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Blue Prism brings in record orders

The group has entered its new financial year with a record order book
November 22, 2019

Shares in Blue Prism (PRSM) soared by more than a third on the back of a strong trading update for the year to October 2019. The group – which specialises in robotic process automation (RPA) – said that it had seen a “significant acceleration” in sales during the second half of the year. It has entered 2020 with a record order book.

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Over the period in question, Blue Prism added 685 net new customers, and reported a customer retention rate of 96 per cent – broadly in line with the 97 per cent seen a year earlier. Its customers rose in number by more than two-thirds to 1,677, which it believes will underpin increased upselling activity in the future. During FY2019, it implemented 1,139 upsells (sales of something additional) to 544 customers.

Total business – described as total contract value from new customers, upsells and renewals – came in at £181m, up by over a quarter. The group expects to report revenues for the year of at least £98m, up by a considerable 78 per cent and in line with consensus. It estimates that exit monthly recurring revenues as at October will be at least £10.4m, or £9.7m excluding the acquisition of Thoughtonomy (announced in June). This compares with £6.2m in 2018. Blue Prism’s cash position as of October was £74m, up considerably from £50.5m.