This release is a summary of Qt Group Plc's Half-Year Report January-June 2024. The complete report is attached to this release as a PDF file, and it is also available on the company's website at www.qt.io/investors.
Second quarter 2024: Operating profit increased significantly, driven by the strong growth of net sales
April-June 2024
Net sales increased 22.7 percent to EUR 53.3 million (EUR 43.5 million). The effect of exchange rates on the comparison period's net sales was EUR 0.1 million and at comparable exchange rates, net sales increased by 22.3 percent.
Operating profit (EBITA) was EUR 18.5 million (EUR 12.5 million) or 34.7 percent (28.7%) of net sales.
Operating profit (EBIT) was EUR 16.5 million (EUR 10.5 million) or 31.0 percent (24.1 %) of net sales.
Earnings per share were EUR 0.53 (EUR 0.31).
January-June 2024
Net sales increased 17.9 percent to EUR 98.4 million (EUR 83.4 million). The effect of exchange rates on the comparison period's net sales was EUR -0.3 million and at comparable exchange rates, net sales increased by 18.3 percent.
Operating profit (EBITA) was EUR 29.5 million (EUR 20.3 million) or 30.0 percent (24.3 %) of net sales.
Operating profit (EBIT) was EUR 25.5 million (EUR 16.3 million) or 25.9 percent (19.5 %) of net sales.
Earnings per share were EUR 0.83 (EUR 0.48).
The figures in brackets refer to the comparison period, i.e., the corresponding period in the previous year. The percentage of change in net sales at comparable exchange rates is calculated by translating the net sales from the comparison period 2023 with the actual exchange rates of the reporting period 2024 and by comparing the reported net sales in 2024 with the calculated 2023 net sales at comparable exchange rates.
Key figures
| EUR 1,000 | 4-6/2024 | 4-6/2023 | Change, % | 1-6/2024 | 1-6/2023 | Change, % | 1-12/2023 |
| Net sales | 53,329 | 43,469 | 22.7% | 98,407 | 83,440 | 17.9% | 180,743 |
| Operating profit (EBITA) | 18,525 | 12,492 | 48.3% | 29,486 | 20,292 | 45.3% | 55,379 |
| EBITA, % | 34.7% | 28.7% | 30.0% | 24.3% | 30.6% | ||
| Operating profit (EBIT) | 16,517 | 10,484 | 57.5% | 25,471 | 16,277 | 56.5% | 47,349 |
| EBIT, % | 31.0% | 24.1% | 25.9% | 19.5% | 26.2% | ||
| Return on equity, % | 10.1% | 8.5% | 15.8% | 13.2% | 33.9% | ||
| Return on investment, % | 11.5% | 8.5% | 17.9% | 13.1% | 35.6% | ||
| Interest-bearing liabilities1 | 3,945 | 29,051 | -86.4% | 3,945 | 29,051 | -86.4% | 20,513 |
| Cash and cash equivalents1 | 40,350 | 26,821 | 50.4% | 40,350 | 26,821 | 50.4% | 33,595 |
| Net gearing, %1 | -25.4% | 2.3% | -25.4% | 2.3% | -10.7% | ||
| Equity ratio, %1 | 73.3% | 56.6% | 73.3% | 56.6% | 64.4% | ||
| Earnings per share (EPS), EUR | 0.53 | 0.31 | 69.2% | 0.83 | 0.48 | 70.7% | 1.40 |
| Diluted earnings per share, EUR | 0.53 | 0.31 | 69.2% | 0.82 | 0.48 | 70.7% | 1.39 |
| Personnel, on average | 828 | 717 | 15.4% | 813 | 708 | 14.7% | 732 |
1 At the end of the period
Juha Varelius, President and CEO
In the second quarter of 2024, Qt Group's net sales grew by 22 percent at comparable exchange rates and amounted to EUR 53 million. The quarter was substantially stronger than the first quarter of the year. Very strong growth was achieved in the sales of developer licenses. Growth was also accelerated by a significant new license deal signed in North America in June. In terms of geographic regions, the development of net sales was good in Asia and America. In Europe, Qt Group's business suffered from the challenges posed by the operating environment.
Operating profit (EBITA) for the second quarter came to EUR 19 million, representing year-on-year growth of 48 percent. The EBITA margin was 35 percent. Thanks to the scalability of our business model, our ability to maintain the profitability of our operations is very good.
We announced two significant partnerships during the second quarter of 2024. In April, we started a collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. to streamline the development of advanced graphical user interfaces and software quality assurance for industrial IoT devices. The combined force of Qt's cross-platform development tools and Qualcomm's technology gives IoT manufacturers the opportunity to significantly accelerate their devices' time-to-market. In June, we became part of LG Electronics' automotive content platform. Qt Group and LG Electronics joined forces to embed the Qt software framework for application development in LG's webOS-based in-vehicle entertainment platform (ACP). The collaborative effort aims to empower automotive OEM developers and designers to create more innovative, immersive content-streaming services for cars.
We expect that the challenges in the operating environment will continue, particularly in Europe. Nevertheless, it is our view that we are in an excellent position to accelerate our growth in the second half of 2024 when compared to the first half of the year. We are keeping our guidance for the full year unchanged.
Outlook for 2024
We estimate that our full-year net sales for 2024 will increase by 20-30 percent year-on-year at comparable exchange rates and that our operating profit margin (EBITA %) will be 25-35 percent in 2024.
News conference
Qt Group will hold an English-language news conference on August 8, 2024, at 11:00-12:00 EEST at Sanomatalo in Helsinki, Finland, and as a webcast at www.qt.io/investors. CEO Juha Varelius and CFO Jouni Lintunen will present the results at the news conference. Analysts and investors can participate in the news conference in person or via conference call: https://palvelu.flik.fi/teleconference/?id=50048457.
Further information:
President and CEO Juha Varelius, tel. +358 9 8861 8040
Distribution:
Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd.
Key media
www.qt.io
