Freightos Limited, a leading vendor-neutral digital booking and payment platform for the international freight industry, reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2024.
“We are pleased with the strong first quarter of the year, which highlights the robustness and growing acceptance of our platform, and the strides we are making in digitalizing international freight, bringing efficiency and transparency to this crucial sector,” said Zvi Schreiber, CEO of Freightos. “We pursued several initiatives to increase not only the number but also the value of the transactions, including investing in Asia, and an emphasis on high value shipments such as pharma. Looking ahead, we remain focused on the opportunities in the massive air and ocean freight markets, driving continued growth and innovation in the quarters to come.”
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“The first quarter results exceeded our expectations in every metric: the number of transactions, Gross Booking Value, revenue, and profitability,” said Ran Shalev, CFO of Freightos. “We remain on track to achieve our 2024 guidance, as well as our long-term goals for growth, profitability, and cash generation.”
First Quarter 2024 Financial Highlights
Revenue of $5.4 million for the first quarter of 2024, an increase of 11% compared to $4.8 million in the first quarter of 2023.IFRS Gross Margin of 62.6%, up from 58.3% in the first quarter of 2023. Non-IFRS Gross Margin of 70.3%, up from 65.0% for the first quarter of 2023.IFRS operating loss of $5.5 million, compared to $58.0 million for the first quarter of 2023, which included a one-time non-cash share listing expense of $46.7 million.Adjusted EBITDA of negative $3.6 million, compared to negative $5.8 million for the first quarter of 2023.Cash and cash equivalents, short term deposits and short term investments amounting to $49.8 million at the end of March 2024.
Freightos achieved a record 295.6 thousand transactions in the first quarter of 2024, up 29% year over year. This was the 17th consecutive quarter of record Transactions. The Platform’s growth significantly outpaced market growth: Global air cargo volumes according to IATA data grew 13% year on year, and global ocean shipping volumes grew 9%.
Gross Booking Value (GBV) was $192.4 million in the first quarter, up 14% compared to the first quarter of 2023, and significantly above management’s expectations. This outperformance stems mostly from recovery in freight rates during the first quarter, primarily as a result of the Red Sea crisis and the subsequent modal shift to air cargo.
The number of Unique buyer users digitally booking freight services across the Freightos Platform grew by 11% compared to the first quarter of 2023, reaching 18.0 thousand.
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Revenue of $5.4 million reflected strong growth of air cargo digital bookings and of Freightos Terminal data subscriptions. Total Platform revenue in the first quarter was $1.9 million, up 12% from the first quarter of 2023, and Solutions revenue was $3.5 million, up 10% year over year.
The number of Carriers selling on the Platform, primarily on WebCargo, increased to 49 for the first quarter of 2024. Among the recent carrier additions are Virgin Atlantic Cargo and Delta Cargo.