Annual Report 2024

MANAGEMENT DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS 17 The United Laboratories International Holdings Limited Annual Report 2024 Currency Exchange Exposures The Group’s purchases and sales are mainly denominated in Renminbi, United States dollars and Hong Kong dollars. The operating expenses of the Group are mainly denominated in Renminbi and Hong Kong dollars. The Group’s borrowings are denominated in Renminbi. The Group’s treasury policy is in place to monitor and manage its exposure to fluctuation in exchange rates. Besides, the Group will conduct periodic review of its exposure to foreign exchange risk and may use financial instrument for hedging purpose when considered appropriate. Employees and Remuneration As at 31 December 2024, the Group had approximately 17,000 (2023: 15,000) employees in Hong Kong and Mainland China. The employees are remunerated with basic salary, bonus and other benefits in kind with reference to industry practice and their individual performance. The Company has adopted a share award scheme in October 2023 and granted a total of 12,096,900 award shares to selected directors and employees, vesting in three years, to encourage and retain such individuals for the continual operation and development of the Group. Contingent Liabilities As at 31 December 2024 and 2023, the Group had no material contingent liabilities. Litigations Reference is made to the Company’s announcements dated 9 August 2019, 14 August 2019 and 9 November 2023 in relation to the investment and cooperation agreement with 恒大地產集團成都有限公司 (Evergrande Real Estate Group (Chengdu) Limited) (“Evergrande (Chengdu)”). The Group applied for the commencement of an action against, among others, Evergrande (Chengdu) on 7 March 2023 in the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court for recovery of the outstanding consideration receivables of approximately RMB343 million and relevant damages and received a notice of acceptance on 14 March 2023 (the “Action”). Due to the large number of actions against China Evergrande Group commenced in the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court, the Action is handled by the Chengdu Intermediate People’s Court. The Chengdu Intermediate People’s Court heard the case on 6 June 2024 and handed down the judgement dated 28 December 2024 allowing the Group’s claim of approximately RMB136.3 million but rejecting other claims of the Group. The Group appealed to the Sichuan Province Higher People’s Court against the judgement. The Sichuan Province Higher People’s Court heard the case on 21 May 2024. It is currently awaiting the judgment of the Sichuan Province Higher People’s Court. Save for the above, there was no other material litigations during the Year.