Company Announcements

Trading Statement

Source: RNS
RNS Number : 4967F
Blue Prism Group PLC
17 November 2020
 

17 November 2020

Blue Prism Group plc

('Blue Prism' or 'the Company' or 'the Group')

 

Strong performance delivers 40% revenue growth in line with consensus expectations

 

 

TRADING UPDATE

Blue Prism (AIM: PRSM) a global leader in Intelligent Automation is pleased to announce a strong full year performance despite COVID-19 headwinds. Full year bookings of £180m contributed to an expected 40% growth in revenues in line with consensus expectations[1].

At 31 October 2020 the Group had around £310m in Remaining Performance Obligations (RPO)[2] demonstrating a significant year-on-year growth in the level of ongoing customer commitments. The increase in customer commitments was driven by total bookings of £180m, 60% of which was secured in the second half and £122m of which represented new business from new customers and upsells.

Blue Prism Cloud saw a very strong 147% growth in bookings and now contributes around 17% of the new bookings achieved by the Group. We also saw large and more strategic commitments to Blue Prism Cloud as part of large enterprise adoption of this delivery format. Large, long-term upsell deals secured during the year underpin the strategic role of the digital workforce for customers, increasingly seen as a form of "cybershoring" - a technology alternative to off-shoring and outsourcing. 

The customer base continues to be diverse in geography and sector, with a revenue split of 41% from the Americas, 47% from EMEA and 12% from APAC. Customers derive from over 70 commercial verticals, further demonstrating the breadth of use cases and versatility of the product category.

Our customers are broadening the use of the digital workforce across different business lines too, using the digital worker as a focal point in intelligent automation, with increasingly complex process lines automated in their entirety. This is also seen as the means to improve organisational resilience, drive efficiency and generate future revenues. We have also made several important product releases and enhancements over the period underscoring our commitment to innovation, AI and software robots that can match and exceed their human counterparts.

We are encouraged by the positive momentum seen in the second half and see a strong pipeline, which closed significantly stronger than at the same point last year. While the macro environment remains uncertain, we remain confident in our ability to deliver good long-term growth. 

 

Sales progress

The Group added over 490 new customers during 2020 while maintaining a gross revenue retention rate of around 98%.

 

The total customer base at 31 October 2020 was over 2,000 (2019: 1,677), providing an increased foundation to build on in future periods with further upselling.

 

Upselling activity showed early signs of recovery in the second half of 2020 driving full year net revenue retention rate to improve to 113% (from 110% in the first half of 2020). Over a third of the customer base at the year-end 2019 added extra licences to their digital workforce during the year.

 

Financial progress

Full year impact of FY19 exit run-rate, strong revenue retention, and new business drove a strong financial performance for the financial year ended 31 October 2020. Revenues for the year are expected to be in line with consensus expectations1, implying a growth rate of around 40% for the year.

 

The Group closed the year with around £154m in annual recurring revenues (ARR) (monthly recurring revenues of around £12.8m).

 

The Group now expects the adjusted EBITDA loss to be better than consensus estimates1. The Group ended the period with a closing cash position of £137.6m. (1H20: £140.8m)

 

Corporate strategy

The Board have begun exploring a potential secondary listing in the United States. No decisions regarding the terms or timing of a potential secondary listing have been made, and there is no certainty that a US listing will take place.

 

Jason Kingdon, Chairman and CEO, commented:

"I am very pleased with the resilience and strength our business has shown through the extraordinary events of 2020. In the second half we have seen strong revenue retention with an acceleration in new business signed, particularly from Blue Prism Cloud. I am very pleased with the level of innovation from the Company too - with a step change in product releases and enhancements. This includes platform upgrades, Blue Prism Accelerators for use with SAP® ERP and Interact, offering enhanced "human-in-the-loop" capabilities for secure, scalable and enterprise attended automation. We exit the financial year with a strong pipeline, underpinning our belief that intelligent automation will be key to driving recovery across enterprises of all sizes.

 

The team are also very proud that our digital workforce helped on the front lines of the health emergency around the globe.  We donated significant numbers of digital workers and associated resources to healthcare, government, education, and financial services organisations and non-profits so they could use our technology for public benefit.

 

We also continue to make progress towards cash break-even during 2021 and reassert our commitment to this."

 

Full Year results

Blue Prism will report its financial results for the year ended 31 October 2020 on Thursday, 14 January 2021. Conference call details for analysts and investors will be made available in due course.

 

CONTACT DETAILS

For further information please contact:

 

Blue Prism Group plc

Tom Hull, Head of Investor Relations                                        +44 (0)77 3670 7407

 

BofA Securities                                                                          +44 (0)20 7628 1000

James Robertson

Oliver Elias

 

Investec Bank plc                                                                      +44 (0)20 7597 5970

Andrew Pinder

Sebastian Lawrence

Carlton Nelson

Ben Griffiths

 

Brunswick                                                                                  +44 (0)20 7404 5959

Caroline Daniel

Rosie Oddy

 

 

ABOUT BLUE PRISM

Blue Prism is a global leader in intelligent automation for the enterprise, transforming the way work is done. At Blue Prism, we have users across the globe in more than 2,000 businesses, including Fortune 500 and public sector organizations, that are creating value with new ways of working, unlocking efficiencies, and returning millions of hours of work back into their businesses. Our Digital Workforce is smart, secure, scalable and accessible to all; freeing up humans to re-imagine work.

SAP® is the trademark or registered trademark of SAP SE or its affiliates in Germany and in several other countries.

"Blue Prism" is the trademark or registered trademark of Blue Prism Limited and its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

To learn more visit www.blueprism.com and follow us on Twitter @blue_prism and on LinkedIn.

 

[1] The Board understands consensus estimates for the financial year ended 31 October 2020 to be revenues of £141.7m and EBITDA loss of £(55.2)m

[2] RPO is the total of on and off-balance sheet deferred revenues.
 

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