REG - Thruvision Group PLC - H1 Trading Update

ThruvisionAnnouncement

12/10/2022 07:01

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RNS Number : 5427C  Thruvision Group PLC  12 October 2022

12 October 2022

 

Thruvision Group plc

 

("Thruvision" or the "Group")

 

H1 Trading Update

 

 

Thruvision (AIM:THRU), the leading provider of "safe distance"
people-screening technology to the international security market, is pleased
to provide an update on trading for the six months ended 30 September 2022.

 

Revenues for the period are expected to be £2.8 million, representing growth
of 41% versus the comparable period last year (H1FY22 £2.0 million, H2FY22
£6.4 million). We currently have an order backlog for equipment totalling
$8.3 million (£7.5 million at today's rate of $1.11, see below) and expect
most, if not all, of this to be delivered to revenue during our second half.
Cash as at 30 September 2022 was £1.1 million, and has since grown to stand
at £3.1 million as at 11 October 2022.

 

Customs

 

As announced on 22 September and 5 October 2022, we received two strategically
important orders from US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), via our US
Government contracting partner, totalling $9.7 million. The first of these
orders, totalling $2.7 million, was to complete the process of upgrading CBP's
existing fleet of 60 cameras to our latest 16-channel camera variant. Half of
this first order was delivered in H1 with the balance to be delivered in H2.

 

The second order, for $7.0 million, was the first we received under a new
framework purchasing agreement which can, in principle, allow CBP to place
additional orders for a further four years up to the end of September 2026.
This order further expands the CBP fleet of Thruvision equipment and is
expected to broaden operational deployments into major US international
airports for the first time. Although anticipated, the order size is larger
than we had expected for FY23.

 

Our April 2022 trading update stated that CBP had made public its intentions
to acquire significant numbers of additional "passive body scanners" during
2022 and beyond. This framework purchasing agreement provides a mechanism
through which CBP can execute this intention. In this context, it is worth
noting that in total, Thruvision received orders worth $14.0 million from CBP
in the US Government's last financial year (1 Oct 2021 to 30 September 2022).

 

Profit Protection

 

As we stated in our announcement of 22 September 2022, the economic situation
has become more challenging for retailers since our April update. This has
resulted in our Profit Protection equipment revenues for H1 being unchanged at
£1.0 million (H1FY22 £1.0 million), despite the strong overall growth as
described above.

 

Encouragingly, existing Profit Protection customers, who now fully appreciate
the in-year return on their investment from deploying Thruvision technology,
continue to expand and upgrade their Thruvision fleets. In particular, we are
seeing strong interest in our latest "walkTHRU" lane which we pioneered with
Next PLC, and for which we recently won a retail industry award. The lane uses
two cameras and our AI algorithm to significantly increase the throughput
rate, allowing 100% employee screening, thereby maximising deterrence and very
materially reducing levels of theft.

 

Our focus on Third-Party Logistics providers (3PLs) which operate significant
numbers of distribution centres has also delivered further success. In
addition to CEVA, we have added a second major global 3PL, which is
headquartered in Germany. This customer has placed an initial order for a
dual-camera walk-through lane for a high profile site in the UK and we now
expect to sign a global supply framework agreement with them. We are also
discussing further deployments over the next few months with this customer.

 

Almost all retail organisations we speak to are reporting rising employee
theft due, in large part, to the rapidly increasing cost of living. Therefore,
we remain confident that a combination of existing customers who understand
the return on investment and new retailers / 3PLs, who look to Thruvision's
flagship customers, will allow us to maintain, if not grow, this sector over
the course of this financial year.

 

Aviation

 

While the broader aviation market is steadily recovering, we saw further
significant delays in the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
accreditation process due to the after effects of COVID-related disruption. We
expect accreditation testing to recommence this autumn. Such accreditation
would enable the use of our solutions for passenger security screening in US
airports. Modest renewed demand from US airports for employee security
screening is re-emerging.

 

International

 

Although we received no orders in the period from Asia or the Middle East, we
have a number of very good opportunities in play. We are seeing growing
interest from a number of international customs agencies and expect to this to
develop over the second half of the year in what are, inevitably, longer sales
cycles.

 

Outlook

 

The Group is entering a new phase in its development. With the strategically
significant purchasing framework now in place with CBP; a material order
backlog in place for our second half; and the balance of opportunities we see
across our various end markets, we expect to deliver strong growth this
financial year.

 

The Board expects that the strong growth we are experiencing will allow us to
achieve our objective of breaking even this financial year.

 

 

 

 

For further information please contact:

 

Thruvision Group
plc
+44 (0)1235 425400

Tom Black, Executive Chairman

Colin Evans, Chief Executive

 

Investec Investment Banking (NOMAD & Broker)
       +44 (0)20 7597 5970

Patrick Robb / James Rudd / Sebastian Lawrence

 

FTI Consulting
LLP
+44 (0)20 3727 1000

Matt Dixon / Tom Blundell

 

About Thruvision

Addressing the urgent need for "safe distance" people security screening in
the COVID era, Thruvision is uniquely capable of detecting metallic and
non-metallic items including weapons, explosives and contraband items that are
hidden under clothing, at distances between 3 and 10m. Using patented passive
terahertz technology, Thruvision completely removes the need for physical
"pat-downs" and has been vetted and approved by the US Transportation Security
Administration for surface transportation. Operationally deployed in 20
countries around the world, Thruvision is used for aviation security, retail
supply chain loss prevention, customs and border control, and public area
security. The company has offices near Oxford, and Washington DC.

 

 

www.thruvision.com (http://www.thruvision.com)

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