DGAP-IRE: OpenLimit Holding AG: Group Interim Report during the First Half of 2014


OpenLimit Holding AG  / Release of an announcement according to Article 37x of
the WpHG [the German Securities Trading Act] 

15.05.2014 08:00

Interim report according to Article 37x of the WpHG, transmitted by
DGAP - a company of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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OpenLimit Holding AG  |  Zugerstrasse 76b  |  CH - 6341 Baar

ISIN: CH.002.223.700.9 

OpenLimit Holding AG: Group Interim Report during the First Half of 2014 in
Accordance with Article 37x WpHG

  * Key earnings data confirm the upward trend

      - Turnover increases by 15% to EUR 1.16 million during the first
        three months of 2014 (Q1 2013: EUR 1.01 million)

      - Operating expense remained constant at EUR 1.73 million for the
        first three months of 2014

      - Compared with the previous year, the operating loss (EBIT)
        decreased from EUR -0.72 million to EUR -0.46 million (-37%) while
        the net loss decreased from EUR -0.77 million to EUR -0.55 million
        (-29%)

  * As of the reporting date of 31 March, cash and cash equivalents
    amounted to EUR 0.63 million (compared with EUR 0.63 million as of 31
    December 2013) while accounts receivable slightly reduced from EUR 5.35
    million to EUR 5.12 million during the same period

  * Successful completion of the financing round via convertible loans as
    well as interim financing for working capital

  * OpenLimit, Power Plus Communications AG and Elster GmbH sign a letter
    of intent for cooperation in the area of the Smart Meter Gateway

  * FUJITSU and OpenLimit present the joint application truedentity(R) 
    from OpenLimit and the FUJITSU vein scanner technology PalmSecure(TM)
    at CeBIT 2014 and conclude a cooperation agreement

  * The first milestones from the major order from T-Systems granted in
    December 2013 for the development of a 'Konnektor' for the healthcare
    market are realized

General Developments

 (Baar, Switzerland, 15 May 2014) Based on its order backlog and its new
customers, OpenLimit was able to achieve moderate sales growth in the first
quarter of 2014. Against the backdrop that OpenLimit has historically
generated most of its revenues in the second half of the year (especially
in the fourth quarter), the company's management is satisfied with
developments during the period, which have been in line with expectations.

'Konnektor'

Following on from the major order received from T-Systems in December 2013,
the so called 'Konnektor' for doctors' practices and hospitals was an
important focus of development activities during the first quarter. The
main purpose of the 'Konnektor' to be developed by OpenLimit is to
establish a secure link between the local systems of the stakeholders in
the healthcare system with the central telematics infrastructure. This
project is one of the lighthouse projects of the Federal Republic of
Germany within the context of implementation of the eCard strategy with the
healthcare card. After successful completion of the tests of the telematics
infrastructure in two test regions, it is planned to set up the structure
across the entire country. The electronic healthcare card (eGK), the
electronic health professional card (HBA) and security module cards (SMC)
all function as authentication media. Since the security and reliability of
the connector has a decisive influence on the security of the telematics
infrastructure, 'Konnektors' must go through a corresponding approval
procedure which, along with a functional test, also includes security
testing and certification. OpenLimit generates revenues on the basis of
milestones realized, with the total order value lying in the solid 7-digit
range and extending until the end of 2015.

Smart Meter Gateway

The Smart Meter Gateway ensures the communication of electricity meter data
to energy providers and end-consumers. In the area of the Smart Meter
Gateway, the software development proceeded as planned. OpenLimit is
currently concentrating on creating options to use the Smart Meter Gateway
with software applications from the smart home area. The aim is, together
with partners, to create seamless integration with software components so
that the functionality and benefits of the SMGW are easily accessible for
the user. To this end, OpenLimit has already been able to conclude the
first agreements with other companies.

A significant highlight in the first quarter was the eWorld trade fair in
February. Here, Power Plus Communications AG (PPC) and OpenLimit together
were able to successfully present the jointly developed Smart Meter Gateway
at numerous partner booths, e.g. Elster, Siemens, Robotron, Cuculus,
Worldline and Itron. Elster, a world leader in smart metering, decided to
enter into a partnership with PPC and OpenLimit SignCubes AG. To this end,
the three companies signed a letter of intent on February 11th, 2014, which
will soon be followed by a partnership agreement. Elster is therefore
offering customers the possibility of realizing reference and pilot
projects very early on.

With the planned passing of various Government ordinances in the second
half of the year, the regulatory framework will be completed for the most
part, so that the partners can expect an increase in Smart Meter Gateway
pilot tests.

truedentity(R)

truedentity(R) creates confidence and security in electronic identification
processes. After development of the first version was completed in 2013,
the focus was on establishing strategic partnerships to sell the solution.
Here, OpenLimit was able to achieve further successes in the first quarter
of the year in the form of declarations of intent with new as well as
existing partners. The joint solution with Fujitsu, which was demonstrated
at CeBIT 2014, is particularly promising. The solution consists of
OpenLimit truedentity(R) and Fujitsu PalmSecure(TM), a biometric hand vein
scanner. The combination of both technologies provides greater protection
against identity misuse and, at the same time, brings with it a high degree
of user-friendliness for a two-factor authentication method. A user
authenticates himself easily and securely with the surface of his hand. The
solution also offers the possibility of saving the identity data locally on
smart cards. This increases security and therefore satisfies special data
protection requirements. Possible application scenarios include the areas
of physical access controls, logging on to computers /smart devices and
networks, cashless payment methods and so on. Along with development
revenues, OpenLimit will also earn future licensing revenues.

In October 2012, OpenLimit filed a patent application for truedentity(R)
'Basalt' with the European Patent Office. The first search report by the
European Patent Office giving a preliminary opinion has been published on
April 30, 2014.

OpenLimit also endeavored to intensify its sales partnership activities in
the Middle East, South America, Japan and certain Eastern European
countries, with activities in Japan being at the most advanced stage of
all.

Signature technology

OpenLimit was able to execute numerous signature products as well as
integrations of signature technologies in third-party products during the
period. In particular, OpenLimit technologies were integrated into
specialist applications for public authorities, applications for tax and
financial advisors as well as applications for electronic prescriptions in
the healthcare market. The application scenario of replacement scanning -
digitalization of physical documents - continues to modestly liven up the
signature market.

Fujitsu SecDocs powered by OpenLimit

The product Fujitsu SecDocs was successfully commissioned at the German
Federal Employment Agency ('Bundesagentur für Arbeit') during the first
quarter. This represented the first major SecDocs project to enter into
successful operational use. At the same time, this in effect proved that
the product is capable of dealing with very high load requirements. Apart
than that, the SecDocs revenues lie within the range of the annual minimum
purchase guarantees (low 7-digit range) from Fujitsu.

eID server and AusweisApp

The AusweisApp was subjected to certification according to the
specifications of Technical Guidelines TR-03124-1 and TR-03112-7. Based on
this certified version, an updated AusweisApp was provided for operational
use, which, compared with the previous version, contains a large number of
improvements. The current version of the AusweisApp can be found on the
official German federal government website.

In addition, OpenLimit is currently developing a new version of the eID
server, with optimized interfaces for handling authorization certificates
and the associated lifecycle processes.

Financial Development of the OpenLimit Group (Based on Unaudited Quarterly
Figures)

Earnings

OpenLimit was able to increase its turnover for the first three months of
2014 by 15% to a total of EUR 1.16 million (compared with EUR 1.01 million
for the same period in 2013). Including company-produced additions to
software development amounting to EUR 0.67 million (2013: EUR 0.68
million). Hence, the total earnings figure was reported at EUR 1.83
million, which corresponds to an increase of 8% over the previous year's
figure (2013: EUR 1.69 million).

The cost of goods sold for the first quarter remained unchanged compared
with the previous year at EUR 0.04 million.

As of the reporting date of 31 March, OpenLimit employed 65 people
(including management). This compares with 64 employees as of 31 March 2013
and 67 as of 31 December 2013. In particular, due to salary adjustments,
personnel expenditure (excluding external labor) increased by 3.5% from EUR
0.98 million to EUR 1.01. In comparison, the external labor costs of EUR
0.29 million were slightly below the previous year's figure of EUR 0.30
million, despite the start of the gematik project.

Similarly, the cost reduction measures introduced in previous periods
continue to have a positive impact. For example, operating expenditure of
EUR 0.42 million was actually just below the figure of EUR 0.44 million for
the same period last year, representing a decrease of -3.6%.

Depreciation & amortization decreased by 21% over the same period last
year, falling to EUR 0.52 million. The D & A expense mostly relates to
intangible assets and can be traced back to the large amount of software
development activity in recent years.

EBITDA (operating result before depreciation) of EUR 0.06 million was
slightly positive (Q1 2013: EUR -0.07 million). The operating result (EBIT)
improved from EUR -0.72 million to EUR -0.46 million, equivalent to 37%.

The financial result of EUR -0.07 million was somewhat lower than the
previous year's figure of EUR -0.02 million. This is due mainly to higher
interest charges as a result of the issuing of convertible loans and use of
lines of credit as well as reduced foreign currency exchange differences.

Therefore, after considering tax expense of EUR 0.02 million (2013: 0.02
million), the group recorded a net loss of EUR -0.55 million for the period
1 January to 31 March 2014, representing an improvement of 29% over the Q1
2013 figure of EUR -0.77 million.

Financial Position and Working Capital

Compared with the figure for the end of the year, the value of the group's
non-current assets increased by +3% from EUR 5.89 million to EUR 6.06
million (31 March 2013: EUR 6.03 million), primarily due to an increase of
3.5% in the value of the group's intangible assets.

Current assets were recorded at EUR 7.07 million at the end of the quarter
(31 March 2013: EUR 4.54 million). While accounts receivable had decreased
slightly (31 March 2013: EUR 5.12 million vs. 31 December 2012: EUR 5.35
million), the liquidity position of EUR 0.63 million as of the reporting
date (30 March 2013: EUR 0.70 million; 31 December 2013: EUR 0.63 million)
had barely changed. At the same time, the position of creditors and other
receivables decreased from EUR 1.65 million at the end of the year to EUR
1.55 million (-6%) by the end of March.

Financing

Towards the end of the first quarter, another financing round consisting
new tranches of convertible loans totaling EUR 1.0 million was successfully
completed. In addition, working capital were financed in the interim by way
of lines of credit amounting to almost EUR 0.6 million until the receipt of
the outstanding accounts receivable.

As of the reporting date of 31 March 2014, the group's equity position
amounted to EUR 7.43 million, representing a decline of 2% over the same
period last year (31 March 2013: EUR 7.58 million). In contrast, total
assets increased by 19% from EUR 10.57 million to EUR 12.63 million.

Change of personnel

Mr Christian Fuessinger, Chief Financial Officer & Head of Corporate
Affairs of OpenLimit Group, has informed the Board that he will leave the
Company for personal reasons. He will however continue to provide
operational support until a suitable successor is appointed and afterwards
will remain at the Company's disposal as advisor.

Outlook

The outlook for the 2014 financial year remains the same as that described
in the Annual Report for 2013 which was published recently. OpenLimit has a
solid order backlog in the mid 7-digit range for 2014. This improves the
liquidity planning situation compared with previous periods, although long
payment periods will have to be granted in some cases. OpenLimit is however
reliant on generating substantial new business in order to achieve its goal
of moderate sales growth compared with the previous year as well as
reaching the EBIT breakeven point. This aim is sometimes heavily dependent
on legal and other frameworks which lie beyond OpenLimit's control. Because
of the sales pipeline that exists for the signature and truedentity(R)
products, the acquisition of further major orders could to some extent
cushion any delay in the introduction of the Smart Meter Gateway.
Ultimately however, the chances of realizing the company's aims cannot be
assessed until later in the year. At present, we expect the legal and
technical frameworks for the Smart Meter Gateway to be complete in the
third quarter. This would significantly boost sales activities in the
energy sector. OpenLimit's management will, in any event, do everything in
its power to achieve the goals set.

 

About OpenLimit

Publicly traded OpenLimit Holding AG (symbol: 05H) as well as an operating
subsidiary have their headquarters in Baar, Switzerland.  Another
subsidiary is located in Berlin, Germany. The group of companies employs
over 65 highly qualified staff.

OpenLimit stands for the secure electronic handshake. With our
technologies, we enable people and machines worldwide to communicate in
ways that are secure, verifiable and identifiable. We develop enabling
technologies and products in the following areas: electronic identities,
electronic signatures, evidentiary value-preserving long-term storage of
data and documents as well as secure communication between machines. Our
technologies are an integral component of products from leading
manufacturers of IT applications and can be found in businesses,
authorities, institutions as well as private households. In order to
realize our mission of a secure electronic handshake, we enter into
targeted strategic development and sales partnerships.

For further information, please visit: http://www.openlimit.com

Investor Relations Contact

OpenLimit Holding AG
Christian Fuessinger
Zugerstrasse 76b
CH-6341 Baar
Tel.:  +41 41 560 1020
Fax:  +41 41 560 1039
E-Mail: ir@openlimit.com

Disclaimer

This communication includes forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements are statements that no not describe events from the past; they
also include statements on our assumptions and expectations. Every
statement contained within this press release which describes our
intentions, assumptions, expectations or predictions (as well as the
assumptions underlying these) is a forward-looking statement. These
statements are based on plans, estimates and forecasts currently available
to the management of OpenLimit Holding AG. Forward-looking statements
therefore only relate to the day on which they are made. We shall not
assume any obligation to refine such statements in the light of new
information or future events.



15.05.2014 DGAP's Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements,
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Language:     English
Company:      OpenLimit Holding AG
              Zugerstrasse 76 b
              6341 Baar
              Switzerland
Internet:     www.openlimit.com
 
End of Announcement                             DGAP News-Service
 
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