AD1 Holdings Limited (ASX:AD1) CEO and Managing Director Brendan Kavenagh provides an update on the company's suite of software as a service businesses, FY21 results and outlook.Lauren Evans: Hi. This is Lauren Evans for the Finance News Network. Joining me from AD1 Holdings
(ASX:AD1) is Managing Director and CEO Brendan Kavenagh. Brendan, it's nice to meet you, and welcome back to FNN.
Brendan Kavenagh: Thanks very much, Lauren. Delighted to be here.
Lauren Evans: So, first up, can you start with an introduction to the company?
Brendan Kavenagh: Yeah, sure. AD1 Holdings, we're an ASX listed technology company focused on creating and investing in market-leading software businesses,aAnd our ambition is to deliver really strong returns for shareholders through a diversified global portfolio of SaaS businesses.
We have three business. Two of the businesses in the HR tech space, and the HR tech space is really disruptive at the moment as companies look for better ways, faster ways of meeting their business objectives. And the two key businesses we have in this product, the first one I'll mention is ApplyDirect. ApplyDirect provides recruitment solutions technology to the industry, and two of our biggest customers are the government, New South Wales government and Vic government, and process about 7.1 million people on the platform each year and a couple of million applications. So, it's a platform that allows organisations to better control how they attract, engage and also spread the message of their brand to the candidate market.
Art of Mentoring is a great business. Art of Mentoring is experiencing great growth. 25 per cent of people are currently leaving their jobs in Australia, and something like over 40 per cent are open to job offers. So, some industries are finding it very, very difficult to attract talent. Mentoring is really a continuous learning journey, and it has been shown that it improves retention, and retention is so important in organizations. So, Art of Mentoring takes away a lot of the administrative burden, and, through clever technology and algorithms, provides matching technology, and also the training to be able to provide mentoring services.
Utility Software Services, look, we provide energy retailers with core platforms so that they can do business, so from billing and payments to customer relationship management, but also customer portals, so that the customer experience is better. So, really the engine room for energy retailers to operate.
Lauren Evans: So, now to your FY21 results and outlook, can you tell us more about this, starting with the highlights?
Brendan Kavenagh: Yeah, look, really excited. We had 65 per cent year on year revenue. In fact, in the last two years, we've almost doubled the business growth in terms of revenue. The acquisition of Art of Mentoring has been a really key highlight for us, and not just from a revenue perspective, adding about $1 million to our top line, but also in terms of expanding our footprint into the HR tech market, which, as I mentioned before, is highly lucrative. They continued their growth throughout the year. They've hit FY22 increase in customer base significant. We'll have our quarter results out soon, so very excited by the momentum generated by AOM.
But it's not just AOM. Across the group, we had great platform growth. So, 60 per cent increase in Utility Software Services in meters under management.
So, as our customers grow their customers, our revenue also increases, based on the revenue model that we have. ApplyDirect also experienced significant growth in terms of user base on the platform, with a 27 per cent increase, and Art of Mentoring had a 500 per cent increase.
Lauren Evans: And can you tell us more about the outlook?
Brendan Kavenagh: Growth is super important as we head into FY22, and '23, and beyond. So, we'll have a strong focus on leveraging existing customer base, but also a targeted approach into how we build out new logos, and a smart way of doing that is through cross-selling. So, where can we do and add value to existing customers? And then what are the adjacent customers that we're currently working with within adjacent industries that we may also be able to provide value to? We're really excited about a channel partner that we'll be signing soon. We're in advanced negotiations, I should say, and the opportunity to expand our geography further offshore will be a fantastic result from that, and we have a clear focus on expansion into the US market.
Lauren Evans: So, the last question from me, is there anything else that you'd like to add today before we wrap up?
Brendan Kavenagh: Oh, look, just a couple of quick points, Lauren. Our board and management have 36 per cent shares on issue, so we're highly incentivised to make sure that we execute on strategy and grow business, provide shareholder wealth. In addition to that, we've almost doubled revenue in the last two years, and we know we have good product, and customers are purchasing. So, we believe we've got a great combination to build upon, a great platform to grow, and we look forward to a successful year ahead.
Lauren Evans: Well, Brendan Kavenagh, thanks for the introduction today, and we look forward to hearing from you again later in the year.
Brendan Kavenagh: Thanks, Lauren. Great to chat.
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