Qt Group Plc: Half-Year Report January-June 2023
This release is a summary of Qt Group Plc’s Half-Year Report January-June 2023. The complete report is attached to this release as a PDF file, and it is also available on the company's website at www.qt.io/investors
Second quarter 2023: Profitable growth continued despite challenges in the operating environment
April-June 2023
- Net sales increased 17.2 percent to EUR 43.5 million (EUR 37.1 million). The effect of exchange rates on the comparison period’s net sales was EUR -0.6 million and at comparable exchange rates, net sales increased by 19.0 percent.
- Operating profit (EBITA) was EUR 12.5 million (EUR 10.0 million) or 28.7 percent (26.9 %) of net sales.
- Operating profit (EBIT) was EUR 10.5 million (EUR 9.1 million) or 24.1 percent (24.4 %) of net sales.
- Earnings per share were EUR 0.31 (EUR 0.41).
January-June 2023
- Net sales increased 21.5 percent to EUR 83.4 million (EUR 68.7 million). The effect of exchange rates on the comparison period’s net sales was EUR 0.1 million and at comparable exchange rates, net sales increased by 21.3 percent.
- Operating profit (EBITA) was EUR 20.3 million (EUR 15.6 million) or 24.3 percent (22.7 %) of net sales.
- Operating profit (EBIT) was EUR 16.3 million (EUR 13.7 million) or 19.5 percent (20.0 %) of net sales.
- Earnings per share were EUR 0.48 (EUR 0.56).
The figures in brackets refer to the comparison period, i.e., the corresponding period in the previous year. The percentage of change in net sales at comparable exchange rates is calculated by translating the net sales from the comparison period 2022 with the actual exchange rates of the reporting period 2023 and by comparing the reported net sales in 2023 with the calculated 2022 net sales at comparable exchange rates.
Key figures
|
EUR 1,000 |
4-6/2023 |
4-6/2022 |
Change, % |
1-6/2023 |
1-6/2022 |
Change, % |
1-12/2022 |
|
Net sales |
43,469 |
37,090 |
17.2% |
83,440 |
68,661 |
21.5% |
155,318 |
|
Operating profit (EBITA) |
12,492 |
9,971 |
25.3% |
20,292 |
15,558 |
30.4% |
42,249 |
|
EBITA, % |
28.7% |
26.9% |
|
24.3% |
22.7% |
|
27.2 % |
|
Operating profit (EBIT) |
10,484 |
9,052 |
15.8% |
16,277 |
13,720 |
18.6% |
36,870 |
|
EBIT, % |
24.1% |
24.4% |
|
19.5% |
20.0% |
|
23.7 % |
|
Return on equity, % |
8.5% |
19.0% |
|
13.2% |
26.2% |
|
49.6 % |
|
Return on investment, % |
8.5% |
12.6% |
|
13.1% |
19.1% |
|
41.5 % |
|
Interest-bearing liabilities1 |
29,051 |
19,934 |
45.7% |
29,051 |
19,934 |
45.7% |
28,159 |
|
Cash and cash equivalents1 |
26,821 |
18,615 |
44.1% |
26,821 |
18,615 |
44.1% |
8,815 |
|
Net gearing, % 1 |
2.3% |
2.4% |
|
2.3% |
2.4% |
|
22.3 % |
|
Equity ratio, % 1 |
56.6% |
52.7% |
|
56.6% |
52.7% |
|
52.8 % |
|
Earnings per share (EPS), EUR |
0.31 |
0.41 |
-23.5% |
0.48 |
0.56 |
-13.6% |
1.36 |
|
Diluted earnings per share, EUR |
0.31 |
0.40 |
-21.6% |
0.48 |
0.55 |
-11.5% |
1.36 |
|
Personnel, on average |
717 |
574 |
25.0% |
708 |
555 |
27.7% |
603 |
1 At the end of the period
Juha Varelius, President and CEO
In the second quarter of 2023, Qt Group’s net sales increased 19 percent at comparable currencies and were EUR 43 million. The sales of developer licenses for embedded devices increased well, which supports the income from distribution licenses in the long term. Net sales from distribution licenses have developed well throughout the review period. Challenging macroeconomic operating environment was perceivable in particular in our North American sales and demand for consulting services.
EBITA amounted to EUR 12 million during the second quarter, an increase of 25 percent compared to the previous year. EBITA margin was 29 percent. Due to the scalability of our business and good financial performance, our ability to ensure profitability is at a very good level. We have continued to make necessary growth investments in sales to support our growth objectives.
The release of Qt 6.5 LTS in April brought several new functionalities and improvements to graphics, UI development, and the application backend. The new Qt Quick Effect module provides ready-to-use graphical effects that can be easily combined without compromising performance. Additionally, we enhanced connections to web services across different modules, making integrating web-based functionalities into applications smoother and facilitating data exchange between devices. In the second quarter, we also released versions of Axivion Suite 7.6, Qt for MCUs 2.5 LTS, and Qt Design Studio 4.2 software, among others.
Ensuring a smooth product development process and delivering a top-notch user experience to end customers are essential for our customers, and we have a very good opportunity to boost net sales growth in the second half of the year. We keep our outlook for the full year 2023 unchanged.
Outlook for 2023
We estimate that our full-year net sales for 2023 will increase by 20-30 percent year-on-year at comparable exchange rates and that our operating profit margin (EBITA-%) will be 20-30 percent in 2023.
News conference
A news conference, where CEO Juha Varelius and CFO Jouni Lintunen will present the results, will be held on August 3, 2023, at 15.00-16.00 EEST in Helsinki, Finland and as a webcast at http://www.qt.io/investors. Analysts and investors can participate in the news conference in person and via conference call at https://palvelu.flik.fi/teleconference/?id=10010163
Further information:
President and CEO Juha Varelius, tel. +358 9 8861 8040
Distribution:
Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd.
Key media
www.qt.io