16
July 2024
Windward
Ltd.
("Windward", "the Company")
H1 Trading Update and Notice
of Results
Strong growth in ACV and
launch of first Generative AI offering
Windward (LON: WNWD), a leading
Maritime AI company, provides an update on trading for the six
month period ended 30 June 2024 (HY 24).
Financial Highlights (all unaudited):
|
-
|
Annual Contract Value (ACV) as at 30 June 2024 of
$37.2m, up 35% (HY 23: $27.6m)
|
|
-
|
Revenue up 37% to $17.6m (HY 23
$12.8m)
|
|
-
|
Gross margin for HY 24 above 80% (HY
23: 78%)
|
|
-
|
EBITDA loss expected to be not more
than $1.6m for HY 24 (HY 23 $3.8m)
|
|
-
|
Cash balance at period end of
$13.8m (31 December 2023: $17.3m), on track to achieve market
expectations* for 31 December 2024 (FY24)
|
|
-
|
Trading slightly ahead of market
expectations on revenue for FY24, and confident in
achieving an EBITDA break-even run rate during FY24
|
Ami Daniel, CEO and
Co-Founder of Windward said:
"I
am delighted to report sustained momentum of 35% year over year ACV
growth, consistent with FY2023 ACV growth. We continue to grow the
base of global organisations subscribing to our AI-powered insights
to better navigate the challenges of global
trade.
Investment in our data platform is delivering significant
benefits, which has allowed us to quickly roll out Generative AI
capabilities with the launch of our first Generative AI agent, MAI
Expert, in collaboration with AWS. This is the first step in a
journey that significantly expands both our target market and the
breadth of our differentiated offering for existing
customers.
Our high renewal rates provide us with solid revenue
visibility and confidence in continued positive trading, and with
the new products launched in 2024 providing significant expansion
opportunities, we are increasingly confident in the prospects for
Windward."
Alongside the strong financial
performance reported above, the Company made continued strategic
and operational progress. Highlights include:
|
-
|
Launch of MAI Expert™, a Generative AI-Powered
virtual agent, the first milestone in the Company's considerable
Generative AI roadmap
|
|
-
|
Windward joins the AWS ISV
Accelerate Program and collaborates with AWS to launch Generative
AI based solutions, optimising global trade & supply chain
management
|
|
-
|
New channel partnership with
Rightship, a leading shipping ESG provider, paving the way for
further adoption of Windward's technology platform in
the commercial sector, already in use by two leading mining
companies
|
New customers signed in 2024 include
Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, Ceedbox Limited, CLCircular,
Gungen Denizcilik ve ticaret a.s., OCIMF - Oil Companies
International Marine Forum, Theia Trading, Uni-Fuels, Valletta
Bunkers Ltd and Bergé
Logistics.
The Board expects to release interim
results for the six months ended 30 June 2024 in late August
2024.
* For the purposes of this
announcement, Windward believes market consensus for the financial
year ended 31 December 2024 to be revenue of $35.1m, adjusted
EBITDA loss of $1.6m and cash of $16.7m.
(1) ACV, as of a given date, is the
total of the value of each contract divided by the total number of
years of the contract.
(2) EBITDA is earnings before
interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation
(3) All references to $ or USD are
in respect of United States Dollars
For
more information, please contact:
|
Windward
|
Via Alma
|
|
Irit Singer, CMO
|
|
|
|
|
|
Canaccord Genuity (Nominated Adviser & Broker)
|
+44(0)20 7523 8000
|
|
Simon Bridges / Andrew
Potts
|
|
|
Alma Strategic Communications
|
+44(0)20 3405 0205
|
|
Caroline Forde / Kieran Breheny /
Will Merison
|
|
About Windward
Windward (LSE:WNWD), is a leading Maritime AI™ company, providing
an all-in-one platform to accelerate global trade. Windward's
AI-powered decision support and exception management platform
offers a 360° view of the maritime ecosystem and enables
stakeholders to make real time, predictive intelligence-driven
decisions to achieve business and operational readiness.
Windward's Maritime AI supports
companies across industries. The company's clients range from oil
supermajors, freight forwarders, and port authorities, to banks,
shippers, insurers, and governmental organizations.
For more information
visit: https://windward.ai/.
Prior to publication the information
communicated in this announcement was deemed by the Company to
constitute inside information for the purposes of article 7 of the
Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No 596/2014 as amended by regulation
11 of the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations No
2019/310 ('MAR'). With the publication of this announcement, this
information is now considered to be in the public
domain.