SimCorp reports revenue growth of 11% and EBIT margin of 27% for 2018

Company Announcement no. 1/2019

Q4 2018 highlights:

• A strong finish to the year led to reported Q4 2018 revenue of EUR 129.1m, EBIT of EUR 50.8m and EBIT margin of 39.4% compared with Q4 2017 reported revenue of EUR 114.2m, EBIT of EUR 45.9m and EBIT margin of 40.2%.
• Total order intake* was EUR 60.6m, an increase of EUR 11.3m or 22.9% compared with Q4 2017. Six new SimCorp Dimension and two new SimCorp Coric license deals were signed in Q4 2018.

FY 2018 highlights:

• Reported revenue was EUR 382.6m, an increase of 11.4% when compared with 2017, and organic revenue growth was 9.5%.
• Reported EBIT was EUR 103.3m compared with EUR 88.9m in 2017.
• Reported EBIT margin was 27.0% compared with 25.9% in 2017, driven by revenue growth, SimCorp Italiana contribution, and general cost focus. The organic EBIT margin was 26.9%.
• Measured in local currencies, SimCorp achieved revenue growth for 2018 of 13.2% and an EBIT margin of 27.3%, which was in line with the guidance for the year of revenue growth between 10% and 15% and an EBIT margin between 24.5% and 27.5%, both measured in local currencies.
• Net profit was EUR 77.0m compared with EUR 66.5m in 2017.
• Total order intake* was EUR 101.0m, an increase of EUR 19.2m or 23.4% compared with 2017. Ten new SimCorp Dimension and two new SimCorp Coric license deals were signed in 2018, of which five of the SimCorp Dimension and one of the SimCorp Coric deals were signed in the strategically important North American market.
• At December 31, 2018, the order book* amounted to EUR 45.5m, an increase of EUR 20.7m when compared with the order book at year-end 2017. The order book increased by EUR 15.1m in Q4 2018.
• Free cash flow was EUR 80.2m compared with EUR 51.3m in 2017 due to higher operating profit and positive working capital development in receivables, prepayments from clients and payables. The net cash position was EUR 47.5m compared with EUR 1.4m at year-end 2017.

* For comparison reason, the order intake and order book do not include SimCorp Italiana (Sofia).

• SimCorp enters 2019 with EUR 240.7m of the full year’s revenue signed, an improvement of EUR 24.9m or 11.5% compared with last year.
• The Board of Directors intends to recommend to shareholders at the Annual General Meeting 2019 that dividends be declared at the rate of DKK 6.75 per share compared with DKK 6.50 last year, equivalent to 47% of profit for the year and 45% of free cash flow in 2018.
• In addition, provided there will be no specific requirements for liquidity, SimCorp expects to buy back shares in 2019. The intention is to purchase shares for EUR 25m over the next 12 months in two half yearly buy-back programs of EUR 12.5m each.
• At the AGM 2019, Jesper Brandgaard will resign after 12 years as a member of the Board, 11 of these as Chairman. As new Chairman, the Board proposes the current Vice-Chairman, Peter Schütze. Morten Hübbe is proposed as new Vice-Chairman.

Financial guidance 2019

• For 2019, SimCorp expects revenue to grow between 8% and 13% and the EBIT margin to be between 25.5% and 28.5%, measured in local currencies.

Klaus Holse, SimCorp CEO comments: “For the first time, SimCorp generated EBIT of more than EUR 100m, and with revenue growth of more than 10%, we continue to deliver against our Vision 2020 aspirations of being a growth company driven by innovation. In 2018, we welcomed ten new SimCorp Dimension clients and two new SimCorp Coric clients, and extended the relationship with many of our existing clients confirming the value of our integrated offering.”

Investor presentation

SimCorp’s Executive Management Board will present the report at a conference call Wednesday, February 20, 2019 at 11:00 am (CET). Please use any of the following phone numbers to dial in to the conference call:

At the end of the presentation there will be a Q&A session.

It will also be possible to follow the presentation via this link:
https://edge.media-server.com/m6/p/3r8i6kro.

The presentation will be available prior to the conference call via SimCorp’s website http://www.simcorp.com/en/about/investor/presentations-and-events/quarterly-and-annual-investor-meetings.

The Annual Report 2018 is available via this link
https://www.simcorp.com/annual-report-2018

Enquiries regarding this announcement should be addressed to:
Investor contacts:
Klaus Holse, Chief Executive Officer, SimCorp A/S (+45 3544 8802, +45 2326 0000)
Michael Rosenvold, Chief Financial Officer, SimCorp A/S (+45 3544 8800, +45 5235 0000)
Anders Hjort, Head of Investor Relations, SimCorp A/S (+45 3544 8822, +45 2892 8881)

Media contact:
Anders Crillesen, Group Communications Director, (+45 3544 6474, +45 2779 1286)