EANS-News: adesso AG closed the 2010 financial year with a good fourth quarter and increased annual sales revenues by 20% to a new all-time high dividend policy remains unchanged
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Annual Reports
Dortmund (euro adhoc) - adesso AG closed the 2010 financial year with a good fourth quarter and increased annual sales revenues by 20% to a new all-time high dividend policy remains unchanged
- 20% increase in sales revenues to EUR 85.7 million - Significant profit growth in the second half of the year - Dividend proposal totalling EUR 0.15 per share - Positive outlook for 2011: 7.5% to 10% increase in sales revenues to between EUR 92 to 95 million and a 10% to 15% increase in EBITDA to between EUR 6.2 to 6.5 million
adesso AG, a leading IT service provider specialised in industry specific software development, closed the 2010 financial year with good second half results, achieving record sales revenues of EUR 85.7 million for the full year. This represents a 20% increase year on year, with 8% of this increase coming from organic growth. Once again, adesso has grown much faster than the market. Operating profit (EBITDA) for the full year was EUR 5.6 million, slightly below last year´s figures and, despite the stronger second half of the year, also lagging behind plan. The consolidated group profit was EUR 2.5 million; earnings per share amounted to EUR 0.42 per share, following EUR 0.61 per share in prior year. Like last year Executive Board and Supervisory Board will propose a dividend distribution of EUR 0.15 per share to the Annual General Meeting of adesso.
In the fourth quarter 2010, the positive performance of the third quarter continued, following a weaker first half of the year. With quarterly sales revenues increasing to EUR 24.8 million, the operating profit (EBITDA) reached EUR 1.5 million; the first two quarters of the year only achieved results below EUR 1 million each. Good capacity utilisation for consultants and software developers as well as ongoing good product sales were the drivers of this positive performance. Headcount in the adesso Group rose to 729 at year end (prior year: 598). Cash and cash equivalents increased by EUR 4.0 million to EUR 17.0 million in the fourth quarter. Shareholders´ equity was EUR 30.9 million, compared to EUR 28.8 in prior year; the company´s equity ratio grew from 49.0 % to 49.6 %.
The IT market relevant for adesso grew by 3% in 2010. The organic growth of 8 percentage points and total sales revenues growth of 20% therefore underscore the growth capabilities of adesso. However, profit goals were not achieved, despite the good performance in the second half of the year, as was forecast when the first half results were announced. Personnel costs grew disproportionately to sales revenues by 24% because of below plan capacity utilisation and lower average daily rates in the first half of the year. As a result, the EBITDA margin fell to 6.5% (prior year: 8.1%). EBITDA totalled EUR 5.6 million, following EUR 5.8 million in the prior year. Consolidated group profit amounted to EUR 2.5 million (prior year: EUR 3.6 million), due to increased amortisation of purchase price allocations associated with the acquisition of evu.it GmbH, as well as financial and tax effects.
For 2011, adesso expects growth in the IT sector of German speaking countries in an overall good economic environment of between 2.5% and 3.5%. With sales revenues growth of 7.5% to 10%, the adesso Group wants to continue its ambitious growth strategy and increase sales revenues to EUR 92 to 95 million. A 10% to 15% increase in operating profit, as measured in EBITDA, is expected, reaching EUR 6.2 to 6.5 million. The margin should be improved by increasing daily rates, higher average capacity utilisation and the actions taken at the beginning of the year to improve the personnel cost structure. In 2011, adesso will invest more in the build-up of its own industry solutions as a core of its future growth. The higher expense associated with this investment, EUR 1 million compared to prior year, is included in the 2011 EBITDA forecast. Without considering possible acquisitions, group consolidated profit in 2011 is planned to grow faster than operating profit.
In 2010, sales revenues grew in each core industry segment of adesso. The Banking segment performed especially well, thanks in part to several new major customers in Switzerland. The new adesso Public Sector core segment also performed well. In Austria, the company received an order worth more than EUR 6 million from Agrarmarkt Austria; in Germany, adesso won the large project Zensus 2011 from the German Federal Statistical Office.
evu.it GmbH, a renowned IT service provider in the sectors energy and water management that was acquired in 2010, achieved targets and contributed more than EUR 0.5 million to the operating profit of the overall company. However, the group consolidated profit was also negatively impacted by EUR 250 thousand resulting from the planned write-off of order backlog and customer lists as well as from the interest associated with the loan taken out to finance the acquisition. For 2011, however, a positive contribution to consolidated group profit is expected.
The products unit achieved its best result ever in 2010. Both the Mobile Solutions segment as well as the Content Solutions segment showed increased sales revenue and profits; this growth was based upon a large number of license sales to new customers. For the first time ever, license sales of over EUR 1 million were achieved abroad.
The complete annual report is available for download at www.adesso-group.de. Here you will also find important key figures in table format.
The Executive Board
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Contact:
Christoph Junge
Mitglied des Vorstands
Tel.: +49 231 930-9330
E-Mail: ir@adesso.de
Branche: Computing & Information Technology
ISIN: DE000A0Z23Q5
WKN: A0Z23Q
Index: CDAX
Börsen: Berlin / free trade
Hamburg / free trade
Stuttgart / free trade
Düsseldorf / free trade
München / free trade
Frankfurt / regulated dealing/general standard