CO-FOUNDER and chief executive of WiseTech Global, Richard White, has hit out at “misleading claims” that forced the company to seek a trading halt late last week.
A reported prepared by J Capital Research questioned many aspects of the logistics software company’s performance.
In a statement to the market, Mr White stood by the company’s performance.
“Regardless of the noise and market disruption of these short-seller, self-serving and misleading claims, we will continue to strive to ensure our shareholders are informed about the fundamental performance of our business,” he said.
“Ultimately, the best way to protect the integrity and value of our business is to rise to the challenge and continue to deliver on what we have set out to do.
“Our people, in all our teams across the world, are aligned in our determination to execute our growth strategy to deliver long-term value for our shareholders, our communities and the logistics industry.”
The publisher of the J Capital Research Report disclosed it might realise gains from a decline in WiseTech’s share price.
Mr White confirmed guidance for FY20 of revenue of $440m to $460m, with revenue growth of 26% to 32% and EBITDA of $145m to $153m.
Among some claims addressed by Wise Tech were one of “failed acquisitions:
“In FY18 we acquired Prolink, a leading Taiwanese software provider,” a WiseTech statement read.
“The report wrongly claims that Prolink’s business and revenues are primarily in China, not Taiwan.Integration with CargoWise One is complete and full localisation is underway.”
WiseTech also challenged a claim that acquisitions in South Africa had failed and that attrition was high.
“As expected, during integration revenue from legacy platforms declined while CargoWise One revenue from local and global customers in South Africa grew substantially,” the company stated.
“Total revenue growth from all South African users, including a number of our global customers who are billed from other regions, is approximately 10% pa. The acquisition of the local subsidiary and their efforts on localisation of the platform allowed CargoWise One usage to grow substantially in South Africa.”
