Group INFORM P. LYKOS S.A.

 

Increased operating profit with focus on digital transformation projects

 

• Significant increase in operating profitability (EBITDA) by +27% vs H1 2019 to the level of € 3.5 million excluding in the comparison the one-off project of the production of security ballots for the Nigerian elections that took place on the first semester of 2019,
• Sustained sales level at € 34 million in the first half of 2020 excluding the one-off project of the Nigeria ballots,

 

Koropi, 06/08/2020 – The consolidated financial statements of INFORM P. LYKOS HOLDINGS S.A. are published, in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (I.F.R.S.).

 

The Group INFORM maintained its sales level at € 34 million excluding the one-off project of the production of security ballots for the Nigerian elections of € 4.7 million from the first half of last year. The operating profitability was reduced by just € 0.4 million and amounted to € 3.5 million compared to € 3.9 million in the corresponding half of 2019 due to a) the development of digital transformation solutions in Greece and Romania and b) the new services of document management provided to our existing and new customers by the companies acquired in Romania last year which contributed € 0.5 million to the profitability of the Group. These services of document management, electronic archiving services, physical archiving and certified safe destruction of documents as well as the development of digital transformation solutions contributed significantly to operating profitability and fully offset the loss of profitability from the one-off project of Nigeria ballots in the first half of 2019.

 

Furthermore, the Group is also active in sectors directly affected by the current COVID-19 situation, and thus in the core business activity there is a decrease in turnover of -15% in the first half of 2020, which comes mainly from the product categories addressed to the organizations whose operation was on lockdown by the government during the COVID-19 pandemic restriction period, thus the consumption was significantly reduced and consequently the start of contracts was delayed by our customers.

 

As a result of the above, the key financial profitability figures of the Group INFORM are presented, as follows:

 

-The earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of the Group, reached € 3.5 million compared to € 3.9 million in the corresponding half of 2019, decreased by € 0.4 million or -10%, as in the EBITDA of the corresponding half of 2019 included profitability of € 1.1 million from the one-off project of the production of the security ballots for the presidential elections in Nigeria. Excluding this one-off project, EBITDA increased by + 27% compared to the corresponding half of 2019,

 

-The earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of the Group, reached € 1.4 million compared to € 2.2 million in the corresponding period of 2019, decreased by € 0.8 million, impacted by € 0.4 million from the higher depreciation compared to the corresponding period of 2019 due to the acquisitions that took place in Romania within last year, and the impact of the Nigeria project,

 

-The earnings before taxes (EBT) of the Group, reached € 0.6 million compared to € 1.5 million in the corresponding half of 2019, decreased by € 0.9 million,

 

-The consolidated earnings after taxes (EAT) of the Group, reached to € 0.4 million compared to € 1.4 million in the corresponding half of 2019.

 

The consolidated operating cash flow generated in the first half of 2020 amounted to € 0.7 million at the same level to the corresponding half of 2019. The net debt of the Group amounted to € 20.6 million in the first half of 2020 from € 19.5 million in the corresponding period of 2019, increased by € 1.1 million, mainly due to the acquisitions in Romania that took place within last year.

 

For the second half of 2020, the Group continues to focus on the goal of developing digital transformation solutions, in order to further enrich the portfolio of the services provided. The services Digital Onboarding, RPA (Robotic Process Automation), Chatbots, eSignature and HR Payroll are proof of the Group's strategic position and complement digital services that had already been implemented before, such as the CCM (Customer Communication Management) service or Enterprise Document Management and Scanning & Archiving services.

 

About INFORM

INFORM (LYK.ATH) was founded in 1897, it has been listed on the Athens Stock Exchange since 1994 and provides products and services for secure document and information management, innovating in digital transformation of businesses and organizations for providing highly specialized solutions. It employs 520 workers in Greece, Romania and Albania and has a leading position in the markets of Central and Eastern Europe in the Public and Private Sector.

 

INFORM is a member of AUSTRIACARD HOLDINGS, an Austrian group of high-tech IT in Hardware Embedded Security, which employs 1.300 people and has an international presence in three Divisions, AUSTRIACARD, INFORM and NAUTILUS, in the fields of Digital Security, Information Management and IoT respectively, with a total turnover of € 135 million in 2019. The Group AUSTRIACARD HOLDINGS has a very strong European business footprint, from the United Kingdom to Greece and Turkey, with six production facilities and eight personalization centers in Europe, as well as two additional personalization centers in South America and the USA (at the construction stage), which allow to serve its customers, wherever they are, in the best possible way.

 

For more Information, visit the site www.informlykos.com

Financial results for the first half of 2020