Author: Scanway
Publication date:
Scanway has published its results for the first quarter of 2024, during which it generated 1.6 million PLN in total revenue, representing a 222% increase year-over-year. This strong growth is the result of the systematic development of both of the Company’s business lines—Space and Industry—as well as a low comparative base. Scanway’s backlog saw significant growth, rising from PLN 2.9 million at the end of December 2023 to PLN 9.8 million as of the date of publication of the financial report, largely driven by the signing of a contract with Nara Space Technology of South Korea worth 1.7 million euros. This is the first of several cooperation agreements that the Company has finalized by signing a favorable contract, while also making significant progress toward concluding contracts for other projects. Among the contracts awaiting formalization—which have already received a positive business decision and are highly likely to be executed—the Company reports, as of May 15 of this year, PLN 19.3 million, of which approximately 90% is attributable to products for the space sector, which, in accordance with earlier announcements by the Management Board, will account for a significant share of revenue for the entire year 2024. Cash in the amount of 0.5 million PLN as of the end of March 2024, combined with a high backlog and the advanced status of projects for which contracts are pending formalization, will enable Scanway’s continued intensive growth for at least the next 12 months.
– The first quarter marked the culmination of our work on the optical instrument as part of the EagleEye project. It is worth noting that this is currently the largest optical telescope—designed and built in Poland—that will soon be launched into Earth’s orbit. It weighs approximately 10 kg, and the mirror has a diameter of 200 mm. The device is technically capable of producing images with a resolution of 1–2 m per pixel, depending on the orbit in which it will be operating at any given time, which we further verified through ground tests in Wrocław. At the end of January of this year, we handed over the telescope to the consortium leader, and together with the entire Polish space sector, we are eagerly awaiting the official launch date of this mission—which is, in many respects, the most important Polish mission of 2024. – comments Jędrzej Kowalewski, Chairman of the Management Board of Scanway S.A.
– At the same time, recent months have seen significant progress in our business negotiations, as reflected in a substantial increase in our backlog to 9.8 million PLN. We successfully converted the agreement signed at the beginning of the year with Nara Space Technology of South Korea into a record-breaking contract for us, worth 1.7 million euros, for the development and delivery of two telescopes. We expect the first payment of approximately 0.7 million euros to be received in the second quarter of this year. In parallel with this project, other discussions with our partners have been gaining momentum, and we also anticipate the smooth signing of contracts of significant value to the Company. This outlook, combined with a high backlog and a consistently high volume of inquiries regarding our solutions for space products, allows us to comfortably continue Scanway’s intensive growth for at least the next 12 months. We are not currently considering raising external financing in any scenario other than one related to a significant contract requiring additional investment on our part. – adds Jędrzej Kowalewski.
The Company’s total revenue, calculated as the sum of net sales revenue and grants received—primarily for the PIAST and EagleEye projects as part of its space operations—amounted to 1.6 million PLN in the first quarter of 2024, representing a year-over-year increase of 222%. Modular vision systems in the Industry business line accounted for 58% of the revenue generated, while optical payloads for the space industry in the Space business line accounted for 42%. EBITDA for the period in question was -0.9 million PLN, compared to -0.3 million PLN last year. The Company recorded a net loss of -1.2 million PLN, compared to -0.5 million PLN in the same period last year. These temporarily negative profitability results are in line with the Company’s budget assumptions and are related to investments in future sales growth, which are regularly reported in the form of the order backlog and contracts pending formalization; as of May 15, 2024, these amounted to PLN 9.8 million and PLN 19.3 million, respectively. Net cash flow in the first quarter of this year amounted to -3.9 million PLN, resulting in cash and cash equivalents of 0.5 million PLN as of the end of March 2024.
– Increased investments are having a temporary impact on our cash flow, but we are looking at Scanway’s business development over the long term, during which the systematic building of greater revenue-generating potential is necessary to secure a strong position in the global space solutions market. Expanding our team, moving into our new, larger office space—where we’ve been operating since the beginning of the year—and purchasing equipment to fulfill orders are essential to carrying out our plans. At the same time, a significant portion of the investments was concentrated in the first quarter of this year, which is why we expect lower spending in the remaining periods of 2024,” comments Mikołaj Podgórski, COO and co-founder of Scanway.
– The completion of a key phase of the EagleEye project—the delivery of the telescope to the consortium leader—as well as progress on other space projects, including the agreement with Nara Space Technology, are in line with the strategic direction for Scanway’s development that we have communicated. We plan to deliver increasingly innovative imaging instruments, as exemplified by the Korean project in which the telescope will be capable of imaging in the short-wave infrared band and monitoring methane emissions. We are seeing growing demand for this solution, which could open up a completely new segment for us related to environmental Earth observation—a global trend within the context of climate policies. The second area involves increasingly larger and higher-margin optical instruments, where—together with Marble Imaging under a cooperation agreement signed late last year—we plan to build a constellation of microsatellites with a unit mass of approximately 100 kg, which is twice the mass of the current record-holder, the EagleEye satellite, weighing approximately 50 kg. For this project, the first satellite platform will be supplied by Reflex Aerospace, a leading German company in the NewSpace sector. As with the Korean project, it is also possible here to build an entire constellation, which represents our third strategic direction—supporting projects with the potential for recurring and regular orders, thereby generating steady demand for our products and solutions – adds Mikołaj Podgórski.
Scanway develops and commercializes two business lines: products for the space sector (optical instruments for Earth observation and satellite self-diagnostics) and for industry (vision systems). Thanks to the STAR VIBE mission and the launch in early 2023 of a satellite equipped with a vision system and an optical telescope developed and manufactured in the company’s laboratories, Scanway has achieved what is known as Flight Heritage – has proven the reliability and functionality of its solutions in space. The Polish satellite regularly captures new images of Earth, and the Company receives the best space images ever obtained by Polish research instruments.