Pliezhausen, May 25, 2021. DATAGROUP SE (WKN A0JC8S) today publishes results for the first half of its fiscal year (01.10.2020 – 31.03.2021). The company’s revenue has again grown significantly. Operating earnings figures increased disproportionately. Major drivers are organic growth with new customers as well as upselling among existing customers. Furthermore, the first full consolidation of Portavis contributed to the group’s success.

In the period under review revenue increased by 24.4% to EUR 211.5m (PY EUR 170.0m). At 83.3%, the proportion of service revenue remained on a comparatively high level as in the first half of the previous year (84.1%). Operating earnings before taxes, interest, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased substantially by 28.1% to EUR 30.3m in comparison to EUR 23.6m in the same period a year earlier. The EBITDA margin was up from 13.9 % in the prior year to 14.3%.

Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) grew by 44.0 % to EUR 13.9m (PY EUR 9.6m). The EBIT margin improved by 6.6% compared to 5.7% in the prior-year period. EBT came in at EUR 12.8m (PY EUR 8.5m). Earnings per share (EPS) increased to EUR 1.30 (PY EUR 1.07).

Based on the very good earnings figures, equity increased from EUR 66.2m on September 30, 2020 by EUR 14.1m to EUR 80.3m. The equity ratio improved from 17.2% on September 30, 2020 to 21.0% on March 31, 2021. This is attributable to the generated net income of EUR 10.8m as well as other comprehensive income of EUR 3.3m – which mainly relates to the revaluation of pension provisions due to changes in the actuarial interest rate. Another positive effect results from the suspension of dividend payouts for the last fiscal year.

The development of the operating cash flows (OPEX) was particularly satisfying. This figure came in at EUR 23.9m, while it was EUR -3.1m in the corresponding reference period. In the prior-year period, OPEX was strongly burdened by expenses related to the commissioning of new customer systems in the financial services sector. Investments in property, plant and equipment and intangible assets (CAPEX) declined from EUR 12.0m to EUR 3.3m. The free cash flow improved significantly by EUR 35.4m to EUR 21.0m (PY EUR -14.4m).

Coronavirus Pandemic Speeds up Digitalization

The very positive development in the first half of the new fiscal year was driven organically by the commissioning of new customer systems and, in some cases, significant additional sales to existing customers. In the first half of the year, 14 customers have opted for the CORBOX for the first time, and we increased our upselling success in 15 cases. A particular highlight in the first half of the year was the conclusion of a large multi-year contract with HELLA.

It was particularly gratifying to see that public authorities have significantly accelerated their digital transformations which led to additional sales. We are particularly proud of the roll-out of the digital infrastructure for 60 vaccination centers in Baden-Württemberg. It took a mere four weeks from the first offer to the start of the productive roll-out of the modern and highly secure solution. Within a few weeks, area-wide infrastructure was set up and the workplaces were put into operation so that the vaccination facilities were ready to implement the vaccination campaign within a very short time. DATAGROUP also generated interesting new business in the area of automation and artificial intelligence. The order books are well filled and DATAGROUP is very optimistic about the future. “Our business model of operating the engine room of digitalization with our CORBOX has proven to be extremely robust especially in this current time of crisis”, says Max H.-H. Schaber, CEO of DATAGROUP. “Many of our customers have successfully adapted their ways of working to the changing circumstances during the pandemic by letting their employees work from home in a fully transparent way and thus being able to successfully pursue their economic activities during the lockdown as well”, Max H.-H. Schaber continues.

Restructuring of DATAGROUP Financial IT Services Is Well on Track

Thanks to decisive action the cost situation has been significantly improved within just a couple of months, prices for certain services have been adjusted and productivity has been increased. Additionally, new orders have been received from existing customers, which is evidence of a higher customer confidence.

DATAGROUP also has made another acquisition in the financial services sector: The company recently has signed a sales agreement to acquire 100% of the shares in dna Gesellschaft für IT Services mbH. dna has 104 employees and is specialized in providing services in IT infrastructures and IT applications.

The company’s expertise lies in the area of IT administration. This includes network management, managed client services, application operation and user administration as well as industry-specific technical assistance. The company’s offering is rounded off by consulting services for integration processes to implement new systems and applications and by support services for software development processes of customers and serviced institutes.

dna has grown significantly over the last few years and has generated revenues in the high single-digit million euro ranges in the current fiscal year. The company is a preferred partner of the central IT service provider of the savings bank association and provides the cross-country support of the savings banks throughout Germany. This opens up new potential for DATAGROUP in the area of savings banks.

Participation in URANO

DATAGROUP has signed a participation agreement to initially acquire 70% of the shares in URANO Informationssysteme GmbH which is based in Bad Kreuznach. The contract provides that the remaining 30 % should be purchased in two years. DATAGROUP thus massively strengthens its business with high-quality IT services in the Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse regions.

URANO has roughly 300 employees providing IT services for private sector and public sector organizations. URANO serves a variety of customers headquartered in Germany. For many years, the company has been a reliable partner for public authorities in Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse. This customer structure ideally supplements DATAGROUP’s focus on predominantly Mittelstand companies and complements it in regional terms. The existing shareholders have agreed on a long-term cooperation for the time after the transition phase.

Guidance raised

At the virtual 2021 Annual General Meeting on March 4, 2021, DATAGROUP announced an organic revenue target of between EUR 410m and 420m and EBITDA between EUR 56m and 58m. Based on the extremely positive business performance in the first half of the year and the unwaveringly optimistic outlook for the remainder of the financial year, the Management Board is raising its forecast to a sales target of more than EUR 440 million (previously EUR 410 – 420 million) and EBITDA of more than EUR 61 million (previously EUR 56 – 58 million). This forecast increase is also supported by the positive outlook for the newly acquired companies dna Gesellschaft für IT-Services mbH and URANO Informationssysteme GmbH.

The interim consolidated financial statements are available for download under datagroup.de/publications.

Chief Executive Officer Max H.-H. Schaber will explain the figures of H1 2020/2021 in a conference call on May 25, 2021 at 10.00 pm CET. All interested investors, analysts, and journalists are cordially invited to participate.

You can register for the event under the following link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/9157049910508045323