REG - PCI-PAL PLC - Trading Update & Notice of Results

PCI- PALAnnouncement

06/02/2024 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20240206:nRSF0917Ca&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 0917C  PCI-PAL PLC  06 February 2024

6 February 2024

 

PCI-PAL PLC

("PCI Pal", the "Company" or "the Group")

 

Trading Update & Notice of Results

 

First period of EBITDA profit for the Group

 

PCI-PAL PLC (AIM: PCIP), the global cloud provider of secure payment solutions
for business communications, is pleased to announce a trading update for the
six months to 31 December 2023 (the "Period" or "H1").

 

Revenue for H1 was in line with management expectations and up 20% year on
year to £8.7 million (2022: £7.3 million).  ARR at the Period end increased
23% year on year to £14.7 million (2022: £11.9 million), and as expected, H1
was the Group's first reported period of positive EBITDA since its re-launch
as PCI Pal in 2016.

 

New business sales ACV in the Period was £1.6 million, 9% ahead of the prior
year, with notable contributions coming from the Company's market-leading
partner eco-system which made up a record 87% of the ACV signed to date (2022:
83%).  Since the Period end, sales have continued to grow strongly and in the
financial year to date the Group has now delivered more than £2 million of
total new business ACV.

 

This continued sales momentum is driving the Group towards its profitability
objectives.  The Group finished H1 with net cash of £0.54 million (30 June
2023: £1.17 million), having paid out £1.1 million in costs relating to the
patent case.  The Company's debt facility is currently undrawn.

 

Further strengthening of partner eco-system

On 13 November 2023, the Group was pleased to announce a major new global
strategic partnership with Zoom, the well-known provider of video
communications whose business has evolved over the last three years to
incorporate global offerings for both office and contact centre phone systems
(UCaaS(1) and CCaaS(2) respectively).  Leveraging PCI Pal's patented
cloud-to-cloud integration methods, the Zoom integrations are due for full
launch in Q3 of the current financial year.

 

Patent Case Update

During H1, the Company made substantial progress in its on-going patent
litigation with its competitor, Sycurio Limited.  The Company had a
resounding victory in the UK trial in the case both invalidating Sycurio's
patents for prior art and proving non-infringement.  Sycurio is appealing the
verdicts.  The US litigation continues with the trial now scheduled for
February 2025.

 

It has been the long-held view of the Board that Sycurio brought this
unfounded lawsuit in an attempt to disrupt PCI Pal's business.  As the case
has progressed, this view has only been strengthened. The Board believes the
risk of any material impact on the business because of the litigation has
decreased substantially following its victory in the UK trial.

 

Commenting on progress in the Period, James Barham, Chief Executive Officer of
PCI Pal, said:

 

"We continue to grow strongly and this performance is testament to our long
term, partner-first strategy.  H1 saw us sell more ACV proportionately
through our partner eco-system than ever before   We believe we are well
positioned to capitalise on this base to drive expansion business through that
eco-system, particularly with the rollout of our newly enhanced product-set
and the addition of Zoom as a significant new partner.

 

"The start of H2 has seen the Group maintain new sales momentum and we
continue to focus on delivering the Group's profitability objectives,
enhancing shareholder value, and capitalising on the strategic opportunities
for continued growth."

 

Notice of Results:

 

The Company expects to announce its interim results for the six months ended
31 December 2023 in the week beginning 26 February 2024.

 

 

(1)  UCaaS is Unified Communications as a Service

(2)  CCaaS is Contact Centre as a Service

 

For further information, please contact:

 

 PCI-PAL PLC                                                      Via Walbrook PR
 James Barham - Chief Executive Officer

 William Good - Chief Financial Officer

 Cavendish Capital Market Limited (Nominated Adviser and Broker)  +44 (0) 20 7227 0500
 Marc Milmo/Simon Hicks/Fergus Sullivan (Corporate Finance)

 Sunila De Silva (Corporate Broking)

 Walbrook PR                                                      +44 (0) 20 7933 8780
 Tom Cooper/Nick Rome                                             +44 (0) 797 122 1972
                                                                  tom.cooper@walbrookpr.com (mailto:tom.cooper@walbrookpr.com)

 

About PCI Pal:

 

PCI Pal is a leading provider of Software-as-a-Service ("SaaS") solutions that
empower companies to take payments from their customers securely, adhere to
strict industry governance, and remove their business from the significant
risks posed by non-compliance and data loss. Our products secure payments and
data in any business communications environment including voice, chat, social,
email, and contact centre. We are integrated to, and resold by, some of the
worlds' leading business communications vendors, as well as major payment
service providers.

 

The entirety of our product-base is available from our global cloud platform
hosted in Amazon Web Services ("AWS"), with regional instances across EMEA,
North America, and ANZ.

 

For more information visit www.pcipal.com (http://www.pcipal.com) or follow
the team on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pci-pal/
(https://www.linkedin.com/company/pci-pal/)

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  TSTKELFBZLLXBBX