EROAD Delivers Strong Result, While Investing For Future Growth
Transport
technology services company EROAD (ERD.NZX) today released
its financial results for the 2020 financial year. All
numbers relate to the year ended 31 March 2020 and
comparisons relate to the year ended 31 March
2019. Key
highlights:
EROAD
is pleased to have delivered another period of strong growth
in all key metrics, while also advancing its strategy to
invest for the future.
Revenue increased by 32% to
$81.2m, up from $61.4m in the prior financial year. Average
SaaS Monthly Revenue per Unit (ARPU) increased to $58.38 per
month from $55.08 and Future Contracted Income increased by
14% to $134.4m from $117.4m.
Chief Executive,
Steven Newman said: “EROAD delivered an EBITDA margin of
33% and a Profit before tax of $1.4m demonstrating our
increasing scale and improving operating leverage. The
quality of our products, the continued investment in
research development and the quality of our customer service
is reflected in strong growth in contracted units of 21%,
loyal customers with a 95% asset retention rate and a rise
in Average SaaS Monthly Revenue per Unit of
6%”.
New Zealand
The New
Zealand business delivered a strong performance,
demonstrating continuing growth potential. Revenue increased
by 21% to $53.4m from $44.2m and EBITDA increased by 25% to
$34.9m from $27.9m in the comparable period. The New Zealand
business ended the year with 80,366 units, adding 10,256
contracted units during the year, to achieve an annual
growth rate of 15% through expansion into existing customer
fleets, combined with a solid underlying new customer run
rate.
North America
Strong
enterprise sales growth in the North American market
resulted in a significant increase in revenue of 62% to
$24.8m from $15.3m and delivered an EBITDA increase to $7.5m
from $0.4m. The North American business added 9,342
contracted units, to deliver a growth rate of 38%,
reflecting the on-boarding of two enterprise customers in
the first half of the year. Work is underway to improve the
small-to-medium businesses run-rate, with a number of
planned product and service launches expected to help build
the growth momentum in this segment over the next
year.
Australia
The Australian
business is a relatively new market for EROAD. While the
company is continuing to build brand presence, a promising
enterprise pipeline is already evident. During the year the
Australian business added 784 contracted units, reflecting
growth in the small-to-medium business segment, to deliver
growth of 59%. This growth rate is expected to accelerate in
FY21 through the Enterprise customer segment. Revenue
remained relatively flat at $0.7m from $0.6m, while EBITDA
was $(1.3)m, as EROAD continued to invest in sales and
marketing activity in this new market to support future
growth.
Continuing to invest in Research
and Development
EROAD invested $15.6m or 19% of
revenue in research and development, in line with
expectations. As a result, the company launched seven new
SaaS products and enhancements including the innovative
asset tracking system EROAD Where. The company also invested
$6.9m to implement new business systems that have enabled it
to scale up to deliver future growth while also ensuring
that EROAD’s operating efficiency can support its growth
ambitions.
Operating effectively during COVID-19
Crisis
EROAD’s global business continuity plan
has ensured the company has been able to operate effectively
throughout the period of disruption caused by COVID-19.
During this time, EROAD’s employees, products and services
have continued to support the supply chain and business
activities of our customers. Many of EROAD’s customers
provide essential services that kept the New Zealand, North
American and Australian economies running, despite the
operating restrictions implemented to stop the spread of
COVID-19.
EROAD remains well
positioned
Despite economic uncertainty across
all our markets, EROAD remains well positioned for FY21
reflecting its strong customer value proposition, future
contracted income and diverse customer base across regions,
business size and industry. While uncertainty results in
longer sales lead-times EROAD remains confident in continued
unit growth across all three markets, albeit it is likely to
be lower than delivered in FY20 and previously anticipated
for FY21. EROAD continues to monitor economic conditions and
their impact on debtor collectability and asset retention
rates. EROAD will continue to focus on growing Monthly SaaS
Average Revenue per Unit and investing to improve operating
leverage.
EROAD’s Board remains confident and ambitious
about the company’s future prospects. EROAD’s cashflow,
combined with the recently announced refinancing will be
deployed to support organic growth opportunities. EROAD
remains committed to seeking growth opportunities to deliver
its long-term strategy. Any medium to large opportunities,
including acquisitions, will be equity funded.
In
October 2019 EROAD announced it was considering seeking an
ASX Foreign Exempt Listing, in addition to its NZX listing,
to facilitate greater access to capital, and provide
alignment with the company’s business operations and
investor base. The Board is still evaluating this
opportunity, in light of the evolving COVID-19 situation,
and will provide an update during the second quarter of this
financial year.
EROAD Chairman Graham Stuart said:
“We are living in unprecedented times, and a great many
things have changed throughout the world. However, our
passion and energy for solving our customers’ problems and
the growth opportunities that presents, remain the same.
With the investment we continue to make in our markets,
services and people, we are well placed to support sustained
future growth.”
Conference Call
details:
EROAD’s Chief Executive
Officer, Steven Newman and Chief Financial Officer, Alex
Ball will give a presentation on the company's financial and
operational performance for FY20 via a teleconference
commencing at 10.30am NZST today.
Participants can register for the conference call by navigating to https://s1.c-conf.com/diamondpass/100007583-invite.html and will receive dial in details upon registration.
An audio replay and transcript of the conference call will be available once it has been uploaded to the EROAD website. Those will be found under ‘presentations’ on Eroad.co.nz/investors.
The the full FY2020 Annual Report can be viewed here: https://www.eroadglobal.com/assets/Uploads/Global/Investor-documents/EROAD-FY20-AnnualReport-1.0.pdf