July-September 2023
 

• Net sales increased 7.7 percent to EUR 38.0 million (EUR 35.3 million). The effect of exchange rates on the comparison period's net sales was EUR -1.7 million and at comparable exchange rates, net sales increased by 13.1 percent.
• Operating profit (EBITA) was EUR 9.2 million (EUR 7.9 million) or 24.1 percent (22.3 %) of net sales.
• Operating profit (EBIT) was EUR 7.2 million (EUR 6.3 million) or 18.8 percent (18.0 %) of net sales.
• Earnings per share were EUR 0.22 (EUR 0.28).

• Net sales increased 16,8 percent to EUR 121.5 million (EUR 104.0 million). The effect of exchange rates on the comparison period's net sales was EUR -1.6 million and at comparable exchange rates, net sales increased by 18.6 percent.
• Operating profit (EBITA) was EUR 29.4 million (EUR 23,4 million) or 24.2 percent (22.5 %) of net sales.
• Operating profit (EBIT) was EUR 23.4 million (EUR 20.1 million) or 19.3 percent (19.3 %) of net sales.
• Earnings per share were EUR 0.70 (EUR 0.84).

Key figures

[][][][]
EUR 1,000 7-9/202 7-9/202 Change, 1-9/2023 1-9/2022 Change, 1-12/202
3 2 % % 2
Net sales 38,039 35,308 7.7% 121,479 103,970 16.8 % 155,318
Operating 9,158 7,880 16.2% 29,450 23,438 25.7 % 42,249
profit
(EBITA)
EBITA, % 24.1% 22.3% 24.2% 22.5 % 27.2 %
Operating 7,150 6,347 12.7% 23,427 20,067 16.7 % 36,870
profit
(EBIT)
EBIT, % 18.8% 18.0% 19.3% 19.3 % 23.7 %
Return on 5.7% 11.4% 18.6% 34.3 % 49.6 %
equity, %
Return on 6.1% 6.9% 19.3% 22.0 % 41.5 %
investment,
%
Interest 20,923 43,593 -52.0% 20,923 43,593 -52.0 % 28,159
-bearing
liabilities
[1]
Cash and 31,289 18,926 65.3% 31,289 18,926 65.3 % 8,815
cash
equivalents[
1]
Net gearing, -9.9% 34.9% -9.9% 34.9 % 22.3 %
%
[1]
Equity 60.0% 43.7% 60.0% 43.7 % 52.8 %
ratio, %
[1]
Earnings per 0.22 0.28 -21.8% 0.70  0.84 -16.1 % 1.36
share (EPS),
EUR
Diluted 0.22 0.27 -20,1% 0.70  0.81 -14.3 % 1.36
earnings
per share,
EUR
Personnel, 740 626 18.2% 719 579 24.2 % 603
on
average

[1] At the end of the period

Juha Varelius, President and CEO

The third quarter of 2023 was weaker than expected for the company. Net sales growth for the quarter at comparable exchange rates was 13 percent, and net sales amounted to EUR 38 million.

Throughout the period under review, net sales growth has been slowed by the general uncertainty associated with the market situation. For the company, this has been reflected particularly in a decrease in consulting projects and the maturity of new developer licenses, where a shift toward one-year licenses has been seen. While the growth of the number of developer licenses continued during the period under review in line with the long-term average, the shorter maturity of the new licenses has had a substantial negative effect on the development of the company's net sales.  At the same time, however, expiring licenses have mostly been renewed for the same term as they were originally sold for, at least for the time being. Over the longer term, the shorter maturity of developer licenses will have a positive impact on the development of net sales due to the higher annual prices of one-year licenses, provided that customers continue to renew their licenses.

Net sales accrued from distribution licenses saw strong growth throughout the period under review. The development of the net sales of quality assurance products (QA tools) was also good during the period under review.

The effect of exchange rate fluctuations on the company's net sales was negative at EUR -1.6 million for the period under review and negative at EUR -1.7 million for the third quarter.

In addition to the aforementioned factors that had an impact on net sales throughout the period under review, the modest growth of net sales for the third quarter was also attributable to the number of delayed deals, including a few contracts of significant size. 

Operating profit (EBITA) for the third quarter came to EUR 9.2 million, an increase of 16.2 percent compared to the third quarter of 2022. The profitability of operations (EBITA %) was good considering that net sales growth was more modest than expected and the fact that we have continued to make our planned investments in growth in spite of the general economic uncertainty. The number of personnel has increased by 95 over the past 12 months and stood at 746 at the end of September.

In spite of the unfavorable market situation and weak third quarter, the company's outlook for the remainder of the year is good, and the number of open sales opportunities is at a record-high.

Outlook for 2023

We further refine our guidance for 2023 so that our full-year net sales for 2023 will increase by 20-25 percent year-on-year at comparable exchange rates and our operating profit margin (EBITA %) will be 25-30 percent in 2023.

Our previous guidance was that our full-year net sales for 2023 will increase by 20-30 percent year-on-year at comparable exchange rates and that our operating profit margin (EBITA %) will be 20-30 percent in 2023.

News conference

Qt Group will hold an English-language news conference on October 26, 2023, at 15:00-16:00 EEST at Sanomatalo in Helsinki, Finland, and as a webcast at www.qt.io/investors. CEO Juha Varelius and CFO Jouni Lintunen will present the results at the news conference. Analysts and investors can participate in the news conference in person or via conference call at https://palvelu.flik.fi/teleconference/?id=10010164

Further information:
President and CEO Juha Varelius, tel. +358 9 8861 8040

Distribution:
Nasdaq Helsinki
Key media
www.qt.io