At the end of the year, the software company under the Qt Group noticed an enhancement in its earnings, as was anticipated. For the upcoming year, the company is predicting a growth in their turnover between 20-30 percent.
The software entity within the Qt Group observed an upswing in its turnover and profit in the October-December quarter as compared to the same period during the previous year, in line with expectations.
In the final quarter of the year, the company generated a profit of 23.9 million euros from a turnover of 59.3 million euros. In the same period a year earlier, the company’s operating profit was 16.8 million euros and the turnover was 51.3 million euros.
A consensus forecast from the database Factsetin, compiled by seven analysts, had predicted an increase in Qt’s operating profit to 22.9 million euros in October-December. The forecasts had also projected an average increase in turnover to 59.9 million euros.
The company had released preliminary information regarding the earnings earlier in January, which had reduced the anticipation surrounding the results announcement.
The earnings per share for the company in the quarter were reported at EUR 0.70.
The projected earnings per share for the company were EUR 0.68, a rise from EUR 0.53 per share in the comparison period. Qt, being a growth company, has not issued any dividends and no proposal has been made to distribute any dividends now.
In the company’s forecast for the upcoming year, it estimates that the net sales for 2024 will grow by 20-30 percent from the previous year in comparable currencies. They also estimate that the operating profit margin (EBITA-%) will be between 25-35 percent. This implies that the profit margin is expected to remain similar to last year’s profitability.
In the January-December period, the company’s turnover rose to 180.7 million euros from 155.3 million euros the previous year, and operating profit increased to 47.3 million euros from 36.9 million euros.
The company’s CEO, Juha Varelius, commented in the results bulletin that the last quarter of 2023 was the best in the company’s history in terms of turnover and operating profit.
“In 2023, the turnover of distribution licenses was 44.1 million euros, which corresponds to a 49.5 percent increase from the previous year. The growth of the turnover for the entire year was hampered by the slowdown in the consulting business and a larger than expected share of one-year developer licenses in total sales. Despite these challenges, Qt Group had a reasonably successful year given the current market situation. We witnessed a clear growth, especially for larger deals. The growth was particularly strong in the automotive industry, consumer electronics, security, defense and aerospace industries and industrial automation industries.”
“The global economic situation and the potential emphasis of developer licenses on shorter contracts will continue to add uncertainty to Qt Group’s short-term growth prospects. We have made significant progress in transforming into a multi-product company and are increasingly getting involved in improving our customers’ productivity throughout the entire product development process, from user interface design and software development to quality assurance and production.”
After the opening of the Helsinki Stock Exchange, Qt’s share experienced a sharp increase. By 10:17, the stock had risen by 14.7 percent.
