Minds + Machines starts 2019 with good results

Minds + Machines Group Limited (AIM: MMX) provided a company update today.

Minds + Machines shared that 2019 has started well with domain registrations up 38% to 1.84m year-on-year with steady growth since the year-end 31 December 2018. Importantly, billings are up 129% year-on-year due to a combination of the first time ICM contribution and a significant increase in billings from China, up over 40% year-on-year, greatly helped by .luxe registrations and healthy ongoing .vip sales. Meanwhile, .law and MMX’s US portfolio are also performing well, up over 9% when compared to the same period last year with Germany 6% ahead of last year.

Separately, the directors are pleased to report that ICM has now completed its first annual renewals cycle on its main property as part of the Group, with renewal rates ahead of management expectations at 91%. Encouragingly, new registrations within ICM year-to-date are trending ahead of the same period last year reflecting initiatives that have been put in place since ICM was acquired by the Company to drive new registrations and usage of ICM properties.

Bitcoin integration into .luxe

As part of the .luxe R&D project, which looks to provide a standardized naming convention for blockchain addresses, the Board is pleased to announce it is now working with the lead developers of the Namecoin blockchain and XAYA platform to develop an easy-to-use naming solution that will integrate human readable .luxe addresses with bitcoin alphanumeric addresses in a fully secure and decentralised fashion that broadly mirrors the .luxe Ethereum naming solution that successfully launched in Q4 2018. As a result, it will be possible to securely associate memorable .luxe names not just to Ethereum alphanumeric addresses but also to bitcoin alphanumeric addresses, such as an individual’s bitcoin wallet, as well as potentially use .luxe names within the XAYA decentralised gaming universe. It is expected the .luxe bitcoin naming service will go live in H2 2019.

Senior appointments

As part of the ongoing strengthening of the Group’s management team, MMX is pleased to announce the appointment of the highly respected Christa Taylor, B. Tech, CPA, CMA, MBA, MSPA, as the Group’s Chief Marketing Officer and Daniel Schindler, co-founder of Donuts Inc, the world’s largest new gTLD operator, as a Special Advisor focusing on the monetization of the Group’s premium inventory in the North American and European markets.

Current cash position and loan repayment

At the year-end cash balances stood at $10.4 million. Since the year end, the Company has seen encouraging cash generation following the strong trading in the renewal season in Q4 and a favourable resolution of the  .cpa and .gay contention sets.  Including an initial repayment of  of $700k having been made in January on the London & Capital facility, cash balances as at 25 February 2019 have increased to $11.9 million. Coupled with the encouraging start to the year and a positive trading outlook, the entirety of the outstanding debt of $2.3 million  under the  London & Capital facility will be repaid early in March 2019, leaving the Company debt free.

 

Toby Hall, CEO of MMX, commented:

“The momentum we are generating in the industry is now being reflected not just in our numbers but by the calibre of individuals and partners now wishing to work with the Group. We very much look forward to the positive start to the year continuing throughout the full year and the increased flexibility that potentially provides as evidenced through the early retirement the London & Capital facility.”