From the WSJ... Key points highlighted belowCatapult Hits...

From the WSJ... Key points highlighted below



Catapult Hits Cash-Flow Milestone Even Without Covid SavingsBy Stuart Condie

Catapult Group International Ltd. Chief Executive Will Lopes said the sports software provider, which turned cash-flow positive for the first time in its last fiscal year, would have hit the milestone even without its coronavirus-related cost cuts.

The Australia-listed firm, which develops and sells wearable athlete-tracking solutions and analytics to teams in competitions including the NFL and English Premier League soccer, this week said it generated net free cash of A$9.0 million (US$6.4 million) in the 12 months to June, making it cash-flow positive a year earlier than it had forecast.

Mr. Lopes said Thursday that savings included furloughing staff involved with live sports analysis and cutting travel amid widespread restrictions.

However, while customer acquisition slowed amid the suspension of professional sports in the U.S. and Europe, Mr Lopes said teams' focus on remote athlete monitoring had averted any loss of existing clients.

"When mid-March kicked in, we basically said 'let's go into a bunker mode here and we're probably not going to see sports play for two months or even longer,'" said Mr. Lopes, who was chief revenue officer at Amazon.com Inc.-owned Audible Inc. for two years through December 2017 and joined Catapult in November last year.

"But what I think was impressive, at least for me being fairly new to the company, was the retention level of our customers," he said.

The pandemic had effectively stress-tested the firm, Mr. Lopes told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview.

He said the pandemic prompted Catapult, which sells the wearable trackers and software subscriptions, to develop a capability for coaches to estimate distances between players and time spent in close proximity to other. That allows them to tailor training routines in accordance with sports' requirements, he said.

"It was particularly well received, particularly in European soccer," he said. "Those things helped us stay top of mind and relevant through this. It made the blow the industry took on really lessened for us."

Catapult is set to announce full-year results in August.Shares are down 2.4% at A$1.64, but 29% higher for the week.

Write to Stuart Condie at [email protected]