Shanghai-based Huifu sees over 70% jump in net profit in H1

Shanghai-based Huifu Limited, which is the first listed payment firm in China after debuting in the Hong Kong stock market in June, expects net profit to jump more than 70 percent in the first half, the company said today.

Cross-border payment has become a new growth engine for Huifu whose trade volume grew 16 times year on year in 2017 as it cooperated with Chinese e-commerce firms which expanded business in Asia, Europe and the United States, said Helen Mu Haijie, president of of the firm. 

Huifu expects net profit to surge over 70 percent annually but it didn’t reveal detailed figures.

Huifu differentiates itself from Alibaba and Tencent’s payment service aimed at consumers by offering services to 5.8 million small and medium sized enterprises. In the first half, Huifu’s trade volume hit 840 billion yuan (US$123 billion).  Huifu is an independent third-party service provider in China, focusing on merchant payment and Fintech  services. In 2017 the company, led by Zhou Ye, Mu and Jin Yuan, transacted HK$1.99 billion (US$254 million) in revenue.

Last year the company invested 130 million yuan on research and development in artificial intelligence such as facial identification payment and robot service assistants. The research investment this year will “no less than” last year’s level, Mu added.