REG - Engage XR Holdings - Pre-Close Trading Update and Notice of Results

ENGAGE XR HoldingsAnnouncement

06/08/2024 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20240806:nRSF2660Za&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 2660Z  Engage XR Holdings PLC  06 August 2024

6 August 2024

 

ENGAGE XR Holdings Plc

("ENGAGE XR" or the "Group")

 

Pre-Close Trading Update and Notice of Results

ENGAGE XR Holdings Plc, a leading immersive technology company, is pleased to
provide an update on trading for the six months ending 30 June 2024.  The
Group expects to publish its interim results for the six months ending 30 June
2024 on Thursday 19 September 2024.

Financial Highlights:

·    Group revenue has grown with H1 2024 revenue of c.€2.2 million, an
increase of 5% (H1 2023: €2.1 million).

·    In addition, the Group has c.€0.8m of contracted revenue that is
due to be recognised in the second half of the year, along with a promising
pipeline of opportunities for this period.

·    ENGAGE revenue is the main driver of the increase with revenue in the
period of c.€2.1 million, up 11% (H1 2023: €1.9m).

·    ENGAGE revenue comprises 95% of H1 2024 total revenue (H1 2023: 91%)

·    Gross margin in H1 2024 was 89%, down 4% (H1 2023: 93%). This is
driven by one off hardware purchases for a key customer in early 2024 and not
a permanent reduction in gross margin.

·    EBITDA loss was €1.8m (H1 2023: loss of €2.2m), with Group
administrative expenses being largely salary and associated costs.

·    Loss before tax was €1.8m, in line with expectations, compared to a
loss in H1 2023 of €2.2m.

·    Cash balance at 30 June 2024 of €5.5m (31 December 2023: €7.9m).

Operational Highlights

·    The period has seen a continuation of the trends seen in 2023 with
Enterprise growth within Corporate Learning & Development seeing further
progress.

·    The Group signed a seven-figure contract with a large Middle
East-based company in the corporate education, training, and development
sector. Working in partnership with PWC Middle East, ENGAGE XR is developing a
private MetaWorld for the company to deliver language learning programmes and
professional ongoing development.

·    The Group extended its relationship with Bank of America. Having
previously signed a contract with the same bank in 2023 for employee
onboarding via an event on the ENGAGE platform, the Group was delighted to
enter into a further scope of work with the bank. This additional six-figure
contract continues the work done on the ENGAGE platform by the bank to deliver
employee onboarding, together with ongoing development of the platform being
provided to the bank. See Link
(https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7219964038972145664/)

·    In the period, the Group also extended its existing relationship with
a world leading private educational provider InspiredED
(https://www.inspirededu.com/news/inspired-education-expands-virtual-reality-and-metaverse-pilot)
signing a mid-six-figure contract for the delivery of education licenses to a
small percentage of their 80k students globally. This represents a 10x growth
in contracted revenue with this client on the ENGAGE platform as they seek to
expand their immersive learning initiatives on a global basis.

·    In March 2024, the Group announced the launch of the "School of AI"
to a selection of the Group's educational clients. School of AI is a new
offering that creates an immersive learning environment, in which students can
speak to notable figures of history, powered by conversational and generative
AI. A full roll out of School of AI is set to occur this September to boost
its overall educational offering. See Link (https://engagevr.io/school-of-ai/)

 

 

Post-period end Highlights:

·    As announced in May 2024, the group appointed Karthik Manimozhi as
the Group's new non-Executive Chairman that became effective from 1 July 2024.
Karthik Manimozhi is a distinguished global executive renowned for
orchestrating three separate billion-dollar exits, securing over $250M in
capital, and scaling multi-billion-dollar SAAS software revenues. A proven
rainmaker, he has demonstrated exceptional skill in scaling tech ventures,
driving innovation, and fostering collaboration.

 

 

David Whelan, CEO of ENGAGE XR, said: "I am satisfied with the resilient
performance of the business in the first half of the year. Despite a continued
reduction in enterprise spending as remote events and immersive marketing
continue to reduce post-lockdown, we have made good progress within the
Corporate Learning & Development sectors within Enterprises. This is
validated with the signature of deals with Bank of America. In addition there
is also the work we are doing with our Middle Eastern enterprise client via
PwC to develop a private MetaWorld to deliver language learning programmes and
ongoing professional development.  With the additional contracted revenue yet
to be recognised and the strength of the pipeline, the Board remains confident
in delivering against its expectations for the year.

 

Against a backdrop where our platform partners such as Meta and Lenovo
continue to look to build out recurring revenues in the education, training
and development sectors, I remain as confident as ever that ENGAGE is in a
prime position to capitalise on this nascent but growing market."

 

The information contained within this announcement is deemed to constitute
inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU No.
596/2014) which is part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal)
Act 2018. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information
is now considered to be in the public domain

 

For further information, please contact:

 

 ENGAGE XR Holdings Plc                                                     Tel: +353 87 665 6708

 David Whelan, CEO                                                          info@engagexr.co

 Séamus Larrissey, CFO

 Sandra Whelan, COO
 Cavendish Capital Markets Limited (Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker)       Tel: +44 (0) 20 7220 0500

 Marc Milmo/ Seamus Fricker (Corporate Finance)

 Sunila de Silva (ECM)

 Shard Capital Partners LLP (Joint Broker)                                  Tel: +44 (0) 20 7186 9952

 Damon Heath / Erik Woolgar

 SEC Newgate (Financial Communications)                                     Tel: +44 (0)7540 106 366

 Robin Tozer / Naz Zandi                                                    engage@secnewgate.co.uk

 

About ENGAGE XR

ENGAGE XR Holdings plc (AIM: EXR) is an extended reality
(XR) technology company focused on becoming a leading global provider of
virtual communications solutions through its new fully featured corporate
metaverse, ENGAGE Link. A demonstration of ENGAGE Link is here
(https://youtu.be/2OHtimtFY3M?si=Ng0-mwgUpTgU4wtl)

 

The Company also has a proprietary software platform, ENGAGE. ENGAGE provides
users with a platform for creating, sharing, and delivering VR content for
education, training, and online events through its three solutions: Virtual
Campus, Virtual Office, and Virtual Events.

 

For further information, please visit: www.engagexrholdings.com (LinkedIn:
@Engage XR Holdings plc Twitter: @engage_xr)

 

 

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements made in this announcement are forward-looking statements.
These forward-looking statements are not historical facts but rather are based
on the Group's current expectations, estimates, and projections about its
industry; its beliefs; and assumptions. Words such as 'anticipates,'
'expects,' 'intends,' 'plans,' 'believes,' 'seeks,' 'estimates,' and similar
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These
statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known
and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, some of which are beyond
the Group's control, are difficult to predict, and could cause actual results
to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking
statements.

The Group cautions security holders and prospective security holders not to
place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect the
view of the Group only as of the date of this announcement. The
forward-looking statements made in this announcement relate only to events as
of the date on which the statements are made. The Group will not undertake any
obligation to release publicly any revisions or updates to these
forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances, or unanticipated
events occurring after the date of this announcement except as required by law
or by any appropriate regulatory authority.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  TSTFLFEATTIEIIS