Starting 2022 on the right foot

Software AG reported Q1 figures that were above consensus and our expectations. The Digital Business again drove the revenue increase with another quarter of consecutive growth. The bookings growth within both the Digital Business and Adabas & Natural was in line with the company’s ambitions. The company also registered growth in ARR. Operating profit, too, was better than our estimates due to higher sales and lower costs. Following this release, the group confirmed its FY22 targets. Its FY23 ta

2022 should see Digital Business's acceleration

Software’s FY21 numbers were broadly in line with consensus on revenues but much higher on profitability. Bookings targets for A&N were met even though slippage caused DB’s bookings to be below guidance. Regardless, there was a good transition of bookings into revenues and DB did show some acceleration in the last quarter. The company’s guidance for FY22 is slightly above expectations and the confirmation of FY23 targets is a reassuring factor.

Q3 brings lower bookings outlook for 2021

With its Q3 results, Software AG reported another consecutive quarter of total revenue growth. This was mainly driven by Digital Business. Bookings growth in Digital Business was affected by deal slippages. The shift to SaaS though, remained strong and annual recurring revenue also grew yoy. A&N bookings were better than expected. Operating margins were in line with expectations. The group, however, revised its bookings outlook for the year, which was a tad negative in our view.

Q2 exceeded expectations but FY21 guidance unchanged

As opposed to Q1, Q2 was above expectations both in terms of financials and bookings. This quarter showed an increased shift to subscriptions which supported the strong product revenue growth. Margins, too, improved due to lower than expected costs. The group signed various new logos and saw growth across all deal types. However, the company kept its guidance unchanged which implies that the second half will see more investments as part of the Helix programme.

Bookings grow, financials decline

Software AG’s Q1 results were broadly in line with management’s guidance, where Q1 saw growth in bookings and profitability subsided as a result of increased investment related to the Helix programme. Recurring revenues also grew yoy. Management confirmed FY21 targets and reiterated FY23 ambitions. All in all, 2021 indeed looks set to be a year of transformation and would, hopefully, lead to the anticipated growth and profitability over the medium term.

Q4 as expected but with good growth in bookings

Software AG’s Q4 results beat our expectations in terms of bookings but were broadly in line with regards to other financial metrics. Q4 showed a brisk pace in subscription & SaaS bookings. Annual recurring revenue also increased qoq as well as yoy. The group also put forward its FY21 guidance and re-confirmed its FY23 ambitions mentioned in the previous quarter.

No surprises here, transformation going well

Software AG’s Q3 results were broadly in line with our expectations. The transformation of the group continues with a transition to a subscription-based model. Overall, H2 seems to be developing positively compared to H1 and this can be seen in the group’s updated guidance for FY20. The targets for FY23 remain unchanged.

Helix wants further investments in 2020

Software AG ended 2019 with mixed results: positive development for the ARR metric, but missed the street’s expectations on cloud and IoT. DBP licence revenue stayed in negative territory, while Cloud and IoT have not taken off yet. Further investments are needed to support the Helix strategy and growth momentum in 2020, which should impact margins by 700-900bps. Although the transformation looks as though it is on track, this remains a risky bet.

Better-than-expected, Helix is on track

Software AG released a very encouraging set of Q3 results, which clearly showed a strong improvement sequentially. Although there is still a mixed performance among divisions, with DBP (excluding IoT) back in positive territories and DBP Cloud & IoT declining, we have started to see the early benefits of the Helix strategy. Buy rating confirmed.

Weak DBP

Software AG released a mixed set of results. Q2 revenue and profit were in line with the street’s expectations, which is very good news, while the DBP 2019 outlook was reduced. With both a new CEO and strategy announced in FY18 (Helix), upside is likely but it will take time.

Shrinking and not growing!!

In Q1 18, total revenues declined 9.4% to €186.6m but EBIT remained stable at around €42.1m (company definition) Revenues of the Business line IoT/Cloud jumped 115% from €3m to €6.4m Management raised its outlook for IoT/Cloud from 70-100% to 100-135% Revenues of DBP licences plummeted 36% to €23.4m and including IoT/Cloud 24% Stable operating performance driven by a strong A&N licence business

Old products still drive the performance

The company reported preliminary Q2 17 results. Final results will be reported on 20 July. Revenues increased 2% to €207.4m. EBIT improved 10.6% to €46.2m and the EBIT margin increased from 20.5% to 22.3%. The operating performance was driven by the two divisions Adabas & Natural and Digital Business Platform (DBP). Both divisions increased operating segment results. The EBIT margin of A&N improved from 66.9% to 69.6% and of the DBP division from 28.4% to 29.4%. Management confirmed the revenue

Strong licence growth in DBP

The company reported first quarter results. Revenues declined marginally by 0.1% to €205.9m. Total licence revenues dropped 21.7% to €46.3m, maintenance revenues increased 8.4% to €107.2m and service revenues grew by 8.7% to €52.1m. The gross margin increased from 72.8% to 73.3%. Real EBIT, however, dropped 19.1% to €39.6m and the EBIT margin declined from 21.3% to 19.2%. The non-IFRS EBITA margin, according to the company, declined from 28.7% to 27.4%. Based on real numbers, the EBITA margin de

Unfriendly investors at the gate?

The agenda of the AGM, which will be held on 17 May 2017, is quite interesting. Management is proposing to convert bearer shares into registered shares. The reason according to management is to address better and contact directly the shareholders. To become a new shareholder, the company has to agree before being registered in the share registry.

Accelerator needs a complete overhaul

The company released Q4 16 results. Management was excited about the performance but it must have been a different company they were talking about. In Q4 16, total revenues increased 2.5% to €264m. EBIT declined by 6.4% to €73.6m. The EBIT margin reached 27.9% compared to 30.5% in Q4 15. The real EBITA remained nearly stable at €89.2m and the EBITA margin declined from 34.9% to 33.8%. According to management, the non-IFRS EBITA margin declined from 35.8% to 34.2%. In the financial year 2016, re

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 21 Feb 23

21 February 2023 @HybridanLLP Status of this Note and Disclaimer This document has been issued to you by Hybridan LLP for information purposes only and should not be construed in any circumstances as an offer to sell or solicitation of any offer to buy any security or other financial instrument, nor shall it, or the fact of its distribution, form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, any contract relating to such action. This document has no regard for the specific investment objec

New Forecasts: breaking through

With FY22 in line and no changes to our existing FY23 forecasts, our focus is on the introduction of new forecasts for FY24 and FY25. We model Clareti recurring revenue growth of 17% and 18% resp. With Clareti having broken through to positive cash EBITDA for the first time in its history in FY22, we expect operating leverage to drive significant margin expansion over the next three years and beyond (Gresham guides to 40% of ARR dropping through to cash EBITDA). We model cash EBITDA margins of 1

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 06 Mar 23

6 March 2023 @HybridanLLP Status of this Note and Disclaimer This document has been issued to you by Hybridan LLP for information purposes only and should not be construed in any circumstances as an offer to sell or solicitation of any offer to buy any security or other financial instrument, nor shall it, or the fact of its distribution, form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, any contract relating to such action. This document has no regard for the specific investment objective

Morning Note – 7 March 2023

Nothing but NET

Hybridan Small Cap Feast 08/03/22

What’s cooking in the IPO kitchen?** Fadel Partners, a developer of cloud based brand compliance and rights and royalty management software, working with some of the world's leading licensors and licensees across media, entertainment, publishing, consumer brands and hi-tech/gaming companies intends to join the AIM market. FADEL has two solutions, being IPM Suite and Brand Vision. Expected Admission date is late March 2023. Onward Opportunities Limited intends to join the AIM market. The Company'

Accretive bolt-on M&A

Microlise is making its first deployment of funds raised at IPO with the £2.1m cash acquisition of UK Transportation Management System vendor Vita Software. Vita offers complementary upstream SaaS software with strengths in the area of order management, which feeds into Microlises best-in-class journey execution solutions. Vita has a long history of uninterrupted profits and cash growth and is being acquired on approximately 4x revenues and 8x EBITDA. As such the acquisition will be immediately

SHORE CAPITAL - FDM (FDM) - House Stock at 854p - Impressive again, and planning ahead

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 27 Feb 23

27 February 2023 @HybridanLLP Status of this Note and Disclaimer This document has been issued to you by Hybridan LLP for information purposes only and should not be construed in any circumstances as an offer to sell or solicitation of any offer to buy any security or other financial instrument, nor shall it, or the fact of its distribution, form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, any contract relating to such action. This document has no regard for the specific investment objec

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 07 Mar 23

7 March 2023 @HybridanLLP Status of this Note and Disclaimer This document has been issued to you by Hybridan LLP for information purposes only and should not be construed in any circumstances as an offer to sell or solicitation of any offer to buy any security or other financial instrument, nor shall it, or the fact of its distribution, form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, any contract relating to such action. This document has no regard for the specific investment objective

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 09 Mar 23

9 March 2023 @HybridanLLP Status of this Note and Disclaimer This document has been issued to you by Hybridan LLP for information purposes only and should not be construed in any circumstances as an offer to sell or solicitation of any offer to buy any security or other financial instrument, nor shall it, or the fact of its distribution, form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, any contract relating to such action. This document has no regard for the specific investment objective

Raising the sails

Morning Note – 26 January 2023

Fonix Mobile - Strong H1 23 with +12% gross profit and +18% DPS growth

Fonix has announced strong H1 23 results, with +12% gross profit growth, +12% adjusted EBITDA growth, and underlying net cash of £8.4m due to EFCF of £5.1m. Commercial customers have driven mobile payments and mobile messaging growth of +13% and +18%, and gross profit as a % of TPV has increased to 5.7% from 5.1% in H1 22 due to lower charity volumes. The 3 March ITV announcement makes Fonix the de facto SMS interactive services partner for broadcasters in the UK, and it is focused on becoming t

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 01 Mar 23

01 March 2023 @HybridanLLP Status of this Note and Disclaimer This document has been issued to you by Hybridan LLP for information purposes only and should not be construed in any circumstances as an offer to sell or solicitation of any offer to buy any security or other financial instrument, nor shall it, or the fact of its distribution, form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, any contract relating to such action. This document has no regard for the specific investment objectiv