SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 12 August 2020 – Chubb announced today the launch of Recover & Return Insurance, a
market-leading group insurance plan for businesses in Singapore. With  countries and territories beginning to emerge
from lockdowns, businesses need to consider establishing risk mitigation plans
to protect workforces when they return to traditional workplaces.  

Chubb’s Recover & Return
Insurance is designed specifically for employers to care for the health, safety and
well-being of their employees so that they can return to their workspace with
confidence.

Highlights of this product
include lump sum payouts upon diagnosis of COVID-19 for the following^[1]:

Benefits for the employee –

1.      
Admission to hospital.

2.      
Admission to the Intensive Care Unit.

3.      
Family bereavement in the event of the
demise of an insured employee.

Benefits for the employer –

1.      
Counselling for employees should a
colleague working nearby be diagnosed with COVID-19.

2.      
Workplace disinfection.

Ben Howell, Deputy Head of
Accident & Health at Chubb in Asia Pacific said, “We recognise the
need to enhance the confidence of companies and their
employees as they return to their traditional workplaces. The Recover &
Return Insurance complements our Work from Home Insurance launched recently.
Both insurance products address the concerns of employers in providing sustained
care for their employees in the new normal, whether working from home or their
traditional workplace.”

About Chubb

Chubb is the world’s largest publicly traded
property and casualty insurer. Chubb Insurance Singapore Limited, via acquisitions
by its predecessor companies, has been present in Singapore since 1948. Chubb
in Singapore provides underwriting and risk management expertise for all major
classes of general insurance. The company’s product offerings include Financial
Lines, Casualty, Property, Marine, Industry Practices as well as Group
insurance solutions for large corporates, multinationals, small and
medium-sized businesses. In addition, to meet the evolving needs of consumers,
it also offers a suite of tailored Accident & Health and Personal &
Specialty insurance options through a multitude of distribution channels
including bancassurance, independent distribution partners and affinity
partnerships.

Over the years, Chubb in Singapore has
established strong client relationships by delivering responsive service,
developing innovative products and providing market leadership built on
financial strength.

More information can be found at www.chubb.com/sg.

Members of The 1 loyalty programme gain access to AI-driven lifestyle, health and wealth services

HONG
KONG, CHINA – Media OutReach –
11 August 2020 – Prudential
Life Assurance (Thailand) Public Company Limited (“Prudential
Thailand”) and The 1 CENTRAL LIMITED (“The 1”) today signed an agreement for
the country’s first lifestyle and health collaboration, bringing enhanced
digital services to members of Thailand’s leading loyalty programme.

The 1 is
Thailand’s largest loyalty platform, with over 17 million members, and  Prudential Thailand is part of Prudential
Corporation Asia (Prudential), a leading insurer and asset manager, who also offers
digital health services and content in 11 markets across Asia through its app,
Pulse by Prudential.

Through
this collaboration, The 1’s members will gain access to highly customised
digital lifestyle and health solutions based on their lifestyle preferences,
health stages and savings intentions. The partners in the collaboration will
use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to curate and offer services that are highly
relevant to members, helping them to achieve a higher quality of life and wellbeing.

Mr Robin Spencer, Chief
Executive of Prudential Thailand, said, “We are delighted to work with The 1, which shares
our aspiration to support and protect families through the use of new digital
solutions. This collaboration builds on our launch of Pulse, a highly engaging,
holistic app that will help Thai people live longer, healthier lives. Pulse
harnesses the power of AI to provide highly personalised health and wellness
insights for our users.”

Dr Ton Chirathivat,
President — The 1, Central Group said, “We always create and continue
bringing innovative and surprising experiences to The 1 members in every angle
of life including Health & Wellness especially during Pandemic situation
nowadays. With this strategic partnership, we are truly confident and commit to
provide one-of-a-kind
health and well-being experiences to another level for our The 1 members”

About Prudential in Thailand

Prudential has operated in Thailand
for more than 24 years through Prudential Life Assurance (Thailand) Public
Company Limited. Prudential serves more than 1.6 million customers in Thailand
and manages more than Thai Baht 112 billion of assets on their behalf. In 2019
the Thailand business grew IFRS operating profits by 8 per cent to USD 170
million and Life Weighted Premium by 8 per cent to USD 619 million. (31 December 2019 figures)

About The 1

The 1 is Thailand’s largest loyalty
platform, with over 17 million members or more than 25% of the population of Thailand. It strives to be the
ultimate lifestyle platform that understands its customers and caters to every
lifestyle through The 1 Application, through which users can collect points for
every purchase within establishments in the Central Group, namely Central,
Central Embassy (for participating stores), CENTRAL at central wOrld, Robinson,
Supersports, B2S, Central Online, Baan & Beyond, stores under CMG, Family
Mart, Central Food Hall, Tops Markets, Tops SUPERSTORE, Tops Daily, Tops
Online, Power Buy, Thai Watsadu, and Office Mate. The points can also be
exchanged for cash coupons or discounts. The 1 also offers privileges in
collaboration with its partners in various sectors, including gas stations,
tourism, entertainment, beauty, finance, restaurants, hospitals, and so on, to
meet the needs of its members in every aspect of living experience.

Prudential Corporation Asia

Prudential
Corporation Asia is a business unit of Prudential plc (United Kingdom)*,
comprising its life insurance operations in Asia and its asset management
business, Eastspring Investments. It is headquartered in Hong Kong.

Prudential is a
leading life insurer with operations spanning 13 markets in Asia, covering
Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Through a robust
multi-channel distribution platform, Prudential provides a comprehensive range
of savings, investment and protection products to meet the diverse needs of
Asian families.

Eastspring
Investments manages investments across Asia on behalf of a wide range of retail
and institutional investors. It is a leading Asia-based asset manager with
on-the-ground presence in 11 major Asian markets as well as distribution
offices in North America and Europe. It has over US$241 billion in assets under
management (as at 31 December 2019), managing funds across a range of asset
classes including equities and fixed income.

*Prudential
plc is not affiliated in any manner with Prudential Financial, Inc. of the
United States or with the Prudential Assurance Company, a subsidiary of M&G
plc, a company incorporated in the United Kingdom.

Prudential
plc is listed on the stock exchanges of London (PRU.L), Hong Kong (2378.HK), Singapore
(K6S.SG) and New York (PUK.N)

About Pulse by Prudential

Pulse by
Prudential is a digital health app and the first of its kind in the region to
offer holistic health management to consumers. Using AI-powered self-help tools
and real-time information, the app serves as a 24/7 health and wellness partner
to users, helping them prevent, postpone, and protect against the onset of
diseases. Pulse is part of Prudential’s region-wide strategy
to provide affordable and accessible healthcare to everyone across Asia by
leveraging digital technologies and best-in-class partnerships. 

Following the regional launch of Pulse in Malaysia in August 2019, Pulse
is now available in a total of 11 markets in Asia and includes a growing suite
of value-add services, such as a symptom checker and health assessment,
personal wellness services, and video consultations with certified doctors and
specialists.

Since its launch, Pulse has been downloaded
more than 8 million times in Asia to date. Pulse is currently available on the
Apple/Google Play stores in Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

For
more information, and to download Pulse, log on to www.wedopulse.com. 

HONG KONG, CHINA – Media OutReach – 11 August 2020
– Hong Kong is one of
the latest tax jurisdictions to codify its own transfer pricing law, with 2020 being
the first year for some Hong Kong corporations to prepare transfer pricing
documentation.

Renowned for
being one of the lowest tax rate jurisdictions, and for its conductive business
environment, Hong Kong is a place in which multinational corporations (MNCs) tend
to allocate more profits in order to lower the overall group effective tax
rate. The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department (IRD) definitely welcomes this.
However, with the adoption of Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI), tax filings submitted to the IRD
may be shared with other tax authorities. As such, the transfer pricing
policies of MNCs must balance the interests of all relevant tax authorities, not
limited to the IRD. Henry Kwong, Tax Partner of Cheng & Cheng Taxation
Services said “MNCs should not overlook the importance of Hong Kong in their
Transfer Pricing Policy, from both a compliance and tax planning perspective.”

There have previously
been occasions where a group sacrificed Hong Kong in their transfer pricing
policies. However, with the implementation of the transfer pricing law in July
2018, tax adjustments can now be made to Hong Kong entities with a less than
reasonable level of profits. More importantly, penalties up to the amount of
tax undercharged can be imposed in the absence of proper transfer pricing
documentation.

Scenario 1: Assigning big losses to
Hong Kong entities during a recession

Due to the US–China
trade war and the Covid-19 pandemic, the year 2020 will undoubtedly be a difficult
one for MNCs. It can be a real headache for in-house tax specialists to apply
their transfer pricing policies as the overall profit margin of the group
plunges. As the group will have already entered into either advance pricing
arrangements or informal agreements with tax authorities in other operating
jurisdictions, they may still have to assign a certain percentage of the profit
margin to those jurisdictions, despite the profit slump. In the past, a group
was left with no alternative but to allocate substantial losses to Hong Kong
entities of the group. This is now not possible since the IRD is likely to
impose transfer pricing adjustments and will not accept the losses.

Scenario 2: Hong Kong as a collection
and payment hub

Hong Kong
enterprises are commonly assigned to be the “collection and payment hub” of a group
to collect and make payments on behalf of its group companies in other
jurisdictions to get around foreign exchange control restrictions. From an accounting
perspective, these transactions may be booked as sales and cost of sales
without any markup. These break-even transactions lower the overall operating
profit margin of the Hong Kong entity despite a “nil” effect on the absolute
amount of profit. However, the corporation’s lower overall profit margin may
trigger the attention of tax authorities, especially when the margin is lower
than the industry average.

Importance of proper transfer
pricing documentation in Hong Kong

As in other
jurisdictions, transfer pricing documentation in Hong Kong comprises Master File,
Local File and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting. While following the
universal threshold of group consolidated revenue of EUR750 million for a CbC
report, the threshold for Master File and Local File in Hong Kong is rather
complicated (see Table 1). In this regard, March year-end corporations should
have prepared their first Master File and Local File documentation last year,
while 30 September 2020 is the due date for December year-end corporations.

Table 1: Threshold for Master
File and Local File

As
mentioned above, failure to prepare proper documentation can trigger not only
administrative fines, but also penalties up to the amount of tax undercharged
in the case of transfer pricing adjustments. More pertinently, no tax credit will
be granted in other tax jurisdictions for such penalties.

Applying
the same logic, there is a growing trend for MNCs to prepare benchmarking studies,
even when their size does not meet the required threshold, for the following
reasons:-

Tax authority challenge

• The
  IRD is increasingly eager to request a benchmarking study, even if the
  corporation does not meet the threshold for preparing transfer pricing
  documentation, especially in the case of high gross profit fluctuation;
• Field
  investigation by the IRD can be a painful process. A benchmarking study is
  often very helpful in reaching a compromise settlement, such as in the case of
  failure to maintain proper accounting records.

Tax advisory on operational change

• Thanks
  to its low tax rate, Hong Kong is still a place in which many corporations prefer
  to allocate more profits. Given the current global situation, many MNCs are
  considering shifting their location of operations. Making use of this
  opportunity, they are eager to set up substance in Hong Kong to justify their
  profit allocation.

Initial Public Offering in Hong Kong

• Authorities
  now customarily request transfer pricing information from corporations wishing to
  list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

As a last
piece of advice, with the implementation of the Common Reporting Standard (CRS)
and AEOI, global tax authorities are more intent on targeting foreign
corporations operating in local tax jurisdictions, normally in the form of a Permanent
Establishment (PE). While the arguments about the existence of PEs continue,
transfer pricing is a preferred means of resolving PE tax disputes. As such, it
is essential that MNCs review their current operations and update their
transfer pricing policies to reduce their transfer pricing risk.

About Cheng & Cheng Taxation Services

This article is by Henry Kwong, Tax Partner of
Cheng & Cheng Taxation Services. Cheng & Cheng is one of the top 20
accounting firms in Hong Kong, with over 300 staff in Hong Kong and the PRC. We
are the principal auditor for 20 listed corporations in Hong Kong and the tax
advisor for over 50. We specialise in providing Hong Kong, PRC and international
tax advisory services, as well as transfer pricing services to international
clients. If you would
like to know more about transfer pricing in Hong Kong, or seek tax advice from
our tax experts, please do not hesitate to contact us by email (henry.kwong@chengtax.com.hk) or phone (+852 3962 0114).

SINGAPORE AND REDMOND,
WASH. – Media OutReach – 11 August 2020 – Standard Chartered Bank and Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday announced a three-year strategic
partnership to accelerate the bank’s digital transformation through a cloud-first
strategy. This partnership marks a significant milestone for Standard Chartered
in making its vision for virtual banking, next-generation payments, open
banking and banking-as-a-service a reality. Leveraging Azure as a
preferred cloud platform, the companies will also co-innovate in open banking
and real-time payments to help the bank unlock new banking experiences for
clients.

Embarking
on a cloud-first strategy

As part of its digital transformation, Standard
Chartered will adopt a multicloud approach, where
significant applications, including its core banking and trading systems and
new digital ventures such as virtual banking and banking as-a-service, will be
cloud-based by 2025, subject to regulatory
approvals. The bank will also adopt a cloud-first principle for all new
software developments and major enhancements.

As technology reshapes the banking industry, Standard
Chartered recognizes that a cloud-first strategy is critical to the bank’s
ambition to make banking simpler, faster and more convenient. By being
digital-first, the bank will be able to meet the demand for seamless banking virtually
anytime, anywhere, and make banking more accessible to people across its
network.

Michael
Gorriz, Group Chief Information Officer of Standard Chartered, said, “Cloud is
a cornerstone of Standard Chartered’s strategy to meet the present and future
banking needs of our clients. Cloud providers have invested massively in the
reliability and automation of infrastructure and platforms. Using cloud
services improves our ability to be agile and innovative, while increasing our
operational efficiency and resilience. As disruption in the financial industry
continues, we can focus on client benefits by deploying our solutions quicker
and allowing for faster integration of new business models and partners. To
realize our digital ambitions, Standard Chartered has chosen Microsoft as a
strategic partner and this partnership marks a major milestone for the bank in
adopting a cloud-first approach.”

Bhupendra
Warathe, Chief Technology Officer, Cloud Transformation at Standard Chartered,
added that “The pandemic has shone a spotlight on the need for businesses and
banks to be resilient from a risk mitigation, cost and security perspective. With
the increasing trend of an always-on digital economy, commercial and consumer clients
are looking for applications and services that empower them to do online
banking from anywhere, flexibly and efficiently. The speed and scale of
continuous innovation offered by Azure allows us to innovate with the latest AI
services to meet evolving client needs. We can pilot new apps in one market and
scale them rapidly across others. This is especially important for a bank with
a footprint as broad and diverse as ours.”

Standard
Chartered will adopt Microsoft Azure as a preferred cloud platform to meet the bank’s
need for resilient data centers and cloud services and addressing customers’ security,
privacy and compliance requirements across the bank’s global footprint.

The
first set of capabilities to move to Microsoft Azure will be Standard
Chartered’s trade finance systems, allowing for seamless cross-border trade for
the bank’s corporate and institutional clients. 

The
partnership will also advance the bank’s digital workplace transformation with Microsoft
365 and Microsoft Teams providing modern productivity and collaboration tools to
Standard Chartered’s 84,000 employees across its 60 markets.

Co-innovating the future of banking

Standard Chartered will also use Microsoft Azure
artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics capabilities to enhance and
automate banking processes as well as deliver hyper personalization of its
client products and experiences. Co-innovation in open banking application programming
interface (API) and Internet-of-Things-based, real-time payments will also help
the bank unlock new banking experiences for clients.

Bill Borden, Corporate Vice President of Worldwide
Financial Services at Microsoft said, “Cloud computing is an enabler for
financial institutions to modernize their infrastructure and systems, to gain
the agility they need to respond to competitive pressures, regulatory
environments and customer demand. We are committed to helping Standard
Chartered Bank in its ongoing digital transformation journey as it strives to
address evolving customer needs and build the next generation of banking
experiences.”

Addressing
the social needs of communities in the emerging markets

Standard Chartered strives
to understand the evolving needs of its communities and be an enabler for
change. As a part of the strategic partnership, the bank and Microsoft will
explore sustainable finance and business initiatives to expand sustainability
across the industry.

Editors notes:

Link to Michael Gorriz’s
blog “Why
cloud adoption is not an option but a necessity for banks“

About Standard Chartered Bank

We are
a leading international banking group, with a presence in 60 of the world’s
most dynamic markets, and serving clients in a further 85. Our purpose is to
drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity, and our heritage
and values are expressed in our brand promise, Here for good.

Standard
Chartered PLC is listed on the London and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges.

For
more stories and expert opinions please visit Insights at sc.com. Follow Standard Chartered on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

About
Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”
@microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud
and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every
organization on the planet to achieve more.

For more news and
information, visit https://news.microsoft.com/en-sg/

• Measures under the Transform
  for Growth efficiency program defined and initiated – annual cost savings
  of around €100 million expected from 2022
• Group guidance for 2020 remains under review;
  medium-term targets confirmed
• Revenue target for China in 2022 raised to €800 million^[1]

DEUTZ Group: overview of key figures

COLOGNE, GERMANY – EQS
Newswire – 11 August 2020 – DEUTZ, a leading global
manufacturer of innovative drive systems, registered a significant overall
decline in business performance in the first half of 2020 as a result of the
coronavirus crisis. Demand slumped due to customers continuing to sell the
inventories of engines they had built up before new emissions standards came
into force, which had already led to a low level of orders on hand at the end
of 2019, and due to the macroeconomic impact of the coronavirus pandemic in what
was already a challenging market environment. Furthermore, business operations
were significantly disrupted in the second quarter as a result of a temporary
production shutdown and the introduction of short-time working.

“The adverse effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the global economy
and thus on our engine business cannot be ignored. At present, nobody can
predict how the coronavirus crisis will continue to unfold. However, it is
clear that the entire DEUTZ team will do everything they can to ensure that we
emerge stronger from the crisis. Despite the current situation, we believe we
are on the right track to be able to achieve our medium-term targets,”
said DEUTZ CEO Dr. Frank Hiller. Commenting on the Transform for Growth
efficiency program launched at the start of this year, he added: “To be
competitive in the long term and ensure the Company stays on course for
success, it is vital that we regularly review our processes and structures. We
have done this and we expect implementation of the resulting action plan to
generate annual cost savings totaling around €100 million from the end of
2022.”

Sharp decline in sales figures as a result of the coronavirus crisis

In the period under review, the new orders received by DEUTZ fell by
34.6 percent year on year to €623.6 million. This was due not only to the sharp
drop in new orders triggered by the coronavirus crisis but also to the high
level of new orders in the prior-year period as a result of customers building
up their inventories of engines before new emissions standards came into force.
Customers then sold these engines, putting a further strain on the business.

The Construction Equipment, Material Handling, Agricultural Machinery, and
Stationary Equipment application segments recorded double-digit percentage
reductions in new orders. By contrast, the Miscellaneous application segment
and the service business notched up further increases of 16.4 percent and 0.8
percent respectively. The sharp rise in the Miscellaneous application segment
was primarily due to the growth in new orders for rail vehicle drive systems.

As at June 30, 2020, orders on hand stood at €253.5 million (June 30, 2019:
€462.6 million).

The DEUTZ Group sold a total of 73,859 engines in the reporting period,
which was 27.3 percent fewer than in the first half of 2019. Miscellaneous was
the only application segment with an increase in unit sales, registering
a substantial rise of 112.7 percent that was largely attributable to the
introduction of small outboard motors known as trolling motors. The ramp-up of
these motors enabled DEUTZ subsidiary Torqeedo to more than double its sales of
boat motors to a total of 16,244, which equates to a year-on-year rise of 163.8
percent.

In the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), DEUTZ’s biggest sales
market, unit sales went down by 30.5 percent compared with the prior-year
period to 37,763 engines. In the Americas region, unit sales fell by 47.4
percent to 14,726 engines. By contrast, unit sales in the Asia-Pacific region
grew by 10.8 percent owing to the aforementioned ramp-up at Torqeedo.

The DEUTZ Group’s revenue fell by 33.3 percent compared with the
first six months of 2019 to €620.0 million. Revenue declined across the board,
from both a regional and an application segment perspective.

Operating profit falls sharply, partly as a result of diseconomies of
scale

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the business activities of the
DEUTZ Group and its customers meant that DEUTZ reported an operating loss (EBIT
before exceptional items) of €49.9 million in the first half of 2020. This
significant decline compared with the prior-year period was attributable, in
particular, to the fall in revenue and the resulting diseconomies of scale.
There was also a heavy drag on operating profit from payments of around €10
million made under continuation agreements with suppliers that are going
through insolvency proceedings and demand-related impairment losses of around
€5 million recognized on capitalized development projects. However, there were some
positive influences on earnings performance in addition to the general cost
reductions and the use of short-time working: The Board of Management waived
its one-year variable remuneration for 2020 and senior managers waived a
substantial part of their variable remuneration for 2020. The EBIT margin stood
at minus 8.0 percent in the reporting period, compared with 5.1 percent in the
prior-year period.

DEUTZ Compact Engines (DCE): key figures for the segment

In the first half of 2020, the DCE segment’s sales figures declined
overall compared with the prior-year period. New orders came to €439.9 million,
which was 41.8 percent lower than in the first six months of 2019. The
breakdown by application segment reveals that only the service business
recorded a rise in new orders, with an increase of 6.0 percent to €89.0 million
that was primarily attributable to the expansion of on-site customer service business.
The segment’s unit sales declined by 41.2 percent to 48,173 engines and revenue
contracted by 37.8 percent to €453.7 million, with decreases in all regions and
application segments.

In the first six months of this year, the operating profit of the DEUTZ
Compact Engines segment deteriorated by a substantial €84.7 million to a
loss due to the collapse in demand triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. The
segment’s operating profit was weighed down by a fall in revenue of almost 38
percent, payments to suppliers going through insolvency proceedings to enable
them to continue supplying DEUTZ, and impairment losses on a development
project. These impairment losses were recognized due to the expected decrease
in demand for the affected engine series.

DEUTZ Customized Solutions (DCS): key figures for the segment

The DCS segment’s sales figures also deteriorated in the period under
review. New orders fell by 8.4 percent year on year to €165.4 million.
Miscellaneous was the only application segment with an increase in new orders,
registering a substantial rise of 52.6 percent to €29.6 million that was
largely attributable to new orders for rail vehicle drive systems. The
segment’s total unit sales dropped by 30.1 percent to 9,442 engines. Only the
Construction Equipment application segment recorded an increase, with its unit
sales advancing by 13.7 percent to 1,755 engines thanks to the business
involving drives for mining equipment. Revenue decreased across all regions and
application segments, falling by 21.6 percent year on year to €145.0 million.

The operating profit for the segment deteriorated markedly compared with the
first half of 2019. This was mainly due to the sharp decline caused by the
global coronavirus pandemic in the reporting period. The segment’s operating
profit was also weighed down by impairment losses on two development projects
that were recognized due to the expected decrease in demand for the affected
engine series.

Other: key figures for the segment

The Other segment includes not only Torqeedo’s business with electric motors
for boats but also Futavis GmbH, which was acquired in October 2019. Overall,
the segment’s business performance was positive in the reporting period.
Despite the coronavirus crisis, new orders rose by 4.8 percent year on year to
€19.5 million. In the first half of 2020, unit sales more than doubled to a
total of 16,244 electric motors. This was primarily thanks to the ramp-up of
trolling engines and led to a 32.4 percent jump in revenue to €22.5 million.
All regions contributed to this growth.

In the period under review, the Other segment’s operating loss improved by
€4.6 million. This was mainly attributable to the deconsolidation of the joint
venture DEUTZ AGCO Motores S.A., Haedo, Argentina, in the first half of 2019.
As part of the deconsolidation, which was carried out for reasons of
materiality, cumulative negative exchange differences were reclassified from
equity to the income statement, which had a significant adverse impact on the
segment’s earnings in the prior-year period.

Full-year guidance for 2020 remains under review

The progression and timeline of the coronavirus crisis going forward is very
difficult to predict, as is its impact on the economy and thus on DEUTZ’s engine
business. Consequently, it is still not possible to provide updated guidance
for 2020 at the present time.

Fundamentally, it can be assumed that the remainder of 2020, particularly
the third quarter, will continue to be heavily affected by the impact of the
coronavirus crisis, although to a lesser extent than the second quarter.

It is now anticipated that the final installment of the purchase price for
the Cologne-Deutz site, which had been expected as a positive exceptional item,
will be paid in 2021 rather than this year. However, it is important to note
that the amount and the date of this payment continue to depend on when the
development plan for the site is formally approved and so cannot be precisely
determined yet.

Medium-term targets confirmed

Despite the currently difficult situation, the Company reaffirms its current
outlook for 2022, when it expects to generate revenue in excess of €2.0 billion
and an EBIT margin before exceptional items in the range of 7 percent to 8
percent.

Growth is likely to be driven mainly by the continued internationalization
and rapid expansion of the service business, but also by the expansion of the
core business and the further development of the product portfolio. As a
result, DEUTZ is also adhering to its revenue target for the service business,
which it has brought forward to 2021 and envisages revenue of over €400
million.

In view of the restructuring of its business in China, DEUTZ raised its
original revenue target for 2022 from around €500 million to around €800
million. This significant increase is due, in particular, to the fact that the
planned volume for the joint venture already meets existing market demand and
the intention is to gain further market share from competitors by implementing
the China strategy.

Transform for Growth global efficiency program defined

At the start of the year, DEUTZ launched a Company-wide efficiency program,
Transform for Growth, in order to further shore up its earnings performance in
challenging conditions. The details of the underlying action plan were drawn up
in the second quarter. The main areas of action are optimization of the global
production network, automation and digitalization of production and
administrative processes, and groupwide streamlining of the organizational
structure.

By taking these measures, DEUTZ hopes to generate annual cost savings of
around €100 million, with the full effect expected to be achieved from 2022
onward. As well as adjusting operating costs, a large part of the savings are
to be achieved by reducing staff costs. This will involve a reduction in
headcount of up to 1,000 across the Group, which will be implemented with the
minimum possible social impact.

A total of 380 jobs have already been cut in the first half of this year,
partly by reducing the number of temporary workers. Following on from this,
DEUTZ is planning to launch a voluntary program encompassing a further 350 jobs
at its sites in Germany. The remaining reduction in headcount is to be achieved
by the end of 2022 as fixed-term contracts come to an end and through natural
attrition.

“Our utmost objective is to avoid compulsory redundancies and find a
socially responsible solution for our employees. We have therefore already
entered into an ongoing dialog with the employee representatives to discuss the
details of a voluntary program,” stressed DEUTZ CEO Hiller.

Forward-looking statements

This investor news may
contain certain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and
forecasts made by the DEUTZ management team. Various known and unknown risks,
uncertainties, and other factors may lead to material differences between the
actual results, the financial position, or the performance of the DEUTZ Group
and the estimates and assessments set out here. These factors include those
that DEUTZ has described in published reports, which are available at
www.deutz.com. The Company does not undertake to update these forward-looking
statements or to change them to reflect future events or developments.

About DEUTZ AG

DEUTZ AG, a publicly traded company headquartered in Cologne, Germany, is
one of the world’s leading manufacturers of innovative drive systems. Its core
competencies are the development, production, distribution, and servicing of
diesel, gas, and electric drive systems for professional applications. It
offers a broad range of engines delivering up to 620 kW that are used in
construction equipment, agricultural machinery, material handling equipment,
stationary equipment, commercial vehicles, rail vehicles, and other applications.
DEUTZ has around 4,900 employees worldwide and over 800 sales and service
partners in more than 130 countries. It generated revenue of €1,840.8 million
in 2019.

Further information is available at www.deutz.com^[1]. The revenue target of approximately EUR800 million includes the revenue
generated by the joint venture with SANY. Under the equity method, this revenue
is not recognized in the consolidated financial statements.

HONG KONG, CHINA – Media OutReach – 11 August 2020 – Boutir, a social mobile commerce solution and
multi-channel commerce platform provider, has produced a new TV commercial
series titled the Three Boutir Genies, which showcases through sci-fi animation
how Boutir’s easy-to-use mobile interface can effectively address merchants’
pain points associated with setting up an online shop.

The new TV commercial series was
premiered on Viu TV on 27 July. It features three fictional genie figures in
the e-commerce realm, the Web Bouncer, the Multitasker, and Payment Handler,
each representing a set of common pain points of online merchants, such as not
knowing how to design and launch the online store, manage the administrative,
logistics and advertising, and process the large amount of payments. However,
Boutir’s simplified and easy-to-use mobile interface allows merchants to set up
an online store effortlessly. The TV commercial campaign comes with the tag
line “your online store solution from a mobile phone”, accentuating on the many
features of Boutir’s one-stop mobile solution for integrated store management
with the choice of multiple payment methods and the ease with which merchants
can launch their online stores.

Boutir is anchored on four core
values: Simple, Mobile, Social and Data. Earlier this year, Boutir became a
Facebook Preferred Partner for Commerce and a Google Partner for AdWords in
Hong Kong, and it was the first vendor in the region with a mobile app
launching an online store. In June, Boutir’s In-App Ad Buying Feature Program
will further help merchants automatically install the Facebook Pixel tracking
code through its interface API under the program, thereby establishing product
catalogue, real-time links to Facebook store and dynamic ads to promote their
products. Merchants can place Facebook and Google conversion ads directly and
use the accumulated post-ad data — beyond the current target, retarget and
lookalike features. This enables SMEs to engage potential customers with better
targeted marketing campaigns and gain revenue directly.

Watch now

Viu TV

About Boutir Limited

Established in 2015, Boutir Limited
is a social mobile commerce solutions provider and multi-channel commerce
platform for individuals and corporate retailers to set up online stores and
run a retail business through mobile apps. Headquartered in Hong Kong, Boutir
currently works with 100K+ merchants, 2M products and 1.7M monthly active
consumers, and has expanded into Southeast Asia.

Website: https://www.boutir.com/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/boutir.hk

Leading Japan with 60% market share, Amaten to become the next Amazon in the gift card industry, estimated to reach $2.7 Trillion in value by 2027

TOKYO, JAPAN – Media
OutReach – 11 August
2020 – Japan’s largest digital gift card marketplace
“Amaten” has announced plans to globalize its brand across the world, after
record sale that reached $100 million USD. The company has reinvented the
digital gift card solutions to create “win-win” situation for both consumers
and shops, shooting to a resounding growth in recent years. Today, Amaten has
set up its first overseas operations in Dubai, UAE.

Since 2019, the gift card market generated profits worth
$617 billion, this number is projected to reach a revised size of $2.7 Trillion
by 2027 as demand for going cashless is accelerating during the Covid-19 era.
It is a market that is rarely talked about yet, its current technology is
completely obsolete into today’s digital world.

Retailers increasingly refer to adoption of digital gift
cards, yet they struggle with technical errors that make their cards easily
compromised to be used multiple times, causing financial losses, in addition to
more common issues, where gift cards have limited purchasing options and tight
expiry dates.

This is where Amaten comes to the rescue, the massive
success the fintech company has brought in Japan comes from the revolutionary
makeovers that it created in digital gift card industry.

At first glance, Amaten is engineering their digital gift
cards with blockchain integration. It is taking the gift card and putting on a
smart contract making it truly digital thus, illuminating all the structural
short coming of the current technology. This provides a great advantage for
merchants and consumers from security standpoint, as they’ll be able to trace
gift cards ensuring that it’s not compromised, as Blockchain will ensure
highest level of data encryption.

This advanced integration makes Amaten the most secure gift
card issuer on the internet, thus tackling the “Gift Card Error” issue that is
commonly seen among other suppliers. A long-awaited paradigm
shift in this fintech industry.

Apart from accepting gift card purchases using cash, Amaten
was among the first marketplaces worldwide to accept Bitcoin. Conversely, users
can redeem unwanted gift cards to cash, hence tackling the issue of unused
cards that counts $1 Billion in losses globally every year.

The Amaten platform currently list the top 25 global
merchants gift cards, the likes of Amazon, Apple, Rakuten and Google within the
Japanese market.

Soon, Amaten will allow any merchant to issue gift cards, thus
encouraging buyers to purchase them for potential shopping in the foreseeable
future, thus keeping businesses under financial support during slow economic
activity.

The inspiration for Amaten’s innovation comes from one of
Japan’s IT industry leaders, Mr. Tom Kanazawa, who played a major role to
backing and funding IT ventures in Japan since 1998, he is currently the
Chairman of Amaten.

Commenting on the opportunities that Amaten has for
investors, Mr. Tom Kanazawa said “Amaten has the potential of becoming a
monopolistic enterprise and change the gift card for good, because we are
solving the last mile problem between cash and the legacy gift card,  Until recently, it was deemed impossible for
the industry to reinvent itself, but as for Amaten, using our blockchain
solution built on Aelf, we tackled those structural issues and will ensure a
seamless experience for our users and merchants, finally building a true
fintech digital product and expanding the industry and its market ‘size even
further. This is a true use case for blockchain technology that can be applied
right away!”

Mr. Kanazawa added, “We also have seen quite some interest
for white label solutions that can be provided to hotel chains for example or
enterprise incentive programs to create a truly digital and seamless ecosystem.

We invite everyone interested in AMA to join our
telegram channel, or to visit our website amaten.io, me and the team
will be happy to cater to your questions and we’ll be here to help!”.

HONG KONG, CHINA – Media OutReach
– 10 August 2020 – RB Hong Kong is proud to
announce Dettol received the Health Partnership Award 2020 that
recognized our contribution to Outstanding Community Service in Personal
Hygiene under the category of Corporate Social Responsibility. The Health
Partnership Award is themed “Be your healthiest self”, aims to raise people
awareness of lifelong health and wellness, which perfectly connects with
Dettol’s brand mission.  

Throughout the years, RB exists to protect, heal and nurture in the
relentless pursuit of a cleaner and healthier world, and to help people making
access to the highest quality hygiene, wellness and nourishment a right and not
a privilege. In line with such purpose, Dettol, one of RB’s leading brands in
Hong Kong not only strives to provide trusted and a variety of products for
personal and family health and hygiene but put ourselves accountable for
education for the community at large.

Dettol understands that children’s immunity systems are not yet
well-established. Washing hands is one of the most effective means to prevent
germ transmission. Aligned with its brand purpose, Dettol launched the flagship
educational program, Dettol Health Academy helping Hong Kong kids to develop simple but
critical handwashing habit, enabling them to prevent germ transmission
in their growing-up journey and thus, inspiring their parents on family hygiene
and in turn contributing to a healthier community. Dettol Health Academy also
embraced digital development and extended its life-engagement to teach
kindergarten students in a fun and easily accessible way. Previously, the program went
out from classrooms and set up a mobile germ testing station on a school bus to
visualize hand washing steps, bringing a new learning experience to the
students. Such new education format was endorsed by the Chinese University of
Hong Kong and Save The Children.

Since its launch in 2011, Dettol Health Academy has been
receiving positive recognition from different stakeholders. Over 90% of
interviewed parents agreed the program helped improving children’s
understanding of personal hygiene [1] . Until 2019, Dettol Health
Academy has visited approximately 70% of Hong Kong kindergartens, more than 620
schools in total, and educated kids aged at 3 to 5 years old to date.  

Not only engaging in educational program for the next
generation, Dettol supports the Hong Kong community with public hygiene
education. Dettol continuously shares hygiene and disease prevention related tips and education through
its websites and social media platforms to remind the public the importance of
maintaining a hygienic environment and the means to break the infection chain,
in order to create a cleaner, healthier world.

Hosted by ETNET, a prominent local media in Hong Kong, the Health Partnership
Award 2020 covers nine categories and recognises 28 companies for their
outstanding achievements in making efforts and contributions to promoting
public health and bringing excellent products. The award is selected by leaders
from different professions and fields by assessing the companies in diversified
facets including innovativeness, functionality, market potential, benefits to
consumers, and public impact. In particular, the award category, Corporate
Social Responsibility, recognises and credits contributors who integrate social
and environmental and public health concerns in their business operations and
interactions with their stakeholders, especially in the ongoing epidemic of
Penyakit Virus Corona 2019 (COVID-19) period.

About Dettol

The brand first
started in hospitals 80 years ago, where Dettol Antiseptic Liquid was first
used for the cleaning and disinfection of skin during surgical procedures. As a
trusted brand by doctors, Dettol was also used to protect mothers from illness
after childbirth.

Ever since then,
Dettol has been trusted around the world to help prevent wounds from infection,
prevent sickness and help mums protect their families by killing harmful germs
and helping to create safe environments for them to thrive in. 

The brand
continues to be one of the most trusted protectors of health. It’s still valued
today as a reliable and effective product which is safe to use on skin but also
powerful enough to use for environmental germ-killing tasks.

Dettol is world #1[2] Germ Protection brand. Dettol also ranked first in Sales Value (HK$) in the
Hand Wash segment of Liquid Soap category for the 10-year period[3].

For more information, please visit: https://www.dettol.com.hk/en/

About Dettol Health Academy

Established in 2011, Dettol Health Academy aims to educate the next
generation in Hong Kong on the importance of maintaining personal hygiene and
hand washing techniques. In addition to face to
face education, Dettol Health Academy often shares hygiene knowledge online
with interesting visuals and videos to enable children to learn more about
hygiene effectively, anytime and anywhere.

About RB

RB* is driven by its purpose to protect, heal and nurture in
a relentless pursuit of a cleaner, healthier world. We fight to make access to the highest-quality hygiene,
wellness and nourishment a right, not a privilege, for everyone.

RB is proud to have a stable of trusted household brands
found in households in more than 190 countries. These include Enfamil,
Nutramigen, Nurofen, Strepsils, Gaviscon, Mucinex, Durex, Scholl, Clearasil,
Lysol, Dettol, Veet, Harpic, Cillit Bang, Mortein, Finish, Vanish, Calgon,
Woolite, Air Wick and more.  20 million RB products a day are bought by
consumers globally.

RB’s passion to put consumers and people first, to seek out
new opportunities, to strive for excellence in all that we do, and to build shared
success with all our partners, while doing the right thing, always is what
guides the work of our 40,000+ diverse and talented colleagues worldwide.

For
more information visit www.rb.com

*RB is the trading name of the Reckitt Benckiser group
of companies

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 10 August 2020 –
In 2020, with uncertain times taking the world by a storm, many businesses have
fallen victim to the pandemic and its devastating impact. During Singapore’s
circuit breaker, individuals and businesses alike, were constrained from many
day-to-day activities in an attempt to curb the virus; but in an unanticipated
turn of events, many businesses have remained pandemic-proof and have
conversely, managed to thrive in these times.

One of these businesses is Flower Chimp
— a leading online gifting retailer operating across Southeast Asia, delivering
flowers bouquets, gift hampers, and more in Singapore since 2018. What Flower
Chimp may have not anticipated is that the pandemic’s “new normal” barriers would prove to be an opportunity for many to
rekindle their relationships with their loved ones — despite distance.

Within Singapore alone, the business saw
a growth of 150% in sales within just 2 months, as people turned to sending
flowers around the country, and even from outside as a memento of love to those
far away from them. “We expected revenue to decline to pre-COVID-19 times after
circuit breaker restrictions were lifted, however sales remained strong” says a
spokesperson of the company, “however, customer behaviour appears to have
changed sustainable, as many first-time customers of the circuit breaker period
continue to shop
for gifts online“.

Flower Chimp is just one example of a
pandemic-proof business, continuing its pursuit of saying it best with flowers
by helping people give the invaluable gift of connection and communication, in
the form of fresh petals. Many other businesses in the e-commerce arena have
witnessed similar traction, as people, for example, improve their living spaces
shopping for furniture online or seek to buy yoga mats for their new home
exercise routine.

About Limitless Technology

Founded in 2016 by German entrepreneurs
Maximilian Lotz and Niklas Frassa, Limitless Technology is an ecommerce holding
company active in Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Hong Kong, and Singapore
with their flagship brands such as Flower Chimp and CakeRush.

Specially catering to consumers in the
gifting and lifestyle e-commerce segment, the group strives to serve the
growing demand for gift delivery and other categories across South East Asia
with high caliber technologies, services, and teams.

• Building integrated channels and helping business owners
• Develop new systems to boost sales

HONG KONG, CHINA – Media OutReach – 10 August 2020 – Sa
Sa International Holdings Limited (Sa Sa or the “Group”; stock code: 0178)
announced on 3 August its official adoption of Boutir‘s solution and the
setup of “personal online stores” for its beauty consultants. This will allow
Sa Sa to combine the strengths of in-store and online shopping to create a more
flexible and personalised experience for customers in Hong Kong SAR while
providing an additional sales channel for Sa Sa’s frontline staff to make extra
commissions.

With the Boutir solution, customers can first visit Sa Sa’s physical
stores or access product information via Facebook Live, then complete their
purchases in Sa Sa’s beauty consultants’ “personal online stores”. At the same
time, Sa Sa’s beauty consultants will be able to easily engage customers via
the Boutir mobile app by recommending products and offers to them, checking
orders and arranging delivery. Leverage on the partnership combines three
advantages, namely social media, Sa Sa’s expansive customer base and the multi-brand
beauty advice of its professional beauty consultants, this solution directs
traffic going through online stores to physical stores and brings customers at
physical stores online without spatial-temporal constraints. This partnership also
helps Sa Sa establish an omni-channel sales system to boost sales.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Sa
Sa has developed its e-commerce business rapidly, particularly social commerce,
which can leverage on the professional expertise of Sa Sa’s beauty consultants.
With a personal service component, social commerce has the potential to
outperform traditional online sales in terms of house brand mix, gross margin
and basket size. Since October 2019, Sa Sa has piloted a WeChat mini-programme
to target Mainland China customers who have visited Sa Sa retail stores in Hong
Kong or Macau SARs. In light of encouraging results from the pilot run, the
Group has expanded its social commerce efforts by partnering with Boutir to
engage with customers in Hong Kong SAR and conduct online sales through social
media. Sa Sa also actively launches live broadcasting at multiple social media platforms
in Hong Kong SAR and Mainland China to further attract online customers.

Boutir is anchored on four core
values: Simple, Mobile, Social and Data. As a leader in new retail solutions,
Boutir provides a simple and cost-effective one-stop e-commerce platform for
retailers to build online stores; manage merchandise, orders and loyalty
programs; and analyze data in the traditional e-commerce marketplace with
advanced technology, creativity and an improved user experience. Boutir has
partnered with a variety of retailers on its solution including MaBelle, MADIA,
OTO, and S.T. Dupont since 2017. Such efforts have extended the scope of retail
merchandise from jewelry, massage products and luxury goods to include beauty,
cosmetics and wellness, paved the way for the retailers to sell across
different scenarios, and continued to set the trends on new retail.

Dr
Simon Kwok, SBS, JP, Chairman and CEO of Sa Sa, said, “Sa Sa is committed to
social commerce and is constantly developing new online sales channels. The
partnership with Boutir allows Sa Sa to transcend the spatial-temporal
boundaries, use social media to engage and sell more with customers in Hong
Kong SAR and leverage potential synergies between its online presence with the existing
brick-and-mortar stores to provide a seamless online-to-offline (O2O) shopping
experience that is more flexible, accessible and intimate. At the same time,
this partnership is generating additional commission income for the frontline
staff amid COVID-19 outbreak and pivoting Sa Sa towards a new retail model.”

Mr
Eric Ng, Founder of Boutir, said, “The launch of ‘online personal stores’
breaks the physical limits of brick-and-mortar stores and makes it easier for
customers to connect with the frontline beauty consultants for more
personalized product recommendations and offers. I am confident that this
partnership with Sa Sa will fully leverage the strengths of its professional
beauty consultants to seamlessly extend their first-class customer service in
brick-and-mortar stores into the online platform, while improving customer
loyalty, broadening the customer base and increasing sales conversion rate.
Looking ahead, we remain on the lookout for the right retailers to further solidify
their brand position in Hong Kong and to achieve more meaningful sales growth.”

About Sa Sa International Holdings Limted

Sa Sa, a leading beauty product retailing group in Asia, runs one-stop
cosmetics specialty stores selling diverse quality products ranging from
skincare, fragrance, make-up, hair care to body care products, as well as
health and beauty supplements under more than 700 brands. Sa Sa operates more
than 230 retail stores in the Hong Kong and Macau SARs, Mainland China and
Malaysia, as well as providing customers with a convenient shopping experience
across multiple online platforms.

The Group has been included in the Hang Seng Composite SmallCap Index,
FTSE World Index Series and, MSCI Index Series. It has been a constituent
member of Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Benchmark Index since 2011. Sa Sa
has also been an eligible stock for Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect since
2016.

About Boutir Limited

Established in 2015, Boutir Limited is a social mobile commerce solutions
provider and multi-channel commerce platform for individuals and corporate retailers
to set up online stores and run a retail business through mobile apps.
Headquartered in Hong Kong, Boutir currently works with 100K+ merchants, 2M
products and 1.7M monthly active consumers, and has expanded into Southeast
Asia.

Website: https://www.boutir.com/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/boutir.hk