Ninth record year in succession sees sharply accelerated growth

Provisional figures indicate that ATOSS Software AG increased sales in the financial year 2014 by 12 percent to EUR 39.7 million (previous year EUR 35.5 million). Generating double-digit growth overall, the Munich-based workforce management specialist recorded even higher increases in individual, important areas such as software licensing and consulting. This also applies to operating profits (EBIT), which climbed 16 percent to EUR 9.8 million (previous year EUR 8.4 million). And with a corresponding 25 percent margin on sales, following on from 24 percent last year, ATOSS has also once again succeeded in increasing its profitability.

Sustained high demand for the company’s solutions resulted in significant gains in orders received for software licenses, up by 45 percent at EUR 10.5 million. This was the first time in the history of ATOSS that licensing orders passed the EUR 10.0 million mark. In 2014, ATOSS recorded growth in products, markets and sectors and achieved sustained increases in its market share. The Management Board also takes a confident view of the current period and expects further record figures for a tenth successive year.

ATOSS Software AG remained on course for further record performance throughout 2014, and the outstanding development in orders received provides a basis for substantial sales and earnings growth in the current financial year. One of the main reasons lies in the large number of new enterprise customers acquired in the company’s Retail and Healthcare focus sectors. These successes not only confirm that ATOSS offers first-class solutions. They also reflect the company’s extremely effective ability to address its target markets through its consistent long-term strategy of verticalization. Orders on hand for software licenses rose from EUR 3.5 million in the year before to EUR 5.4 million as of December 31, 2014, providing an outstanding basis for another record year.

The excellent development in business operations and the continued acceleration in growth in the past financial year underscore the success of the ATOSS business model. With overall sales coming in at EUR 39.7 million, software licenses proved a driving force in the reporting period, putting on double-digit growth of 13 percent. The consistent positive development in software maintenance over many years was also sustained, with sales up 7 percent at EUR 15.4 million. Software turnover in total amounted to EUR 23.9 million, representing a 60 percent share of consolidated revenues. In the consulting area - driven by the excellent order intake for implementation services due to license sales - ATOSS also recorded a 13 percent rise, lifting sales to EUR 10.1 million. Against this background, hardware sales also increased from EUR 3.4 million to EUR 4.5 Million.

For years, ATOSS has maintained an impressively high level of profitability, as is aptly demonstrated once again by the 16 percent increase in EBIT which climbed to EUR 9.8 million in the past financial year, accompanied by a corresponding margin of 25 percent. Earnings per share, which were materially affected by one-off factors in the previous year, improved once more, rising from EUR 0.76 to EUR 1.77. Net earnings also more than doubled, coming in at EUR 7.0 million. Thanks to this excellent development in business, despite the dividend distribution totaling EUR 2.9 million at the beginning of May 2014, liquidity was up 35 percent over the year before at EUR 20.6 Million.

Not only was the financial year 2014 successful as a whole: The fourth quarter was particularly strong, yielding the highest quarterly sales in the company’s history at EUR 10.9 million (previous year: EUR 9.0 million). Orders received for software licenses also hit a new quarterly record of EUR 3.4 million, while EBIT in the fourth quarter of the financial year amounted to EUR 2.6 million (previous year EUR 1.9 million).

The Management Board intends to propose that in resolving on the appropriation of net income, the Supervisory Board recommends a dividend of EUR 0.88 per share (previous year EUR 0.72). This represents a continuation of the policy adopted by ATOSS more than a decade ago which foresees year on year continuity with the distribution of around 50 percent of earnings per share. The recommendations for the appropriation of net income put forward by the Management and Supervisory Boards will be resolved upon at the annual general meeting on April 28, 2015.

Demand for workforce management solutions remains high in almost all sectors. The Management Board is of the opinion that the market continues to hold significant potential that ATOSS is ideally positioned to open up and develop. Especially in the prevailing volatile economic environment, continuous demand growth has been evident. Business models are changing at a radical pace and companies are under increasing pressure to find ways of improving productivity and increasing flexibility, while reducing operating costs at the same time - a fact that is most strongly underlined by the orders ATOSS booked in the past financial year 2014.

The proven robust business model that underpins ATOSS Software AG and the positive outlook for growth offer further support for the company’s excellent future prospects. Consequently, the Management Board anticipates that the company’s record development will also continue for a tenth successive year in 2015, with an EBIT margin remaining securely above 20 percent.