Access Intelligence PLC Trading Update (2188P)

TIDMACC

RNS Number : 2188P

Access Intelligence PLC

17 June 2022

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with the company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.

Access Intelligence plc

("Access Intelligence" or the "Company")

Trading Update

Access Intelligence (AIM: ACC), the technology innovator delivering Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions for the global marketing and communications industries, is pleased to announce an update on trading for the six months ended 31 May 2022.

Financials

The Group has made good progress in the period with a robust performance in the core business and continued progress being made on the integration of Isentia:

-- The Board anticipates total revenue for the period to be not less than GBP32.7m, a year-on-year increase of over 195%. Excluding the acquisition of Isentia, revenue grew by 16%;

-- The Group's Annual Recurring Revenue(1) ("ARR") was GBP59.6m at the period end, delivering ARR growth of GBP0.7m in the six months;

-- Adjusted EBITDA is anticipated to be not less than GBP0.2m for the period, in line with the Board's expectations; and

-- Cash at 31 May 2022 was at least GBP9.2m, ahead of Board expectations due to better than anticipated working capital management.

EMEA & North America growth

The Board remains very encouraged by the progress made in the EMEA and North America market which has demonstrated continued growth. ARR in EMEA and North America at the period end was GBP28.1m, showing growth of GBP1.2m.

The business continues to expand well in North America with an encouraging pipeline and, as a result, the Board expects ARR growth in the region to accelerate during the second half of the year as the pipeline converts.

In addition, the Company has recently agreed a new global referral partnership arrangement with global social media management platform, Hootsuite, which is expected to open additional new business opportunities, particularly in North America.

New client wins in the region during the first half include: Allianz, Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, E.ON, Itsu, John Lewis, Hasbro, High Speed Two (HS2), KPMG, McCann-Erickson, NHS Property Services, Pan MacMillan, Procter & Gamble, Reddit, Skanska, SmartNews Inc, The Premier League, Trustpilot, VCCP, and Wateraid.

APAC stabilisation and optimisation

The integration of Isentia continues to progress well. The Group launched Pulsar into the Australia and New Zealand ("ANZ") market in the period and the Board is pleased by the customer engagement with the expanded global product offering. ARR in the ANZ region remains broadly stable, with a minimal reduction in ARR (2.4%) in the region post-acquisition.

As described previously, South East Asia ("SEA") has experienced a period of on-going socio-economic challenges. The focus of the Group is on ensuring it can optimise the opportunity in the region within the context of the economic climate and further analysis continues. Given the backdrop in SEA, ARR in the APAC region at the period end was GBP31.5m, a decline of GBP0.5m. This remains a marked improvement to the performance from the region pre-acquisition where the rate of decline was significantly higher and reflects the Company's focus on winning long-term recurring revenue contracts.

The Group has won a number of new clients (including client win backs) in the region during the first half, including: ABC, Bulgari, Ausgrid, Chevron, Country Garden Pacific, Estee Lauder, H&M, Huawei, Lifeline Australia, National Gallery of Australia, Netflix, Nestle, NHFIC, Northern Land Council, Ogilvy, Public Service Commission NZ, SAS Group, Savills Management Services, Special Olympics Australia, StudioCanal, Tiffany & Co, and Woodside Energy. During the period, the Company also delivered its first deal combining media monitoring and insights services alongside Access Intelligence's audience intelligence offering to win back a significant ANZ customer.

Christopher Satterthwaite, Non-Executive Chairman of the Company, said:

"The first half of the year has seen the Group trade in line with expectations. We have delivered strong growth in the core business with a good performance being delivered by the Group's EMEA and North America region including a significant number of blue-chip customers won in the period. The launch of Pulsar in ANZ has been well received and we expect the integration of the Company's global product suite to support further progress in APAC with continued new customer wins.

The Company continues to make good progress on the integration of Isentia and has been assessing its current business operations to ensure that it can fully optimise its market positioning to capture the undoubted market opportunity. This includes a comprehensive analysis of the current market dynamics across its regional presence. The Board remains highly confident about realising the cost synergies identified at the time of the acquisition.

Overall, the Board is pleased with the progress being made by the Group and remains positive about the outlook."

(1) ARR is the annual recurring revenue generated from deployed contracts. The Group has decided to use ARR as its new KPI and is broadly equivalent to the previously disclosed metric of Annual Contract Value ("ACV")

For further information:

Access Intelligence plc 020 3426 4024

Joanna Arnold (CEO) / Mark Fautley (CFO)

finnCap Limited (Nominated Adviser and Broker)

020 7220 0500

Corporate Finance:

Marc Milmo / Kate Bannatyne / Fergus Sullivan

Corporate Broking:

Alice Lane / Sunila de Silva

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