Travel restrictions hamper customer engagement at communications provider

Harrogate-headquartered Mobile Tornado says its total turnover in the six-month period to 30 June 2021 decreased by 2% to £1.27m (H1 2020: £1.29m).

Recurring revenues for the listed business, which provides instant communication mobile solutions to the enterprise market, increased by 5% to £1.07m (H1 2020: £1.01m).

The company also reported a pre-tax loss of £378,000 (H1 2020: £835,000 loss).

Mobile Tornado highlights the continued resilience of its recurring revenue base in the face of a difficult global trading environment.

And it notes it closed a significant deal in Colombia with a global security company.

It adds further platform operating efficiencies have reduced its total operating expenses and enabled the business to deliver a positive EBITDA result of of £0.01m (H1 2020: £0.21m loss).

But it warns the biggest challenge it has faced during the last 18 months has been customer engagement and new customer acquisition, due to the enforced travel restrictions inflicted by COVID-19.

Jeremy Fenn, chairman, said: “This problem has been particularly acute in two of our primary markets, South America and Africa.

“The strength of our customer base, technical platform and recurring revenue streams has allowed us to trade through the period without incurring material losses or requiring further cash injections. Given the relative size of our business, this has been a notable achievement.

“Notwithstanding the difficulties it has caused us, the COVID-19 pandemic has positively impacted the workforce management market, driving digitisation and automation across business sectors globally.

“In the wake of the disruption that has been caused, many businesses have identified the need to improve employee time, attendance and scheduling processes, thereby driving the efficiency of their workforces.

 “We have reached a position where the cost base is broadly covered by core recurring revenues, and we are now seeing increasing levels of activity.

“I am hopeful that we may see some revenue growth in the second half as we continue to be engaged with some significant prospects across all key markets.”