SERSTECH GROUP, 1 OCTOBER - 31 DECEMBER 2023
- Net sales amounted to KSEK 4 209 (3 488), an increase of 21%.
- EBITDA amounted to KSEK -4 390 (-13 149), corresponding to an EBITDA margin of -104%.
- EBIT amounted to KSEK -7 405 (-16 143), corresponding to an EBIT margin of -176%.
- Cash flow from operating activities amounted to KSEK 4 667 (-1 391).
- Earnings per share amounted to SEK -0.04 (-0.19).
- Earnings per average number of shares amounted to SEK -0.04 (-0.19).
SERSTECH GROUP, 1 JANUARY - 31 DECEMBER 2023
- Net sales amounted to KSEK 62 913 (17 112), an increase of 268%.
- EBITDA amounted to KSEK 12 900 (-21 245), corresponding to an EBITDA margin of 21%.
- EBIT amounted to KSEK 955 (-29 278), corresponding to an EBIT margin of 2%.
- Cash flow from operating activities amounted to KSEK 7 632 (-13 158).
- Earnings per share amounted to SEK 0.00 (-0.35).
- Earnings per average number of shares amounted to SEK 0.00 (-0.35).
MESSAGE FROM THE CEO
In 2023, Serstech experienced an inflection point, marking a return to market normalcy after three years of pandemic-induced customer inactivity. We increased our net result by 30.3 MSEK, achieving a positive net result for the first time at 715 KSEK. Our EBITDA result improved by 34.1 MSEK, reaching 12.9 MSEK. Net sales witnessed a remarkable increase of 268%, and our operational cash flow rose to 7.6 MSEK, an improvement of 20.8 MSEK compared to 2022.
During the pandemic, we focused on developing our new Serstech Arx and in 2022 we started to prepare for the return of the market, building relatively large inventory of components and started to rebuild the team. The rights issue we completed in January allowed us to ramp up as needed, and we managed to deliver on time throughout the year, despite the steep increase in volumes and the persistent component shortage.
In addition to growing the team, building component inventory, and ramping up production, we redesigned Serstech Arx, which now only uses modern, readily available electronic components. The work was concluded before the end of the year, and we now can produce even better and faster products in a more streamlined production process.
In December we achieved our ISO 9001 and 14001 certifications, which will strengthen our competitiveness in the evaluation process of some tender bids. The certifications are good to have, but more important is the underlying quality management system, which allows us to measure and continuously improve every detail of how we work.
Our longer-term goal of providing solutions rather than devices is starting to become reality. We now have customers who have integrated our instruments and software into their own systems, allowing them to create dashboards with real-time updates of which narcotics are found and where they are found. The value in such a system is far beyond that of stand-alone devices, which is what our competitors limit themselves to. Serstech left its days as a start-up behind in 2023 and is now in the scaling-up phase, with solid processes and a much more efficient and professional organization in place. Our R&D team is significantly more capable and efficient than before, and our sales team has convincingly proven its capability in 2023. In addition, we expanded the sales team with a senior salesperson in January 2024, and we now have local sales people in most of the important regions.
The strong demand in the market is driven by a combination of three factors - the pent-up demand that was created during the pandemic, the increasing narcotics problems in the world and the security risks magnified by Russia's aggression and the conflict in the Middle East. Our estimation is that the demand created by these three factors is far from met and that we are still only seeing the beginning of the conversion of the demand into orders.
Our sales in 2023 were approximately 20% above the expectations we communicated a year ago, and our R&D team has been able to deliver our upgraded products according to schedule. We today see a stronger and growing opportunity pipeline, compared to what we saw in late 2022, and we are confident we can achieve our target of 50% growth on average per year during a five-year period. We still expect to continue to see significant variations between quarters, but the longer-term trend remains positive and steadily improving.
2024 has started on an even more promising note than its predecessor did. The orders received within the first month alone have made 2024 the second-best year in the history of the company.
For further information, please contact:
Stefan Sandor,
CEO, Serstech AB Phone: +46 739 606 067
Email: ss@serstech.com
or
Thomas Pileby,
Chairman of the Board, Serstech AB Phone: +46 702 072 643
Email: tp@serstech.com
or visit: www.serstech.com
This is information that Serstech AB (publ.) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above at 08:45 CET on February 23, 2024.
Certified advisor to Serstech is Svensk Kapitalmarknadsgranskning AB (SKMG).
ABOUT SERSTECH
Serstech delivers solutions for chemical identification and has customers around the world, mainly in the safety and security industry. Typical customers are customs, police authorities, security organizations and first responders. The solutions and technology are however not limited to security applications and potentially any industry using chemicals of some kind could be addressed by Serstech's solution. Serstech's head office is in Sweden and all production is done in Sweden.
Serstech is traded at Nasdaq First North Growth Market and more information about the company can be found at www.serstech.com
