MSAB: Continued growthStockholm, 2017-07-21 08:00 CEST --
Second quarter
· Net sales increased 14 percent to SEK 59.5 (52.0) million (11 percent in local currencies)
· EBIT decreased to SEK 6.0 (8.5) million
· The EBIT margin reached 10.2 (16.3) percent (9.7 percent in local currencies)
· Profit after tax was SEK 4.5 (6.5) million
· Earnings per share were SEK 0.24 (0.35)
· Cash flow from operating activities amounted to SEK -4.4 (3.3) million
January - June
· Net sales increased 16 percent to SEK 114.9 (98.8) million (15 percent in local currencies)
· EBIT decreased to SEK 12.0 (13.8) million
· The EBIT margin reached 10.4 (14.0) percent (10.7 percent in local currencies)
· Profit after tax was SEK 8.7 (9.8) million
· Earnings per share were SEK 0.46 (0.54)
· Cash flow from operating activities amounted to SEK -1.7 (8.5) million
· Cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments at the end of the period amounted to SEK 77.8 (78.6) million
Comments from the CEO
Sales for the first six months of 2017 reached SEK 114.9 (98.8) million. EBIT was SEK 12.0 (13.8) million, corresponding to an operating margin of 10.4 (14.0) percent. The EBIT margin decreased somewhat due to our increased efforts within product development and marketing to ensure continued growth. During the second quarter, sales reached SEK 59.5 (52.0) million. Sales for both the first half-year and the second quarter were record high for the company.
New sales and license renewals both increased. Our products are selling well and XRY Office is still the product in greatest demand. At the beginning of the year, we launched XAMN Spotlight 2.0, which is our most advanced analysis product thus far. The response from our customers has been positive. We have already started selling separate licenses for the product and see great potential moving forward. We have an aggressive plan for the future for our new products and solutions.
The market for mobile forensics is developing along the lines that we predicted. An increasing number of police authorities are starting to think along these new lines and are realising the value of digital evidence. Few things have ever presented as great a challenge for police work as digitalisation has. The number of enquiries we receive and projects where decentralisation of mobile forensic solutions are being requested are rising rapidly. With decentralised solutions, there is also demand for more integration with existing IT infrastructure and systems.
In June, we signed an agreement with NUIX, an Australian company with a large presence in Europe and the USA. NUIX delivers solutions, including to police authorities, that handle data from a variety of sources such as operators, computers, memory cards, etc.
NUIX’ solutions are a good complement to our offering since compatibility and collaboration are what our customers are asking for. We are convinced that this collaboration will lead to more business and higher customer satisfaction.
Southeast Asia and Australia demonstrated strong growth, with sales almost doubling during the first half-year. Over the last few years, we have successively increased our presence in the region. We started with our own representation in Australia, followed by China and most recently Singapore.
We established representation in Singapore last year and could see immediately the positive effects of this investment. We will continue to increase our presence in the region.
North America continues to grow, demonstrating good growth during the first six months of the year, especially business from state and local police agencies. We have strengthened our resources in the region with several sales agents and through local marketing. The fiscal year for federal authorities closes at the end of September, which means that many investment decisions are taken during our third quarter.
EMEA grew 12 percent and continues to demonstrate strength. Unfortunately, Europe has been hit by several terrorist attacks. How many attacks the police have succeeded in preventing is unknown, but they are under increasing pressure to be more efficient and to prevent these attacks from happening at all.
We are working on many levels within different police authorities to help them become more efficient in the way they conduct crime investigations. By supporting the police in their change process, we are creating many new opportunities for MSAB to continue growing with good margins.
We are now in the second half of 2017 and facing many exciting challenges. MSAB is shifting to an even higher gear in order to capture even more business. Our customers are heroes who work to create a safer society for us all.
Stockholm, July 2017
Joel Bollö
Chief Executive Director
Media Contacts:
Joel Bollö, CEO MSAB
+46 (0)70 930 07 20
joel.bollo@msab.com
This information is information that Micro Systemation AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. This information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below, at 08:00 CEST on 21 July, 2017.
MSAB in brief
MSAB is a world leader in mobile forensics technology with the aim of extracting and analysing data from confiscated mobile devices, mainly mobile phones. The company has its own sales offices and sales representatives in Europe, North America, South America, China, Australia, Singapore and Russia, and together with a number of distributors covers most of the world. The company's proprietary products have become a de facto standard in the field and are used for securing evidence in over 100 countries. The products are complemented by a wide range of training courses, with the opportunity to become certified in a forensically sound method of extracting data from mobile devices. Customers are primarily authorities involved in performing criminal investigations, and include police, military and customs. MSAB is listed on NASDAQ Stockholm under the ticker symbol: MSAB B.
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