WiseTech shares surge to fresh high on minor upgrade to guidance

Home grown technology talent, WiseTech Global’s shares have hit record highs after the logistics software maker upgraded its full-year guidance.

WiseTech shares hit an all-time high of $12.55 in morning trading on the news and ended the session on Wednesday at $12.51.

Sydney-based WiseTech (WTC) has lifted its revenue range from $200-$210 million to $207-217m and maintained its EBITDA guidance for $71-75m.

It’s a modest uptick in guidance for WiseTech but enough to encourage investors to back the $3.5 billion local technology player. The company’s share price has more than doubled in the last 11 months, starting the year at $5.75.

“We are updating our FY18 revenue guidance to allow for additional organic growth and our recently announced acquisitions in the Netherlands and North America,” founder and CEO Richard White told shareholders in Wednesday at the company’s AGM.

Growth through acquisition has been a big feature of the logistics software maker’s growth strategy and Mr White said the trend was likely to continue.

“We will continue to buy more of these smaller, targeted, strategically valuable assets focused on customs vendors in non-English speaking countries particularly targeting those regions with significant manufactured trade flows.”

The company has made five acquisitions since June 30, including CMS Transport Systems, Digerati for tariffs, global ocean carrier solution provider Softship AG and two global rates management solutions vendors Cargoguide (for airfreight) and CargoSphere (for ocean freight).

Mr White told shareholders that the acquisitions allow WiseTech to build out its platform as an end-to-end logistics offering to the global market.

“Each new geography and adjacency we acquire, adds a valuable point on our strategic map, accelerating the network effects and making CargoWise One even more compelling to local and global logistics providers and their customers,” he said.

“We buy into market positions that would take years to build, and we then integrate the acquired industry and developer talent and customers over time to accelerate our organic growth.”

The company currently provides software solutions to more than 7,000 organisations, with 32 of the top 50 global third party logistics providers, as well as 23 of the 25 largest global freight forwarders worldwide on its books.

“With our very low customer attrition rate, our high recurring revenue and our on-demand licence model, our day-to-day business is stable and predictable,” Mr White told shareholders.

“There are no shortcuts, quick fixes or single events that change our growth dramatically, instead it is the continued diligent and focused execution of every growth lever and every improvement available to us.”