USU Group Confirms Annual and Medium-Term Planning with Business Figures for the First Quarter of 2019

• Revenue rises by 4.6% to EUR 22.0 million
• Workforce expansion and ongoing trend to SaaS solutions impact result
• Record orders on hand as of March 31, 2019
• Planning anticipates further growth and significantly improved earnings

According to the figures for the first quarter of 2019 published today, the largest European solution provider for digital customer services increased its consolidated revenue (IFRS) by 4.6% to EUR 22.0 million (Q1 2018: EUR 21.0 million). The USU Group (“USU”, ISIN DE000A0BVU28) thus benefited in particular from the growing cloud and maintenance business, which grew by a disproportionately high 14.7% year-on-year to EUR 6.7 million (Q1 2018: EUR 5.9 million). However, USU also increased its license business in Q1 2019 by 7.1% on the same quarter of the previous year to EUR 3.0 million (Q1 2018: EUR 2.8 million).

However, investments in the further workforce expansion and the transformation from the one-time license business to increasing cloud income had a negative impact on earnings for the first quarter of 2019. The earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell 6.3% from the comparative figure for the previous year to EUR 1.0 million (Q1 2018: EUR 1.1 million). At the same time, USU generated earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of EUR -0.2 million (Q1 2018: EUR 0.4 million).  Consolidated earnings totaled EUR -0.6 million (Q1 2018: EUR 0.5 million), equivalent to earnings per share of EUR -0.06 (Q1 2018: EUR 0.04).

Earnings before interest and taxes adjusted for extraordinary effects due to acquisitions (adjusted EBIT) decreased year-on-year to EUR 0.2 million in the first three months of 2019 (Q1 2018: EUR 0.8 million). At the same time, consolidated earnings declined to EUR -0.3 million (Q1 2018: EUR 0.5 million). Adjusted earnings per share thus declined from EUR 0.04 in the previous year to EUR -0.03.

For 2019 as a whole, the Management Board is again forecasting stronger growth in revenue and, in particular, operating earnings in continuation of the long-term growth trend. One key indicator supporting this is Group-wide orders on hand, which set a new record on March 31, 2019, increasing by 12.2% year-on-year to EUR 51.8 million (Q1 2018: EUR 46.1 million). In this respect, the planning for 2019 is confirmed, with consolidated revenue set to increase to between EUR 98 million and EUR 101 million and adjusted EBIT to grow to between EUR 7.5 million and EUR 10 million. At the same time, the Management Board is reiterating its medium-term planning for 2021 of consolidated revenue of EUR 140 million and adjusted EBIT of EUR 20 million. These figures include growth due to acquisitions of approximately EUR 15 million. Strategic planning focuses on the three established growth pillars of the USU Group: increased internationalization, the development and launch of new product innovations and growth through acquisitions.