23 January 2025
Kooth plc
("Kooth" or the
"Group" or the "Company")
Trading update, Board changes
and succession planning
Kooth, a global leader in youth digital mental
well-being, announces a trading update for the financial year ended
31 December 2024, along with changes to its Board of Directors (the
"Board") and succession planning for its executive leadership
team.
Trading
update
2024 revenues are anticipated to be in line
with consensus market expectations of £65.8m (2023: £33.3m).
Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be at or ahead of the top of the
range of analyst forecasts of £12.7m (2023: £2.3m), helped by
certain items which are not expected to recur in the current year.
The Company has grown its unaudited cash position to £21.5m during
2024, from £11.0m as at 31 December 2023 and maintains an undrawn
working capital facility of $9.5m.
As announced in December 2024, Kooth has agreed
terms for a new pilot contract with the State of New Jersey valued
at $1.45m. Under the terms of the Contract, Kooth is providing
mental health support via its Soluna platform to school districts
within New Jersey, reaching 50,000 students aged 13 to 18. This
pilot went live on 7 January. The Company continues to
hold negotiations, which are expected to be concluded in Q1,
regarding a second pilot contract in the US.
Kooth is expanding its mental health services
and provisions to young people in California. Soluna, the Company's
platform offering free access to one-to-one professional support,
self-guided tools, content, activities and peer support communities
moderated by trained behavioural health professionals, continues to
demonstrate its impact, with 95% of those who engage with coaching
saying that they would recommend Soluna to a friend. Soluna is also
demonstrating meaningful clinical benefits, with 70% of those
accessing single-session therapy reporting positive
outcomes.
Kooth remains NHS England's largest single
access provider for mental health support for under 18s. Trading is
in line with expectations with the renewal of longer term contracts
with NHS trusts and local authorities, including in Cornwall and
the Isle of Man.
The Company is in the process of executing a
share buyback of up to £1.5m to increase the number of shares held
in treasury for use in meeting future obligations arising from its
long-term incentive plan and/or other share-based reward
plans.
Board changes
& succession planning
Kooth's CEO, Tim Barker, has informed the Board
of his intention to seek a new executive role during 2025. Tim will
therefore step down as CEO and from the Board at the conclusion of
the 2025 Annual General Meeting, which is likely to be held in
June. Kate Newhouse will succeed Tim as CEO at that point. In the
intervening period, in order to ensure a smooth transition, Kate
and Tim will serve as joint CEOs.
Tim joined Kooth as CEO in January 2020. During
his tenure he has overseen the successful IPO of the business, the
reinforcement of our position as the UK's leading provider of
digital mental health support for children and young people, growth
in our service for UK adults and multiple significant contract wins
in the US, including the transformational California partnership.
These developments have in turn driven considerable growth in
revenue, Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR), profitability and
headcount.
Kate joined Kooth as Chief Operating Officer in
May 2020 having previously been CEO of Blenheim Chalcot and Doctor
Care Anywhere. Kate has played a pivotal role in the growth of the
business since her appointment, creating, reshaping or transforming
a number of teams within the business in the process. Kate has led
several initiatives that have increased Kooth's industry profile,
and is well-known to opinion-leaders in mental health and digital
healthcare on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Company's Full Year Results will be
announced in March 2025.
Peter Whiting,
Chair of Kooth, said:
"On behalf of the Board I'd like to thank Tim
for his commitment and drive over the last five years, which have
left Kooth significantly stronger than when he took on the role of
CEO in 2020. His focus in particular on expanding Kooth in the US
has transformed the business, both financially and culturally. I
look forward to working with Kate to continue this growth and help
cement Kooth as the global leader in digital mental
well-being."
Tim Barker,
Joint Chief Executive Officer of Kooth, said:
"Kooth has made solid progress throughout 2024,
continuing to deliver vital mental health services across the US
and UK. We've continued to prioritise business development and have
expanded our presence across the US via new
partnerships.
"Our strong cash position will provide a solid
foundation to continue the Company's growth trajectory throughout
2025, providing more people with mental health support in their
moment of need. With this in mind, I believe now is the right time
to hand over the reins and I look forward to working with Kate over
the coming months."
This announcement contains inside
information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No
596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. The person responsible for
this announcement is Sanjay Jawa, CFO.
ENDS
Enquiries:
|
Kooth plc
|
investorrelations@kooth.com
|
|
Peter Whiting, Chair
Tim Barker, Joint CEO
Kate Newhouse, Joint CEO
|
|
|
Sanjay Jawa, CFO
|
|
|
|
|
|
Stifel, Nominated Adviser & Sole Broker
|
+44 (0)
20 7710 7600
|
|
Ben Maddison, Nick Harland, Erik
Anderson, Ben Good
|
|
|
|
|
|
FTI
Consulting, Financial PR
|
Kooth@fticonsulting.com
|
|
Ben Atwell, Alex Shaw
|
|
|
|
| |
About
Kooth plc:
Kooth (AIM:KOO) is a global leader in youth digital mental
well-being. Our mission is to provide accessible and safe spaces
for everyone to achieve better mental health. Our platform is
clinically robust and accredited to provide a range of therapeutic
support and interventions. All our services are predicated on easy
access to make early intervention and prevention a
reality.
Kooth is a
fully safeguarded and pre-moderated community with a library of
peer and professional created content, alongside access to
experienced online counsellors. There are no thresholds for support
and no waiting lists.
Kooth is the
longest standing digital mental health provider to hold a UK-wide
accreditation from the British Association of Counselling and
Psychotherapy (BACP) and according to NHS England data for 2022/23
is now the largest single access provider for mental health support
for under 18s.
In 2021, Kooth began executing on its
international expansion strategy, with an initial focus on the US
market. This focus is due to the growing recognition of the
importance of improving youth mental health in this key global
healthcare market, with 1-in-6 people aged 6-17 experiencing a
mental health disorder each year.
For more information, please
visit www.koothplc.com.
