Quarterly Statement Q3 2021

Pace of growth sustained on the way to 16th record year in succession – especially dynamic growth in the cloud

ATOSS Software AG remains on its growth trajectory and is once again reporting record figures according to provisional numbers. In the first three quarters, group sales were up by 14 percent to EUR 69.5 million. Operating earnings increased to EUR 18.6 million (previous year: EUR 17.4 million) with an EBIT margin of 27 percent (previous year: 28 percent). In the third quarter of 2021, Group sales even grew by 16 percent by comparison with the same quarter in the previous year with an EBIT margin of 28 percent. Against the background of an excellent order book marked above all by strong growth in the company’s cloud business, the Management Board is again reinforcing its sales and earnings forecast for fiscal 2021 made at the start of the year, and is convinced that ATOSS will once again close the year with record results.

In the third quarter of the current fiscal year, ATOSS Software AG has also been outstandingly successful in maintaining the pace of its growth in the market for workforce management and further expanding its strong competitive position. Above all, it has once again posted a significant increase in its important cloud business. For example, both cloud sales and the key indicator for cloud business “Annual Recurring Revenue” continued to show very strong growth. And the demand for innovative, customer-oriented solutions to the strategic management of employees has remained unbroken given the existing shortcomings in the area of digitization in many of today’s companies. This is impressively underlined by the quarterly figures unveiled today.

Total software sales in the period from January to September 2021 was up appreciably by 20 percent, climbing to EUR 47.0 million (previous year: EUR 39.0 million). This equates to a 68 percent share of the Group’s total sales (previous year: 64 percent). Special mention here must be made of the successful expansion of sales from Cloud and Subscriptions which showed sustainable 50 percent growth, rising to EUR 13.8 million (previous year: EUR 9.2 million). The growth in software maintenance which has been positive for years, also continued. Sales here rose 9 percent to EUR 21.6 million (previous year: EUR 19.7 million). Overall, the proportion of recurring revenue in total sales – and thus the central, key factor in the company’s future growth – continued to grow in line with the budget and has now reached 51 percent (previous year: 46 percent). Sales from consulting services advanced to EUR 18.1 million (previous year: EUR 17.5 million) – starting from the previous year’s figure which was already very high.

Notwithstanding the significant year-on-year increase in expenses, particularly for R&D as part of the continuous refinement of ATOSS software solutions as well as higher staff costs resulting from the international expansion of capacity in sales – the 27 percent return on sales for the first three quarters (relative to EBIT) is at the level forecast by the Management Board for fiscal 2021. As of September 30, 2021, earnings per share increased by 6 percent to EUR 1.59 (previous year: EUR 1.50). However, this positive growth of the business is also reflected in further key Group performance indicators. For example, operating cash flow increased by 7 percent year on year, rising to EUR 24.0 million. As a result, liquidity increased from EUR 40.7 million to EUR 49.1 million.

The consistently high demand for software-based solutions for personnel management and cost optimization from ATOSS is also reflected not least in the strong Q3 order book figures. The dynamic increase in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR for short) which has again posted a double-digit increase of 78 percent to EUR 20.5 million (previous year: EUR 11.5 million) must be highlighted in this context. Furthermore, the company succeeded in significantly expanding the proportion of orders received for Cloud & Subscriptions in total orders for software to over 70 percent. By comparison: in fiscal 2020, the proportion of cloud orders received still stood at 42 percent. Consequently, ATOSS is taking giant strides in the cloud transformation of its business model.

Based on the impressive business developments over the last nine months to date, the consistently positive order book and the unabated excellent growth prospects in the workforce management market, ATOSS is advancing confidently towards a sixteenth record year in succession. With the progress made on implementing its cloud transformation strategy, leading edge technologies and the high levels of staff commitment, ATOSS is ideally positioned to maintain its profitable growth in 2022 and beyond, while gaining market shares at home and abroad.

Further information can be found in our current investor presentation.