Press
SQS AG doubles profits, boosts sales by over 50%
Preliminary results for financial year 2007
Cologne, 7 March 2008
SQS Software Quality Systems AG (AIM: SQS.L, Open Market: ISIN DE0005493514) achieved in financial year 2007 the best result in the company’s history, exceeding its targets. While turnover rose by 53% to €121.1m, adjusted profit before tax nearly doubled, rising by 96% to €10.5m.
SQS owes last year’s strong expansion not only to the acquisition of Austrian company Triton GmbH. Organic growth at 27% was well above average growth in the IT Services market.
The results for the financial year ended 31 December 2007:
- - Turnover rose by 53% to €121.1m (2006: €78.9m)
- - Adjusted profit before tax up 96% to €10.5m (2006: €5.3m)
- - Net cash position of €6.9m (2006: net debt of €3.2m), with €11.4m in cash from operations (2006: €1.6m) as the main contributor
- - Adjusted earnings per share were up 46% to €0.41 (2006: €0.28)
- - Double two-year dividend of €0.20 per share.
“SQS had an excellent year strengthening its position as the global leader in independent software testing and quality management services,” said Rudolf van Megen, CEO of SQS AG. “Higher pricing, excellent utilisation rates and tight cost control enabled us to further increase gross margins. In 2008 our focus will continue to be on both organic and acquisitive growth, further strengthening our foothold in Europe and exploring opportunities to expand our geographic footprint in the Asia/Oceanic region. More than 51% of the revenue expected for 2008 has either already been booked or contracted, and the pipeline is strong. We look to the future with confidence.”
Corporate development at SQS AG in 2007 was characterised mainly by the following highlights:
- - SQS won a large number of new clients in 11 different industries
- - Strengthened delivery capabilities, nearly 250 new consultants
- - Increased number of long-term contracts and offshore projects, with offshore facility in South Africa and newly established German-speaking centre in Egypt up and running
- - Successful placing in April 2007 at 219 pence per share raised £3.285m (about €4.292m), widening the Group’s institutional investment base
- - Successful integration of Cresta Ltd. and Triton GmbH – both immediately earnings-enhancing
- - David Cotterell, previously MD of Cresta Ltd., appointed to SQS Group Management Board (from 1 July 2008).
SQS is the leading independent provider of software quality management and testing services in Europe. Based in Cologne, Germany, SQS currently employs more than 850 people in its branches in Europe—including the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria and Ireland—and South Africa. SQS also has a minor stake in an operation in Portugal and a cooperative agreement with a company in Spain.
SQS is the first German company to have a primary listing on AIM (Alternative Investment Market) in London. SQS completed a secondary listing on the Entry Standard of the Deutsche Börse (German Stock Exchange) in Frankfurt am Main on 2 December 2005.
With over 4,000 successfully completed projects behind it, SQS has a strong customer base including half of the DAX 30 companies and 30 per cent of the companies in the STOXX 50. They include names like Dresdner Bank, Barclays, Deutsche Telekom, BP, DaimlerChrysler and Airbus, and various other enterprises from all business sectors.
| Further information: SQS Software Quality Systems AG Liliana Preuß Head of Marketing & PR Stollwerckstraße 11 D-51149 Cologne Tel. +49 (0)2203 91540 Fax +49 (0)2203 915415 E-mail: liliana.preuss@sqs.de Internet: www.sqs.de |
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