Chairman's Statement
2024 demonstrated the resilience of our business model and the cohesiveness of our people, who have worked tirelessly towards augmenting and enhancing marketability of our technologies despite a relatively lackluster macroeconomic environment.
Business trends today are largely driven by technology. The Company has made encouraging technological breakthroughs and market penetration progress in its sludge treatment, AIWater, and membrane business segments, notwithstanding certain challenges persist. Navigating China's sluggish economy recovery, and coping with escalating costs, while developing our technologies have dampened the financial performance of the Group.
Nonetheless, the initiatives taken to address the challenges in 2024 will prepare us for a recovering economy and to better position ourselves at the forefront to tap on the market potential. Structural changes were implemented for the Company to stay competitive and mitigate the challenging environment's impact. This momentum will set a solid foundation for growth. As we look forward to 2025, we are heartened that the team remains committed to progress and the mindset of fostering opportunities for transformative growth.
The Group is in the midst of commissioning our sludge treatment demonstration plant using our proprietary Continuous Thermal Hydrolysis ("CTH") and pyrolysis technologies. The demonstration plant can achieve a closedloop sludge treatment to achieve zero-waste discharge and full resource recovery. The completion of the plant is expected in the second quarter of 2025 and will set the stage for the Group to extend our services to customers in ASEAN.
Our patented AIWater management system has helped our customers achieve stability in meeting the wastewater discharge standards while optimising operations to reduce energy and chemical costs. As of 31 December 2024, the Group had secured 21 Energy Management Contract ("EMC") projects with total treatment capacity of 2.4 million ton/day of municipal and industrial wastewater.
In October 2024, the Company's subsidiary, NTi Memtech Pte. Ltd. set up a joint venture company named NTi Technology Pte. Ltd. ("NTi Tech") with Innovamem Holdings Pte. Ltd., to carry out the business of high-performance membrane production. Headed by Dr. Ge Hailin, who has more than 40 years of experience in the fields of polymer, membrane materials and chemical engineering. This synergistic collaboration creates an optimized cost structure to establish a competitive edge in quality. By leveraging the combined resources of the joint venture, NTi Tech is set to become a global leader in advanced membrane technology, strengthening the Group's brand presence and expanding its market outreach.
We are raring to move forward and accelerate business growth. We entered 2025 with formation of the consortium with Econ Technology Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of Shandong Hi-Speed Co Ltd, a state-owned enterprise listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The consortium has secured a contract worth RMB71.3 million to treat municipal sludge in Tongxu county, Henan province, China. The Group will be responsible for providing its proprietary technologies, namely the CTH coupled with its efficient energy recovery system for sludge treatment. The value apportioned to the Group is approximately RMB30 million.
In January 2025, to streamline our technologies and business portfolio, the Company entered into a conditional Share sale and purchase agreement for the proposed disposal of the AIWater group ("the Proposed Disposal"). Strategically, the Proposed Disposal will enable the Group to redirect resources into the sludge treatment and membrane manufacturing businesses and allow the Group to focus on achieving sustainable profitability and generating stronger returns for shareholders in the near term. The Proposed Disposal would be in the interests of the Company for the following reasons:
On behalf of the Board of Directors and the Company, I wish to express our gratitude to Dr Lin Yucheng, who retired as Executive Chairman from 1 February 2025, for setting the benchmark for excellence and for his dedication and invaluable contribution to the Group in the past years. His leadership and compassion have left a lasting mark, and we look forward to his continued support in new capacities as the Group's Emeritus Chairman and Senior Advisor.
We are pleased to welcome Ms Ng Sook Zhen as our Independent Non-Executive director and Mr Zhao Fu as our Non-Independent, Non-Executive director. Ms Ng is a partner in Dentons Rodyk's Regional practice group, Head of the Japan desk and the business development lead for Philippines. Zhao Fu is the Founder and CEO of InnoVision and a 20-year veteran in the private equity industry. With their expertise and experience, their appointments complement and strengthen the Board's capacity.
No less importantly, we thank our shareholders, customers, management team and employees for their unwavering support. With the increased optimism for global market growth and improvement in the overall economy in 2025, our priority is to ensure a smooth leadership transition and for the Company to gear up and be ready to capitalize on the promising opportunities that arise.
Executive Chairman