EANS-News: USU Software AG continues positive growth trend in Q3 2011 and forecasts best result in company history for year as whole
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Corporate news transmitted by euro adhoc. The issuer/originator is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Earnings/quarterly report/9-month report Möglingen (euro adhoc) - November 17, 2011 - USU Software AG (ISIN DE000A0BVU28) is still on track for record results in the current fiscal year. According to the figures published today for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2011, the positive growth trend has continued with significant increases in sales and earnings as against the previous year. USU benefited from both its new proprietary products and acquisitions as well as persistently strong growth in international business. Thanks to the extremely positive business performance in the first nine months of this fiscal year and the current sales forecasts for the final quarter, the Management Board is anticipating consolidated sales of more than EUR 43 million and operating earnings (EBITDA) of at least EUR 6 million. This will mark a new record for sales and earnings in the history of USU Software AG. With its high liquidity and equity ratio, USU is still excellently positioned to selectively take advantage of future growth options to continue moving the entire Group forwards. Significant sales increase and strong earnings growth in Q3 2011 USU Software AG continued the positive growth trend of the previous quarters of 2011 in the third as well, generating a sales increase of 13.7% year-on-year to EUR 11.21 million (Q3 2010: EUR 9.86 million). This essentially resulted from organic business. The Swiss subsidiary get IT Services GmbH, acquired and included in consolidation at the end of July and now operating as USU Consulting GmbH, contributed EUR 0.10 million to consolidated sales for the first time. In terms of earnings, USU increased its profitability strongly in proportion to sales in the third quarter of 2011 as well. EBITDA climbed from EUR 1.11 million in the previous year to EUR 1.69 million in the reporting quarter, soaring by 52.1%. At 15.1% (Q3 2010: 11.3%), the EBITDA margin has already exceeded the medium-term target of 15% in the reporting quarter. The USU Group´s EBIT also improved significantly by 73.1% to EUR 1.17 million (Q3 2010: EUR 0.68 million). USU increased its net profit for the quarter by 66.0% as against the same quarter of the previous year to EUR 0.96 million (Q3 2010: EUR 0.58 million). Accordingly, earnings per share amounted to EUR 0.09 (Q3 2010: EUR 0.06). Proprietary new products and acquisitions elevate software business Over the first nine months, USU generated sales growth of 27.6% year-on-year from EUR 25.09 million in the first three quarters of 2010 to EUR 32.01 million. In license business, which grew strongly by 53.1% to EUR 4.06 million (Q1-Q3 2010: EUR 2.65 million), USU profited from both the license proceeds of its newly launched proprietary software products Valuemation 4 and KnowledgeCenter 5 and the additional income from software licenses of Aspera GmbH, which was acquired last year. In the same period, USU increased its maintenance income by 29.1% to EUR 7.82 million (Q1-Q3 2010: EUR 6.06 million) and its sales from consulting services by 25.4% to EUR 19.00 million (Q1-Q3 2010: EUR 15.15 million). Other income amounted to a total of EUR 1.14 million in the first nine months of fiscal 2011 (Q1-Q3 2010: EUR 1.23 million). This resulted in particular from merchandise sales of third-party hardware and software for projects, in turn arising from customer orders for end-to-end solutions as Power Management of LeuTek. Ongoing positive performance in partner-based international business In its international business, which results from the comprehensive partner and sales activities of recent years, the USU Group generated strong growth in consolidated sales generated outside Germany in the first nine months of 2011 of 63.4% as against the previous year to EUR 3.17 million (Q1-Q3 2011: EUR 1.94 million). The share of consolidated sales generated outside Germany therefore rose to 9.9% after 7.7% in the first three quarters of the previous year. Triple EBITDA and quadruple net profit for the period With an EBITDA increase of 194.9% as against the previous year to EUR 4.16 million (Q1-Q3 2010: EUR 1.41 million), the USU Group virtually tripled the profitability resulting from its original software and IT service business in the reporting period. In line with this, USU boosted its EBITDA margin from 5.6% in the first nine months of 2010 to 13.0% in the first nine months of 2011. USU´s EBIT also surged significantly year-on-year by 520.0% to EUR 2.64 million (Q1-Q3 2010: EUR 0.43 million). In total, the USU Group generated a net profit for the first nine months of the current fiscal year of EUR 1.78 million (Q1-Q3 2010: EUR 0.44 million) - quadrupling the figure for the same period of the previous year. Earnings per share rose accordingly from EUR 0.04 in the first three quarters of 2010 to currently EUR 0.17. Financing remains solid with high Group liquidity and equity ratio As a result of the substantial year-on-year increase in earnings, the USU Group´s cash flow from operating activities climbed considerably from EUR 0.96 million in the first nine months of 2010 to EUR 4.08 million in the same period of 2011. Accordingly, USU increased the Group´s liquidity in the form of cash and cash equivalents including securities to a total of EUR 12.06 million (December 31, 2010: EUR 11.06 million) in spite of the payment of the dividend to the shareholders of USU Software AG. By contrast, after the profit distribution to USU shareholders, equity was down slightly on the comparative figure as of the end of fiscal 2010 at EUR 48.19 million (December 31, 2010: EUR 48.49 million). With total assets of EUR 68.00 million (December 31, 2010: EUR 66.88 million), the equity ratio was 70.9% as of September 30, 2011 (December 31, 2010: 72.5%). Management Board forecasting further record in revenues and earnings Thanks to the extremely positive business performance in the first nine months of this fiscal year, the high level of orders on hand of EUR 20.10 million (September 30, 2010: EUR 16.60 million) as of the end of the third quarter and the current sales forecast for the final quarter, the Management Board expects to successfully implement the guidance it raised on the publication of its half-year figures for 2011 of consolidated sales of more than EUR 43 million and operating earnings (EBITDA) for the Group as a whole of at least EUR 6 million, thereby setting a new record for sales and earnings in the history of USU Software AG. If the uncertain financial factors on the USU Group´s core European market are resolved and the economic environment stabilizes in the coming months, the Management Board is anticipating a strong, lasting investment propensity among companies, particularly in the financial services sector, and further growth effects from this in 2012 as well. The Management Board is therefore planning to enable the shareholders of USU Software AG to participate significantly in the company´s business success in 2011 and beyond, and to continue the shareholder-friendly dividend policy established in previous years. The complete nine-month report for 2011 is available for download on the USU Software AG website at www.usu-software.de. Further information will be presented by the Management Board of the company at the analyst and investor conference "German Equity Forum 2011" on November 21, 2011 at 4:30 pm at the Congress Center of Messe Frankfurt, Room Milan (Ludwig-Erhard-Anlage 1, 60327 Frankfurt/Main). USU Software AG The USU Group is Europe´s largest provider of IT Management and Knowledge Management software. Market leaders from every sector of the international economy create transparency with USU applications, while also increasing flexibility, decreasing risks and cutting costs. In addition to USU AG (founded in 1977), the subsidiaries Aspera GmbH, LeuTek GmbH, OMEGA Software GmbH and USU Consulting GmbH belong to USU Software AG (ISIN DE 000A0BVU28), which is listed in the Prime Segment of the German Stock Exchange (DAX) in Frankfurt and on the German Entrepreneurial Index (GEX). With its Valuemation® product line, USU offers a top-quality portfolio for knowledge-based service management, the merits of which have been recognized by leading market analysts around the world - all from one single, reliable source. What's more, this modular suite also fully supports the industry standard ITIL®. The USU Group's products in this sector are complemented and enhanced with the SmartTrack license management solution from Aspera GmbH, the ZIS product family for systems management from LeuTek GmbH as well as the myCMDB software from OMEGA Software GmbH. USU Consulting offers top-notch strategy consulting for IT service management. With KnowledgeCenter technology, customers can activate and leverage all the knowledge resources within their organizations. This system application bundles all the various communications and information channels on one central platform. With the support of intelligent knowledge bases from USU, call and service centers provide accurate, individualized answers to over 25 million inquiries per year. By developing and maintaining complex, customer-specific applications, USU experts can combine user-requested features, sector-specific knowledge and technological expertise to create individual, customized solutions. Achieving process and system integration and implementing knowledge portals and employee portals are some of USU´s other well-established and proven core competencies. Further inquiry note: USU Software AG Investor Relations Falk Sorge Spitalhof D-71696 Möglingen Tel.: +49 (0) 71 41 - 48 67 351 Fax: +49 (0) 71 41 - 48 67 108 E-Mail: f.sorge@usu-software.de USU Software AG Corporate Communications Dr. Thomas Gerick Tel.: +49 (0) 71 41 - 48 67 440 Fax: +49 (0) 71 41 - 48 67 909 E-Mail: t.gerick@usu-software.de end of announcement euro adhoc -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- company: USU Software AG Spitalhof D-71696 Möglingen phone: +49 (0)7141 4867 0 FAX: +49 (0)7141 4867 20 mail: investor@usu-software.de WWW: http://www.usu-software.de sector: Software ISIN: DE000A0BVU28 indexes: CDAX, Prime All Share, Technology All Share stockmarkets: regulated dealing/prime standard: Frankfurt, free trade: Berlin, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Hannover, München, regulated dealing: Stuttgart language: English
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