DJ BILENDI: Strong growth in first-half results for 2024
BILENDI
BILENDI: Strong growth in first-half results for 2024
02-Oct-2024 / 17:40 CET/CEST
Dissemination of a French Regulatory News, transmitted by EQS Group.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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Strong growth in first-half results for 2024
-- Revenues growth of 3.6%
-- EBITDA up 58%
-- 5.6 fold increase in adjusted net profit, Group share[1]
Paris, 2 October 2024 - Bilendi, a European leader in AI technologies, data and solutions for the market research
industry, announces the publication of its half-year results for 2024, which show strong growth over the period.
The interim financial statements for 2024, which were approved by the Board on 30 September 2024, were subject to a
limited review by the Statutory Auditors.
In MEUR (unaudited)
S1 2023 S1 2024 VAR
Revenues 29.6 30.6 +3.6%
Staff costs (12.6) (12.4) -2.1%
Other operating expenses (13.3) (12.6) -5.9%
EBITDA[2] 3.6 5.7 +58.0%
As % of revenues 12..3% 18.7% +6.5 pts
Adjusted operating profit 0.9 2.8 +198.6%
As % of revenues 3.2% 9.1% +5.9 pts
Adjusted Net income1 0.3 1.9 +462.9%
Revenues up 3.6% in the first half of 2024
For the first half of 2024, revenues of EUR30.6m are up +3.6% (+3.1% at constant exchange rates) on H1 2023.
Outside France (77% of revenues), revenues of EUR23.5m are up +3.3% on H1 2023 (+3.1% at constant exchange rates). The most dynamic regions of the Bilendi group include: the DACH zone (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), which is the largest revenue generating area; the countries of northern Europe such as Belgium and the Nordics; and new countries such as the Netherlands and Spain.
In France, revenues of EUR7.1m are up +4.7% on H1 2023, confirming the positive momentum seen over the last few quarters.
Strong 58% increase in EBITDA
As anticipated at the time of the publication of the 2024 half-year revenues figures[3], Bilendi recorded EBITDA of EUR5.7m, up sharply by +58% compared with the first half of 2023. The EBITDA margin was 18.7% of revenues, representing an all-time high for a first half. Over the period, Bilendi benefited from a higher volume of business combined with the strict cost control measures first implemented in the second half of 2023.
5.6-fold increase in adjusted net profit1
Including depreciation, amortisation and provisions of EUR2.9m, adjusted operating profit1 was EUR2.8m, a 3-fold increase on the first half of 2023. After accounting for the financial result and the tax charge, adjusted net Income1 of EUR1.9m, shows a 5.6-fold increase compared with the first half of 2023.
Strong cash generation in the first half of 2024
As at 30 June 2024, Bilendi had a robust financial structure with:
- Equity of EUR37.3m;
- Cash flow from operating activities more than 3 times that reported in the first half of 2023, with the first half of 2024, rising from EUR1.3m to EUR4.2m;
- Working capital requirement halved to EUR0.7m, due to the combined effect of lower trade receivables and operating payables;
- An increase in gross cash flow to EUR13.6m (compared with EUR13.3m at 31 December 2023), and a decrease in financial debt to EUR12.6m (compared with EUR14.0m at 31 December 2023);
- In total, net cash amounted to EUR1.0m, compared with net debt of EUR0.7m at 31 December 2023 and net debt of EUR5.0m at 30 June 2023.
Post closing announcement
In the first half of 2024, Bilendi continued to innovate to broaden and strengthen its product offering in France and abroad. These strategic investments will contribute to the Group's growth and improve its operating profitability.
- Extension of proprietary panel coverage to almost the whole of Europe[4]
Over the years, Bilendi has developed or acquired panels to build a strong portfolio of 20 proprietary panels across Europe, with more than 2.5 million active online panelists in 13 European countries: Germany, France, UK, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Spain.
In response to growing customer demand for high-quality panels across Europe, Bilendi has decided to create 20 new proprietary panels. The roll-out began this summer with the successful launch of two new panels in Ireland and Greece. Other panels will gradually be established in various European countries over the coming months.
This expansion of proprietary panels will contribute to gross margin growth.
- Creation of discussion guides for end-to-end market research with AI thanks to BARI and Bilendi Discuss[5]
Already capable of helping researchers with their qualitative projects by automating tedious tasks such as writing coherent summaries and analysing participants' responses from large quantities of data, BARI was enhanced in January 2024 with the addition of automated professional moderation skills, making it even more powerful.
In early April 2024, Bilendi announced that BARI would be available to optimise quantitative projects by:
- maximising the potential of questions through automated moderation; and
- implementing automated AI quality checks for authentic and relevant verbatims using proprietary algorithms and LLM-based AI models.
Since September 2024, Bilendi has added new features to Bilendi Discuss, its AI-powered platform for qualitative research.
Using innovative algorithms developed by Bilendi, proprietary AI and advanced prompt engineering techniques for ChatGPT, BARI was already able to: moderate exchanges with participants, translate into any language, provide summaries and extract insights from vast amounts of data.
Thanks to these many advances, BARI now supports researchers from start to finish - from the creation of the discussion guide, through automated moderation, to the delivery of summaries and analyses. The only step missing is the automated generation of a summary report, which should be available at the end of this year.
2026 objectives confirmed
The Group is reaffirming its aggressive growth strategy, combining organic development and targeted acquisitions, with the objective of reaching revenues of EUR100 million by 2026 and EBITDA of 20% to 25% of revenues, i.e. EUR20 to 25 million.
Availability of the 2024 half-year financial report
The half-yearly financial report will shortly be available in the 'investors / financial documents' section of the company's website.
Next publication: 3rd quarter revenues 6 November 2024 (after close of trading)
About Bilendi
Bilendi is a European leader in technologies, data and IA solutions for the market research industry. Bilendi's mission is to collect and process reliable data, in an ethical manner, from consumers, citizens, patients, professionals, etc. for use by researchers in order to better understand our society, and for economic and political players, so that they can make informed decisions.
With a team of over 400 people, Bilendi has offices in France, the UK, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Morocco, serving 1,700 customers.
Certified ISO 20252:2019, Bilandi has developed BARI, an AI dedicated to the market research industry, Bilendi Discuss, a market research platform available in SaaS mode, and high-quality online panels in 13 European countries.
The Group is listed on Euronext Growth Paris. ISIN code: FR0004174233 - Mnémo code: ALBLD - Eligible PEA PME - « Innovative company » status from BPI France.
www.bilendi.com
Contacts
XXXXXX
Marc Bidou - Founder, Chairman and CEO
Marc Bidou - Chairman and CEO
Phone: +331 44 88 60 30
Phone: 01 44 88 60 30
m.bidou@bilendi.com
m.bidou@XXXXXX.com
SEITOSEI.ACTIFIN
ACTIFIN
Analysts & Investors Relations Press Relations:
Analysts & Investors Relations Press:
Foucauld Charavay Isabelle Dray
Foucauld Charavay Isabelle Dray
foucauld.charavay@seitosei-actifin.com isabelle.dray@seitosei-actifin.com
foucauld.charavay@seitosei-actifin.com isabelle.dray@seitosei-actifin.com
Phone: +331 56 88 11 10 Phone: +331 56 88 11 29
Phone: 01 56 88 11 10 Phone: 01 56 88 11 29
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[1] Excluding additional amortisation of assets relating to the Respondi acquisition, of EUR0.5m in H1 2024, with no cash impact, following the purchase price allocation (PPA). Full details in the 2024 half-year report.
[2] EBITDA: Operating profit before depreciation, amortisation and provisions
[3] See press release dated 24 July 2024
[4] See press release dated 24 September 2024
[5] See press releases dated 10 January, 3 April and 18 September 2024
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Regulatory filing PDF file File: Strong growth in first-half results for 2024
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Language: English
Company: BILENDI
4 rue de Ventadour
75001 PARIS
France
E-mail: contact.fr@bilendi.com
Internet: www.bilendi.com
ISIN: FR0004174233
Euronext Ticker: ALBLD
AMF Category: Inside information / News release on accounts, results
EQS News ID: 2000873
End of Announcement EQS News Service
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2000873 02-Oct-2024 CET/CEST
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October 02, 2024 11:40 ET (15:40 GMT)
