Sunday, May 11, 2025

Kioxia Receives IEEE Corporate Innovation Award

  (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Kioxia Corporation, a world leader in memory solutions, today announced that it has received the IEEE Corporate Innovation Award from the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the world’s largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. This award recognizes Kioxia's outstanding contribution in the field of electrical and electronics engineering through its BiCS FLASH™ technology, a low-cost, high-capacity 3D flash memory innovation. The award ceremony was held on April 24 in Tokyo.

The IEEE Corporate Innovation Award is a globally-recognized honor bestowed upon organizations that have developed innovative technologies, products or services that have made a substantial contribution to the advancement of electrical and electronics engineering. Since its inception in 1985, the award has been presented to leading electronics manufacturers and IT companies worldwide, and Kioxia is proud to be the seventh Japanese company to receive it.

Kioxia first introduced its 3D flash memory technology to the world in 2007. This groundbreaking technology arranges memory cells in a three-dimensional configuration, achieving both higher capacity through increased stacking and reduced cost through processing technology that minimizes the number of manufacturing steps. Today, products utilizing this 3D structure are at the forefront of the flash memory market and are widely used across a variety of applications, including smartphones, PCs, and data centers, a fundamental component of the digital society that enriches people's lives. With the expanding demand for memory driven by the proliferation of AI, Kioxia is committed to accelerating research and development of next-generation BiCS FLASH™ technologies to meet the diverse needs of the market, focusing on achieving higher performance, lower power consumption, and increased capacity.

Guided by our mission to “Uplift the world with ‘memory,’” Kioxia aims to pioneer a new era of innovation, promoting research and technology development to support the increasing adoption of AI and the digital society of the future. We are also actively strengthening our flash memory and SSD business competitiveness.

For more information about 2025 IEEE Corporate Innovation Award, please visit https://corporate-awards.ieee.org/recipient/kioxia-corporation/

Learn more about BiCS FLASH™ 3D Flash Memory at
https://www.kioxia.com/en-jp/rd/technology/bics-flash.html

About IEEE

IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional organization and is a public charity dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. Through its highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities, IEEE is the trusted voice in a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers, and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power, and consumer electronics. Learn more at https://www.ieee.org.

About Kioxia

Kioxia is a world leader in memory solutions, dedicated to the development, production and sale of flash memory and solid-state drives (SSDs). In April 2017, its predecessor Toshiba Memory was spun off from Toshiba Corporation, the company that invented NAND flash memory in 1987. Kioxia is committed to uplifting the world with “memory” by offering products, services and systems that create choice for customers and memory-based value for society. Kioxia's innovative 3D flash memory technology, BiCS FLASH™, is shaping the future of storage in high-density applications, including advanced smartphones, PCs, automotive systems, data centers and generative AI systems.

 



Contacts

Kota Yamaji
Public Relations
Kioxia Corporation
+81-3-6478-2319
kioxia-hd-pr@kioxia.com


Saturday, May 10, 2025

Takeda Announces FY2024 Full Year Results and FY2025 Outlook Reflecting Growth & Launch Products Momentum, Strong Cash Flow Generation and Late-Stage Pipeline Progress

 OSAKA, Japan - Thursday, 08. May 2025


Core Revenue Growth of 7.4% at Actual Exchange Rates (AER), + 2.8% at Constant Exchange Rate (CER) in FY2024

Core Operating Profit Growth of 4.9% at CER with Efficiency Program Driving Cost Savings

Up to Six New Molecular Entities in Phase 3 Development in FY2025 with Three Phase 3 Data Readouts Recently Completed or Anticipated

FY2025 Outlook for Broadly Flat Revenue and Core Profit Reflecting Product Momentum and Increasing Investment in New Launch Preparation

Proposed Dividend Increase from JPY 196 to JPY 200

 


(BUSINESS WIRE) -- Takeda (TOKYO:4502/NYSE:TAK) today announced financial results for fiscal year 2024 (period ended March 31, 2025) with continued strong momentum in Growth & Launch Products offsetting loss of exclusivity impact to drive revenue and Core Operating Profit growth, supported by robust cost management.


Takeda has built a high-value late-stage pipeline with potentially life-transforming new treatment options for patients. Following a positive Phase 3 readout for rusfertide in Oncology in March 2025, the company anticipates a further two Phase 3 readouts in core therapeutic areas this fiscal year.


FY2025 Management Guidance at CER reflects residual carry-over of VYVANSE® generic impact, continued efficiency savings and investment in R&D and launch preparation for Takeda’s late-stage pipeline.


Takeda chief executive officer, Christophe Weber, commented:

“Takeda delivered excellent results in FY2024. Our return to Core Operating Profit margin growth underscores the strength of our Growth & Launch Products portfolio and the ability of our multi-year efficiency program to deliver meaningful cost savings.


“FY2025 will be a pivotal year as we invest in launch readiness for the late-stage pipeline, which will contribute to our broadly flat Core Operating Profit outlook for FY2025 but will be key to achieving Takeda’s long-term growth potential.”


Takeda chief financial officer, Milano Furuta, commented:

“Takeda's success in delivering revenue and Core Operating Profit growth in FY2024 and our outlook for broadly flat revenue and profit in FY2025, demonstrates our ability to manage through one of the largest generic impacts on our business in Takeda’s history while progressing a highly promising late-stage pipeline. Our performance and outlook speak to the strength of our Growth & Launch Products, our innovative pipeline and the resilience of our organization as a whole.


“Takeda is now at an inflection point, with multiple anticipated Phase 3 data readouts this fiscal year, and I’m excited about our growth trajectory.”


FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS for FY2024 Ended March 31, 2025


(Billion yen, except percentages and per share amounts)


 


FY2024


FY2023


vs. PRIOR YEAR


(Actual % change)


Revenue


4,581.6


4,263.8


+7.5%


Operating Profit


342.6


214.1


+60.0%


Net Profit


107.9


144.1


-25.1%


EPS (Yen)


68


92


-25.8%


Operating Cash Flow


1,057.2


716.3


+47.6%


Adjusted Free Cash Flow (Non-IFRS)


769.0


283.4


+171.3%


Core (Non-IFRS)


(Billion yen, except percentages and per share amounts)


 


FY2024


FY2023


vs. PRIOR YEAR


(Actual % change)


vs. PRIOR YEAR


(CER % change)


Revenue


4,579.8


4,263.8


+7.4%


+2.8%


Operating Profit


1,162.6


1,054.9


+10.2%


+4.9%


Margin


25.4%


24.7%


+0.6pp



Net Profit


775.6


756.8


+2.5%


-3.4%


EPS (Yen)


491


484


+1.5%


-4.3%


FY2025 Outlook


(Billion yen, except percentages and per share amounts)


Item


FY2025 FORECAST


FY2025


MANAGEMENT


GUIDANCE


Core Change at CER


(Non-IFRS)


Revenue


4,530.0


---


Core Revenue (Non-IFRS)


4,530.0


Broadly flat


Operating Profit


475.0


---


Core Operating Profit (Non-IFRS)


1,140.0


Broadly flat


Net Profit


228.0


---


EPS (Yen)


145


---


Core EPS (Yen) (Non-IFRS)


485


Broadly flat


Adjusted Free Cash Flow (Non-IFRS)


750.0-850.0


---


Annual Dividend per Share (Yen)


200


---


Additional Information About Takeda’s FY2024 Results

For more details about Takeda’s FY2024 results, commercial progress, pipeline updates and other financial information, including key assumptions in the FY2025 forecast and management guidance as well as definitions of non-IFRS measures, please refer to Takeda’s FY2024 Q4 investor presentation (available at https://www.takeda.com/investors/financial-results/quarterly-results/)


About Takeda

Takeda is focused on creating better health for people and a brighter future for the world. We aim to discover and deliver life-transforming treatments in our core therapeutic and business areas, including gastrointestinal and inflammation, rare diseases, plasma-derived therapies, oncology, neuroscience and vaccines. Together with our partners, we aim to improve the patient experience and advance a new frontier of treatment options through our dynamic and diverse pipeline. As a leading values-based, R&D-driven biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Japan, we are guided by our commitment to patients, our people and the planet. Our employees in approximately 80 countries and regions are driven by our purpose and are grounded in the values that have defined us for more than two centuries. For more information, visit www.takeda.com.


Important Notice

For the purposes of this notice, “press release” means this document, any oral presentation, any question and answer session and any written or oral material discussed or distributed by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (“Takeda”) regarding this press release. This press release (including any oral briefing and any question-and-answer in connection with it) is not intended to, and does not constitute, represent or form part of any offer, invitation or solicitation of any offer to purchase, otherwise acquire, subscribe for, exchange, sell or otherwise dispose of, any securities or the solicitation of any vote or approval in any jurisdiction. No shares or other securities are being offered to the public by means of this press release. No offering of securities shall be made in the United States except pursuant to registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or an exemption therefrom. This press release is being given (together with any further information which may be provided to the recipient) on the condition that it is for use by the recipient for information purposes only (and not for the evaluation of any investment, acquisition, disposal or any other transaction). Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of applicable securities laws.


The companies in which Takeda directly and indirectly owns investments are separate entities. In this press release, “Takeda” is sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Takeda and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words “we”, “us” and “our” are also used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies.


The product names appearing in this document are trademarks or registered trademarks owned by Takeda, or their respective owners.


Forward-Looking Statements

This press release and any materials distributed in connection with this press release may contain forward-looking statements, beliefs or opinions regarding Takeda’s future business, future position and results of operations, including estimates, forecasts, targets and plans for Takeda. Without limitation, forward-looking statements often include words such as “targets”, “plans”, “believes”, “hopes”, “continues”, “expects”, “aims”, “intends”, “ensures”, “will”, “may”, “should”, “would”, “could”, “anticipates”, “estimates”, “projects”, “forecasts”, “outlook” or similar expressions or the negative thereof. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions about many important factors, including the following, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements: the economic circumstances surrounding Takeda’s global business, including general economic conditions in Japan and the United States and with respect to international trade relations; competitive pressures and developments; changes to applicable laws and regulations, including tax, tariff and other trade-related rules; challenges inherent in new product development, including uncertainty of clinical success and decisions of regulatory authorities and the timing thereof; uncertainty of commercial success for new and existing products; manufacturing difficulties or delays; fluctuations in interest and currency exchange rates; claims or concerns regarding the safety or efficacy of marketed products or product candidates; the impact of health crises, like the novel coronavirus pandemic; the success of our environmental sustainability efforts, in enabling us to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions or meet our other environmental goals; the extent to which our efforts to increase efficiency, productivity or cost-savings, such as the integration of digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, in our business or other initiatives to restructure our operations will lead to the expected benefits; and other factors identified in Takeda’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F and Takeda’s other reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, available on Takeda’s website at: https://www.takeda.com/investors/sec-filings-and-security-reports/ or at www.sec.gov. Takeda does not undertake to update any of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release or any other forward-looking statements it may make, except as required by law or stock exchange rule. Past performance is not an indicator of future results and the results or statements of Takeda in this press release may not be indicative of, and are not an estimate, forecast, guarantee or projection of Takeda’s future results.


Financial information and Non-IFRS Measures

Takeda’s financial statements are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”).


This press release and materials distributed in connection with this press release include certain financial measures not presented in accordance with IFRS, such as Core Revenue, Core Operating Profit, Core Net Profit for the year attributable to owners of the Company, Core EPS, Constant Exchange Rate (“CER”) change, Net Debt, Adjusted Net Debt, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Free Cash Flow and Adjusted Free Cash Flow. Takeda’s management evaluates results and makes operating and investment decisions using both IFRS and non-IFRS measures included in this press release. These non-IFRS measures exclude certain income, cost and cash flow items which are included in, or are calculated differently from, the most closely comparable measures presented in accordance with IFRS. Takeda’s non-IFRS measures are not prepared in accordance with IFRS and such non-IFRS measures should be considered a supplement to, and not a substitute for, measures prepared in accordance with IFRS (which we sometimes refer to as “reported” measures). Investors are encouraged to review the definitions and reconciliations of non-IFRS measures to their most directly comparable IFRS measures, which are in the Financial Appendix appearing at the end of our FY2024 investor presentation (available at www.takeda.com/investors). Beginning in the quarter ended June 30, 2024, Takeda (i) changed its methodology for CER adjustments to results of subsidiaries in hyperinflation countries to present those results in a manner consistent with IAS 29, Financial Reporting in Hyperinflation Economies, (ii) re-named Free Cash Flow as previously calculated as “Adjusted Free Cash Flow” (with “Free Cash Flow” to be reported as Operating Cash Flow less Property, Plant and Equipment), and (iii) re-named Net Debt as previously calculated as “Adjusted Net Debt” (with “Net Debt” to be reported as the book value of bonds and loans less cash and cash equivalents).


Medical information

This press release contains information about products that may not be available in all countries, or may be available under different trademarks, for different indications, in different dosages, or in different strengths. Nothing contained herein should be considered a solicitation, promotion or advertisement for any prescription drugs including the ones under development.


Please refer to slide 5 of Takeda’s FY2024 Q4 investor presentation (available at https://www.takeda.com/investors/financial-results/quarterly-results/) for the definition of Growth & Launch Products.


 


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Contacts

Investor Relations

Christopher O’Reilly

Christopher.oreilly@takeda.com

+81 (0) 90-6481-3412


Media Relations

Brendan Jennings

Brendan.jennings@takeda.com

+81 (0) 80-2705-8259

(Outside Japan business hours)

Media_relations@takeda.com


 


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Monday, 03. March 2025

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Friday, May 9, 2025

Ant International Partners with Barclays on Global Treasury Management with Proprietary AI-Powered FX Model

 SINGAPORE - Friday, 09. May 2025 AETOSWire 


The Time-Series Transformer AI FX Model forecasts cashflow and FX exposure with more than 90% accuracy, helping businesses reduce FX-related fees


 


(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ant International has entered a partnership with leading UK bank Barclays to enhance efficiency and resilience in global treasury management for businesses. Under the partnership, the two sides will combine innovative solutions, including Ant’s proprietary Time-Series Transformer (TST) AI FX Model, to help businesses reduce FX-related costs and risks against global volatilities.


At the initial stage of the collaboration, Ant International has successfully completed the first batch of its intra-group FX transactions with Barclays.


Ant International’s TST Model is a transformer architecture-based big data model with close to 2 billion parameters. By integrating the latest time series forecasting algorithms, the TST Model predicts patterns over time. Ant also created new pre-training and Supervised Fine-Tuning (SFT) frameworks to train the model and improve its predictions over time.


The TST Model now forecasts the company's cashflow and FX exposure on an hourly, daily and weekly basis, with 90%+ accuracy. This enables more accurate predictions of trading volumes and reduces unnecessary hedging and risk premium costs from banks, thereby lowering its hedging costs and overall FX costs.


Barclays integrated the TST Model into its FX hedging platform, BARX NetFX, which broadly serves the e-commerce and payment industries. This collaboration is part of Barclays’ FX Automation strategy, which focuses on developing tools that help their clients digitise workflows and optimise FX hedging.


By integrating the TST Model into its Guaranteed FX solution, Barclays enhances its BARX NetFX platform, resulting in greater accuracy in forecasting Ant International’s FX exposures. This in turn, enables the bank to offer more precise FX hedging, lower its hedging costs, and increase the overall efficiency of its platform. Ant International then leverages this cost efficiency in its FX quotes for businesses, offering competitive rates and maintaining relative price stability for major trading currencies including EUR and USD. Initial trial transactions already saw Ant International helping its clients saving on FX costs.


Ant International’s use case with Barclays highlights the TST Model’s potential for helping businesses mitigate global FX volatility through AI.


“Ant International has been a valued and long-standing partner of Barclays, and we were thrilled to work together on this innovative solution,” said Ben Parkinson, Head of Global Fintech & FX Automation Sales at Barclays. “This collaboration reflects the strong relationship and mutual trust between our teams. Their state-of-the-art AI model has improved the accuracy of forecasting cash flows and helped us optimise the FX hedging process. By combining Ant International’s advanced AI forecasting capabilities with our market-leading FX expertise, we’ve been able to reduce uncertainty and cost, setting a new benchmark for FX risk management.”


Kelvin Li, General Manager of Platform Tech at Ant International, said: “The collaboration with Barclays on our Time Series Transformer Model is an important milestone in our ongoing journey to help treasuries optimise their FX strategies. The results that we have achieved by combining Barclays’ advanced banking capabilities with Ant International’s innovative solutions demonstrate how technology can enhance the way businesses manage their global liquidity, by enabling more efficient FX transactions. It also shows how enhancing our treasury management can benefit our customers, when businesses translate the cost efficiencies into competitive FX rates.”


“This collaboration is a strong testament to how Barclays is dedicated to evolving alongside our partners, by harnessing our complementary strengths to enhance our offerings and deliver more impactful solutions,” said Pushkaraj Gumaste, Head of Corporate Banking, Asia Pacific & Middle East, Barclays. “It's a perfect example of how we can make cross-border business more seamless and efficient for our clients, while deepening the value we bring to their global operations.”


With global cross-border transactions set to reach over US$290 trillion by 2030, Ant International and Barclays recognise the need for innovative FX solutions that will allow businesses to transact more seamlessly and securely. While the use case currently supports major currency pairings used by Ant International, both companies aim to enhance the solution to cover more currencies and serve more business needs.


About Ant International

Headquartered in Singapore, Ant International is a leading global digital payment, digitisation and financial technology provider offering a unified techfin platform to unlock next-gen commerce for all. In close collaboration with partners, they support merchants of all sizes worldwide to realize their growth aspirations through a comprehensive range of tech-driven digital payment and financial services solutions. To learn more, please visit https://www.ant-intl.com/


 


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Contacts

Media


Ant International

Kahmun Leong

Kahmun.leong@ant-intl.com

Results from the VirTus Respiratory Research Ltd Human Rhinovirus Challenge Model Used to Advance Altesa BioSciences’ Lead Medicine into Advanced Clinical Trials

 Study conducted by VirTus Respiratory Research demonstrated that vapendavir has potent antiviral activity and improves symptoms in participants with COPD infected with rhinovirus


(BUSINESS WIRE) -- VirTus Respiratory Research Ltd, a leading respiratory-focused contract research organisation (CRO), today announced that results from their human rhinovirus challenge model in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) provided Altesa BioSciences with compelling evidence to advance their lead drug candidate, vapendavir, into large scale, late-stage clinical trials.


https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/altesa-biosciences-details-positive-topline-vapendavir-results-from-phase-2-placebo-controlled-rhinovirus-challenge-study-in-copd-patients-302448650.html


Rhinovirus infection is the cause of at least half of the acute respiratory deteriorations experienced by the millions of patients with chronic obstructive lung disease. “Before advancing vapendavir into clinical trials testing vapendavir on thousands of patients costing tens of millions of dollars, it was critical to demonstrate beneficial effects of the drug in a proof-of-concept study," said Dr. Brett Giroir, CEO of Altesa and former US Assistant Secretary for Health and Acting FDA Commissioner. “After literally searching the globe, we determined that VirTus was the only place that could safely, effectively, and reliably conduct this study on actual volunteers with COPD.”

The randomised, placebo-controlled study enrolled and evaluated 40 volunteers with COPD, the 3rd leading cause of death worldwide. Pre-screened COPD patients were challenged with a known-to-be safe strain of rhinovirus and randomized after onset of symptoms. Recruitment involved contacting over 10,000 potential volunteers primarily through targeted social media campaigns, highlighting the innovative approach VirTus employs to ensure efficient and successful participant engagement.

"These positive results underline the effectiveness of our human virus challenge model to rapidly assess clinical efficacy of novel medicines early in their clinical development pathway," said Professor Sebastian Johnston, Co-founder and Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at VirTus. "This approach allows our biotech and pharmaceutical industry partners to gain early, meaningful clinical data, helping them to make confident go/no-go decisions in their drug development pipeline."

VirTus' human virus challenge model offers sponsors the opportunity to evaluate treatments in a controlled environment, significantly reducing uncertainty, time and cost associated with much larger, traditional early clinical development studies.

“By leveraging the wealth of experience of Professor Johnston and the VirTus team, we have learned how to best deploy vapendavir so that is has the best chance of improving the lives of people with COPD – which is our ultimate goal and one that I have dedicated my career to achieving,” said Dr. Kate Knobil, CMO at Altesa and former CMO of GSK.

Dr Michael Edwards, Co-founder and Managing Director at VirTus, added, "We're delighted to support Altesa BioSciences in achieving these encouraging results with vapendavir. This successful collaboration showcases the strength and reliability of our human challenge studies, reinforcing our mission to accelerate innovative treatments for respiratory illnesses worldwide."


About VirTus Respiratory Research Ltd

VirTus Respiratory Research Ltd is a CRO co-led by Professor Sebastian Johnston and Dr. Michael Edwards, both of Imperial College London, United Kingdom. VirTus is dedicated to accelerating the development of novel therapies for the treatment and prevention of respiratory virus infections, which are the leading cause of acute attacks (exacerbations) in chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma, COPD and bronchiectasis. VirTus conducts both pre-clinical and early-phase clinical studies, specialising in human virus challenge models to generate high-quality data that supports the advancement of new therapeutics into later-stage development.


The rhinovirus challenge model

At VirTus Respiratory Research Ltd, the rhinovirus challenge model is used to generate early signals of clinical efficacy in a tightly controlled, reproducible setting. By exposing volunteers to rhinovirus infection under monitored conditions, the model provides detailed assessment of how a treatment impacts symptoms, virus load and immune/inflammatory responses. For our partners, this model acts as a critical go/no-go decision maker ahead of much larger, costlier Phase 2b/3 trials. It helps answer key questions early, including clinical efficacy, dose selection and endpoint optimisation. Sponsors benefit from accelerated timelines, early go/no-go insights, de-risking development programs by identifying promising candidates, or ruling out ineffective ones, at an earlier stage, ultimately optimising resource allocation and increasing the likelihood of downstream success.


About Vapendavir

Vapendavir, taken orally in pill form, is a clinical-stage antiviral medicine with potent activity against 97% of rhinoviruses tested and other respiratory enteroviruses. It prevents the virus from entering human cells as well as preventing it from reproducing. Vapendavir is currently in advanced clinical trials for the treatment of rhinovirus infections in people living with COPD. Vapendavir has a similar mechanism of action to the FDA approved HIV capsid inhibitor, lenacapavir marketed by Gilead Sciences.


About COPD

COPD is a life-limiting chronic lung condition that affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide. COPD is now the third leading cause of death globally, with prevalence continuing to rise due to aging populations and ongoing exposure to risk factors such as smoking and air pollution. COPD imposes a huge burden on individuals and healthcare systems alike, with high morbidity due to progressive lung function decline and frequent exacerbations, alongside enormous ($49 billion in the US) healthcare costs associated with long-term treatment and prolonged and frequent hospital admissions.


About Altesa

Altesa BioSciences is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company dedicated to developing new treatments for age-old threats to human health: high-consequence viral infections. These infections are particularly severe in vulnerable people, including those with chronic health conditions, like lung diseases, as well as the elderly and many people in underserved communities.


 


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Contacts

For further information please contact Tika Endeladze

+44 7500 016688

tendeladze@virtus-rr.com

https://virtus-rr.com/

Xsolla Acquires Ludo to Advance Player Engagement and Monetization

 The Acquisition Integrates Ludo’s Code-Free Questing Platform into Xsolla’s Web Shop Solution to Deepen Player Connection and Drive Monetization


 


(BUSINESS WIRE)--Xsolla, a global leader in video game commerce, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Ludo, a platform designed to drive community engagement through code-free social quests. This strategic acquisition brings Ludo’s innovative technology into the Xsolla portfolio, combining its questing tools with Xsolla’s Web Shop and other Xsolla Rewards Solutions to help developers worldwide increase player engagement, drive retention, and unlock new monetization opportunities beyond the traditional app store model. As the #1 web shop provider in the video games industry, with over 500 web shops launched, Xsolla and Ludo will take mobile players' experience to the next level for game developers.


Ludo’s integration with Xsolla centers on incorporating Community Quests into Xsolla’s ecosystem, giving developers a simple, built-in way to spark engagement through gamified social experiences. This aligns Ludo’s expertise in player activation with Xsolla’s robust commerce infrastructure, creating a seamless path from gameplay to web-based purchases and turning community participation into revenue-generating behavior.


The timing is significant. New platform flexibility allows mobile developers in the U.S. to promote and link to their web shops directly from their games, unlocking more seamless access to external purchasing experiences. This shift means developers can now:


Connect players directly from mobile games to web shops

Offer mobile-first access to alternative payment methods

Expand reach through localized pricing and regional distribution

Enable one-tap access to specific SKUs, bundles, or promotions

Customize web-based offers tied to in-game moments and player behavior

With these capabilities combined with Ludo’s community-driven questing tools, developers can now create full-circle engagement loops that increase monetization, drive loyalty, and grow their player base without adding development overhead.


“Welcoming Ludo to the Xsolla family strengthens our push to give mobile game developers accessible, innovative tools,” said Chris Hewish, Chief Strategy Officer at Xsolla. “With an expanded Xsolla Rewards ecosystem, we’re adding loyalty and questing features that turn player engagement into lasting growth for games and their communities. The integration empowers developers to create dynamic quests that reward players for in-game purchases, social participation, and community-building actions such as joining a Discord channel or engaging on social networks. This opens up new avenues for re-engagement, loyalty, and increased conversion, all without requiring additional development resources or burdens on game developers.”


“Player loyalty is shaped the moment or even before the game begins; a dynamic questing system rekindles that spark every day, turning fleeting engagement into a sustainable, ever-growing community,” said Renee Russo, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Ludo.


“By adding advanced community quests and rewards at checkout, developers can nurture their communities, raise conversion rates, and protect margins,” said Annie Reardon, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Ludo. “Xsolla remains at the forefront of game commerce, and we’re thrilled to team up – blending rich out-of-game experiences with steady, player-driven growth to drive user acquisition and incremental revenue opportunities for games around the globe.”


In the coming months, Xsolla will continue rolling out tools and integrations built on Ludo’s capabilities, simplifying implementation and providing developers with actionable, data-driven insights. The goal is to give developers of all sizes the ability to grow their games, increase lifetime player value, and build vibrant, engaged communities.


For more information or to begin integrating Ludo, please visit: xsolla.pro/ludo


About Xsolla


Xsolla is a leading global video game commerce company with a robust and powerful set of tools and services designed specifically for the industry. Since its founding in 2005, Xsolla has helped thousands of game developers and publishers of all sizes fund, market, launch, and monetize their games globally and across multiple platforms. As an innovative leader in game commerce, Xsolla’s mission is to solve the inherent complexities of global distribution, marketing, and monetization to help our partners reach more geographies, generate more revenue, and create relationships with gamers worldwide. Headquartered and incorporated in Los Angeles, California, with offices in London, Berlin, Seoul, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Raleigh, Tokyo, Montreal, and cities around the world.


For more information, visit xsolla.com


 


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Contacts

Media Contact


Derrick Stembridge

Vice President of Global Public Relations, Xsolla

d.stembridge@xsolla.com


 

AB InBev Reports First Quarter 2025 Results

 Solid start to the year with EBITDA growth at the top-end of our outlook, continued margin expansion and high-single digit Underlying EPS growth

(BUSINESS WIRE) -- Anheuser-Busch InBev (Brussel:ABI) (BMV:ANB) (JSE:ANH) (NYSE:BUD):

Regulated information1

“Beer is a passion point for consumers. The strength of the beer category and the continued momentum of our megabrands delivered another quarter of profitable growth. EBITDA increased at the top-end of our outlook and the ongoing optimization of our business drove Underlying EPS growth of 7.1%. The consistent execution of our strategy by our teams and partners drove a solid start to the year and reinforces our confidence in delivering on our outlook for 2025.” – Michel Doukeris, CEO, AB InBev

Revenue

+1.5%

Revenue increased by 1.5% with revenue per hl growth of 3.7%. Reported revenue decreased by 6.3% to 13 628 million USD, impacted by unfavorable currency translation.

 

4.4% increase in combined revenues of our megabrands, led by Corona, which grew by 11.2% outside of its home market in 1Q25.

 

34% increase in revenue of our no-alcohol beer portfolio.

 

53% increase in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) from sales of third-party products through BEES Marketplace to reach 645 million USD.

 

Volumes

-2.2%

Volumes declined by 2.2%, with beer volumes down by 2.5% and non-beer volumes down by 0.2%.

Normalized EBITDA

+7.9%

In 1Q25, Normalized EBITDA increased by 7.9% to 4 855 million USD with a margin expansion of 218bps to 35.6%.

 

Underlying Profit

1 606 million USD

Underlying Profit was 1 606 million USD in 1Q25 compared to 1 509 million USD in 1Q24. Reported profit attributable to equity holders of AB InBev was 2 148 million USD in 1Q25 compared to 1 091 million USD in 1Q24, positively impacted by non-underlying items.

 

Underlying EPS

0.81 USD

Underlying EPS increased by 7.1% to 0.81 USD. On a constant currency basis, Underlying EPS increased by 20.2%.

1The enclosed information constitutes regulated information as defined in the Belgian Royal Decree of 14 November 2007 regarding the duties of issuers of financial instruments which have been admitted for trading on a regulated market. For important disclaimers and notes on the basis of preparation, please refer to page 12.

Management comments

Solid start to the year with EBITDA growth at the top-end of our outlook, continued margin expansion and high-single digit Underlying EPS growth

Our business delivered another quarter of solid financial performance in 1Q25. EBITDA increased by 7.9% with margin expansion of 218bps driven by top-line growth, cost of sales tailwinds and disciplined overhead management. Underlying EPS was 0.81 USD, a 7.1% increase in USD and a 20.2% increase in constant currency versus 1Q24, driven by 10.3% EBIT growth and the continued optimization of our net finance costs.

Top-line increased by 1.5%, with revenue growth in approximately 50% of our markets, driven by a revenue per hl increase of 3.7% as a result of disciplined revenue management choices and ongoing premiumization. We increased our overall portfolio brand power driven by increased marketing investment and effectiveness. In addition, we estimate that we gained or maintained market share in 60% of our markets. Volume performance was, however, impacted by calendar-related factors such as cycling the leap year selling-day benefit in 1Q24 and Easter shipment phasing, resulting in a decline of 2.2%.

Progressing our strategic priorities

We continue to execute on and invest in three key strategic pillars to deliver consistent growth and long-term value creation.

(1) Lead and grow the category:

We increased our overall portfolio brand power driven by increased marketing investment and effectiveness. In addition, we estimate that we gained or maintained market share in 60% of our markets.

(2) Digitize and monetize our ecosystem:

BEES Marketplace captured 645 million USD in GMV from sales of third-party products, a 53% increase versus 1Q24. Overall BEES GMV increased by 10%, reaching 11.6 billion USD.

(3) Optimize our business:

Underlying EPS was 0.81 USD, a 7.1% increase in USD and a 20.2% increase in constant currency terms versus 1Q24, driven by 10.3% EBIT growth and the continued optimization of our net finance costs.

(1) Lead and grow the category

We are executing on our five replicable levers to drive category growth. Our performance across each of the levers was led by our megabrands which delivered a 4.4% revenue increase.

  • Category Participation: Investments in our megabrands and innovations drove an estimated increase of 60 basis points in the percentage of legal drinking age consumers purchasing our portfolio across our key markets, the equivalent of 6 million new consumers on an annualized basis. Participation increases were driven by our megabrands and no-alcohol beer portfolio.

  • Core Superiority: Revenue of our mainstream portfolio increased by 0.3%, driven by double-digit growth in South Korea and mid-single digit growth in Colombia and Mexico.

  • Balanced Choices: Our balanced choices portfolio of low carb, sugar free, gluten free and no- and low-alcohol beer brands delivered a revenue increase of 2.7%. Growth was led by our no-alcohol beer portfolio which delivered a 34% revenue increase and is estimated to have gained share of no-alcohol beer across our footprint, led by Corona Cero which grew volume by triple-digits.

  • Premiumization: Our above core beer portfolio delivered a 1.8% revenue increase. Corona led our performance, increasing revenue by 11.2% outside of Mexico with double-digit volume growth in more than 30 markets.

  • Beyond Beer: Growth of our Beyond Beer portfolio accelerated in 1Q25, increasing revenue by 16.6%, led by double-digit growth of Cutwater and Nütrl in the US and Beats in Brazil.

(2) Digitize and monetize our ecosystem

  • Digitizing our relationships with more than 6 million customers globally: As of 31 March 2025, BEES was live in 28 markets with 72% of our revenues captured through B2B digital platforms. In 1Q25, BEES captured 11.6 billion USD in GMV, growth of 10% versus 1Q24.

  • Monetizing our route-to-market: BEES Marketplace generated 10 million orders and captured 645 million USD in GMV from sales of third-party products, growth of 27% and 53% versus 1Q24, respectively.

  • Leading the way in DTC solutions: Our omnichannel DTC ecosystem of digital and physical products generated revenue of approximately 275 million USD. Our DTC megabrands, Zé Delivery, TaDa Delivery and PerfectDraft, generated 19.2 million e-commerce orders and delivered 117 million USD in revenue this quarter, representing 12% growth versus 1Q24.

(3) Optimize our business

  • Maximizing value creation: EBITDA grew by 7.9% with margin expansion of 218bps supported by disciplined resource allocation and overhead management. Optimization of our net capex drove increased efficiency in depreciation and amortization expenses, resulting in 10.3% EBIT growth. As of 5 May 2025, we have completed 70% of our 2 billion USD share buyback program announced on 31 October 2024.

  • Advancing our sustainability priorities: In Climate Action, our Scopes 1 and 2 emissions per hectoliter of production was 4.44 kgCO2e/hl in 1Q25, a reduction of 45.7% against the 2017 baseline. In Water Stewardship, our water use efficiency ratio improved to 2.44 hl per hl in 1Q25 versus 2.55 hl per hl in 1Q24, as we continue working towards our ambition to reach 2.50 hl per hl on an annual basis by the end of 2025.

Delivering reliable compounding growth

We are encouraged by our results to start the year, the resilience of the beer category and the consistent execution of our strategy by our teams and partners. Our business is local, with more than 98% of our volume locally produced, and our footprint has structural tailwinds for long-term volume growth with favorable demographics, ongoing economic development and opportunities to increase category participation. Our consistent performance and the fundamental strengths of our business reinforce our confidence in our ability to deliver reliable compounding growth and create a future with more cheers.

2025 Outlook

(i) Overall Performance: We expect our EBITDA to grow in line with our medium-term outlook of between 4-8%. The outlook for FY25 reflects our current assessment of inflation and other macroeconomic conditions.

(ii) Net Finance Costs: Net pension interest expenses and accretion expenses are expected to be in the range of 190 to 220 million USD per quarter, depending on currency and interest rate fluctuations. We expect the average gross debt coupon in FY25 to be approximately 4%.

(iii) Effective Tax Rate (ETR): We expect the normalized ETR in FY25 to be in the range of 26% to 28%. The ETR outlook does not consider the impact of potential future changes in legislation.

(iv) Net Capital Expenditure: We expect net capital expenditure of between 3.5 and 4.0 billion USD in FY25.

Figure 1. Consolidated performance

      

in USD Mio, except EPS in USD per share and Volumes in thousand hls

 

1Q24

 

1Q25

 

Organic

      

growth

Volumes

 

139 536

 

136 268

 

(2.2

)%

Beer

 

119 683

 

116 778

 

(2.5

)%

Non-Beer

 

19 852

 

19 490

 

(0.2

)%

Revenue

 

14 547

 

13 628

 

1.5

%

Gross profit

 

7 894

 

7 583

 

5.2

%

Gross margin

 

54.3%

 

55.6%

 

203bps

Normalized EBITDA

 

4 987

 

4 855

 

7.9

%

Normalized EBITDA margin

 

34.3%

 

35.6%

 

218bps

Normalized EBIT

 

3 642

 

3 587

 

10.3

%

Normalized EBIT margin

 

25.0%

 

26.3%

 

218bps

 

      

Profit attributable to equity holders of AB InBev

 

1 091

 

2 148

  

Underlying Profit

 

1 509

 

1 606

  

 

      

Basic EPS

 

0.54

 

1.08

  

Underlying EPS

 

0.75

 

0.81

 

 

Figure 2. Volumes

            

in thousand hls

 

1Q24

 

Scope

 

Organic

growth

 

1Q25

 

Organic growth

         

Total

 

Beer

North America

 

21 353

 

(144

)

 

(1 368

)

 

19 842

 

(6.4

)%

 

(6.4

)%

Middle Americas

 

35 690

 

-

 

 

(610

)

 

35 081

 

(1.7

)%

 

(1.5

)%

South America

 

40 347

 

-

 

 

544

 

 

40 891

 

1.3

%

 

1.4

%

EMEA

 

21 030

 

(35

)

 

(243

)

 

20 752

 

(1.2

)%

 

(1.8

)%

Asia Pacific

 

21 045

 

(93

)

 

(1 304

)

 

19 648

 

(6.2

)%

 

(6.2

)%

Global Export and Holding Companies

 

70

 

(3

)

 

(13

)

 

54

 

(19.2

)%

 

(19.2

)%

AB InBev Worldwide

 

139 536

 

(274

)

 

(2 993

)

 

136 268

 

(2.2

)%

 

(2.5

)%

Key Markets Performance