JQW PLC Payment of Dividend and Special Dividend (1396V)

TIDMJQW

RNS Number : 1396V

JQW PLC

23 October 2014

 
 Press Release   23 October 2014

JQW plc

("JQW" or the "Group")

Payment of Dividend and Special Dividend

JQW plc, a domestic Chinese B2B e-commerce operator, is pleased to announce that the Group has today paid its maiden interim dividend of 0.2 pence per share (approximately RMB 3.9 million in total) as well as a special dividend of 5.0 pence (approximately RMB 97.7 million in total) to shareholders on the register at the close of business on Friday, 26 September 2014.

JQW continues to have a robust balance sheet. As of 30 June 2014, the Group had RMB 425 million of cash on its balance sheet. If the interim and special dividend had been paid on 30 June 2014, cash on the Group's balance sheet would still have amounted to approximately RMB 323 million. The Board recommended the special dividend based upon its careful consideration of the prospects for future growth and strong cash generation of the Group.

Cai Yongde, Chairman of JQW, commented: "We are delighted to announce that we have paid both our interim and special dividend to our shareholders today as outlined at the time of our interim results. These dividend payments, allowed by the Group's positive cash flow, clearly demonstrate the Board's continued optimism for the future growth of JQW and our commitment to the AIM market."

- Ends -

For further information:

 
 JQW plc 
 Cai Yongde, Chairman               Tel: +44 (0) 
                                    20 7398 7714 
 Chen Daocai, Chief Executive     www.jqw-ir.com 
  Officer 
 Kooi Wei Boon, Chief Financial 
  Officer 
 
 
 Argento Capital Markets Limited 
 Alan MacKenzie / Jim McGeever               Tel: +44 (0) 
                                             20 7093 0353 
                                   www.argentocapital.net 
 
 
 Cairn Financial Advisers LLP 
  (Nomad & Broker) 
 Sandy Jamieson / Liam Murray       Tel: +44 (0) 
                                    20 7148 7900 
                                www.cairnfin.com

Media enquiries:

 
 Abchurch Communications Limited 
 Henry Harrison-Topham / Canace              Tel: +44 (0) 
  Wong                                       20 7398 7714 
 jqw@abchurch-group.com            www.abchurch-group.com

About JQW plc

JQW is a leading domestic business-to-business e-commerce provider based in the Chinese province of Jiangsu. The Group's core business is its online B2B platform, www.jqw.com, which has been developed to encourage domestic trade by connecting Chinese SMEs with potential trade partners. Founded in 2004, the platform was developed to help to market Chinese SME's websites. JQW has evolved rapidly to become the second highest ranked B2B e-commerce website in China in terms of traffic and operates, what the director's believe to be, the first dedicated B2B search engine, www.jqw.cn.

JQW offers a low-cost entry point for Chinese SMEs to promote themselves and their B2B products to potential buyers. In order to increase transaction opportunities, JQW offers its clients a broad range of services including website design, commercial search services and advertising.

There are approximately 49 million SMEs in China manufacturing a diverse range of products, accounting for 60% of the country's GDP. The number of mobile internet-access users in China stood at 839 million at February 2014 and there is a considerable amount being invested into the country's telecommunications infrastructure. These factors have driven an increased demand for domestic trade of B2B, B2C and C2C e-commerce. With the majority of these SMEs requiring the use of third party B2B e-commerce platforms to promote their businesses and access trade partners, the Board believes that JQW offers a robust and highly reputable branded platform. With exposure in over 50 industry sectors and considerable scope for future growth, JQW is in a strong position to capitalise on the development of this market.

The Group recently has:

 
 10 million   Registered users 
 5 million    Page views per day 
  983,000     Sheng-Yi-Tong members with website 
               "shops" 
  227,000     Fee-paying members as of 31 July 
               2014 
    700       Rated in the top 700 websites for 
               global website traffic rankings 
     35       Sales agencies 
     2        Second (behind Alibaba) in Chinese 
               B2B website traffic rankings

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

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