of their business procedures. The Group expects to focus on meeting the needs of particular major industries and provide customers with more appropriate and better services.

In addition, in response to rapid changes in the industry, the Group will continue to integrate its internal and external resources, attract talents and nurture teams with a wide range of practical experience. The Group, in the beginning of this year, focused on strengthening professional and technical training (including DevOps, Scrum (a methodology of agile software development), IT security and big data, etc.) for existing staff, and introduced a graduate trainee program to expand the talent pool and cultivate talents.

It is worth mentioning that the Group was entrusted as one of the contractors of “Standing Offer Agreement for Quality Professional Services 4” (SOA-QPS4) by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer and was eligible for bidding four categories of IT services for various government bureau and departments under a period of 48 months, effective from 31 July 2017, which the Group is confident that it could bring a stable revenue to the Group for our relevant IT services. In respect of SOA-QPS4, the government has increased funding and has adopted a higher technical weighting with a price to technical ratio of 60:40 for some work assignments in the new round of contract bidding. As a quality IT services company, the Group believes that we could have more opportunities in getting government contracts in higher profit margin. Meanwhile, by taking the opportunity of SOA-QPS4, we endeavor to make use of the Group’s DevOps technology, experienced professional team and agile development adoption to introduce quality and innovative IT solutions and professional IT services to the government and assist the government in building Hong Kong to be a more competitive smart city.

2017 is the Group’s 20th listing anniversary in Hong Kong, therefore, not only did the successful completion of the Acquisition lay a solid foundation for the future development of the Group, but also marked the Group’s new journey of development. With Grid Dynamics joining the Group, a large number of its world-class developers have become part of the Group, thus extending the coverage of Group’s several offshore delivery centers from Asia to Europe, further creating a global delivery model for customers. At the same time, the technological resources and business strength of Grid Dynamics would not only accelerate the Group to enter the segmented markets in the industry, but also improve the overall technological strengths of the Group. Through this, the Group could grasp the opportunities brought by third platform technologies and further expand its services coverage into Europe and the United States. The Group expected that Grid Dynamics would bring a significant growth in the profit of the Group.

Looking forward, as the Group has further extended its service delivery coverage from Hong Kong-based Greater China region to North America and Europe, this will establish the Group’s position as a global, trustworthy and professional one-stop IT service partner.

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News Release – May 18 2017

(Hong Kong, 18 May 2017) – Automated Systems Holdings Limited (“ASL” or “the Group”) (stock code: 771), a trustworthy and professional information technology (“IT”) partner in the region, has held “Innovation Journey on Solid Foundation – Celebrating ASL’s 20th Listing Anniversary cum Joining of Grid Dynamics International, Inc. (“Grid Dynamics¹”)” event at The Ritz Carlton, Hong Kong today. Guests from different sectors of the society attended the event to witness this important historical moment. The Group has also taken this opportunity to express its gratitude to all business partners and different sectors of society for their long-term support while joining the celebration of the Group’s outstanding achievements over the past two decades.

The celebration event began with welcome speech presented by Mr. Leon Wang, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of ASL and concluded with the executive remarks delivered by Mr. Li Wei, Chairman and Non-executive Director of ASL. Then, the two joined the other officiating guests to host the lighting ceremony symbolizing the bright prospects of the Group. Apart from the event in Hong Kong, ASL’s parent company Beijing Teamsun Technology Co., Ltd. has also arranged another celebration event in Beijing on 24 May.

Mr. Leon Wang, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Automated Systems Holdings Limited, said, “2017 is an important year for us to remember and celebrate. It’s a milestone that the Group has been founded 44 years and listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited for 20 years. The Group has developed alongside and in close affinity with the IT industry in Hong Kong over the years. Despite many challenges encountered in the past few decades, the Group’s core businesses have maintained a healthy development. We have always kept a close watch on changes in the market and actively reviewed and adjusted our development strategy accordingly to build a solid foundation for our business. ASL’s success today is owed to the great support from different parties and no words could express the Group’s gratitude to them. Taking this opportunity, I would like to thank all our business partners and friends who have worked closely with us all the time.”

ASL focuses on and continues to invest in five key solutions areas and services, namely Infrastructure, Security, Data Intelligence, Mobile and Cloud, so as to better grasp the opportunities in the ever-changing market and provide quality and comprehensive IT managed services and solutions to customers. In 2016, the Group expanded “Offshore Delivery Excellence Center” in Guangzhou and opened new “Service Center”, further expanding and upgrading the capabilities of the Group. ASL has completed the acquisition of the U.S. cloud services company – Grid Dynamics in April 2017. As such and with firm roots in Hong Kong, the Group has become a global IT service provider with more than 2,000 professionals and an expansion of geographical coverage beyond Asia Pacific.

Mr. Wang continued, “With new generation digital transformation technology emerging and gaining popularity quickly, businesses are having keen interest in pursuing digital transformation. The Group will continue to apply its core edges in seizing the vast opportunities and provide our customers with more comprehensive and highly efficient IT resource management services. The recent acquisition we made have not only expanded our service coverage worldwide, but have also transformed into strong synergies with our existing operations in terms of location, customer base and technology, allowing us to meet the demand of companies around the world. Looking ahead, the Group will continue to capitalize on its strengths and edges to consolidate its standing as an international, reliable and professional IT partner.”

¹  Grid Dynamics is a provider of open source, scalable and next-generation e-commerce technology solutions in the areas of omni-channel e-commerce, cloud enablement, big data analytics and continuous delivery. It is well-known for providing transformative, mission-critical cloud solutions for enterprise customers in the retail, finance, media and technology sectors.

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