SimCorp withdraws 2020 guidance due to outbreak of Covid-19 (Coronavirus)

Company Announcement no. 10/2020

SimCorp today announces that:

• SimCorp’s performance for the first two months of the year has been in line with its budget and expectations
• SimCorp remains in a strong financial position with a large part of the annual revenue being of a recurring nature, and as of today, signed revenue for full year 2020 is EUR 310m
• SimCorp still plans to pay dividends as set out in the notice of the Annual General Meeting, subject to shareholder approval
• SimCorp will continue the current EUR 10m phase of the share buy back program, but will not initiate the second EUR 10m phase of the program until the situation has stabilized
• SimCorp withdraws the existing guidance for 2020 due to increased uncertainty related to the impact of Covid-19

SimCorp’s performance for the first two months of the year has been in line with its budget and expectations, and it has so far only experienced minor negative changes in customer behaviour. However, the recent escalation of, and uncertainty caused by, the global Covid-19 outbreak could result in changes in customer behaviour having a greater negative impact on SimCorp’s 2020 performance, which cannot be estimated at this time. As a result, SimCorp withdraws its existing guidance for 2020.

SimCorp is in the process of analysing the potential impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on its 2020 performance, and is in addition implementing mitigating cost measures. Updated guidance for 2020 will be released as soon as the impact of the virus outbreak can be clearly assessed. SimCorp’s interim financial report for Q1 2020 is scheduled for release on May 19, 2020.

SimCorp remains in a strong financial position with a large part of the annual revenue being of recurring nature, and as of today, signed revenue for full year 2020 is EUR 310m. Thus, the Board still proposes to pay dividends as set out in the notice of the Annual General Meeting sent out on March 2, 2020, for shareholder approval. Further, it will continue executing on the first half of the share buy back program (EUR 10m) running from February 5, 2020 to July 31, 2020, as originally planned. However, SimCorp will not initiate the planned second EUR 10m part of the program until the situation has stabilized.

While measures have already been taken to secure business continuity in affected markets, SimCorp continues to monitor developments very closely to ensure appropriate and timely actions and precautions are taken across all markets. As part of its company policy, SimCorp closely follows the guidelines of local government authorities and international health organizations to continuously adjust to the situation. The company’s global crisis management team convenes for frequent status meetings to discuss updates and potential further measures to be taken.  

SimCorp CEO Klaus Holse comments: “It is important to stress that we remain committed to protecting the health and safety of our employees, clients and other stakeholders – for their own sake, and to maintain our short and long term service levels and business continuity to the fullest extent possible. At this point, our ability to service clients has only seen minor impact, as most of our services can be provided via remote connectivity tools, even where employees are working from home as a precaution or because of self-quarantine. Due to our global setup, which is well connected and supported by technology, our SimCorp Dimension as-a-Service operations will remain uneffected by the virus outbreak, and SimCorp’s Customer Support will maintain its normal service levels, offering global 24/7 support to clients who have signed up for it. When working with clients, and at clients locations, SimCorp staff will naturally adhere to any policy introduced by the client.”

Enquiries regarding this announcement should be addressed to:
Anders Hjort, Head of Investor Relations, SimCorp A/S (+45 3544 8822)
Anders Crillesen, SimCorp Corporate Communications (+45 3544 0000)