Key Highlights

  • Half-year trading Revenue reached $5.3 million for 1H27, up 16% on the prior corresponding period, with ARR of $9.8 million also growing 16% year-on-year
  • Freight forwarder average revenue per customer (ARPC) rose 30% to $17,167 per annum, driven by re-contracting and TW Freight cloud migrations; shipper ARPC grew 13% to $33,648
  • Gross Margin held at 64%, up one percentage point on Q4 FY26, as cloud migration efficiencies flow through to the cost base
  • Customer retention rate of 90% and cumulative R&D Investment of $1.1 million in FreightAI, with commercial rollout of the full platform targeted for September 2027

TradeWindow Limited (ASX:TWL) has reported unaudited first-half results for the period ended 30 September 2026 that continue a pattern of steady, metrics-driven growth in its core trade documentation and logistics software business. Trading revenue of $5.3 million represents 16% growth on the same period in FY26, matching the pace of ARR expansion, and arriving in line with strategic plan and the guidance provided at the full-year presentation in May.

The company operates on both sides of the Tasman, providing digitised trade workflow solutions to freight forwarders and shippers. Its platform handles export documentation, customs preparation and Supply chain communications, serving a customer base of 530 entities across New Zealand and Australia as of September 2026.

Revenue Per Customer Is the Core Growth Lever

The standout metric in the 1H27 update is the growth in average revenue per customer across both segments. For freight forwarders, ARPC reached $17,167 per annum, up 30% on 1H26, a similar rate of growth to the prior comparable period. The primary driver is re-contracting activity, particularly the migration of customers onto the TW Freight cloud platform, which moves users to higher-value subscription arrangements. Some smaller accounts have exited rather than re-contract at new rates, which partly explains the net decline of 17 customers to 530, but the company's deliberate focus on mid-market and enterprise clients means this attrition is being treated as a feature of the strategy rather than a concern.

For shippers, ARPC of $33,648 per annum represents 13% growth on 1H26. Transactional revenue growth moderated in the period as several larger customers who adopted the platform rapidly in the prior year are now operating at a steady run rate. Management noted that, excluding those customers, the underlying slowdown in transactional growth is smaller than the headline figure implies.

Gross Margin and Balance Sheet

Gross margin of 64% is up one percentage point on Q4 FY26. The TW Freight cloud migrations are now complete and treated as Business as usual, and the company has shifted its operational focus toward improving the efficiency of its hosting environments, product automation and scale. No single customer accounts for more than 5.1% of recurring revenue, providing Diversification across the revenue base.

ARR of $9.8 million at the end of 1H27 is below the $10.4 million recorded at the end of Q1 FY27, reflecting seasonal variation predominantly in the shipper segment. Management characterised this as consistent with prior years and within expected parameters.

FreightAI: From Digitisation to Automation

The strategic centrepiece of TradeWindow's forward plan is FreightAI, a next-generation platform designed to move trade workflows from digitisation to active automation. The platform is engineered to handle automated document ingestion, Job creation, customs preparation and exception handling, with the stated objective of shifting customers from manual data entry to exception management across the trade lifecycle.

Capitalised R&D expenditure on FreightAI reached $1.1 million as at 30 September 2026, with a further $470,000 invested during the half year. The first FreightAI Desktop release is targeted for the end of the 2026 calendar year, offering an incremental revenue opportunity before the full commercial rollout of the new platform, which is on track for September 2027. The AI capability developed and proven in the Desktop product is intended to transfer into the broader FreightAI platform, meaning early adoption also serves as a live testing and refinement environment.

Sector Context

Supply chain technology is a sector experiencing heightened investor interest globally, driven by persistent trade complexity, increasing customs compliance requirements and the mainstreaming of AI-driven document processing. In the ANZ market, TradeWindow competes in a niche that requires deep industry expertise and regulatory knowledge. The company's plan to pursue a primary ASX listing in the first half of calendar 2027 is partly motivated by the observation that peer group companies already listed on ASX carry significantly higher market valuations. The addition of two Australian independent non-executive directors, Susan Beling and Brodie Collins, both with deep supply chain and logistics expertise, reflects the seriousness of the Australian growth ambitions.

Risks

Customer numbers are declining modestly, and while management frames this as a deliberate strategic shift toward higher-value accounts, the risk of further attrition as smaller customers exit cannot be dismissed. FreightAI represents both the company's primary growth catalyst and a material execution risk, with commercial rollout not expected until September 2027. Any delays to the ASX listing process could affect the company's access to growth Capital and its profile among Australian institutional investors.

What to Watch Next

The end-of-calendar-year FreightAI Desktop release will be the first tangible output from the R&D investment and will provide an early read on customer receptiveness to AI-driven trade automation. Progress toward the ASX primary listing in 1H27 will also be a significant milestone, alongside the Q3 FY27 KPI update which should indicate whether the seasonal ARR recovery from shipper transactional volumes is tracking as expected.