QT Group's Earnings: Strong Growth And Profitability

Sebastien Callebaut -

Strong Results, At A Price

April - June 2021 Results

  • Net sales increased by 87.6% to EUR 33.9m
  • The operating profit (EBITA) was EUR 11.4m (3,721) or 33.7% (20.6) of net sales
  • The operating profit (EBIT) was EUR 10.6m (3,620) or 31.3% (20.0) of net sales
  • Earnings per share were EUR 0.34 (0.12)
  • The company signed on 13 April, 2021 an agreement to acquire all the shares in Germany-based froglogic GmbH. Froglogic is a major provider of software quality assurance tools.

"Qt’s net sales for the second quarter amounted to EUR 33,925 thousand (EUR 18,081 thousand), up 87.6 percent. License sales and consulting grew by 119.6 percent, while maintenance revenue increased by 5.8 percent. The effect of exchange rates on the comparison period’s net sales was negative EUR 906 thousand. At comparable exchange rates, net sales increased by 97.5 percent." QT Group half-year report

Word From The CEO

"Qt Group’s second quarter could even be characterized as exceptionally strong. Growth was accelerated particularly by the very strong sales of developer licenses in all of the company’s geographical operating regions and a significant multi-year license deal closed with a large international software company in North America in April."

"Net sales of approximately EUR 6 million were recognized on the deal in the second quarter. The company has also been able to continue to systematically increase the average value of the deals it has closed. The sales of distribution licenses also continued to develop favorably in the second quarter." Juha Varelius, President and CEO

Market Outlook

The company estimates the growth prospects for its business in the next few years as very promising. The Group’s business development efforts will focus on desktop applications as well as embedded systems in the automotive industry, consumer electronics, medical devices, and industrial automation sectors.

  • Product development efforts will also focus on the value-added features and tools needed in the creation of embedded systems. Sales growth associated with embedded systems will also reflect on the earnings logic. Volume-based distribution license revenue from these sales accumulates over the long term
  • The pandemic has created pent-up demand for many products, which is now becoming released, accelerated by unprecedented stimulus measures. However, the global shortage of components has emerged as a factor that slows down growth. This shortage is likely to affect at least some of the company’s customers in the form of delayed projects and lower production volumes, which would continue to slow down the company’s accrual of net sales from distribution licenses
  • It is obvious that recovery from the pandemic will be uneven between different industries and geographical regions and the recovery may be a long process

BENCHMARK’S TAKE

  • QT Group is delivering strong results as demand for its GUI interface picks up. However, this may be slowed down by the current chip shortage which affected the automotive industry
  • We are keeping our stake in QT Group unchanged for now and will monitor whether the company manages to increase its sales and bring its price to sales ratio under control

Disclaimer

Please note that this article does not constitute investment advice in any form. This article is not a research report and is not intended to serve as the basis for any investment decision. All investments involve risk and the past performance of a security or financial product does not guarantee future returns. Investors have to conduct their own research before conducting any transaction. There is always the risk of losing parts or all of your money when you invest in securities or other financial products.

Credits

Photo by QT Group.