q.beyond: New orders expected to reach new record of more than € 180 million

Cologne, 23 November 2021 - At more than € 180 million, new orders at q.beyond AG in the current financial year are set to significantly exceed the previous year's record figure of € 161 million. The IT service provider is informing investors about this at its presentation at the Deutsches Eigenkapitalforum 2021. Jürgen Hermann, CEO of q.beyond, states the reasons for this further double-digit percentage growth in new orders, the decisive key figure for the company's medium-term revenue growth: "Demand is growing rapidly, particularly for cloud solutions. During the pandemic, many companies have accelerated the migration of their IT." Workplace digitalisation is making it easier for employees to switch flexibly between working in the office and working from home, and is thus promoting this approach.

Very strong new customer business in October 2021

In October 2021 alone, q.beyond acquired new orders of around € 20 million, with further project contracts due to be signed in the near future. Contracts generally have terms of three to five years, meaning that recurring revenues account for nearly 80 percent of q.beyond's total revenues. According to Jürgen Hermann, the company's customer relationships are set to deepen in the years ahead: "Our integration expertise is called for, particularly among SME players. Companies are on the lookout for a partner to enhance the whole of their IT in line with today's possibilities." Given these customer needs, q.beyond's broad position, which covers the entire digital value chain around the key technologies of Cloud, SAP and IoT, was proving its worth.

Strategic milestones implemented as planned

Jürgen Hermann takes stock at the Deutsches Eigenkapitalforum: "Step by step, we have done everything we said we would." q.beyond has pursued "2020plus", its ambitious growth strategy, since 2019. Alongside the attractive core business, key pillars of this strategy include a clear sector focus, platform innovations and targeted acquisitions. Five transactions have already been executed since the beginning of the year:

• q.beyond sold both its colocation subsidiaries in July and September 2021 and has since focused entirely on its Cloud, SAP and IoT business. Moreover, the sale price of around € 54 million (enterprise value) has increased its scope for acquisitions.
• q.beyond has accessed logistics, and thus a fourth focus sector alongside retail, manufacturing and energy, since May 2021. With Röhlig Logistics, the company immediately gained a major customer and partner for further sector-specific solutions.
• By acquiring datac, a specialist in modern workplace and collaboration solutions, in June 2021, q.beyond extended its existing digital workplace expertise. More than 100 Microsoft specialists currently support over 700 SME customers in a rapidly growing market.
• In July 2021, q.beyond invested in Snabble, a start-up whose innovative self-checkout solution is already in use at customers such as Aldi Suisse and tegut.

Accelerated growth in 2021

Thanks to the consistent implementation of its growth strategy, q.beyond has accelerated its revenue growth in the year to date. In the third quarter of 2021, revenues grew year-on-year by 14% to € 40.0 million. The company reached cash flow break-even in the third quarter of 2021, one quarter earlier than planned. Looking to the near future, Jürgen Hermann is optimistic despite the pandemic-related restrictions now foreseeable: "This further record level of new orders means we have a solid foundation to maintain our strong growth in the year ahead and beyond." The operating business was showing profitable growth and the M&A pipeline was well stocked. Several projects were currently being reviewed.

The company is also making good progress in expanding its platform business. For the StoreButler, an internally developed platform for retail store digitalisation, specific talks are underway with a first anchor customer. For the Edgizer, an operating system for miniature data centres that makes it possible to connect any number of terminals and sensors via edge devices, q.beyond aims to conclude an industrial cooperation in the first quarter of 2022.

Sustainable increase in company value

Jürgen Hermann explains: "In 2020, the highly regarded Lünendonk study singled out q.beyond as one of Germany's ten fastest-growing IT service providers. In percentage terms, our revenue growth was more than twice the average for all participants in the study. We aim to maintain this pace, driven by both organic growth and targeted acquisitions, and further sustainably increase the value of our company." Over the past four quarters, the company value has almost doubled. Analysts regularly covering q.beyond see further potential and have set an average current share price target of € 2.58. Three analysts, namely Warburg Research, Montega and Stifel (formerly Mainfirst), are recommending to their customers that they buy q.beyond shares, and have published share price targets of up to € 3.10.

q.beyond's presentation at Deutsches Eigenkapitalforum 2021 can be downloaded here: www.qbeyond.de/en/ir-publications

Notes:
This Corporate News contains forward-looking statements that are based on current expectations and forecasts on the part of the management with regard to future events. Due to risks or erroneous assumptions, actual events may deviate materially from these forward-looking statements.

About q.beyond AG:
q.beyond AG is the key to successful digitalisation. We help our customers find the best digital solutions for their business and then put them into practice. Our strong team of 1,000 people accompanies SME customers securely and reliably throughout their digital journey. We are experts in Cloud, SAP and IoT.

q.beyond AG resulted from the rebranding of QSC AG in September 2020. With nationwide locations and its own certified data centres, it is one of Germany's leading IT service providers.

Contact:
q.beyond AG
Arne Thull
Head of Investor Relations/Mergers & Acquisitions
T +49 221 669-8724
[email protected]
www.qbeyond.de