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Ava Risk Group Limited (ASX: AVA) (“Ava Risk Group” or “the Company”) is pleased to provide the following update on its Q3 FY2024 trading performance:

• Q3 sales order intake of $6.8 million, resulting in year-to-date (YTD) sales order intake of $26.6 million, up 15% on the prior year.
• Major supply agreement signed with Telstra Group for the supply of products and services from all operating segments – Detect, Access and Illuminate. Execution of this agreement establishes a substantial opportunity in the global telecommunications market.
• Confirmed sales order backlog of $8.3 million; approximately two thirds is expected to convert to revenue in the current financial year, with the remainder to be delivered predominantly in FY2025.
• Successful completion of a $3.0 million institutional placement of new fully paid ordinary shares and a share purchase plan for eligible existing shareholders to raise up to an additional $1.0 million. Participation in the share purchase plan expires on 30 April 2024.
• Second half revenue guidance reaffirmed at $16 million to $20 million (range dependent on project delivery timing).

Ava Group CEO Mal Maginnis commented: “Growth in sales order intake remains strong at 15% on the prior year. Order intake during Q3 in Detect was lower than the previous quarter due to project timing. I remain confident in the quality of the pipeline in the Detect business and we expect to finalise various opportunities in Q4.”

“Execution of the supply agreement with Telstra represents a significant milestone. Following a period of extensive collaboration, the agreement clearly demonstrates the adaptability of our market leading fibre sensing technology to adjacent applications such as telecommunications. Importantly, it also provides an opportunity to supply our Access and Illuminate solutions in the sector.”

“Completion of the institutional placement of $3.0 million in new shares highlights the continued support from existing investors as well as attracting new investors. This strengthens our balance sheet and leaves us well placed to pursue growth and execute on significant major contracts such as UGL and Telstra.”

Q3 FY2024 confirmed sales orders
YTD sales order intake of $26.6 million is an increase of 15% on the previous year. All operating segments recorded growth on the previous year. Q3 sales order intake of $6.8 million is lower than the previous quarter due to the timing of some Detect opportunities which are forecast to close within Q4.

• Detect: Q3 sales order intake of $3.9 million resulting in YTD order intake of $16.8 million, an increase of 8% on the previous year. The order intake in the quarter was underpinned by a strong performance in Australia ($2.2 million) and U.K. / Europe ($0.8 million). Performance in the Americas and Middle East was slightly subdued with material increases expected in Q4 as a number of opportunities close within the final quarter.
• Access: Total Q3 order intake of $1.0 million continues to build on the strong first-half, resulting in YTD order intake of $4.8 million, up 73% on the previous year. This includes additional orders from dormakaba for the Cobalt series locks as H1 stocking orders move through its distribution network. This remains a key focus to drive additional orders during Q4 and beyond.
• Illuminate: The Illuminate segment continues its improved trajectory with Q3 sales order intake of $1.8 million resulting in YTD order intake of $5.0 million, up 5% on the previous year. The Company remains confident of further growth in Illuminate in Q4 and beyond based on improved domestic performance in the U.K. and expansion into new geographies in Asia Pacific and the Americas.

Importantly, at the end of Q3 FY2024, Ava Risk Group carried an order backlog of $8.3 million which represents sales orders received that are still to be fulfilled. Of the backlog, $5.3 million relates to anticipated project delivery in Q4 FY2024 with most of the remainder to be delivered in FY2025.

Chart 1 – Sales Order Intake

Supply Agreement with Telstra Group
On 9 February 2024, the Company announced that it had executed a supply agreement with Telstra Group for the supply of products and services from each of its operating segments. The agreement was the culmination of extensive collaboration with Telstra including product trials with Telstra and its customers. It represents a significant milestone and demonstrates the adaptability of Ava Risk Group’s market leading fibre sensing technology to adjacent applications such as telecommunications.

The agreement opens a substantial new opportunity in the telecommunications sector. The product trials demonstrated the superior ability of the Company’s fibre sensing technology to be deployed to Telstra’s existing fibre network to detect events and provide appropriate classification and reporting. It provides a rich source of data to Telstra and effectively turns the existing fibre network into sensors. Engagement with Telstra is ongoing to develop a program of work for delivery in FY2025 and beyond.

Institutional Placement and Shareholder Purchase Plan
During Q3 the Company completed an institutional placement of $3.0 million of new fully paid ordinary shares. The shares were acquired by existing and new shareholders with demand reflecting continued support for the Company’s growth strategy.

The Company also launched a share purchase plan for eligible existing shareholders which is expected to raise up to an additional $1.0 million. Participation in the share purchase plan expires on 30 April 2024.

Proceeds from both the institutional placement and share purchase plan will go towards supporting the execution of recently announced major contract wins, including working capital and product development requirements for large scale Detect programs.

Outlook
Based on the existing order intake and expected sales pipeline conversion, management provides revenue guidance for the second half year in the range of $16 million – $20 million (range dependent on the timing or project delivery).

ENDS

Approved for release by the Board of Directors.

For further information, please contact:
Investor Enquiries
Alexandra Abeyratne
Morrow Sodali
aabeyratne@morrowsodali.com
+61 438 380 057

About Ava Risk Group
Ava Risk Group is a global leader in providing technologies and services to protect critical and high value assets and infrastructure. It operates three business segments – Detect, Access and Illuminate. The Detect segment manufactures and markets ‘smart’ fibre optic sensing systems for security and condition monitoring for a range of applications including perimeters, pipelines, conveyors, power cables and data networks. Access is a specialist in the development, manufacture and supply of high security biometric readers, security access control and electronic locking products. Illumination specialises in the development and manufacture of illuminators, ANPR cameras and perimeter detectors. Ava Risk Group products and services are trusted by some of the most security conscious commercial, industrial, military and government clients in the world. www.avariskgroup.com

Download the Share Purchase Plan booklet here

Watch CEO Mal Maginnis’ chat with Andrew Page from Strawman here.

Ava Risk Group Limited (ASX: AVA) (“Ava Risk Group” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce the successful completion of its $3.0 million institutional placement of new fully paid ordinary shares (“New Shares”) (the “Placement” or the “Offer”). The Company also intends to launch a share purchase plan (“SPP”) for eligible existing shareholders to raise up to $1.0 million.

Proceeds from the Offer and SPP will go towards supporting the execution of the recently announced contract wins, including working capital to support the sale of units, dedicated support resources and infrastructure to respond in accordance with contract requirements and ongoing product development. Funds will also be applied to fund large scale Detect programs.

Commenting on the equity raising, Chairman David Cronin said, “It’s great to have the continued support from existing investors but also to welcome some new investors to the register. Having secured several major new contracts especially in our Detect segment, including with Telstra and UGL, these funds give us the flexibility to support the growing demand we are seeing for our unique fibre sensing technology across multiple industries. We are also pleased to offer our loyal retail shareholders the opportunity to participate on the same terms via the Share Purchase Plan.”

INSTITUTIONAL PLACEMENT
Ava Risk Group received strong support for the Placement from both existing and new institutional and professional investors, raising a total of approximately $3.0 million.

No shareholder approval is required for the Placement, as Ava Risk Group will utilise available placement capacity under Listing Rule 7.1.

The Placement is expected to settle on Friday, 5 April 2024 and New Shares under the Placement are expected to be allotted on Monday, 8 April 2024.

New Shares under the Offer will be issued at a price of $0.13 per New Share (“Offer Price”), which represents a:

• 18.8% discount to the Company’s last traded price on Tuesday, 26 March 2024 (A$0.160)
• 16.4% discount to the 5-day VWAP (A$0.156)
• 18.0% discount to the 10-day VWAP (A$0.159)

Canaccord Genuity and Petra Capital Pty Ltd are the joint lead managers and joint bookrunners to the Placement (“Joint Lead Managers”).

Ava Risk Group shares are expected to resume trading on ASX from market open today (Thursday, 28 March 2024).

SHARE PURCHASE PLAN
Ava Risk Group will offer eligible Ava Risk Group shareholders in Australia or New Zealand on Ava Risk Group’s register as at the record date, the opportunity to apply for up to A$30,000 of New Shares free of any brokerage, commission and transaction costs in accordance with a share purchase plan (“SPP”). The SPP will be priced at the Offer Price. Full details of the SPP will be set out in the SPP Offer Booklet, which will be released to the ASX and made available to eligible shareholders in Australia and New Zealand in early April 2024.

All the amounts are in Australian dollars unless otherwise indicated.

ENDS

Approved for release by the Board of Directors.

For further information, please contact:

Investor Enquiries
Alexandra Abeyratne
Citadel-MAGNUS
aabeyratne@citadelmagnus.com
+61 438 380 057

About Ava Risk Group
Ava Risk Group is a global leader in providing technologies and services to protect critical and high value assets and infrastructure. It operates three business segments – Detect, Access and Illuminate. The Detect segment manufactures and markets ‘smart’ fibre optic sensing systems for security and condition monitoring for a range of applications including perimeters, pipelines, conveyors, power cables and data networks. Access is a specialist in the development, manufacture and supply of high security biometric readers, security access control and electronic locking products. Illumination specialises in the development and manufacture of illuminators, ANPR cameras and perimeter detectors. Ava Risk Group products and services are trusted by some of the most security conscious commercial, industrial, military and government clients in the world. www.avariskgroup.com

View the latest investor presentation here.

View the latest investor presentation here.

Watch AVA’s 1H FY2024 Results Webinar Passcode: #71j8nft

Ava Risk Group Limited (ASX: AVA) (“Ava Risk Group” or “the Company”) announces its half year results for the six months ended 31 December 2023.

Highlights

• Record group sales order intake of $19.7 million, up 37% on the previous year
• Group revenue of $14.2 million grew 4% on the previous year
• Significant orders in major infrastructure projects in Australia and Latin America secured
• Major supply agreement with Telstra Group announced in February 2024
• Group gross margins of 61% in line with expectations
• Group EBITDA of $(0.9) million following successful investment in technology and commercial capabilities yielding record sale order intake

Ava’s record sales order intake for the half reflects its strategy to grow revenue from its market leading technologies by increasing market share and developing new and adjacent applications. The Group reported record sales order intake of $19.7m, up 37% on the previous year, underpinned by the investment made in its technology and commercial capability.

Review Appendix 4D and H1FY2024 Financial Report

Review H1FY2024 Investor Presentation

Ava Risk Group CEO Mal Maginnis said: “In the first half, we have pursued growth and this forward investment has paid off nicely, producing record sales orders and a very solid backlog. Whilst our cost base has increased, this has been necessary to right size the business ahead of the execution of large scale opportunities, including with Telstra and UGL. We are pleased with the strong sales momentum in the first half, which provides confidence in the outlook for FY24 and beyond. We secured a number of important orders during the half, including major infrastructure projects in Australia and Latin America, demonstrating the versatility of our market-leading fibre sensing technology. Early in the second half we were delighted to announce the supply agreement with Telstra, the culmination of extensive collaboration and successful product trials, and a clear demonstration of the adaptability of the Group’s technology to adjacent applications – opening significant new markets to Ava.”

“We are also demonstrating the benefit of the changes made to our commercial team and product offering over the past year to drive growth. While there is a lag in the conversion of sales orders to revenue, we are building a solid confirmed order backlog in the Detect business which will improve the predictability of future revenue. I believe we are well placed to continue our growth trajectory during H2 FY2024.”

Total revenue of $14.2m grew 4% on the previous year ($13.6m for H1 FY23). Total revenue reflects lower Detect revenue (down $0.8 million compared to the prior year) which was offset by improved performance in Access.

The Detect segment continued to see strong sales order intake. Aura Ai-X, the Company’s latest generation fibre sensing technology, continues to be developed to improve system performance and meet market needs.  Since its launch in March 2023, Aura Ai-X has been critical to Ava’s success in key large scale contract awards such as a transport infrastructure project in Australia and a mine site application in Chile, which were both won during the first half. While lower revenue primarily in Q1 was affected by the timing of sales order intake, strong Q2 sales order intake leaves Detect well placed for a stronger H2.

In the Access segment growth in sales order intake of 80% and revenue growth of 60% on the prior year was underpinned by the completion of product certifications for the Cobalt series locks, which has resulted in stocking orders from dormakaba under its global framework agreement. Initial orders from dormakaba North America and Europe were received during the first half and fulfilled by January 2024.

The Illuminate segment has performed well with an improvement in domestic orders in the UK and a continued focus on new export markets leveraging the Company’s sales capability in Australia and North America. A new “LoRa” product has been developed which will enable the seamless integration of a number of the Company’s devices in a common solution. It is expected that “LoRa” will be launched in the second half of the year.

 Chart 1 – Sales Orders

Financial Summary

Gross margins within each operating segment remain in line with expectations and are expected to improve at a consolidated level as Detect revenue increases. The decline in gross margin at a consolidated level was due to the change in revenue mix, with lower revenue in the higher margin Detect segment offset by increased revenue in the lower margin Access segment during H1. The EBITDA loss was attributable to the upfront impact of technology and commercial capability investments which were not offset by incremental revenue during H1.

The Company had a cash balance of $1.8 million at 31 December 2023. Stronger cash generation is expected in H2 based on improved revenue and sales order intake in Q2 FY24.

Outlook

We forecast H2 FY24 revenue of $16-20 million, dependent on the timing of project fulfilment. Further revenue guidance for the second half of the year will be provided in the Q3 FY24 Trading Update based on Q3 sales order intake.

Investor Webinar

Chairman David Cronin, CEO Mal Maginnis and CFO Neville Joyce will host a Zoom webinar to present the results at 10.30am AEDT today. To register for the webinar, please select the following link:

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_3K-6ZUH6QwiIqPBZsfvpig

ENDS

Approved for release by the Board of Directors.

For further information, please contact:

Investor Enquiries
Alexandra Abeyratne
Citadel-MAGNUS
aabeyratne@citadelmagnus.com
+61 438 380 057

About Ava Risk Group
Ava Risk Group is a global leader in providing technologies and services to protect critical and high value assets and infrastructure. It operates three business segments – Detect, Access and Illumination. The Detect segment manufactures and markets ‘smart’ fibre optic sensing systems for security and condition monitoring for a range of applications including perimeters, pipelines, conveyors, power cables and data networks. Access is a specialist in the development, manufacture and supply of high security biometric readers, security access control and electronic locking products. Illumination specialises in the development and manufacture of   illuminators, ANPR cameras and perimeter detectors.  Ava Risk Group products and services are trusted by some of the most security conscious commercial, industrial, military and government clients in the world. www.avariskgroup.com

Ava Risk Group Limited (ASX: AVA) (“Ava Risk Group” or “the Company”) is pleased to advise that it has signed a Telstra Supply Agreement (“TSA”) with Telstra Group, establishing a substantial opportunity within the large and globally addressable telecommunications vertical.

The TSA represents a significant milestone for the Company and is the culmination of 10 months of collaboration, including product trials with Telstra and its customers. It is a clear demonstration of the adaptability of the Company’s technology to adjacent applications, such as telecommunications, which opens significant new markets to the Company.

Ava Risk Group successfully completed a number of trials with Telstra, including monitoring of its urban fibre network in metropolitan Melbourne and the subsea fibre cables in the Port of Darwin. The trials demonstrated the superior ability of our sensing technology to be deployed to Telstra’s existing fibre network to detect events and provide appropriate classification and reporting. It provides a rich source of data to Telstra, and effectively turns the existing fibre network into sensors.
In addition, our fibre sensing technology provides continual monitoring and asset protection for the network, helping to protect it against potential fibre cable strikes. An initial area of commercial focus will be on the fibre optic assets of Telstra InfraCo, which is responsible for 250,000 kilometres of fibre optic cable, 8,200 mobile towers, 10,000 exchanges, two data centres and access to 400,000 kilometres of subsea cable.

Ava Risk Group CEO, Mal Maginnis commented: “Signing a preferred supplier agreement with Telstra is a very significant milestone for Ava Risk Group. It underscores the strength of our market-leading solutions and is testament to our commitment to innovation to meet the evolving needs of our global client base. It clearly demonstrates that our sensing technology, which has evolved from security solutions, can be deployed to multiple applications. This collaboration cements our position as a trusted supplier, and we look forward to working extensively with Telstra.”

“With more than 5 billion kilometres of fibre optic cable deployed globally (as at 2022), the agreement with Telstra Group represents the entry into a large and attractive market vertical for Ava Risk Group’s technology.”

Approved for release by the Board of Directors.

For further information, please contact:
Investor Enquiries
Alexandra Abeyratne
Citadel-MAGNUS
aabeyratne@citadelmagnus.com
+61 438 380 057

About Ava Risk Group
Ava Risk Group is a global leader in providing technologies and services to protect critical and high value assets and infrastructure. It operates three business segments – Detect, Access and Illuminate. The Detect segment manufactures and markets ‘smart’ fibre optic sensing systems for security and condition monitoring for a range of applications including perimeters, pipelines, conveyors, power cables and data networks. Access is a specialist in the development, manufacture and supply of high security biometric readers, security access control and electronic locking products. Illumination specialises in the development and manufacture of illuminators, ANPR cameras and perimeter detectors. Ava Risk Group products and services are trusted by some of the most security conscious commercial, industrial, military and government clients in the world. www.theavagroup.com