[Daily Announcement] Standard Chartered (2888) earned 15% more last year and increased its buyback by $1.5 billion, JD.com (9618) Liu Qiangdong ventures into the yacht industry

Standard Chartered's Profit Increased by 15% Last Year, Full-Year Dividend Increased by 65% and $1.5 Billion Buyback Standard Chartered (2888.HK) reported a 15% increase in profit last year, raised its dividend, and announced a $1.5 billion buyback plan. The pre-tax underlying profit was $6.9 billion, up 15% year-on-year. The pre-tax basic profit grew nearly 16% to $7.9 billion. The final dividend was 49 cents, bringing the total dividend for the year to 61 cents, an increase of 65%. In terms of asset quality, credit and other impairment charges were approximately $670 million, an increase of 21%. In the fourth quarter alone, the pre-tax underlying profit was $810 million, up 1.7%. The pre-tax basic profit was $1.23 billion, an increase of nearly 18%. Benefiting from the Recovery of the Film and Performance Market, Maoyan Entertainment Expects Last Year's Net Profit to More Than Double Maoyan Entertainment (1896.HK) issued a profit warning, expecting its net profit for the last fiscal year to increase by more than double year-on-year, reaching up to 590 million yuan, with revenue expected to reach up to 4.7 billion yuan, a growth of up to 15%. This is mainly due to the nearly 22% growth in the national box office last year, exceeding 51.8 billion yuan, and the robust development of the national performance market. Significant Reduction in Operating Expenses, Esprit Holdings Expects Last Year's Loss to Narrow by 99% Esprit Holdings (0330.HK) expects its loss for the last fiscal year to narrow by 99% year-on-year, to about 7 million yuan, compared to a loss of over 1.2 billion yuan in the previous year. This is mainly due to a significant decrease in operating expenses for continuing operations and non-recurring termination merger gains arising from the restructuring plan. Liu Qiangdong Enters the Yacht Industry, Invests 5 Billion to Layout the Entire Industry Chain JD.com (9618.HK) founder Liu Qiangdong is entering the yacht industry. According to domestic media reports, Liu Qiangdong recently established an independent yacht brand, Sea Expandary, planning to layout the yacht industry across the entire industry chain from research and development, manufacturing, sales, operations, leasing, brokerage, to services. Liu Qiangdong stated that he will invest 5 billion yuan (RMB) in Guangdong to develop the yacht industry, as a foundation to compete with top yacht manufacturing companies in Europe and America. Cathay Pacific and HK Express Passenger Numbers Increased by 11% Year-on-Year in January Cathay Pacific (0293.HK) and HK Express carried a total of over 3.3 million passengers in January, an increase of 11% year-on-year. Cathay Pacific accounted for over 2.62 million passengers, an increase of 11.5% year-on-year. HK Express carried about 710,000 passengers, up 7.6%, mainly supported by routes to South Korea and Thailand. Cathay's Customer and Business President, Liu Kaishi, stated that the performance at the beginning of the year was robust and continued to improve in February. On the 14th of this month, a new single-day passenger volume record was set, with Cathay Pacific exceeding 100,000 passengers, and together with HK Express, a total of about 128,000 passengers were carried. Looking ahead to the Easter holiday, overall travel demand is strong, and flight booking rates are expected to rise