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Press Release Source: Digital China Holdings Limited


Digital China Reports its FY2006/2007 Annual Results

HIGHLIGHTS

For the fiscal year ended 31 March 2007
-- Net Revenues increased by 27.96% year-over-year to HK$25.418 billion from HK$19.865 billion in FY2005/2006.
-- Operating income increased 10.60% to HK$415 million from HK$375 million.
-- Net profit was HK$208 million, a decrease of 17.26% compared to HK$252 million last year.
-- Gross profit margin was 7.27% compared to 7.07% last year.
-- Basic earnings per share decreased to HK$23.92 cents from HK$29.19 cents last year.
-- Diluted earnings per share decreased to HK$23.78 cents from HK$29.07 cents last year.


HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Digital China Holdings Limited ("Digital China" or "the Group", stock code: 861), a leading information technology services company in the People's Republic of China ("PRC"), today announced its FY2006/07 annual results for the year ended March 31, 2007.
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Commenting on the results, Mr. LI Qin, Chairman of Digital China, said, "We had a very successful year at the operating level, though unfortunately a number of factors pressured on our net results. Fundamentally, however, our business is quite healthy. During the year, we established our Company as the most valuable Information Technology service provider in China by anticipating market trends and customer demand, and by daring to improve and innovate. As we head into our 2007/2008 fiscal year, we plan to continue our transformation into a services-focused business. By working more closely with our customers at every level of the business, we will be able to provide higher value-added services that specifically cater to their needs, which we believe should help us drive our revenues and overall profitability."

Digital China maintained stable growth in turnover for the year primarily because of the successful execution of its business strategy, which is focused on building sound corporate governance, effective business development and improving execution capabilities as well as leveraging its extensive understanding of the Chinese market.

The Group substantially improved its cash flow and cash cycle. The Systems Business recorded strong growth through regional expansion to meet the expansion needs of its suppliers into small and medium-sized cities. The Distribution Business saw rapid growth in product turnover, led by major brand names, while the Service Business maintained steady growth.

BUSINESS HIGHLIGHTS

Digital China continued to build strong relationships with vendors and partners to establish full coverage of the Chinese market, from retail consumers to large companies in major business sectors, providing various from high to mid & to low-end consumer IT products in mainland China.
The Group established the Xi'an software laboratory, helping to lay a solid foundation for technological leadership in software development.
The Group established three new subsidiaries in Changsha, Fuzhou and Hefei to expand coverage in third- and fourth-tier cities as well as for large-scale corporate customers, and created business platforms to penetrate regional markets more deeply.
Digital China's continued its transformational shift towards IT services by increasing investments in application development and standardization of software products in order to strengthen the core competitive strengths of the Group's service business.
FINANCIAL RESULTS

Revenue for the fiscal year ended 31 March 2007 (FY2006/2007) was HK$ 25.418 billion, an increase of 27.96 %, compared to HK$19.865 billion last year. Revenue grew at a much higher rate than the estimated 15.7% growth rate of the PRC IT Market(1) and helped the Group sustain its leading position and competitive edge in the market. The growth was mainly attributable to better implementation of the specific growth strategies set by the Group for each of the three business segments. The gross profit margin of Digital China in FY2006/2007 was 7.27 % compared to 7.07% in the corresponding period of 2005/2006.

Profit attributable to equity holders of the parent in FY2006/2007 decreased slightly to HK$ 208 million from HK$252 million last year. The drop was primarily due to charges to goodwill and other contingent costs related to an acquisition in the previous fiscal year, software development investments and other market developments, including publicity and advertising. Some of the related charges included (i) a HK$29 million charge for goodwill impairment related to the acquisition of Si-Tech Information Technology Co., Ltd last year and an investment loss of approximately HK$12 million as a result of impairment for the intangible assets contributed into Digital China System Access Holding Limited, a jointly-controlled entity, by both joint venture parties; (ii) a bad debt loss of approximately HK$4 million out of a HK$12 million trade receivable balance with a systems business customer- the remaining HK$8 million was recovered through a lawsuit; (iii) a HK$21 million amortization and impairment charge related to intangible assets (capitalized development costs that were required to be reclassified following a change in accounting rules last year); Management believes these activities, along with a number of promotional events, summits and conferences were necessary to sharpen the Group's capacity for innovation as well to achieve sustainable growth.

Basic earnings per share and diluted earnings per share were HK$ 23.92 cents and HK$ 23.78 cents, respectively, compared to HK$ 29.19 cents and HK$ 29.07 cents on FY2005/2006.

At the end of the FY2006/2007, the number of outstanding shares was 871,479,182 and the diluted number of outstanding shares was 876, 317,035.

Net cash flow from operating activities was HK$ 571 million, an increase of 441 million compared to the FY 2005/2006, due principally to improved cash management as a result of improved credit terms with certain vendors. For the FY2006/2007, the cash cycle was 27.44 days decreased 7.16 days compared to FY2005/2006. Inventory turnover and turnover of trade receivables decreased by 2.97 days and 3.99 days respectively.

SEGMENT ANALYSIS

Distribution

Turnover of the Distribution Business experienced impressive growth at HK$14,728 million, an increase of 26.79% over the corresponding period of last year, far exceeding the growth rate of the domestic IT market.

The gross profit margin for this business increased to 4.79%, from 4.69% in FY2005/2006.

Rapid growth in product turnover

Turnover of major products experienced rapid growth. The turnover of notebook computers increased 41.73 % compared to the previous year, while the turnover of consumer IT products increased by 46.74 %, the turnover of PC servers and of accessories rose 41.27% and 38.16 %, respectively.

The ACER notebook and desktop computers business, and the FULFILLMENT business of the HP desktop computers, which was introduced by the Group last year, represent a significant increase of HK$2,054 million from last financial year.

Strengthened Channel Relationships

As of 31 March 2007, Digital China had 5,956 distribution partners, which represents an increase of 31.39% compared to last year. The Group hosted a number of summits and initiated several projects that aimed to further enhance cooperation and improve Digital China's visibility among various distributors. The projects were well received and were instrumental in improving the Group's performance during the year.

Operational and management improvements

The distribution business introduced a range of improvements based on its business process management system, this year focusing on the order process. In the previous fiscal year, the distribution business adopted a Continuous Process Innovation system, or CPI, which has been successfully used as the basis for quantitative analysis of factors affecting order efficiency. Since the implementation of the system, the analysis has enabled the distribution business to improve its efficiency in handling orders, enhance operating efficiency, and increase customer satisfaction rates.

Systems

Strong growth in the System Business based on supplier expansion strategies

The turnover of the Systems Business for the year ended 31 March 2007 was HK$ 7,352 million, an increase of 29.44% compared to the previous fiscal year. The gross profit margin was 9.51 % , up from 8.92% in FY2005/2006. During the year, the Group sought to work more closely with system integrators and other customers to understand their specific needs and help them reach the best solution. Providing such customer-focused value-added services enabled the Group's System's business to greatly increase its revenues and slowly start to raise its overall profitability.

Additionally, by adopting a strategy of meeting suppliers' business requirements for expansion into medium and small cities, the Group recorded substantial growth in turnover of its four major products during the year, and further consolidated its advantageous position in the UNIX server, network product and packaged software sectors. Compared to last year, turnover of network products increased by 28.03%, turnover of packaged software increased by 23.74%, turnover of storage products increased by 14.28%, and turnover of UNIX servers increased by 13.98%.

Regional Development

As of 31 March 2007, distribution channels had increased by 16 %compared to March 31, 2006 due to various conferences and marketing events with core channel partners that were launched throughout the year.

Operating and Management Improvement

The Group continued to reinforce its service capability during this financial year. As of 31 March 2007, the technical staff had increased to 208 from 178 a year earlier. During the year, the Systems Business made adjustments to its service and product mix, leading to 114% growth in turnover compared to the previous year.

Services

The Services Business developed three new core capabilities during the year:

Infrastructure facilities were completed at the Xi'an software development laboratory, including expansion and training of the workforce, in order centralize software development capabilities and avoid more expensive on-site development work at customer locations.
The Services Business enhanced software development and strived to standardize software products, which should help improve execution and delivery of new products for customers.
The service business expanded operations outsourcing services of labour, equipment and facilities as a part of its effort to develop IT operations outsourcing services.
As a result, Digital China maintained rapid growth in its Services Business, generating turnover of HK$ 3,339 million, an increase of 29.97% over FY2005/2006. The business expanded in scale while maintaining profitability, with gross profit margin of 13.30%.

Building key relationships and driving new innovations

Backed by a strong focus on customer relationships, the Service Business maintained a strong position in the finance, telecommunications and government sectors and successfully built stable business relationships with leading companies such as China Mobile, China Netcom, and PetroChina, as well as government entities such as the State Administration of Taxation, the Shenzhen Municipal Office of the State Administration of Taxation, and the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Throughout the fiscal year, Digital China's Service Business signed product support and IT outsourcing contracts valued at HK$ 400 million, an increase of more than 50 % over the previous fiscal year.

During the current fiscal year, the service business also introduced several innovations aimed at improving quality and efficiency as it expands in scale and scope. It established a center for product support, IT outsourcing, and maintenance service delivery, which will lead to improvements in service processes and cost reductions. It established a software operating platform to strengthen process control and introduce a higher level of efficiency in terms of resource utilization. Finally, it increased investment in standards. It became the first domestic service company to be certified with ISO 20000, an international certification for IT service management (ITIL/ITSM) after upgrading of the standard to ISO20000:2005.

The Group's investments in human resources and research & development capabilities in the IT Services Business will continue to impact profitability at the net level. However, these investments are expected to raise the Group's core competitiveness and overall capabilities, and Management considers them essential for the Group's future growth.

MANAGEMENT REVIEW

During the year, in addition to business development, management focused on brand building, resource allocation, and corporate culture.

(1) Brand promotion following the theme of "Innovative IT Services" began to show results. The success of the innovation conferences and marketing activities conducted by the distribution and systems businesses contributed significantly to brand value and identity, leading to an improved environment for business expansion.

(2) The Group stepped up its recruiting program in universities, and continued to develop its internal "talent ladder" through targeted training for high-potential individuals.

(3) The Group further strengthened cash management as well as risk controls in order to improve investment returns. This is gradually becoming an area of core competitiveness for the company.

(4) The Group conducted a series of activities to help ingrain the Group's corporate culture with technical staff, sales personnel and support staff in order to ensure they identify with the Group's corporate values, foster innovation and remain motivated.

BUSINESS OUTLOOK

Looking ahead, Digital China will continue its transformation into an IT services group, strive to improve its customer-oriented business model, accelerate innovation, improve relationships with customers, manage risks and create value for shareholders,

The Group will continue to focus on its Service Business by increasing investment in product research and development. It will strongly focus on IT services, increasing investments in applications development and standardization of software products. All of these measures are expected to strengthen the core competitiveness of the services business.

Yet, the Group still faces some challenges both internally and externally. The Distribution and Systems businesses are expected to be confronted with intensified market competition which will continue to place pressure on the Group's ability to maintain gross margins.

High levels of sales and marketing expenses are expected to continue as the Group attempts to maintain and raise market share in an increasingly competitive environment.

An increase in the interest rate of RMB and USD borrowings leads could increase the financing costs of the Group
Amortisation of the Group's intangible assets (development costs that were capitalized in prior years before an accounting change) will continue
Increasing investments in human resources and research and development capabilities within the IT services business will be needed to further improve the core competitiveness of the Group's Services business
Brand advertising and promotional expenses will be needed in order to improve the Group's market influence, competitiveness and relationships with the government, suppliers and other business partners
Despite these longer-term challenges, Management is confident that the Group will increase top-line growth in the 2007/08 fiscal year. Additionally, Digital China believes that the promotional expenses and resource investments mentioned above will help lay a more solid foundation for the Group's continued growth and development in the coming years.

About Digital China (HKEx: 0861)

Digital China Holdings Limited ("Digital China", "the Group"; HKEx: 861) is an information technology services company. Headquartered in Beijing, Digital China has regional centers in 16 major cities in China. Digital China focuses on 3 major directions - Distribution of IT products; Software Development and Consultancy as well as Systems Integration and related services. Digital China distributes a vast range of IT products including PCs, servers, storage products, peripherals, networking products, mid-range servers, mobile office equipment, wireless access equipment and software through a network of over 6,000 channel resellers and agents across the country. The list of brands is continuously expanding. The Group's self-developed application software Sm@rtBanking, Sm@rtBoss billing systems and CTAIS series taxation management have been successfully implemented and endorsed by its major customers.

Digital China Annual Results Announcement Media and Analyst Meeting

Venue: Salon II-III M/F, Grand Hyatt, Hong Kong
1 Harbour Road, Hong Kong
Time: Press Conference: 4:15pm - 5:15pm HK Time
Analyst Meeting: 5:30pm - 6:30pm HK Time

For Dial-In conference call, details are:

1. Direct Access +852 3006 8101 (Password: Digital China)
2. Toll Free China Telecom 1080 015 211 53 (Password: Digital China)
3. Toll Free China Netcom 1080 085 207 71 (Password: Digital China)

A webcast replay of the FY06/07 Annual Results Announcement will also be available in our website www.digitalchina.com.hk after 8:00 am Hong Kong time on July 14, 2007.

Appendix 1 : CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT

Three Year ended Three Year ended
months Mar 31, 2007 months Mar 31, 2006
ended ended
Mar 31, Mar 31,
2007 2006

HK$'000 HK$'000 HK$'000 HK$'000

Revenue 6,434,544 25,418,398 5,153,131 19,864,897
Cost of sales (5,912,905) (23,569,405) (4,751,977) (18,459,683)
----------- ------------ ----------- ------------

Gross profit 521,639 1,848,993 401,154 1,405,214

Other income and
gains 63,550 219,938 24,816 122,669

Selling and
distribution costs (313,495) (1,105,296) (250,824) (810,575)
Administrative
expenses (115,073) (318,635) (70,295) (267,471)
Other operating
expenses, net (56,205) (230,263) (12,421) (74,851)
----------- ------------ ----------- ------------
Total operating
expenses (484,773) (1,654,194) (333,540) (1,152,897)
----------- ------------ ----------- ------------

Profit from
operating
activities 100,416 414,737 92,430 374,986
Finance costs (37,092) (146,406) (26,498) (95,851)
Share of profits and
losses of:
Jointly-
controlled
entities (3,593) (20,882) (2,309) (5,171)
Associates (1,116) (5,505) (3,340) (4,383)
----------- ------------ ----------- ------------

Profit before tax 58,615 241,944 60,283 269,581
Tax (25,399) (40,631) (13,289) (20,970)
----------- ------------ ----------- ------------

Profit for the
period 33,216 201,313 46,994 248,611
=========== ============ =========== ============

Attributable to:
Equity holders of
the parent 36,379 208,429 45,946 251,917
Minority
interests (3,163) (7,116) 1,048 (3,306)
----------- ------------ ----------- ------------

33,216 201,313 46,994 248,611
=========== ============ =========== ============

Earnings per share
attributable to
ordinary equity
holders of the
parent
Basic (HK cents) 23.92 29.19
============ ============

Diluted (HK cents) 23.78 29.07
============ ============

Appendix 2: CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET

At Mar 31, At Mar 31,
2007 2006
HK$'000 HK$'000
NON-CURRENT ASSETS
Property, plant and equipment 337,621 420,168
Investment properties 208,226 184,293
Prepaid land premiums 13,547 13,485
Goodwill - 28,265
Intangible assets 19,087 39,324
Interests in jointly-controlled entities 3,644 24,526
Interests in associates 22,970 36,453
Available-for-sale equity investments 31,611 32,944
Deferred tax assets 25,038 31,150
---------- ----------
Total non-current assets 661,744 810,608
---------- ----------
CURRENT ASSETS
Inventories 1,683,630 1,567,027
Trade and bills receivables 2,852,404 2,584,673
Prepayments, deposits and other receivables 957,146 567,288
Cash and bank balances 717,455 297,768
---------- ----------
6,210,635 5,016,756
Non-current assets classified as held for sale 12,681 -
---------- ----------
Total current assets 6,223,316 5,016,756
---------- ----------
CURRENT LIABILITIES
Trade and bills payables 2,667,444 2,055,757
Other payables and accruals 975,330 741,563
Tax payable 31,807 17,991
Interest-bearing bank and other borrowings 633,536 1,206,185
---------- ----------
Total current liabilities 4,308,117 4,021,496
---------- ----------
NET CURRENT ASSETS 1,915,199 995,260
TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES 2,576,943 1,805,868
NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES
Interest-bearing bank borrowings 603,697 -
---------- ----------
Total non-current liabilities 603,697 -
---------- ----------
NET ASSETS 1,973,246 1,805,868
========== ==========
EQUITY
Equity attributable to equity holders of the
parent
Issued capital 87,404 86,693
Reserves 1,103,609 1,041,332
Retained earnings 697,970 572,151
Proposed final dividend 72,370 86,693
---------- ----------
1,961,353 1,786,859
Minority interests 11,893 19,009
---------- ----------
TOTAL EQUITY 1,973,246 1,805,868
========== ==========

(1) Source: IDC China May 2007



Contact:
Digital China Holdings Limited
Wycee Liu, 86-10-8270-5009
liuyqa@digitalchina.com
or
Vicki Y. L. Chow, 852-3416-8090
vickichow@digitalchina.com
or
Christensen (Hong Kong)
Tip Fleming, 852-2117-0861
tfleming@ChristensenIR.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Digital China Holdings Limited
 
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