Losses widen at Darktrace, but revenue upgrade buoys shares

The costs of going public in London helped increase cyber security firm Darktrace’s loss more than fivefold in the last year.

The company said that a pre-IPO restructuring of its ownership cost more than 107 million dollars (£77 million).

It was the main reason that pushed the firm to a 147.6 million dollar (£106.6 million) loss in the year to the end of June, from 26.9 million dollars (£19.4 million) a year before.

It also cost the company 15.3 million dollars (£11 million) to make sure its accounts are in order, to pay its lawyers and bankers, and other fees as part of the listing plan.

Yet looking past these one-off costs, the chief executive Poppy Gustafsson said that the company’s debut as a listed company was strong.

The company increased its expectations for the 2022 financial year, saying that June had been a particularly strong month, which had lasted into the early parts of the current financial year.

Shares rocketed more than 13% on the news.

“At our first full-year earnings, we are very pleased to report robust financial and operational performance, and strong growth, during the period,” Ms Gustafsson said.

“In this new era of cyber-threat, Darktrace is helping organisations from every industry sector, including providers of critical national infrastructure, to protect their digital assets, and avoid the serious disruption that cyber attacks can cause.

“As the adoption of self-learning AI accelerates globally, we are also excited to be continually pushing the boundaries of innovation, extending the reach of our AI technology to new applications and use cases.

“From our world-class R&D (research and development) centre in Cambridge, we are committed to delivering on a uniquely ambitious vision for the future of enterprise security.”

Revenue grew 41% to 281 million dollars (£202 million).

Darktrace expects revenue to grow by between 35% and 37%, during the current year, up from a previous 29% to 32% range.