MBT Mobile Tornado Group Plc

26 September 2024

Mobile Tornado Group plc

("Mobile Tornado", the "Company" or the "Group")

Half Yearly Report

Mobile Tornado (AIM: MBT), a leading provider of resource management mobile solutions to the enterprise market, announces its unaudited results for the six-month period to 30 June 2024.

Financial highlights

·      Total revenue decreased by 16% to £1.06m (H1 2023: £1.26m)

o  Recurring revenues decreased by 11% to £0.86m (H1 2023: £0.96m)

o  Non-recurring revenues* decreased by 31% to £0.20m (H1 2023: £0.29m)

·      Operating expenses decreased by 8% to £1.18m (H1 2023: £1.28m)

·      Adjusted EBITDA** loss of £0.15m (H1 2023: £0.16m)

·      Group operating loss for the period increased to £0.19m (H1 2023: £0.14m) - impacted by exchange differences of £0.04m gain (H1 2023: £0.10m gain)

·      Loss before tax of £0.60m (H1 2023: £0.53m)

·      Basic loss per share of 0.15p (H1 2023: 0.14p)

·      Net cash inflow from operating activities of £0.04m (H1 2023: £0.28m outflow)                  

·      Net debt at 30 June 2024 of £11.10m (H1 2023: £10.43m)

·      Cash and cash equivalents of £0.13m (30 June 2023: £0.05m)

*Non-recurring revenues comprising installation fees, hardware, professional services and capex license fees

**Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation, exceptional items and excluding exchange differences

Operating Highlights

·      Multiple new partner deals signed, a result of our wider business development strategy launched in 2023

·      Deal closed with Zain Iraq, part of Zain Group, a leading mobile network operator ("MNO") in the Middle East and Africa through our in-country partner

·      Partner deals agreed with major systems integrators including Wiconnect, 3GCOM and CAYES

·      Development and launch of a new live video streaming service and software radio bridge, further enhancing our offering to the market

Jeremy Fenn, Chairman and acting CEO of Mobile Tornado, said: "The strategy we launched in early 2023 to widen our network of industry partners and establish a presence in new international markets has continued. During 2024, we have secured deals with multiple new partners covering the Nordics, Gulf States, USA, UK and North Africa. We have significantly expanded our addressable market over the last 18 months and the plan is to continue investing in this strategy as we move through this year and into 2025.

"In one of our most significant deals in recent years, we announced on 8 May 2024 that we had been chosen to supply a range of cutting-edge technologies to a prominent MNO and provider of innovative technologies in the Middle East and Africa. We are now pleased to be able to confirm that this MNO is Zain Iraq, part of Zain Group ("Zain"). Zain serves over 50 million active individual and business customers, offering a comprehensive selection of mobile voice and data services. Zain was in search of a range of solutions to enhance its services for enterprise customers managing diverse workforces across various industries. After a competitive procurement process involving globally recognised telecoms companies, Guardia Systems, an IT systems integrator, was selected to deliver our push-to-talk over cellular and live video communication services. I am delighted to see this new commercial partnership being formally launched this week at the ITEX Expo being held in Iraq, with members of our team in attendance. 

"The Board is focused on growing the Company's recurring revenues as this will be the primary driver for delivering increased shareholder value. We are now engaged with significantly more partners and end customers than we were 18 months ago, and I am hopeful that these relationships will begin to deliver material uplifts in sales activity as we move forward. We will also continue to explore initiatives where we can improve the efficiency of the business to ensure that our operational gearing is maximized when the revenue streams start to grow."

Enquiries:

Financial results

Total turnover in the six-month period to 30 June 2024 decreased by 16% to £1.06m (H1 2023: £1.26m). Recurring revenues decreased by 11% to £0.86m (H1 2023: £0.96m).

Non-recurring revenues, comprising installation fees, hardware, professional services and capex license fees decreased by 31% to £0.20m (H1 2023: £0.29m). Gross profit decreased by 9% to £1.03m (H1 2023: £1.13m).

Administrative expenses before depreciation, amortisation, exceptional items and exchange differences in the year decreased by 8% to £1.18m (2023: £1.28m), reflecting the continued positive impact that further investment in the development and operating efficiencies of our enhanced technical platform have delivered.

Due to the annual revaluation of certain financial liabilities on the balance sheet, the Group reported a currency translational gain of £0.04m (H1 2023: £0.10m gain) arising principally from the appreciation of Sterling against the US Dollar compared to the start of the period. As a result of the above, the loss after tax for the period increased to £0.63m (H1 2023: Loss of £0.56m).

The Group reported a net cash inflow from operating activities during the period of £0.04m (H1 2023: £0.28m outflow). At 30 June 2024, the Group had £0.13m cash at bank (30 June 2023: £0.05m) and net debt of £11.10m (30 June 2023: £10.43m).

Review of operations

Recurring revenues were down slightly because of the renegotiated exclusive contract with our partner in South Africa, where we adjusted the commercial terms to provide a more competitively priced proposition. We are focussed on developing a significant uplift in recurring revenues over the next few years and embarked, in early 2023, on a broad-based business development strategy to materially enhance our commercial footprint across all key global markets. Attendance at key trade shows, marketing outreach into key industry verticals, and investment in sales and business development personnel have been the key drivers, and as a result, we have increased the number of our contracted partners significantly since early 2023.

During the first half a new partnership was entered into with Wiconnect to make our platform available across The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) region. Wiconnect was established in 2005 and has grown into one of the leading system integrators for carrier grade wireless communications technologies and services in The GCC region.

We formally re-entered the Canadian market in signing a new partner agreement with Prairie Mobile Communications, a leading Canadian telecommunications provider based in the Prairie provinces. They have grown into a significant regional player, offering a wide range of services including wireless communications, two-way radios, and satellite systems and specialize in serving industries like agriculture, oil and gas, and emergency services.

A new partnership agreement was signed with One Choice Technology, a U.S.-based company that provides comprehensive IT and telecommunications services to businesses across various industries. Specializing in managed IT solutions, the company offers services like cloud computing, network security, VoIP (Voice over IP) communications, and data backup solutions.

A further partner agreement was signed with Excelerate, a leading UK-based provider of mobile communications and connectivity solutions, specializing in critical and emergency response sectors. Their solutions are widely used by emergency services, government agencies, and organizations that require resilient communication networks during disasters, crisis management, or field operations. They are thus well positioned to offer our mission-critical communications across the UK and internationally.

We also expanded our presence in the continent of Africa through a reseller partnership with 3GCOM one of the leading global system integrators for IT and telecom solutions in North Africa. 3GCOM is based in Morocco and spearheads the promotion of innovative proven technology across a range of government, public and private organisations.

In recent weeks we entered into the Nordics market through a new reseller agreement with CAYES, an enterprise security solutions provider. CAYES have worked with industry leaders in security and mobile markets for over 20 years and offer secure scalable solutions for businesses and public customers of all sizes in the Nordic region.

As well as partners that sell our solution directly into their own customer bases, we are also collaborating with other solution providers where there is strong compatibility between the two offerings. For example, we recently announced a new partnership with Flic, which allows users of our application to access PTToC and trigger the SOS alert feature with a simple push of the discreet smart Flic button, rather than via the device itself. The Flic button is in demand across a range of industry sectors where efficiency, instant communication and safety are priorities. It is ideal for users who want or need to operate discreetly and for users who cannot readily access their device. We are also in discussions with one of the leading bodycam manufacturers to integrate our solution with their hardware and hope to launch this proposition to the market before the end of the year.

Notwithstanding the greater focus on business development and sales, we continue to invest significant sums into our R&D activity to ensure our solution remains at the forefront of critical communications. Most development work is driven by existing or prospective customer requirements and during the period we launched two exciting new products.

Our new live video streaming service allows users to make one-to-one video calls with other PTToC users, either directly from their device or from the PC dispatcher application. Video calls can also be made with groups of up to 35 PTToC users per call. In critical situations, push-to-video at the scene of an incident allows command centres to get a clear, real-time understanding of what is unfolding. For example, footage from an officer's body camera can provide invaluable visual context, allowing a workforce to make more informed decisions and coordinate an effective response plan.

We also launched a new software radio bridge which acts as a central hub and integrates seamlessly with an existing LMR and DMR network. It provides unparalleled flexibility and reach, without the need for a physical gateway and donor devices.

As well as continually developing our software platform, we must also ensure that the service can be deployed on multiple handsets covering all key price points. During the period, we have successfully introduced new devices from Motorola, Inrico, Nokia, Lynknex, Estalky and Ruggear into our ecosystem.

Board Changes

The Board announced on 20 June the appointment of Luke Wilkinson as Chief Operating Officer and Marcus Emptage as Finance Director.

On 6 September, the Company announced that Peter Wilkinson, Non-Executive Director, had resigned and stepped down with immediate effect. Having joined the Board in November 2006 Peter has made a huge contribution to the business with significant provision of both debt and equity finance. Peter informed the Company that he was looking to reduce his business commitments but would continue to support the business through the provision of the revolving credit facility. A search is currently underway for a new Non-executive Director. 

Funding

As announced on 30 August 2024, our revolving loan facility with InTechnology plc was assigned by them to Holf Investments Ltd. In addition to the assignment, the term of the loan facility was extended by 12 months to 26 September 2025. This facility has a maximum principal amount of £500,000. The balance drawn down at 30 June 2024 and also at today's date is £150,000.

We remain confident that our available cash resources together with our long-established recurring revenue customer base and anticipated future contracts will provide us with adequate financial resources for the foreseeable future.

Outlook

The strategy we launched in early 2023 to widen our network of industry partners and establish a presence in new international markets has continued. During 2024 we have secured deals with multiple new partners covering the Nordics, Gulf States, USA, UK and North Africa. We have significantly expanded our addressable market over the last 18 months and the plan is to continue investing in this strategy as we move through this year and into 2025.

At the same time, we will continue to invest in the technical platform to ensure we evolve feature sets and functionality to meet developing market demands. The recent launch of our Push to Video service and our software switching functionality were driven by clear requirements from existing and prospective customers.

In one of our most significant deals in recent years, we announced on 8 May 2024 that we had been chosen to supply a range of cutting-edge technologies to a prominent MNO and provider of innovative technologies in the Middle East and Africa. We are now pleased to be able to confirm that this MNO is Zain Iraq, part of Zain Group ("Zain"). Zain serves over 50 million active individual and business customers, offering a comprehensive selection of mobile voice and data services. Zain was in search of a range of solutions to enhance its services for enterprise customers managing diverse workforces across various industries. After a competitive procurement process involving globally recognised telecoms companies, Guardia Systems, an IT systems integrator, was selected to deliver our push-to-talk over cellular and live video communication services. I am delighted to see this new commercial partnership being formally launched this week at the ITEX Expo being held in Iraq, with members of our team in attendance. 

We will continue seeking these types of quality partner in the markets where we can see significant growth opportunity and these efforts will continue over the coming months with attendance at multiple trade exhibitions and expos. The partners we have signed up are being provisioned and trained to deploy our technology to their end user customers, and as this base expands, we hope to see our revenue streams building as we finish this year and move into 2025.

The Board is focused on growing the Company's recurring revenues as this will be the primary driver for delivering increased shareholder value. We are now engaged with significantly more partners and end customers than we were 18 months ago, and I am hopeful that these relationships will begin to deliver material uplifts in sales activity as we move forward. We will also continue to explore initiatives where we can improve the efficiency of the business to ensure that our operational gearing is maximized when the revenue streams start to grow.

Once again, I would like to thank our whole team for their contribution across the last few months, and Peter for the 17 years of service and support he has given the Company.

Jeremy Fenn

Chairman

26 September 2024