SINGAPORE, June 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — JOYY Inc. (NASDAQ: YY) ("JOYY" or the "Company", formerly known as YY Inc.), a global video-based social media company, announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter of 2022.

JOYY’s total revenues in the first quarter of 2022 were US$623.8million, with BIGO’s revenues reaching US$534.6 million. In the first quarter of 2022, JOYY’s non-GAAP net income^[1] (excluding YY Live) was US$20.9 million with a corresponding non-GAAP net income¹ margin of 3.3%, compared to net loss margin of 3.7% in the first quarter of 2021. BIGO generated US$59.9 million in net income with a corresponding net income margin of 11.2%. In the first quarter of 2022, JOYY recorded positive net operating cash flow of US$59.2 million.

JOYY continued to execute its share repurchase programs, demonstrating the Company’s confidence in its long-term growth and profitability prospects. In the first quarter of 2022, the Company bought back US$80.2 million of its shares. As of March 31, 2022, the Company had repurchased a cumulative US$315.8 million of its shares, out of the $1.2 billion newly added repurchase plan.

David Xueling Li, Chairman and CEO of JOYY, commented, "Despite the macroeconomic uncertainties and challenges, our diversified global product matrix and continuous operating efficiency improvements have provided our global business with extra resilience. We achieved steady improvement in both our GAAP and non-GAAP profitability when compared with prior year periods, and realized a positive operating cash flow of $59.2 million. At the same time, we continued to enhance returns to shareholders through share repurchase programs."

"Looking forward, we remain confident in the mid- to long-term growth potential of the global social entertainment market. We will continue to execute our globalization strategy, prioritize the cultivation of our content and social ecosystems, and seek to maintain strong cash flows while seizing emerging business opportunities along the way. We remain committed to delivering long-term value to our shareholders." Mr. Li concluded.

First Quarter 2022 Financial Highlights

• Net revenues for the first quarter of 2022 were US$623.8 million.
• Non-GAAP net income¹ from continuing operations attributable to controlling interest and common shareholders of JOYY for the first quarter of 2022 was US$20.9 million, compared to non-GAAP net loss of US$24.1 million in the first quarter of 2021. Non-GAAP net income¹ margin for the first quarter of 2022 was 3.3%, compared to non-GAAP net loss margin of 3.7% in the first quarter of 2021.
• As of March 31, 2022, JOYY had cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash and cash equivalents, short-term deposits, restricted short-term deposits and short-term investments of US$4,478.9 million. For the first quarter of 2022, net cash from operating activities was US$59.2million.

First Quarter 2022 Business Highlights

Bigo Live

In the first quarter, Bigo Live’s MAU grew by 8.8% year over year to 31.7 million, as it continued to diversify its localized premium content offerings. During the quarter, Bigo Live hosted the Europe Talent Champions League, inviting streamers from across the continent to produce locally-themed interactive content for European users. In Malaysia, Bigo Live partnered with WeTV to offer users exclusive access to stream television dramas and reality shows. Thanks to its diversified and premium content, Bigo Live’s user engagement improved, as evidenced by the 9.9% and 2.1% sequential increases in the average duration of livestreaming sessions and the average viewer time spent, respectively.

Bigo Live has always been dedicated to fostering an engaging and inclusive community. In March, Bigo launched a new Community feature, enabling users to establish and join different interest groups and quickly connect with like-minded people. Within each community, users can interact with friends’ video posts and join their live sessions, thereby significantly improving the efficiency of users’ interest based social interactions.

Likee

In the first quarter, Likee continued to cultivate a diversified and vibrant content community by nurturing talented creators through its comprehensive support program. Following the introduction of its Superlike and Superfollow features, Likee launched a personal voice chat feature in certain regions, encouraging additional real-time and direct interactions between creators and their fan groups. In Southern Asia, during the local wedding season, Likee’s local operations team launched a number of wedding-related challenges to encourage creators to showcase traditional wedding culture, attracting millions of page views. Thanks to its comprehensive creator support program, the number of Likee’s certified content creators increased by 8.4% sequentially in the first quarter.

To meet users’ diverse social interaction needs, Likee also launched a Friends feature to allow users to create their own private community groups and exclusively share their personal content with designated groups, enabling individualized social experience on Likee. During the first quarter, Likee continued optimization of its short videos and livestreaming features and enhanced integration between the two, boosting Likee’s livestreaming user engagement, with average viewer time spent on livestreaming growing by 45.6% and livestreaming DAU penetration rate increasing by 10.9% sequentially.

Hago

During the first quarter, Hago maintained its monetization growth trajectory, as its livestreaming revenue increased by 24.2% and number of paying users grew by 14.5% year over year. Hago upgraded several product features to explore new innovations in multiplayer social interaction. For example, Hago launched a new feature called Hago Space, allowing users to create their own 3D digital avatars and interact with one another in virtual 3D scenes. Users can engage in a variety of activities in their 3D avatars including voice chat, casual gaming, and gifting.

About JOYY Inc.

JOYY is a leading global social media company that enables users to interact with each other in real time through online live media. On a mission to connect people and enrich their lives through video, JOYY currently operates several social products, including Bigo Live for livestreaming, Likee for short-form videos, Hago for multiplayer social networking, an instant messaging product, and others. The Company has created a highly engaging and vibrant user community for users across the globe. JOYY was listed on the NASDAQ in November 2012.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Among other things, the business outlook and quotations from management in this announcement, as well as JOYY’s strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. JOYY may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to fourth parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about JOYY’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: JOYY’s goals and strategies; JOYY’s future business development, results of operations and financial condition; the expected growth of the online communication social platform market in China; the expectation regarding the rate at which to gain active users, especially paying users; JOYY’s ability to monetize the user base; fluctuations in general economic and business conditions in China; the impact of the COVID-19 to JOYY’s business operations and the economy in China and elsewhere generally; and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in JOYY’s filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and JOYY does not undertake any obligation to update any forward- looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

Investor Relations Contact:

JOYY Inc.
Jane Xie/Maggie Yan
Email: [email protected]

ICR, LLC
Robin Yang
Tel: (+1) 646 915-1611
Email: [email protected]

1. For details of the non-GAAP measures, including the reconciliations of GAAP measures to non-GAAP measures, please refer to the press release titled "JOYY Reports First Quarter 2022 Unaudited Financial Results" issued by the Company on June 1, 2022.