2021 Q4_Earning Release_Final
Quarterly Report October to December 2021
OCTOBER TO DECEMBER 2021
- Net sales amounted to 9.8 MSEK (9.7)
- Net sales adjusted*1 amounted to 10.4 MSEK (10.2)
- Recurring revenues adjusted amounted to 9.4 MSEK (8.1)
- Rolling 12 months recurring revenues adjusted amounted to 36.7 MSEK (33.9)
- Usage revenues adjusted amounted to 4.0 MSEK (3.5)
- Gross margin increased to 72% (65)
- EBITDA adjusted amounted to -16.6 MSEK (-15.5)
- Earnings per share amounted to -0.3 SEK (-1.0)
JANUARY TO DECEMBER 2021
- Net sales amounted to 38.9 MSEK (53.8)
- Net sales adjusted amounted to 45.3 MSEK (47.3)
- Recurring revenues adjusted amounted to 36.7 MSEK (33.9)
- Usage revenues adjusted amounted to 16.2 MSEK (10.4)
- Gross margin increased to 70% (66)
- EBITDA adjusted amounted to -60.0 MSEK (-78.3)
- Earnings per share amounted to -1.1 SEK (-3.2)
EVENTS DURING THE QUARTER
- Signed SaaS agreement with GrapeTree, a US healthcare staffing solutions company
- Signed SaaS agreement with SelectQuote, a US online insurance broker
- Signed SaaS agreement with Skoda, a global car manufacturer
- Signed SaaS agreement with Hellofresh, a global meal-planning and delivery company
- Signed SaaS agreement with Scania, a world-leading provider of transport solutions
- Signed agreements with the Italian banks Widiba and BPM
- Successfully closed 250 MSEK in new 5-year credit facility to refinance existing debt and support continued growth
- R&D tax credit for 2020 approved – cash refund of approximately 5 MSEK expected to be received in January 2023
EVENTS AFTER THE QUARTER
- Announced updated external valuation of Intellectual Property with a value of 1.6 BSEK
- Received 6.4 MSEK in cash tax refund January 2022 for performed R&D work in 2019
KEY FIGURES (For definitions please see page 19 * for adjusted revenues clarification on pages 4-5)
| MSEK | OCT–DEC 2021 |
OCT–DEC 2020 |
JAN-DEC 2021 |
JAN-DEC 2020 |
| Net sales adjusted | 10.4 | 10.2 | 45.3 | 47.3 |
| Recurring revenues adjusted | 9.4 | 8.1 | 36.7 | 33.9 |
| Rolling 12 months recurring revenues adjusted | 36.7 | 33.9 | 36.7 | 33.9 |
| Usage revenues adjusted | 4.0 | 3.5 | 16.2 | 10.4 |
| Net sales reported | 9.8 | 9.7 | 38.9 | 53.8 |
| Gross margin % | 72% | 65% | 70% | 66% |
| Adjusted EBITDA | -16.6 | -15.5 | -60.0 | -78.3 |
| Earnings per share, SEK | -0.3 | -1.0 | -1.1 | -3.2 |
| Cash flow from operating activities | -17.4 | -34.9 | -38.2 | -96.6 |
[*1] The company has recalculated its Usage revenues to be aligned with the new SaaS model’s “pay as you consume” principles. Please see pages 4-5 for adjusted revenues clarification.
CEO STATEMENT
Dear shareholders, colleagues, customers, and partners,
The fourth quarter of 2021 was the final step in our transformation where we laid the foundation for a sales motion aligned to our SaaS (Software as a Service) model. We renewed with ten customers and signed seven new customers during the year and now see growth in our revenue with 17% (Adjusted Recurring Revenues) and 25% of our revenues comes from our new revenue model. We exit the year with a very strong cash position and on an accelerating growth trajectory, also on a non-adjusted basis.
Transformation of Sales Last Component
Our transformation as a company is now complete entering 2022 as a SaaS Scaleup. Selling SaaS is a Land and Expand motion and requires a different set-up of our sales organization. Establishing this setup is the task of our Chief Revenue Officer Nicolas Köllerstedt who joined us from SnowFlake in the third quarter. Our first sales executives for this model were hired during Q4 and joined us at the start of 2022. We have regionalized sales and have coverage of Central Europe and DACH and are working to buildout the US, Northern Europe, and the UK. We aim to fill the open positions in the first half of 2022. We have formed a dedicated partner organization and our first Inside Sales also started in the quarter.
We will be leveraging the solid partnership we have with Microsoft and through joint partners like CGI and CSGi, we are targeting a focused set of prospects across Europe and the US. We will work directly with the prospects, but our model will be to always fulfil through the channel. This is logical since our partners take our horizontal platform and add vertical knowledge to create a complete solution for our customers. Of course, the customer always has the right to choose and in some cases our technology will be contracted directly from us. But all services are delivered by our partners.
Our Customers
Our customers are growing. Considering renewals and new customers, we have signed 17 contracts during 2021 and the customers we enter 2022 with are on a trajectory to increase their usage of our solutions. A large Telco client went live with its solution in record time and exited the year on a rate of 250,000 phone calls per month being received by their Teneo-based solution after starting in May 2021! Our Customer Success organization has proven itself as customer feedback has been overwhelmingly positive in how we support customer and partner teams in their journeys.
Growth in Sales
What is also very encouraging is the fact that we experience growth in the quarter on our sales metrics. Most importantly, we see that 25% of our revenues in December 2021 were generated by our SaaS customers (in total 8) and the SaaS customers continue to experience growth. We recorded a growth of 17% on non-adjusted total sales (excluding professional services) in Q4 YoY. As we have communicated since the introduction of the SaaS model, our partners are the ones that should generate the professional services revenues and this underlying growth, excluding professional services, is a proof-point that we are executing on our strategy.
For a SaaS company, the recurring revenues are key, and it is therefore satisfying to see that our adjusted recurring revenues in the fourth quarter YoY accounted for 90% of total sales, grew by 17% and by 8% on a rolling twelve-month basis. To summarize, we are executing on our strategy and are experiencing real sales growth. We will continue to focus on growing even faster in 2022.
Financing
We closed the 5-year loan agreement with Capital Four in December 2021 and thereby secured our long-term financing. This left us with a cash position of more than 110 MSEK to start 2022 with and for enabling us to upscale sales.
Our Technology
There are many companies in our industry that have been attracted by the market size and high growth rate and the fact that there is no clear market leader. The absolute majority of these have OpenSource technologies that they have integrated into a solution and offer a software plus Professional Service model. This is also how Artificial Solutions started in 2001. But we found two major issues with this approach.
- The first being the Ability to Scale. Without an engine that can take a large load, the ROI will fall short. Today we do 100´s of API calls per-minute, millions per-month with several customers. That clearly sets us apart.
- The second is Solution Maintenance. Once the solution has been put in place there will be continuous changes to process and dialogue. This means having an interface that enables a team to collaborate and update rapidly, is key to scaling and producing a great Customer Experience. We understood this when IKEA decided to shut down ‘Ask Anna’ that we had built together in 2014. At that point we decided to build our next generation software, Teneo. We worked on this for several years and patented this technology in the process.
As a part of our refinancing with Capital Four, we also decided to get an updated estimate on the value of our patented technology. The report from Oxfirst sets that value at 1.6 BSEK. The main reason for this is that our patents are the most frequently cited in other patent applications in the field by the likes of Google, Apple and Amazon, because we were early into this field and our current patent portfolio is protected for more than 10 additional years. Having our own technology separates us from the rest and, as our customers grow their solutions, the market will see the value of this technology versus the also-rans quite clearly.
The Log4J security vulnerability that hit almost all organizations during the end of the year was a great accelerator for customers that are still running our software by themselves. Our SaaS customers were patched within 24 hours with no work on their side at all. We believe this will further increase the interest of our SaaS offering.
It’s 2022
We enter 2022 with a growing customer base of very satisfied clients and with the best technology now available in a pay-as-you-go business model without customers requiring investments in Infrastructure and Operations for our clients. We have aligned our organization to this reality and will be wisely investing the cash we now have to fuel continued revenue growth. We thank you for your confidence and trust. We will continue to work hard to deliver on it.
Per Ottosson, CEO