White Pearl Tech Grp B

Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you to everyone for joining this morning or this afternoon. Apologies. So welcome to the White Pearl Technology Group investor briefing. This is for our H1 results. So I'm just going to pull up. Sorry, I just want to admit a guest, if that's OK. There we go. Okay, fantastic. I'm just going to pull up the presentation.

Okay, fantastic.

So, yeah, as mentioned, today is the H1 investor briefing. My name is Stephen Thorne. I'll be the host for today. We'll start with the White Pearl results. Ebrahim and Vikas will take us through the results. Then we'll have the presentation and then we'll have questions. Then we'll go on to Matthias to give us the same from an AXIA perspective and then questions after that. So that's the format of today's presentation. So with that being said, Ebrahim, could we perhaps start with yourself?

Great. Thank you. Thank you, everybody, for joining us. And yeah, we appreciate your presence. What I'm going to briefly do, and Vikas will join me in that, is discuss a little bit about the strategy, but then also start talking about the results and then specific elements of the results. So from our perspective, like we've said over the last couple of months, WBTG is now an AI-first technology platform. We've been building various elements in the group over the last while, culminating in the acquisition of Aiexia, but not only Aiexia. I think that there's been a lot that's been built over the last while. And I mean, we're starting to see that coming through in our results. We're seeing our margins improve as we drive this AI first world into the future. So a bit about Whitebill today. We are a profitable listed technology group. I think looking at the markets we're listed in, we remain one of the few profitable companies. We've been profitable for many years now and I think we're very proud of that. Our focus is digital transformation and IT services. And we do a whole lot of other things related to that as well. What we're seeing is our recurring revenue and our IP sales revenue is increasing. The platform layer is really where the strategic shift has been happening over the last six months, where we've now migrated to an AI-first platform view. and really the institutionalization and governance in the group as a whole has improved significantly as we scale the company. I think there's also been a huge focus on productization of the solutions that we have as well as then moving the business model from normal revenue project revenue towards recurring revenue. What does the future state look for White Pearl? It's very much an AI-first technology platform, as we've said, where now we have the focus on infrastructure, on our own operating system in AI IQ, which has come through the IEXIA acquisition, and then the various applications that we've been building in White Pearl and in IEXIA and some of our other group companies, which are now already at the industrial level and being sold. I think the world of IT is currently going through a very interesting dynamic in that large companies, small companies like ourselves as well, are trying to foresee what the world of IT sales and services looks like in the future. And I think this, what we're presenting to you is our view. The ultimate model may not be exactly the same because AI is changing so rapidly, but we think this will be profitable for our investors, our shareholders, as well as their Allowing us to be able to sell these solutions properly to the client. Inherent to what we're building is what we're calling the WPTG AI Factory. And I mean, this is our offering, our interpretation of how we think AI will be consumed at an industrial, at an enterprise level. And I mean, the customers that we've traditionally worked with, which is basically large enterprise customers, will consume AI. So just very quickly, the six components of that is strategy and advisory, helping the customer understand what they require from an AI perspective, the data foundation layer, the AI infrastructure layer, like I was saying, which comprises the operating system like IQ. as well as then the MLOps in terms of running these solutions in the system and on top of that you would have applications which allow you to now carry out core business functions using AI. Now, if you have to look at this, ultimately, as WhitePill, we are now ready. We have all of these blocks in place. We're already selling it productively in many of our customers. And I think this is the AI-first transformation which is happening. Does that affect what we're currently doing or historically have done in the business? Absolutely. It's the way we sell it. WhitePill is not a roll-up. I mean, ultimately, it's a platform company and you can see why, because each of our components work together. We'll see, I mean, Matthias will talk today about the plans of expansion in Aiexia and some of our AI businesses globally as well. Thank you, Steve. So with that as a background to the company and strategy, a little bit around the performance in H1. I mean, we're very proud of the H1 performance. I know the markets maybe not reacted specifically in a way, but we'll discuss that. So in terms of some of the comments, and I think between Vikas and myself today, we'll give you some context around some of the balance sheet items as well that have been presented. We believe, like I said, that the performance is strong, and I mean specifically revenue is up 30.6%, so it's sitting now over 300 million sec for the half year. EBITDA is up 44.5% at 53.6 million, and then net profit is a very healthy 47.8%. I think three probably items we want to touch upon in this presentation is the trade receivables and cash conversion. Secondly, the intangibles and the platform investment, which I know we've seen some questions around as well. We've received some questions. And then lastly, around liquidity, payables, and then some of the acquisition effects. I want to say upfront that this has been a very intense half year in terms of investment. A lot of the feedback we've received in the past is to say Whitebill needs to be more Swedish, more Swedish. Well, our calculations are now that I mean, Whitebill's revenue on an annualized basis is more than 50% coming out of Europe and specifically Sweden and the Nordics. So I mean, we're very, very happy and very, very proud about that. Okay, go to the next slide, please, Steve. So maybe I'll start with looking at the trade receivables as well as then just looking at that. Now, when we have to look at the number, we see that our trade and other receivables 146.4 million, which is about 48% of the H1 revenue. When we look back at the last two years, you'll see that last year it was around 44% and the previous year it was 62.3%. So I think generally businesses in Sweden as well, as well as then globally and Whitebill itself, normally has a bit of a slower June collection period and then it picks up through the years culminating into December. So whereas the number has increased, the second thing I want to add is that 24 million of new receivables came in from the Swedish entities that were acquired during H1. So we don't see any risk with those receivables, but if you have to take that 24 million out, you'll see that it compares very favorably with the numbers from last year. So whereas, yes, receivables have increased, and I mean, it's something which we work on all the time, it's very, very important for us to track the DSO as well, we believe on a year-to-year basis that, I mean, DSO has improved, and I mean, what we're seeing now is the normal annual variation in terms of collections. Okay, next slide. Vikas, you can talk about this one.

Thank you. Thank you, Brian. Like you, Brian was explaining the trade receivable part. I mean, we have to understand that most of our revenue is we are not a retail business. The revenue comes from large customers, government entities and their milestone based revenues. These revenues basically get approved, quality assured and then basically paid by the client. 47.8% of EBITDA, sorry 47.8% of net income that we achieved this year but it has been consumed into working capital that is, I mean the trade receivable gap from the year end Aboobaker Laher, Ismail Ottam and Jufo Collection. And that is where we count our DSOs. Other receivables is the amount that we have finished. It's been approved, but not yet invoiced due to timing, from a timing perspective. and inventory and work in progress. Inventory is basically some of the material that lies in inventory from our infrastructure segment and work in progress is basically the amount that we have finished at the customer but not invoiced okay and that is basically just the costing part of it so we've been conservative in our approach in terms of revenue recognition and a lot of work is still under under development that is not even invoiced that is not even recognized in the in the in the in the revenue so that is that uh uh like i was saying this is the timing uh uh the the collections are timing uh are time dependent I think I was analyzing the receivables. I think we have collected already, Ibrahim, about 30-odd percent of the receivables between 1st July till 18th of August. So over 30% has been collected already. The majority part of it will be collected over the next couple of weeks. So this is a cyclical thing that happens every year. H1 is, second quarter specifically is difficult because of holidays, because of media movements in the businesses. So yeah, next slide please, Steve.

Okay, I mean, around the intangibles, right? I mean, some questions around what we're doing with intangibles, and I think we want to state upfront that I mean, our accounting of it is, I mean, very, very conservative, right? Yes, in terms of goodwill, which has come through the acquisitions we've done, like we said, it's been an unnaturally highly investment quarter, investment half with regards to new acquisitions, and hence that has happened. With regards to capitalise, there was an additional 29.5 million that's been capitalised, which we'll explain now in the next slide, resulting in the total of 177. I think that what this reflects is really our platform building strategy. We've invested in new companies, we've brought a lot of new AI as well as Swedish businesses on board. And I think also we've been investing in our platform through our own IP and our own solutions, which already are getting to the point at which they are productive. I mean, majority of the capitalization, I think all of it, Vikas, if I'm not wrong, is due to Eutalon and Nexus, two of our products. I mean, we'll basically explain in the next slide. Go to the next slide, please, Steve. So a bit about the products that we have, right? So I think the two specific products that we focused on in the last year in terms of building is Utalon and Nexus. Now, Utalon is a product that we've developed for municipalities specifically around credit management, as well as elements in terms of collections with regards to Meta Management, Meta Readings, etc., Customer Interaction. And I mean really ultimately what it does is that it's a very smart piece of software which I mean allows utilities and municipalities to basically recover outstanding monies owed for services. I think the status is that 30 June is that the product is now built. It is now ready to go live. We are in very detailed and late discussions around selling it to a number of municipalities in Africa. We are awaiting client awards with regards to that and I mean we believe that we should be able to announce something touch wood in the next 30 days. I think Utilon is an amazing ability to grow into a municipal space AI application. We're moving towards a world of best in breed. The days of SAP, etc, being able to dominate Oracle, being able to dominate the space is now, I believe, past. It's best in breed products that have been built bottom up on an AI platform like we've done with Utilon is the way to go. So I mean, definitely, I would expect that in the next quarter that it would be productive, we will start seeing some amortization costs coming through on this product, as well as then hopefully new versions of the product start appearing into the future. Nexus is for us our proprietary AI platform. We've got a family of products in there from CRM to legal to compliance to learning management, university delivery, project management, etc. It's really our Our version of ERP built on an AI platform. Certain elements, certain modules of the product are still in build. But I mean, there are certain modules that are ready and are also being deployed. And I mean, we're expecting some of that to be deployed in Q3 as well. So, I mean, we believe that these products will add significant revenue, margin, quality of earnings, as well as an improvement in our EBITDA levels to the group. We are in already very late stage selling of these products, but these products will then continue being developed into the future. So from a pure balance sheet perspective, I do expect that amortization costs will start coming through in Q3, but I do expect that to be I think we're very, very proud about what we've achieved, what we continue to achieve. If there's any investors that would like to see a demo of these products or get to understand more about these products, we are available. And please, you can basically write through to ir at whiteballtech.com. and I mean we'll be in touch with you with regards to that. So that's on the platforms and the AI and the capitalization. Next slide please Steve. Yeah, I mean, for us, AI is already earning, right? Separately from the capitalized platforms, we're already making money in AI. Hence, our EBITDA margins have already improved in the group. And I mean, we expect to see more. We've got some really exciting suites of products. We've bought some other products as well, like Serve IT, which will now undergo an AI redevelopment to be able to then Thank you very much. The AI work that I'm currently doing across the group. Next slide please, Steve. I think it's yours, Vikas.

Right. Look, I mean, I think we already touched upon this. Cash equivalents stood at 47.2. Now, I explained about trade receivables and other receivables. That was a slide that we touched upon. Other financial liabilities of 92.8% is largely split between three categories. One is the loan from Fania, which is almost about 50 million. There are other loans from banking and other financial institutions that are basically covering the remaining part of it. I think the biggest takeaway from this slide is that the equity has grown and is continuing to grow substantially because of the margin profile, because of the profits that we've been generating year on year. What this shows to All the acquisitions that have happened, the integration work, the cross-sell work, it's all accretive in nature. And if you look at even payables and deferred purchase consideration, they've also gone up in value. So this shows that this is all cyclical as we collect, we pay and we try and manage the treasury in a way that basically suits our business mandate rather than what goes into payments etc. From our perspective, I think the business is well capitalized. There are enough. We've been receiving, now that we have started receiving monthly dividends from all the subsidiaries, we are focusing upon repatriation now. That treasury must sit centrally with the parent company. And there's been a lot of integration work that has gone into finance, accounting, realigning the thoughts of the leaders in the business. The largest objective is basically to align and create the platform that we've been telling that this is a platform. It's not a culmination of separate businesses. We try and Bring different minds, different capabilities together and convert it into something bigger and something more robust. And this is what I think the numbers are talking basically. I think I should talk less, let the numbers talk more.

So, I mean, look, I think one of the questions I think I received over the weekend was, I mean, I think from an investment analyst asking, it looks like White Bull is dependent on external funding to do acquisitions because we're using shares. I think what needs to be understood by I think all of us is that WhiteBull hasn't raised a lot of money from the outside. A lot of it has been generated internally. Yes, we've got a Fenya loan and I think it's the founder loan that Vikas was saying. But ultimately this entire group and this entire business has been built with that together then with what's been retained profits and I mean the profits we've been generating. I don't know what the value of this of this platform is but I can tell you it's not the market cap right just in terms of the of the sum of the parts and more than that we're also growing organically I think Vikas showed the fact that I mean more money is being is being spent on I mean working progress has been consumed by accounts receivable etc so on the one end we are growing with our own cash organically and on the other side we have to then be in the situation where unfortunately we have to use shares etc because it's it's really for us a chicken and egg thing do we wait until the share price goes up in the future or do we then now take the opportunity of becoming an ai company whatever our approach has been to i mean partner with these businesses that are coming on board like ixia like serve it like bravissimo etc make them part of the white ball family and us to collectively grow together So I think I just want to make it clear that ultimately, like everything in business, it's about managing risk. And it's about managing the situation with regards to what presents itself. And it's about making these sort of decisions around growing the platform.

Next slide, please, Steve.

OK, that's it.

I don't know if there's any questions from anybody.

I don't know, Stephen.

Let me just see if there's anyone to put any questions in the chat. There we go. Our good friend, Sergey. Thank you. Good afternoon. Can you provide some kind of guidance on future annual spending on investment in intangibles or capitalized development? Investment amount is a crucial parameter for determining company value, and we have very little visibility of it going forward.

I think that we knew that there was going to be once-off investment in the platform to be able to get to a point where it starts becoming usable and being able to be deployed to customers. So I would suspect as a guideline, Sergey, that Potentially the two would even out in terms of what would be spent on, I mean, maintaining or developing new versions of the platform as opposed to then what's being amortized. So I personally, Vikas, I don't expect a net spend on the intangibles going forward. Rather, I see it remaining flat for a period of time and then coming down as the platform becomes more and more mature.

Correct. Look, I mean, you're right. And, you know, there may be some development, Ibrahim, like we all understand clients keep demanding market, keep demanding new versions of the platform. So there will be some developments that will continue to happen, you know, in terms of improving the product from from point A to point B. So that might continue as in when the market demands. But from a strategic perspective, like you're right, I mean, we don't expect any big spending unless there is a compelling case for us to level up the offerings, basically.

Absolutely. I mean, we don't see capitalization being used to try to increase profits and pay for profits. Not at all. It's not going to happen.

Great. Then the next question. Higher valuation or market cap equals acquisition power, but the market cap is being diminished with share dilution at a low valuation. Would it not be better to focus now on integration of the current acquisitions, organic growth, improvement to cash flow, for example, reduction of DSO, and wait with further acquisitions until the cash and acquisition power is there? I know you touched upon this a bit just now, but would like to understand the risk assessment here better. Why not wait a bit now after this heavy half year of acquisitions?

Absolutely spot on. That's exactly our strategy. We had to do the IXEA deal because there was an opportunity to do the IXEA deal and IXEA completes what we have in place. Our stated strategy now is to integrate, is to integrate deeply, is to basically get, like you say, our cash balances up, get the share price up. I think for this phase of investment we are absolutely I would say done unless some amazing opportunity again comes along which I mean we don't see at this point I think ultimately our focus is very much I think you've Mr. Investor, you've basically summarized our strategy spot on. It's now going to be about integrating. It's going to be about unlocking value with IEXIA, all the various amazing acquisitions that we've done, all the products we have. It's about going deeper already. Our operations teams are doing that. And I mean, yeah, after this heavy half year of acquisitions and investments, it's now about integration. So I think spot on.

Fantastic. Thank you. Then a follow on from Sergei's first question, which was regards to the guidance on intangibles of capitalized development. Sergei asked, thank you. Can you provide breakdown between organic and inorganic EBITDA growth in H126? Yeah.

Look, I mean, if I compare H1 2025 and H1 2026, I would say almost 85% EBITDA has come from organic means and about 15% has come from, I would say less than 15% has come from acquisitions because most of the acquisitions were integrated during the second quarter. So the impact of acquisitions on EBITDA and on revenue is very minimalist. So 85% of the EBITDA is from organic mode.

Fantastic. Thanks, Vikas. OK, I don't see any more questions in the chat. Sorry. Thanks, Sergey. Sergey says, thanks, but in terms of growth year on year?

OK. So from organic perspective we would say almost 24 to 25 percent or in fact in fact sorry Yeah, about 25% comes from organic means.

Okay. Thanks, that's helpful, says Sergey, so thank you for that. Okay, are there any other questions for Ibrahim or Vikas at this point? Okay, fantastic. Jorgen's got his hand up. Jorgen, please go ahead.

I'd just like to ask, Ebrahim, if you're going to visit Sweden at some point in the future. Yes.

I come regularly. I think my next visit is planned for mid to end of September.

So yeah, I mean, we'll... Will there be an opportunity to have a meeting face to face to ask?

It would be very nice to be able to talk to you directly. Absolutely, I'm in Jorgen. Stephen, let's just keep Jorgen's email address in that and we'll drop you a mail and you can come through to our office if you're Stockholm based and we can meet you there, no problem.

But I mean a regular meeting, information meeting would also be inviting all share owners in Sweden, at least in Stockholm. Yes, sounds great, wonderful.

Thank you. Thanks, Jorgen. I'll keep note of your email address and we'll let you know. But I think it's not a bad idea, Ebrahim, just to maybe have a, doesn't have to be, you know, but once or twice a year, maybe have a little get together.

We've had a couple of it already. I mean, I think last year we had, we had, we had two meetings in Sweden. And I mean, yeah, I mean, so, so definitely it's, it's absolutely wonderful. And I mean, we're also available to, I mean, meet anywhere in the world via video, whatever. It's, it's wonderful for us to talk to our investors. It's great.

Thank you. Thanks, Jorgen. Much appreciate that. Okay, I don't see any more hands. There will still potentially be some time towards the end, maybe after Matthias if there's a burning question that wasn't answered. But with that, I'd like to hand over to Matthias.

Ah, there we go. Yeah, thank you, Stephen. Yeah, I would just take the opportunity to speak about we are actually both feet on the starting line right now in White Pearl. And after this quite long accepting period, it's going to be really awesome to dig in and start to work together with the guys and the teams in White Pearl. So what we see is the low hanging fruit for our perspective is that starting to see the synergies between the platform of global customers that already in White Pearl and we'll see what we can do with that and also see what we can do with the other companies in the White Pearl family so to speak. So one of the action we're going to take right now and I already started is we're going to grow Aixia to Johannesburg and that's already started and we're also looking at Dubai and Singapore for that we can offer in Aixia. And what we see in a global perspective that all the changes we have around AI and digital innovation in almost every industries that we can put some knowledge and offer our solutions that now gonna be available for the whole global market, so to speak. So I think that's a huge opportunity for both AXIA and the whole White Pearl organization, so to speak. So we are eager to start to work together and develop and increase our common solutions and businesses. Do you have any questions from any shareholders in XF Perspective?

Thanks, Matthias. I think, yeah, as I said, very exciting and also very encouraging, I think, for those Aiaxia shareholders that hopefully know they made the right decision. Well, we certainly do, so that's great.

Okay, so with that all being said... Stephen, I just want to maybe address another question that I've basically received via email, I think, from one of our shareholders. And I think really raising the question around the fact that the share price has obviously been quite disappointing given the extent of which the results and I think some of the other activities have shown. And I mean potentially what are some of the options that I mean the group would look at going forward in terms of ensuring that shareholders receive appropriate value? So I think, I mean, for me, the first principle is that we're very, very committed to the people that have put their funds, their money into white people. And I mean, trust in the company. So I think we're extremely committed to all of you and very thankful and humbled by it. Absolutely, given what we've done with regards to corporate governance in terms of the new auditors, etc. We know that we need to get more institutional or more professional investors into the group. Fundamentally, at the moment, the White Bull share, we've got over 8,000 shareholders, but I think most of it seems to be retail kind of investors. So some of the plans that I mean we would obviously be looking at considering would be potentially uplisting the company on bosses in Sweden. Potentially looking at maybe a dual listing and I mean other geographies that could bring in more interest in the company, more interest in the share. And I mean just being able to I think create a better profile for the business, right? And I mean for the current investors. I think corporate governance enhancement is a process which is ongoing. A lot of work is being done both in Sweden and globally to ensure that and to drive that. And I mean, that's also continuing. So I think I just want to bring forward the point to shareholders and to the investment community that we take the concerns addressed by some of you. Obviously, the share price doesn't dictate how we run the company all the time and what we What we do on a day-to-day basis. But being able to return the right value to our shareholders for the company is absolutely there. I think today I was having a discussion that at the current levels, the company is almost trading at extremely low PE values. So we have to continue delivering to our customers and then ultimately the results. But I think just to maybe make the point, Stephen, that I mean there are other avenues and I think other discussions which will also be explored accordingly. Absolutely, absolutely.

Fantastic. Thanks, Ibrahim.

Okay, so not to drag it out, in the light of there being no further questions, I'd like to thank our speakers, Ibrahim, Vikas, Matthias, for giving your perspective. It's highly appreciated. And then again, just lastly to all of you on the call, We appreciate your involvement. We appreciate your support. We've got a number of frequent flyers, so to speak, on these calls. And it's always nice to see familiar faces and names. So thank you again for your support in our organization. As Ibrahim mentioned earlier, if you'd like to reach out, if you'd like a demonstration on any of our products, Please reach out at ir at wapotech.com and we will be in touch with regards to further events, discussions, etc. So again, thank you everybody. Thank you for your time and we will see you next quarter.

Thank you.