Inform P. Lykos: Increase in turnover and operating profitability in 2021

Sales at € 75 million with an increase of 7.5%, announced Inform P. P. Lykos for the year 2021, with an increase in operating profitability (adjusted EBITDA) to € 7.2 million (+ 18.4%). At the same time, pre-tax profits (adjusted EBT) amounted to 1.5 million with a jump of + 153.9%.

In particular, as stated in the relevant announcement, during the year 2021, the Group’s sales increased by € 5.2 million or + 7.5% compared to 2020 and amounted to € 75 million from € 69, 8 million This increase is mainly due to the increase by 68.0% of the digital transformation solutions provided by the Group, as well as to the increase of all other product categories by 2.5% in total. Compared to the previous year, the changes in the level of sales were the following:

a) the significant increase in sales from the provision of digital transformation solutions by + € 3.7 million.

b) the strengthening of the shares in the category of digital printing and shipments with the integration of new customers with a positive change by + € 1.4 million.

c) the highest demand for security forms in Romania and Greece in combination with the one-off population census in Greece which offset the losses of forms from the COVID-19 restrictions and led to a positive change of + € 0.8 million; and

d) the delay in the redesign of bank cards in Greece, which created a time lag in turnover of € -0.7 million.

Analysis by product category

The Group’s focus and investments in the development of specialized and technologically advanced solutions in order to support its customers in their own digital transformation is obvious and decisive for the future, as the specific product category of digital transformation solutions is:

(a) 71% of the increase in turnover for the year 2021; and

b) 12.1% of the total turnover 2021 compared to 7.8% compared to the previous year, recording an increase of 4.3 percentage points.

The adjusted earnings before tax, financial, investment results and depreciation (adjusted EBITDA) of the Group increased by 18.4% or € 1.1 million from € 6.1 million in 2020 to € 7.2 million in 2021, as a result of the better product mix, in particular from the significant contribution of digital transformation solutions despite the unprecedented increase in raw material and energy costs.

Despite the great challenges faced by the Group in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it managed to double the Profit before taxes (EBT), rewarding the efforts of the Management and the trust of its shareholders.

In particular, in terms of operations in the main geographic markets, excluding intra-corporate transactions, sales in Greece amounted to € 29.3 million compared to € 28.1 million in 2020, an increase of € 1.2 million or 4.3%. The increase came from a) the increase of the participation of digital transformation solutions such as electronic document management and digitization, automatic identification and registration of documents, process automation by € 0.9 million, b) the attraction of new customers in the category of document management and posting by € 2.4 million, as well as c) the one-off project of the general census of the population in Greece amounting to € 1.2 million. In contrast we had the following turnover reductions compared to the previous year from a) its time lag bank card redesign that affected turnover by € -0.7 million, and b) a loss of revenue of € 2.6 million from the effects associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Adjusted earnings before taxes, financial, investment results and depreciation (adjusted EBITDA) of 2021 amounted to € 1.6 million for Greece compared to € 1.7 million in 2020, marginally reduced by € 0.1 million, as well as affected by the unprecedented increase in raw material and energy costs in the second half of the year.

In the Romanian market, sales amounted to € 45.2 million compared to € 40.9 million in 2020, an increase of € 4.3 million or 10.6%. The increase was mainly due to a) the increase in the provision of digital transformation solutions by € 2.8 million in the area of ​​electronic document management and digitization, as well as scanning and archiving services, and b) by € 1.5 million from the highest demand for safety leaflets as the market responded positively to the easing of measures in relation to COVID-19 restrictions resulting in a recovery in domestic consumption. Adjusted earnings before tax, financial, investment results and depreciation (adjusted EBITDA) of 2021, amounted to € 5.6 million compared to € 4.3 million in 2020, improved by € 1.3 million or +29.3 %, as a result of the best product mix in particular from digital transformation services.

Consolidated operating cash flows amounted to € 4.2 million compared to € 5.5 million in 2020. Their decrease by € 1.3 million is mainly due to the increase in trade receivables due to the increased sales of the last months of the year. The Group’s net debt amounted to € 21.6 million in 2021 from € 18.6 million in 2020. The increase of € 3 million is due to the acquisitions and investments that the Group implemented in the year 2021. In particular, the redemption of 61.5% of the share capital of the Cypriot company CLOUDFIN LTD with a price that amounted to € 1.2 million and the price for the increase of the Group’s participation by 15.52% and 14.55% respectively of the companies NEXT DOCS ECM EXPERT SRL and NEXT DOCS CONFIDENTIAL SRL in Romania amounting to EUR 1.3 million. Both of the aforementioned investments are in companies with the sole object of providing digital transformation solutions. In addition, the Group’s investments in mechanical and other equipment and software amounted to € 2.5 million.

Despite the current difficult times associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent uncertainty in the global economy from rising inflation, rising energy prices and geopolitical tensions, the Group focuses on providing high-tech solutions in the field of secure document management and constantly investing in specialized staff to create new innovative services.

The Group, having demonstrated the ability to adapt to the rapidly changing and unpredictable conditions of the European market in which it operates, faced the challenges and continued to focus on the development of higher value-added services, such as Enterprise Document Management, Scanning & Archiving services and specialized Technologically advanced digitization solutions such as Digital Onboarding (DoB), OCR / Data Capture Solutions Automatic Document Identification and Registration (Process Automation) using Machine Learning (ML), Robotic Process Automation, and Cognitive Analytics Solutions to support existing and new customers in their own digital transformation.