Inderes Oyj Business review January–September 2024: Strong profitability in the third quarter

Inderes Oyj

Company announcement 22 October, 2024 8:00 EEST

Inderes Oyj Business review January–September 2024: Strong profitability in the third quarter

Key figures January–September 2024

• Revenue increased by 9.2% to 14.2 MEUR (13.0)
• Recurring revenue grew by 6.0% to 8.3 MEUR (7.8), accounting for 58.5% (60.3%) of revenue​
• Project revenue increased by 14.0% and was 5.9 MEUR (5.1)
• Revenue for Sweden was 3.0 MEUR (2.7), and its share of total revenue was 21.4% (20.5%)
• EBITA was 2.1 MEUR (1.6) and EBITA margin was 14.8% (12.2%)
• Inderes provided services to 430 (426) listed companies in the past 12 months​
• The number of active members in the Inderes Community was 72,000 (72,000) at the end of the period

Key figures July–September 2024

• Revenue increased by 11.5% to 4.2 MEUR (3.7)​
• Recurring revenue grew by 8.9% to 2.8 MEUR (2.6), accounting for 67.4% (69.0%) of revenue​
• Project revenue increased by 17.3% to 1.4 MEUR (1.2)​
• Revenue for Sweden was 0.9 MEUR (0.8), accounting for 22.4% (21.4%) of total revenues​
• EBITA was 1.0 MEUR (0.7) and the EBITA margin was 23.6% (18.4%)​

Key figures

Outlook (unchanged)

Guidance for 2024

• Revenue will grow from the previous year (17.2 MEUR)
• Relative profitability measured by EBITA % improves from the previous year (10.6%)

Background for the outlook

• The target market for main product areas is not expected to grow in Finland in 2024
• Revenue will increase thanks to new products and opening of new markets
• The company continues to invest in accelerating the growth of the international business

CEO Mikael Rautanen:

Positive business development continued in the third quarter, with revenue increasing by 11% and EBITA by 43%. Profitability increased to a strong level, with an EBITA margin of 24% (18%). For Inderes, the third quarter is typically the strongest of the year in terms of profitability due to seasonality in cost structure.​

Our target markets are showing the first signs of recovery. It’s too early to talk about a tailwind, but the headwinds of the past two years have at least calmed down. Some customers are still under pressure to save, but some companies are stepping up their efforts to serve investors. Finnish growth companies are still showing interest in going public, which has materialized in new offers for IPO projects targeting years 2025-2026. However, we still need more courageous entrepreneurs to lead by example.​

The number of commissioned research contracts increased in January-September to 149 customers (+4% year-on-year). In Sweden, we are still exploring the best go-to-market model for faster growth. It will take time to establish the Inderes operating model in the market, as investors and companies have a different, more marketing-oriented perception of commissioned research. However, it is clear for us that the Swedish capital market needs more widespread independent, fundamentals-driven equity research to gain further investor trust. Over two thirds of Swedish small and mid cap companies have no analyst coverage. ​

The number of active community members remained flat at 72 (72) thousand. The figure is expected to decrease in the coming quarters. This is due to the migration to a new platform, where we have chosen to make content more openly available to users without logging in.​

In the Events business, development was stable in Finland and Sweden. After the turbulence of 2020-2023, 2024 is becoming the first stable year, and the market sentiment is slightly more upbeat. We produce Capital Market Days and AGMs for the largest listed companies, which continues to strengthen Inderes' position as a trusted partner for IR events in the Nordic countries. ​

Our software business has experienced very strong growth this year. We see a clear need in the IR software market for modern solutions and competition in the Nordic countries. We are winning new customers in Finland for IR website solution and release distribution system. Product development and sales of the Videosync platform have also progressed well. For AGM Software, fall is a time for product development and sales for the next season. The pilot deliveries of the AGM product in Sweden have been successful. Our aim is to further strengthen our position, especially as a partner of large listed companies.​

The constant renewal of Inderes can be seen and felt. At the end of the year, we will move to new premises in both Helsinki and Stockholm. We have finalized our rebranding in Sweden and all our products are now sold under the Inderes brand. We are running a large number of pilots to find new ways of working, open new markets and develop better products. ​

As for the 2024 full year outlook, we expect revenue to grow and EBITA margin to improve year-on-year. However, our expectations are moderate, as costs will be higher than usual in the last quarter of the year, and we do not expect major project deals for the rest of the year. ​

Webcast

Inderes will host an earnings call today in Finnish at 9:30 EEST. At the event, CEO Mikael Rautanen will present the main points of the report, as well as the progress of the company’s strategy, and CFO Mikko Wartiovaara will go through the financial figures for the review period.

Mikael Rautanen will present the main points of the report in English in an earnings call hosted by HC Andersen Capital on October 22, 2024, at 13:00 EEST.

You can follow the Finnish webcast starting at 9:30 EEST on October 22, 2024, at https://inderes.videosync.fi/inderes-q3-report-2024.

You can follow the English webcast starting at 13:00 EEST on October 22, 2024, at https://hca.videosync.fi/2024-10-22-inderes/register.

This release is a summary of Inderes Oyj's January-September 2024 Business review. The full business review is attached to this company release as a pdf file and is also available on the company's website at www.group.inderes.fi/en.

Contact Information

Mikael Rautanen
CEO
mikael.rautanen@inderes.com
+358 50 346 0321

Certified adviser:

Sisu Partners Oy

Jori-Pekka Rautalahti
jori-pekka.rautalahti@sisupartners.com
puh. +358 50 382 9323

Juha Karttunen
juha.karttunen@sisupartners.com
puh. +358 40 555 4727

Inderes in brief

Inderes is a Nordic investor media connecting investors and listed companies. We provide in-depth equity research and investor relations solutions to help over 400 listed companies better serve the Nordic investor community. Inderes operates in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway and is listed on Nasdaq First North Growth Market. Read more: http://www.group.inderes.fi/