Arqit Quantum Inc (ARQQ) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thanks for standing by.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。

On today's call, we will be referring to the press release issued this morning that details the company's fiscal 2024 results, which can be downloaded from the company's website at arqit.uk.

在今天的電話會議上，我們將參考今天早上發布的新聞稿，其中詳細介紹了該公司 2024 財年的業績，該業績可從該公司網站 arqit.uk 下載。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Finally, a recording of the call will be available on the Investors section of the company's website later today.

最後，今天稍晚將在公司網站的投資者部分提供電話會議錄音。

Please note that this webcast includes forward-looking statements.

請注意，本網路廣播包含前瞻性陳述。

Statements about the company's beliefs and expectations containing words such as may, will, could, believe, expect, anticipate, and similar expressions are forward-looking statements and are based on assumptions and beliefs as of today.

關於公司信念和期望的陳述，包含諸如「可能」、「將」、「能夠」、「相信」、「期望」、「預期」和類似表達的詞語，均屬於前瞻性陳述，並且基於截至目前的假設和信念。

The company encourages you to review the safe harbor statements, risk factors and other disclaimers contained in today's press release as well as in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which identifies specific risk factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those described in our forward-looking statements.

本公司鼓勵您查看今天的新聞稿以及公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中包含的安全港聲明、風險因素和其他免責聲明，其中確定了可能導致實際結果或事件出現重大差異的特定風險因素來自我們前瞻性陳述中所描述的內容。

The company does not undertake to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements after this webcast.

該公司不承諾在本次網路廣播後公開更新或修改任何前瞻性陳述。

The company also notes that on this call, it may be discussing non-IFRS financial information.

該公司還指出，在這次電話會議上，它可能會討論非國際財務報告準則的財務資訊。

The company is providing that information as a supplement to information prepared in accordance with international financial reporting standards, or IFRS.

該公司提供該資訊作為根據國際財務報告標準（IFRS）準備的資訊的補充。

You can find a reconciliation of these metrics to the company's reported IFRS results, and the reconciliation tables provided in today's earnings release.

您可以找到這些指標與公司報告的國際財務報告準則結果的調節表，以及今天的收益發布中提供的調節表。

And now I'll turn the call over to Andy Leaver, the company's Chief Executive Officer.

現在我將把電話轉交給公司執行長安迪·利弗 (Andy Leaver)。

Andy?

安迪？

Thank you and thank you for joining our fiscal year 2024 earnings call.

感謝您參加我們的 2024 財年財報電話會議。

I'm pleased to discuss Arqit's financial year results.

我很高興討論 Arqit 的財政年度表現。

Let me start by saying that I stepped into the CEO role at an exciting time for the company.

首先我要說的是，我在公司一個令人興奮的時刻擔任執行長。

The market for better, simpler encryption, which addresses cybersecurity issues today and those posed by quantum computers is moving towards us.

更好、更簡單的加密市場正在向我們邁進，它可以解決當今的網路安全問題以及量子電腦帶來的問題。

Previously, it's been a major governmental entity such as the White House and the NSA, evangelizing solution providers such as Arqit driving the discussion about the need for enhanced cryptography.

此前，它一直是白宮和 NSA 等主要政府實體向 Arqit 等解決方案提供商傳播福音，推動有關增強加密技術需求的討論。

What we saw during 2024 was the marketplace pick up the microphone and start leading the dialogue.

我們在 2024 年看到的是市場拿起麥克風並開始主導對話。

That is a fundamental and positive development.

這是一個根本性的正面進展。

Before discussing the market for our products and our fiscal results, let me take a moment to introduce myself and comment on stepping into the role of CEO at Arqit.

在討論我們的產品市場和財務表現之前，讓我花點時間介紹一下自己，並對擔任 Arqit 執行長一事發表評論。

I most recently have been operating partner at Notion Capital.

我最近擔任 Notion Capital 的營運合夥人。

Notion is a leading European technology venture capital fund.

Notion 是歐洲領先的科技創投基金。

It has been a long-time investor in Arqit.

它是Arqit的長期投資者。

Prior to joining Notion, I was a senior executive at leading software companies such as Ariba, Bazaarvoice, Hortonworks, SuccessFactors and Workday.

在加入 Notion 之前，我曾在 Ariba、Bazaarvoice、Hortonworks、SuccessFactors 和 Workday 等領先軟體公司擔任高階主管。

I held positions including International VP, CRO and COO.

我曾擔任國際副總裁、首席風險長和營運長等職務。

In addition, I've advised several successful private software scale-ups.

此外，我還為一些成功的私有軟體擴充功能提供了建議。

Understanding of and working with software companies at Arqit's stage of development is squarely in my expertise and experience.

對處於 Arqit 開發階段的軟體公司的了解和合作完全取決於我的專業知識和經驗。

I was asked by the Board of Arqit early in 2024 to do a deep review of the company, its product and the market opportunity.

2024 年初，Arqit 董事會要求我對公司、其產品和市場機會進行深入審查。

My survey covered all aspects of the business.

我的調查涵蓋了業務的各個方面。

After a several month review, I concluded the following.

經過幾個月的回顧，我得出以下結論。

Number one, Arqit's symmetric key agreement software product is unique and built for purpose.

第一，Arqit 的對稱金鑰協定軟體產品是獨一無二的，並且是專為特定目的而建構的。

Number two, there is a significant market opportunity, which is only beginning to be addressed.

第二，存在著巨大的市場機遇，而這一機會才剛開始解決。

Number three, Arqit's engagement with OEMs, network operators, governments and end users is accelerating.

第三，Arqit 與 OEM、網路營運商、政府和最終用戶的合作正在加速。

And number four, the company needed to focus its operations and resources in line with this opportunity set and stage of development.

第四，公司需要根據此機會和發展階段集中營運和資源。

In summary, I concluded that Arqit has a compelling product offering and significant market opportunity.

總之，我得出的結論是，Arqit 擁有引人注目的產品和重要的市場機會。

That was the message which I conveyed to the Board.

這就是我向董事會傳達的訊息。

The Board of Directors approached me in mid-summer regarding stepping into the Chief Executive role.

仲夏時節，董事會與我接洽，商討擔任執行長一職。

Given the conclusions from my review of the company and my executive skill set, I believe that I could help the company focus these efforts and scale revenues.

鑑於我對公司的審查得出的結論和我的管理技能，我相信我可以幫助公司集中這些努力並擴大收入。

Obviously, I accepted the position.

顯然，我接受了這個職位。

I'm excited by the opportunities in front of the company.

我對公司面前的機會感到興奮。

My primary objectives are, number one, focusing the sales efforts on markets and prospects, which represent meaningful near-term revenue.

我的首要目標是，第一，將銷售工作重點放在市場和前景上，這代表著有意義的近期收入。

We're also building our technology road map for future verticals and opportunities.

我們也正在為未來的垂直產業和機會制定技術路線圖。

That said, we do not lag for near-term sales opportunities.

也就是說，我們不會落後於近期銷售機會。

Number two, appropriately allocate on our personnel and expenditures in support of our sales initiatives and customer fulfillment.

第二，適當分配我們的人員和支出，以支持我們的銷售計劃和客戶滿意度。

Sales without excellent customer fulfillment and support is not a recipe for success.

沒有出色的客戶滿意度和支援的銷售並不是成功的秘訣。

Number three, ensuring the stability of the business, that means making sure Arqit is appropriately capitalized and on firm footing from a legal and regulatory perspective.

第三，確保業務穩定性，這意味著確保 Arqit 資本充足，並從法律和監管角度站穩腳跟。

The Board is supportive of my objectives and shares my positive assessment of Arqit's prospects.

董事會支持我的目標，並同意我對 Arqit 前景的積極評估。

Members of the Board demonstrated their support for the company by investing additional capital in the company this autumn.

董事會成員今年秋天透過向公司追加資本投資來表達對公司的支持。

Support from several leading stakeholders was greatly appreciated and gives the company confidence in moving forward with purpose.

我們非常感謝幾位主要利害關係人的支持，這讓公司有信心朝著目標前進。

Circling back to my earlier comments about the market moving toward Arqit, 2024 was the year of all things AI.

回到我之前關於市場轉向 Arqit 的評論，2024 年是人工智慧的元年。

It dominated headlines and was a big catalyst for the stock market.

它佔據了頭條新聞，是股市的重要催化劑。

Is 2025 going to be the year of all things quantum?

2025 年會是萬物量子化的一年嗎？

It's difficult to say for sure, but we've seen an increase and acceleration in the dialogue around quantum computing and encryption in 2024, which should continue into 2025.

很難確定，但我們已經看到 2024 年圍繞量子計算和加密的對話將會增加和加速，這種情況應該會持續到 2025 年。

And importantly, as I mentioned, the dialogue is coming from the marketplace and media.

重要的是，正如我所提到的，對話來自市場和媒體。

Previously, it has been governmental agencies and companies such as Arqit driving the narrative.

此前，一直是政府機構和 Arqit 等公司在推動這一敘事。

For instance, in October, Gartner named quantum computing and encryption as one of the major technology trends for 2025.

例如，10 月，Gartner 將量子運算和加密列為 2025 年主要技術趨勢之一。

In November, Amazon Web Services launched Quantum Embark, an advisory program that aims to prepare its customers for society shift towards quantum computing, and mainstream media ran hard with the story regarding the possible cracking of RSA encryption by a quantum computer.

11 月，亞馬遜網路服務推出了 Quantum Embark，這是一項諮詢計劃，旨在幫助客戶為社會向量子運算的轉變做好準備，主流媒體大力報道了量子電腦可能破解 RSA 加密的故事。

While the merits of the story remain in doubt, it demonstrates the spotlight that is beginning to shine on all things quantum.

雖然這個故事的優點仍然存在疑問，但它表明聚光燈已經開始照射到所有量子事物上。

The spotlight shown on Arqit as well.

Arqit 上也受到了關注。

International Data Corp or IDC named Arqit a 2024 IDC innovator for post-quantum cryptography.

國際數據公司 (IDC) 將 Arqit 評為 2024 年 IDC 後量子密碼學創新者。

Arqit is one of only five vendors recognized by IDC as providing transformative solutions, which enterprises can use to protect classical data and infrastructure with a long shelf value from the risk of a potential quantum cyber-attack.

Arqit 是 IDC 認可的僅有的五家提供變革性解決方案的供應商之一，企業可以使用這些解決方案來保護具有長期保質期的經典資料和基礎設施免受潛在量子網路攻擊的風險。

Three factors have come together to drive increased customer engagement for Arqit.

三個因素共同推動了 Arqit 客戶參與度的提升。

The market's heightened awareness of the quantum thread, Arqit's compliance with the NSA commercial solutions for classified symmetric key management requirements, CSFC, and industry recognition for our technology by organizations such as the global mobile awards.

市場對量子線程的認識不斷提高、Arqit 遵守 NSA 商業解決方案的機密對稱金鑰管理要求、CSFC 以及全球移動獎等組織對我們技術的行業認可。

As a result, Arqit engaged with eight leading telecom network providers during the fiscal year with the pace of engagements increasing over the period.

因此，Arqit 在本財年與八家領先的電信網路供應商進行了合作，並且合作步伐在此期間不斷加快。

To be clear, these engagements have been focused on technical and integration matters.

需要明確的是，這些參與主要集中在技術和整合問題上。

However, these engagements represent opportunities for conversion into annual recurring licenses associated with sell-through to the network operators' customers or a license for our symmetric career agreement software for use by their network operator within its own estate.

然而，這些約定代表了轉換為與向網路營運商客戶銷售相關的年度經常性許可證的機會，或者是我們的對稱職業協議軟體的許可證，供其網路營運商在其自己的財產內使用。

Our engagement with Sparkle is a blueprint's success with other network operators.

我們與 Sparkle 的合作是與其他網路營運商合作的成功藍圖。

Sparkle is rolling out its quantum safe network as a service product offering secured by Arqit.

Sparkle 正在推出其量子安全網路作為由 Arqit 保護的服務產品。

It serves 33 countries with a network of over 600,000 kilometers of terrestrial and subsea fiber.

它擁有超過 60 萬公里的陸地和海底光纖網絡，為 33 個國家提供服務。

We will generate license revenue as Sparkle signs up customers to its service.

當 Sparkle 為客戶註冊其服務時，我們將產生授權收入。

We're excited about this partnership opportunity and see additional opportunities with our partner.

我們對這項合作機會感到非常興奮，並希望與我們的合作夥伴有更多的機會。

Our relationship with Sparkle developed quickly.

我們與 Sparkle 的關係發展得很快。

While we'd like all our engagements with other network operators to move as quickly, we must be mindful that these are large counterparties with sophisticated technological requirements.

雖然我們希望與其他網路營運商的所有合作都能盡快推進，但我們必須注意，這些都是具有複雜技術要求的大型交易對手。

It takes time and significant interaction to reach commercial acceptance given the critical nature of our security offering.

鑑於我們的安全產品的關鍵性質，需要時間和大量的互動才能獲得商業認可。

The feedback which we receive is positive as we move through the process with each prospective network operator.

當我們與每個潛在的網路營運商一起完成整個流程時，我們收到的回饋都是正面的。

We are confident that future contractual revenue can be realized from this key target market for Arqit.

我們有信心 Arqit 能夠從這個關鍵目標市場實現未來的合約收入。

Another key market target for the company is the government and military markets.

該公司的另一個主要市場目標是政府和軍事市場。

The company announced in May that it had been awarded a seven figure multiyear contract, which was subject to final documentation.

該公司於五月宣布，已獲得一份七位數的多年期合同，該合同有待最終文件的確定。

While finalization of documentation took longer than we expected, we are pleased to say that the contract was executed prior to the close of the fiscal year.

雖然文件的最終確定時間比我們預期的要長，但我們很高興地說該合約是在本財年結束之前執行的。

The contract is through our Middle East distribution partner for a significant governmental agency in the region.

該合約是透過我們的中東分銷合作夥伴為該地區的一個重要政府機構簽訂的。

We expect to commence booking revenue under the contract in the current fiscal year.

我們預計在本財年開始根據合約預訂收入。

The contract is significant in and of itself as it represents meaningful contractual annual recurring revenue.

該合約本身很重要，因為它代表了有意義的合約年度經常性收入。

In addition, the contract of our target with a marquee reference customer, which should result in further opportunities with other governmental agencies and significant in-country commercial enterprises.

此外，我們的目標公司與一家知名參考客戶簽訂了合同，這應該會帶來與其他政府機構和重要國內商業企業的進一步機會。

We are currently in dialogue with several parties.

我們目前正在與多方進行對話。

While we see land and expand potential in this particular country, we expect this win to have broader positive implications across all our government and military activities.

雖然我們看到了這個特定國家的土地和擴大潛力，但我們預計這場勝利將對我們所有的政府和軍事活動產生更廣泛的正面影響。

Arqit executed under two contracts for two defense contractors during the fiscal year, both for our symmetric key agreement platform as a Service.

Arqit 在本財年為兩家國防承包商執行了兩份合同，均為我們的對稱金鑰協議平台即服務。

We believe that the government and military markets represent significant opportunities for Arqit.

我們相信政府和軍事市場對 Arqit 來說是重要的機會。

I've identified prospective customers have increased.

我發現潛在客戶增加。

The level of dialogue is up, and we're beginning to see contract wins and revenue.

對話的水平提高了，我們開始看到合約的贏得和收入。

These are tough markets to break into, but we have a leg in the door.

這些市場很難打入，但我們已經佔了優勢。

If we can set through the door, these markets are vast.

如果我們能進門的話，這些市場是廣闊的。

Our revenue for the fiscal year was $293,000, down from $640,000 in the previous year.

我們本財年的收入為 293,000 美元，低於上一年的 640,000 美元。

That's in US dollars.

那是美元。

Neither result is compelling, nor are they reflective of the market opportunity and underlying progress which the company has made.

這兩種結果都沒有引人注目，也沒有反映市場機會和公司所取得的基本進展。

Nick will discuss the movement in revenue in a few minutes.

尼克將在幾分鐘內討論收入的變化。

I want to make sure not to lose sight of the progress which we have made in fiscal year 2024.

我想確保不要忽視我們在 2024 財年的進展。

We executed on 13 contracts in 2024 versus seven in 2023.

我們在 2024 年執行了 13 份合同，而 2023 年執行了 7 份合約。

We delivered for 13 customers in 2024 versus six the prior year.

2024 年，我們為 13 家客戶交付產品，而前一年為 6 家。

Arqit engaged in significant technical discussions with 11 entities, including eight telecom network operators.

Arqit 與 11 家實體進行了重要的技術討論，其中包括 8 家電信網路營運商。

These represent near-term opportunity for conversion into material revenue contracts.

這些代表了轉化為物質收入合約的近期機會。

We're engaged in 19 technical demonstrations across a range of end markets, including VPN service providers, edge computing, government, defense organizations and network performance monitoring and executed a significant ARR contract with a leading government organization, which should have material knock-on benefit.

我們參與了跨一系列終端市場的19 項技術演示，包括VPN 服務提供商、邊緣計算、政府、國防組織和網絡性能監控，並與一家領先的政府組織簽署了一份重要的ARR 合同，該合同應該會產生重大影響益處。

It is the growing market awareness of the need for Arqit's product and the tangible evidence of progress by the company that excited me to take on the role of CEO.

市場對 Arqit 產品需求的認識不斷增強，以及公司進步的實際證據，促使我擔任執行長一職。

Yet a lot of work is in front of us to drive revenue to scale.

然而，要擴大收入規模，我們還有大量工作要做。

I have successfully done that in the past with companies at Arqit's stage of development.

我過去曾與處於 Arqit 發展階段的公司成功地做到了這一點。

Importantly, the piece parts are in place to build towards success.

重要的是，各個部分都已就位，以邁向成功。

We've taken critical steps since I joined the company to focus our efforts and ensures stability in our business.

自從我加入公司以來，我們採取了關鍵步驟來集中精力並確保業務穩定。

We have undertaken additional cost-cutting initiatives, which built upon those taken earlier in the year.

我們在今年稍早採取的措施的基礎上採取了額外的成本削減措施。

Budgeted monthly operating costs for fiscal 2025 have reduced to $2.15 million per month.

2025 財年的每月預算營運成本已減少至每月 215 萬美元。

Thus far, in fiscal year 2025, our cost savings initiatives is ahead of budget.

到目前為止，2025 財年我們的成本節約措施超出了預算。

Headcount has been reduced to 82 employees at fiscal year-end from 147 the prior year.

截至財政年度末，員工人數從前一年的 147 人減少至 82 人。

As part of the head count reduction process, we have reshaped our workforce to prioritize sales, engineering and customer fulfillment.

作為裁員過程的一部分，我們重新調整了員工隊伍，優先考慮銷售、工程和客戶服務。

It is not about doing more with less, it is about allocating resources to the most mission-critical tasks at our stage of development.

這不是用更少的資源做更多的事情，而是將資源分配給我們發展階段最關鍵的任務。

It is also about driving decision-making down in the organization so we can be responsive.

它還涉及推動組織內的決策制定，以便我們能夠做出回應。

It is about focusing on the most important opportunities.

這是關於關注最重要的機會。

In the current fiscal year, we'll be focused particularly on the telecom network, government and military markets.

在本財年，我們將特別關注電信網路、政府和軍事市場。

We are also investigating financial services and IP-rich industries.

我們也正在調查金融服務和智慧財產權豐富的行業。

Conversion of our current engagement with prospective customers to operating licenses is our top priority.

將我們目前與潛在客戶的合作轉變為營運許可證是我們的首要任務。

Adding additional opportunities to our sales funnel is important, but not the expense of converting prospective customers with whom we are deep in discussion.

為我們的銷售管道增加額外的機會很重要，但轉換我們正在深入討論的潛在客戶的費用並不重要。

Refining our internal processes to ensure the highest quality customer fulfillment and support is imperative, we have made significant progress in this regard.

完善我們的內部流程以確保最高品質的客戶服務和支援勢在必行，我們在這方面已經取得了重大進展。

While I cannot opine as to whether 2025 is the year of quantum, I do know it brings the world a year closer to a quantum computer at commercial scale.

雖然我無法判斷 2025 年是否是量子年，但我確實知道它讓世界距離商業規模的量子電腦又近了一年。

And that means the need for post-quantum encryption grows.

這意味著對後量子加密的需求不斷增長。

Arqit's symmetric key agreement software addresses that need.

Arqit 的對稱金鑰協商軟體可以滿足這項需求。

We are focused on the hard work necessary to build upon 2024's progress and take large steps forward in 2025.

我們專注於在 2024 年取得進展的基礎上開展必要的艱苦工作，並在 2025 年向前邁出一大步。

With that, let me turn the call over to Nick Pointon, our CFO, for a few remarks on our financials.

接下來，讓我將電話轉給我們的財務長 Nick Pointon，請他就我們的財務狀況發表一些評論。

Nick?

缺口？

Thank you, Andy.

謝謝你，安迪。

For the fiscal year, Arqit generated $293,000 in revenue as compared to $640,000 in revenue for the comparable period in 2023.

在本財年，Arqit 的收入為 293,000 美元，而 2023 年同期的收入為 640,000 美元。

The decrease was due to no significant perpetual enterprise licenses sold in fiscal year 2024.

減少的原因是 2024 財政年度沒有出售大量永久企業許可證。

In fiscal year 2023, the company sold two such licenses with high upfront revenue, which represented a significant portion of revenue during that period.

在 2023 財年，該公司以高額預收收入出售了兩張此類許可證，佔該期間收入的很大一部分。

Arqit has intentionally moved from perpetual licenses towards operational licenses with prospective annual recurring revenue.

Arqit 有意從永久授權轉向具有預期年度經常性收入的營運許可證。

The transition results in lower upfront revenue associated with a perpetual license.

這一轉變導致與永久許可證相關的前期收入降低。

While generating upfront revenue, operational licenses are expected to result in growing annual recurring revenue as consumption of our symmetric key agreement software increases.

在產生前期收入的同時，隨著對稱金鑰協議軟體使用量的增加，營運授權預計將帶來年度經常性收入的成長。

Arqit SKA-Platform contract revenue totaled $293,000 of which $102,000 was professional services in support of contract activity.

Arqit SKA 平台合約收入總計 293,000 美元，其中 102,000 美元是支持合約活動的專業服務。

Most contracts were limited licenses for demonstration and integration testing of Arqit's symmetric key agreement software.

大多數合約都是用於 Arqit 對稱密鑰協議軟體演示和整合測試的有限許可證。

Arqit's SKA-Platform revenue for fiscal year 2024 was generated from contracts with 13 customers.

Arqit 2024 財年的 SKA 平台收入來自與 13 家客戶的合約。

Arqit SKA-Platform revenue for fiscal year 2023 was $640,000 from seven contracts, the bulk of which was from two perpetual licenses.

Arqit SKA 平台 2023 財年的收入為 64 萬美元，來自七份合同，其中大部分來自兩份永久許可證。

Our administrative expenses equates to operating costs for those more familiar with US GAAP.

對於那些更熟悉美國公認會計準則的人來說，我們的管理費用相當於營運成本。

Administrative expenses for the period were $23.5 million versus $55.2 million for fiscal year 2023.

該期間的管理費用為 2,350 萬美元，而 2023 財年的管理費用為 5,520 萬美元。

Lower share-based compensation, employee expenses and legal and professional fees were the largest drivers of the variance between periods.

較低的股權薪酬、員工費用以及法律和專業費用是各期間差異的最大驅動因素。

Arqit's head count as of fiscal year-end was 85 (sic - see press release, "82") compared with 147 for the fiscal year end 2023.

截至財年末，Arqit 的員工人數為 85 人（原文如此 - 請參閱新聞稿，「82」），而 2023 財年末的員工人數為 147 人。

Administrative expenses for the period includes a negative $1.6 million non-cash charge for share-based compensation versus a $14.1 million charge for the comparable period in 2023.

該期間的管理費用包括負 160 萬美元的股權激勵非現金費用，而 2023 年同期的管理費用為 1,410 萬美元。

Operating loss for the period was $24.6 million versus a loss of $54.5 million for fiscal year 2023.

該期間的營運虧損為 2,460 萬美元，而 2023 財年的營運虧損為 5,450 萬美元。

The variance in operating loss between periods primarily reflects lower administrative expenses for fiscal year 2024.

各期間營業虧損的差異主要反映了 2024 財政年度管理費用的減少。

Loss before tax from continuing operations for the period was $23.9 million.

該期間持續經營業務的稅前虧損為 2,390 萬美元。

Adjusted loss before tax for the period was $23.9 million, which in management's view reflects the underlying business performance once non-cash change in warrant value is deducted from operating loss before tax.

該期間調整後的稅前虧損為 2,390 萬美元，管理層認為，這反映了從稅前經營虧損中扣除認股權證價值非現金變動後的基本業務績效。

For fiscal year 2023, loss before tax from continuing operations was $44.1 million and adjusted loss before tax was $54.7 million.

2023 財年，持續經營業務的稅前虧損為 4,410 萬美元，調整後的稅前虧損為 5,470 萬美元。

The variance between periods is primarily due to lower administrative expenses, impairment losses on trade receivables, impairment losses on intangible assets and the change in fair value of warrants.

期間差異主要是管理費用減少、應收帳款減損損失、無形資產減損損失、認股權證公允價值變動所致。

Arqit ended fiscal year 2024 with cash and cash equivalents of $18.7 million versus a cash balance of $44.5 million as of Arqit's 2023 fiscal year end.

截至 2024 財年，Arqit 的現金和現金等價物為 1,870 萬美元，而截至 Arqit 2023 財年末，現金餘額為 4,450 萬美元。

With that, I turn the call back to Andy.

說完，我把電話轉回給安迪。

Thank you, Nick.

謝謝你，尼克。

I want to thank you for joining us today.

我要感謝您今天加入我們。

If I leave you with one message today, it is that the market for enhanced encryption is moving towards Arqit.

如果我今天要給您留下一則訊息，那就是增強加密市場正在向 Arqit 發展。

We have the right product.

我們有合適的產品。

The challenge is on for us to capture on the market opportunities that are most realizable.

我們面臨的挑戰是如何抓住最可實現的市場機會。

We do not lack for opportunities.

我們不缺乏機會。

We must stay focused and execute.

我們必須保持專注並執行。

It is my job to ensure that we do.

我的工作就是確保我們做到這一點。

I hand the call back over to the operator for Q&A.

我將電話轉回接線生進行問答。

(Operator Instructions) Scott Buck, HC Wainwright.

（操作員說明）Scott Buck，HC Wainwright。

Hi.

你好。

Good afternoon guys.

各位下午好。

Thank you for taking my questions.

感謝您回答我的問題。

Andy, first, I want to ask on the seven figure Middle East deal that commences this period, can you discuss the revenue cadence?

安迪，首先，我想問一下本期開始的七位數中東交易，您能討論一下收入節奏嗎？

Does that ramp over time?

這會隨著時間的推移而增加嗎？

Or should we see kind of a steady revenue flow through the period?

或者我們應該看到在此期間有穩定的收入流？

Yeah.

是的。

Hey, good question.

嘿，好問題。

So the deal is -- it doesn't ramp it steady.

所以，這筆交易並沒有穩定地推進。

It's taken ratably.

這是相當不錯的。

And you should see that deal start being led in during this reporting period, and you'll see that appearing in our results.

您應該會看到該交易在本報告期間開始引入，並且您會看到它出現在我們的結果中。

So you'll see that start layering in.

所以你會看到開始分層。

Perfect.

完美的。

I appreciate that.

我很欣賞這一點。

And then kind of as a follow-up, the release mentioned, I think you mentioned in your prepared remarks, some additional government and enterprise contract opportunities in the region that this deal could be a potential catalyst for.

然後，作為後續行動，新聞稿提到，我想您在準備好的演講中提到了該地區一些額外的政府和企業合約機會，這筆交易可能是潛在的催化劑。

Can you provide a bit more color on what kind of deals you're looking at there and maybe what the potential revenue opportunity is.

您能否提供更多資訊來說明您正在尋找什麼樣的交易以及潛在的收入機會是什麼。

Yeah.

是的。

And again, good question.

再說一遍，好問題。

So there's kind of two angles, I'll give you on that.

所以有兩種角度，我會告訴你。

First of all, it's governmental and we're seeing some of the larger enterprises there take a strong interest.

首先，這是政府的，我們看到那裡的一些較大的企業對此產生了濃厚的興趣。

And behind that is people who watch this space may see the locally to the Middle East, some of the governments have been very proactive and actually trying to enact legislation or guidance about taking post-quantum encryption earlier rather than later.

在這背後，關注這個領域的人們可能會看到中東本地的情況，一些政府非常積極主動，實際上試圖制定立法或指導，儘早而不是推遲採用後量子加密。

And that's playing through into the governmental bodies in that region who are now engaging us in conversation.

這已經滲透到該地區的政府機構中，他們現在正在與我們進行對話。

Now that we have a strong partner down there and the ability to deliver and have the connections down there, it puts us in a really good spot to have those conversations and follow through on delivering on those conversations.

現在我們有了一個強大的合作夥伴，並且有能力交付並建立了聯繫，這使我們處於一個非常好的位置來進行這些對話並貫徹落實這些對話。

So very active, and we have a lot of people in that region regularly to pick up on those conversations.

非常活躍，我們在該地區有很多人定期參與這些對話。

So I feel good about that.

所以我對此感覺很好。

Just to add one small little side note as well is I'm actually talking to you now from our US office here in the Washington DC area.

再補充一點，我現在實際上是在我們位於華盛頓特區的美國辦公室與您交談。

And again, we see a large opportunity here with governmental entities as well with similar challenges and similar problems, and we're working hard to replicate that story here as well.

再次，我們在這裡看到了政府實體的巨大機遇，以及類似的挑戰和類似的問題，我們也正在努力在這裡複製這個故事。

Great.

偉大的。

I appreciate that color.

我很欣賞那種顏色。

And then I'm curious how is AI playing a part in the quantum safe story?

然後我很好奇人工智慧如何在量子安全故事中發揮作用？

Does that impact the use of your technology?

這會影響您的技術的使用嗎？

Yeah.

是的。

Again, good question.

再說一遍，好問題。

So we're never resting in terms of our technology road map.

因此，我們永遠不會在技術路線圖上停下來。

And one of the most immediate things that we're looking at is how can AI play a role in our road map.

我們關注的最直接的事情之一是人工智慧如何在我們的路線圖中發揮作用。

And one of the things we're looking strongly at right now is the remediation story.

我們現在重點關注的事情之一就是補救措施。

So if you think people look at the vulnerabilities in their network and their operations, think about how quantum could play a part in that.

因此，如果您認為人們會關注其網路和操作中的漏洞，請考慮量子如何在其中發揮作用。

And we're thinking of using AI now as the remediation agent to allow that dialogue to happen to suggest conversational manner how you may fix those issues you have and how our technology may be applied.

我們現在正在考慮使用人工智慧作為補救代理，以允許對話發生，以對話方式建議您如何解決您遇到的問題以及如何應用我們的技術。

Because I think I kind of call it putting technology in the hands of mere mortals, actually having the ability then to go through the remediation process in a guided intelligent way rather than having to have deep technical experts for every step of the process.

因為我認為我稱之為將技術交到凡人手中，實際上有能力以智慧引導的方式完成修復過程，而不必在過程的每一步都有資深的技術專家。

So we're looking strongly at that now, and that's looking very promising.

所以我們現在正在密切關注這一點，而且看起來非常有希望。

Great.

偉大的。

And outside of government, telecom and defense, what other verticals are coming into focus in 2025?

除了政府、電信和國防之外，2025 年還有哪些垂直產業將成為焦點？

Yeah.

是的。

And you may have seen that we see the market moving towards it now, particularly with some of the announcements from NIST and other bodies.

您可能已經看到，我們看到市場現在朝著這個方向發展，特別是 NIST 和其他機構發布的一些公告。

And I think the people with the most top-secret information you should expect with governmental and defense agencies are the earliest adopters.

我認為，在政府和國防機構中掌握最絕密資訊的人是最早的採用者。

We see right behind that the telco is providing the infrastructure and I talked about the Sparkle story.

我們看到電信公司正在提供基礎設施，我談到了 Sparkle 的故事。

I think right behind that, we're also seeing particularly things around secure compute for other people that have data at rest or data in motion that have a need to actually make that quantum safe that information.

我認為在這背後，我們也特別看到了有關其他人的安全計算的事情，這些人擁有靜態數據或動態數據，需要真正確保該資訊的量子安全。

And you see, particularly around, right now, we're having discussions within financial services.

你看，特別是現在，我們正在金融服務領域進行討論。

So we see some of the kind of -- as you expect, the large financial services clients saying, hey, what does this mean for us?

因此，正如您所期望的那樣，我們看到一些大型金融服務客戶說，嘿，這對我們意味著什麼？

And how should we think about this technology?

我們該如何看待這項技術？

And other IP-rich organizations are concerned about what we call harvest now decrypt later.

而其他擁有豐富IP的組織則關心我們所謂的現在收穫，稍後再解密。

So they're saying, hey, we don't want to wait for [QD] as everybody is calling it for the hack to happen.

所以他們說，嘿，我們不想等待 [QD]，因為每個人都在呼籲駭客入侵發生。

We actually want to get ahead of that because it may be that our information is being harvested now actually to be decrypted later on.

我們實際上希望提前實現這一點，因為我們的資訊可能現在正在被收集，實際上是為了稍後解密。

So how can we get ahead of that to make sure that we're safe from that future threat.

那麼我們該如何提前做好準備，確保我們免受未來威脅的影響呢？

As I said, there's kind of here say stories in the press around whether quantum is now ready to break all of our known encryption but is it there at scale as well.

正如我所說，媒體上有一些關於量子現在是否準備好破解我們已知的加密技術的故事，但它是否也能大規模實現。

I think that's the next question to know whether the people are harvesting information now and when will they have enough quantum computing power to be able to do that.

我認為下一個問題是要了解人們現在是否正在收集資訊以及何時擁有足夠的量子運算能力來做到這一點。

You'll also note that other people such as AWS are leaning into this and seeing the opportunity to actually consult on some of these areas as well.

您還會注意到，AWS 等其他人也正在關注這一點，並看到了在其中一些領域進行實際諮詢的機會。

So we expect that a lot more verticals will start coming in as the kind of early adopters force that path and then other verticals start to lean in as well.

因此，我們預計，隨著早期採用者推動這條道路，更多的垂直產業將開始進入，然後其他垂直產業也開始傾斜。

Great.

偉大的。

That's really helpful.

這真的很有幫助。

Andy, I appreciate that.

安迪，我很感激。

And then two quick modeling questions.

然後是兩個快速建模問題。

You guys have done a really nice job bringing costs in.

你們在降低成本方面做得非常好。

I'm curious as revenue starts to ramp here in 2025 and 2026, how quickly do you need to add back in some of those kind of infrastructure costs.

我很好奇，隨著 2025 年和 2026 年這裡的收入開始增加，您需要多快地重新增加一些此類基礎設施成本。

Just trying to get a sense of what operating leverage could look like going forward?

只是想了解未來的營運槓桿會是什麼樣子？

Hey, Nick?

嘿，尼克？

I'll jump in for that.

我會參與其中。

Thank you, Andy.

謝謝你，安迪。

Scott, so currently, we're on -- for fiscal year 2025, so the current fiscal year, our model suggests that we can deliver all our expected revenue in the current fiscal year of the current cost base.

斯科特，目前，我們正在進行 2025 財年，即當前財年，我們的模型表明，我們可以在當前成本基礎的當前財年中交付所有預期收入。

So very little leverage is expected in the current fiscal year.

因此，預計本財年的槓桿率將非常低。

Great.

偉大的。

That's helpful.

這很有幫助。

And then lastly, just on the cash balance.

最後，就現金餘額而言。

The raise that you did at the end of the quarter, is that included in the filed number or was that subsequent too?

您在季度末進行的加薪是否包含在提交的數字中，還是隨後也包含在內？

To the extent that cash had been received prior to year-end, it was included.

如果在年底之前收到現金，則將其包括在內。

So a little bit of the cash landed in early October.

所以十月初有一點現金到帳。

So it has not been recognized.

所以一直沒有被認可。

So $1.8 million landed in very early October but missed the cut-off for recognition in this financial period -- in the FY24 financial period.

因此，180 萬美元在 10 月初就到達了，但錯過了本財務期（即 2024 財年財務期）的確認截止日期。

Thank you.

謝謝。

This concludes our question-and-answer session.

我們的問答環節到此結束。

Now, I'll turn the call back over to Andy Leaver for closing remarks.

現在，我將把電話轉回給安迪·利弗 (Andy Leaver) 作結束語。

Andy.

安迪.

Thank you.

謝謝。

And again, thank you all for joining us today.

再次感謝大家今天加入我們。

We look forward to speaking with you again following the close of our first half fiscal 2025 results.

我們期待在 2025 財年上半年業績結束後再次與您交談。

That said, we'll find additional forums in which we engage with you in the coming year in an effort's to be more timely in providing updates to investors.

也就是說，我們將在來年找到更多論壇與您互動，以便更及時地向投資者提供最新資訊。

We appreciate your interest in the company.

我們感謝您對公司的興趣。

Thank you for joining us.

感謝您加入我們。

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

謝謝你們，女士們、先生們。

This concludes today's conference.

今天的會議到此結束。

Thank you for participating.

感謝您的參與。

You may now disconnect.

您現在可以斷開連線。

Speakers, please stand by for your debrief.

請各位發言者稍候，等待報告。