SOLUTIONS 30 : 2017 > strong performance combining growth of both revenue and profitability

• Revenue: +43% - 274.5 M€
• Adjusted EBITDA⁽¹⁾: +46% - 25.3 M€, 9.2% of revenue
• Net income Group share: +51% - 12.5 M€, 4.6% of revenue

The Supervisory Board of SOLUTIONS 30, a leader in Europe for Solutions for New Technologies and Connected Objects, met under the chairmanship of Jean-Marie Descarpentries, examining and validating the consolidated financial statements for the 2017 financial year, ended on 31 December, approved by Executive Management.

 ⁽¹⁾ Current operating profit (*) before depreciation, amortisation and provisions, net of reversals
⁽²⁾ Current operating profit before amortisation of intangible assets, including customer relations.
⁽³⁾ Before amortisation of goodwill
 ⁽⁴⁾ EBIT/net financial expense - Interest coverage ratio of financial expense net by EBIT
^(*) Are considered non recurring transactions: income and expense, which is significant in terms of its amount, uncommon in its type or category and infrequent.

Gianbeppi Fortis, Chairman of the Executive Board, said:

"SOLUTIONS 30 will have more than doubled in size in two years, from €125m in revenue in 2015 to €274m in 2017, and growth in 2018 looks set to continue strongly. The 2017 financial year demonstrated this robust growth momentum, which is the result of an offensive strategy combining internal growth and targeted acquisitions, in order to secure quickly the positions of our Group in its markets. On the back of a strengthened financial structure and solid fundamentals, we approach 2018 with confidence and expect another record year in a market environment that remains favourable."

Karim Rachedi, Chief Operating Officer, said:

"The 2017 financial year was marked by strong growth in our business activities in France and the successful integration of our acquisitions in Germany, which is now the Group's 2^nd market, and in Benelux. At the same time our profitability has improved because the larger size of our operations in certain geographies allows us to better absorb our fixed costs and improve the efficiency of our field force."

43% growth in 2017 revenue

In 2017, SOLUTIONS 30 recorded 43% growth in its revenue (27% at constant scope). Revenue ended at €274.5m versus €191.8m a year earlier. SOLUTIONS 30 continued its selective acquisitions policy with the consolidation, in Germany, of ABM Communication (January) and VKDFS (June), and, in France, of Fujitsu's field services business activities (July).

In France, revenue reached €177.9m, versus €133.4m a year earlier, i.e. growth of +33% (+30% organic). The financial year was marked by further acceleration in fibre optic installations and the deployment of a new batch of Linky metres, particularly in the last quarter.

International revenue came out at €96.6m, i.e. 35% of total revenue, and grew 66% (+22% at constant scope). This performance was particularly owing to Germany, where SOLUTIONS 30 signed three major contracts in the second half of the year, which is now the Group's 2^nd region, followed by Benelux, Italy and Spain. The Group has a solid platform in Europe on which to replicate its French growth model.

46% growth in adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBIT

Adjusted EBITDA stood at €25.3m, i.e. 9.2% of revenue, up 46% versus 2016. Direct operating costs were up 43% and accounted for 79.3% of revenue in 2017, versus 79.4% a year earlier. This good management of operational expenses in a context of strong growth, shows the capability of the Group to improve continuously its efficiency. The costs of the central departments represent 11.5% of revenue in 2017 versus 11.6% in 2016 thus demonstrating the commitment of SOLUTIONS 30's management to keep central costs under control.

Adjusted EBIT ended at €20.6M, up 46%. It includes €4.7M in operating amortisation relating to the S30.net software platform and the equipment used by Group technicians.

The financial result changed from €(1.2)m in 2016 to €(1.6)m in 2017, including €0.2m in non recurring expense linked to the implementation, at the start of the year, of a structured financing securing the Group's external growth policy.

Tax expense ended at €(1.7)m versus €(1.3)m in 2016 and amortisation of goodwill at €(3.9)m in 2017 versus €(1.5)m in 2016. Non-recurring items of €0.7m versus €0.3m a year earlier are mainly from the recognition of customer relations in the acquisitions of the year and costs related to the reorganisation of the German subsidiaries.

Net profit reached €14.1m versus €9.5m a year earlier and net income (Group share) ended at €12.5m, up 51%.

A solid financial structure

At 31 December 2017, equity group share stood at €59.6m, versus € 37.5m at 31 December 2016 and net debt stood at €24.7m (less than 1 time adjusted EBITDA) versus €20.6m a year earlier.

With a gearing (net debt to equity) of 41%, and a coverage ratio of net financial expense by adjusted EBIT of 7.6 times, the Group has the required room for manoeuvre to pursue its growth strategy.

Appointment of three new members within the Supervisory Board

At its last meeting, the Supervisory Board co-opted two new members: Paul Raguin, Chairman of the Supervisory Board for Eolane, which specialises in the design and production of connected objects and Jean-Paul Cottet, a former member of Orange's executive committee. The Supervisory Board will propose to the Shareholders Meeting of 18 May to nominate also Laurence Vanhée, a Belgian citizen, who is a human resources specialist and founder of Happyformance. Their appointments strengthen S3O's Supervisory Board's skill set and bring complementary expertise in terms of strategic marketing, human capital management and organisation.

Highly robust growth outlook remains for 2018

Thanks to a solid skill set across a range of sectors and strong leadership, SOLUTIONS 30 is in an ideal position to seize growth opportunities in its markets and continue its offensive growth strategy. The Group benefits from several growth drivers: the spread of digital across all sectors of the economy, a strong tendency towards outsourcing service activities and a highly fragmented European market in which SOLUTIONS 30 has become the natural market consolidator. At the same time, and to continue its strategy combining growth and profitability, the Group has secured its business model and its ability to execute whilst maintaining rigorous cost management to absorb the ramp-up of its contracts.

Thus, in 2018, SOLUTIONS 30 is expected to witness another excellent year of robust and profitable growth, driven by new contracts signed throughout 2017 and new projects under discussion.

Jean-Marie Descarpentries, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, concluded: "On behalf of the Supervisory Board, I would like to thank SOLUTIONS 30's customers for their continued loyalty and extend my warm congratulations to the Executive Board, the Managers and all of our Employees as well as the main referenced subcontractors for another financial year of remarkable progress."

Next key dates:

14 May 2018                                  Q1 2018 revenue
24 July 2018                                   Q2 and 1^st half 2018 revenue
24 September 2018                      2018 half-year results
6 November 2018                         Q3 2018 revenue

Publication after the close of the Euronext Growth and XETRA markets, i.e. at 8:00pm CET.

The SOLUTIONS 30 Group is Europe's leading provider of Solutions for New Technologies. Its mission is to grant individuals and businesses alike access to technological changes that transform our daily lives: computers and the Internet in the past, today's digital changes, and future technology that will make the world ever more connected in real time. Since its founding, the Group has handled more than 10 million service calls by drawing on a network of 4,000 regional technicians. SOLUTIONS 30 currently covers the whole of France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Spain. SOLUTIONS 30 S.E.'s capital comprises 24,179,812 shares, with an identical number of theoretical and exercisable voting rights.
Solutions 30 S.E. is listed on the Alternext market (ISIN FR0013188844 - code ALS30), eligible for the PEA-PME share savings plan, and on the Frankfurt stock exchange on the Xetra electronic system (ISIN FR0013188844 - code 30L2)
Indexes: MSCI Europe Small Cap | Tech40 | CAC PME
For more information, go to www.solutions30.com