Interim Report 3, 2019 - Continued strong organic growth and new CEO

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Speqta AB (plc) Interim Report for quarter 3, 2019 has now been made public and is available at https://speqta.com/investors/financial-reports 

Significant events during the third quarter

  • Revenues during the third quarter increased by 98 % to KSEK 25,505 (12,888).
  • Adjusted EBITDA increased by 300 % to KSEK 4,435 (1,109), with an operating margin of 17 % (9).
  • EBITDA increased by 243 % to KSEK 3,804 (1,109), with an operating margin of 15% (9).
  • The segment Shopping, increased sales by 139% to KSEK 21,281 (8,914). EBITDA increased by 223% and amounted to KSEK 4,866 (1,505). 
  • The segment Food & Beverages increased revenues by 7 % and thus amounted to SEK 4,220 (3,940). EBITDA increased with 116 % and amounted to KSEK 1,883 (871)
  • New CEO. On September 30, Fredrik Lindros began as new CEO. Fredrik has many years’ experience in Growth journey, Management consultancy, Media and Online- business. Fredrik most recent position was at EQT-owned IP-Only. In July, Fredrik acquired 101,598 shares in the company.
  • Shopello launched a new marketing channel, Shopello.net, which explains the service for European e-commerce stores. The expectation is that Shopello.net will increase its exposure to the market and be an effective complement to traditional outreach sales.
  • The Incentive programs 2019/2022 C and 2019/2022 D, which were approved at the Extraordinary General Meeting on August 13, were fully subscribed by key personnel in the company.

Significant events after the third quarter

  • Shopello runs a pilot of a Cost Per Order (CPO) model. CPO provides online retailers with more predictable costs for generated leads, since they pay a fixed percentage of sales. This is possible because we have invested in and built an intelligent platform. The company's assessment is that a CPO model will facilitate sales and growth within the segment. During October, the pilot was rolled out to a number of selected customers and is expected to reach additional customers by the end of Q4.
  • In November, Vinklubben launched a brand-new technical platform and website, which aims to increase the conversion. It provides an opportunity to work with more qualitative content and user interaction. Initial measurements show that it lives up to expectations and is appreciated by our customers, but more measuring points are required in order to assess the outcome. www.vinklubben.se

Comments from the CEO, short summary

“Continued strong growth – well positioned for the future”

Speqta continues to grow. Compared with third quarter last year, growth continued to be strong. Sales increased by 98%, of which organic growth accounted for 72 percentage points. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 300 % to KSEK 4,435 (1,109).

Proof of strength
This is a proof of strength. Not just because organic growth was strong during Q3. Speqta has also, compared to corresponding quarter previous years, shown growth for eight consecutive quarters. Our long-term growth, coupled with a positive EBITDA result, confirms our strategy in performance-based marketing.

Well positioned
Speqta is well positioned in the growing e-commerce market. Our business in Shopping is mainly supported by two strong market trends: 1) sales are increasingly generated online, 2) digital marketing linked to e-commerce continues to reach new highs every year.

Shopping shows solid growth
In the third quarter, business area Shopping grew by 139 % and EBITDA had a 223 % increase compared to the same period previous year. During the period, the number of online stores has grown to 3 400. Shopello is the driving-force behind the growth, with its intelligent product that creates high quality leads to our e-commerce customers.

Food & Beverage show stable results
The business area Food & Beverage is also growing. 7 % compared to the same period previous year and an increased EBITDA margin of 116 %. Sales is mainly driven by Vinklubben and we expect continued stable revenues and good margins. Vinklubben has, following the reporting period, launched a completely new technical platform aimed at increasing the conversion and provide the opportunity to work with more qualitative content and better user interaction.

Active acquisition agenda
We continue to conduct dialogues with a number of potential acquisition targets and attaches great importance to analyze that future acquisitions are strictly in line with our strategy. Growth potential, market positioning and good conditions for international expansion are some of the important parameters we are looking at.

Outlook
I took over as CEO on September 30. The goal is to take Speqta, together with our already strong offerings, even further. The founders; Andereas Friis and Jonas Söderqvist, and I look forward to combining our experiences and knowledge in our new roles. We are working hard and offensively to scale up the company to get to the next level and intend to continue to grow both organically and through acquisitions. The Board, the management and I are also updating our strategy with new long-term financial targets, which will be presented at the latest in connection with the next year-end report. Speqta is perfectly positioned in the market and has all the prerequisites for continued profitable and sustainable growth.

Upcoming Reports
Year end report 2019                                               February 20, 2020
Annual report 2019                                                  April 16, 2020

 

This information is such information that Speqta AB (plc) is obliged to publish in accordance with the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted, through the agency of the contact person below, for publication on November 14, 2019 at 08:30 CET

 

Media Contact:
Fredrik Lindros
CEO Speqta AB (plc)

Fredrik.lindros@speqta.com
+46 723 10 66 66


About Speqta
Speqta is a digital media house that owns and operates a leading international advertising network as well as several digital products and services within the performance-based marketing of e-commerce stores. Speqta has two business areas: Speqta Shopping and Speqta Food & Beverage. The company is listed on Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market in Stockholm under the ticker "speqt."

The company's Certified Adviser is Västra Hamnen Corporate Finance AB, telephone number: +46 40 20 02 50,
e-mail:
ca@vhcorp.se.