Whispir CEO Jeromy Wells eyes profit in six months after ‘mega deals’ with Singtel and government agencies

Cloud-based technology platform Whispir is expecting to be profitable in the second half of this year after signing deals with state and federal governments and Singtel.

Whispir CEO Jeromy Wells says ‘acceleration of revenue growth and the margins means that that really just drops straight through to the bottom line’. Picture: David Geraghty

Cloud-based communications company Whispir says it will be profitable in the second half of this year – despite its full year loss more than doubling – after securing three “mega deals”.

The company extended its loss from $9.65m to $19.44m in the year to June 30, but is expecting its earnings to surge in the next six months after signing contracts with the federal and South Australian government and telco giant Singtel.

Chief executive Jeromy Wells said: “That acceleration of revenue growth and the margins means that that really just drops straight through to the bottom line.

“The interesting thing here is those three mega deals, which is really awesome validation of what we’ve been able to do, haven’t really generated much revenue in this last year because they’re all starting.

“Our strengthened leadership team has contributed to Whispir’s continued success as we set our sights firmly on becoming EBITDA positive in the second half of FY23.”

Whispir’s communications platform – initially backed by Telstra Ventures – uses SMS messaging to direct staff to a web-link that can host video, audio and text-based messages, allowing employees to answer questions from management and other two-way communication.

Overall revenue jumped 48 per cent to a record $70.6m. New customers included the South Australian Department of Education, working across 900 schools, an eight-year federal government contract as well as the much-hyped Singtel deal, which will allow it to springboard deeper into Asia.

Despite the upbeat outlook, Whispir’s shares fell 1.3 per cent to $1.18 on Wednesday. This compared with the broader share market firming 0.3 per cent.

The Australia and New Zealand market “outperformed” the company’s expectations with sales soaring 56 per cent to $62m. North American revenue jumped 38 per cent to $1.8m, while Asia was flat at $6.7m but will lift this year as the Singtel partnership gathers pace.

Mr Well said the jump in ANZ revenue reflected the “impact of government vaccine roll out programs”, which had sparked interest among other government departments and agencies.

“The launch by Victoria Police of public safety transport initiative STOPIT, which enables commuters to instantly report cases of unwanted behaviour on the public transport systems is an example of how Whispir’s software is contributing to community safety.

“Local councils have also adopted the Whispir platform as a way to improve engagement with citizens on everything from licence renewals and rates to community safety alerts and maintenance updates.”

Shaw and Partners analyst Jules Cooper has previously branded Whispir a “top pick” and “a bargain trading on an FY22 EV/Revenue multiple of 3.0x”.