REG - Windward Ltd. - H1 Trading Update and Notice of Results

WindwardAnnouncement

17/07/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 1445G  Windward Ltd.  17 July 2023

17 July 2023

Windward Ltd.

("Windward", "the Company")

H1 Trading Update and Notice of Results

Windward (https://windward.ai/) (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
(https://windward.ai/api-hub/windward-api-insights-lab/) 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
(https://www.lseg.com/en/media-centre/press-releases/2023/windward-artificial-intelligence-deployment)
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
(https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/seller-profile?id=seller-rs52maeat5z54) ,
and utilise their cloud credits. These two join our "Windward Inside
(https://windward.ai/blog/the-windward-inside-wave-amital-data-lseg/) "
strategy as well as our recent channel partnerships with both Wisor.ai and
Amital - Unifreight Supply Chain Management.

 

The recent EU 11(th) 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
11(th) EU sanctions package that was announced on June 24(th) 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 (https://melloevents.com/mm170723/) 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/) https://windward.ai/ (https://windward.ai/) .

 

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