E-COMMODITIES (01733) issues a profit warning, expecting mid-term net profit to exceed HK$240 million, with a year-on-year growth of over 80%.

E-COMMODITIES (01733) announced that the group expects its net profit for the six months ending June 30, 2026, to exceed 240 million Hong Kong dollars, representing an increase of over 80% compared to the same period in 2025. The growth in performance is primarily due to the year-on-year rise in market prices for coking coal, which has driven a recovery in the gross profit of the company's coal trading business, leading to a steady improvement in overall profitability. On an industry level, the coking coal market in China during the first half of 2026 showed a broad fluctuation with a trend of initial decline followed by an increase and reaching temporary highs, with the market price center moving upward compared to the same period in 2025, indicating an improvement in industry prosperity. 1. In the first half of the year, due to climate factors and localized safety incidents, there was a certain degree of capacity tightening in Chinas main production regions, leading to a decrease in domestic coking coal supply compared to the same period last year; 2. Imported resources seized market opportunities to provide effective supplementation, with a significant year-on-year increase in coking coal imports in the first half of the year. Data shows that the total nationwide coking coal imports reached 66.88 million tons, up about 26% year-on-year, with Mongolian coal imports at 40.58 million tons, an increase of around 64%; 3. Against this backdrop, coking coal prices in the first half of the year experienced a widespread increase compared to the same period last year, with the scarcity of main coking coal resources becoming particularly evident: the average spot price of domestic main coking coal rose by nearly 25% compared to the same period last year, highlighting the rarity of high-quality low-sulfur main coking coal resources, improving the market supply and demand dynamics, and steering the industry toward healthier development. Based on the positive supply and demand dynamics in the coking coal industry in the first half of the year, the company relies on its forward-looking strategic resource layout and refined risk management capabilities to enhance efficient collaboration at various business nodes, promote year-on-year growth in the comprehensive service sector of the supply chain, solidify its operational fundamentals, and actively seize industry opportunities. On one hand, the company's diversified resource layout effectively mitigates supply disturbances and hedges against operational uncertainties arising from fluctuations in the import structure, ensuring stable supply and operations in the coal trading business; on the other hand, the company continuously improves its market-oriented risk management system, rationally utilizes futures derivative tools to hedge against the risks of wide fluctuations in commodity prices, and effectively smooths out periodic operational profit volatility. In summary, the group achieved steady growth in operating performance during the six months ending June 30, 2026.