ECK Eckoh Plc

6 February 2024

Eckoh plc

("Eckoh", the "Group", or the "Company")

New Business Update

-       Record total contracted business of £45m already signed by the end of January

-       Over £20m of total contracted business won to date in H2 FY24

-       New contracted business in H2 FY24 includes over $12m in North America

Eckoh plc (AIM: ECK), the global provider of Customer Engagement Data Security Solutions, today announces an update on total contracted business¹ and new contracted business² achieved in H2 FY24 by the end of January.

In the first half ended 30 September 2023, Eckoh contracted a record level of business totalling £24.6m. The Group is pleased to report that the strong levels of contract wins has continued in H2 with over £20m of additional contracted business closed since 1 October 2023. With two months still remaining to our financial year end, we have already exceeded the highest ever order intake for a single year with record total contracted business of £45m year-to-date, of which c.£18m is new business.

As outlined in the interim results announcement on 21 November 2023, the closure of several sizable enterprise deals where Eckoh was the chosen supplier had shifted into H2. A number of these contracts have now been signed. This has led to £12m of new contracted business signed to date in H2, of which £9.9m ($12.3m) is in North America. Once these new contracts are implemented during the first half of our new financial year, this will lead to a meaningful uplift in our exit ARR as at 30 September 2024. 

The new North American enterprise wins include:

·      a 5-year contract with a US travel technology company that has multiple global on-line brands in its portfolio;

·      a 5-year healthcare contract with a leading US homecare business;

·      a 3-year contract with one of the largest paediatric organisations in the US; and

·      a 3-year contract with a Fortune 500 office supplies retailer

In line with our strategy these contracts are for multiple products and are cloud-delivered solutions, while two were won in competitive tender processes.

The new UK wins include a 3-year contract with a large UK-based media & telecommunications provider for voice and chat security worth £2.3m (of which £0.8m is a renewal of an existing service that has migrated to the cloud).

In H2 there have also been some notable contract renewals, including a 3-year renewal with one of the largest North American insurance groups, which will see their service migrate to the cloud. We have also renewed for five years with one of the largest global cruise operators that is a longstanding client, which again involves a cloud migration.   The move from on premise solutions to cloud-based deployments is an increasing trend and supports our strategic objectives to increase the share of cloud-generated revenue and cross-sell additional solutions to our clients from our comprehensive Secure Engagement Suite for enterprise contact centres.

Nik Philpot, Chief Executive Officer, said:

"At our interim results we highlighted that we had achieved a record level of total contracted business mainly due to several excellent long-term renewals, but that in the second half we expected this record level to be driven more by new contracted business. It is pleasing to see the new business coming through as we anticipated, and this activity, alongside the strong level of contract renewals in the year to date, underpin our growth expectations for the next financial year. We have other exciting new business opportunities that remain well progressed and the Board is hopeful that further contracts will close before the end of our financial year in 31 March 2024.

We are seeing excellent strategic progress with the record levels of contract wins, increased levels of cross-selling and upselling, and continued growth in the proportion of cloud-delivered revenue. We are confident that Eckoh is well placed to consolidate our market leading position by assisting enterprises with the significant challenges that they are facing globally to keep their customers' data and engagement secure."

Notes:

¹Total contracted business includes new business from new clients and from existing clients as well as renewals with existing clients.

²New contracted business includes new business from new clients and existing clients.

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About Eckoh plc

As a global provider of Customer Engagement Data Security Solutions, Eckoh is all about making the world of data more secure.  

Our vision is that everyone should be able to trust every brand and engage without risk to their personal information. We're on a mission to set the standard for secure interactions between consumers and the world's leading brands, and our innovative products build trust and deliver value though exceptional experiences. 

We're trusted by many of the world's leading brands to help them manage the personal data from customer enquiries and transactions safely. Our solutions enable payment transactions to be performed securely and help protect sensitive personal data across any customer engagement channel and device the customer chooses.

Protected by multiple patents, our solutions remove sensitive personal and payment data from contact centres and IT environments, as the best way to secure data is not to collect it. This allows organisations to be not just compliant but secure, increase efficiency, lower operational costs, and provide an excellent customer experience.  This is our specialism.

Our solutions are delivered globally through multiple cloud platforms or can be deployed on the client's site. They offer merchants a simple and effective way to reduce the risk of fraud, secure sensitive data and become compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards ("PCI DSS") and wider data security regulations.  Eckoh has been a PCI DSS Level One Accredited Service Provider since 2010, and our extensive portfolio of typically large enterprise clients spans a broad range of vertical markets including government departments, telecoms providers, retailers, utility providers and financial services organisations. 

For more information go to www.eckoh.com or email MediaResponseUK@eckoh.com.