Submit. I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. AJ Smith, CEO. Please go ahead.
Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us to discuss TradeWindow's financial results for the year ended March 2025. Before we begin, please direct your attention to slide 2, which contains the important notice regarding this presentation. We will be presenting a series of slides that were released to the NZX this morning and are also available on TradeWindow's investor website. Moving to slide three, I'll start with an overview of our financial results and the strategic progress we have made. Deidre will provide more detailed information on the financials before I finish with our outlook. There will be then time for any questions. I'm now on slide 4. I'm pleased to report our results for the financial year ended 31 March 2025.
We successfully executed on our strategy, delivered growth, strong growth in revenue, and focused cost management, and this has cleared the path to financial sustainability. Trading revenue of NZD 8 million was up 3% on the prior year, at the upper end of our guidance, a record result both in terms of absolute value and year-on-year organic growth. We also delivered on our goal for EBITDA break-even at the end of the financial year. Our EBITDA loss for the full year was NZD 1.5 million, which is down 77% from the prior year, of NZD 6.6 million. Our net loss after tax was NZD 3.5 million, which is down from NZD 8 million in the prior financial year.
We ended the year with cash and cash equivalents at NZD 0.4 million, and our monthly average cash consumption reduced from NZD 0.5 million in FY2024 to NZD 0.2 million in FY2025, and we believe we have sufficient capital to maintain our current business operations. Now, moving to slide 5, I'd like to provide more detail on our performance. Revenue growth has been driven by two primary factors. Firstly, the acquisition of new customers in Australia, and secondly, strong cross-selling of additional solutions to our existing client base. These strategies have led to robust average revenue per customer figures, with our shipper segment increasing 21% to NZD 2,066 per month, and our freight forwarder segment rising by 43% to NZD 914 per month. Annual Recurring Revenue reached NZD 8.7 million, which represents 37% year-on-year growth.
As it's typical for our business model, annual recurring revenue runs ahead of trading revenue, and it reflects anticipated growth from these newly acquired customers, calculated by annualizing the revenues as at 31 March 2025. Improvements to our processes and the sales mix lifted our blended gross margin by 7% to 61%. We continue to win new customers in both the shipper and the freight forwarder segments, with most of the growth coming from Australia, while our customer retention rate for recurring revenue streams has adjusted from 93% to 87%. This change actually reflects a focus on our higher quality customer relationships. The reduction mainly affected only the smaller customers, who were not an ideal fit for our software solutions. Retention among our largest customers remained strong, reinforcing our commitment to high-margin relationships with proven stickiness.
We have already implemented targeted product enhancements to strengthen our value proposition, focusing on the most profitable customer segments and positioning us for sustainable growth and increased shareholder value. Now, moving to slide six, our record results were achieved against a backdrop of a very dynamic macroeconomic environment, one shaped by the shifting consumer demand for online shopping, the rapid rise of AI, and ongoing U.S. trade tensions and evolving regulations. We're finding that two of our products, which are Freight and Prodoc, are particularly well-positioned to support our cornerstone customers in the current climate. TradeWindow Tariff provides users with up-to-date tariff information drawn from multiple government agencies and regulatory bodies to accurately guide decision-making. TradeWindow Tariff is particularly relevant for high-volume freight forwarders requiring certainty of the tariff rates applicable to an item.
It helps avoid making mistakes, which could result in reputational damage, also costly delays and penalties, where TradeWindow Origin helps businesses attain certificates of origin around the clock, with access to favorable duty rates available under free trade agreements. We believe that the current market environment provides an opportunity for TradeWindow to expand into new markets. A world where the U.S. government negotiates more bilateral free trade agreements expands our total addressable market. Most free trade agreements require certificates of origin to access preferential duty rates and expedited customer customs clearance. Precisely the documentation challenges our solutions excel at managing. As new freight trade agreements are established, businesses face increased complexity in trade compliance requirements, creating demand for our solutions.
We are actively exploring strategic market entry opportunities in the region that are affected by changing trade relationships, but also provide a hedge against the downturn in New Zealand and Australia. Our focus is on high-income, high-middle-income trade-dependent countries with sophisticated supply chains, well-developed logistics infrastructure, and strict trade regulations. I'm now moving to slide 7. Our 2025-2026 product development roadmap is focused on developing the next generation of our software solutions. It will be an AI-enabled freight operating system designed to seamlessly integrate with modern platforms and legacy systems used by ocean carriers, terminal operations, and government agencies. TradeWindow Cube will also benefit from the AI enhancements in order to be scaled globally. This new innovative platform aimed at freight forwarders and customs brokers worldwide positions us to lead the industry's digital transformation.
This focus should be of no surprise as it comes off our average revenue per customer growth of 43%, with more opportunities unfolding. We believe the freight forwarder segment has strong demand for AI-enhanced software, while the launch of such a product can provide a competitive advantage against the large incumbents, including WiseTech and e2open, to name a few. Even in the current financial year, we have accelerated in each of our products by working more efficiently with our tech resources and incorporating more AI development tools within our development resources. Our nimble but agile approach allows us to rebuild and innovate swiftly, unencumbered by the heavy operational footprint of legacy systems of large multinationals, giving us a competitive edge and refining redefining trade technology. I'm now moving to slide 8. Our expansion into Australia is delivering strong results, with 67% of our new revenue growth originating from this market.
Australia has enabled TradeWindow to establish relationships with several leading multinational brands. We look to bring more of these high-quality customers over the next coming year. I'm now moving to slide 9. Our revenue is well diversified across both industries and customers, which helps to mitigate company and sector-specific risks. TradeWindow's low customer concentration at just 5.5% has been a key in delivering consistent quarter-on-quarter revenue growth. As earlier mentioned, we're also exploring entry into new markets to further reduce the business risk. Now, moving to slide 10, I have a high degree of confidence in our revenue forecast, with 90% of our revenue being recurring. Our business is underpinned by customers who are the cornerstone of the economy. Our transactional revenue is highly predictable as the majority of the customers produce consumer staples with consistent global demand, largely unaffected by short-term fluctuations in the macroeconomic environment.
We expect this revenue composition to remain stable for the foreseeable future. Now, slide 11. Slide 11 outlines our dual business model tailored to the needs of the two main customer segments, which are shippers and freight forwarders. For shippers, we use an on-demand model where the transactional fees are calculated per set of shipping documents created or shared. The approach allows shippers to align their costs with seasonal revenues, shippers pay a one-time onboarding fee and then a monthly subscription to access the platform, and then a fee for each shipment processed. For freight forwarders, we operate a subscription-based model. Monthly fees are charged based on the number of users and the number of modules each customer uses, reflecting the breadth of the complexity of their operations. For certain modules, like the e-commerce or Origin, we also offer an on-demand option where the fees are charged per transaction.
This flexible approach ensures our pricing matches the unique requirements and business cycles of each of the customer segments. Now, moving to slide fourteen and the specifics of our financial outlook. Our compound annual growth rate since the start of commercialization in January 2020 has increased by 14 percentage points over the prior year to achieve 118% as of 31 March 2025. We expect the momentum for FY25 to continue in the current financial year. We forecast trading revenue in the range of NZD 10 million-NZD 11 million, which represents between 25% and 37.5% year-on-year growth. We anticipate growth coming from a combination of cross-selling existing solutions to our customers and winning new customers in Australia, where it's still a sizable opportunity. We are working to expand our capacity and accelerate our organic growth.
As I mentioned, we achieved our EBITDA break-even in March 2025, and we continue to benefit from the rationalized cost base, which includes reduced headcount, hybrid working, and offshore innovation and development. I will now hand over to Deidre to take us through the financial slides.
Thank you, AJ. On slide fifteen, we're looking at our overall financial performance. AJ has already covered a few of these higher-level points, so just a couple of notes from me here. The key point to note is the extent to which we have taken cost out of the business. Employee costs are down 27%, while other expenses are down 31%. As a consequence, we have seen a marked 77% reduction in EBITDA loss, down to NZD 1.5 million. On to slide 16. AJ has already covered the composition of revenue growth in detail, so I'll not dwell on that here.
You can see that the recurring transactional and subscription revenue has been relatively stable as a proportion of trading revenue and represents 94% of total. We are very pleased with the rate of growth, a 44% growth in transactional revenue and a 17% growth in subscription revenue. Other income was down. This reflects the lower R&D grants as we reduced our innovation activity to preserve capital. Australia leads revenue growth across the Freight suite and Origin products, while New Zealand still provided solid opportunities. We are now on slide seventeen. Total customers increased to 554 from 513 in FY2024, with Freight customers leading the increase, up 8%, with our Tariff tool resonating with our customers in Australia. Shipper customers saw a small decline of low-value accounts.
We increased monthly average revenue per customer for Freight up 43%, and this continues to reflect customers taking up more services and the focus on higher-quality customers. We managed to effectively pass on cost inflations in both segments. Slide 18 provides details on our operating expenses, in particular staff numbers and costs. I've also, sorry, I've already discussed employment costs. The only thing I'd like to add is that we have expanded our team in the Philippines. It is continuing to provide a channel of talent, including software development and customer support, and we're very pleased with its performance and its effectiveness. Other costs were also down, and we avoided the one-off costs in the prior year. Just a reminder that no R&D costs were capitalized to our balance sheet in this period. Slide 19 shows our balance sheet.
Current assets have increased largely due to increases or increased trading receivables. This is a direct reflection of the growth in our trading revenue. Total equity is down, reflecting the accumulated losses. On slide twenty, we're looking at cash flow. Net operating cash flow reduced significantly. In the second half of the year, average monthly cash burn was NZD 73,000, compared to NZD 350,000 in the same period of the prior year. We ended the year with cash and cash equivalents of just under NZD 400,000. As AJ highlighted earlier, we expect this capital will be sufficient to maintain our current business operations. I would now like to hand back to AJ to take you through the outlook.
Thanks, Deidre. I'm now on slide 21. We are well positioned to help our customers navigate the growing complexities of international trade.
As new trade agreements come into effect, our total addressable market will expand, creating more opportunities for TradeWindow Solutions. We're at a pivotal moment in the adoption of AI. We anticipate that shippers and freight forwarders will increasingly seek to automate repetitive manual processes within their operations. For both groups, adopting AI will be driven by the need to reduce costs and maintain a competitive edge in the market. For FY2026, we expect our revenue to be between NZD 10 million and NZD 11 million, and we are on track to be at EBITDA break-even in, for FY2026. Finally, we're making solid progress towards becoming a rule of [40] company. Balancing strong revenue growth, with profitability to create lasting value for our shareholders. We would now be delighted to take some questions if there's any, and I will now hand back to the moderator.
Thank you.
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There are no questions. Sorry. Perfect. Thank you. Should there be any questions.
Thank you, Richard. Should there be any questions, please reach out to our team. We're happy to answer any of those questions in future. We look also forward to providing further updates.
Our first quarter trading will now be in July. Thank you so much, and I appreciate your attendance today.
That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.