02/02/2022
q.beyond concludes 2021 financial year with record new orders
- All targets met: Based on preliminary calculations revenues rise to € 155.2 million, EBITDA to more than € 31 million and free cash flow to at least € 33 million
- New orders of € 185 million lay superb foundation for strong revenue growth in 2022
Cologne, 2 February 2022 – q.beyond AG increased its revenues from € 143.4 million to € 155.2 million in the 2021 financial year as a whole. Based on initial preliminary calculations, the company’s EBITDA of more than € 31 million and free cash flow of at least € 33 million are also in line with the guidance, which was most recently raised in November 2021. This accounted for all effects resulting from the successful sale of the colocation business in the third quarter of 2021.
Company value more than doubles
Jürgen Hermann, CEO of q.beyond, explains: “We reached all our targets once again in the second year of the coronavirus pandemic and consistently implemented our ‘2020plus’ growth strategy despite the difficult underlying conditions.” The company had presented this strategy in May 2019, and thus after the sale of its telecommunications business and prior to the outbreak of the pandemic. Since then, q.beyond has become a growth company again and increased its value by 116% to € 188 million at the end of 2021.
The portfolio in place after the company’s realignment ensures a growing core business and meets customers’ needs with its innovative range of software. That is reflected in the consistent growth in new orders: At € 185 million, these set a further new record in 2021 following on from the previous year’s figure of € 161 million. Of orders received in 2021, 84% came from new customers or involved new projects for existing customers, while 16% resulted from contract extensions. This provides an excellent foundation for growth in 2022 and beyond.
Presentation of the enhanced growth strategy on 4 April 2022
q.beyond will publish its guidance for 2022 and its definitive results for the past financial year on 30 March 2022 and comment on these at an investors’ conference on 4 April 2022. Here, the focus will be on presenting the company’s plans to continue its growth strategy through to 2025. “We will generate further growth, boost our profitability and increase the share of internally developed solutions”, reveals Jürgen Hermann in advance. q.beyond’s attractive core business, scalable business model, great power of innovation and its strong financial position due not least to its debt-free status offered a superb basis for these developments in future as well.
One key pillar of q.beyond’s strategy involves acquiring companies that supplement its portfolio, its sector focus and/or its technological expertise in a targeted manner. Acquisitions made by q.beyond in the past two years include the software engineering specialist Incloud and the modern workplace provider datac, as well as the takeover in December 2021 of the operations at scanplus together with a highly scalable cloud portal. Jürgen Hermann explains: “Our core target is and remains that of increasing the company’s value. Acquisitions will help us to achieve this objective, as will strong organic growth.”
About q.beyond AG
q.beyond AG is the key to successful digitalisation. We help our customers find the best digital solutions for their business and then put them into practice. Our strong team of 1,100 people accompanies SME customers securely and reliably throughout their digital journey. We are experts in Cloud, SAP and IoT.
q.beyond AG resulted from the rebranding of QSC AG in September 2020. With nationwide locations and its own certified data centres, it is one of Germany’s leading IT service providers.
Contact
q.beyond AG
Arne Thull
Head of Investor Relations/Mergers & Acquisitions
T +49 221 669 8724
invest@qbeyond.de
