Alex Liu: Thank you for your question. This is Alex. I’ll take your question on the profitability and margin outlook. So looking at the full year of 2022, our profits were better than expected. The group achieved a non-GAAP operating margin of 6.8%, up by 4 percentage points, and BIGO segment achieved a non-GAAP OP margin of 14.4%, up by 5.8 percentage points from 8.6% last year. So this was mainly attributed to our enhanced operating efficiency at group level. And also improve profitability at almost all product levels. And if we take a closer look at Bigo segment for the full year of 2022, BIGO’s segment gross margin was improved by 3.7 percentage points from 33.8% and to 37.4% last year. And we see cost optimization happen at multiple cost and expense items, including our content cost, payment channel expenses and other operating expenses as well.
And at product level, Bigo Live has maintained relatively stable when it comes to operating margins. Likee has continued to narrow its operating loss by 87% year-over-year. And other products under the BIGO segment also reverts its loss-making trend and began to make a profit in the full year. So looking forward to the year 2023 for BIGO segment, we will still prioritize high-quality growth in the near term, given the macro uncertainties. But at the same time, we will ensure sufficient operational flexibility when planning our resources allocation so as to swiftly take action and capture larger growth opportunities when user paying sentiments take a concept turn. Therefore, for the full year of 2023 on a constant currency basis, we expect the non-GAAP operating profit margin for BIGO segment to remain roughly stable when compared to the level of 22%, retaining certain resources for potential growth.
And overall speaking, at group level, we intend to strike a strategic balance between navigating short-term uncertainties and actively pursue long-term growth. We expect to remain profitable and self-sufficient in our operating cash flow in the year 2023. Thank you. Next question, please.
Operator: Thank you. Your next question comes from Jasmine Wang with Credit Suisse. Please go ahead.
Jasmine Wang: Thanks management for taking my question. My question is about the user willing, management mentioned that global macro visibility remains limited. What is your view on the trend of paying user number, engagement and ARPU this year? Thank you
David Xueling Li: Hi. Thank you for your question. This is David. I will take your question on the paying user and ARPU trend. So based on our — in the past few quarters, we’ve seen that global macroeconomic uncertainties have negatively affected European sentiment as implied in the recent trend of our paying users and ARPU. However, we did have observed that the number of paying users have gradually stabilized since Q3 in the year ’22 and that the paying users in Europe and North America have resumed sequential growth for two consecutive quarters. We believe this could be an early sign of recovery for our monetization. If we look at the phase of development and also from a mid to long-term perspective, we believe our user penetration rate and also the paying ratio of our products are still relatively low with empty room for further improvement.
So in the year ’23, we will still focus on our user growth and also the conversion of paying users will continue to cultivate our products and our user community and improve user satisfaction, which we believe are the fundamental driver for user paying user and also ARPU growth in the long term. And we don’t believe that the recent trends will change our long-term product strategy. Thank you. Next question please?
