REG - Big Technologies PLC - Trading Statement

Big TechnologiesAnnouncement

28/01/2025 07:00

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RNS Number : 8603U  Big Technologies PLC  28 January 2025

28 January 2025

 

Big Technologies plc

("Big Technologies" or the "Company" and the "Group")

Trading Update

 

Big Technologies plc, the UK-based remote people monitoring technology
company, issues the following trading update ahead of the announcement
scheduled for 2 April 2025 of its full year results for the year ended 31
December 2024.

 

The Group has continued to perform in line with the board's expectations with
revenue for the year ended 31 December 2024 expected to be £50.3
million (2023: £55.2 million) and adjusted EBITDA to be £27.0
million (2023: £33.0 million). These results are in line with current
market expectations and reflect the ongoing investment made in expanding our
business development effort in the US market(1), which is starting to show
positive results, in terms of new customer wins.

 

Outlook for 2025

The 2024 full year performance reflects the loss of revenue from a former
customer in Colombia, from May 2024 onwards. As a result, and as previously
described in the Group's H1 2024 financial results published in September
2024, revenue was lower in the second half of 2024, versus the first half of
the year. Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR), which is the exit run rate of
monthly recurring revenue in the last month of the reporting period was £4.0
million (H1 2024 £3.9 million). The MRR figure gives the Group visibility
over its future revenues derived from its long-term contracts.

Visibility on the base-level of business for 2025 is very good and we expect
to see growth in the MRR as we make progress throughout the year, assuming no
adverse movements in foreign exchange. As a result, we expect Group sales and
profitability for 2025 to be at a similar level to that achieved in 2024,
which remains in line with current market expectations.

The Group is well-positioned, with the financial flexibility to invest in new
technologies, and has a clear strategy for business development and investment
in target markets, where it is currently under-represented. The electronic
monitoring market remains supported by favourable tailwinds and with the
Group's clear strategy and market-leading products, the Board is confident
that the Group will return to growth in the near term.

 

(1: The Company has compiled forecasts from five analysts with current market
forecasts for 2024 revenue to be in the range
of)( )(£50.0)( )(to)( )(£50.2m, with a consensus of)( )(£50.1m, and for
adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of)( )(£26.0)( )(to)( )(£27.1m, with a
consensus of)( )(£26.7m.)

 

 

For further information please contact:

 

 Big Technologies                                 +44 (0) 19 2360 1910
 Sara Murray (Chief Executive Officer)

 Daren Morris (Chief Financial Officer)

 Zeus (Nominated Adviser and Sole Broker)         +44 (0) 20 3829 5000
 Dan Bate / Kieran Russell (Investment Banking)

 Benjamin Robertson (Equity Capital Markets)

 

About Big Technologies

Big Technologies is the parent company of Buddi, which was founded in 2005 by
its current CEO, Sara Murray, following an initial idea to create a GPS
device small enough for a child to carry. Today, Big Technologies is a proven
supplier of innovative and high-quality products and services to the remote
personal monitoring industry. Big Technologies provides products and services
under a number of brand and trading names, with 'Buddi' being the most
well-known and being used in respect of activities within the core criminal
justice market. Big Technologies (under the buddi brand) has created a
leading, integrated technology platform (including both hardware and software
solutions) for remote monitoring of individuals, providing state-of-the-art
Electronic Monitoring (EM) solutions on a SaaS-like, subscription basis.

 

Electronic Monitoring in the criminal justice sector involves utilising
location technologies to remotely monitor and manage people at all stages of
the criminal justice system. The Company's focus on the Criminal Justice
market in the immediate term has been demand-driven, with significant
opportunities created by a combination of favourable market tailwinds as
electronic location devices are increasingly recognised as alternatives to
imprisonment, and superior technological capability enabling the Company to
meet this demand effectively.

 

Big Technologies' criminal justice solution has been iteratively developed
over a 10-year period, utilising the knowledge of an experienced management
team listening to customers.  The solution consists of a proprietary software
platform with modular monitoring hardware, capable of being adapted to
multiple applications. The Company's criminal justice solution is principally
focussed around the "Buddi Smart Tag", an electronic monitoring hardware
device, and "Buddi Eagle", the in-house developed, cloud-based monitoring
software. Collectively, the hardware and the intelligent tools integrated into
Big Technologies' software enable real-time tracking of monitored individuals
with high levels of accuracy and reliability. Buddi evidences a substantial
reduction in false alerts when compared to competitor systems which, combined
with the reduction in subsequent investigations, can result in substantial
cost savings for customers.

 

In addition to the high levels of accuracy, the Buddi Smart Tag has several
key advantages over its competitors' devices. The tag is lighter, smaller, has
longer battery life and offers a simple, contact free and shorter installation
process, providing substantial staff cost savings for customers. This superior
product design, coupled with the intelligent monitoring software, typically
comes at a small price premium to competitor devices. However, the overall
effectiveness and reliability of the solution, combined with the substantial
cost savings delivered as a result of reduced monitoring costs, have helped
Big Technologies deliver strong revenue growth from both existing and new
customers. The Company leases its devices and software solutions to customers
typically based on daily or monthly rates.

 

 

 

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