Last checked at 17 Jul 2023 07:00
17 July 2023
Windward Ltd.
("Windward", "the Company")
H1 Trading Update and Notice of Results
Windward (LON: WNWD), the leading Maritime AI company, provides an update on trading for the six month period ended 30 June 2023.
The Company is pleased to report a period of positive momentum, with Annual Contract Value (ACV) at 30 June 2023 increasing to $27.6m, up 23% compared to ACV at 30 June 2022. Revenue for H1 is expected to be not lower than $12.7m, up 17% compared to H1 2022, demonstrating the strength of our solution and global presence. Gross margin increased to 77% (FY2022: 72%), mostly as a result of increase in revenue and cost saving actions taken earlier in the year.
The Company remains well capitalised with a net cash balance of $17.9m at the period end. Cash burn was reduced by 52% to $4.2m in the period (H1 2022: $8.8m), consistent with our strategy to accelerate the path to profitability. The Board believes that the Company's cash resources are more than sufficient to see the Company to profitability and cash generation.
The success of the first half has been driven by new customer wins, including long-term contracts with some of the largest participants in maritime trade and expansion with existing customers. Notable commercial customer wins include BHP Biliton, Peninsula Petroleum, and DanPilot - the national Danish pilotage company. Many of these customer wins are driven by accelerated adoption of our API insights offering, launched in June 2022.
During H1, the Company secured 51 new commercial customers - almost as many as in all of 2022 (53), bringing the total customer count to 172 (up +65% compared to 30 June 2022), showing a significant acceleration of market share and growth potential. As a result, Commercial ACV now represents 32% of total ACV, up from 23%, (at 30 June 2022) demonstrating the successful execution of our stated customer diversification and growth strategy.
Our ongoing investment in R&D, which we believe is core to both the Company's strategic advantage and market leading position, continues to deliver new offerings and capabilities. This allows us to offer an ever wider array of solutions to our customers as well as allowing us to continually lead the market.
The announcement of our partnership on 5 July with the LSEG has been the culmination of many months of work, providing us with a significant route to market and a channel to a significant list of potential clients. We are also pleased to announce we have established a partnership with Amazon Web Services, allowing AWS customers across all segments to be able to discover and procure our solution via the AWS marketplace, and utilise their cloud credits. These two join our "Windward Inside" strategy as well as our recent channel partnerships with both Wisor.ai and Amital - Unifreight Supply Chain Management.
The recent EU 11th sanctions package has strengthened the belief of the Directors that the expectation for real-time, accurate insights to manage maritime risk is greater than ever. Supported by the Company's strong cash position, Windward remains focused on growing its revenues and customer base whilst managing its costs as it accelerates its path towards profitability.
Ami Daniel, CEO and Co-Founder of Windward said:
"The first half of 2023 has been a very successful one for the Company and we remain confident in delivering on market expectations for the full year. We have won new contracts in a variety of end markets, we have launched new offerings and we have a very significant new partner announced in LSEG. The 11th EU sanctions package that was announced on June 24th against Russia emphasised the need for AI driven data analytics for a growing market with a significant sense of urgency. This demonstrates not only the strength of our technology but the relevance of it.
We remain focused on our ambition to be cashflow positive and to reach EBITDA breakeven earlier than we stated at the time of our IPO and we look forward to a successful second half and updating our shareholders further in August."
Notice of Results and Investor Presentation
The Company is presenting at the MelloMonday event today, 17 July, starting at 5:00pm BST via zoom webinar. Investors wishing to attend the webinar can register here for a free ticket for the event using code SHR100.
The Company intends to release results for the 6 months ended 30 June 2023 on 17 August 2023.
For more information, please contact:
Windward Ltd. | Via Alma PR |
Irit Singer, CMO | |
Canaccord Genuity (Nominated Adviser & Broker) | +44(0)20 7523 8000 |
Simon Bridges / Andrew Potts | |
Alma PR | +44(0)20 3405 0205 |
Caroline Forde / Kieran Breheny / Pippa Crabtree |
About Windward
Windward (LSE:WNWD), a publicly-traded company on the London Stock Exchange, is a leading Maritime AI company, enabling organizations to achieve business and operational readiness. Windward's AI-powered solution allows stakeholders including banks, commodity traders, insurers, and major energy and shipping companies to make real-time, predictive intelligence-driven decisions, providing a 360° view of the maritime ecosystem and its broader impact on safety, security, finance, and business. For more information visit: https://windward.ai/.