HK TECH VENTURE (01137) issued a profit warning, expecting a loss of HKD 73 million to 83 million in the first half of the year.

HK TECH VENTURE (01137) announced that in response to the increasingly competitive environment of the retail and e-commerce market in Hong Kong, the Group will further strengthen its customer development and retail market share enhancement strategies during the first half of 2026. Benefiting from these measures, the Group achieved the following operational milestones in the first half of 2026: 1. The total merchandise transaction value of Hong Kong's e-commerce business increased by 5.8% to approximately HK$4.2 billion compared to the first half of 2025; 2. The number of independent customers grew by 10.2% to approximately 1.316 million (1.199 million in the first half of 2025); 3. The monthly active independent devices remained stable at approximately 1.6 million during the first half of 2026. Despite achieving the above results, the Group expects to incur: 1. An unaudited loss of between HK$73 million and HK$83 million in the first half of 2026; 2. An adjusted unaudited earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization of between HK$1 million and HK$11 million, compared to a loss of HK$23.2 million in the first half of 2025 and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization of HK$48.1 million. The anticipated increase in loss and decline in adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization in the first half of 2026 is primarily attributed to: 1. The Hong Kong e-commerce business increased marketing, promotion, and O2O in-store promotion expenses to expand market share and promote customer development and retention strategies, including 15% discount promotional activities, discounts offered by personalized pricing programs, and marketing and promotional expenses related to the CASHBACK program; however, this was partially offset by the following factors. 2. The total merchandise transaction value of Hong Kong's e-commerce business grew by 5.8% compared to the first half of 2025, which contributed to an increase in gross profit.