Osirium signals return to pre-pandemic business acquisition levels

The AIM-traded firm raised £1m in a placing and subscription on 11 February, and said four of the new contracts were of a greater value than any deal signed in 2021.

As a result, the total value of bookings signed since the start of the year was ahead of the same time last year.

The board said it believed that represented a return to pre-Covid contract values, with organisations now picking up projects that were put on hold during the pandemic, and becoming more confident in their decision-making when looking to reinforce their IT security.

Following a record year for number of new customers signed in 2021, Osirium said its pipeline was “strong” into 2022, adding that it was seeing “particular opportunities” with NHS trusts - both for additional licences in line with its ‘land and expand’ strategy, and with new customers.

Osirium was also seeing “good prospects” in the higher education sector, alongside continued traction in commercial markets, such as retail and financial services.

“The trading we have seen so far in 2022 demonstrates a return to the bookings momentum we saw in the fourth quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2020, just prior to Covid-19 hitting, during which we were experiencing record booking levels,” said chief executive officer David Guyatt.

“We achieved a record number of customer wins in 2021, albeit with lower contract values, and I'm delighted to see we are now seeing a continuation of this rate of customer acquisition in tandem with a return to pre-pandemic average contract values.

“The addition of these new customers to our growing roster of over 100 customers provides us with a greater number of prospects to fuel our land-and-expand strategy, underpinned by ongoing product releases.”

At 1426 GMT, shares in Osirium Technologies were up 12.34% at 5.34p.