Quickbit publishes year-end report ‘22/23

Quickbit reports sales of €20.6 million in Q4 ’22/23, in line with what was previously announced. The gross margin was 3.9%. During the quarter, Quickbit continued to execute its cost savings programme and Quickbit Pay was launched. The new product has been well received by potential customers and Quickbit sees major potential in Quickbit Pay moving forward, which paves the way for what we call Quickbit 2.0.

Fourth quarter, April – June 2023 in summary

• Net sales totalled €20.6 million (69.3).
• Gross profit amounted to €0.8 million (3.0) with a gross margin of 3.9% (4.3).
• Adjusted EBITDA was €0.7 million (0.7).
• EBIT totalled €-7.8 million (-0.5).
• Basic earnings per share amounted to €-0.09 (-0.00).
   

Full-year summary for July 2022 – June 2023

• Net sales totalled €229.5 million (346.7).
• Gross profit amounted to €9.6 million (13.6) with a gross margin of 4.2% (3.9).
• Adjusted EBITDA was €4.9 million (2.4).
• EBIT totalled €-12.7 million (-0.9).
• Basic earnings per share amounted to €-0.14 (-0.02).
   

Events during the quarter

• Quickbit announced changes to its Board of Directors as Mikael Karlsson resigned as Chairman of the Board.
• At the request of shareholders who represented approximately 16.64% of voting rights in the company, Quickbit called an Extraordinary General Meeting in which Peter Liljeroos was elected as the new Chairman of the Board.
• Quickbit announced that the launch of Quickbit Pay was imminent while the launch of Quickbit Checkout was postponed.
• Quickbit announced that it had identified a solution for relaunching Quickbit Checkout together with a new partner in Q4 ’22/23.
• Quickbit announced a change to its Group Management Team with Daniel Boettge taking over as CFO in conjunction with the resignation of Sneha Patel, Head of Finance, from Quickbit.
• Quickbit announced that Daniel Sonesson had taken over the role as permanent CEO and Group President having previously acted as Interim CEO. In conjunction with this, Daniel left his position on the Board.
• Quickbit announced the launch of its B2B product Quickbit Pay, which has attracted very positive reactions from potential customers and considerable market interest.

Events after the quarter

• Quickbit announced preliminary net sales and EBIT for Q4 ‘22/23 that were significantly lower year-on-year.
• Quickbit published the Nomination Committee ahead of the 2023 Annual General Meeting comprising Scott Wilson (appointed by Aurentum LLP), Thomas Jonsson (appointed by Furuhem Fastigheter AB), Hammad Abuiseifan and Peter Liljeroos, Chairman of the Board.
• Quickbit announced the launch of an innovative Merchant Referral Program.

Comments by the CEO

I have now been part of Quickbit since February and have had the time to feel established to say the least. I am proud of the Board’s vote of confidence in appointing me to lead Quickbit as its permanent CEO since May. We have been prosperous in many aspects during the quarter, from enhancing the efficiency of operational processes to continuing to implement our cost-saving programme and focusing on new products. I am particularly pleased over the launch of Quickbit Pay, which was launched before the end of the quarter as previously promised. This is a major milestone for Quickbit and was launched together with Quickbit App, paving the way for a bright future for Quickbit, and what we call Quickbit 2.0.

Net sales in the quarter amounted to just over €20 million. The gross margin amounted to 3.9%, in line with indications from recent quarters. During the spring, we have worked hard on cost-savings as we are anticipating weaker earnings, the effects of which we will already feel during this quarter.

We previously realised that the older revenue models and structures surrounding this would change and need to be addressed in new ways, partly as a result of regulatory requirements and reduced volumes, but also due to increased competition. This has led to a transformation of Quickbit, restructuring the company into a more flexible and sales-oriented tech organisation. At the same time, Quickbit’s proprietary product, Quickbit Pay, means that we are no longer dependent on the same infrastructure as with previous sources of revenue, as Quickbit was previously one of many companies managing structures for larger transaction volumes.

In addition to the general operating environment and lower transaction flows from merchants, much of the decline in sales results from factors outside of Quickbit’s direct control. The older product has always been dependent on our partners electing to process major transaction volumes using the infrastructure that Quickbit provided. The size of these volumes has been difficult to predict, and Quickbit has not been in the driver’s seat for all decisions.

Since Quickbit is now live with Quickbit Pay, the company will be able to provide more parts of the value chain to customers and will thereby become a more market- and customer-oriented company than previously. As a result, we will be able to conduct better dialogue with our customers, gain deeper insight, develop our product in line with customer demand, and establish more stability and loyalty connected to revenue as a result of new strengthened customer relationships. However, it will take time before the company will fully realize this revenue due to the customary time to recruit customers with a new product, in this case, Quickbit Pay. On the other hand, new customers will generate higher margins and greater revenue quicker since Quickbit is no longer dependent on other companies. With that said, it remains to be seen how quickly customers will be able to turn over different major transaction volumes via Quickbit Pay compared with older alternatives. Quickbit will demonstrate to customers that Quickbit Pay is a more modern, safe, and smart alternative, but at the same time, we cannot control customer decisions. However, Quickbit Pay provides us with considerably greater control regarding revenue and higher margins, which is why this change was necessary for the company.

As a result of the transition from the older, more unpredictable transaction structure, the company needed to reduce its cost volume. As such, a cost-saving programme was initiated in February 2023. This was not only to save money but also to prepare the company to have the new organisation in place, which is necessary as a result of the new solutions. Moving forward, Quickbit will have a smaller facilitative focus and a greater focus on sales, products, and tech. As such, as revenue through Quickbit Pay grows, Quickbit will scale up again, but with an entirely new organisation with other skills that will be part of the new Quickbit 2.0.

As part of the cost-saving methods and the overview of how a new organisation should look, the company has also elected to review its legal structure. A decision was taken to divest operations in Gibraltar, which is under investigation by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission for operations before 2023. The operations in Gibraltar are no longer considered necessary for the organisation that Quickbit requires for future marketing. This also results in reduced complexity and lower costs.

The transition to Quickbit Pay is an incredible opportunity for Quickbit. Our unique solution has received excellent response from the first 10+ prospective customers we have conducted dialogue with. This solution and its uniqueness would not have been able to be developed with such good quality without the years of experience that Quickbit possessed in securing high transaction volumes. However, this will take time, and Quickbit has therefore attempted to establish a financing solution. We are currently working hard with this and will announce more on this note shortly.

Quickbit has also identified ways to increase attractiveness as a transaction manager in the older infrastructure with the use of new solutions such as Quickbit Checkout. However, this solution also requires partners to sell it to their merchants, which is a balance. Quickbit has everything to win by these merchants primarily choosing Quickbit Pay, but an extension of these high transaction volumes in the older infrastructure is welcome if they can provide and finance the transition of Quickbit becoming a full-service partner for its customers.

For me, Quickbit is entering a new era. We have been a credible and competent company in managing high transaction volumes, but with high unpredictability and no contact with decision-making end customers. With this transition, we will become Quickbit 2.0. We will have direct contact with all of our customers and become a modern, rapidly growing fintech organisation with global potential as Quickbit Pay addresses a global market of merchants. We are excited and are now looking forward to the marketing of this solution together with our strong ambitions.

With that, I would like to thank our employees, customers, partners, and shareholders, and welcome you to the next chapter of Quickbit’s journey – Quickbit 2.0.
 

Daniel Sonesson

CEO 

 

Regarding the auditors review report

Quickbit is currently having discussions regarding a financing solution, but would still like to draw attention to the following entry in the auditor's review report in the year-end report under the section Significant uncertainty factor regarding going concern:

Without qualifying our review report, we draw attention to the Risk and uncertainties section on page 6 in the interim report, where it is stated that the company’s future operations are dependent on additional financing being obtained. These conditions indicate that a material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

For further information, please contact:

Daniel Sonesson, CEO 

+ 46 73 530 30 25
ir@quickbit.com 

This release is published in Swedish and English. In the event of any differences between the English version and the Swedish original, the Swedish version takes precedence. 

This information is such information that Quickbit eu AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the above contact person, on Thursday, 20 July 2023 at 08:00 a.m CET.

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Quickbit is a Swedish fintech company, founded in 2016 with the goal of making the integration of cryptocurrencies into the everyday lives of people and companies smoother. Today, Quickbit offers safe and easy-to-use products for e-merchants as well as customers. With a transaction volume to date in excess of €1 billion, Quickbit has already enabled and empowered individuals around the world, through the use of cryptocurrencies. Quickbit has been listed on NGM Nordic SME since July 2019. For more information, please visit www.quickbit.com