EQS Group AG with 19 percent revenue increase in 2018
Guidance fulfilled - new COCKPIT successfully launched
 

Munich - 09.04.2019

EQS Group AG (ISIN: DE0005494165) has finished the 2018 business year with a significant revenue increase and achieved new record figures in revenue for the ninth time in succession. The Group achieved a 19 percent increase to EUR36.21 million. The EBITDA fell to EUR301k (previous year: EUR2.35 million) due to the high level of investment activity. The guidance dated 16.08.2019 was fulfilled. The net profit amounted to EUR811k. The earnings per share amounted to EUR.75.

The group achieved revenue of EUR10.31 million (+24%) in the October to December period. The EBITDA increased by 137% to EUR973k. The consolidated annual net profit amounted to EUR3.10 million (EUR129k). Resulting in an earnings per share of EUR2.23 (EUR.09) for the fourth quarter of 2018.
 

Segment development

In the compliance segment, sales increased significantly by 46% to EUR18.50 million (EUR12.69 million) in the fourth quarter. The number of Large Cap customers increased by 50 to 1,142, as well as by 154 to 4,303 customers for the XML filing services and by 9,963 to 29,766 for the LEI issuing service. At EUR17.71 million, sales in the investor relations segment remained at the previous year's level (EUR17.66 million), while the number of customers increased by 16 to a total of 2,038.

In September 2017, EQS Group AG made the pivotal decision to expand its core business to the adjacent Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) business sector and to exclusively develop cloud-based solutions for this purpose. This move was marked by an investment offensive to expand the Group into a technology company. As a result, earnings have been temporarily burdened. Product development is proceeding according to plan. The first version of the new COCKPIT was successfully launched in the fourth quarter of 2018.

The EQS Group AG Executive Board and Supervisory Board are proposing to the general meeting on 17 May, 2019 that the dividends for the 2018 business year be deferred to expand the scope for investment, as in the previous year.

Achim Weick, Founder and CEO of the EQS Group AG: "The 2018 financial year is one of the most important in the recent history of the EQS Group. The successful launch of our new COCKPIT is an important milestone on our way to becoming the leading European cloud provider for global corporate compliance and investor relations solutions and also marks the culmination of our ongoing investment offensive. Our goal is to grow the EQS Group into a new size category and generate sustainable high returns for our shareholders following its transformation into a RegTech."

The annual recurring revenue at Group level in the fourth quarter was 79%. For Large Cap customers in Germany, the figure remains virtually unchanged at 86%. This is based on a customer base of 1,166 customers.

Outlook: Further growth in 2019

For the 2019 financial year, the Executive Board plans to increase revenue by 15 to 20 percent to EUR41.5 million to EUR43.5 million. The EBITDA is expected to be between EUR1.0 million and EUR2.0 million. For the new ARR, which was introduced for the first time and quantifies the newly contracted recurring business volume, we expect a volume of at least EUR4.0 million. The number of new customers (Large Caps) shall also be increased up to 400.

The Executive Board will discuss the results in today's telephone conference from 11.00 a.m. (CET). This will be broadcast live online on
 

More information:

The figures for 2018 are audited.

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EQS Group is a leading international technology provider for Corporate Compliance and Investor Relations. Several thousand companies worldwide use EQS Group's offerings to fulfill complex national and international disclosure obligations, to minimize risk, and to reach stakeholders.

EQS Group is a digital single-source provider for global teams. EQS Group's products and services include a global newswire, regulatory news distribution, investor targeting and contact management, and insider list management. These are integrated within a cloud-based platform, the EQS COCKPIT, to streamline the workflows of Investor Relations, Communications, and Compliance professionals. The Group also offers an innovative whistleblowing and case management software, website services, digital reports, and webcasting solutions.

EQS Group was founded in 2000 in Munich, Germany. Today, the group employs over 450 professionals around the globe and has offices in the world's key financial markets.

Contact:

André Marques

CFO

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