Gofore’s Financial Statements Release January-December 2023: Gofore’s growth continued

20.2.2024 09:00:00 EET | Gofore Oyj | Financial Statement Release

Gofore Plc Financial Statements Release 20 February 2024 9.00 a.m. EET

Gofore’s Financial Statements Release January-December 2023: Gofore’s growth continued, slowing down in Q4. Adjusted EBITA for the quarter 16%.

October-December 2023

• Net sales growth 13% to 51.7 (45.7) million euros. Organic growth continued but slowed down to +9%.
• Adjusted EBITA 8.3 (7.5) million euros, 16.0 % of net sales.
• Partial reversal of eMundo’s contingent consideration improved other operating income and thus EBITA by MEUR 0.8. This materially explains EBITA increase. It does not affect adjusted EBITA.
• Private sector net sales grew by 21%, public sector net sales +8%, net sales from outside Finland +19%.
• Utilisation rate was improved compared to third quarter. There was one less workday than in the comparison period, profitability impact on estimate 0.7 million euros.
• Customer prices rose +2.7%, average salary +3.2%.
• Number of employees grew to a total of 1,465 (1,297) people, 36 new employees started.

January-December 2023

• Net sales grew by 26% and were 189.2 (149.9) million euros. Organic growth of net sales was strong, +22%.​
• Adjusted EBITA 26.7 (22.0) million euros, 14.1% of net sales.
• Private sector net sales grew by 35%, public sector net sales +21%, net sales from outside of Finland +85%.
• Customer prices rose 3.5%, average salary development standing at +3.6%.
• The number of employees grew to a total of 1,465 (1,297) people, overall capacity standing at 1,529 (1,383). ​
• On 3 July 2023, Gofore acquired the entire share capital of Creanex Oy, enterprise value 5.0 million euros. The deal strengthened the mobile machines digitalisation offering of Gofore’s Intelligent Industry sector.

Board of Director’s proposal for dividends

The parent company’s distributable assets as at 31 December 2023 amounted to EUR 85.6 million, including the profit for the financial period of EUR 13.6 million. The Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting on 4 April 2024 that dividends be distributed for the financial period ended on 31 December 2023 in the amount of EUR 0.47 per share, equaling a total of 7.3 million euros in dividend payout.

The 2023 dividend is paid to a shareholder who is on the company’s list of shareholders maintained by Euroclear Finland Oy on the record date 8 April 2024. A dividend will not be paid for the shares in the company’s possession on the record date. According to the proposal, dividends are paid on estimate on 15 April 2024.

Key Figures

EUR thousand, unless otherwise specified	Q4/2023	Q4/2022	2023	2022
Net sales	51,710	45,686	189,241	149,921
Change in Net sales, %	13.2%	46.4%	26.2%	43.5%
EBITDA	10,135	7,124	30,428	22,736
EBITDA, %	19.6%	15.6%	16.1%	15.2%
Adjusted EBITA	8,276	7,521	26,704	21,987
Adjusted EBITA, %	16.0%	16.5%	14.1%	14.7%
EBITA	9,081	6,503	27,090	20,426
EBITA, %	17.6%	14.2%	14.3%	13.6%
Operating Profit (EBIT)	8,003	5,533	23,019	16,637
Operating Profit (EBIT), %	15.5%	12.1%	12.2%	11.1%
Profit for the period	6,849	4,162	18,263	12,223
Earnings per share (EPS), undiluted	0.43	0.26	1.15	0.78
Earnings per share (EPS), diluted	0.43	0.26	1.15	0.78
Cash flow from operative activities per share			1.23	1.41
Equity per share			5.98	5.11
Dividend per share			0.47	0.34
DPS/EPS, %			40.9%	43.6%
Effective dividend yield (DPS/Price), %			2.1%	1.5%
Price-Earnings ratio, P/E			19.5	28.5
Return on equity (ROE), %	29.9%	21.8%	21.1%	17.3%
Return on investment (ROI), %	28.9%	23.1%	21.3%	18.8%
Equity ratio, %	56.0%	54.0%	56.0%	54.0%
Net gearing, %	-13.1%	-29.5%	-13.1%	-29.5%
Number of employees at the end of period	1,465	1,297	1,465	1,297
Average overall capacity, FTE	1,373	1,167	1,322	1,035
Average subcontracting, FTE	174	186	172	159

CEO Mikael Nylund:

“The year 2023 was a continuation of Gofore’s growing and profitable journey. During the year, we grew by a whopping 26%, as defined in our long-term targets. Our organic growth was 22%, especially thanks to recruitment in the beginning of the year. We are also happy with our profitability that ended up at 14.1% of adjusted EBITA.

The past year was an end of an era for the IT industry. The investment wave started by the COVID pandemic calmed down in a weaker economic cycle and the savings measures that followed. This was the most visible on Gofore’s business on the second quarter when customer demand growth slowed down. Due to continuous bold recruitment, we had an especially high amount of free capacity, and second quarter profitability ended up on a weak level.

In 2023, customer demand was impacted by the overall economic cycle. Geopolitical uncertainty and a changed interest environment affected the performance of Gofore’s private sector customers, due to which we saw caution in digital and IT investments. Our public sector clientele was affected by the new Finnish government. Competition was also a meaningful factor, as price competition continued tight throughout the year, especially in public sector tenders.

However, Gofore’s organisation showed exceptional resilience and we managed to patch the situation up fast. Second half’s profitability was therefore good. The so-called bench, i.e. number of available consultant capacity, was still higher than normal, but our Crew’s strong focus on customer work and our cost control supported profitability.

M&A brought us moderate growth during 2023. Acquiring eMundo (11/2022) strengthened our position in German-speaking Europe, the DACH area, in 2023. Creanex (7/2023) helped us get a larger footing within industry clientele.

Net sales from outside of Finland also grew excellently, by 85%. In the DACH area, the past year was our first full year together with eMundo. We continued to establish our position further and built cooperation. We continue to build cooperation, deepen the integration, and invest in new customer business.

In addition to the valuable input from all Goforeans, behind a good year are also once again successful strategic choices and making them a reality. We deepened our offering to the customer sectors we have chosen: Digital Society and Intelligent Industry.

Last summer, Creanex joined the latter, and with their expertise and offering, we complement our offering directed especially at manufacturers of moving, heavy machinery. We believe Gofore’s offering to already be unique, and we continue to enhance it to match the ever-changing needs of our customers.

Our strategy that is focused on creating customer value and differentiating us from our competition carries Gofore going forward. The past year has highlighted profitability and efficiency more than before. Many companies have made even radical changes to improve on their efficiency.

At Gofore, our philosophy has been a continuous ambition to maintain our ability to run a profitable business, ingredients of which are favorably developing margins, a light organisation and a scalable cost structure. I believe the experiences of the past year teach us to become even better at this.

The new year 2024 has started in the same challenging customer demand situation. Developing digital technology does not, however, slow down due to the economic situation. The opportunities of digitalisation are growing at the pace of technology development, and our customers want to take them.

This is exactly why we consider important to take long-term care of the wellbeing of our Crew and our employer brand’s attractiveness, in addition to our efficiency and strategy. This way, we strengthen our ability to grab the growth opportunities that we will inevitably see rising from the market. While doing so, we make sure in the best possible way that Gofore is equipped to continue its growth both organically and with M&A.”

Significant events after the review period

17.1.2024: Gofore’s Shareholders’ Nomination Board’s proposals to the Annual General Meeting on 4 April 2024 on the composition of the Board

18.1.2024 Gofore Plc’s Board of Directors’ proposal to the 2024 Annual General Meeting concerning the appointment of the auditor

18.1.2024 Gofore initiates a new period of employee share savings plan

All releases on significant events after the review period are at https://gofore.com/en/news/

January 2024

Gofore’s January net sales were 16.9 (15.8 in January 2023) million euros, and LTM pro forma 193.3 million euros. Number of employees rose to 1,463 people, overall capacity standing at 1,372, subcontracting capacity at 147. Number of working days in January was 22.

January began with a challenging customer demand situation. As the year changed, more than usual projects came to an end and capacity was released to the so-called bench. New projects did start during January, but slower than expected. January utilisation rate was therefore materially below expectations. There was growth of 7% from previous year, partly from the one extra working day.

Financial Statements Release webcast

Gofore’s CEO Mikael Nylund and CFO Teppo Talvinko will present the results in a live webcast on 20 February 2024 at 1.00 p.m. EET. The webcast is held in English and can be followed at https://gofore.videosync.fi/q4-2023.

Attendees can post questions during the webcast, to be answered at the end of the event. There is no need to RSVP for the event. The results presentation and a recording of the webcast will be available on Gofore’s investor website afterwards.

Contacts

• Mikael Nylund, CEO, Gofore Oyj, +358 40 540 2280, mikael.nylund@gofore.com

About Gofore Oyj

Gofore is an international digital transformation consultancy with Finnish roots. We have over 1,400 impact-driven people in 19 locations across Finland, Germany, Austria, Spain, Estonia and Italy. With our technology and business expertise we build an equal digital society and create sustainable solutions for the intelligent industry. Our diverse group of professionals shares a pioneering ambition to create a more humane, sustainable and ethical digital world. Our values guide our business: Gofore is a great workplace that thrives on customer success. In 2022, our net sales amounted to EUR 149.9 million. Gofore Plc’s share is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. in Finland. Our vision is to be the most significant digital transformation consultancy in Europe. Learn to know us better at gofore.com

Attachments

• Gofore Financial Statements Release 2023.pdf