Digia Plc’s Financial Statement Bulletin 2019

Digia Plc’s Financial Statement Bulletin 2019

A strong close to a year of growth: October–December net sales rise by 20.8% and operating profit improves by 111.4%

October–December 2019

• Net sales: EUR 37.7 (31.2) million, up 20.8 per cent
• EBITA operating profit EUR 3.5 (1.7) million; up 108.6%, EBITA margin 9.2% (5.3%) of net sales
• Operating profit: EUR 3.0 (1.4) million, up 111.4 per cent, operating margin: 8.0 (4.6) per cent of net sales
• Earnings per share: EUR 0.08 (0.04)

January–December 2019

• Net sales: EUR 131.8 (112.1) million, up 17.6 per cent
• EBITA operating profit EUR 11.0 (7.3) million; up 51.1%, EBITA margin 8.3% (6.5%) of net sales
• Operating profit: EUR 9.6 (6.5) million, up 48.6 per cent, operating margin: 7.3 (5.8) per cent of net sales
• Earnings per share: EUR 0.27 (0.18)
• Return on investment: 13.5 (10.6) per cent
• Equity ratio: 47.2 (54.9) per cent
• Digia’s Board of Directors proposes the payment of a dividend of EUR 0.10 per share (EUR 0.07 per share in 2018).
• Profit guidance for 2020: Digia's net sales will grow and operating profit (EBITA) will improve compared to 2019.

Unless otherwise stated, the comparison figures provided in parentheses refer to the corresponding period of the previous year. Going forward, in addition to operating profit (EBIT), Digia will also report its operating profit (EBITA), which is operating profit before amortisation of acquisition costs. From now on, Digia’s profitability-related financial target and profit guidance will be based on operating profit (EBITA).

Digia’s new strategy and financial objectives for 2020–2022

In the strategy period 2020–2022, Digia seeks annual net sales growth exceeding 10% including organic growth and acquisitions. The target level of profitability improvement is an EBITA margin of 10 per cent by the end of the strategy period.

Digia's new strategy for 2020–2022, Next Level, is the next logical step in the company’s growth journey. In the strategy, we place particular emphasis on the potential of data utilisation in our customers' services and business processes. For more information, see the stock exchange release published on 7 February 2020.

GROUP KEY FIGURES

Digia has adopted IFRS 16 Leases retrospectively as from 1 January 2019; comparative information has not been restated, but the impacts of the adoption of IFRS 16 have been recorded as adjustments in the opening balance sheet for 2019. The effect of IFRS 16 on the lease payment obligation recognised in Digia’s balance sheet as at 1 January 2019 amounted to EUR 11.2 million. Right-of-use assets as per IFRS 16 amounted to EUR 11.2 million on 1 January 2019 and EUR 9.2 million on 31 December 2019. The adoption of IFRS 16 has impacted, for instance, on certain key figures calculated from the balance sheet and the cash flow statement. IFRS 16 does not have a material impact on the operating profit or result for the review period.

PRESIDENT & CEO TIMO LEVORANTA:

“I am pleased with the improvement in Digia’s performance and profitable growth in the 2019 fiscal year. In line with our objectives, Digia’s net sales experienced extremely vigorous growth in the last quarter, with strong growth being seen throughout the 2019 fiscal year. At the same time, both our operating profit and operating margin improved significantly in both the last quarter and the entire 2019 fiscal year. These results show that we are on the right path in implementing our strategy.

In the fourth quarter, our net sales rose to almost EUR 38 million, representing growth of 21 per cent on the previous year. Full-year net sales totalled about EUR 132 million, which is a year-on-year increase of 17.6 per cent. Organic growth amounted to 8.6 per cent during the fourth quarter and 8.4 per cent during the fiscal year. The acquisitions of Accountor Enterprise Solution Oy and Starcut Oy also contributed to net sales growth.

Both the service and maintenance business and the project business saw good growth. Services and maintenance accounted for about 62 per cent of full-year net sales and the project business for about 38 per cent. 

In addition to net sales growth, I am also very satisfied with the development of our operating profit. Fourth-quarter operating profit (EBIT) totalled EUR 3.0 (1.4) million and full-year operating profit EUR 9.7 (6.5) million. The operating margin (EBIT-%) was 8.0 (4.6) per cent of total net sales for the fourth quarter and 7.3 (5.8) per cent for the fiscal year as a whole. The long-term, systematic development of our operations is the main reason for our strong earnings performance. I expect that our operating profit will also develop favourably in 2020.

Digia’s overall offering has been proven to work, as all five of our service areas increased their net sales both in the fourth quarter and during the year as a whole. Particularly strong growth was seen in Microsoft business systems, integrations and API (that is, application programme interfaces), and analytics. The growing need for cloud integration and API management solutions and, in the analytics business, knowledge-based management and data warehouse expertise was also evident in demand. The smart utilisation of data in business is both a strengthening trend and a key success factor for Digia.

Digital solutions have become an increasingly critical aspect of our customers’ core business. One clear indication of this is our customers’ growing need for round-the-clock (24/7) monitoring of business processes. For example, the number of customers using Digia Iiris – which is part of our monitoring service offering – doubled during 2019, while the number of measurement points also increased significantly. Digia Iiris extends monitoring to cover not only technical functionality but also processes relating to the customer experience. Digia Iiris utilises both commercial technologies and our own product development. This solution is used by companies such as HSL, for whom Digia Iris provides an operational view and visibility of the monitored systems, including 24/7 fault management.

Customer experience is a decisive factor in, for example, the customer loyalty app we provide for Stockmann; the Holiday Club and Etra webstores; and Helsinki Regional Transport Authority’s HSL app, which is one of Finland’s most popular apps.

Skilled personnel who are committed to the objectives of our customers form the cornerstone of our operations. During 2019 the number of Digia employees rose by 175 to an average of 1,186. During the year, we encapsulated the cultural principles that support both personal and business growth at Digia: learning, sharing, courage and professional pride.

Digia’s strength lies in its broad-ranging and profound technological expertise combined with an encouraging and evolving workplace culture. During the fiscal year, we continued to develop our culture and profound expertise through training programmes and by supporting job rotation opportunities and a variety of different ways of sharing knowledge. We also continued our Effective Manager leadership programme, which has received excellent feedback. I was also delighted to see that we scored our highest ever results in the Pulse survey, which measures the smoothness of cooperation.

We believe in a world in which value is created in ecosystems through smart data management.”

PROFIT GUIDANCE FOR 2020

Profit guidance for 2020: Digia's net sales will grow and operating profit (EBITA) will improve compared to 2019.

BRIEFING INVITATION

Digia will hold a briefing for analysts on Friday 7 February 2020 at 11 am at the Business Meeting Park, Helsinki (Forum, Mannerheimintie 20 B). Welcome.

The material and presentation for the event will be available from 11 am on 7 February 2019 on the company’s website: www.digia.com/en/investors/reports-and-presentations.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND ANNUAL REPORT 2019

Digia Plc’s 2019 Annual Report will be published on 21 February 2020 in electronic format on the company’s website digia.com/en/investors/reports-and-presentations.

The Board of Directors' report and the financial statements for 2019 will be published as part of the Annual Report.

FURTHER INFORMATION

President & CEO Timo Levoranta, tel. (exchange) +358 (0)10 313 3000

DISTRIBUTION

Nasdaq Helsinki
Key media
digia.com

Digia Financial Statement Bulletin 2019.pdf