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A sector assessment by PhillipCapital said the April-June quarter had already shown resilience despite geopolitical disruptions, with industry occupancy rising by two to four percentage points from a year earlier. Average room rates increased 6-8 per cent, while revenue per available room, or RevPAR, advanced 11-13 per cent.

The brokerage expects business conditions to improve further during the October-March period, helped by a heavier wedding calendar, stronger meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions activity and higher international travel during the traditional peak season. Corporate travel, which was softer earlier in the year amid uncertainty linked to the West Asia conflict, has also shown signs of gradual recovery.

Limited additions to room supply in key markets are expected to give operators continued pricing power if demand strengthens as projected. That imbalance between demand and new capacity has been an important support for average room rates across several major destinations and is likely to remain favourable through the second half of the financial year.

The outlook is consistent with ICRA’s projection that hospitality industry revenues will rise 7-9 per cent year on year in FY27, following an estimated 9-12 per cent increase in FY26. The ratings agency expects pan-India premium hotel occupancy to remain at 72-74 per cent, broadly unchanged from FY26, while average room rates for premium hotels rise to Rs 8,600-8,800 from Rs 8,200-8,500.

Domestic travellers remain the principal source of demand and have helped cushion the industry from weaker foreign arrivals and disruptions to international air routes. ICRA estimated occupancy at 66-68 per cent during the first two months of FY27, compared with 62-64 per cent a year earlier, while average room rates were estimated at Rs 7,800-8,000 against Rs 7,500-7,700.

Leisure destinations have generally performed better than business-focused hotels during the opening months of the year. Indian Hotels Company reported strong demand across its domestic portfolio, with revenue from operations within India rising during the June quarter and leisure markets contributing significantly to growth.

Other listed hotel operators have also reported positive RevPAR trends, though performance has varied by city, customer mix and exposure to international guests. The sector’s recovery in the first quarter was more occupancy-led than in earlier periods, when sharp increases in room rates were the dominant driver of revenue growth.

Demand from corporate customers is expected to become more supportive as travel budgets normalise and business activity strengthens. Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Delhi have shown firmer room rates in parts of the second quarter, aided by technology, global capability centre and broader corporate travel demand.

International traffic remains a key variable. Foreign tourist arrivals were hit earlier by disruptions associated with the conflict in West Asia, but the Ministry of Tourism’s data portal indicates arrivals during 2026 have begun to show year-on-year improvement in available updates. A seasonal rise from October would add higher-paying international travellers to the domestic base.

Wedding demand is also expected to provide a material lift. Hotels typically benefit not only from room bookings during large celebrations but also from food and beverage, banquet and event revenue, making the wedding calendar an important contributor during the second half.

Meetings and exhibition business is another area expected to improve as companies resume travel and events. Stronger MICE demand can lift weekday occupancy at city hotels, complementing leisure traffic that is often concentrated around weekends, holidays and destination markets.

Risks to the outlook remain. A prolonged escalation in West Asia could again disrupt international travel and corporate spending, while inflation could weigh on discretionary consumption. ICRA has said these factors remain monitorable even though domestic demand has so far limited the direct impact on the sector.

Figures unveiled at the 2026 China International Big Data Industry Expo in Guiyang, Guizhou province, showed that data-related software products, including AI application software, and data-resource products involving token services generated a combined 4.99 trillion yuan. The two categories accounted for 73.6 per cent of the industry’s total output, underlining the growing commercial connection between data resources and AI development.

The number of data enterprises operating across China reached 482,000 by the end of 2025, an increase of 17.9 per cent from a year earlier. The eastern regions remained the largest concentration of activity, with their data industry valued at about 5.23 trillion yuan.

Growth has accelerated steadily over the past three years. China’s data industry was valued at 5.06 trillion yuan in 2023 and 5.86 trillion yuan in 2024 before climbing above 6.7 trillion yuan last year. Expansion has increasingly shifted from basic data collection and processing towards higher-value services designed for AI models, intelligent agents and industry-specific applications.

High-quality datasets have emerged as a particularly important segment. By August 2026, more than 126,000 such datasets had been established nationwide, containing more than 1,815 petabytes of data. Their combined volume has risen by more than 89 per cent since March, reflecting rapidly expanding demand from developers training and refining AI systems.

The broader supply of digital information is also growing sharply. China generated 52.26 zettabytes of data during 2025, up 27.28 per cent from the previous year and representing roughly 27.4 per cent of global data production. Enterprises accounted for about nine-tenths of the increase, with manufacturing, transport and logistics, software and information technology services recording especially strong gains.

That expansion is occurring alongside rapid growth in AI itself. China’s core AI industry exceeded 1.2 trillion yuan in 2025, with more than 6,200 specialised AI enterprises operating nationwide. More than 30 per cent of large manufacturing enterprises had adopted AI technologies by the end of the year, widening demand for industrial datasets capable of training systems for production, quality inspection, predictive maintenance and automation.

AI development is also changing the composition of the data market. Large language models initially depended heavily on publicly accessible text and image material, but developers are increasingly seeking proprietary industrial, scientific, financial, medical and operational data. The expansion of intelligent agents and embodied AI is adding demand for video, three-dimensional information, sensor readings, physical interaction records and synthetic data.

Intelligent-agent innovation has become another growth area. More than 3,400 patents associated with agent technologies were authorised during 2025, with the pace of growth more than doubling from the previous year. Commercial platforms are simultaneously combining access to multiple AI models with tools that allow companies to select, adapt and deploy systems without developing every component internally.

Policy is increasingly focused on turning China’s vast quantity of information into commercially usable AI resources. A national programme launched this year calls for high-quality industry datasets covering areas including scientific research, manufacturing, agriculture, energy, transport, financial services, healthcare, education, e-commerce, tourism, meteorology, urban governance, autonomous driving, embodied intelligence and biotechnology.

The programme is intended to expand dataset supply, improve annotation and quality assessment, encourage controlled circulation and connect dataset development more closely with practical AI applications. Authorities are targeting significant progress by the end of 2028, including industry datasets tested through real-world applications and specialised companies capable of developing tools and standards around them.

Strengthening Competitiveness via Online-to-Offline Integration and Supply Chain Agility

Results Highlights

• Revenue reached US$301.51 million, representing a strong increase of 23.2%.
• Gross profit grew by 28.2% to US$93.98 million, with gross profit margin expanding to 31.2%.
• Operating profit increased by 30.1% to US$24.29 million.
• Net profit surged by 30.0% to US$18.30 million, with net profit margin improving to 6.1%.
• Business-to-consumer (B2C) platform YesStyle recorded revenue of US$215.07 million, up 30.5%, accounting for 71.3% of the Group’s total revenue. Offline expansion was enhanced with the opening of its first physical concept store in the US.
• Business-to-business (B2B) platform AsianBeautyWholesale (ABW) recorded revenue of US$82.75 million, up 6.2%, accounting for 27.4% of the Group’s total revenue.

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 28 August 2026 – YesAsia Holdings Limited (“YesAsia Holdings”, together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”) (2209.HK), a leading e-commerce platform operator recognized for its expertise in curating Asian beauty and lifestyle products, announced today its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2026 (the “Reporting Period”).

The Group continued to capture strong global demand for Korean Beauty (“K-Beauty”) products, driving revenue up by 23.2% year-on-year to US$301.51 million. Gross profit increased by 28.2% to US$93.98 million, with gross profit margin expanding by 1.2 percentage points to 31.2%. Operating profit grew by 30.1% to US$24.29 million. Benefiting from forward-looking investments in localized and tech-driven logistics infrastructure, which successfully mitigated geopolitical and freight cost pressures, profit for the period surged by 30.0% to US$18.30 million, after recognition of an one-off expense of approximately US$1.24 million in termination benefits arising from the organizational streamlining. Net profit margin improved to 6.1%. Basic earnings per share were US4.39 cents (1H 2025: US3.43 cents).

Navigating Uncertainties through Market Diversification and Logistics Agility

A global market footprint remains pivotal in mitigating geopolitical risks. The US, the Group’s largest market, has absorbed the tariff shock and delivered progressive improvement during the Reporting Period, with revenue exceeding 2H 2025 even outside the typical holiday peak season. Among non-core markets (excluding the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia), robust demand across Europe and Latin America, unlocked new growth momentum, with revenue from Europe and associated countries and Latin America growing by 22.1% and 178.4%, respectively. In the Middle East, the Group navigated the regional tensions to achieve steady revenue growth of 33.4%.

Complementing market diversification, strategic investments in logistics infrastructure spanning Hong Kong, South Korea, the US, and Europe, alongside the adoption of automation technologies like AMRs, have built a highly resilient and scalable supply chain. These capabilities enabled the Group to maintain a stable baseline for business costs and absorb freight and fuel price spikes stemming from Middle East conflicts during the Reporting Period. Consequently, the increase in operating costs remained well below revenue growth, with freight cost as a percentage of revenue dropping to 19.0%, demonstrating the Group’s robust cost control and operational agility.

Integrating O2O Experiences to Drive B2C-B2B Dual-Engine Synergy

Social media marketing remained one of the Group’s core strengths during the Reporting Period, supported by an ecosystem of over 557,000 unique influencers that generated US$85.70 million and contributed nearly 40% of YesStyle‘s revenue. To amplify this online impact, the Group strategically expanded its global offline presence to seamlessly bridge online and offline customer experiences. YesStyle debuted a 1,500 sq. ft. concept store in the San Francisco Bay Area. At the same time, the Group staged high-profile activations, including a Madrid café pop-up that generated over 2 million impressions and brand events at Seoul’s Yesful Land that accumulated over 3 million impressions. Together, these physical and digital touchpoints successfully converted customer engagement into sustained loyalty.

This heightened brand exposure across end-consumer markets directly catalyzed overseas B2B purchasing demand. During the Reporting Period, ABW consolidated its newly built partnerships with retailers in the US and Latin America. Notably, ABW Online’s average order size surged 38.6% year-on-year to US$3,590.60. This uptick reflects substantially stronger purchasing appetite and inventory confidence for K-Beauty products among retailers, underscoring the powerful synergy of the Group’s B2C-B2B dual-engine model.

Mr. Joshua Lau, Founder, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of YesAsia Holdings, said: “K-Beauty remains on an upward trajectory as it becomes a mainstream player in the global beauty business. Looking ahead, we believe that there is ample room for growth for YesAsia Holdings in both the retail and wholesale spheres worldwide. Amid geopolitical and supply chain uncertainties, we are continuously reinforcing our competitive moat and market leadership through AI-empowered customer services, a highly agile supply chain, and a strategy that seamlessly converts online traffic into immersive physical experiences, thereby driving long-term value for our shareholders in a fast-evolving market landscape.”

Hashtag: #YesAsia

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About YesAsia Holdings Limited (02209.HK)

Established in 1997, YesAsia Holdings is a leading e‑commerce platform operator recognized for its expertise in identifying and procuring quality Asian beauty products. Headquartered in Hong Kong, the Group delivers products promptly and efficiently to a global audience through its strong ties with over 400 leading Asian beauty brand and supplier partners. The Group operates two major channels: YesStyle, a B2C e‑commerce platform serving the growing demand for Asian beauty, fashion and lifestyle products, particularly Korean beauty products; and AsianBeautyWholesale, a B2B‑oriented business for Asian beauty products via online and offline channels. YesAsia Holdings is a constituent of the MSCI Hong Kong Micro Cap Index.

For more information, please visit the Group’s official website: https://www.yesasiaholdings.com/

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The new SG Child Support Package will extend government assistance from birth through age 17, replacing a system that concentrates much of its financial help around a child’s early years. Payments under the redesigned framework are scheduled to begin in April 2027.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong unveiled the package at the National Day Rally on August 23, describing a broader shift towards supporting parents throughout the years of raising a family rather than relying mainly on incentives linked to childbirth.

Every Singapore citizen newborn covered by the new arrangements will receive a S$10,000 Baby Gift and a S$5,000 MediSave grant. A Child Development Account will receive an initial S$5,000 grant, with the government matching parental savings dollar for dollar up to another S$5,000.

Children will then receive S$2,000 in annual Child Credits from age one through 16. Government support will also include annual Edusave top-ups during primary and secondary education and a S$10,000 payment into the Post-Secondary Education Account at age 17.

Taken together, the measures will provide almost S$70,000 in direct financial assistance for each citizen child. Unlike the existing Baby Bonus and Large Families schemes, the basic level of support will no longer depend on birth order.

The overhaul comes after Singapore’s resident total fertility rate dropped to 0.87 births per woman in 2025, its lowest level on record and down sharply from 0.97 in 2024. The replacement rate required to maintain a population without migration is about 2.1.

Only 30,004 live births were recorded in 2025, an 11 per cent decline from 33,703 a year earlier. Resident births fell 10.6 per cent to 27,529, while citizen births declined 10.4 per cent to 26,201.

The figures have intensified concerns about the size of Singapore’s future workforce and the ability of a smaller working-age population to support growing numbers of elderly citizens. More than one-fifth of citizens are already aged 65 or above, placing Singapore among societies experiencing particularly rapid demographic ageing.

Financial incentives are only one part of the policy response. Wong acknowledged that decisions about having children are deeply personal and cannot be determined by government payments alone. The package therefore combines cash assistance with measures targeting childcare costs, parental leave, housing and workplace pressures.

Childcare leave will be expanded according to family size. Working parents will receive eight days each if they have one child aged 12 or below, 10 days with two children and 12 days with three or more children.

A working couple with three primary-school children would consequently have 24 days of childcare leave between them, compared with four days under the existing arrangements for parents whose youngest child is above six.

The government will also cover the financial cost of all statutory child-related leave up to the applicable reimbursement limit, reducing the expense borne by employers and seeking to limit any employment disadvantage associated with parenthood.

Preschool costs are another major target. Government-supported centres currently provide places for about 80 per cent of preschoolers, but full-day childcare can cost close to S$600 a month for some families, while infant care can exceed S$1,000.

Authorities aim eventually to bring full-day childcare fees at government-supported preschools down to S$150 a month and infant care fees to S$300. The lower fee structure is intended to apply regardless of household income, while lower-income households will continue to qualify for additional subsidies. Implementation will take several years as the network of supported operators expands.

Housing policy is being adjusted alongside the family package. The monthly household income ceiling for Build-To-Order public housing will rise from S$14,000 to S$16,000, while the ceiling for Executive Condominiums will increase from S$16,000 to S$18,000.

First-time families applying for a new flat will receive an additional ballot chance for every child they have or are expecting, giving larger households greater priority in securing subsidised housing. Further healthcare, transport and housing assistance for larger families is also under consideration.