DGAP-News: EQS Group AG increases revenue by 9 percent in the first quarter of 2019

EQS Group AG increases revenue by 9 percent in the first quarter of 2019
Beginning of the year slightly weaker than expected - Guidance confirmed

Munich - May 17, 2019

EQS Group AG (ISIN: DE0005494165) started the 2019 financial year with revenue growth of 9 percent, slightly weaker than expected. The Group generated EUR 8.54 million in revenues between January and March. New customer growth proceeded according to plan. EBITDA decreased to EUR-443 thousand. Consolidated net income amounted to EUR-1.889 million. Earnings per share were EUR-1.25.

In addition to stagnating regulatory news revenues and a lack of IPOs compared to the same period last year, lower revenue growth is also attributable to postponements of published annual accounts on our XML filing service to the month of April and thus into the second quarter. On the cost side, the chronological sequence of our investment program resulted in total expenditures in the first quarter of last year which were significantly lower than the annual full-year average. Operating expenses are expected to grow at a slower rate than revenue during the remainder of the year.

Segment development

In the Compliance segment, first-quarter revenue increased by 7 percent to EUR 4.10 million (EUR 3.82 million). The number of large cap customers increased by 28 to 1,170 customers compared to the previous quarter, as well as by 193 to 4,363 customers in XML Filing, and by 3,814 to 33,580 for the LEI issuing service. In the Investor Relations segment, revenues increased to EUR 4.44 million, up 11 percent on the same period in the previous year (EUR 4.00 million), while the number of customers increased by 45 to a total of 2,083.

In September 2017, EQS Group AG made the pivotal decision to expand its core business to the adjacent Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) business sector and to exclusively develop cloud-based solutions for this purpose. This move was marked by an investment offensive to expand the Group into a technology company. As a result, earnings have been temporarily burdened. Product development is proceeding according to plan. The first version of the new COCKPIT was successfully launched in the fourth quarter of 2018. Since then, 49 customers have already migrated to the new COCKPIT.

Achim Weick, Founder and CEO of EQS Group AG: "Over the next quarters, we will successively launch additional modules for the COCKPIT and transition a large proportion of our existing customers to the new platform. We focus on our goal of becoming the leading European cloud provider for global corporate compliance and investor relations solutions."

Recurring revenue at the Group level was 76 percent in the first quarter. For large cap customers in Germany, the level is already at 81 percent. These percentages are derived from a base of 1,187 customers.

Outlook confirmed: Further growth in 2019

For the 2019 financial year, the Management Board is planning a revenue increase of 15 percent to 20 percent to between EUR 41.5 million and EUR 43.5 million. We now expect an EBITDA of between EUR 2.8 million and EUR 3.8 million due to lower other operating expenses of around EUR 1.8 million, an effect of IFRS 16 (Amendment to IFRS Accounting Policies for leases). Adjusted for the effects of IFRS 16, EBITDA is expected to be between EUR 1.0 million and EUR 2.0 million. We anticipate a volume of at least EUR 4.0 million for the newly introduced New ARR key figure, which indicates new contracts for recurring business volume. In addition, the number of customers (Large Caps) is set to increase to up to 400.

The Executive Board will discuss the results in today's telephone conference from 11.00 a.m. (CEST). This will be broadcast live online on www.eqs.com.

*Limited comparability due to new IFRS Accounting for Leases (IFRS 16) as of Jan. 1, 2019

More information:

The figures for Q1 2019 are unaudited.

Receive news from EQS Group AG free of charge on your mobile device: via DGAP News App directly to your AppleWatch or iPhone (http://newsapp.dgap.de/).

EQS Group is a leading international provider of regulatory technology (RegTech) in the fields of corporate compliance and investor relations. In working with EQS Group, thousands of companies worldwide inspire trust by fulfilling complex national and international disclosure obligations, minimizing risks and communicating transparently with stakeholders.

EQS Group's products are pooled in the cloud-based software EQS COCKPIT. They ensure the professional control of compliance workflows in the fields of whistleblower protection and case management, policy management, insider list management and disclosure obligations. In addition, listed companies benefit from a global newswire, investor targeting and contact management, IR websites, digital reports and webcasts for efficient and secure investor communications.

EQS Group was founded in 2000 in Munich, Germany. Today the group employs around 500 professionals and has offices in the world's key financial markets.

Contact:

André Marques

CFO

Tel.: +49 89-21029833

Mobile: +49 175-5250009

Email.: andre.marques@eqs.com