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Item 11 — Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Belite Bio, Inc · 20-F · FY 2025 · Period ended Dec 31, 2025
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Interest and Credit Risk
We are exposed to market risk arising from changes in interest rates primarily through our holdings of U.S. Treasury securities. As of December 31, 2025, we held cash and cash equivalents totaling US$352.9 million, consisting of US$337.3 million in cash and US$15.6 million invested in a money market fund. These balances do not bear meaningful interest-rate risk because cash is held in non-interest-bearing demand deposit accounts, and the money market fund invests in short-term, highly liquid instruments designed to maintain a stable net asset value. In addition, we invested U.S. Treasury securities of US$139.5 million with maturities greater than three months and up to twelve months and US$280.2 million of U.S. Treasury notes with a 1.5-year maturity. An immediate 10% change in market interest rates would not have a material impact on the fair market value of our investment portfolio or on our financial position or results of operations. We have not been exposed to material risks due to changes in interest rates, and we have not used any derivative financial instruments to manage our interest risk exposure.
Our credit risk is primarily attributable to cash. We mainly place or invest cash with reputable financial institutions in the jurisdictions where we and our subsidiaries are located. We do not believe that our cash has significant risk of default or illiquidity, and we will continually monitor the credit worthiness of these financial institutions. While we believe our cash does not contain excessive risk, future investments may be subject to adverse changes in market value.
As of December 31, 2024 and 2025, the Company held cash balances of US$10.2 million and US$252.9 million, respectively, with major financial institutions in the United States, and US$21.5 million and US$84.4 million, respectively, with major financial institutions outside the United States. The Company is exposed to credit risk on its cash balances to the extent amounts exceed applicable deposit‑insurance limits in the respective jurisdictions. Although the Company’s deposits are maintained with financial institutions that management believes to be of high credit quality, uninsured balances totaled approximately US$334.6 million as of December 31, 2025. In addition, approximately 70% of the Company’s total cash was held with a single financial institution in the United States.
Foreign Currency Exchange Rate Risk
Our functional currency is U.S. dollars, but we contract with CROs and CMOs globally. We may be subject to fluctuations in foreign currency rates in connection with certain of these agreements. Transactions denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar are recorded based on exchange rates at the time such transactions arise. We do not believe a 10% change in these currencies on December 31, 2025 would have had a material effect on our results of operations or financial condition. As of December 31, 2025, substantially all of our total liabilities were denominated in the U.S. dollar.