HONG KONG, Aug. 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- On August 27, Hong Kong-listed payment technology company Yeahka (9923.HK) announced its results for the first half of 2026. During the period, the company recorded a profit of RMB 41.92 million, delivering its highest half-year profit margin since 2023 and marking a fourth consecutive year of year-on-year profit growth in the first half.

Its overseas business is gathering pace, while AI is beginning to move from concept into real-world business applications. Reflecting confidence in its long-term growth prospects and solid financial position, Yeahka also announced its first interim dividend.

During the reporting period, gross payment volume (GPV) from Hong Kong, Macao and overseas markets reached approximately RMB 6 billion, up 293.8% year on year. The take rate reached 63.1 basis points, while gross margin achieved 43.5%. These markets also contributed a growing share of profit from Yeahka's overall payment business.

The figures suggest that Yeahka's overseas business is moving from initial expansion toward greater scale. The company has also set a clearer target: over the next three years, it aims to increase the profit contribution from Hong Kong, Macao and overseas markets to approximately 50% of its overall payment business.

At the earnings conference, Yeahka Chairman and CEO Luke Liu outlined three key priorities for the company's overseas payment strategy.

• First, Yeahka will continue to focus on local consumer and merchant payments. By going deeper into local markets and serving the everyday payment needs of local consumers and merchants, the company believes it can build a more sustainable business model with greater scalability across markets.
• Second, Yeahka plans to leverage what it sees as a more comprehensive payments and merchant software product portfolio than those of its overseas competitors. By integrating value-added services with its payment solutions, the company aims to provide merchants with a one-stop service that helps them reduce costs and improve operating efficiency.
• Third, Yeahka is strengthening both its talent base and overseas business capabilities. The company has brought in leading international talent with extensive experience in overseas payments and has also launched its online payment business overseas.

Liu said AI would be another strategic focus for Yeahka, both externally to serve customers and internally to improve operating efficiency.

One area drawing particular attention is Agentic Payments — where AI agents initiate and complete transactions on behalf of users within authorized parameters. As AI agents become more widely adopted, Yeahka has begun positioning itself early in this emerging field. The company is conducting research into applications across e-commerce, local services, gaming, advertising and other digital scenarios, and has initiated R&D collaboration with international financial institutions.

Through its investment platform Fushi, Yeahka has also launched an AI agent-based merchant software product that has already been commercialized. For merchants, AI is beginning to evolve from an auxiliary tool into a digital assistant that can take a more direct role in day-to-day operations.

Internally, Yeahka is also scaling up its use of AI to improve administrative and R&D efficiency. Product development, operations and administrative work have traditionally involved large volumes of repetitive tasks. Increasingly, some of this work is being handled by AI.

AI-driven autonomous product development processes can shorten product development and launch cycles, while digital employees automate routine operational tasks and work alongside human teams. The underlying logic is straightforward: free employees from repetitive work and redirect resources toward higher-value initiatives.

Yeahka said its full-stack technical platform provides a strong foundation for scaling AI across its business lines. Internally, the company aims to further improve R&D and operating efficiency through AI. Externally, it plans to embed AI capabilities into payments and merchant value-added services, providing merchants with more tools to increase revenue, reduce costs and improve efficiency.

Driven by these factors, profitability improved across Yeahka's business segments. In mainland China, profit from the payment business increased by nearly 25% year on year. In value-added services, the in-store e-commerce business posted a net profit for the first half, while gross merchandise value (GMV) reached a record high.

Yeahka said AI will continue to support revenue growth, cost reduction and efficiency gains. Together with the rapid expansion of its overseas business, these initiatives are expected to further strengthen the company's competitive moat and long-term profitability.

From a broader growth perspective, Yeahka's overseas business is moving beyond market expansion and into a more scalable phase of growth.