USU Software AG and its subsidiaries (hereinafter also referred to as the “USU Group” or “USU”) once again generated considerable growth in the first quarter of 2023.
- Sales growth of 12.6% to EUR 33.3 million
- International sales up 13.1% to EUR 7.1 million
- SaaS sales up 21.5% to EUR 4.0 million
- EBITDA grows by 10.2% to EUR 3.8 million
- Orders on hand reach all-time high of EUR 89.5 million
- Management Board confirms forecast
USU’s consolidated sales increased by 12.6% year-on-year to EUR 33.3 million in the first three months of 2023 (Q1 2022: EUR 29.6 million). After the leading provider of solutions for digital IT and customer services saw international sales decline in previous quarters on account of the pandemic, international business returned to above-average growth in the reporting quarter, rising by 13.1% to EUR 7.1 million
(Q1 2022: EUR 6.3 million).
Broken down by sales type, software-as-a-service (SaaS) sales saw above-average growth of 21.5% year-on-year to EUR 4.0 million (Q1 2022: EUR 3.3 million). USU benefited from the trend towards cloud solutions, although this did have a negative impact on license revenue as expected. Accordingly, license revenue halved to EUR 1.3 million compared with the previous year (Q1 2022: EUR 2.6 million). Rising maintenance income also meant that USU increased its recurring revenue (maintenance sales including SaaS revenue) by 11.4% year-on-year to EUR 10.3 million in the first quarter of 2023 (Q1 2022: EUR 9.3 million). At the same time, USU’s consulting sales also rose substantially by 22.7% year-on-year to EUR 21.5 million thanks to the sustained digitalization trend (Q1 2022: EUR 17.5 million).
As a result of the business growth and the increase in high-margin SaaS sales, the USU Group also further improved its operating profitability in the first quarter of 2023 despite reduced license business. Accordingly, USU’s EBITDA increased by 10.2% year-on-year to EUR 3.8 million in the first quarter of 2023 (Q1 2022: EUR 3.5 million). USU generated EBIT of EUR 2.7 million in the same period (Q1 2022: EUR 2.3 million). This corresponds to a year-on-year increase in EBIT of 14.9%. USU’s consolidated earnings rose by 5.2% year-on-year to EUR 1.7 million in the first quarter of 2023 (Q1 2022: EUR 1.6 million). This corresponds to earnings per share of EUR 0.17 (Q1 2022: EUR 0.16).
USU’s equity climbed from EUR 57.0 million as of December 31, 2022 to EUR 58.7 million as of March 31, 2023 as a result of the rise in profits. With total assets of EUR 124.7 million (December 31, 2022: EUR 113.0 million), the equity ratio was 47.1% as at March 31, 2023 (December 31, 2022: 50.4%). With this equity ratio, increased Group liquidity of EUR 18.0 million (December 31, 2022: EUR 15.5 million), and no liabilities to banks, the USU Group still has extremely sound and secure financing.