$WKEY: $250 Million Pipeline & CAGR 35%
This thing can rocket up to $100 with little to no trouble.
WISeKey Announces Q1 2020 Cybersecurity/IoT Preliminary, Unaudited Revenue of $4.4 million;Expects Higher Demand for Cybersecurity Services Backed by a Solid Revenue Pipeline of over $250 million for the Next 4 years, Growing at CAGR of 35%
WISeKey Announces Q1 2020 Cybersecurity/IoT Preliminary, Unaudited Revenue of $4.4 million;Expects Higher Demand for Cybersecurity Services Backed by a Solid Revenue Pipeline of over $250 million for the Next 4 years, Growing at CAGR of 35%
WISeKey announces Q1 2020 cybersecurity/IoT preliminary, unaudited revenue of $4.4 million; expects higher demand for cybersecurity services backed by a solid revenue pipeline of over $250 million for the next 4 years, growing at CAGR of 35%
ZUG, GENEVA -- April 30, 2020 -- WISeKey International Holding Ltd ("WISeKey") (SIX: WIHN), a leading global cybersecurity, Blockchain and IoT company, today announced preliminary, unaudited financial and operational results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2020 (all first quarter 2020 figures in this release are unaudited and estimated due to the preliminary nature of the announcement).
During the first quarter of this year, WISeKey generated revenue of $4.4 million and maintained its strong financial position with $16.2 million cash and restricted cash as at the end of Q1 2020.
Carlos Moreira, CEO WISeKey said, "We started 2020 on a very strong note with several new contracts signed in the first two months of the year with drone and battery manufacturing companies, but the global spread of COVID-19 which intensified toward the end of the quarter, resulted in a significant amount of new contracts expected to have been signed before the end of the quarter, to be delayed. Our clients were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and by restrictions placed on their operations by governments in order to contain the spread of the virus; these restrictions had a far more severe impact on their businesses than initially predicted. As a result, WISeKey's Q1 2020 global cybersecurity/IoT revenue was below Q1 2019 revenue of $6.1 million. Thus, given the uncertainty associated with the impacts of COVID-19, we expect our full year 2020 revenue to be between $18 million and $26 million.
Mr. Moreira continued, "While the full extent of the impact of this global pandemic remains unknown, we are working hard to adjust to this environment and mitigate consequences, having as a priority, the safety and well-being of our employees. We are working with our network of suppliers to address their production challenges and respond quickly to the current evolving needs of our clients and at the same time we are preparing our operations to handle increased demand for cybersecurity services once this health crisis is resolved.
We anticipate 2020 to be a transitional year as we complete the development of new IoT and semiconductor products and move out of older
ones reaching the end of their life. We have ssignificantly expanded our sales force with new recruitments in Q1 2020 in USA and Germany to take advantage of the higher demand for strong security, authentication, brand protection and anti-counterfeiting services as Cybersecurity / IoT becomes more pervasive for segments such as connected devices, connected cars, luxury products, pharmaceuticals and the banking and financial sector."
WISeKey's continued growth in the Cybersecurity/IoT market is backed by a solid revenue pipeline of over $250 million for the next 4 years, growing at CAGR of 35%. Future IoT revenue will benefit from:
--Higher revenue from the IoT sector expanding to market and industries such as:
--
-- Bluetooth Low Energy connected devices used in asset management,
asset monitoring and healthcare applications, offering a
comprehensive portfolio of energy efficient power management,
analog, sensors, logic, timing, connectivity, discrete, SoC and
custom devices, and benefiting from the previously announced
partnership with ON Semiconductor, a leading provider of
semiconductor-based solutions.
-- Drones and batteries powered devices, with new contracts signed
with manufacturing companies in these industries.
-- WIFI connected devices and gateways, with new design-IN contracts
signed with ODMs specialized in these ecosystems.
-- Monetization of the WISeKey Blockchain Platform and related services.
-- Higher revenues from the new Anti-Illicit Trade Technology WISeAuthentic
now expanding from luxury products to other sectors.
-- Untapped potential synergies with global organizations thanks to a
several strategic partnerships with SAP, ORACLE, IBM and Microsoft to
explore common opportunities in the IoT market, using our combined
products to enhance mutual offerings.
-- Further development of the WISeKey Foresight platform that will use APIs
and keys, generated on VaultIC IoT chipsets, as the basis for
Cybersecurity IoT services, to unlock new features of the silicon, what
WISeKey calls "Chip as a Service".
-- Investment in our core IoT business with new innovative products and
solutions to further reinforce our position as a major player offering
secured and trusted Blockchain architectures.
WISeKey's strong financial position of $16.2 million cash and restricted cash as at the end of Q1 2020, with low convertible debt facilities, puts the company in a resilient position to face the crisis with operational cash reserves for at least 2 years. Additionally, we are taking prompt and decisive actions to manage our costs, capital expenditures and working capital to maintain a positive free cash flow position during the year.
Over the last six weeks, since the COVID 19 crisis started in Europe, we have taken initiatives to minimize risks to our business, develop and adapt new technologies to protect our customers against cyber-attacks and also protect shareholder value. Our senior management team's experience during the 2000 and 2008 financial crises is proving to be very valuable and reassuring in dealing with the current epidemic crisis.
WISeKey is fully operational and our staff is working from home to maintain the critical infrastructures onsite (data centers, design labs, production centers etc.). While the safety and well-being of our employees and our customers remains our top priority, we recognize the important role we play in providing cybersecurity and identity management protection services during this critical time.
For those employees who are working from home, we have implemented a "teleworking" policy connected by video as well as the usual phone conference calls and the cybersecurity and technology necessary to do so, using the experience WISeKey has in this type of environment. For employees who require office attendance in Geneva, France, Taiwan, Japan, and USA we are taking significant steps to ensure seamless service delivery while safeguarding their health.
A special edition of WISeID is now available as a free download of our WISeID app, to secure interactions of teleworkers around the globe locked-down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and to help companies reduce information security risks. While this new Coronavirus is a real biological threat, it's raising awareness in the cybersecurity community due to the increased use of remote connectivity or higher dependence on communication, such as email. Hackers are already profiting from this situation by launching new phishing attacks, pretending to be company managers or government agents, and trying to access computers and hijack corporate systems. In most companies the urgent need to enable teleworkers to keep up with their usual daily activities, has caught the IT infrastructures unprepared and not properly secured. Attackers are well aware of these deficiencies and will profit from it.
The use of PKI and Digital Certificates can help to secure email messages and reduce risks by adding digital signatures that ensure the authenticity of messages and also by enabling encryption of confidential data. WISeKey's WISeID Identity Platform is available to anyone to obtain a digital certificate and immediately protect their email.
We have put together a team ready to respond to any challenges related to this pandemic and have Business Continuity Plans in place to ensure the continuation of services and in particular the manufacturing of our IoT micro-processors in Taiwan and Thailand.
As a way to show our solidarity all senior staff (CEO, CFO, MD) took a temporary salary reduction of 30% during the crisis. The Board of Directors has also taken a 30% reduction in their compensation. Other WISeKey staff, at the officer level, took temporary salary reductions of various amounts and share compensation. We have also discontinued the share buyback program, announced last year so we conserve our cash for operational needs.
We anticipate a strong demand for our cybersecurity products in 2020 and sustained revenue derived from the increase demand of our technology. It is anticipated that CyberSecurity companies like WISeKey with strong technology-IP assets will recover much faster from the current crisis. Overall, continued adoption of IoT technologies connected to secure clouds, and ultimately 5G, will be tremendous catalysts for security companies given the related risk of adoption.
As a Swiss high-growth IoT company, WISeKey plays a critical role in supporting the country's 4(th) Industrial Revolution strategy and it is a valuable asset for the country as it continues to maintain its technology independence and neutrality in the global markets.
The IoT revenue generated by WISeKey should be considered as premium revenue of strategic relevance and value within the Swiss economy. Many organizations that have invested in IoT deployments, have yet to derive any significant revenue from their solutions, as business models are changing from transactional to collaborative, while transactions are evolving from simple one-off payments to complex alternatives of usage-based billing.
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April 30, 2020 01:00 ET (05:00 GMT)
