Growth in cloud business continues unabated – Management Board’s outlook confirms ongoing growth story

ATOSS Software AG remains on course for continued growth, with provisional figures once again signaling new performance records. Consolidated sales in the first 9 months climbed 14 percent to EUR 51.7 million. Supported by the dynamic demand for cloud solutions, the growth in orders for software licenses as well as the software component of contract cloud subscriptions continued in the third quarter, lifting the total to EUR 15.7 million, an increase of 31 percent over the year before. Against the strong order development the Management Board has again confirmed its sales and earnings outlook and sees an excellent basis in continuing the growth story in 2020.

ATOSS Software AG remains on course for continued growth and is now recording sustained success for the fourteenth year in succession. Thanks to customer-oriented innovations and scheduled advances in cloud transformation, ATOSS has succeeded in developing its dynamic growth still further. The substantial 14 percent increase in sales offers clear proof of the competitive strengths of ATOSS, as well as the significance of workforce management as companies pursue the goal of digitization.

Software sales in the period from January to September 2019 were a substantial 18 percent higher at EUR 33.4 million (previous year: EUR 28.4 million), equating to 65 percent of the Group’s overall turnover (previous year: 63 percent). Software licenses accounted for sales totaling EUR 10.0 million (previous year: EUR 9.3 million). However, it was recurring cloud solution revenues that proved the biggest driver of growth in software sales, increasing by 89 percent to EUR 5.5 million (previous year: EUR 2.9 million). The development in software maintenance which has been consistently positive for years has also continued without interruption, with sales climbing 11 percent to EUR 18.0 million (previous year: EUR 16.2 million). Overall, recurring sales as a proportion of software sales amounted to 70 percent (previous year: 67 percent). Turnover in consulting, too, at EUR 14.4 million (previous year: EUR 12.9 million) was up by 12 percent, well above the figure for the same period last year. Hardware sales amounted to EUR 2.7 million (previous year: EUR 3.0 million), with miscellaneous revenues contributing a further EUR 1.2 million (previous year: EUR 1.1 million).

The return on sales based on the operating result (EBT) stood at 26 percent, in line with Management Board guidance. Powered by the excellent development in business, EPS increased from EUR 2.02 to EUR 2.29. This positive development was also reflected in other important key figures such as for example liquidity. Despite the dividend payment on May 6, 2019, amounting to EUR 15.9 million (regular dividend of EUR 1.40 plus a special distribution of EUR 2.60 per share), at the end of the third quarter ATOSS reported highly respectable liquidity of EUR 30.4 million (previous year: EUR 34.4 million).

The considerable sales momentum over the past nine months has been particularly impressive. As of September 30, 2019, orders received for software licenses and the software component of contracted cloud solutions increased to EUR 15.7 million (previous year: EUR 12.0 million). Orders on hand for software licenses, too, remain at a sustained high level, coming in at EUR 6.0 million at the end of the third quarter (previous year: EUR 4.6 million). In order to demonstrate the development in cloud business more clearly and illustrate the progress being made in expanding annually recurring cloud revenues, a new key figure was introduced at the start of the financial year 2019: Annual Recurring Revenue (in brief: ARR). This figure comprises the turnover generated by the company over the next 12 months on the basis of current monthly cloud usage fees applicable as of the qualifying date. As of September 30, 2019, ARR amounted to EUR 7.1 million, representing an impressive increase of 78 percent relative to the year before (previous year: EUR 4.0 million).

In view of the excellent order situation and the extremely positive development in business in the past nine months, ATOSS Software AG is now on course to return its fourteenth record annual results in succession. Moreover the continuation of the strong order development at the beginning of Q4 forms and exceptionally strong background for continued revenue growth in 2020.