Page 21 - bne_Tech_05_2020

NIBs
May 2020 www.intellinews.com I Page 21
in ready meal deliveries at under 30 minutes. Previous investors included the cofounder of Qiwi electronic payment system, Sergei Solonin, PIK Investproyekt of major real estate developer PIK, and others.
As reported by bne IntelliNews, the delivery, foodtech and e-groceries segments in Russia are getting a boost during the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown.
Croatian regulator gives go-ahead
for bitcoin fund
The Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (Hanfa) has given its approval for the launch of a bitcoin investment fund.
The fund, to be set up by Osijek-based Griffon Asset Management, will be the country’s first regulated cryptocurrency alternative asset fund.
State-owned Hrvatska Postanska Banka (HPB) will act as the depository for the Passive Digital Asset fund that will invest entirely in bitcoin. Investors will be able to make their initial commitments to the fund in either cash or bitcoin.
According to Hanfa’s statement, the initial investment period will close once total assets reach HRK1mn (€132,095) or 15 working days after the ruling, whichever is the sooner.
Romanian UiPath partner Future WorkForce deploys robots in banks
Romanian start-up Future WorkForce, a partner of leading robotic process automation company UiPath, has developed a software robot to process the requests local banks receive from clients who want to defer payment of their instalments. But the robot can do much more, Future WorkForce’s experts say.
Two of the banks in its portfolio have already integrated the robot, which now processes 240 requests every hour. A human operator needs 20 minutes to process such a request, while a
robot can complete the task in a few seconds, the company said in a press release.
The software robot takes over the requests sent by customers via all digital channels of a bank: online form integrated on the website, email sent to the official address and chatbots. It follows the procedures of the credit institution aligned with the emergency decree (OUG) 37/2020.
The robot can also carry out other repetitive tasks in a bank, Future WorkForce says.
Russian internet major Mail.ru pulls 2020 guidance, sees ad revenue decline in 2Q20 Russian internet major Mail.ru reported revenue growth of 14% year on year and 13% quarter on quarter decline to RUB22.3bn ($300mn) in 1Q20 under IFRS, in line with consensus expectations. EBITDA plunged by 42% q/q and net income plummeted 61% q/q.
BCS Global Markets commented on April 22 that a revenue dip in 1Q20 is attributed to a traditionally slow quarter with lack of big game launches (game segment revenue +13% vs 23%+ in 2019), as well as due to the impact of anti-coronavirus (COVID-19) measures, which contributed to 15pp q/q slowdown in ad revenue growth (mere +9% y/y).
Mail.ru revoked the guidance of 18-20% revenue growth for 2020 following the publication of the 1Q20 results on low visibility, and said it expects the ad revenues to decline 2Q20.
In 1Q20 the EBITDA lagged behind the revenue growth due to higher share of games in revenue mix as ad in social networks got hit (games being less profitable segment), as well the y/y decline in communication and social segment’s margin (also due to cost of provision of music services).
Net income decline for Mail.ru was attributed to a jump in net interest costs (net debt increase given contribution to established joint ventures) and higher D&A and impairments by the BCS GM analysts.