LoopUp shares jump 25.9% to 8.5p on material contract win
Hybrid cloud communications provider LoopUp (LOOP) said that it had landed a contract expected to generate revenues of around £10m and net cash of approximately £5m in the year from October 2022 to September 2023. The revenue sharing and customer transfer agreement with conferencing provider PGi Connect will give LoopUp the right to transfer all of PGi Connect's conferencing services customers in exchange for a share of revenues received over three years.
LoopUp also gave a strategic update on its cloud telephony business. Launched in Q3 2020, the division has secured 60 customer wins, including 42 in its second year, giving expected total annual recurring revenue (ARR) of £2.4m and a total contract value of £7.8m. It said its sales pipeline stood at £100m of additional ARR.
It said that FY 2022 sales would by marginally above market expectations, albeit with the PGi Connect deal temporarily dragging on profitability, while 2023 revenue would be materially higher than forecast on both a sales and profit basis.
Cake Box climbs 11.6% to 140p after CEO buys shares
Shares in cake maker Cake Box (CBOX) jumped after its chief executive, Sukh Chamdal, notified the market of a purchase of 225,000 shares, taking his stake in the company to 25%.
Cake Box has had a torrid year after concerns were raised over some of its accounting practices at the start of the year, and a trading update this week in which it said that unrecovered cost increases, the summer heatwave and cost of living pressures would see “full year profitability to be significantly below current market forecasts.”
The CEO’s purchase will be seen as a vote of confidence in the company’s growth story, which it said are “underpinned by the increased investment in professionalising the Group's functions and the pipeline of new store openings across the country, with levels of franchisee deposits remaining at good levels.”
Read analyst Paul Hill’s view of the company here.
Ethernity Networks slides 22% on contract termination
Israeli telecoms solutions provider Ethernity Networks (ENET) slumped after it announced the cancellation of a contract for its Universal Edge Platform (UEP) module, which had been signed on 30 July 2021.
The customer - an Israeli international wireless connectivity vendor - cancelled the contract claiming delivery delays, which Ethernity refutes, instead blaming the customer for amending technical requirements and problems with its own products, amongst other factors. Of the $930,000 total contract value, $107,00 had been invoiced, with another $240,000 due to be delivered and invoiced in 2022 and the balance in 2023.
Ethernity CEO, David Levi commented: "We are extremely disappointed with the customer's stance and believe that their decision has been driven by other internal factors at the customer, which is resulting in them not being able to deliver to their anticipated plans.”
The company added that it was continuing development of its higher end UEP2025 model and was in discussions with several potential customers.