Growing financial results in the first nine months of the Fiscal Year ending April 30, 2024 and increased market share in all business sectors:

- Consolidated Revenues and Other Income: Eu 2,396.1 million (+10.1% Y/Y)

- Consolidated Ebitda: Eu 180.3 million (+15.6% Y/Y), Ebitda margin 7.5% (vs 7.2% Y/Y)

- Consolidated Operating Result (Ebit) Adjusted1: Eu 145.9 million (+16.2% Y/Y), Ebit Adj margin 6.1% (vs 5.8% Y/Y)

- Group Adjusted Earnings After Taxes2: Eu 84.2 million (+6.0% Y/Y)

- Consolidated NFP3 active (net liquidity) for Eu 148.3 million vs Eu 199.6 million as of January 31, 2023, confirming the financial strength of the Group and its capability to further invest in order to support growth

- 5,560 Human Resources as of January 31, 2024 (+19.9% Y/Y), with strong skills development in the business applications, consulting and integration services areas

- Positive outlook confirmed for the Fiscal Year ending April 30, 2024 with a Guidance of Ebitda in the range Eu 242-246 million (+15.5%-17.5% Y/Y, Ebitda margin of about 7.6% vs 7.2% Y/Y) and of Adjusted Ebit in the range Eu 186-190 million (+15.5%-17.5% Y/Y, Adj Ebit margin approx. 6.0% vs 5.5% Y/Y), with Revenues growth of about 10% Y/Y

 

Empoli (FI), March 14, 2024

The Board of Directors of Sesa S.p.A., reference player in technological innovation and digital services for the business segment, today approved the consolidated Interim Report referring to the 9-month period as of January 31, 2024, in accordance with EU-IFRS accounting standards.

In the period under review Sesa Group continues its development path, achieving consolidated Revenues and Other Income for Eu 2,396.1 million (+10.1% Y/Y) with an Operating Profitability (Consolidated Ebitda) equal to Eu 180.3 million, up 15.6% Y/Y and a further market share growth in all Group business sectors.

The Group benefits from the continuous investment strategy focusing on business segments enabling technological innovation (cybersecurity, vertical business applications, cloud, digital platforms, data science), achieving growth pace significantly higher than the Italian Information Technology market, that grew by 3.2% in 2023, compared to 3.9% in 2022 and 8% in 2021 (source Sirmi, February 2024).

The Group confirms its ability to attract and retain skills and specialized human resources with 5,560 employees as of January 31, 2024 (+19.9% Y/Y), particularly in the business application, consulting and integration services areas, with a solid organic growth and a contribution from external growth (M&A) equal to about 40% of total 9-months period under review at revenues and operating profit level.

Consolidated Revenues and Other Income as of January 31, 2024 grew by 10.1% to Eu 2,396.1 million, with a significant contribution by all Group sectors:
- VAD sector with Revenues and Other Income equal to Eu 1,805.1 million (+6.0% Y/Y), driven among other by the development of Collaboration, Enterprise Software and Security Solutions BUs;
- SSI Sector with Revenues and Other Income equal to Eu 609.3 million (+21.4% Y/Y), thanks to the development of the main operating BUs including Digital Security, Cloud, ERP & Vertical Solutions, Data Science;
- Business Services Sector with Revenues and Other Income equal to Eu 83.3 million (+40.0% Y/Y), driven by the development of business applications and digital platforms dedicated to the Financial Services industry, that continues its growth and consolidation path as a reference market player.

Thanks to the Revenues growth in high added-value areas, consolidated Ebitda increased by +15.6% Y/Y, achieving Eu 180.3 million, with an Ebitda margin equal to 7.52% higher than 7.17% as of January 31, 2023. All Group reference Sectors contributed to the consolidated Ebitda result:
- VAD sector with an Ebitda of Eu 91.6 million (+5.4% Y/Y) and an Ebitda margin equal to 5.1% flat Y/Y and vs 4.9% in FY 2023;
- SSI sector with an Ebitda of Eu 74.5 million (+21.7% Y/Y) and an Ebitda margin equal to 12.2% flat Y/Y and vs 12.1% in FY 2023;
- Business Services sector with an Ebitda of Eu 11.1 million (+129.1% Y/Y) and an Ebitda margin equal to 13.4% vs 8.2% as of January 31, 2023 and 13.0% in FY 2023.

Group Consolidated Adjusted Operating Result (Ebit) totalled Eu 145.9 million (Adjusted Ebit margin 6.1% vs 5.8% Y/Y), with an increase of 16.2% Y/Y, after amortizations of tangible and intangible assets for Eu 29.9 million (+20.6% Y/Y) and provisions for Eu 4.5 million (-19.4% Y/Y).

Group Consolidated Operating Result (Ebit) is equal to Eu 121.2 million, up by 11.5%, after amortizations of intangible assets (client lists and know-how) deriving from PPA for Eu 20.2 million (+56.4% Y/Y, following the M&A investments acceleration) and after other non-monetary costs related to Stock Grant Plans for Eu 4.5 million (vs Eu 4.0 million Y/Y).

Net profit attributable to the Group as of January 31, 2024 is equal to Eu 64.9 million (-3.6% Y/Y), after net financial charges for Eu 24.1 million compared to Eu 8.7 million as of January 31, 2023 due to the increasing trend of market interest rates, taxes for Eu 28.5 million and net profit attributable to non-controlling interests for Eu 3.7 million.

Group Consolidated Adjusted Net profit after minority interests (Adjusted EAT attributable to the Group) as of January 31, 2024 is equal to Eu 84.2 million (Group Adjusted EAT margin equal to 3,5%), up by 6.0% Y/Y compared to Eu 79.4 million as of January 31, 2023 (3.6% of revenues).

Consolidated Net Financial Position as of January 31, 2024 is active (net liquidity) for Eu 148.3 million compared to Eu 199.6 million as of January 31, 2023, as a result of Net Working Capital growth from Eu 23.2 million as of January 31, 2023 to Eu 50.3 million as of January 31, 2024 and LTM M&A investments acceleration.

The financial strength of the Group and its capability to further invest in order to support growth are confirmed: Consolidated Net Financial Position Reported as of January 31, 2024 (net of IFRS Liabilities for Eu 210.8 million mainly consisting of deferred payments of company acquisitions and liabilities to minorities for Put Options) is passive (net debt) for Eu 62.5 million compared to active Net Financial Position for Eu 15.2 million as of January 31, 2023, declining due to, among other things, the higher IFRS liabilities deriving from the acceleration of M&A investments.

The Group confirms its cash flow generation and Long-Term investment capability with a Last Twelve Months (LTM) Eu 120 million operating cash flow, net of capex and M&As investment for approximately Eu 175 million and dividend distribution and treasury shares buy-back for about Eu 25 million.

In the period under review, the consolidated Shareholders' Equity is further strengthened, achieving Eu 470.4 million as of January 31, 2024, increasing from Eu 381.1 million as of January 31, 2023.

 

In light of the positive results achieved in the first nine months of the FY 2024 and the growing demand for digitalization in the reference market, the Group confirms the positive outlook for the Fiscal Year ending April 30, 2024, with a Guidance of Ebitda in the range Eu 242-246 million (+15.5%-17.5% Y/Y, Ebitda margin of about 7.6% vs 7.2% Y/Y) and of Adjusted Ebit in the range Eu 186-190 million (+15.5%-17.5% Y/Y, Adj Ebit margin of approx. 6.0% vs 5.5% Y/Y), with an expected Revenues growth of about 10% Y/Y

The Group will continue to sustain the development of digital skills, human resources and technology innovation solutions, aiming at confirming the long-term growth track record in the coming years, targeting a growth in Group operating profit in the range between 10% and 15% Y/Y, generating sustainable value for all stakeholders and improving the Group sustainability profile.

The Chairman Paolo Castellacci and the Chief Executive Officer Alessandro Fabbroni stated about the 9-month results as of January 31, 2024 as follows:

“In the first nine months of the FY 2023 we continued to invest in human capital and digital skills development, confirming our role of reference player in our industry, leading the digitalization of Enterprises and Organizations as well as our great capability to intercept technological innovation trends and lead the business segment digital transformation combining technology, consulting and business applications”, stated Paolo Castellacci, Chairman and founder of Sesa.

“The results as of January 31, 2024 confirm our successful strategy focused on skills and Business Applications development, with a strong growth in revenues in high added-value areas of the Group, gaining further market share in a phase of more selective market and in the face of a digitalisation demand from Enterprises and Organisations that continues to be sustained by investments in technology, business applications and integration services. We continue to support our stakeholders in the current phase of digital evolution, in line with our purpose of long-term sustainable value creation for all stakeholders, promoting digital innovation of Enterprises and Organisations and the well-being of people”, stated Alessandro Fabbroni, CEO of Sesa.