Listed@ASX Summer 2020/2021

Hot from the ASX Small and Mid-Cap Conference, five very different listed companies discuss their differentiators, challenges and strategies for attracting investors.

How do you communicate to shareholders and investors?

Shareholders can see we’re attracting substantial revenues by selling our products around our global networks. The challenge is to convey the potential of the products and services we can invent, build and bring to market.

We communicate this by explaining the overall business strategy and also by using examples of our products to bring the strategy to life.

We’ve been fortunate to have some great investors on board from the start who have continued to be supportive. Now it’s a case of working with our advisors and talking to as many people as we can to get the message out there. It’s a complex industry so we work with a team of specialist investor relations consultants to make sure people understand the opportunities.

What impact has COVID-19 had on the company?

It’s been a very, very tough time. On the business side, our supply lines were hit pretty early on in January and February because our products are manufactured in China. Then the pandemic began to affect our markets around the world. Many of our products are used in the entertainment industry, which just about died for a while.

We made savings where we could then raised some capital. In April, we started accelerating the development of products around high-quality streaming and, in June, our core sales started to return. So, while COVID-19 started out really scary, it created opportunities for us.

What advice would you give to other small-cap companies on ASX?

If you have a good product, it’s all down to communication. These days, people won’t invest unless they fully understand the potential for growth.

We produce lots of webinars and podcasts, some with brokers and analysts who share them with their clients and we often create joint media releases with our partners to increase our visibility.

Our media and investor communication company has been fantastic but we typically handle investor enquiries ourselves. I believe investors considering an investment in a company our size want to engage directly with management and the board.

What impact has COVID-19 had on the company?

We listed in December 2019 so we only had a couple of months before everything became virtual. This presented some challenges but, without the usual travel, it also made it possible for us to engage a wider range of investors virtually in a shorter period of time.

COVID-19 has also increased the focus on online learning. This has accelerated our growth and shortened our sales cycle while providing new opportunities for growth.

At the moment, approximately 35 percent of our revenue comes from overseas. While we focus on partnering with Australian and Malaysian education providers, we have clients in 12 countries. We’ve seen growth in all of our geographies in terms of users – much more than we had predicted.

What advice would you give other small cap companies on ASX?

It’s important to communicate what makes your company unique and not to be shy about the details. You might think few investors would be interested in educational philosophy, but we’ve found they want to get to the heart of what drives a company’s success.

How do you communicate to shareholders and investors?

When we’re talking to investors we focus on the value we deliver to our enterprise customers. For example, employees who feel cared for stay longer, do better work and are far more likely to recommend their company as a great place to work. This can have a big, positive impact on productivity and save any company a great deal of money.

Our business has had a year-on-year growth rate of more than 20 per cent for a number of years and we have more than 2.6 million users in 100 countries.

Being a disciplined financial company with a highly-diversified customer base on that scale has helped us to meet and exceed our investors’ expectations.

What impact has COVID-19 had on the company?

Our investor relations officer, Thomas Duthy, has seen increased interest in Limeade as COVID-19 continues to impact the global workforce.

Our business is all about the kinds of workplace challenges that have come to the surface in COVID-19 such as employee wellbeing, connecting with remote workforces and collaboration, as well as basic health and safety. Since the start of the pandemic we have stepped up our game. In some cases we have provided care solutions free of charge to companies that didn’t have time to get their budget organised before the corona virus hit. We’re really proud of that initiative, and also the fact we haven’t furloughed or reduced our own workforce.

The pandemic has also created a much more balanced playing field for us. I’m based in the US so it hasn’t been easy to arrange face-to-face meetings in Australia. Now every company on ASX is having virtual meetings so I’m getting to talk to many more investors than I was before.

What advice would you give to other small cap companies on ASX?

As a technology company we’ve found ASX a great place to list. For a foreign company like Limeade, the ASX was a very attractive option relative to venture capital or private equity funding for our business. Since listing, we have also met or exceeded our prospectus forecasts, which is important for any newly-listed company when building credibility with investors.