Interim Management Statement Q1 2017

Columbus delivers a solid start to the year with 13% revenue growth In the first quarter of 2017, Columbus delivers revenue growth of 13% and an increase in EBITDA* of 14%. The growth is primarily driven by strong growth in the services business.


 

Release no. 15/2017

In accordance with the regulations for listed companies’ submission of interim statements, Columbus A/S hereby submits the interim management statement for the period 01.01.2017-31.03.2017 (3 months).

Release no. 15, 2017 – Interim Management Statement for Q1 2017
April 25th, 2017

 

Growth driven by the services business

Revenue in Q1 2017 amounted to DKK 310m (2016: DKK 275m), corresponding to an increase of 13% compared to the same period last year. EBITDA* amounted to  DKK 29m (2016: DKK 26m), corresponding to an increase of 14%.

 

The revenue growth was primarily driven by a solid growth in revenue in the services business of 18%.

The increase in EBITDA was also driven by an increase in earnings in the services business of 33%.

 

Financial value drivers (KPI’s)

In connection with the Columbus2020 strategy, the Group has determined three value drivers, which reflect the strategic direction. The value drivers measure the development in relation to significant success criteria for future growth and value creation.

 

  • Improve profitability in the services business
  • Scaling of own software sales
  • Growth in recurring revenue

 

Below, the development in these three financial value drivers are reviewed.

Growth and increased earnings in the services business

In Q1 2017 the revenue in the services business increased by 18% to DKK 225m (2016: DKK 192m). The increase primarily came from an increase in realized hourly rates and the effect from acquisitions made in 2016 and 2017.

 

In Q1 2017 the service EBITDA increased from  DKK 20m to DKK 26m, an increase of 33%. The increase primarily came from the higher realized hourly rates and acquisitions. Furhermore, a major parameter for the improvement in the Service EBITDA was increased utilization of Columbus’ Global Delivery Center in India.

Chargeable hours declined from 58% to 55% in the first quarter of the year, affected by a decrease in chargeable hours in the US SMB business, as well as by a normalization of the chargeable hours in England and Russia.   

 

Columbus Software sales increased by  5%
I n Q1 2017 the sale of Columbus Software increased by 5%. As a consequence of the cloud conversion license sales decreased by 20%. However, the cloud revenue increased to DKK 664,000.

The revenue from subscriptions increased by  17% due to a satisfactory renewal rate of previous year’s sale of licenses. The sale of Columbus Software developed according to plan.

 

Growth in recurring revenue

The recurring revenue consists of  Columbus Software subscriptions, third party software subscriptions, cloud revenue, hosting revenue and ColumbusCare contracts.

Recurring revenue increased by 17%.

 

The sale of ColumbusCare contracts increased significantly by 62%, which is a satisfactory development.

Recurring revenue constituted 24.4% of total revenue (2016: 23.6%). The development is according to plan.

 

Acquisitions in 2017
In January 2017 Columbus acquired the US IT services company, Tridea Partners, which holds a leading positon within ERP and CRM in the growing food and beverage industry in the US.

Columbus maintains expectations to  2017

Columbus maintains the announced expectations to revenue, EBITDA1, Service EBITDA and dividend in 2017:

  • Revenue in the level of DKK 1.35bn.
  • EBITDA* in the level of DKK 150m.
  • Service EBITDA of DKK 80m.
  • 10% dividend on nominal share capital

Latest developmentsNo events or transactions with a material effect on the company’s financial position have occurred since the balance sheet date.

 

*EBITDA before share-based payment

 

DKK ´000 Q1 2017 Q1 2016 2016
Columbus licenses 6,387 7,973 44,187
Columbus subscriptions 12,859 10,417 46,876
External licenses 16,967 18,210 86,495
External subscriptions 42,995 42,108 195,164
Services 225,089 191,557 796,401
Other 5,755 5,066 23,584
Total net revenue 310,053 275,331 1,192,707
       
EBITDA before share-based payment 29,454 25,908 144,070
Share-based payment -597 -546 -5,524
EBITDA 28,857 25,362 138,546

 

Ib Kunøe
Chairman
Columbus A/S
 
Thomas Honoré
CEO & President
Columbus A/S
For further information, please contact:
CEO & President, Thomas Honoré .: +45 70 20 50 00
 

 

Translation: In the event of any inconsistency between this document and the Danish language version, the Danish language version shall be the governing version.

 

Income statement

 

 

DKK ´000 Q1 2017 Q1 2016 2016
       
Net revenue 310,053 275,331 1,192,707
External project costs -60,371 -52,677 -264,601
Gross profit 249,682 222,654 928,106
       
Staff expenses and remuneration -178,584 -160,439 -631,675
Other external costs -41,669 -36,223 -158,982
Other operating income 25 0 6,685
Other operating costs 0 -84 -64
EBITDA before share-based payment 29,454 25,908 144,070
       
Share-based payment -597 -546 -5,524
EBITDA 28,857 25,362 138,546
       
Depreciation -9,778 -7,501 -33,275
Operating profit (EBIT) 19,079 17,861 74,843
       
Financial income 18 90 2,674
Financial expense -2,388 -1,754 -642
Profit before tax 16,709 16,197 107,303

 

 

Financial income and expenses

Financial income and expenses primarily concerns exchange rate adjustments in relation to group receivables and monetary items.

Balance sheet

 

 

DKK ´000 Q1 2017 Q1 2016 2016
       
ASSETS      
       
Goodwill 464,391 339,962 415,152
Customer base 34,370 29,977 30,562
License rights 19 0 17
Development projects finalized 64,541 55,781 59,354
Development projects in progress 5,310 5,319 8,491
Property, plant and equipment 15,975 16,293 17,142
Deferred tax assets 21,086 18,581 17,053
Total non-current assets 605,692 465,913 547,771
       
Inventories 688 1,228 205
       
Trade receivables 136,582 119,950 151,475
Contract work in progress 13,815 17,858 8,994
Corporate tax receivables 6,429 346 11,531
Deferred tax assets 3,400 7,500 7,500
Other receivables 7,107 10,368 8,155
Prepayments 13,711 10,622 7,206
Receivables 181,044 166,644 194,861
       
Cash 64,918 52,333 94,669
       
Total current assets 246,650 220,205 289,735
       
TOTAL ASSETS 852,342 686,118 837,506

 

Balance sheet

 

DKK ´000 Q1 2017 Q1 2016 2016
       
EQUITY AND LIABILITIES      
       
Share capital 149,832 142,123 145,247
Reserves on foreign currency translation -7,163 -16,302 -6,475
Retained profit 360,454 270,400 331,041
Group shareholders’ equity 503,123 396,221 469,813
Minority interests 2,653 2,791 1,774
Equity 505,776 399,012 471,587
       
Deferred tax 10,619 6,436 10,614
Provisions 18,008 13,049 11,532
Non-current liabilities 28,627 19,485 22,146
       
Debt to credit institutions 20,607 1,302 29,091
Client prepayments 27,885 30,077 33,645
Trade payables 48,033 43,080 66,211
Corporate tax payables 19,209 9,528 24,177
Other liabilities 157,118 151,660 157,228
Accruals 45,087 31,974 33,421
Current liabilities 317,939 267,621 343,773
       
Total liabilities 346,566 287,106 365,919
       
TOTAL EQUITY AND LIABILITIES 852,342 686,118 837,506

 

In order to support decisions about allocation of resources and assessment of performance of the segments, the Group’s internal reporting to the Board of Directors of the Parent Company is based on the following grouping of operating segments:

 

Strategic business areas Description       Geographical segment
ISV (Independent Software Vendor) Development and sale of industry-specific software within Columbus' three focus industries: Retail, food and manufacturing No specific area
Consultancy Sale, implementation and service of standard business systems. Western Europe
Eastern Europe
North America
Information about the Group’s segments is stated below.
             
    Consultancy    
DKK ´000 ISV Western
Europe
Eastern
Europe
North
America
HQ, GDC and Eliminations Total
             
Q1 2017            
             
Columbus Software licenses 5,523 2,777 721 159 -2,793 6,387
Columbus Software subscriptions 10,020 4,151 449 1,257 -3,018 12,859
External licenses 0 5,031 3,523 8,481 -68 16,967
External subscriptions 0 12,414 5,138 25,450 -7 42,995
Services 4,177 119,095 25,662 79,530 -3,375 225,089
Other 283 2,645 423 2,688 -284 5,755
Total net revenue 20,003 146,113 35,916 117,565 -9,545 310,053
             
Gross profit 16,949 114,996 28,095 82,783 6,859 249,682
EBITDA 9,679 18,055 4,279 3,941 -7,097 28,857
             
             
    Consultancy    
DKK ´000 ISV Western
Europe
Eastern
Europe
North
America
HQ, GDC and Eliminations Total
             
Q1 2016            
             
Columbus Software licenses 6,678 2,157 378 417 -1,657 7,973
Columbus Software subscriptions 9,107 2,758 321 1,078 -2,847 10,417
External licenses 0 5,140 2,119 10,964 -13 18,210
External subscriptions 0 15,104 4,807 22,284 -87 42,108
Services 3,869 109,570 20,998 63,389 -6,269 191,557
Other 196 2,330 409 2,082 49 5,066
Total net revenue 19,850 137,059 29,032 100,214 -10,824 275,331
             
Gross profit 18,976 105,945 23,011 67,480 7,242 222,654
EBITDA 9,696 13,934 2,427 5,278 -5,973 25,362

 

 

 

 


Attachments

SE_15_2017_Interim_management_statement_for_Q1_2017.pdf