Yalla Group Ltd – ADR (NYSE:YALA) stock rose 0.68% (As on Mar 15, 11:59:27 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company in the fourth quarter of FY 21 has reported 39.7% rise in the revenues were US$67.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to the fourth quarter of 2020. The increase was primarily driven by the broadening of Yalla’s and Yalla Ludo’s user base and monetization capability enhancements. The average MAUs increased by 71.0% from 16.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 to 28.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. Another primary contributor to the solid revenue growth was the significant growth in the number of paying users, which increased from 5.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 to 8.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. In the fourth quarter of 2021, the revenues generated from chatting services were US$49.0 million and the revenues generated from games services were US$18.6 million. Non-GAAP operating income (which excluded share-based compensation expenses) in the fourth quarter of 2021 was US$26.8 million, a 13.2% increase from US$23.7 million in the same quarter last year. Non-GAAP net income (which excluded share-based compensation expenses) in the fourth quarter of 2021 was US$27.6 million, a 18.2% increase from US$23.3 million in the same quarter last year. As of December 31, 2021, we had cash and cash equivalents of US$351.5 million, compared with cash and cash equivalents of US$326.3 million as of September 30, 2021.

Moreover, the cost of revenues was US$23.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared with US$18.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2020.The increase was mainly driven by an increase in commission fees for third-party payment platforms resulting from the expanding business scale, partially offset by lower share-based compensation expenses of US$1.6 million recognized during the fourth quarter of 2021, a 25.7% decrease from US$2.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2020. Overall, the total costs and expenses were US$49.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared with US$39.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2020. The increase was primarily due to the expanding business scale, partially offset by lower share-based compensation expenses recognized during the fourth quarter of 2021.

Additionally, pursuant to the 2021 Share Repurchase Program announced on May 21, 2021, in the fourth quarter, the company repurchased 418,289 American depositary shares (“ADSs”) representing 418,289 Class A ordinary shares from the open market with cash for an aggregate amount of approximately US$3.1 million.

For the first quarter of 2022, the management of the Company currently expects revenues to be between US$66.0 million and US$69.0 million.