DGAP-News: QSC increases revenues by 6% in first half of 2018

QSC increases revenues by 6% in first half of 2018

- Revenues rise to EUR 186.2 million in first six months of 2018
- Cloud revenues up 36% to EUR 15.6 million
- Further double-digit growth in TC business
- Key earnings and financial figures develop as planned; consolidated net income up 18%
- QSC now expects revenues at least at upper end of EUR 345 million to EUR 355 million range

Cologne, 6 August 2018. The Cloud and ICT provider QSC increased its first-half revenues to EUR 186.2 million, up from EUR 175.9 million in the previous year's period, and now expects its full-year revenues for 2018 at least to reach the upper end of the EUR 345 million to EUR 355 million range communicated in March 2018.

Growing demand for cloud services and IoT solutions

The growth generated in the first half of 2018 was driven by the Cloud and Telecommunications (TC) segments. In its Cloud business, QSC managed to increase its revenues by 36% to EUR 15.6 million in the period under report. This growth was due to success in both areas of activity - cloud services and Internet of Things (IoT). In the first half of 2018, the TC business benefited above all from higher demand in the international voice termination business: TC revenues rose by 14% to EUR 103.8 million. The two other segments - Consulting and Outsourcing - largely performed in line with expectations.

EBITDA came to EUR 18.2 million in the first half of 2018, as against EUR 20.2 million in the previous year's period. Operating earnings (EBIT) for the same period rose from EUR 4.4 million to EUR 4.6 million. Consolidated net income improved to EUR 1.3 million in the first half of 2018, up from EUR 1.1 million one year earlier. Free cash flow totalled EUR 2.8 million at the end of the first six months, compared with EUR 6.4 million in the previous year's period. The Company's key earnings and financial figures therefore developed in line with expectations in the first half of 2018. For the financial year as whole, QSC therefore still plans to generate EBITDA of between EUR 35 million and EUR 40 million and free cash flow of more than EUR 10 million.

QSC benefits from new vertical organisational structure

CEO Jürgen Hermann is satisfied with the business performance in the first half of 2018: "Our operating business is already benefiting from implementation of the new vertical organisational structure." At the beginning of 2018, QSC assigned responsibility for sales and technology to its business units and thus significantly boosted their autonomy. With regard to the second half of 2018, Hermann added: "We now expect the spin-off of our TC business into a standalone subsidiary to provide added momentum." This move was approved by the Annual General Meeting in July 2018. In future, QSC will be pooling its TC business at its wholly-owned subsidiary Plusnet GmbH.
 

Notes:
The complete Half-Year Report can be downloaded at www.qsc.de/en/qsc-ag/investor-relations.html. This Corporate News contains forward-looking statements that are based on current expectations and forecasts on the part of the management of QSC AG with regard to future events. Due to risks or erroneous assumptions, actual events may deviate materially from these forward-looking statements.

Contact for enquiries:
QSC AG
Arne Thull
Head of Investor Relations
T +49 221 669-8724
F +49 221 669-8009
invest@qsc.de
www.qsc.de