Success story continues with 10th record results in succession

ATOSS Software AG has achieved new record sales and earnings figures for financial year 2015, as provisional figures show. The company exceeded its targets for the year and hastened its already dynamic pace of growth. The sustained demand for professional business management solutions drove all key financial figures to new highs, with consolidated sales rising 13 percent to EUR 44.9 million. The core software business saw growth of 12 percent, contributing EUR 26.7 million (previous year: EUR 23.9 million). Operating profits (EBIT), meanwhile, climbed 16 percent to EUR 11.3 million. The Munich-based specialist in workforce management has now achieved record figures for the 10th successive year, maintaining growth and creating the basis for further outstanding business development.

Thanks to its strategy as a full range provider with a comprehensive range of solutions for companies of all orders of magnitude, with all ATOSS solutions available “on premises” or in the cloud and a long-standing focus on specific sectors, the company has again succeeded in convincing large numbers of renowned clients that ATOSS is the right partner to choose for workforce management. This is clearly evidenced by the orders booked for software licenses which will continue to add significant momentum for growth in financial year 2016. In total, orders on hand for software licenses increased from EUR 5.4 million in the past year to stand at EUR 5.9 million as of December 31, 2015, with orders for cloud solutions advancing strongly from EUR 0.6 million to EUR 2.7 Million.

With overall sales revenues up 13 percent to EUR 44.9 million, software licensing – the driving force behind the ATOSS business model – climbed 16 percent in financial year 2015 to reach EUR 9.8 million. There was a similar consistent positive trend in software maintenance, with double-digit growth of 10 percent lifting sales to EUR 16.9 million. As a result, software sales in total amounted to EUR 26.7 million, representing an unchanged proportion of 60 percent of consolidated revenues. In view of the extremely positive order situation for implementation services following on from software license sales, ATOSS also recorded above-average growth in consulting, with sales rising 18 percent to EUR 11.9 million, representing 26 percent of turnover. A gratifying increase in other income was also recorded, which rose by 39 percent to EUR 1.7 million, due mainly to the successful establishment and development of the company’s hosting business. Hardware sales amounted to EUR 4.6 million (previous year: EUR 4.5 million).

ATOSS has for years maintained an impressively high level of profitability. In 2015 once again, operating profits climbed 16 percent to EUR 11.3 million, equating to a margin on sales of 25 percent. Following the sale in July 2015 of the major part of its investment holdings in gold, as of December 31 the company posted essentially flat financial earnings of TEUR -22 (previous year TEUR 508). Powered by the generally excellent development in business, EPS increased from EUR 1.77 to EUR 1.91. Despite the dividend payment of EUR 3.5 million at the end of April, net liquidity rose from EUR 20.6 million to EUR 24.4 million, reflecting the financial strength and solidity of the ATOSS Group.

Not only was financial year 2015 very successful as a whole: the fourth quarter also proved particularly strong. With sales coming in at EUR 11.9 million (previous year: EUR 10.9 million), ATOSS recorded the highest quarterly turnover in the company’s 28-year history. EBIT in the fourth quarter of the financial year amounted to EUR 2.9 million (previous year: EUR 2.6 million).

The Management Board intends to propose that in resolving on the appropriation of net income, the Supervisory Board recommends a dividend of EUR 2.80 per share. This out payment includes a dividend of EUR 0.95 (previous year: EUR 0.88) in accordance with the out payment policy in previous years and a special dividend amounting to EUR 1.85 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 26, 2016.

The market for workforce management continues to offer substantial growth potential. Especially in an environment in which business models are changing rapidly, the demands made on businesses themselves are growing. Companies face increasing challenges to improve their productivity and boost flexibility, while at the same time reducing operating costs. Consequently, the demand for workforce management solutions is growing. ATOSS is excellently positioned in this market environment. Not least, the fact that all products are now available as cloud solutions has opened the door to new customer groups and yielded additional orders. The orders booked in the past year for software licenses and the proportion of software accounted for by contracted cloud solutions together amounting to EUR 11.1 million (previous year: EUR 10.7 million) leave no room for the doubt that the growth potential of ATOSS is far from being exhausted.

Against this background, the Management Board expects the success story to continue in 2016 with an EBIT margin of around 25 percent.