Society Pass Inc. (Nasdaq

SOPA): Litchfield Hills Initiates Equity Research Coverage; SOPA Growing Rapidly and Nearing Positive EBITDA Inflection

NEW YORK, Dec. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Society Pass Inc. (Nasdaq: SOPA) (“SoPa” or the “Company”), Southeast Asia’s (SEA) next generation, data-driven, loyalty, fintech and e-commerce ecosystem, announces that Litchfield Hills Research (“Litchfield Hills”) has initiated equity research coverage on SOPA.

Click Here (on Society Pass website) to view the full Litchfield Hills Equity Research Report.

Summary Points:
• Investment Thesis: SOPA is a high-growth acquisitive internet services company offering advertising, travel, retail, telecom and fintech services in fast-growing SEA. Litchfield Hills forecasts positive EBITDA as SOPA shifts from its early growth strategy to a focus on profitability under its new CEO.

• SEA Countries are Young and Booming and are Hottest Economies on the Planet: SEA market is the world’s fastest growing region over the next decade for the following reasons:
      1)   Movement away from China
      2)   Young, tech savvy populations
      3)   Business friendly governments

• Society Pass Ecosystem: SOPA’s main subsidiaries are:
      1)   Thoughtful Media Group (TMG) – Bangkok – digital advertising
      2)   NusaTrip – Jakarta – online travel booking
      3)   Next Generation Retail (NGR) – Ho Chi Minh City – online retail e-commerce
      4)   Gorilla Mobile – Singapore – mobile telecom/e-sim services
      5)   Society Points – Manila – loyalty points program

• Thoughtful Media Thriving with SEA Focus: TMG provides digital advertising services to companies utilizing social media platforms. Since July 2022 acquisition for $2.1 million, TMG had just 17 employees and $5.8 million of revenue in 2021 compared to 75 employees and $6.6 million in 2023. After attaining GAAP profitability of $750k in 2022 net income, Litchfield Hills forecasts revenue of $12 million in 2024 and $18 million in 2025. At 5x 2025 revenue, it values TMG at roughly $88 million.

• NusaTrip Provides Online Travel, Customized for SEA Consumers: Founded in 2013 and acquired in August 2022, NusaTrip targets SEA travel market and has onboarded 650,000 hotels and over 500 airlines globally via its app and website. It has direct links with travel global distribution systems and its core SEA ultra-low-cost carrier airline partners. NusaTrip’s new 17.0 Java software should allow for faster searches and more features as well as add Gorilla Mobile eSim travel data and the ability to earn Society Points in 1Q 2024. In April 2023, NusaTrip acquired Vietnam-based VLeisure, which is a B2B hotel management software company. NusaTrip generated gross merchandise value (GMV) of $60 million, before the pandemic. GMV recovered to $43 million in 2022 and has already hit $45 million for the first nine months of 2023. So, it should have a record year this year, and approach $100 million within the next two years. Litchfield Hills forecasts net revenue of $2.0 million in 2023 and $4.5 million in 2024 as well as 73% gross margin in 2024, rising to 76% in 2025. Applying a 5x 2025 revenue estimate of $6 million, Litchfield Hills values NusaTrip at roughly $30 million. Applying an ERG multiple of 38x, Litchfield Hills valuation increases to a $65 million enterprise value.