Qt Group Plc: Half-Year Report January-June 2024

Second quarter 2024:  Operating profit increased significantly, driven by the strong growth of net sales 

April-June 2024 

Net sales increased 22.7 percent to EUR 53.3 million (EUR 43.5 million). The effect of exchange rates on the comparison period's net sales was EUR 0.1 million and at comparable exchange rates, net sales increased by 22.3 percent. 

Operating profit (EBITA) was EUR 18.5 million (EUR 12.5 million) or 34.7 percent (28.7%) of net sales. 

Operating profit (EBIT) was EUR 16.5 million (EUR 10.5 million) or 31.0 percent (24.1 %) of net sales.   

Earnings per share were EUR 0.53 (EUR 0.31). 

January-June 2024 

Net sales increased 17.9 percent to EUR 98.4 million (EUR 83.4 million). The effect of exchange rates on the comparison period's net sales was EUR -0.3 million and at comparable exchange rates, net sales increased by 18.3 percent. 

Operating profit (EBITA) was EUR 29.5 million (EUR 20.3 million) or 30.0 percent (24.3 %) of net sales. 

Operating profit (EBIT) was EUR 25.5 million (EUR 16.3 million) or 25.9 percent (19.5 %) of net sales. 

Earnings per share were EUR 0.83 (EUR 0.48). 

The figures in brackets refer to the comparison period, i.e., the corresponding period in the previous year. The percentage of change in net sales at comparable exchange rates is calculated by translating the net sales from the comparison period 2023 with the actual exchange rates of the reporting period 2024 and by comparing the reported net sales in 2024 with the calculated 2023 net sales at comparable exchange rates. 

Key figures

[][][][]
EUR 1,000 4-6/2024 4-6/2023 Change, 1-6/202 1-6/2023 Change, 1-12/202
% % 3
4
Net sales 53,329 43,469 22.7% 98,407 83,440 17.9% 180,743
Operating 18,525  12,492 48.3% 29,486 20,292 45.3% 55,379
profit (EBITA)
EBITA, % 34.7% 28.7% 30.0% 24.3% 30.6%
Operating 16,517  10,484 57.5% 25,471 16,277 56.5% 47,349
profit (EBIT)
EBIT, % 31.0% 24.1% 25.9% 19.5% 26.2%
Return on 10.1% 8.5% 15.8% 13.2% 33.9%
equity, %
Return on 11.5% 8.5% 17.9% 13.1% 35.6%
investment, % 
Interest  3,945  29,051 -86.4% 3,945  29,051 -86.4% 20,513
-bearing
liabilities[1]
Cash and cash  40,350  26,821 50.4% 40,350  26,821 50.4% 33,595
equivalents[1]
Net gearing, -25.4% 2.3% -25.4% 2.3% -10.7%
%[1]
Equity ratio, 73.3% 56.6% 73.3% 56.6% 64.4%
%[1]
Earnings per 0.53 0.31 69.2% 0.83  0.48 70.7% 1.40
share (EPS),
EUR
Diluted 0.53 0.31 69.2% 0.82  0.48 70.7% 1.39
earnings per
share, EUR
Personnel, on 828 717 15.4% 813 708 14.7% 732
average

[1] At the end of the period

Juha Varelius, President and CEO

In the second quarter of 2024, Qt Group's net sales grew by 22 percent at comparable exchange rates and amounted to EUR 53 million. The quarter was substantially stronger than the first quarter of the year. Very strong growth was achieved in the sales of developer licenses. Growth was also accelerated by a significant new license deal signed in North America in June. In terms of geographic regions, the development of net sales was good in Asia and America. In Europe, Qt Group's business suffered from the challenges posed by the operating environment.

Operating profit (EBITA) for the second quarter came to EUR 19 million, representing year-on-year growth of 48 percent. The EBITA margin was 35 percent.  Thanks to the scalability of our business model, our ability to maintain the profitability of our operations is very good.  

We announced two significant partnerships during the second quarter of 2024. In April, we started a collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. to streamline the development of advanced graphical user interfaces and software quality assurance for industrial IoT devices. The combined force of Qt's cross-platform development tools and Qualcomm's technology gives IoT manufacturers the opportunity to significantly accelerate their devices' time-to-market. In June, we became part of LG Electronics' automotive content platform. Qt Group and LG Electronics joined forces to embed the Qt software framework for application development in LG's webOS-based in-vehicle entertainment platform (ACP). The collaborative effort aims to empower automotive OEM developers and designers to create more innovative, immersive content-streaming services for cars.

We expect that the challenges in the operating environment will continue, particularly in Europe. Nevertheless, it is our view that we are in an excellent position to accelerate our growth in the second half of 2024 when compared to the first half of the year. We are keeping our guidance for the full year unchanged.  

Outlook for 2024

We estimate that our full-year net sales for 2024 will increase by 20-30 percent year-on-year at comparable exchange rates and that our operating profit margin (EBITA %) will be 25-35 percent in 2024.  

News conference

Qt Group will hold an English-language news conference on August 8, 2024, at 11:00-12:00 EEST at Sanomatalo in Helsinki, Finland, and as a webcast at www.qt.io/investors. CEO Juha Varelius and CFO Jouni Lintunen will present the results at the news conference. Analysts and investors can participate in the news conference in person or via conference call: https://palvelu.flik.fi/teleconference/?id=50048457.  

Further information:
President and CEO Juha Varelius, tel. +358 9 8861 8040

Distribution:
Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd.
Key media
www.qt.io