JFU 9F Inc

9F Inc. (“9F” or “the Company”) (NASDAQ: JFU), a leading digital financial account platform integrating and personalizing financial services in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2019.

Second Quarter 2019 Operational Highlights

• Loan origination volume1 was RMB9.8 billion in the second quarter of 2019, representing a decrease of 40.8% from RMB16.5 billion in the second quarter of 2018. Loans funded by institutional funding partners2 accounted for 58.0% of total loan origination volume in the second quarter of 2019.
• Number of registered users3 was 82.8 million as of June 30, 2019, representing an increase of 31.9% from 62.7 million as of June 30, 2018.
• Number of active borrowers4 was 0.6 million in the second quarter of 2019, representing a decrease of 38.2% from 1.0 million in the second quarter of 2018.
• Outstanding loan balance5 was RMB59.2 billion as of June 30, 2019, representing an increase of 9.1% from RMB54.3 billion as of June 30, 2018.    

Second Quarter 2019 Financial Highlights

• Total net revenues were RMB1,046.5 million (US$152.4 million) in the second quarter of 2019.
• Operating income was RMB256.6 million (US$37.4 million) in the second quarter of 2019.
• Net income was RMB171.6 million (US$25.0 million) in the second quarter of 2019.
• Adjusted net income6 was RMB205.8 million (US$30.0 million) in the second quarter of 2019.

Mr. Lei Sun, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are pleased to announce our first earnings as a public company.  An uncertain regulatory environment continued to hang over the industry throughout the quarter. One of the key initiatives we unveiled earlier this year to ensure long-term sustainable growth was our Tech Enablement Strategy, which saw us evolve our business by becoming a provider of advanced technologies for marketing, credit decision, pricing, and anti-fraud to financial institution and merchant partners through our one-stop digital financial account platform. With over 13 years of fintech operating history, we already have the experience and cutting-edge technology to effectively deliver many of these services. This new business will operate alongside our online lending business and will help us move to more of a capital light business model, reduce regulatory risk, maintain a strong cash position and provide greater scalability over the long-term.  I’m pleased with the initial results and we are now working on further diversifying our funding sources to drive future growth.”

“We will continue to invest and acquire licensed financial institutions to diversify our portfolio of services and create synergies. We strategically acquired a stake in a licensed consumer finance company in China which will complement our existing consumer credit loan business and diversify the products we have on offer. We are also actively obtaining financial licenses in overseas markets such as Southeast Asia where we can leverage and apply our extensive experience and operational expertise to new high-growth markets. We are pleased with our progress so far and look forward to strengthening our technological capabilities to provide additional services to our partners and building this business for the long-term.”

Mr. Yanjun Lin, Chief Financial Officer and Director, added, “We spent the majority of April and May carefully fine tuning the entire technical infrastructure for our lending platform in order to better connect to and synchronize with our institutional funding partners as part of our Tech Enablement Strategy. While our performance in the second quarter was affected by the adjustments to our systems, once the process was completed in June, we were especially pleased to see an immediate and positive impact. Loan origination volume in June was RMB5.0 billion, exceeding the RMB4.8 billion from April and May combined. Net revenues in June were RMB536.4 million compared with RMB510.1 million in April and May combined. We were able to significantly increase the proportion of total loan origination volume that was funded by institutional funding partners to 58.0% from just 10.5% in the first quarter of this year. We expect institutional funding partners to increasingly account for a greater proportion of loan volumes going forward. As of June 30, 2019, the number of registered users increased 31.9% year-over-year to 82.8 million while the number of active borrowers decreased 38.2% year-over-year to 0.6 million. Evolving our business in this way will allow us to offer a more comprehensive portfolio of products that cover more segments to our institutional funding partners and help increase conversion rates. Looking forward, with RMB5,924.6 million in cash and cash equivalents and term deposits on the balance sheet and a clear strategy to scale our business in an uncertain regulatory environment, we believe we are well positioned to sustainably grow our business over the long-term.”

Second Quarter 2019 Financial Results

Total net revenues decreased 58.0% to RMB1,046.5 million (US$152.4 million) from RMB2,491.3 million in the same period of 2018, primarily due to a decrease in loan facilitation services and post-origination services which was partially offset by an increase in other revenues.

• Loan facilitation services decreased 62.2% to RMB863.0 million (US$125.7 million) from RMB2,285.6 million in the second quarter of 2018, due primarily to a decrease in loan origination volume through the Company’s platform which was driven by a decrease in number of active borrowers. 
• Post-origination services decreased 27.4% to RMB72.3 million (US$10.5 million) from RMB99.5 million in the same period of 2018, primarily as a result of a decrease in loan origination volume.  
• Other revenues increased 4.7% to RMB111.2 million (US$16.2 million) from RMB106.3 million in the same period of 2018, primarily due to an increase in revenue from online direct sales of products.

Sales and marketing expenses decreased 41.1% to RMB394.4 million (US$57.4 million) for the second quarter of 2019 from RMB669.7 million in the same period of 2018, primarily due to a temporary slowdown in user acquisition.

Origination and servicing expenses increased 5.7% to RMB130.3 million (US$19.0 million) from RMB123.3 million in the same period of 2018, primarily due to the increase in expenses associated with collection.

General and administrative expenses decreased 19.0% to RMB199.5 million (US$29.1 million) from RMB 246.2 million in the same period of 2018, primarily due to a decrease in share-based compensation expenses which was partially offset by an increase in salaries and benefits and professional fees.

Operating income was RMB256.6 million (US$37.4 million), compared with RMB1,452.0 million in the same period of 2018.

Interest income was RMB62.9 million (US$9.2 million), compared with RMB42.3 million in the same period of 2018.

Income tax decreased by 65.5% to RMB76.5 million (US$11.1 million) for the second quarter of 2019 from RMB221.6 million in the same period of 2018.

Net income was RMB171.6 million (US$25.0 million), compared with RMB1,288.5 million in the same period of 2018.

Adjusted net income was RMB205.8 million (US$30.0 million), compared with RMB1,411.3 million in the same period of 2018.

As of June 30, 2019, the Company had cash and cash equivalents and term deposits of RMB5,924.6 million (US$863.0 million).                                                                                                                                                          Delinquency rates

As of June 30, 2019, the delinquency rates7 for loans that are past due for 15-30 days, 31-60 days, 61-90 days and 91-180 days were 0.10%, 0.19%, 0.20% and 0.54% respectively.

The following table displays the delinquency rates for all our outstanding loan products as of December 31, 2016, 2017 and 2018 and June 30, 2019:

			Delinquency rate
Delinquent for
	15-30 days		31-60 days		61-90 days		91-180 days
31-Dec-16	0.82%		0.91%		0.57%		1.42%
31-Dec-17	0.77%		1.00%		0.89%		1.88%
31-Dec-18	0.59%		0.35%		0.24%		1.43%
30-Jun-19	0.10%		0.19%		0.20%		0.54%

The following chart displays the M3+ delinquency rates by vintage8 for all our outstanding loan products. Loan products that have been transferred to non-performing loan companies are not included in the calculation of M3+ Delinquency Rates by Vintage.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/68ccb981-c8ee-4327-b31d-d1ad49c0fb75

Business Outlook

The Company currently expects total loan origination volume to be in the range of RMB20 billion to RMB21 billion in the third quarter of 2019. The above outlook is based on current market conditions and reflects the Company’s preliminary expectations as to market conditions, its regulatory and operating environment, as well as customer demand, all of which are subject to change.

Conference Call

The Company’s management will host an earnings conference call at 8:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time on September 27, 2019 (8:00 PM Beijing / Hong Kong Time on the same day).

Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows:

United States (toll free):	+1-866-519-4004
Hong Kong (toll free):	800-906-601
China:	400-620-8038
International:	+65-6713-5090
Passcode:	8079418

Please dial in ten minutes before the call is scheduled to begin and provide the passcode to join the call.

Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Company’s investor relations website at http://ir.9fbank.com.

About 9F Inc.

9F Inc. is a leading digital financial account platform integrating and personalizing financial services in China with the footprint expanding overseas. The Company provides a comprehensive range of financial products and services across loan products, online wealth management products, and payment facilitation, all integrated under a single digital financial account.

For more information, please visit http://ir.9fbank.com

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The Company uses adjusted net income, a non-GAAP financial measure, in evaluating its operating results and for financial and operational decision-making purposes. The Company believes that adjusted net income helps identify underlying trends in its business by excluding the impact of share-based compensation expenses. The Company believes that adjusted net income provides useful information about its operating results, enhances the overall understanding of its past performance and future prospects and allows for greater visibility with respect to key metrics used by the Company’s management in its financial and operational decision-making.

Adjusted net income is not defined under U.S. GAAP and is not presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. This non-GAAP financial measure has limitations as an analytical tool, and when assessing the Company’s operating performance, cash flows or liquidity, investors should not consider it in isolation, or as a substitute for net income, cash flows provided by operating activities or other consolidated statements of operation and cash flow data prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The Company encourages investors and others to review its financial information in its entirety and not rely on a single financial measure.

For more information on this non-GAAP financial measure, please see the table captioned “Reconciliations of GAAP and Non-GAAP results” set forth at the end of this press release.

Exchange Rate Information

This announcement contains translations of certain RMB amounts into U.S. dollars at a specified rate solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from RMB to U.S. dollars are made at a rate of RMB 6.8650 to US$1.00, the rate in effect as of June 28, 2019 as set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements constitute “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “target,” “confident” and similar statements. Such statements are based upon management’s current expectations and current market, regulatory and operating conditions and relate to events that involve known or unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the Company’s control. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any such statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, uncertainties as to the Company’s ability to attract and retain borrowers and investors on its marketplace, its ability to increase volume of loans facilitated through the Company’s marketplace, its ability to introduce new loan products and platform enhancements, its ability to compete effectively, laws, regulations and governmental policies relating to the online consumer finance industry in China, general economic conditions in China, and the Company’s ability to meet the standards necessary to maintain listing of its ADSs on the Nasdaq, including its ability to cure any non-compliance with the Nasdaq’s continued listing criteria. Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and 9F Inc. does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law.

For investor and media enquiries, please contact:

In China:9F Inc.Head of Investor RelationsCecilia MaE-mail: ir@9fbank.com.cn

Christensen

In ChinaMr. Christian ArnellPhone: +86-10-5900-1548E-mail: carnell@christensenir.com

In US

Ms. Linda BergkampPhone: +1-480-614-3004Email: lbergkamp@christensenir.com

9F Inc.
UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(All amounts in thousands, except for number of shares and per share data, or otherwise noted)
	December 31		June 30		June 30
	2018		2019		2019
	RMB		RMB		USD
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	5,469,077		5,697,578		829,946
Term deposits	833,478		226,993		33,065
Accounts receivable, net	180,141		857,935		124,972
Other receivables, net	146,438		164,201		23,919
Loan receivables, net	593,943		552,167		80,432
Amounts due from related parties	146,273		197,312		28,742
Prepaid expenses and other assets	543,088		971,486		141,513
Contract assets, net	12,642		27,396		3,991
Long‑term investments	954,158		874,053		127,320
Operating lease right-of-use assets	-		146,643		21,361
Property, equipment and software, net	86,267		84,660		12,332
Goodwill	13,385		78,329		11,410
Intangible assets, net	44,733		78,399		11,420
Deferred tax assets, net	84,338		147,366		21,466
TOTAL ASSETS	9,107,961		10,104,518		1,471,889
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Liabilities:
Deferred revenue	346,847		331,760		48,326
Payroll and welfare payable	38,890		6,739		982
Income tax payable	315,868		316,981		46,173
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	745,307		845,212		123,119
Operating lease liabilities	-		150,994		21,995
Amounts due to related parties	14,706		16,345		2,381
Deferred tax liabilities	9,003		16,552		2,411
Total liabilities	1,470,621		1,684,583		245,387
Mezzanine equity
Series A convertible redeemable preferred shares	280,301		288,843		42,075
Series B convertible redeemable preferred shares	202,086		202,086		29,437
Series C convertible redeemable preferred shares	355,248		355,248		51,748
Series D convertible redeemable preferred shares	408,358		408,358		59,484
Series E convertible redeemable preferred shares	136,427		136,427		19,873
Shareholders’ equity:
Ordinary shares	-		-		-
Additional paid‑in capital	3,046,725		3,114,626		453,696
Statutory reserves	446,277		443,777		64,643
Retained earnings	2,671,275		3,361,712		489,689
Accumulated other comprehensive income	80,193		78,511		11,436
Total 9F Inc. shareholders’ equity	6,244,470		6,998,626		1,019,464
Non‑controlling interest	10,450		30,347		4,421
Total shareholders’ equity	6,254,920		7,028,973		1,023,885
TOTAL LIABILITIES, MEZZANINE EQUITY AND SHAREHOLERS’ EQUITY	9,107,961		10,104,518		1,471,889

9F Inc.
UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(Amounts in thousands, except for number of shares and per share data, or otherwise noted)
		Three Months Ended June 30,									Six Months Ended June 30,
		2018			2019			2019			2018			2019			2019
		RMB			RMB			USD			RMB			RMB			USD
Net Revenues
Loan facilitation services		2,285,581			863,020			125,713			3,217,308			1,905,840			277,617
Post-origination services		99,467			72,258			10,526			192,852			153,510			22,361
Others		106,274			111,249			16,205			173,594			191,181			27,849
Total Net Revenue		2,491,322			1,046,527			152,444			3,583,754			2,250,531			327,827
Operating costs and expenses
Cost of products		-			(65,784	)		(9,583	)		-			(105,592	)		(15,381	)
Sales and marketing		(669,714	)		(394,357	)		(57,445	)		(1,073,341	)		(743,183	)		(108,257	)
Origination and servicing		(123,339	)		(130,320	)		(18,983	)		(240,921	)		(228,047	)		(33,219	)
General and administrative		(246,229	)		(199,498	)		(29,060	)		(488,591	)		(428,886	)		(62,474	)
Total operating costs and expenses		(1,039,282	)		(789,959	)		(115,071	)		(1,802,853	)		(1,505,708	)		(219,331	)
Interest income		42,339			62,902			9,163			72,286			138,684			20,202
Gain recognized on measurement of previously held equity interest in acquiree		-			-			-			-			16,272			2,370
Non‑operating income/(loss), net		10,206			(2,234	)		(325	)		16,272			(2,592	)		(378	)
Income before income tax expense and share of profit in equity method investments		1,504,585			317,236			46,211			1,869,459			897,187			130,690
Income tax expense		(221,618	)		(76,532	)		(11,149	)		(287,329	)		(130,536	)		(19,015	)
Share of profit(loss) in equity method investments		5,582			(69,118	)		(10,068	)		(2,845	)		(67,683	)		(9,859	)
Net income		1,288,549			171,586			24,994			1,579,285			698,968			101,816
net (income)/loss attributable to non-controlling interest shareholders		(788	)		(3,012	)		(439	)		78			(2,490	)		(363	)
Net income attributable to 9F Inc.		1,287,761			168,574			24,555			1,579,363			696,478			101,453
Change in redemption value of preferred shares		(4,295	)		(4,293	)		(625	)		(8,542	)		(8,541	)		(1,244	)
Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders		1,283,466			164,281			23,930			1,570,821			687,937			100,209
Earnings per share:
Basic9		689.95			87.80			12.79			849.21			367.67			53.56
Diluted9		603.83			76.45			11.14			747.87			320.54			46.69
Shares used in earnings per share computation:
Basic10		1,626,728			1,626,728			1,626,728			1,626,728			1,626,728			1,626,728
Diluted10		1,858,724			1,868,364			1,868,364			1,847,174			1,865,921			1,865,921

9F Inc.
UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
(Amounts in thousands, except for number of shares and per share data, or otherwise noted)
		Three Months Ended June 30,									Six Months Ended June 30,
		2018			2019			2019			2018			2019			2019
		RMB			RMB			USD			RMB			RMB			USD
Net income		1,288,549			171,586			24,994			1,579,285			698,968			101,816
Other comprehensive income:
Foreign currency translation adjustment, net of tax of nil		66,171			31,034			4,521			35,108			(2,681	)		(391	)
Unrealized gains on available for sale investments, net of tax of nil		309			500			73			182			999			146
Total comprehensive income		1,355,029			203,120			29,588			1,614,575			697,286			101,571
Total comprehensive (income)/loss attributable to the non-controlling interest shareholders		(788	)		(3,012	)		(439	)		78			(2,490	)		(363	)
Total comprehensive income attributable to 9F Inc.		1,354,241			200,108			29,149			1,614,653			694,796			101,208

9F Inc.
Reconciliations of GAAP And Non-GAAP Results
(Amounts in thousands, except for number of shares and per share data, or otherwise noted)
		Three Months Ended June 30,						Six Months Ended June 30,
		2018		2019		2019		2018		2019		2019
		RMB		RMB		USD		RMB		RMB		USD
Net income		1,288,549		171,586		24,994		1,579,285		698,968		101,816
Add:
Share-based compensation		122,705		34,243		4,988		244,287		67,903		9,891
Less:
Tax effect of adjustments		-		-		-		-		-		-
Adjusted net income		1,411,254		205,829		29,982		1,823,572		766,871		111,707

1 “Loan origination volume” refers to the total amount of loans originated to the Company’s our borrowers, including the loan origination volume funded by individual investors and institutional funding partners.

2 “Institutional funding partners” refers to banks and other institutions which have partnered with the Company to its direct lending program to fund loans originated to the Company’s borrowers.

3 “Registered users” refers to the accumulative number of users who have registered their digital accounts with the Company (identified by registered mobile phone numbers) as of a certain point of time.

4 “Active borrowers” refers to borrowers who made at least one borrowing transaction with the Company during the period.

5 “Outstanding loan balance” refers to the total balance of outstanding principal of all the loan products, including revolving loan products, non-revolving loan products and loan products under the Company’s direct lending program. Outstanding loan balance for loans funded by institutional funding partners, regardless of its nature of revolving or non-revolving loan products, are counted towards outstanding loan balance under the Company’s direct lending program.

6 “Adjusted net income” is a non-GAAP financial measure. For more information on this non-GAAP financial measure, please see the section of “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures Statement” and the table captioned “Reconciliations of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results” set forth at the end of this press release.

7 “delinquency rate” refers to loan principal that was 15-30, 31-60, 61-90 and 91-180 calendar days past due as a percentage of the total balance of outstanding principal of loans originated on the Company’s platform as of a specific date. Loan products that have been transferred to non-performing loan companies are not included in the calculation of delinquency rate.

8  ‘‘M3+ Delinquency Rates by Vintage’’ refers to the total balance of outstanding principal of a vintage for which any payment of principal is over 90 calendar days past due as of a particular date (adjusted to exclude total amount of past due payments for loan principal that have been subsequently collected in the same vintage), divided by the total initial principal originated in such vintage. Loan products that have been transferred to non-performing loan companies are not included in the calculation of M3+ Delinquency Rates by Vintage.

9 After giving effect to a 1 for 100 share split of our shares issued and outstanding as of the date of this press release, basic net income per ordinary shares would have been RMB6.90, RMB0.88(US$0.13), RMB8.49, RMB3.68 (US$0.54) for the three months ended June 30, 2018 and 2019, and for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2019,respectively. Diluted net income per ordinary shares would have been RMB6.04, RMB0.76 (US$0.11), RMB7.48, and RMB3.21 (US$0.47) for the three months ended June 30, 2018 and 2019, and for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2019, respectively.

10 After giving effect to a 1 for 100 share split of our shares issued and outstanding as of t of this press release, weighted average number of ordinary shares used in computing basic net income per shares would have been 162,672,800, 162,672,800, 162,672,800 and 162,672,800 for the three months ended June 30, 2018 and 2019, and for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2019, respectively. Weighted average number of ordinary shares used in computing diluted net income per shares would have been 185,872,400, 186,836,400, 184,717,400 and 186,592,100 for the three months ended June 30, 2018 and 2019, and for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2019, respectively.