After months of investing in new products and signing new contracts, sports performance analytics company Catapult (ASX: CAT) has scored big. For the first time since September 2021, the Company has generated positive free cash flow amounting to $2.2 million. And that is just scratching the surface.

Catapult’s total revenue grew to $77 million, up 21% on H1 FY23, primarily driven by accelerating SaaS (ACV) revenue, increasing to $62 million, up 25% (CC) YoY. Its EBITDA was up 132.7% from a loss of $13.1 million to a profit of $4.3 million. Moreover, its net operating cash flow grew from just $4.7k in H1 FY23 to $24 million in H1 FY24.

In another win, the Company became the official supplier of race control systems to the largest motorsport vertical in North America, NASCAR. This includes its incident review and video replay system, RaceWatch ID, to Race Control and Competition officials for NASCAR’s top three racing series: NASCAR Cup, XFinity, and Craftsman Truck Series.

Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Will Lopes, said, “Catapult delivered another strong set of results, where we delivered ACV Growth above 20% year on year while reducing costs. Our growth was underpinned by consistent strong performance in our Performance & Health vertical. However, [in] this half-year period, we saw accelerated ACV Growth in our Tactics and Coaching vertical, driven by our new video solution growing 41% year on year.”

In its Performance & Health segment, comprising products like Wearables (such as the Next Gen Vest that monitors heart rate), Catapult’s annual contract value (ACV) grew 27%, thanks to broad sporting and geographic success. The Company experienced particular success signing new league-wide deals in soccer across LATAM, EMEA, and APAC regions.

Lopes added, “This half-year period, we saw accelerated ACV Growth in our Tactics and Coaching vertical, driven by our new video solution growing 41% year on year. Retention trends remain at all-time highs, which is an excellent outcome given we have been through our busiest renewal period. Our incremental profit margin improved significantly in the first half, enabling our business to generate positive free cash flow after a period of investing.”

Catapult is also executing a “land and expand” strategy, urging multi-vertical pro teams to adopt more than one Catapult solution. This expansion rate was 15.7% YoY across 406 teams. With the early results of this strategy and initial positive feedback from teams and athletes, cross-selling remains a significant opportunity for the Company.

During the first half of FY24, Catapult repaid $7.37 million of funds from its existing debt facility with Western Alliance Bank. This leaves the Company with a debt balance of $17.2 million.

Chief Financial Officer Bob Cruickshank noted, “Following a period of investment into our product solutions and building the foundations to support our business at scale, it’s very encouraging to see the strong financial performance we have delivered in the first half. The growth of our SaaS revenue highlights the strength of our core verticals, and disciplined cost management has enabled us to return to positive free cash flow generation.”

Lopes affirmed that, throughout FY24, Catapult’s ACV growth will remain strong with high retention rates, and it will keep generating positive free cash flow for the whole year without having to raise equity capital.

The Company ended the half with $16.16 million of cash at the bank, following part repayment of its loan facility.