Beam Communications FY23 earnings and revenue expected to reach record highs

Mobile satellite technology developer Beam Communications (ASX: BCC) has announced that its earnings and revenue for the 2023 financial year are expected to reach record highs.

The company said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) would meet its full-year guidance of $4 million while revenue would hit approximately $40 million to be significantly ahead of its 2022 revenue of $23.7 million.

Net profit after tax (NPAT) is expected to exceed $2 million as a result of a strong 12-month performance as well as the write-up of remaining unrecognised tax losses, as noted in the prior year’s financial statements.

The decision to go ahead with the write-up reflects Beam’s confidence in its business model going forward and the strong expected financial outcome.

Beam’s closing cash is expected to show the working capital investment cycle back to cash, with an anticipated total of $5 million.

Despite rising cost of living pressures weighing on the broader economy, the company confirmed its trading conditions were tracking at or above expectations and it believes the momentum will continue into the the 2024 period.

Zoleo joint venture

Beam noted that the Zoleo Inc 50:50 joint venture with Canadian company Roadpost was also expected to turn in a strong performance for the 2023 period.

Total revenue should hit around US$27 million while subscription revenue has been forecast to be around US$17 million from a global subscriber base of 71,000.

Global messaging solution

Zoleo is the world’s first seamless global messaging and personal safety solution for smartphone users and is based on Iridium Communication’s short burst data (SBD), cellular and Wi-Fi standards.

In October, Beam announced that Zoleo had expanded to cover all countries in the European Economic Area which includes Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and all European Union member states, plus Switzerland.

The move increased its market reach from 94 million to approximately 462 million people.

It followed the launch of Zoleo into the UK and four other Nordic countries in May 2022.

As Zoleo Inc is not a controlled entity, Beam said the expected results are not consolidated into its own accounts.