Addnode Group AB (publ) (ANODB) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning and welcome to the Addnode Group's Q3 2022 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Johan Andersson, CEO. Please go ahead.

Thank you and welcome everybody, to this presentation. I'm CEO of Addnode Group, Johan Andersson, and with me today, I also have Lotta Jarleryd, our CFO. We will present the Q3 report followed by a Q&A. Please, next slide. And I guess we can change one slide again over to the agenda slide. Lotta and I will walk you through the Q3 report, talk a little bit about sustainability, and we will sum up with our investment case. We will end with the Q&A. And also in this presentation, we'll find an appendix with Addnode Group in brief, acquisitions, our shareholders and our share performance. For you who are new to Addnode Group, I would like to inform you that our reporting currency is Swedish crowns. Next slide please. The third quarter was another record quarter for Addnode Group. We have both strong organic and acquisition-led growth. Before we go into any details, I would like to highlight a few things about the quarter. Net sales increased by 75%, out of which 23% was currency-adjusted organic growth, leading up to SEK 1.624 billion in net sales. All divisions contributed with organic growth and improved their earnings. Looking at Design Management, we had a very strong organic growth with 40% and also a strong contribution from newly acquired Microdesk. Product Lifecycle Management sustained its very good organic growth in the quarter and with positive contribution from acquisitions, EBITDA increased by 61%. Process Management also sustained a good organic growth and EBITDA remained stable at a high level. Altogether, EBITDA for the Group was up 80% to SEK 194 million. Recurring revenue increased by 86% in the third quarter and its share of net sales increased to 73%. Earnings per share rose by 114% to SEK 0.77 per share. And to sum it up, our skilled and committed employees have done a great job to make this happen. Next slide please. And I will let Lotta.

Thank you, Johan. Next slide please. As Johan just mentioned, total growth was 75% compared to the same quarter previous year. It is also evident from the graph that recurring revenue was the revenue category that increased the most, with SEK 553 million or 86%. The main contributor was Design division and by that, predominantly meaning Symetri and Microdesk, that accounted for about 85% of the increase. The most important driver was the high share of 3-year deals following strong demand within the AEC sector, especially in the U.K. and U.S. markets.

Could you present please, change back to the previous slide, with the free growth.

As an additional comment to the graph in the center, I would like to point out that it's -- certainly it's important to have such a high share of recurring revenue as a stable foundation in our business model. In addition to that, it generates a strong cash flow as a large share is paid in the beginning of the year in advance. In the third graph, we have set out a breakdown of net sales by geography. As you can see, we are now a Group with a clear international profile. After the last couple of years acquisitions in the U.K. and in the U.S. and the consecutive organic growth, almost 50% of our net sales is now generated in these 2 important markets. Back to you, Johan.

Thanks, Lotta. Please, next slide, development of net sales by geography. Just Addnode for the last 10 years had a compounded annual growth in net sales of 16%. We have transformed from a Swedish group to an international group with operations in some 20 countries. In 2013 we made our first acquisition in the U.K., and now we're trailing year-to-date at SEK 1.2 billion in the U.K. market. 2015, we made our first acquisition in Germany, and now we're trailing at year-to-date almost SEK 700 million in Germany in net sales. Beginning of 2022 we acquired Microdesk, and as Lotta described on the previous slide, U.S.A represented 25% of the Group net sales in the third quarter. Sweden and Nordics are still our biggest geography. Looking at the different geographies, we can see that demand in the Nordic is solid, both from the public sector and the private sector. In Germany, demand has been solid, but there are some size of the German and Finland market slowing. In the U.S. market, the demand for the AC market has been very strong. The U.K. market has picked up significantly in 2022 compared to 2021. Next slide please. Looking at Addnode Group, we are organized in 3 divisions, Design Management, Product Lifecycle Management and Process Management. We will now go into further details in the 3 divisions. Next slide please. Design management. Microdesk continued to impress and Symetri pushed organic growth to 40%. The Design Management division more than doubled net sales and lifted the EBITDA by 168%. Net sales increased to SEK 977 million in the third quarter, it's a growth of 139%. Organic growth was 45% and adjusted for currency, the organic growth was 40%. EBITDA more than doubled to SEK 118 million, and the EBITDA margin widened to 12.1%. The net sales and earnings improvement is due to the strong organic growth of Symetri in the U.K., the positive progress of recent acquisition of Microdesk in the U.S.A., and a higher sales share from multi-year agreements. The demand for Symetri's digital solutions and service continued to progress strongly as reflected in the division's growth and earnings performance. Demand in the Nordics remained positive from the AEC segment and from manufacturing. The demand increase was especially positive in the U.K., where customers value an Autodesk partner with proprietary-related products and services. Symetri's new operation in the U.S.A, Microdesk, continued to perform above expectations, thanks to positive demand in the AEC segment on the U.S. market. New business sales and renewals of 3-years agreement performed above expectations in terms of volumes and margins. Operation providing collaborative portals for construction and infrastructure and operations providing facility management made good progress, especially in the Nordics. So all-in-all, a very good quarter from the Design Management contributing to the Group performance. Next slide please. Product Lifecycle Management, a strong quarter with organic growth and strength on margin. Net sales increased to SEK 393 million, a growth of 34%. Organic growth was 16% and adjusting for currency, 11%. The EBITDA increased to SEK 45 million, and the EBITDA margin increased to 11.5%. Operations in the U.K. and U.S.A continued to make, especially a positive progress in the third quarter with good demand for PLM system and related services. Demand remained good in the Nordics, while the German market started to show signs of slowing. The initiative in simulation solutions continued its positive progress. So for PLM, also very good quarter, good organic growth and increasing margins, also contributing to the Group performance. So, next slide please. In the quarter, we had made an acquisition. It's an add-on, bolt-on acquisitions to TECHNIA's operations in the U.S. It's an acquisition of JBL. And Addnode Group is consciously creating value by acquiring enterprises that complement and consolidate our current businesses. In 2022, we have announced 5 acquisitions so far. The most recent being JBL that we're discussing now. This means that TECHNIA's strength in its positioning as a world-leading partner of Dassault Systemes. The JBL team will merge with TECHNIA's U.S. team and the acquisition of JBL represents a good example of how we can create value when an entrepreneur sees the value to become part of a bigger entity who knows the domain and are willing to invest and grow. Next slide please. Process Management, organic growth and stable high margins. Net sales increased to SEK 252 million. It's a growth of 14%. Organic growth was 9%. It's in line with recent quarters. EBITDA increased to SEK 50 million and the EBITDA margin was 19.1%. The divisions close and well-established relationships with the large base of public sector customers had a positive effect on net sales. The division is noting continued good demand from public sector customers, especially from technical management in Swedish municipalities, in the public sector in Sweden. The division's business are well positioned for public sector tendering, owing to their attractive digital solutions, in-depth experience and good references. Decisive acquisition in Norway in June 2022 progressed as planned. So continued a healthy organic growth and stable high margins in Process Management in the third quarter, contributing to the Group. Next slide, please. So I'll hand over to Lotta.

Thank you, Johan. I would like to continue with an overview of the consolidated cash flow. The operating cash flow from the third -- for the third quarter amounted to SEK 89 million, an increase of SEK 110 million quarter-over-quarter. The improved operating cash flow was primarily attributable to increased operating profit. Following the strong development of the operating result, deriving from organic growth and acquisitions, we have generated SEK 453 million in operating cash flow during the first 9 months of the year. That was more than we did for the whole financial year 2021. It corresponds to a cash conversion rate of about 77%, and that is operating cash flow to EBITDA adjusted for property sale in the first quarter. Investing activities in the third quarter amounted to SEK 84 million, primarily related to deferred payments for acquisitions made in previous periods and investments in development of proprietary software. These investments were financed through a readily available cash funds. Financing activities included repurchase of 230,000 own shares for a total amount of SEK 23 million. Previous year, repayment of the credit facility amounting to SEK 100 million was included. Next slide please. I would like to continue with a few comments on the consolidated balance sheet. We continue to operate supported by a resilient balance sheet, which gives us a favorable position to continue to grow organically and through acquisitions. Changes in the balance sheet from December 31, 2021 until the end of September 2022, predominantly derived from the 4 divisions we have executed during the period. Following the customer repurchase price allocation exercises, goodwill and other intangible assets have increased by about SEK 800 million in total. Due to strong cash flow during the first 9 months of the year, the cash position has increased by SEK 148 million to SEK 554 million as per September 30. Together with the unutilized portion of the revolving credit facility, we had about SEK 1.1 billion in available funds by the end of September. Addnode Group's current revolving credit facility totaling SEK 1.6 billion was arranged in June last year and has a 3-year term with option for extension of 1 plus 1 year. In June this year, we exercised the first option to extend the credit facility by 1 year to June 2025. By the end of September 2022, the credit facility was utilized by SEK 1 billion, and the amount was reported under non-current liabilities. Previously, the corresponding debt was reported on the current liabilities as the remaining term was less than a year. Net debt has increased to SEK 659 million following the 4 acquisitions made in 2022. Our net debt to EBITDA ratio was on the lower side, 0.9x. Finally, I would like to comment upon the repurchase of own shares. In June, the Board of Directors supported by an authorization from the AGM 2022, decided to repurchase 230 Class B shares. The main purpose was to enable delivery of shares associated with the Group's incentive plan. The repurchase was executed during July and August this year and totaled SEK 23 million. As for September 30, Addnode Group holds 1,030,000 own Class B shares in total. Back to you, Johan.

Thanks, Lotta. And then change to the next slide, sustainability agenda. Sustainability is important for Addnode Group, and it's also one of the long-term drivers for our business. That would it makes sense to spend a couple of minutes on that topic. Looking at Addnode Group, we have sustainability agenda with 5 focus areas. I would like to address our first focus area and the U.S. sustainability goals that we support with our digital solutions. Looking at the first focus area, our biggest contribution to more sustainable societies is digital solutions we offer our customers. Our solutions are used among other things to perform digital simulations for the benefit of the environment and health, make more sustainable design choices, Product Lifecycle Management, and property management and improved participation in dialogue with the citizens. We have identified also the UN Global Sustainability Development Goals that we believe have the clearest link to the Addnode Group's sustainability agenda. Those are, #3, good health and well-being; #5, gender equality; #8, decent working conditions and economic growth; #9, sustainable industry, innovation and infrastructure; #11, sustainable cities and communities; and #13, combating climate change. Next slide please. With that in mind that our clear contribution is the digital solutions that we provide to our customers, I would like to introduce you to 3 case studies that shows how our digital solutions support the sustainability development goals. The example 1 is from the Design Management divisions, looking to the left. At Curtin University Addnode Group company, SWG's facility management system will improve operational efficiency and resource utilization, which in turn will support more sustainable properties and campus, thereby contributing to sustainability development goals #11, sustainable cities and communities. Example 2 in the middle is from our Product Lifecycle Management division is from Claytex, as part of TECHNIA, who's working together with Nottingham Trent University. It's an example of how we could accelerate energy efficiency for buildings, which in turn reduces energy-related CO2 emissions, though contributing to sustainability development goal #13, combating climate change. Example 3 to right is from our Process Management division. It's a system called Ledningskollen, it's a very Swedish word, you have to look it up, but it contributes to sustainability development goal #9, sustainable industry innovations and infrastructure and also sustainability development goal #11, sustainable cities and communities, though by increasing efficient use of resources by reducing accidental excavations of cable and pipes and reducing damage to critical infrastructure. So these are 3 good examples how we work with our customers and how we can support them to be more sustainable. You will find a full version of these cases at the Addnode Group website. Next slide please. Looking at the Addnode Group to sum it up as an investment. We provide digital solutions to our customers. That's the basis of all that -- of everything that we do. Our growth is supported by underlying trends like digitalization, urbanization, automation and sustainability that we talked about a few seconds ago. Our customers' need for digital solutions will not disappear, it's a long-term trend. We, as a Group, are consciously creating value by supporting our organic growth with acquisition of enterprises that complement our current businesses. 70% of our net sales is from recurring revenue, meaning that the customers pay upfront for the right to use of software, a digital solution or a software-as-a-services that we provide. We have skilled and committed employees. We make strong offerings to our customers, and we have a high share of recurring revenue. Our customer concentration is low. We have a geographical diversification, as discussed earlier, and a strong financial position with low net debt, as Lotta described. We are demonstrating that Addnode Group has a solid platform for organic and acquisition-led growth, both in good and tougher times. From the inception of Addnode Group in 2003, we have, up until 2021, doubled our net sales every fifth year. Looking at the business as of now, demand is good, but of course, we are tempted to have an uncertain business environment may impact us going forward. So with that, I think it's time to move to the next slide, which is Q&A and open up for questions. Okay, Lotta and I will be here to answer those.

[Operator Instructions] The first question comes from Daniel Djurberg with Handelsbanken.

Good morning, Johan and Lotta and congrats to really solid numbers. I have a couple of questions, if I may. And starting off, you see some signs -- early signs of slowing demand in Germany within TECHNIA in the PLM industry. Is this specific segments like automotive, residential property, construction or is it more broad-based? So any view on TECHNIA and Germany would be great.

I think looking first at the customer base in Germany is -- most of the things in Germany are related to automotive in one sense or another. So that's a broad customer base there. And it's more manufacturing and it's also Lifescience customers. So what we are saying is that, we are part of the German economy, and we can see that the German economy is slowing down. So it's not -- I think that's what we mean by the German economy is slowing down. So we don't see that we sort of have a major slowdown in our business in Germany. We are saying that we recognize that the German market is slowing down.

Okay. Is it too early to -- yes, I understand. Is it early to judge if you need to address the cost base in any way in Germany on the back of this? Or will you need to wait the outcome or the --?

Sorry Daniel, I missed the first part of the question.

Yes. Question is on Germany. Given this more uncertain times in Germany, do you think it's too early to address the cost base of TECHNIA in Germany to mitigate this early on? Or I guess the recessions can also be a good time when to do long-term efficiency measures, but any view on if you need to do anything?

Yes. I think we're not there where we feel like that we will have a major drop in sales, needing a major reorganization like we did in 2020 to address the COVID effect. We're not -- that's not what we are saying. We are saying that we can see a slowdown. And then that has to be compared to that we can see that we have 10% -- 23% organic growth in the Group in total and the other businesses. So the answer is no, we don't see the need to do that. But of course, we need to be efficient all the time. The best thing is to be efficient in good times, then you don't have to do as much in bad times. So I think that's a constant.

Yes. And another question, in the report you had, I think, 73% recurring revenues that is truly impressive. And if we go back to 2009, I think you had year-over-year revenue drop of some 4% despite only having roughly, I guess, back then, 20%, 25% recurring revenues. All else equal, to me, this should improve your resilience quite much or is it anything else that I missed in this equation that I should be aware of when I --?

We're looking at the recurring revenue has increased and it increased both organically and also through the acquisitions that we have done over the last couple of years. So it comes from both. So yes, we should expect it to increase the resilience in the business and we have increased it. And then you also have some effect like we pointed out in this quarter that we have also a positive effect of the 3-year deals portion in Design Management has increased in this quarter. So we might have a -- so we're sort of reaching the -- that's also a couple of percentage related to the increase there as well. So -- but I think in total, yes, we have increased recurring revenue, and that's both by Design through acquisitions and also through organic growth. And then you have to take in that on the top margin of that growth, you will find that we have some effect of selling more 3-year deals this quarter than we did last quarter, maybe last year, so to speak.

That's even better. I have a question on -- the last question here from me before I get back in queue is, I have some customers that are a bit worried about our residential property build outlook. And can you give ballpark your percentage of total revenue to architects, I guess, that is involved in the residential property market?

I think most of our customers that are sort of involved in that, they have both residential and most of it is also -- I think the major customers is, in some sense, the public sector doing -- so I don't have a good figure for that. But it's very -- it's not the majority. It's a small part, I would get who are really sort of affected by residential building. Looking at the public building, it's still expected to grow over the next year. So it's a mixed figure. But of course, there are some, but I really don't have a good figure for that. It's depending on how we look at our customers. For example, we've had a hire in Sweden, a company called Arkiva, who was delivering their figures, and they had still looked quite positive on the market going forward, so.

Yes. And I guess you will have a lot of memories…

No, I don't have a good slate on that.

No worries. But I guess a lot of it is recurring as well also in that segment. I'll get back in queue here and see you later today.

The next question comes from Daniel Thorsson with ABG.

Yes. And also congrats on a very good quarter. The first question on Design Management here. There have been some fears in the market that architects in real estate market in general would cut back on licenses as demand falls. But your number rather showed a opposite here in Q3. Is there a risk that this is the last jump before an upcoming decline in new license sales in Design Management? Or do you see any other trends in the end markets that basically offset that argument?

As of now, the market is still there, and we are doing business with those customers. And I think you have to see that the change in Addnode Group is that, this year with the Microdesk becoming part of Addnode Group, it means that we are active on both sides of the Atlantic, and there are sort of different sort of where we are in the trend in the market also as well. That's a good thing for us, so we can balance that for that. But as of now, we haven't seen any. What could happen is, like I said, is that we are dependent on that, our customers are at least not growing, so to speak. If they start to decrease their number of employees, they need less licenses. So -- but so far, there is a competition on new people and employees that they are saying they are still hiring and try to get them in. Of course, you can always debate on how much hiring they will do, but we haven't seen those signs yet. And if it is sort of the last big jump before, your guess is as good as mine.

Okay. Okay. That sounds promising short term, at least, and we'll see. And then the second question on Design Management as well. Just to clarify for our understanding, I remember this happened in 2019 as well with lots of 3-year out of desk licenses. When you sell the 3-year out of desk license here in Q3, you book the upfront value in this quarter as sales, but also the full value as a recurring revenue, although it will not be a recurring sales number for the next like 10 to 12 quarters. Is that correct? And also that the need for the customer to resign in 2023 disappears. Is it anything I missed in that assumption?

I was with your until the end. What did you mean with disappear?

I mean that if they sign the license today for a 3-year use, they don't need to buy a new license or sign up for a license next year in Q3 because they've already paid for 3 years value today. Yes, that's true and we will have the cash book as well. Yes, exactly. But that boosts the recurring revenue share and amount this quarter, proportionately, if you say so.

Yes, it does. And that's the reason why we always tried to communicate if we have more sort of above average sale of 3-year deals, like we disclosed here in the -- both in the report and in this -- both, yes, we will have that effect. And we also have to remember that there are thousands of number of contracts in our business there that gets renewed all constantly. So it's not just 1-year deal, it's a lot of years deal, that currently get to over the year and over the periods that gets renewed.

Yes. Absolutely, I agree. Okay, that's good. And then can you say something on the current margin in Microdesk. I guess it's way above the low single-digit level it had when you acquired it only 6 months ago. And is the current margin sustainable ahead? Or should we expect it to come down before it comes back up again to the Design Management level that you target a couple of years out? Or can you keep it at this level already from the beginning, you think?

We are very glad that Microdesk is performing as they are doing, and they are contributing to the margins that we have in the Group right now. So they are not diluting them. That means that they are above what we expected at the time of acquisitions that they could generate for the first year. I'm hoping that it is sustainable over time, but I don't expect them to grow above where they are right now, because looking at the business that we have, as they are contributing to it, it means that we probably need -- we will still are looking at adding a new technology in our own products and et cetera, and doing those investments. So it's a very good performance of them. And I don't think we should expect them to do more over time, because they are doing really well as of now.

Okay. I see. And then the last question on Process Management, how much of the 9% organic growth was price driven in the quarter? And also, what's your latest information or expectations on 2023 KPI effects on price increases? Do you have any more information there?

The first part of the question is that, it's both volume and price means that there are KPI effects already. And we don't have one single point during the year where we sort of changed the pricing of all the maintenance agreements is something that happens continuously over the year as we go ahead. That means that some part of that is already happening now in 2022, but part of it will happen in 2023. So you will not see one quarter where all the effects will come from increasing -- increase of KPIs in maintenance agreements. And it also depends. There are some, that say 2% and then we have some higher ones saying, 6%. So it's a mix of that if you try looking at it. So if you go back to the first question, it's both volume and price. I believe the majority of the organic growth is volume. And then on top of that, we have the price effect. And looking forward at the KPI effect, it's a mix of 2%, 3% and 6% depending on -- there might be even some at that range. And then so that's the best guidance we can give.

The next question comes from Fredrik Nilsson with Redeye.

Hello. I want to start with the strong numbers into Design Management. You mentioned that the share of 3-year deals have increased. However, last time you mentioned that your organic growth was like 20%. Now it's twice as high. So could you elaborate a bit if the share increasing to even higher levels? Or is it a difference in the underlying market?

I think it's a matter of -- they have -- we have performed really well in the Symetri business and the Microdesk business. And therefore, we have sort of taking some market shares, of course, that's part of it, and there are some prices and there's volume based and the PLMs. So I think it's a little bit of all. And so I think you will find it both. That means that we have sort of a -- looking at that we said in the report, you will see a strong effect in the U.K. market. That's also part of a catch-up effect, having a slow year ahead. In the Nordics, still a solid organic growth contributing to it. And then you have sort of the rate effect that we have in the U.K. coming up. There are some prices, were increasing the number of 3-year deals. And also, I believe we are doing a little bit better than the rest of the market. I think the -- so it's a little bit of all of the above.

Okay. Also, I think it's interesting that we see an increase in the 3-year deals considering the uncertain economic outlook. Should we see this as a signal of your customers being quite confident in what number of licenses they will need for the coming 3-year period?

I guess they have to answer to that. But what you are -- I guess what you're pointing out is that, with the customers can lock in the price for the next 3 years with signing a 3-year agreement and paying upfront for it because I think it's important to stress that they actually pay 3 years to have that well. So the cash flow follow their income revenue recognition. And it means that we are not actually giving them any big rebates to do this. So I think it's a bit of the drive is that they see that, okay, we are doing fairly well. We can expect to do business going forward, but we are expecting inflation. And if inflation is going to be high next year, and we still believe that we need the software, why don't lock in the price. So I think that's one of the things why we are trying to drive the 3-year deals.

Okay, I see. But another point was that if they would expect significant layoffs in the next year, I mean, they would probably go for 1-year license instead. I assume, is that a reasonable assumption as well?

Yes. I would expect that as well. That we will make some kicking.

The next question comes from Erik Larsson with SEB.

I just have 1 or 2 more questions in addition to the other ones here. But on growth in Design Management, if Nordics is good or sort of stable growth, it implies way more than 40% organic growth in the U.K. So you've already discussed it, but can you help us understand the drivers even more here in the U.K.? Are there a few big deals contributing? Are there any changes to normal seasonal patterns on spending? The 3-year deals, can you sort of quantify versus last year? How many in terms of volume or value or anything really?

So I think starting with, we have to realize that the U.K. market was really slow last comparables years. So that makes it sort of -- I would never use the word easy comparables, but not so tough comparables, so that's the basis. And on top of that, we are doing really good. The team in the U.K. are doing it really well. They're able to sell to the customers. So they are -- so you will probably see, I would -- I don't know if the term catch-up is a good term. We will see that. And we have made some good deals, yes. And we have also sort of, like I described, probably increased our market shares as well. And then done some 3-year deals outside. Unfortunately, I can't disclose sort of the number and the percentage of that, but we are saying that please account for that when looking at organic growth that there is a portion of -- a higher portion of 3-year deals sort of part of the mix. So I think that's the answer I can give on that.

Okay. But in terms of the U.K. last year, what was the comparison figure then, ballpark?

We don't disclose that on that level.

Okay. Fair enough. A final question on the margin in Process Management. Can you give some color on how much is related to M&A mix and how much is related to increasing costs basically?

No. I think there are -- the most of it that we are probably -- we had a very strong margin quarter last year. We dropped a little bit here in the quarter. And I think it's a -- I wouldn't see it as a big trend that we will continue to drift down. It's more of some quarters, you have some -- a little bit higher cost and some, you have a little bit less cost. I think it's more related to that. And there are some other comparables who have disclosed that they had a lot of conference, for example, in Q3, there's an effect of that also.

Okay, Great. That's all for me.

Thank you. [Operator Instructions] As there are no more questions, this concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back to Mr. Johan Andersson for any closing remarks. Over to you, sir.

Thank you for taking the time to listening to our presentation and asking a lot of good questions. And thank you.

Thank you. The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.