Seeing Machines flags strong fourth quarter

8th Aug 2024 12:56

(Sharecast News) - Driver monitoring technology company Seeing Machines announced significant growth in its key performance indicators for the fourth quarter on Thursday.

The AIM-traded company reported a substantial increase in the deployment of its technology across the automotive sector, with over 2.2 million vehicles now equipped with Seeing Machines' advanced computer vision technology.

That marked a 104% increase from the same period last year, when the company had 1,086,176 cars on the road.

In the fourth quarter alone, Seeing Machines produced 381,215 units, reflecting 22% growth compared to the previous quarter.

That strong quarterly performance contributed to a total production volume of 1,125,246 units for the year, representing a robust 76% year-on-year increase.

The company's technology continued to gain traction, as evidenced by its integration into more than 2.2 million vehicles worldwide.

Seing Machines said the aftermarket segment also saw positive momentum, with monitored Guardian connections growing by 19% over the past year to reach 62,010 units by the end of June.

That figure excluded Guardian units sold for upgrades, with 991 upgrade sales recorded in the fourth quarter alone.

The increase in sales towards the end of the year aligned with the company's historical sales patterns, where higher volumes were typically seen in May and June.

In a significant development, Seeing Machines secured a new agreement with Caterpillar, announced in late June, which included a substantial up-front licence payment of $16.5m related to the Guardian technology.

As a result of the partnership, the firm said it would revise its metrics from the first quarter of the 2025 financial year onwards to exclude Guardian units monitored by Caterpillar, reflecting the evolving nature of its business and partnership strategy.

"We have maintained growth of over 100% in the number of cars on road featuring our technology from 12 months ago, despite the quarter-on-quarter volatility experienced during the year," said chief executive officer Paul McGlone.

"Regulations are now in place so we are confident that these figures will continue to grow for existing automotive programs and as new programs start production."

McGlone said that similarly in aftermarket, new regulation in Europe would require more commercial vehicle OEMs to seek after-manufacture fitment for the company's Guardian technology, underpinned by successful homologation, or regulatory approval, with its Northern Ireland customer Wrightbus, as announced on 30 July.

"With Guardian Generation 2 stock sold we are now focused on Guardian Generation 3, initially with European commercial vehicle OEMs, then all customers across existing markets in Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific."

Seeing Machines said it expected to issue its 2024 financial year trading update in August.

At 1230 BST, shares in Seeing Machines were up 3.01% at 4.82p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.