Wandisco loses out on bookings as it tries to swivel fortunes with rebrand
Wandisco – soon to be known as Cirata – has reported a loss in bookings for the first half of the year after the company has battled off crisis after crisis.
Shares in the scandal stricken company plunged nearly eight per cent at market open on Monday morning after it said bookings – the total value of contracts signed during the first six months of the year – fell to $2.8m (£2.2m) in 2023, down from $7.3m (£5.8m) in the same period in 2022.
Chief executive Stephen Kelly said the firm anticipates growth in bookings for the second half.
“We are regaining the trust and confidence of our customers and we are setting a path to ‘business as usual’, with the re-engagement of customers, prospects and partners having reached a level in line with the ambitions of our Turnaround Plan,” he explained.
Revenue also took a hit, falling to $3.0m (£2.4m) from $5.8m (£4.6m) in the first half of last year.
Wandsico announced a rebrand to ‘Cirata’ at the start of September in an attempt to turn a new page.
“Sadly, very little from the past deserves preservation, except for the excellence of the technology, strong engineering, marquee customers and loyal committed colleagues,” said Stephen Kelly, chief executive, in a trading update this morning.
He added: “Our new name, Cirata, captures the opportunity of moving massive datasets to power analytic and AI strategies for customers, but also must embed our values and vision for a growth company centered on trust and integrity.”
A shift to the new name and new ticker ‘CRTA’ is expected by early October, with the entire rebrand finished by the end of the year.
In July, former top executives of Wandisco faced demands to return nearly £650,000 in bonuses received before the software company was embroiled in an accounting scandal earlier this year.
The bosses had stepped down in April after an internal investigation found $115m (£89m) in sales was entirely false.