Agora, Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2024 Financial Results


SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Agora, Inc. (NASDAQ: API) (the “Company”), a pioneer and leader in real-time engagement technology, today announced its unaudited financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2024.

“I am glad to see both Agora and Shengwang delivered year-on-year revenue growth against a very challenging macro environment in this quarter, which was made possible through our relentless innovation to enable new use cases and to push the bar of quality and value for existing use cases,” said Tony Zhao, founder, chairman and CEO of Agora, Inc. “Recently, we facilitated our customers to launch conversational AI applications in various use cases such as AI companions, productivity assistants, language tutors and customer service, with promising user adoption and engagement trends. I believe the intersection of real-time engagement and conversational AI will be a key driver of our business going forward.”

Second Quarter 2024 Highlights

  • Total revenues for the quarter were $34.2 million, an increase of 0.5% from $34.0 million in the second quarter of 2023.
    • Agora: $15.6 million for the quarter, an increase of 2.0% from $15.3 million in the second quarter of 2023.
    • Shengwang: RMB131.9 million ($18.6 million) for the quarter, an increase of 0.3% from RMB131.5 million ($18.7 million) in the second quarter of 2023.
  • Active Customers
    • Agora: 1,672 as of June 30, 2024, an increase of 7.2% from 1,560 as of June 30, 2023.
    • Shengwang: 3,774 as of June 30, 2024, a decrease of 5.5% from 3,992 as of June 30, 2023.
  • Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate
    • Agora: 92% for the trailing 12-month period ended June 30, 2024.
    • Shengwang: 79% for the trailing 12-month period ended June 30, 2024.
  • Net loss for the quarter was $9.2 million, compared to net loss of $45.3 million in the second quarter of 2023. After excluding share-based compensation expenses, acquisition related expenses, amortization expenses of acquired intangible assets, income tax related to acquired intangible assets and impairment of goodwill, non-GAAP net loss for the quarter was $6.0 million, compared to the non-GAAP net loss of $6.6 million in the second quarter of 2023.
  • Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was negative $6.0 million, compared to negative $6.6 million in the second quarter of 2023.
  • Total cash, cash equivalents, bank deposits and financial products issued by banks as of June 30, 2024 was $371.0 million.
  • Net cash used in operating activities for the quarter was $7.6 million, compared to $5.3 million in the second quarter of 2023. Free cash flow for the quarter was negative $7.9 million, compared to negative $5.6 million in the second quarter of 2023.

Second Quarter 2024 Financial Results

Revenues
Total revenues were $34.2 million in the second quarter of 2024, an increase of 0.5% from $34.0 million in the same period last year. Revenues of Agora were $15.6 million in the second quarter of 2024, an increase of 2.0% from $15.3 million in the same period last year, primarily due to our business expansion and usage growth in sectors such as live shopping. Revenues of Shengwang were RMB131.9 million ($18.6 million) in the second quarter of 2024, an increase of 0.3% from RMB131.5 million ($18.7 million) in the same period last year, primarily due to increase in revenues from certain sectors such as Internet of Things.

Cost of Revenues
Cost of revenues was $13.0 million in the second quarter of 2024, an increase of 3.8% from $12.5 million in the same period last year, primarily due to the increase in bandwidth usage and co-location costs.

Gross Profit and Gross Margin
Gross profit was $21.2 million in the second quarter of 2024, a decrease of 1.4% from $21.5 million in the same period last year. Gross margin was 62.0% in the second quarter of 2024, a decrease of 1.3% from 63.3% in the same period last year, mainly due to product mix change.

Operating Expenses
Operating expenses were $32.6 million in the second quarter of 2024, a decrease of 14.4% from $38.1 million in the same period last year.

  • Research and development expenses were $18.1 million in the second quarter of 2024, a decrease of 10.6% from $20.3 million in the same period last year, primarily due to a decrease in personnel costs as the Company optimized its global workforce, including a decrease in share-based compensation from $3.4 million in the second quarter of 2023 to $2.1 million in the second quarter of 2024.
  • Sales and marketing expenses were $6.3 million in the second quarter of 2024, a decrease of 27.4% from $8.6 million in the same period last year, primarily due to a decrease in personnel costs as the Company optimized its global workforce, including a decrease in share-based compensation from $1.2 million in the second quarter of 2023 to $0.3 million in the second quarter of 2024.
  • General and administrative expenses were $8.2 million in the second quarter of 2024, a decrease of 10.8% from $9.2 million in the same period last year, primarily due to a decrease in personnel costs as the Company optimized its global workforce, including a decrease in share-based compensation from $2.1 million in the second quarter of 2023 to $0.7 million in the second quarter of 2024.

Loss from Operations
Loss from operations was $11.1 million in the second quarter of 2024, compared to $48.1 million in the same period last year, primarily due to the decrease of operating expenses from $38.1 million in the second quarter of 2023 to $32.6 million in the second quarter of 2024, as well as the decrease of impairment of goodwill from $31.9 million in the second quarter of 2023 to nil in the second quarter of 2024.

Interest Income
Interest income was $4.6 million in the second quarter of 2024, compared to $4.8 million in the same period last year, primarily due to the decrease in the average balance of cash, cash equivalents, bank deposits and financial products issued by banks.

Investment Loss
Investment loss was $2.8 million in the second quarter of 2024, compared to $1.9 million in the same period last year, primarily due to the fair value change in equity investments.

Net Loss
Net loss was $9.2 million in the second quarter of 2024, compared to $45.3 million in the same period last year.

Net Loss per American Depositary Share attributable to ordinary shareholders
Net loss per American Depositary Share (“ADS”)1 attributable to ordinary shareholders was $0.10 in the second quarter of 2024, compared to $0.45 in the same period last year.

______________
1 One ADS represents four Class A ordinary shares.

Share Repurchase Program

During the three months ended June 30, 2024, the Company repurchased approximately 3.9 million of its class A ordinary shares (equivalent to approximately 1.0 million ADSs) for approximately US$2.4 million under its share repurchase program, representing 1.2% of its US$200 million share repurchase program.

As of June 30, 2024, the Company had repurchased approximately 122.5 million of its class A ordinary shares (equivalent to approximately 30.6 million ADSs) for approximately US$109.9 million under its share repurchase program, representing 55% of its US$200 million share repurchase program.

As of June 30, 2024, the Company had 367.9 million ordinary shares (equivalent to approximately 92.0 million ADSs) outstanding, compared to 449.8 million ordinary shares (equivalent to approximately 112.5 million ADSs) outstanding as of January 31, 2022 before the share repurchase program commenced.

The current share repurchase program will expire at the end of February 2025.

Financial Outlook

Based on the currently available information, the Company expects total revenues for the third quarter of 2024 to be between $31.5 million and $33.5 million. This outlook reflects the Company’s planned end of sale of certain products with unsatisfactory profitability. Such products generated approximately $2.4 million of revenues in the third quarter of 2023 and $3.3 million of revenues in the second quarter of 2024. This outlook also reflects the Company's current and preliminary views on the market and operational conditions, which are subject to change.

Earnings Call

The Company will host a conference call to discuss the financial results at 6 p.m. Pacific Time / 9 p.m. Eastern Time on August 19, 2024. Details for the conference call are as follows:
Event title: Agora, Inc. 2Q 2024 Financial Results
The call will be available at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/nr2i6si8
Investors who want to hear the call should log on at least 15 minutes prior to the broadcast. Participants may register for the call with the link below.
https://register.vevent.com/register/BI8f5ae80f0c244071a802cba97cbac9e6
Please visit the Company’s investor relations website at https://investor.agora.io on August 19, 2024 to view the earnings release and accompanying slides prior to the conference call.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The Company has provided in this press release financial information that has not been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”). The Company uses these non-GAAP financial measures internally in analyzing its financial results and believe that the use of these non-GAAP financial measures is useful to investors as an additional tool to evaluate ongoing operating results and trends and in comparing its financial results with other companies in its industry, many of which present similar non-GAAP financial measures. Besides free cash flow (as defined below), each of these non-GAAP financial measures represents the corresponding GAAP financial measure before share-based compensation expenses, acquisition related expenses, amortization expenses of acquired intangible assets, income tax related to acquired intangible assets and impairment of goodwill. The Company believes that such non-GAAP financial measures help identify underlying trends in its business that could otherwise be distorted by the effects of such share-based compensation expenses, acquisition related expenses, amortization expenses of acquired intangible assets, income tax related to acquired intangible assets and impairment of goodwill that it includes in its cost of revenues, total operating expenses and net income (loss). The Company believes that all such non-GAAP financial measures also provide useful information about its operating results, enhance the overall understanding of its past performance and future prospects and allow for greater visibility with respect to key metrics used by its management in its financial and operational decision-making.

Non-GAAP financial measures are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable GAAP financial measures and should be read only in conjunction with the Company’s consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of its historical non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures has been provided in the tables captioned “Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Measures” included at the end of this press release, and investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation.

Definitions of the Company’s non-GAAP financial measures included in this press release are presented below.

Non-GAAP Net Income (Loss)

Non-GAAP net income (loss) is defined as net income (loss) adjusted to exclude share-based compensation expenses, acquisition related expenses, amortization expenses of acquired intangible assets, income tax related to acquired intangible assets and impairment of goodwill.

Adjusted EBITDA

Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income (loss) before exchange gain (loss), interest income, investment income (loss), other income, equity in income of affiliates, income taxes, depreciation of property and equipment, amortization of land use right, and adjusted to exclude the effects of share-based compensation expenses, acquisition related expenses, amortization expenses of acquired intangible assets and impairment of goodwill.

Free Cash Flow

Free cash flow is defined as net cash provided by operating activities less purchases of property and equipment (excluding the acquisition of land use right and the construction in progress for the headquarters project). The Company considers free cash flow to be a liquidity measure that provides useful information to management and investors regarding net cash provided by operating activities and cash used for investments in property and equipment required to maintain and grow the business.

Operating Metrics

The Company also uses other operating metrics included in this press release and defined below to assess the performance of its business.

Active Customers

An active customer at the end of any particular period is defined as an organization or individual developer from which the Company generated more than $100 of revenue during the preceding 12 months. Customers are counted based on unique customer account identifiers. Generally, one software application uses the same customer account identifier throughout its life cycle while one account may be used for multiple applications.

Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate

Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate is calculated for a trailing 12-month period by first identifying all customers in the prior 12-month period, and then calculating the quotient from dividing the revenue generated from such customers in the trailing 12-month period by the revenue generated from the same group of customers in the prior 12-month period. As the vast majority of revenue generated from Agora’s customers is denominated in U.S. dollars, while the vast majority of revenue generated from Shengwang’s customers is denominated in Renminbi, Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate is calculated in U.S. dollars for Agora and in Renminbi for Shengwang, which has substantially removed the impact of foreign currency translations. Shengwang excluded the revenues from Easemob’s CEC business and K12 academic tutoring sector. The Company believes Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate facilitates operating performance comparisons on a period-to-period basis.

Safe Harbor Statements

This press release contains ‘‘forward-looking statements’’ within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical or current fact included in this press release are forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements regarding the Company’s financial outlook, beliefs and expectations. Forward-looking statements include statements containing words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “project,” “will” and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. Among other things, the Financial Outlook in this announcement contain forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company’s current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties. The Company’s actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties, which include, without limitation, risks related to the growth of the RTE-PaaS market; the Company’s ability to manage its growth and expand its operations; the continued impact of COVID-19 on global markets and the Company’s business, operations and customers; the Company’s ability to attract new developers and convert them into customers; the Company’s ability to retain existing customers and expand their usage of its platform and products; the Company’s ability to drive popularity of existing use cases and enable new use cases, including through quality enhancements and introduction of new products, features and functionalities; the Company’s fluctuating operating results; competition; the effect of broader technological and market trends on the Company’s business and prospects; general economic conditions and their impact on customer and end-user demand; and other risks and uncertainties included elsewhere in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including, without limitation, the final prospectus related to the IPO filed with the SEC on June 26, 2020. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, and the Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof.

About Agora, Inc.

Agora, Inc. is the Cayman Islands holding company of two independent divisions, under Agora brand and Shengwang brand, respectively, whose businesses are conducted through separate entities.

Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Agora is a pioneer and global leader in Real-Time Engagement Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), providing developers with simple, flexible, and powerful application programming interfaces, or APIs, to embed real-time voice, video, interactive live-streaming, chat, whiteboard, and artificial intelligence capabilities into their applications.

Headquartered in Shanghai, China, Shengwang is a pioneer and leading Real-Time Engagement PaaS provider in the China market.

For more information on Agora, please visit: www.agora.io
For more information on Shengwang, please visit: www.shengwang.cn

 
Agora, Inc.
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(Unaudited, in US$ thousands)
    
 As of As of
 June 30, December 31,
 2024 2023
Assets     
Current assets:     
Cash and cash equivalents37,587  36,894 
Short-term bank deposits198,906  86,924 
Short-term financial products issued by banks115,118  84,853 
Short-term investments2,893  7,983 
Accounts receivable, net37,456  34,668 
Prepayments and other current assets21,431  9,059 
Contract assets1,070  1,048 
Total current assets414,461  261,429 
Property and equipment, net4,283  5,365 
Construction in progress for the headquarters project20,434  17,343 
Operating lease right-of-use assets3,238  4,011 
Intangible assets872  1,274 
Long-term bank deposits10,000  143,127 
Long-term financial products issued by banks9,400  20,000 
Long-term investments44,560  43,893 
Land use right, net164,501  167,246 
Other non-current assets7,577  10,907 
Total assets679,326  674,595 
      
Liabilities and shareholders’ equity     
Current liabilities:     
Accounts payable17,513  12,996 
Advances from customers8,082  7,765 
Taxes payable1,553  906 
Current operating lease liabilities2,306  2,447 
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities20,571  32,780 
Total current liabilities50,025  56,894 
Long-term operating lease liabilities799  1,726 
Deferred tax liabilities133  196 
Long-term borrowings22,089  11,027 
Other non-current liabilities19,217  3 
Total liabilities92,263  69,846 


Shareholders’ equity:     
Class A ordinary shares39  39 
Class B ordinary shares8  8 
Additional paid-in-capital1,139,695  1,138,346 
Treasury shares, at cost(78,969) (79,716)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss(11,104) (10,027)
Accumulated deficit(462,606) (443,901)
Total shareholders’ equity587,063  604,749 
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity679,326  674,595 
      


 
Agora, Inc.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss
(Unaudited, in US$ thousands, except share and per ADS amounts)
    
 Three Month Ended Six Month Ended
 June 30, June 30,
 2024 2023 2024 2023
Real-time engagement service revenues33,138  32,979  65,360  68,080 
Real-time engagement on-premise solution and other revenues1,071  1,059  1,870  2,401 
Total revenues34,209  34,038  67,230  70,481 
Cost of revenues12,983  12,502  25,780  26,099 
Gross profit21,226  21,536  41,450  44,382 
Operating expenses:     
Research and development18,141  20,285  36,280  41,316 
Sales and marketing6,270  8,638  13,084  19,114 
General and administrative8,228  9,221  16,608  18,030 
Total operating expenses32,639  38,144  65,972  78,460 
Other operating income304  399  780  895 
Impairment of goodwill-  (31,928) -  (31,928)
Loss from operations(11,109) (48,137) (23,742) (65,111)
Exchange gain (loss)110  (328) 65  (211)
Interest income4,586  4,750  9,320  9,156 
Interest expense(105) -  (165) - 
Investment loss(2,837) (1,943) (4,872) (5,141)
Losses from extinguishment of convertible note-  -  -  (1,230)
Other income-  550  -  550 
Loss before income taxes(9,355) (45,108) (19,394) (61,987)
Income taxes(9) (169) (149) (159)
Equity in income (loss) of affiliates122  (16) 838  51 
Net loss(9,242) (45,293) (18,705) (62,095)
Net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders(9,242) (45,293) (18,705) (62,095)
Other comprehensive loss:     
Foreign currency translation adjustments(738) (9,430) (1,078) (7,261)
Gain on available-for-sale debt securities-  -  -  1,385 
Total comprehensive loss attributable to ordinary shareholders(9,980) (54,723) (19,783) (67,971)
      
Net loss per ADS attributable to ordinary shareholders, basic and diluted(0.10) (0.45) (0.20) (0.60)
      
Weighted-average shares used in computing net loss per ADS attributable to ordinary shareholders, basic and diluted373,103,149  402,116,231  372,644,910  413,004,785 
      
Share-based compensation expenses included in:     
Cost of revenues52  230  153  447 
Research and development expenses2,065  3,356  5,110  6,899 
Sales and marketing expenses294  1,172  597  2,905 
General and administrative expenses748  2,077  1,733  4,008 
            


 
Agora, Inc.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(Unaudited, in US$ thousands)
    
 Three Month Ended Six Month Ended
 June 30, June 30,
 2024 2023 2024 2023
Cash flows from operating activities:     
Net loss(9,242) (45,293) (18,705) (62,095)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:     
Share-based compensation expenses3,159  6,835  7,593  14,259 
Allowance for current expected credit losses2,557  1,947  4,848  3,501 
Depreciation of property and equipment930  1,908  1,938  4,122 
Amortization of intangible assets129  345  402  691 
Amortization of land use right858  869  1,716  1,462 
Deferred tax benefit(20) (53) (62) (106)
Amortization of right-of-use asset and interest on lease liabilities688  704  1,348  1,514 
Investment loss2,837  1,943  4,872  5,141 
Losses from extinguishment of convertible note-  -  -  1,230 
Interest income on debt securities and investments-  -  -  (105)
Equity in (income) loss of affiliates(122) 16  (838) (51)
Loss (gain) on disposal of property and equipment17  (2) 15  (44)
Interest expense105  -  165  - 
Impairments of goodwill-  31,928  -  31,928 
Changes in assets and liabilities, net of effect of acquisition:     
Accounts receivable(3,284) (970) (7,791) (3,353)
Contract assets-  (104) (29) (856)
Prepayments and other current assets(2,118) (817) (12,476) (349)
Other non-current assets(106) (2,208) 7,140  (3,056)
Accounts payable2,125  (393) 4,573  986 
Advances from customers(144) (364) 357  (659)
Taxes payable213  322  654  (833)
Operating lease liabilities(759) (692) (1,642) (1,545)
Deferred income63  (160) (194) (160)
Accrued expenses and other liabilities(5,441) (1,091) (7,926) (5,880)
Net cash used in operating activities(7,555) (5,330) (14,042) (14,258)
Cash flows from investing activities:     
Purchase of short-term bank deposits(12,000) -  (43,100) (129,521)
Purchase of short-term financial products issued by banks(20,091) (369) (20,091) (10,374)
Proceeds from maturity of short-term bank deposits51,098  43,521  74,241  348,058 
Proceeds from maturity of short-term financial products issued by banks-  -  10,029  8,310 
Purchase of long-term bank deposits(10,000) (30,521) (10,000) (143,127)
Purchase of long-term financial products issued by banks(3,400) -  (9,400) (20,000)
Purchase of long-term investments-  -  -  (15)
Purchase of property and equipment(377) (265) (964) (450)
Purchase of land use right-  -  -  (5,133)
Purchase of construction in progress for the headquarters project(4,199) (440) (10,977) (2,487)
Cash received for business disposal-  2,707  -  5,769 
Disposal of property and equipment49  8  56  51 
Cash paid for a business combination-  -  -  (3,680)
Cash received from disposal of long-term investments127  -  127  - 
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities1,207  14,641  (10,079) 47,401 
Cash flows from financing activities:     
Proceeds from long-term borrowings4,310  -  11,054  - 
Deposits returned for business disposal-  -  -  (1,000)
Proceeds from exercise of employees’ share options167  492  375  516 
Deposit received in relation to headquarters project-  -  19,280  - 
Repurchase of Class A ordinary shares(2,346) (20,964) (5,754) (40,367)
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities2,131  (20,472) 24,955  (40,851)
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash(98) (926) (141) (1,339)
Net decrease in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash(4,315) (12,087) 693  (9,047)
Cash balance recorded in held-for sale assets at beginning of period-  -  -  1,488 
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of period *42,182  50,355  37,174  45,827 
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of period **37,867  38,268  37,867  38,268 
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information:     
Income taxes paid1  10  109  32 
Cash payments included in the measurement of operating lease liabilities759  692  1,642  1,545 
Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for operating lease obligations177  394  513  4,088 
Non-cash financing and investing activities:     
Proceeds receivable from exercise of employees’ share options33  52  33  52 
Payables for property and equipment32  8  32  8 
Payables for construction in progress for the headquarters project991  2,857  2,785  2,857 
Payables for treasury shares, at cost74  479  74  479 
            
* includes restricted cash balance280  130  280  154 
** includes restricted cash balance280  280  280  280 
            


 
Agora, Inc.
Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Measures
(Unaudited, in US$ thousands, except share and per ADS amounts)
    
 Three Month Ended Six Month Ended
 June 30, June 30,
 2024 2023 2024 2023
GAAP net loss(9,242) (45,293) (18,705) (62,095)
Add:     
Share-based compensation expenses3,159  6,835  7,593  14,259 
Acquisition related expenses-  (369) -  (413)
Amortization expenses of acquired intangible assets129  345  402  690 
Income tax related to acquired intangible assets(20) (53) (62) (106)
Impairment of goodwill-  31,928  -  31,928 
Non-GAAP net loss(5,974) (6,607) (10,772) (15,737)
      
GAAP net loss(9,242) (45,293) (18,705) (62,095)
Excluding:     
Exchange (gain) loss(110) 328  (65) 211 
Interest income(4,586) (4,750) (9,320) (9,156)
Interest expense105  -  165  - 
Investment loss2,837  1,943  4,872  5,141 
Losses from extinguishment of convertible note-  -  -  1,230 
Equity in (income) loss of affiliates(122) 16  (838) (51)
Other income-  (550) -  (550)
Income taxes9  169  149  159 
Depreciation of property and equipment930  1,908  1,938  4,122 
Amortization of land use right858  869  1,716  1,462 
Share-based compensation expenses3,159  6,835  7,593  14,259 
Acquisition related expenses-  (369) -  (413)
Amortization expenses of acquired intangible assets129  345  402  690 
Impairment of goodwill-  31,928  -  31,928 
Adjusted EBITDA(6,033) (6,621) (12,093) (13,063)
      
Net cash used in operating activities(7,555) (5,330) (14,042) (14,258)
Purchase of property and equipment(377) (265) (964) (450)
Free Cash Flow(7,932) (5,595) (15,006) (14,708)
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities1,207  14,641  (10,079) 47,401 
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities2,131  (20,472) 24,955  (40,851)
            


 

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