Cellebrite Announces Fourth Quarter 2022 Results

ARR of $249 million, up 33% year-over-year

Fourth-quarter revenue of $74.0 million, Increase 9% year-over-year

Fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $16.1 million, 21.8% adjusted EBITDA margin

PETAH TIKVA, Israel and TYSONS CORNER, Va., Feb. 15, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cellebrite (NASDAQ: CLBT), a global leader in Digital Intelligence (“DI”) solutions for the public and private sectors, today announced financial results for the three and twelve months ending December 31, 2022.

“We ended 2022 with solid quarterly results fueled by our industry-leading technology in a healthy Digital Intelligence market. Our market leadership remains strong as a result of the tangible progress and investments we have made in innovating across our platforms and executing on our go-to-market strategy,” said Yossi Carmil, Cellebrite’s CEO. “As data volumes are surging, data complexity is increasing and scrutiny around ethics and accountability are mounting, we are committed to helping customers modernize their investigations by digitizing the evidence workflows end-to-end. We enter 2023 well positioned to accelerate our revenue growth rate and drive improved profitability as we continue to capitalize on the strong demand we see for our offerings.”

Fourth Quarter Financial Highlights

  • Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) of $249 million, up 33% year-over-year
  • Revenue of $74.0 million, up 9% year-over-year, of which subscription revenue was $62.3 million, up 24% year-over-year
  • Recurring revenue dollar-based net retention rate of 130%
  • GAAP gross profit and gross margin of $61.9 million and 83.6%, respectively
  • GAAP net income of $7.1 million; Non-GAAP net income of $15.3 million
  • GAAP diluted EPS of $0.04; Non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.08
  • Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin of $16.1 million and 21.8%, respectively

Full Year Financial Highlights

  • Revenue of $270.7 million, up 10% year-over-year, of which subscription revenue was $216.0 million, up 18% year-over-year
  • GAAP gross profit and gross margin of $219.9 million and 81.3%, respectively
  • GAAP net income of $120.8 million; Non-GAAP net income of $19.7 million
  • Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin of $25.9 million and 10%, respectively

Fourth Quarter and Recent Digital Intelligence Highlights

  • Closed 29 large deals in the fourth quarter, each valued at $500,000 or more.
  • Won a $14 million agreement with a leading law enforcement agency in Asia for the company’s Advanced Extraction Solution.
  • Signed a $10+ million deal with a major West European national police force, marking one of the Company’s largest digital intelligence deals, further validating digital intelligence as an essential accelerator for investigators.
  • Announced that its collaboration with the Vanderburgh Co. Cyber Crime Task Force to service 29 agencies across 11 U.S. states has helped accelerate justice by reducing the time it takes to investigate and successfully prosecute felonies.
  • Launched new cloud workplace app collection capability for Cellebrite Endpoint Inspectorthataims to improve organizations’ investigation and eDiscovery capabilities. Thisnew functionalitywill enable customers to collect remote mobile and computer data as well as cloud workplace application data in one unified platform, reducing time and costs associated with the collection of data of these apps.
  • Published the Enterprise Solutions 2023 Industry Trends Report, which highlights major data collection headaches arising from a hybrid work environment that threaten to slow down corporate fraud, IP theft and sexual harassment investigations for eDiscovery professionals and corporate investigators.
  • Partnered with the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), and The Exodus Road to help these organizations advance their efforts to advance their respective missions and eliminate forced labor and human trafficking.

Supplemental financial information can be found on the Investor Relations section of our website at https://investors.cellebrite.com/financial-information/quarterly-results.

Financial Outlook

“With a strong 33% annual growth in ARR during 2022 and 84% of our fourth-quarter 2022 revenue coming from subscription software licenses, Cellebrite has largely completed a successful, multi-year transition to subscription software,” said Dana Gerner, Chief Financial Officer of Cellebrite. “Looking ahead, we are well positioned to increase our revenue growth rate and sustain solid ARR momentum in 2023 as we continue expanding wallet share with existing customers, complemented by winning new logos. We anticipate that the combination of our top-line growth and prudent investment in our operations will enable us to drive improvement in our profitability during 2023, and keep us on track to reach our original long-term EBITDA margin target of 20% or greater.”

  • December 2023 ARR is expected to be between $300 and $310 million, representing 21-25% year on year growth.
  • Full year 2023 revenue is expected to be between $305 and $315 million, representing 13-16% year on year growth.
  • Full year 2023 Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $35.0 and $40.0 million, representing 11-13% margin.

Conference Call Information
Today, February 15, 2023, at 8:30 a.m. ET, Cellebrite will host a conference call and webcast to discuss the Company’s financial results for the fourth quarter 2022. The call details are below:

Telephone participants are advised to register in advance at:
https://register.vevent.com/register/BIa98ecd8f02c04567a1515497e1f850c8.

Upon registration, participants will receive a confirmation email detailing how to join the conference call, including the dial-in number and a unique registrant ID.

The live conference call will be webcast in listen-only mode at: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/6j7zngzy.

The webcast will remain available after the call at: https://investors.cellebrite.com/events-presentations

Non-GAAP Financial Information

This press release includes non-GAAP financial measures. Cellebrite believes that the use of non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP operating income and Adjusted EBITDA is helpful to investors. These measures, which the Company refers to as our non-GAAP financial measures, are not prepared in accordance with GAAP.

The Company believes that the non-GAAP financial measures provide a more meaningful comparison of its operational performance from period to period and offers investors and management greater visibility to the underlying performance of its business. Mainly:

  • Share-based compensation expenses utilize varying available valuation methodologies, subjective assumptions and a variety of equity instruments that can impact a company’s non-cash expenses;
  • Acquired intangible assets are valued at the time of acquisition and are amortized over an estimated useful life after the acquisition, and acquisition-related expenses are unrelated to current operations and neither are comparable to the prior period nor predictive of future results;
  • To the extent that the above adjustments have an effect on tax (income) expense, such an effect is excluded in the non-GAAP adjustment to net income;
  • Tax expense, depreciation and amortization expense vary for many reasons that are often unrelated to our underlying performance and make period-to-period comparisons more challenging; and
  • Financial instruments are remeasured according to GAAP and vary for many reasons that are often unrelated to the Company’s current operations and affect financial income.

Each of our non-GAAP financial measures is an important tool for financial and operational decision making and for evaluating our own operating results over different periods of time. The non-GAAP financial measures do not represent our financial performance under U.S. GAAP and should not be considered as alternatives to operating income or net income or any other performance measures derived in accordance with GAAP. Non-GAAP measures should not be considered in isolated from, or as an alternative to, financial measures determined in accordance with GAAP. Non-GAAP financial measures may not provide information that is directly comparable to that provided by other companies in our industry, as other companies in our industry may calculate non-GAAP financial results differently, particularly related to non-recurring, unusual items. In addition, there are limitations in using non-GAAP financial measures because the non-GAAP financial measures are not prepared in accordance with GAAP, and exclude expenses that may have a material impact on our reported financial results. Further, share-based compensation expense has been, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future, significant recurring expenses in our business and an important part of the compensation provided to our employees. In addition, the amortization of intangible assets is expected recurring expense over the estimated useful life of the underlying intangible asset and acquisition-related expenses will be incurred to the extent acquisitions are made in the future. Furthermore, foreign exchange rates may fluctuate from one period to another, and the Company does not estimate movements in foreign currencies.

A reconciliation of each of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most comparable GAAP measure is set forth in a table included at the end of this press release, which is also available on our website at https://investors.cellebrite.com.

Key Performance Indicators

This press release also includes key performance indicators, including annual recurring revenue and dollar-based retention rate.

Annual recurring revenue (“ARR”) is defined as the annualized value of active term-based subscription license contracts and maintenance contracts related to perpetual licenses in effect at the end of that period. Term-based license contracts and maintenance contracts for perpetual licenses are annualized by multiplying the revenue of the last month of the period by 12. The annualized value of contracts is a legal and contractual determination made by assessing the contractual terms with our customers. The annualized value of maintenance contracts is not determined by reference to historical revenue, deferred revenue or any other GAAP financial measure over any period. ARR is not a forecast of future revenues, which can be impacted by contract start and end dates and renewal rates.

Dollar-based net retention rate (“NRR”) is calculated by dividing customer recurring revenue by base revenue. We define base revenue as recurring revenue we recognized from all customers with a valid license at the last quarter of the previous year period, during the four quarters ended one year prior to the date of measurement. We define our customer revenue as the recurring revenue we recognized during the four quarters ended on the date of measurement from the same customer base included in our measure of base revenue, including recurring revenue resulting from additional sales to those customers.

About Cellebrite

Cellebrite’s (NASDAQ: CLBT) mission is to enable its customers to protect and save lives, accelerate justice, and preserve privacy in communities around the world. We are a global leader in Digital Intelligence solutions for the public and private sectors, empowering organizations in mastering the complexities of legally sanctioned digital investigations by streamlining intelligence processes. Trusted by thousands of leading agencies and companies worldwide, Cellebrite’s Digital Intelligence platform and solutions transform how customers collect, review, analyze and manage data in legally sanctioned investigations. To learn more, visit us at www.cellebrite.com and https://investors.cellebrite.com.

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This document includes “forward looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as “forecast,” “intend,” “seek,” “target,” “anticipate,” “will,” “appear,” “approximate,” “foresee,” “might,” “possible,” “potential,” “believe,” “could,” “predict,” “should,” “could,” “continue,” “expect,” “estimate,” “may,” “plan,” “outlook,” “future” and “project” and other similar expressions that predict, project or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. Such forward looking statements include estimated financial information. Such forward looking statements with respect to revenues, earnings, performance, strategies, prospects, and other aspects of Cellebrite’s business are based on current expectations that are subject to risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those indicated by such forward looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: Cellebrite’s ability to keep pace with technological advances and evolving industry standards; Cellebrite’s material dependence on the acceptance of its solutions by law enforcement and government agencies; real or perceived errors, failures, defects or bugs in Cellebrite’s DI solutions; Cellebrite’s failure to maintain the productivity of sales and marketing personnel, including relating to hiring, integrating and retaining personnel; uncertainties regarding the impact of macroeconomic and/or global conditions, including COVID-19 and military actions involving Russia and Ukraine; intense competition in all of Cellebrite’s markets; the inadvertent or deliberate misuse of Cellebrite’s solutions; political and reputational factors related to Cellebrite’s business or operations; risks relating to estimates of market opportunity and forecasts of market growth; Cellebrite’s ability to properly manage its growth; risks associated with Cellebrite’s credit facilities and liquidity; Cellebrite’s reliance on third-party suppliers for certain components, products, or services; challenges associated with large transactions and long sales cycle; risks that Cellebrite’s customers may fail to honor contractual or payment obligations; risks associated with a significant amount of Cellebrite’s business coming from government customers around the world; risks related to Cellebrite’s intellectual property; security vulnerabilities or defects, including cyber-attacks, information technology system breaches, failures or disruptions; the mishandling or perceived mishandling of sensitive or confidential information; the complex and changing regulatory environments relating to Cellebrite’s operations and solutions; the regulatory constraints to which we are subject; risks associated with different corporate governance requirements applicable to Israeli companies and risks associated with being a foreign private issuer and an emerging growth company; market volatility in the price of Cellebrite’s shares; changing tax laws and regulations; risks associated with joint, ventures, partnerships and strategic initiatives; risks associated with Cellebrite’s significant international operations; risks associated with Cellebrite’s failure to comply with anti-corruption, trade compliance, anti-money-laundering and economic sanctions laws and regulations; risks relating to the adequacy of Cellebrite’s existing systems, processes, policies, procedures, internal controls and personnel for Cellebrite’s current and future operations and reporting needs; and other factors, risks and uncertainties set forth in the section titled “Risk Factors” in Cellebrite’s annual report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC on March 29, 2022,as amended on April 14, 2022 and in other documents filed by Cellebrite with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), which are available free of charge at www.sec.gov. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward looking statements, which speak only as of the date made, in this communication or elsewhere. Cellebrite undertakes no obligation to update its forward looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, should circumstances change, except as otherwise required by securities and other applicable laws.

Contacts:

Investors
Investor Relations
[email protected]

Media
Victor Cooper
Public Relations and Corporate Communications Director
+1 404 804 5910
[email protected]

Cellebrite DI Ltd.
Fourth Quarter 2022 Results Summary
(U.S Dollars in thousands)

For the three months ended For the Year ended
December 31, December 31,
2022 2021 2022 2021
Revenue 74,018 67,908 270,651 246,246
Gross profit 61,887 55,572 219,905 203,689
Gross margin 83.6 % 81.8 % 81.3 % 82.7 %
Operating income 9,674 4,306 1,044 13,822
Operating margin 13.1 % 6.3 % 0.4 % 5.6 %
Cash flow from operating activities 35,743 29,792 20,577 36,052
Non-GAAP Financial Data:
Operating income 14,428 7,751 19,538 42,869
Operating margin 19.5 % 11.4 % 7.2 % 17.4 %
Adjusted EBITDA 16,114 8,874 25,906 47,905
Adjusted EBITDA margin 21.8 % 13.1 % 9.6 % 19.5 %


Cellebrite DI Ltd.
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(U.S. Dollars in thousands)

December 31, December 31,
2022 2021
Assets
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents $ 87,645 $ 145,973
Short-term deposits 51,335 35,592
Marketable securities 44,643
Trade receivables (net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $1,904 and $1,040 as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively) 78,761 67,505
Prepaid expenses and other current assets 17,085 12,818
Contract acquisition costs 6,286 4,813
Inventories 10,176 6,511
Total current assets 295,931 273,212
Non-current assets
Other non-current assets 1,731 1,958
Marketable securities 22,125
Deferred tax assets, net 12,511 9,800
Property and equipment, net 17,259 16,756
Intangible assets, net 11,254 11,228
Goodwill 26,829 26,829
Operating lease right-of-use assets, net 15,653
Total non-current assets 107,362 66,571
Total assets $ 403,293 $ 339,783
Liabilities and shareholders’ equity (deficiency)
Current Liabilities
Trade payables $ 4,612 $ 9,546
Other accounts payable and accrued expenses 45,453 54,044
Deferred revenues 152,709 122,983
Operating lease liabilities 5,003
Total current liabilities 207,777 186,573
Long-term liabilities
Other long term liabilities 5,394 9,537
Deferred revenues 42,173 36,426
Restricted Sponsor Shares liability 17,532 44,712
Price Adjustment Shares liability 26,184 79,404
Warrant liability 20,015 56,478
Operating lease liabilities 10,353
Total long-term liabilities 121,651 226,557
Total liabilities $ 329,428 $ 413,130
Shareholders’ equity (deficiency)
Share capital *) *)
Additional paid-in capital (125,624 ) (153,072 )
Treasury share, NIS 0.00001 par value; 41,776 ordinary shares (85 ) (85 )
Accumulated other comprehensive income 331 1,372
Retained earnings 199,243 78,438
Total shareholders’ equity (deficiency) 73,865 (73,347 )
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity (deficiency) $ 403,293 $ 339,783

*) Less than 1 USD


Cellebrite DI Ltd.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income
(U.S Dollars in thousands, except share and per share data)

For the three months ended For the Year ended
December 31, December 31,
2022 2021 2022 2021
Revenue:
Subscription services $ 43,698 $ 31,999 $ 153,470 $ 120,889
Term-license 18,625 18,088 62,487 62,428
Total subscription 62,323 50,087 215,957 183,317
Perpetual license and related 3,666 9,387 21,373 34,169
Professional services 8,029 8,434 33,321 28,760
Total revenue 74,018 67,908 270,651 246,246
Cost of revenue:
Subscription services 3,681 2,045 16,875 9,369
Term-license 50 753 425 2,299
Total subscription 3,731 2,798 17,300 11,668
Perpetual license and related 3,381 4,659 12,987 9,817
Professional services 5,019 4,879 20,459 21,072
Total cost of revenue 12,131 12,336 50,746 42,557
Gross profit $ 61,887 $ 55,572 $ 219,905 $ 203,689
Operating expenses:
Research and development 19,734 18,833 80,620 65,541
Sales and marketing 23,669 21,239 97,387 76,389
General and administrative 8,810 11,194 40,854 47,937
Total operating expenses $ 52,213 $ 51,266 $ 218,861 $ 189,867
Operating income $ 9,674 $ 4,306 $ 1,044 $ 13,822
Financial (expense) income, net (572 ) 49,809 119,716 68,483
Income before tax 9,102 54,115 120,760 82,305
Tax expense (income) 2,024 2,244 (45 ) 10,909
Net income $ 7,078 $ 51,871 $ 120,805 $ 71,396
Earnings per share
Basic $ 0.04 $ 0.28 $ 0.64 $ 0.49
Diluted $ 0.04 $ 0.25 $ 0.59 $ 0.44
Weighted average shares outstanding
Basic 184,952,107 180,170,342 182,693,375 144,002,394
Diluted 192,786,615 199,082,479 195,393,558 161,538,579
Other comprehensive income:
Unrealized income (loss) on hedging transactions 1,194 495 (953 ) (944 )
Unrealized income (loss) on marketable securities 44 (502 )
Currency translation adjustments (133 ) 955 414 995
Total other comprehensive income (loss) net of tax 1,105 1,450 (1,041 ) 51
Total other comprehensive income $ 8,183 $ 53,321 $ 119,764 $ 71,447


Cellebrite DI Ltd.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flow
(U.S Dollars in thousands, except share and per share data)

For the three months ended For the Year ended
December 31, December 31,
2022 2021 2022 2021
Cash flow from operating activities:
Net income $ 7,078 $ 51,871 $ 120,805 $ 71,396
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Share based compensation and RSU’s 3,787 1,661 13,708 6,480
Amortization of premium, discount and accrued interest on marketable securities (225 ) (372 )
Depreciation and amortization 2,520 1,814 9,194 7,007
Interest income from short term deposits (318 ) (684 )
Deferred income taxes (61 ) 269 (2,392 ) (1,638 )
Remeasurement of warrant liability 375 (15,506 ) (36,463 ) (11,967 )
Remeasurement of Restricted Sponsor Shares 1,381 (11,181 ) (27,180 ) (17,635 )
Remeasurement of Price Adjustment Shares liabilities 1,211 (23,934 ) (53,220 ) (38,271 )
Decrease (increase) in trade receivables 11,242 8,690 (12,885 ) (1,958 )
Increase in deferred revenue 18,953 9,152 38,966 21,804
Decrease (increase) in other non-current assets 94 (1,779 ) 227 (1,394 )
(Increase) decrease in prepaid expenses and other current assets (4,431 ) 2,541 (5,692 ) (8,304 )
Changes in operating lease assets 4,667 4,667
Changes in operating lease liability (5,955 ) (5,955 )
Increase in inventories (812 ) (1,711 ) (3,680 ) (1,798 )
(Decrease) increase in trade payables (895 ) 2,955 (5,471 ) 4,239
(Decrease) increase in other accounts payable and accrued expenses (2,060 ) 2,428 (8,853 ) 5,107
(Decrease) increase in other long-term liabilities (808 ) 2,522 (4,143 ) 2,984
Net cash provided by operating activities 35,743 29,792 20,577 36,052
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchases of property and equipment (1,391 ) (778 ) (6,897 ) (5,111 )
Cash paid in conjunction with acquisitions, net of acquired cash (20,000 ) (20,000 )
Purchase of Intangible assets (1,788 ) (2,188 )
Investment in marketable securities (9,253 ) (89,364 )
Proceeds from maturity of marketable securities 7,445 22,277
Assets acquisition (3,000 )
Investment in short term deposits (51,000 ) (21,000 ) (76,000 ) (21,000 )
Redemption of short term deposits 18,544 47,210 60,941 94,337
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities (37,443 ) 5,432 (91,231 ) 45,226
Cash flows from financing activities:
Payment of dividend (100,000 )
Exercise of options to shares 1,327 944 12,628 2,305
Proceeds from Employee Share Purchase Plan, net 657 1,337
Exercise of public warrants 5
Proceeds from Recapitalization transaction, net 29,298
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities 1,984 944 13,970 (68,397 )
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 284 36,168 (56,684 ) 12,881
Net effect of Currency Translation on cash and cash equivalents 2,795 (81 ) (1,644 ) (754 )
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 84,566 109,886 145,973 133,846
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 87,645 $ 145,973 $ 87,645 $ 145,973
Supplemental cash flow information:
Income taxes paid $ 3,727 $ 1,758 $ 9,053 $ 8,157
Non-cash activities
Purchase of property and equipment $ $ 749 $ $ 814
Purchase of Intangible assets $ 493 $ $ 664 $


Cellebrite DI Ltd.

Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Information
(U.S Dollars in thousands, except share and per share data)

For the three months ended For the year ended
December 31, December 31,
2022 2021 2022 2021
Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited
Operating income $ 9,674 $ 4,306 $ 1,044 $ 13,822
Issuance expenses 11,835
Dividend participation compensation 966
Share based compensation 3,787 1,661 13,708 6,480
Amortization of intangible assets 834 607 2,826 1,971
Acquisition related costs 133 1,177 1,960 7,795
Non-GAAP operating income $ 14,428 $ 7,751 $ 19,538 $ 42,869
For the three months ended For the year ended
December 31, December 31,
2022 2021 2022 2021
Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited
Net income $ 7,078 $ 51,871 $ 120,805 $ 71,396
One time tax (income) expense (2,368 ) 7,067
Issuance expenses 11,835
Dividend participation compensation 966
Share based compensation 3,787 1,661 13,708 6,480
Amortization of intangible assets 834 607 2,826 1,971
Acquisition related costs 133 1,177 1,960 7,795
Tax expense (income) 516 498 (384 ) (1,670 )
Finance expense (income) from financial derivatives 2,967 (50,621 ) (116,863 ) (67,873 )
Non-GAAP net income $ 15,315 $ 5,193 $ 19,684 $ 37,967
Non-GAAP Earnings per share:
Basic 0.08 $ 0.03 0.10 $ 0.26
Diluted 0.08 $ 0.03 0.10 $ 0.24
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic 184,952,107 180,170,342 182,693,375 144,002,394
Diluted 192,786,615 199,082,479 195,393,558 161,538,579
For the three months ended For the year ended
December 31, December 31,
2022 2021 2022 2021
Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited
Net income $ 7,078 $ 51,871 $ 120,805 $ 71,396
Financial expense (income), net 572 (49,809 ) (119,716 ) (68,483 )
Tax expense (income) 2,024 2,244 (45 ) 10,909
Issuance expenses 11,835
Dividend participation compensation 966
Share based compensation 3,787 1,661 13,708 6,480
Amortization of intangible assets 834 607 2,826 1,971
Acquisition related costs 133 1,177 1,960 7,795
Depreciation expenses 1,686 1,123 6,368 5,036
Adjusted EBITDA $ 16,114 $ 8,874 $ 25,906 $ 47,905

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8749609

Hisense Brings Its Most Family-friendly Big-screen 90L5H Laser TV to South Africa

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Feb. 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Leading global electronics brand Hisense is preparing to deliver a revolutionary viewing experience to homes in South Africa with the local launch of its 90L5H 4K Laser TV. Featuring a palette of more than 16.7 million colors, the product brings true-to-life pictures with outstanding realism and accuracy.

Billed as the company’s most family-friendly big-screen TV, the 90L5H packs quite the punch with a 90-inch screen and 8.3 million pixels featuring the company’s groundbreaking X-Fusion Laser Technology and Dolby Atmos multidimensional sound. The product is the perfect choice for a wide range of customers, whether they are avid movie fans looking for the best big-screen experience, sports fans trying to get closer to the action, or gamers looking for the best way to view graphics. The six-foot-wide 90L5H has something to offer users across a diverse mixture of demographics, from kids and teenagers to professionals who enjoy the finer things in life.

By employing a combination of the company’s X-Fusion Laser Technology and ultra-short throw projection technology, Hisense achieves razor-sharp imagery on the 90L5H TV, bringing families a unique atmosphere in their own homes that is not dissimilar to the full-on cinematic experience. Despite its size, the product really punches above its weight in terms of performance. It features a reflective display and low-blue light to ensure that users will not feel the strain on their eyes during prolonged viewing sessions and all this comes without sacrificing the original display quality.

However, Hisense’s investment in performance does not stop there. The company used its Ambient Light Rejecting technology to strengthen colors further, and users don’t need to kill the lights to ensure a crystal clear and striking picture quality. Additionally, the high native contrast with a native rate of 3,000:1 makes those on-screen highlights even more punchy, delivering for users in terms of depth and realism for shadowy imagery on screen.

The team at Hisense pursued a sleek and attractive ergonomic when designing the 90L5H, and the result is a product that would not look out of place in most rooms anywhere in the house. Under the hood, the sturdy aluminum frame and scratch-resistance surface combine a favorable aesthetic with solid performance, and it all weighs only 20 pounds.

In terms of flexibility for users, the TV supports HDR10, HLG, and Dolby Vision while leveraging High Dynamic Range to transfer its ability to display such strong colors to supported content. Additionally, Filmmaker Mode is on hand to bring users a more authentic viewing experience. The mode deactivates some of the picture and motion technology settings to revert the viewing experience back to how the creator intended it to be, putting the user completely in control of image quality.

For more information, please check: https://hisense.co.za/products/hisense-90-4k-laser-tv-90l5h/

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2002871/90L5H_KV.jpg

Further two suspects in custody for R400 million worth of cocaine

WESTERN CAPE – The Hawks’ South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau assisted by Crime Intelligence Gathering executed a warrant of arrest on 13 February 2023 for two wanted suspects aged 43 and 45. They will appear in the Athlone Magistrates’ Court on 15 February 2023. This is resultant of an ongoing investigation into the confiscation of R400 million worth of cocaine in August last year where three men were arrested.

On 4 August 2022, an operation was conducted by the Hawks assisted by Crime Intelligence Gathering and Western Cape Traffic officials on the N1 highway near a service station where a truck was intercepted. Cocaine worth more than R400 million concealed in false wooden boards in the truck was recovered.

Ebrahim Kara (39), Meshack Mzungezi Ngobese (47) and Elias Radebe (42) were arrested. They were charged with dealing in drugs and they have been in custody since their arrest. They will appear in the Khayelitsha Regional Court on 17 February 2023.

Source: South African Police Service

Ukrainians in South Africa Protest Russian Battleship

A group of Ukrainian protesters have sailed a yacht close to a Russian warship docked in Cape Town ahead of South Africa-hosted wargames with the Russian and Chinese navies. Critics say South Africa’s hosting of Russian warships for drills at the one-year anniversary of its ongoing invasion of Ukraine pokes holes in its claim to neutrality.

Military men in uniform stood on the deck of Russia’s Admiral Gorshkov frigate Tuesday and watched protesters aboard a yacht, which bore the Ukrainian flag.

Fearless, the group of eight, mostly women, shouted and held signs reading Stop the War.

The Russian news agency Tass quoted an unnamed official saying the hypersonic Zircon missiles carried by the Admiral Gorshkov will be test-fired during the drills.

Because of their speed, the missiles cannot be detected by existing missile defense systems.

The South African National Defense Force did not reply to requests to confirm the test firing.

Protester Dzvinka Kuchar of the Ukrainian Association of South Africa says human rights activists and environmentalists are begging the South African government to stop the war games.

“Russian state media which is fully controlled by Russian government has already said that they are planning to fire Zircon missiles during those trainings (sic),” said Kuchar. “We understand that this is pure propaganda to take attention away from what Russia is doing in Ukraine. And what Russia is doing they’re killing civilians, they’re destroying hospitals, they’re destroying the lives of millions of people.”

Kuchar says South Africa, which has chosen to take a neutral stance in Russia’s war on Ukraine and abstained on several United Nations resolutions condemning the onslaught, is simply being used by Vladimir Putin.

“I know South Africa says we are a sovereign country, and we can be friends with any country that we want. And this is true,” said Kuchar. “But if you choose to be friends with a country that is running a war, it also sends a message about yourself. You can be friends but at least say to your friend that is causing gender-based violence “Stop beating your wife.”

The mayor of Cape Town, Geordin Hill-Lewis, who belongs to the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, replied to a tweet by the Russian Consulate in Cape Town and told the ship to “Voetsek.” That is an impolite Afrikaans word that means go away.

He said the ship is not welcome and that the city would not be complicit in Russia’s evil war.

Political analyst Daniel Silke, Director of the Political Futures consultancy, says if South Africa keeps making decisions to side with Russia, there could be consequences in terms of its global standing.

“I think South Africa is entering a mine field of attempting to find a balancing act here,” said Silke. “But I do think that when it comes to assistance and aid from the United States perhaps from even some Western countries, I think there may well be a reluctance, there may well be a frowning on South Africa’s stance on this particular issue.”

The Admiral Gorshkov left Cape Town harbor Wednesday and is making its way to the site of the military drills off the coast of South Africa’s KwaZulu Natal province.

The exercise is scheduled to take place from February 17 to 27.

This is the second naval exercise South Africa is carrying out with Russia and China – which are two of its four partners in the BRICS alliance. The first took place in 2019.

Several anti-war protests against the drills are planned.

Source: Voice of America

Collaboration needed to advance local government

For government to ensure that local government is able to respond to the needs of a capable and developmental State, South Africans from all walks of life must help to contribute to the building of financially sustainable local government.

This was the argument of Cooperative Governance Deputy Minister, Thembi Nkadimeng, during a Parliamentary debate of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Tuesday.

A Joint Sitting of the National Assembly (NA) and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) are on Tuesday and Wednesday debating the President’s SONA, which he delivered last week. President Ramaphosa will respond to the debate on Thursday.

In this regard, Nkadimeng said National Treasury had made undertakings on local government financial management matters.

The Department of Cooperative Governance, she said, leads on governance, institutional development, citizen engagement and coordinate service delivery in collaboration with sector department.

“SALGA is driving the empowerment process of both administrators to perform their functions better, and also councillors to improve their oversight responsibilities and enforce accountability,” she said.

“This multipronged approach operates under different development pillars and goals and also ensures as part of Monitoring and Oversight – DPME, AGSA, STATSSA are involved and assist in overseeing municipal performance through planning, budgeting, streamline reporting.”

The team, Nkadimeng said, has initiated reforms like performance indicators for local government that are being piloted across all municipalities towards developing an Early Warning System.

She said the main objective of this is to ensure that the department diagnoses challenges early and promptly provide support before a municipality become dysfunctional.

The Deputy Minister conceded that access to basic services remains a challenge in some communities, especially in the rural parts of the country and informal settlements.

“The improvement of local government service delivery, including the provision of electricity, water and sanitation, is therefore a critical aspect of our developmental state,” she said.

In response to this challenge, she said COGTA had dispatched engineers and technical experts through MISA, that are implementing a range of capacity building interventions.

Promoting Economic Development and Recovery

COGTA has been supporting the alignment of economic recovery plans, with the One Plans in the Districts to leverage on the identified potential and identified comparative advantages. These plans contain a bouquet of interventions targeting various sectors in the economy to mitigate the worst immediate effects of the pandemic and recently loadshedding on businesses, communities and individuals.

Nkadimeng said while the journey of local government over the past 25 years in South Africa has been “an imperfect transition”, government would not “tire”.

With persistence, she said the local government sphere had recorded key notable achievements in the 2020/21 audited financial outcomes.

These include:

The MIG programme was allocated R5 billion in the 2020/21 financial year. The full amount was transferred and 91% of this was reported as spent by municipalities.

53 469 households were provided with basic water; 43 979 households were provided with sanitation services and 79 671 households were provided with street and community lighting.

COGTA, through MISA, completed 118 boreholes for water provision and no less than 24 000 households benefited . In the 2022/23 FY, 39 borehole projects were implemented, in line with S154, which mandates national and provincial government to assist municipalities to deliver basic services.

Community infrastructure, with regard to waste collection and disposal, has been developed. Eleven central collection points for refuse, transfer stations, recycling facilities and solid waste disposal sites have been developed.

1 474 kilometres of municipal roads have been developed.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Cameroon Dismisses Suspected Marburg Infections After Equatorial Guinea’s First Outbreak

Cameroon’s health ministry has dismissed a report of two suspected cases of Marburg virus in the country after a first deadly outbreak in neighboring Equatorial Guinea. Health officials along the border said Tuesday there were two suspected cases of the severe hemorrhagic fever in Cameroon after Malabo confirmed nine deaths and sixteen possible infections. Despite dismissing the reported cases, Cameroon’s health ministry says it is increasing surveillance and travel restrictions along the border.

Health Minister Manaouda Malachie says Cameroon does not yet have any suspected cases of the Marburg virus, despite reports of two possible infections.

Health officials in Cameroon’s South region on Tuesday said a teenage boy and girl suffering from high fever were rushed to a hospital Monday in Olamze, on the border with Equatorial Guinea.

The health officials said the children were suspected of being infected with the Marburg virus, are in isolation, and are responding to treatment.

But Malachie seemed to contradict those reports when he spoke Wednesday to state broadcaster Cameroon Radio Television.

Malachie says the decision by Cameroon to stop Marburg virus, an illness like Ebola, by restricting movement along the border with Equatorial Guinea is so far yielding fruit. He says as of Wednesday at midday central African time, Cameroon had not reported any deaths or suspected cases of Marburg virus.

Malachie says civilians should avoid contact with animals and people who have travelled to Equatorial Guinea and make sure people with fever, fatigue, and blood-stained vomit and diarrhea are isolated.

But Malachie warned its porous border with Equatorial Guinea, which confirmed Monday its first outbreak of the deadly virus, puts it at risk.

Cameroon last week said it restricted movement along the border after Equatorial Guinea quarantined hundreds of people in Kie-Ntem Province, where the hemorrhagic fever was first reported.

The World Health Organization says Equatorial Guinea sent samples to the Pasteur Institute in Senegal, after an alert by a health official on February 7, and one of them tested positive.

The WHO says Marburg was transmitted to people from fruit bats, spreads between people via bodily fluids, and has a fatality rate of up to 88%.

Marburg is in the same family as the Ebola virus but, unlike Ebola, there are no vaccines for Marburg — just treatments for the symptoms such as dehydration and fever.

Health officials from Cameroon and Gabon, which also shares borders with Equatorial Guinea, met Tuesday in Yaoundé and agreed to work together to prevent the virus from spreading.

University of Yaoundé sociology lecturer Francois Bingono Bingono was in the meeting.

He says the frequent movement of people across the borders will make stopping the virus a challenge.

Bingono says in 2020 Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea restricted movement along their border to protect their populations from COVID-19, but civilians on both sides did not respect the order. He says people living on both sides of the Cameroon-Equatorial Guinea border belong to the same ethnic groups, speak the same language, and celebrate happy events or mourn sad events together.

Bingono says health workers not known in border communities are struggling to educate locals that a deadly virus threatens their lives.

He says they will need traditional rulers to help convince their people.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the virus was first identified in 1967 in simultaneous outbreaks in laboratories in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany, and in Belgrade.

Marburg is not new to Africa but is relatively new to West Africa.

An outbreak in Ghana in September last year killed two people, while Guinea recorded one death from the virus in 2021 — the first known case in West Africa.

The WHO reported previous outbreaks in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda.

Source: Voice of America