SaaS and cloud platform essensys delivers ‘resilient’ performance in US despite UK slump
SaaS platform and on-demand cloud service provider essensys delivered “resilient” results this morning, with group revenue up three per cent to £10.9m.
During the first half of the year, essensys added nine new customers, including a significant property company in Sweden that is expected to provide a long-term growth opportunity.
It reported good momentum for Connect sites in the US, but this was “offset” by the unexpected loss of a UK customer.
The US arm of the business continued to grow strongly with recurring revenue up 20 per cent to £5.3m.
The group had 470 live Connect sites at the half year, four below what was expected, with a further 28 new sites contracted for delivery post half year end.
The planned expansion and acceleration of its go-to-market activities was delayed by continued COVID related uncertainty, which has led to extended sales cycles leading to lower than anticipated sales bookings year to date.
Nevertheless, essensys continues to progress its plan to capture the global market opportunity in flexible workspaces, supported by the successful £33m fundraising in July 2021.
Since the start of the financial year, it has also appointed CEOs for Asia Pacific and UK & Europe, to support long-term expansion. The APAC business is now fully operational with personnel in place in Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.
The trading outlook is expected to be below current consensus market expectations.
The firm now expects revenues to hit £23.5m for 2022, with an adjusted EBITDA loss of not more than £7m.
Mark Furness, chief exec, commented: “essensys has a resilient business model and we are well placed to deliver our long-term expansion plans. Our US business continues to grow strongly. Whilst COVID has undoubtedly had an impact on our recent sales performance, our pipeline for FY23 and FY24 remains strong, supported by positive market dynamics, existing customers returning to growth and exciting opportunities that are already underway.”
“Our new product development activities are starting to deliver further new capabilities and we look forward to sharing more details in due course.”