Drone Volt reported strong H1 23 results with a 4-fold increase in sales to €16.2m, underpinned by operational efficiency to deliver the €20m distribution contract. This contract has a dilutive effect on the gross margin, but the gross result still increased by 17% to €1.6m. The outlook for H2 23 is promising with good prospects on higher-margin services offers, leading the company to reiterate its guidance of a doubling in revenues in 2023 compared to 2022.
Materialization of the €20m contract
The whopping growth in revenue was driven by the distribution segment, which grew by 486% to €15.5m compared to €2.6m. This big difference is explained by the €20m contract signed last February, of which €12m was executed in the first semester. The Drone Volt Factory, Services & Academy division was penalized by the end of the Aquiline Drone billing but limited the decrease in revenue to 48% in H1 23 compared to 63% in Q1 23 thanks to buoyant sales for its Hercules 20 (19 drones sold in H1 23), on track to beat its FY22 billings (22 drones sold).
This growth in turnover did not translated into the gross result, which rose by only by 17% yoy to €1.6m compared to €1.4m a year ago. This was expected as the growth relies on the €20m distribution contract with low margins. The distribution segment gross margin was thus down to 9% from 17% a year ago. The gross result also suffered in the Drone Volt Factory segment from the absence of licensing revenue from Aquiline Drone, being down to €0.9m from €0.3m.
Outlook for H2
Now that the company’s financial health has been restored by 2 capital increases, the focus will be on finishing the execution of the remaining €8m of the big distribution contract as well as stimulating sales in the higher-added-value services segment. The firm has already announced a contract worth several hundred thousand euros a few weeks ago for its “drone as a service” offer. Furthermore, the first LINEDRONES developed with HYDRO-QUEBEC will finally be delivered in July. The commercial launch of this drone is a potential growth driver next semester. Last but not least, the firm is teasing the launch of a new drone family following the integration of Lorenz Technology, specialized in inspection and surveillance solutions, with new high value-added functions such as remote control.
Against this backdrop, the company reaffirmed its guidance for the FY23 of a doubling in its FY22 revenue.
No major impact on our model as the guidance for FY23 was confirmed. The markets should react positively to the operational effectiveness displayed by the company in this first semester.
