ProntoForms grows Q1 revenues, posts bigger net loss as it beefs up marketing efforts

Alvaro Pombo
Alvaro Pombo

Software maker ProntoForms carried momentum from its strong finish to 2020 into the first few months of 2021, posting first-quarter revenue gains while signing a string of new global customers, the company said Thursday.

The Kanata-based firm, which develops platforms to help field workers in oil and gas, heavy manufacturing and other industries manage their workflows, reported revenues of $4.6 million for the three-month period ending March 31, up from $4.24 million a year earlier.

Recurring revenues ​– a key source of income for the software-as-a-service company that sells most of its products on a monthly subscription basis – rose to $4.3 million in the first quarter from $3.94 million in 2020.

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“In Q1 we saw steady growth in bookings, continued enterprise expansion, increased customer term commitment, and further investment in both our key verticals and sales team,” CEO Alvaro Pombo said in a statement. 

“Our strengthened balance sheet and revenue base give us leverage to increase adoption and usage of our powerful mobile solution by frontline workers in our key verticals.”

$1.1M net loss

The posted a net loss of $1.1 million in the quarter, a substantial increase from $170,000 the year before. 

ProntoForms attributed the growing losses to ramped-up spending on sales and marketing as it pushes to expand its market share in four main verticals – medical equipment, heavy manufacturing, utilities and oil and gas. 

The firm said it expects to keep pouring additional money into advertising and expanding its sales channels, adding that will likely result in “moderately higher losses” for the first half of 2021.

“Our current focus is on building sales through direct and select partner and reseller channels as we believe this will provide us with the best opportunity for broad-based subscription revenue growth,” management said in financial filings.

“We expect that this increasingly global distribution network will provide us with broad worldwide reach to capitalize on the expected growth in the mobile business application software market.”

ProntoForms also touted a number of recent customer wins and expanded contracts, including a deal with “a global medical brand” to roll out its platform to 800-plus field technicians and a three-year agreement with another international medical manufacturer to add 1,300 new subscriptions.

ProntoForms ended 2020 on a strong note, generating fourth-quarter revenues of $4.7 million, a 16 per cent gain from a year earlier. Its total revenues for 2020 were $17.7 million, up from $15.1 million in 2019. 

The company’s shares were down six cents to $1.09 in late-afternoon trading Thursday on the TSX Venture Exchange.

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