q.beyond: robust growth in a challenging environment

• Revenues rise by 8% to € 42.0 million in second quarter of 2022
• Cloud business with ongoing double-digit growth
• Package of measures to accelerate growth in second half of 2022

Cologne, 8 August 2022 – q.beyond AG maintained its growth in the second quarter of 2022. In a challenging environment, revenues rose year-on-year by 8% to € 42.0 million. EBITDA for the same period rose to € 1.4 million, up from € 1.2 million in the previous year. The free cash flow improved to € -1.9 million, as against € -3.6 million in the previous year.

q.beyond managed to increase its revenues further even though all its business fields were affected by greater caution on the part of companies given the risk of recession and high inflation. Economic uncertainty in conjunction with pandemic-related restrictions had a negative impact on the SAP segment in particular. Revenues here amounted to € 8.3 million in the second quarter of 2022, compared with € 10.2 million in the previous year. By contrast, quarterly revenues in the larger Cloud & IoT segment grew year-on-year by 18% to € 33.8 million. This ongoing high growth momentum was driven by success in the operating business with cloud, IoT and software as a service (SaaS) solutions, as well as by the targeted acquisitions made in the past year.

Package of measures with four key focuses

q.beyond’s CEO, Jürgen Hermann, explains: “We generated further revenue growth in difficult conditions. That is a success, even if the level of growth fell short of our original expectations.” To create new growth momentum, while also preparing the company for the possibility of a prolonged recession, the Management Board has already introduced a package of measures with four key focuses.

The SAP segment will adapt its market alignment and further optimise its use of existing resources. The SaaS business, which is still being developed, will focus more clearly than previously on developing marketable products and services and launching these swiftly onto the market. These measures will be accompanied by optimised cost and liquidity management and a more clearly focused sales strategy, particularly with regard to cross-selling and upselling. New orders totalled € 106.3 million in the first half of 2022, compared with € 116.3 million in the previous year.

Decision not to pursue acquisition in energy sector

Furthermore, from now on the company will concentrate on the three focus sectors of retail, logistics and manufacturing, which accounted for 64% of revenues in the second quarter of this year. Energy, previously the fourth focus sector, has been massively affected by the consequences of the war in Ukraine and will initially not be prioritising measures to modernise its IT. Not least in view of this, q.beyond has decided not to pursue the potential acquisition in the energy sector presented at an investors’ conference at the beginning of April. This was also included in the outlook for the 2022 financial year as a whole.

A further reason not to pursue the acquisition was the change in underlying conditions following the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Given the risk of a recession and high inflation, q.beyond is prioritising the market maturity of the respective products and the ability of new subsidiaries to make positive earnings contributions from the outset. Where these requirements are met, the company will nevertheless continue in future as well to make targeted acquisitions of companies capable of strengthening and extending its portfolio. With net liquidity of € 44.2 million as of 30 June 2022, q.beyond has the necessary funds to finance further acquisitions from its own resources.

Strong second half of 2022 expected

q.beyond’s organic growth will be boosted in the second half of 2022 by the package of measures outlined above. These were introduced in response to the business performance not fully conforming to expectations, particularly in the SAP segment. If these measures show their planned effects, q.beyond will still be able to reach the targets published at the end of March for the 2022 financial year as a whole. Including one acquisition in the energy sector, these involved generating revenues of between € 180 million and € 200 million, EBITDA of between € 8 million and € 16 million, and free cash flow of up to € -10 million. Excluding the acquisition now called off and in view of the current business framework, our revenues and EBITDA will be at the lower end of these forecast ranges.

Based on current planning and like in the previous year, q.beyond expects to see a strong second half of the financial year. Driven by rising revenues, earnings will show disproportionate growth thanks to our scalable business model. This assumes that the underlying conditions in the German economy do not deteriorate any further. Based on this budget, q.beyond still plans for double-digit growth in its Cloud business, a significant increase in SaaS revenues and for the SAP segment to overcome the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Key figures at a glance

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. The complete Half-Year Financial Report is available at www.qbeyond.de/en/investor-relations.

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 1,100 people accompanies SME customers securely and reliably throughout their digital journey. We are experts in Cloud, SAP and SaaS. With nationwide locations and its own certified data centres, q.beyond 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