管理層發言
Hello, everyone. Welcome to Freightos Q1 2025 Earnings Conference Call. A press release with detailed financial results was released earlier today and is available on the Investor Relations section of our website, freightos.com/investors. My name is Anat Earon-Heilborn, and I'm joined today by Dr. Zvi Schreiber, the CEO of Freightos; and Pablo Pinillos, CFO. Following the prepared remarks, we will open the call for questions. We are sharing slides during the call, so we recommend using Zoom on a computer rather than dialing in by phone. The slides as well as a recording of this earnings call will be available on our website shortly after the call. Please be aware that today's discussion contains forward-looking statements, which are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially due to various factors. Please refer to today's press release and our SEC filings for more information on risk factors and other factors, which could impact forward-looking statements.
Copies of these reports are available online. In discussing the results of our operations, we'll be providing and referring to certain non-IFRS financial measures. You can find reconciliations to the most directly comparable IFRS financial measures along with additional information regarding those non-IFRS financial measures in the press release on our website at freightos.com/investors. The company undertakes no obligation to update any information discussed in this call at any time. Before we begin, I'd like to note our upcoming investor events. During tomorrow and Thursday, Freightos will participate virtually in the Sidoti Microcap conference. In June, the company will participate in the Investor Summit and in August in the Oppenheimer Technology, Internet & Communications Conference also virtually. Links to webcast and other event updates can be found on our website. Today's earnings call will begin with an overview of Q1 performance by Zvi.
Next, Pablo will present the financial results and the guidance for Q2 and full year 2025. We will conclude with Q&A. Questions can be submitted in writing during the call using the Q&A feature in Zoom. Zvi, please go ahead.
Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us to discuss Freightos' first quarter 2025 results. I'm pleased to report another quarter of strong performance with record revenues and our 21st consecutive quarter of record transactions. I believe this demonstrates again that we're making steady progress in the monumental task of digitalizing international shipping. Here are some highlights. In Q1, we facilitated over 370,000 transactions, representing a 25% increase from Q1 of last year. We added 4 new carriers to our platform this quarter, bringing the total number of carriers selling digitally on our platform to 71. Following the quarter end, we launched a comprehensive Freightos enterprise Software-as-a-Service solution for enterprise importers and exporters. This Freightos enterprise product integrates our acquisition of Shipsta from last August into our software suite, creating new sales and cross-sell opportunities.
Let's talk about market conditions. In air cargo, where Freightos has its strongest presence, global volumes were up 8% year-over-year, reflecting healthy underlying market conditions. Rates as measured by our FAX index were 6% lower compared to last year, which was when the Red Sea crisis began pushing ocean cargo to air. Having said that, some of the strength in air cargo may have been short term, front-loading ahead of expected tariffs. In Ocean, China's U.S. ocean volumes dropped significantly in the market during the few weeks when a 145% tariff applied on that lane. Our Bellwether FPX-01 index, which has been elevated for 1.5 years since the Red Sea crisis started, approximately halved in March, almost down to $2,000 for shipping a 40% container transpacific. It's the first time in a while that we're seeing the rates more similar to the long-term average. With that data as backdrop, let me address current effects, namely tariffs and trade policy developments.
Strategically, we firmly believe that trade policy shifts won't fundamentally alter global trade or materially impact our opportunity to digitalize global freight. Supply chains simply don't reorganize overnight. These changes take years, and trade will continue to flow, albeit sometimes through different routes. In the short term, the impact of rapidly changing tariffs on our business is mixed. On the positive side, market volatility and rapid changes actually increase the need for our marketplace and for our real-time data. However, we did see some headwinds when specific trade lanes were affected by high tariffs. For example, when China U.S. tariffs peaked at 145%, we experienced a dip in China to U.S. transactions on our freightos.com platform and our customs clearance. Though I should note that this particular trade lane of China to U.S. represents less than 2% of our total transactions.
The good news is that in the last 2 weeks, we're seeing a possible stabilization in trade relations. The recent U.S.-China agreement has postponed the most significant tariffs for at least 90 days, with China reducing the tariffs to 10% and the U.S. reducing theirs to 30%. Initial market reaction has been positive, and ocean freight volumes and rates are expected to hold up and normalize in the coming months unless massive tariffs return later on. Besides general tariffs, one notable change, which seems likely to stick, is the cancellation of the U.S. de minimis customs exemption for small imports. This exemption primarily benefited direct-to-consumer e-commerce vendors, such as Shein and Temu, who are sending millions of small packages direct to consumer, mostly on charter airplanes. As such, it has no material impact on our business. In fact, we expect some capacity to reenter the general air cargo stock market in Asia and become available on our platform.
So this particular change may actually be positive for us. Overall, this growing optimism, albeit with no certainty that we're on a path to more stable trade conditions. Looking ahead, we're well positioned to be a valuable resource for the industry during these dynamic times. With shifting trade patterns and the Suez Canal still largely out of commission, our platform becomes even more valuable when market conditions require rapid adaptation and real-time price visibility. With all of these factors in mind, we're pleased to reiterate our guidance for the year. Of course, we'll continue to monitor the evolving market conditions. The fundamental shift towards digital freight booking remains strong, and our relatively small share of global volumes today is significant. In fact, the relatively small share of digital transactions gives us tremendous headway for growth in digitalization. Having addressed current affairs, let me now walk you through our progress across our key strategic areas.
As a reminder, we organized our business around two revenue segments, platform and solutions. A third strategic focus area is network effects, which drive our sustainable competitive advantage and capital-efficient growth. Let's start with our platform, which connects importers, exporters, freight forwarders, and carriers to our marketplace. Our transaction volume growth was strong in Q1, and the onboarding of 4 new carriers during the quarter further validates our platform's value proposition. Our airline network already represents carriers responsible for 70% of global capacity, although not all the carriers make all their capacity available yet. Our growth strategy focuses on expanding our platform across multiple dimensions, adding new types of transactions, enriching existing types with additional services, creating new buyer-seller combinations, and leveraging our growing data assets.
A great example of this strategy in action is an agreement we recently signed with a major North American ground transportation provider. This partnership will enable freight forwarders to book trucking services relevant to air cargo directly through our platform, spanning door-to-door, last mile airport-to-door, first mile, door-to-airport, and airport-to-airport services. When integrated with our air cargo bookings, this creates a seamless connection between air and ground transportation, making it significantly easier for freight forwarders or carriers to manage multimodal shipments through a single interface. We expect to announce more details about this partnership soon. This type of expansion reinforces our flywheel effect. As we have more value for each transaction, we attract more participants to the platform, which in time increases liquidity and creates opportunities for new services.
Moving to our Solutions segment. Q1 saw several notable enterprise customer wins; for example, a global industrial conglomerate renewed their license for Freightos terminal data at favorable terms that reflect the growing value they derive from our platform. We also signed a new 5-year contract with a major European building materials manufacturer for our procurement solution, enabling them to streamline freight sourcing processes and optimize carrier selection. We continue to see progress in upselling existing customers across our growing suite of enterprise tools. For example, in Q2 a top 5 global pharmaceutical company that leverages Freightos enterprise procurement and benchmarking solutions renewed and expanded their contract. Our data solutions actually achieved 100% customer retention in Q1, demonstrating the critical value our market intelligence provides to customers during a period of significant market volatility and uncertainty.
We also see a growing market interest in index linking, which should increase opportunities for our data and related products. This momentum in our enterprise and data businesses sets the stage for our comprehensive Freightos Enterprise Suite launch, which occurred shortly after the quarter end. This new offering is designed to serve the complex needs of multinational shippers, bringing together our digital freight booking capabilities, rate management tools, and business intelligence, all in one unified platform. So enterprise shippers can now seamlessly manage their entire freight procurement and execution process in one product suite. Early feedback from pilot customers has been encouraging as they experience significant efficiency gains from having their entire workflow digitalized in one place. The Freightos Enterprise Suite also creates natural synergies with our platform business as these multinational shippers often work with multiple logistics service providers already active on our marketplaces.
Moving to network effects, we continue to see strong cohort performance from both buyers and sellers on our platform. Looking at biodynamics, unique buyer users grew 10% year-over-year to 19,700, demonstrating the continued appeal of our platform. In addition, transactions per user grew approximately 8% compared to the previous quarter. Our cohort data further reinforces this trend. Once freight forwarders stopped using our platform, their booking volumes consistently grow over time with mature cohorts, reaching over 500% of their initial transaction volumes. Similarly, on the carrier side, we're seeing strong adoption patterns with cohorts of carriers steadily increasing their activity on the platform. Our carrier network expanded to 71 carriers this quarter, including new specialized cargo operators that enhance our coverage. This virtuous cycle of growing engagement from both buyers and sellers continues to strengthen our competitive position and drive sustainable growth.
To sum up, although Q1 is typically the seasonally weakest quarter, Q1 2025 demonstrated the continued strength of our business model and the resilience of our digital transformation in global freight. We delivered record revenue, record transactions, expanded our carrier network, and broadened our product offering with the launch of Freightos' Enterprise Suite just after the quarter. While macro uncertainties around tariffs and trade policies may affect global trade volumes, the vast majority of international freight services are still booked offline, representing a huge growth opportunity for our digital platform. These operational achievements were reflected in our financial results. Let me hand over to Pablo Pinillos, our CFO, to present these for the first time.
Thank you, Zvi. In the first quarter as CFO, I've had the opportunity to deep dive into our business model and operations, and I have been particularly impressed by the robust unit economics, the effectiveness of our go-to-market strategy, and the vast market potential of our platform. As digitalization becomes increasingly critical for efficient global trade, these strengths position us well for continued growth. I'm pleased to report that we met or exceeded our guidance across key metrics this quarter, and we are well positioned to continue executing on our plans for the rest of 2025. We generated revenue of $6.9 million, representing 30% growth year-on-year. This growth was driven by platform revenue of $2.3 million, up 23% year-on-year, and solutions revenue of $4.6 million, up 33% year-on-year. We saw strong contributions from enterprise procurement solutions added through the acquisition of Shipsta, SaaS solutions, and customer clearance services.
Our gross margin continued to improve, reaching 66.8% this quarter on an IFRS basis, up from 62.6% in Q1 last year. While our non-IFRS gross margin increases to 73.7% from 70.3% a year ago, demonstrating the scalability of our platform. Since I joined, I've made it a priority to continue the disciplined cost management the company had displayed, all while investing in strategic growth initiatives. As a result, adjusted EBITDA improved to negative $3.0 million from negative $3.6 million in Q1 last year, reflecting our revenue growth, gross margin expansion, and continued operational efficiency gains as we scale. We remain on track to achieve breakeven adjusted EBITDA by the end of 2026. We ended the quarter with $36.4 million in cash and cash equivalents, maintaining a strong balance sheet as we progress towards our profitability goals. Looking ahead for the second quarter of 2025, we expect 380,000 to 385,000 transactions, representing growth of 20% to 22% year-on-year and GBV of $278 million to $285 million, up 37% to 40% year-on-year.
Revenue is expected to reach $7.0 million to $7.1 million, representing growth of 23% to 25% year-on-year, and adjusted EBITDA is expected to be a loss of $2.8 million to $2.9 million. For the full year 2025, we are reiterating our previous guidance. While we recognize the evolving macro environment, including present trade policy change, potential freight rate volatility, and broader economic uncertainties, the resilience of our business model and our strong balance sheet position us well to navigate these dynamics while continuing to invest in growth opportunities. The fact that the vast majority of international freight is still being booked offline represents significant growth opportunities for our digital solutions, regardless of short-term trade policy fluctuations. With that, we will open the call to questions.
分析師問答
Okay. Thank you, Pablo. The first question will come from the line of Jason Helfstein.
You're clearly managing the business well over the past few quarters, especially regarding revenue given the volatility. You've pointed out that the China to U.S. segment is a relatively small part of your business, providing minimal exposure; you might benefit from that. However, looking at a broader perspective, what factors could potentially disrupt your performance? While you're a small player in a large market, you could theoretically compensate in other areas. Could you elaborate on what factors investors should be mindful of that might impact your ability to meet your targets for the year? I have a follow-up as well.
Jason, this is Zvi. Let's break down our two revenue segments: Platform and Solutions. In the short term, the platform is sensitive to trade fluctuations. If trade decreases in a specific area, we see a reduction in transactions there, though we may see an increase in another area. While there is significant potential for long-term growth, short-term market changes can pose challenges. For example, we experienced a drop in transactions during the period of high tariffs between China and the U.S. While this wasn't a major component of our business, it did have an impact. The platform's performance can be influenced by trade volumes, which can be a headwind when volumes decline. Conversely, if overall volumes decrease but customers seek alternatives, this could actually benefit our marketplace, as we may gain more business from those looking to pivot quickly. Solutions are also subject to macroeconomic conditions, much like any other business.
In the event of a trade war—though it seems unlikely now—economic uncertainty can make enterprises hesitant to make large investments. We slightly felt this in Q1, especially during the weeks affected by reciprocal tariffs, which increased customer nervousness. Fortunately, those tariffs have since eased, and we hope to avoid similar issues moving forward. However, any economic uncertainty or downturn remains a challenge for closing solutions revenue. This doesn’t alter the overall opportunity we have, but it does affect our ability to secure solutions revenue.
And then just maybe longer term, obviously, you have many companies thinking about diversifying their supply chain not showing down China, but obviously diversifying. Maybe just given the flexibility of what you offer, just talk about how that could be a tailwind for you?
Yes, I believe it is. I've mentioned this before; I don't take pleasure in benefiting from disruptions, but we do. Recently, there has been significant uncertainty in trade over the last three months, and the Suez Canal remains largely closed to most shipping. Although President Trump announced a deal, there was some hope it might reopen. Currently, companies are reconsidering their supply chain logistics; just a week ago, many were looking to shift from China to Vietnam, and now it appears some may be considering moving back to China. Overall, as a marketplace, we profit from volatility, and we offer valuable tools to manage those changes.
Okay. The next question will come from George Sutton.
I'm interested in the potential with Temu and Shein. How quickly do you believe that supply could become available on your platform? Of course, that was previously handled directly.
Yes, that's a great question, George. Shein and Temu primarily used charter planes for their shipments and did not utilize our platform in the same way; instead, they would charter entire planes and frequently filled them with just a couple of small envelopes until recently when the de minimis exemption was eliminated. To be honest, I expected to see a quicker response, but as I mentioned earlier, the air cargo rates from Asia to the U.S., according to our FAX index, haven't significantly decreased in the past few weeks. This would typically be a sign that capacity is shifting, even before we start seeing bookings on our platform. I'm currently trying to find out what is happening with these charter planes; I anticipated they would transition to standard air cargo, which would increase capacity, lower rates, and help us boost our volumes. However, I haven't observed that yet. It's only been two weeks, which is relatively short, so we are monitoring the situation and communicating with our network to gain insights on the status of those charter planes.
Got you. Could you walk through the revenue dynamic behind the new partnership? What will that do for you differently than your normal platform?
Sorry, which new partnership are you referring to? The trucking partnership? Yes, for brands. These developments, like anything in this industry, take time. While there will be significant immediate effects, the true impact will build over the coming months. We're excited about providing freight forwarders and eventually importers and exporters with a comprehensive service that covers door-to-door deliveries across all modes of transport. Currently, our largest platform is WebCargo by Freightos, focused solely on air cargo. For instance, customers are able to book shipments from Heathrow to JFK, which is a typical route. After booking, the freight forwarder often needs to figure out the last mile logistics outside our platform. There are also instances where they book domestic routes, like from Boston to LAX, and after checking air rates on our platform, they may decide to explore trucking options if they have more time.
With this new partnership, they will have access to trucking options, whether for last mile or what is referred to as middle mile, as well as air shipping from hub to hub or airport to airport all within the platform. Over time, this should draw in more customers, increase share of wallet, create stickiness, and provide a competitive edge. It aligns with our overall strategy to serve as a comprehensive solution for all kinds of transactions and every stage of the process.
Okay. That's it for me, a belated welcome to Pablo.
Thanks. I'll read a couple of questions from the chat. So the first one is, why does the guidance range imply potential acceleration in transaction growth for the remainder of the year, while the GBV outlook appears more conservative? The second question is, do you expect further M&A in 2025? Are there gaps in the platform you're looking to fill via acquisitions?
Okay. So regarding the first question, thanks for the questions. The first question, we're being more cautious on GBV because we don't know what's going to happen to prices. And there are reasons to think that the prices in the market could drop. It doesn't affect our revenue too much because a lot of our transactional revenue is sort of flat fee. So it doesn't affect our revenue too much. But we do think that although our transactions will continue to grow, we think in ocean, there could be a price drop, especially if the Red Sea reopens. I think there's another question coming on that. That would significantly drop prices. But also if there's a slight slowdown because of tariffs, and also because as we mentioned before on the air side, with the de minimis, we haven't seen it yet, but that could reduce air rates. So we're just being cautious with our outlook to GBV because it's completely out of our control; the rates for ocean and airfreight could drop.
Second question, do we expect further M&A? Probably not. You never know if some of the right opportunity comes up, but we've committed to preserve our cash to get to breakeven by the end of next year with the cash that we have. And the Shipsta acquisition, luckily, wasn't too expensive, and it's producing revenue and it's strategically important. So we did that one anyway. But now we're probably going to be cautious. So unless there's a very good opportunity, which isn't expensive or which we can finance. We're probably going to focus on organic growth and just for the way of being cautious with our cash balance.
Right. Zvi, you mentioned that there's a question on the Red Sea. I think you answered it in the previous question, but maybe it's worth sort of clarifying the point.
I want to clarify that there is a question about the impact of the Red Sea reopening. The Red Sea is not reopened. President Trump announced a deal with the Houthi Rebels, but it wasn't clear what the details were, only that it seemed to imply they wouldn't target American ships. In reality, the number of American container ships is nearly zero, depending on how you define that. I am not aware of any carriers that have returned to using the Red Sea and Suez route. Therefore, in practice, it has not reopened. Ships that were going around Africa continue to do so. If the Red Sea were to reopen, it would lower shipping rates. This would affect us somewhat, but we are not significantly impacted by rate changes. However, ocean rates could drop substantially if that supply becomes available. That said, we expected ocean rates to decrease significantly during the slowdown in U.S.-China trade when tariffs were temporarily lower, but we did not see as much of a drop as anticipated because ocean liners have become adept at reducing capacity by parking ships. Even if the Red Sea reopens, we could see a significant decline in rates, but it is also possible that carriers might adjust to maintain rates by limiting supply.
Okay. Last question, I believe, probably for Pablo. Why do we see a mismatch between GBV and revenue growth? Can we expect revenue to improve as a percentage of GBV?
Sure. So as Zvi mentioned before, a large portion of our transactional bookings is based on a flat fee. And our transactional bookings mix between flat fee and not flat fee, we try to evolve it over time. But that's the main reason why that mismatch is happening right now. As we evolve and scale, we will try to correct and continue to grow that.
The revenue that is related to gross booking value is primarily the platform revenue. When considering overall revenue, the solutions revenue has only a minor connection to gross booking value. The platform revenue is indeed linked to gross booking value, but as Pablo noted, it typically operates on a flat fee basis. This means it is more associated with the number of transactions.
Okay. And we actually do have another question. What constitutes the economic mode for freighters? Can other competitors intermediate freight with the digital platform sort of jump into the same business model? And is there any player in the market that can make a similar platform like Freightos?
Yes. The most significant advantage for a platform or marketplace is the network effect. This is something I highlight in my remarks every quarter. If you want to buy a secondhand dishwasher on eBay, the technology isn’t the reason you choose eBay; it’s because that’s where the sellers are. Similarly, if you want to sell your secondhand toaster, you go to eBay because that’s where the buyers are. Our network, consisting of customers, serves as our advantage, the network of buyers and sellers. That's why we provide updates every quarter not only on transaction numbers but also on how many carriers are selling and how many users are buying, giving you the tools to track how we are strengthening that advantage. Can others replicate it? We do face competition, especially for air bookings, which is our largest volume area. There are a few smaller companies in competition, but we hold a significant lead due to our advantage.
We benefit from network effects and offer more services; they focus only on air, while we provide air and ocean transportation, collaborating with freight forwarders as well as importers and exporters. This is crucial; it’s not just about having more buyers and sellers. Additionally, we’ve discussed our trucking partnerships, which add to our advantage. Buyers come to us not only for the variety of sellers but also for the ability to purchase air, ocean, and trucking services. The comprehensiveness of our platform and the large number of buyers and sellers create a substantial advantage. Many marketplaces thrive for decades or even centuries, like the New York Stock Exchange or the London Stock Exchange, which are incredibly defensible businesses. While others could establish an exchange, they often lack the necessary liquidity. We are in an exciting position, and I believe this will keep us as market leaders for many years to come.
Okay. So we have no more questions. We wish everyone a good day, and thank you.
Thanks, everyone. Thanks, Anat.
Thank you, everyone. Thanks, Anat.