With Immediate Release 

 

V1 Group Changes HSICS Industry Classification to 'E-Commerce & Internet Services'

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Focusing on Sports Lottery and

Becoming the First Internet Sports Concept Stock in Hong Kong
 

(Hong Kong, 9 March 2020) - One of China's top 100 internet companies, V1 Group Limited ("V1 Group" or the "Company", together with its subsidiaries, the "Group"; stock code: 00082.HK), today announced that Hang Seng Indexes Company Limited ("HSI") has accepted the Group's application regarding its reclassification under the Hang Seng Industry Classification System ("HSICS"). V1 Group is now classified under the "Information Technology - Software & Services - E-Commerce & Internet Services" ("E-Commerce & Internet Services") category. The reclassification takes effect today. V1 Group has officially become the first Hong Kong stock with an internet sports concept.

 

The Group has completed the acquisition of Beijing Crazy Sports Management Company Limited ("Crazy Sports"), whose business mainly covers internet services and online platforms, and has become a major revenue contributor for the Group. Leveraging on the Group's huge Chinese sports lottery user resources and big data vault, Crazy Sports has successfully developed the largest sports community and lottery information distribution platform in China.

 

Exceptional Internet User and Big Data Resources for Business Development with a Focus on the Sports Industry

 

The Group has commenced its lottery business in 2010. After the acquisition of Crazy Sports, it has proactively input rich resources accumulated from the Group's operation of the China Soccer Lottery ("中國足彩網") website and Lottery 365 ("彩票365") app, including its match database, which comprises the results of 280,000 sports tournaments and matches from the past 20 years, and over 200 million online sports information users; both are core assets of the Group. As a result, Crazy Sports has managed to fully develop its "Crazy Recommendation" ("瘋狂紅單") app, a self-developed paid lottery information and recommendation analytics services platform.

 

The Group leverages on its digital analytics capabilities and edge, utilising multiple calculation models and formulas, to produce and summarise meaningful, practical, and accurate analyses and reports, on one hand, based on user preference and interests, and present them directly on user terminals - the Crazy Recommendation app; and on the other, in time with sport tournament schedules and hot topics, as a total recommendation package for each tournament.

 

This information service, which highly corresponds to users' online habits and needs, reflects the Group's understanding of the internet era - through user generated big data, the Group can interpret the market through digital analyses, hence filling the gap where needed, to satisfy users' needs, and at the same time, generate revenue for the Group to achieve a win-win situation, such that all can stride towards a more efficient society as a whole.

 

Pioneering China's Internet Industry, Collaborating with

Numerous Leading Enterprises to Develop New Users Market

 

Since the Group was founded in 2005, it has actively expanded its technical internet capabilities, which has become an indispensable part of the Group's growth. Internet technology is not only the foundation of the Group's rapid development, but also an essential element of the Group's businesses.

 

For example, the Crazy Recommendation app partners with large sports information platforms such as Tencent Sports, Netease Sports and All Football ("懂球帝") to post Crazy Recommendation contents, which not only enriches the various platforms' lottery contents, but also turns them into sources of new users for Crazy Recommendation. In addition, Crazy Sports has launched a sports lottery new retail business in the second half of 2019. It has entered into collaboration agreements with China's well-known franchise store chains, such as 7-Eleven in Guangdong, Bianlifeng ("便利蜂"), and Haolinju ("好鄰居"). These partners all own mature offline retail store networks with broad geographical coverage, based on which the Group can rapidly expand its user base and mine new user resources.

 

With the aforementioned advantages and partnerships, Crazy Sports has potential for exponential growth and will become a major growth driver for the Group, driving the Group's overall revenue to surge quickly in near future.

 

In view of that, the Group's management timely submitted an application to HSI, requesting to change its industry classification, so that investors can have a better understanding of the Group's businesses and its potential in the industry. HSI has accepted the application, and replied that the new classification will take effect after the completion of the yearly review of the HSICS. As of today (9 March 2020), the Group is officially categorised under the "Information Technology - Software & Services - E-Commerce & Internet Services" category.

 

Dr. ZHANG Lijun, Chairman and Executive Director of V1 Group Limited, said, "The recent viral outbreak has revealed to us that in times of peril, our own immunity is more dependable than money and power. Getting in shape, to strengthen your body, has become a common goal for humanity. Investors should see the explosive potential of the sports market and our "sports + lottery" strategy, instead of judging us from an experiential perspective, or they might fall victim to delayed actions. In 2020, sports segment is the star."

 

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About V1 Group Limited

V1 Group Limited first commenced its internet video business in 2005 and became listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2006. Since then, its business has evolved to principally engage in internet businesses with a focus on the Chinese sports industry, including internet audio-visual new media, sports lottery new retail, online trading platform and other internet businesses in the PRC and a satellite TV station in Dubai, UAE. As one of China's top 100 internet companies, the Group leverages on its digital capabilities and edge as well as its online and offline sports and video communities to form a culture and sports ecosystem. Guided by sports marketisation, connectivity and digitalisation, the Group is committed to provide reliable sports products and services for the vast Chinese sports enthusiasts.

 

 

 For more information, please visit ir.v1group.com.hk.