EQS Group AG has an excellent start to 2021

Strong revenue growth and increase in number of new customers during the first quarter

- 158 new SaaS customers

- Revenue grows by 26 percent

- EBITDA of EUR 309 thousand on plan (previous year EUR 799 thousand)

- EBITDA of EUR 1.23 million, adjusted for higher marketing & sales expenses

- New annual recurring business volume amounts to EUR 1.44 million

- Integration of Got Ethics A/S already successfully completed

- Number of SaaS customers rises, including acquisitions, to 3,260

Munich - May 14, 2021

EQS Group AG (ISIN: DE0005494165) started dynamically to the new year. In the months of January to March, the Group generated sales revenue of EUR 10.55 million (previous year EUR 8.35 million). That means an increase of 26 percent compared with the same period in the previous year. The EBITDA declined as expected to EUR 309 thousand (previous year EUR 799 thousand). The consolidated net profit for the year stood at EUR -926 thousand. Earnings per share amounted accordingly to EUR -0.11.

A volume of EUR 1.44 million is calculated for the new ARR indicator, which quantifies the new contractually agreed annual volume of recurring business. The number of new SaaS customers is 158.

The Group's revenue growth in the first quarter is in line with expectations and characterised by a significant increase in the sale of Compliance Cloud products. The acquisitions of Got Ethics A/S and C2S2 GmbH contributed by EUR 728 thousand. Other growth impulses came from the ESEF regulation which was applied for the first time for the filing of financial reports of quoted companies.

Expenses for marketing and sales were gradually increased, as planned, in view of the implementation of the European Whistleblower Directive, in order to create the best possible starting position for customer acquisitions. This is leading to a temporary strain on earnings. Adjusted by these higher extra expenses, the Group's EBITDA amounted to EUR 1.23 million. The obligation for companies in the European Union to introduce an internal whistleblower channel until the end of 2021 offers a high growth potential for Compliance Cloud products.

Segment development

Revenue in the Compliance segment rose by 35 percent. In the Investor Relations segment, revenue went up by 17 percent.

The annual recurring revenue at Group level in the first quarter was 82 percent. For SaaS customers in Germany, the figure is 85 percent. This is based on a customer base of 1,297 customers.

Achim Weick, Founder and CEO of the EQS Group AG: "Our Group has started the new financial year very strongly. We were able to acquire more than 150 new SaaS customers and thus increased our SaaS customers to more than 3,200, together with the latest acquisitions of Got Ethics S/A and C2S2 GmbH. The integration of Got Ethics has already been completed successfully. We are very confident that we will be able to achieve a high market penetration with the establishment of whistleblower systems in Europe."

Prospects
Further growth in 2021 with higher marketing and sales expenditure related to the implementation of the EU Whistleblower Directive.

For the 2021 financial year, the Executive Board is planning an increase in revenue of 20 to 30 percent to between EUR 45 million and EUR 49 million. Investments in marketing and sales for the acquisition of new customers in relation to the implementation of the EU Whistleblower Directive will temporarily lead to a lower EBITDA in the range of EUR 1 million to EUR 2 million. we expect a volume of at least EUR 6 million for the new ARR performance indicator, which quantifies the newly concluded annual recurring business volume. In addition, 1,500 to 2,000 new customers are to be acquired, the majority of them for the whistleblower systems product area.

The Executive Board will be explaining the business results in today's video conference from 11.00 a.m. (CEST). Login is not necessary. It will be broadcast live online at https://www.webcast-eqs.com/eqs20210514. Questions can be asked using the Q&A feature (chat) beforehand or during the webcast.

* EBITDA adjusted for additional expenses into Marketing and Sales
** Prior-year figures partly adjusted. We refer to Point 2.4 Changes in the previous year's figures in the notes of the annual report 2020

More information:

The figures for Q1 2021 are unaudited.

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EQS Group is a leading international provider of regulatory technology (RegTech) in the fields of corporate compliance and investor relations. In working with EQS Group, thousands of companies worldwide inspire trust by fulfilling complex national and international disclosure obligations, minimizing risks and communicating transparently with stakeholders.

EQS Group's products are pooled in the cloud-based software EQS COCKPIT. They ensure the professional control of compliance workflows in the fields of whistleblower protection and case management, policy management, approval management, insider list management and disclosure obligations. In addition, listed companies benefit from a global newswire, investor targeting and contact management, IR websites, digital reports and webcasts for efficient and secure investor communications.

EQS Group was founded in 2000 in Munich, Germany. Today the group employs 450 professionals and has offices in the world's key financial markets.

Contact:

André Marques

CFO

Tel.: +49 89-444430033

Mobile: +49 175-5250009

Email.: [email protected]