SoftwareOne Holding AG (SWON) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the SoftwareOne H1 2026 Results Conference Call and Live Webcast. I am Matilde, Chorus Call operator. [Operator Instructions] The conference is being recorded. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session. [Operator Instructions] At this time, it's my pleasure to hand over to Kjell Arne Hansen, Head of Investor Relations, at SoftwareOne. Please go ahead.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining SoftwareOne's H1 '26 presentation. My name is Kjell Arne Hansen, Head of Investor Relations at SoftwareOne. Joining me today are CEO, Raphael Erb; and CFO, Hanspeter Schraner. In terms of agenda, Raphael will start with an overview of the H1 '26 business performance. Hanspeter will then take us through our detailed financial performance. And finally, Raphael will present the outlook for '26 and share his closing remarks. Before handing over, please let me draw your attention to the disclaimer regarding forward-looking statements and non-IFRS measures on Slides 2 and 3. With that, I will hand it over to Raphael.

Thank you, Kjell Arne, and a warm welcome to everyone joining the call. I'm proud of our performance in the first half of 2026. On a combined like-for-like basis, we delivered 11.6% year-on-year revenue growth. We also delivered a 24.9% adjusted EBITDA margin, a 4.5 percentage point improvement versus the prior year with our profitability, translating into a cash conversion ratio of 69% over the last 12 months. . We achieved CHF 100 million of run rate cost synergies, delivering the top end of the announced target 6 months ahead of the original schedule. Integration is now substantially completed with the company's focus shifting fully to commercial execution and customer value creation. Now, let's take a closer look at the financial results. I will mainly focus on the like-for-like performance, as this best illustrates the results of the combined business. Q2 '26 maintained a strong momentum from Q1, with revenue growing 10.4% year-on-year. As a result, H1 '26 revenue increased 11.6% year-on-year with all regions and business lines contributing to growth. As already mentioned, in H1 2026, we delivered an adjusted EBITDA margin of 24.9%, an improvement of 4.5 percentage points versus the prior year period. Q2 '26 was particularly strong with adjusted EBITDA margin reaching 28.9%, up 5.4 percentage points year-on-year. I would also like to highlight that our reported EBITDA margin for the first half of 2026 was 22.7%. This is an increase of 5.2 percentage points compared to SoftwareOne's stand-alone reported EBITDA in H1 '25, reflecting well-executed integration and synergy realization. Overall, our results illustrate the strength of our business model and confirm the strategic rationale of the merger we closed a year ago. Now, let's look at the business line performance on a combined like-for-like basis. In H1 '26, all business lines showed positive growth channel and services showing an exceptional 35.6% and 17.4% growth at constant currency, respectively. Software and Cloud Direct grew 1.5% in H1, driven by EA to CSP conversion. This continued in Q2. However, growth declined 1.8%, as the comparative period benefited from several larger deals. We expect direct to return to growth in H2 '26. Adjusted EBITDA margin for the first half of 2026 ended at 50.8% at the same level as last year. Our Channel business had an exceptional first half of the year, growing 35.6% with an adjusted EBITDA margin ending at 57.2%, an increase of 9.3 percentage points versus prior period. This clearly proves the key message from our CMD. This is a very scalable business model. The growth in H1 '26 was led by CSP business, as well as strong growth from other ISVs with AWS at the forefront. In addition, the expansion of Cloud IQ to new countries further contributed to Q2 '26 performance. Performance in our Services business was also strong in the period led by CSP-related services. In addition, Cloud services, especially in AWS and Google, data and AI and cybersecurity continued to deliver strong performance. Profitability in Services business also improved, and our adjusted EBITDA margin ended at 8.5% for H1 '26, a significant increase from 3.3% in H1 '25. Growth in H1 '26 was broad-based across all our regions, and I'd like to walk you through key highlights for each region. DACH grew 6.8%. Microsoft-related growth remained strong, driven mainly by continued EA to CSP conversion, which also drove double-digit growth in our Services business. Western Europe grew 11.7%, driven by strong double-digit growth in Services and over 50% growth in Channel, supported by continued EA to CSP acceleration in direct. The Nordics delivered particularly strong growth of 26%. Our Services business, which amounts to over half of the regional revenue grew close to 20%. Direct delivered double-digit growth, and Channel grew more than 50%. I'm very pleased with our progress in North America, which delivered its second consecutive quarter of growth, up 8.6% for H1 '26. This was driven by Channel, which nearly doubled year-over-year alongside strong Services growth from CSP and AWS cloud services. APAC was our fastest-growing region, up 23% for H1 '26 and accelerating to 27% in Q2. Growth was broad-based, with particular strength in Australia and New Zealand, India, Southeast Asia and North China. The Service business remains the primary growth engine led by cloud services and cybersecurity. LATAM grew 6.9% to CHF 49.3 million led by services, cybersecurity, data and AI and AWS with direct stable year-over-year. Brazil and Mexico both contributed positively. And lastly, CEE grew 16.7% to CHF 42 million, with strong performance across all business lines, particularly in Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. Let me now share a great example of how software run moves from project execution to strategic engagement. What started as a cloud migration project has become a strategic partnership. Together with Allianz Audia, the Thailand-based subsidiary of Alliance, a leading global insurance and asset management company, we successfully migrated over 500 servers to AWS, reduced infrastructure operational run costs by 24% and accelerated their cloud transformation journey. Today, we are supporting broader modernization and innovation initiatives such as development of an app that would modernize Allianz Audia life and health claims process, demonstrating how our business model and offering, coupled with successful execution creates opportunities for deeper customer relationships. And with that, I will hand it over to our CFO, Hanspeter Schraner, who will take you through the financial details of the first half of '26.

Thank you, Raphael, and welcome from my side as. I will now take you through the IFRS income statement. As a reminder, the '26 income statement includes Crayon, which has been consolidated since first of July '25, and therefore, significantly impact year-over-year comparisons. Revenue grew 68.2% to CHF 880.3 million in H1 '26. The performance also reflects tailwinds from multiyear CSP contracts and early renewals, triggered by Microsoft price increases in July '26, consistent with the trend we saw in Q1. Reported EBITDA increased to CHF 185.4 million, responding to a margin of 22.7%, a significant improvement of 5.2 percentage points versus the prior year, driven by strong revenue growth, synergy realization and disciplined cost control. Depreciation and amortization includes CHF 20.5 million of amortization associated with acquisition-related intangible assets arising from the purchase price allocation. The next financial result mainly reflects higher debt levels following the Crayon acquisition, whereas the prior year period benefited from positive fair value adjustments on SoftwareOne's preexisting investment in Crayon. H1 '26 effective tax rate was impacted by noncapitalized tax losses and nontax deductible expenses. And as a result, net profit for H1 '26 amounted to CHF 54.3 million. Let me now turn to the bridge from the reported EBITDA to adjusted EBITDA. Adjustments remained low and continue to be largely driven by the Crayon integration activities. In H1 '26, CHF 16.9 million of the total of CHF 18.4 million EBITDA adjustments related to Crayon integration costs. Since the start of the integration in '25, cumulative Crayon integration expenses have reached CHF 42.3 million as of H1 '26. We now expect total cumulative integration costs by the end of '27 to be in the range of CHF 75 million to CHF 85 million below the initial estimate of CHF 80 million to CHF 100 million. Looking ahead, we anticipate realizing a further CHF 5 million to CHF 10 million of cost synergies by the end of '26 with approximately CHF 20 million of integration expenses expected in H2 '26, around CHF 20 million of integration costs remain to be incurred in '27. This slide summarizes OpEx development on a combined like-for-like basis. OpEx remained broadly flat year-over-year at CHF 632.9 million. Cost discipline remains intact. Realized incremental in-year cost synergies of CHF 37 million were largely offset by tax inflation, performance-related compensation, growth invests and higher third-party delivery costs linked to revenue growth. FX further reduced OpEx. EBITDA adjustments also reduced from CHF 33 million to CHF 18 million, reflecting the improvement from reported to underlying profitability. Turning to the balance sheet. As of June '26, net debt stood at CHF 408 million, up from CHF 369.3 million at year-end '25. Gross debt primarily consists of the CHF 550 million term loan and CHF 200 million drawn on the revolving credit facility. As planned, the bridge facility was fully repaid in January '26. Comparison to June '25 should be viewed with some caution as the June '25 balance sheet reflects the pre-closing structure. At that time, we had both the bridge facility drawdown and the Crayon shares recorded as financial assets prior to settlement of the transaction. Net working capital after factoring improved to negative CHF 509.2 million as of June '26 compared to negative CHF 216.6 million a year ago. This improvement mainly reflects the structurally attractive and working capital profile of Trade. Intangible assets increased substantially following the acquisition and now include the goodwill and acquired intangible assets recognized as part of the purchase price allocation. I would also like to note that we have now finalized the purchase location for the Crayon acquisition. As a result of this final valuation work, goodwill was adjusted by CHF 22.5 million, retrospectively as of the acquisition date. Importantly, this is a balance sheet remeasurement. There's no impact on SoftwareOne's cash flow, underlying operating performance or previously communicated synergy expectations. Overall, equity increased to CHF 992.7 million, almost doubling versus June last year, reflecting the capital increase related to the Crayon acquisition and the profit for the period partially offset by dividend paid and currency translation adjustments over the period. Turning to working capital, which remains a key management focus. On a like-for-like basis and looking at the last 12-month period to June '26, net working capital before factoring improved by CHF 46 million. These improvements came even as reduced our utilization of short-term factoring by CHF 12 million. So after factoring the net improvement was CHF 34 million. I would like to emphasize that we delivered strong growth across the combined business while keeping net working capital broadly stable. This reflects continued discipline in working capital management and ongoing improvements in our underlying processes, which remains a priority going forward. At our Capital Market Day, we introduced a cash conversion target above 60% throughout '26 to 2030 periods. On the last 12-month basis, we delivered a 69% cash conversion, excluding the impact of factoring. Last 12 months, operating cash flow was CHF 271.6 million, primarily driven by profitability. Adjusting for the CHF 12 million reduction in factoring utilization, operating cash flow was CHF 283.6 million. After CapEx of CHF 71.9 million, free cash flow amounted to CHF 211.7 million. Against last 12 months reported EBITDA of CHF 308 million, this translates into a cash conversion rate of 69%, well above the target. Last 12 months CapEx of CHF 79 million -- or CHF 71.9 million was primarily related to internal IT investments, followed by platform investments with services and other investments accounting for the remainder. As outlined at the Capital Market Day, we expect CapEx to increase modestly during '27 and '28, as we accelerate investments in platforms, internal IT and ERP initiatives. During this period, CapEx is expected to represent approximately 7% to 8% of revenue before normalizing towards around 5% from '29 onwards. Regarding cash conversion, we continue to expect a meaningful tailwind from net working capital improvements over the first 3 years of the plan period with benefits moderating thereafter. The exact phasing will naturally depend on the pace at which we execute further working capital improvements across the combined business. Turning to the H1 '26 cash flow statement. We generated operating cash flow of CHF 90.1 million, up slightly from CHF 87.1 million in the prior year period, supported by stronger profitability. Profit for the period increased significantly from CHF 9.1 million to CHF 54.3 million. This benefit was largely offset by working capital movements, which resulted in CHF 72.1 million cash outflow in H1 '26 compared to a cash inflow of CHF 81.8 million in the prior year. The prior year period benefited from the introduction of our then new nonrecourse factoring program. Investing cash flow amounted to an outflow of CHF 34 million, primarily reflecting CHF 36.5 million CapEx, broadly in line with the prior period and focused on internal IT and platform investments. This compares to an outflow of CHF 64.7 million in H1 '25, which included the settlement of the swap agreement related to the Crayon investments. Financing cash flow was outflow of CHF 102.4 million compared to an inflow of CHF 369.3 million in the prior year. This year's figure was negatively impacted by the acquisition of Crayon minority interests the prior year's figure by contrast benefited from CHF 424.2 million drawdown of the Crayon acquisition bridge facility. As a result, cash and cash equivalents were CHF 382.8 million at the end of June '26 compared with CHF 419.1 million at the beginning of the year. Let me conclude with the development of net debt over the last 12 months. As of June '26, net debt stood at CHF 408 million, with a leverage ratio of 1.1% compared to the net cash position of CHF 36.2 million in June '25 . The increase was mainly driven by the acquisition of Crayon. Beyond the acquisition itself, the key cash outflows for income taxes and interest paid, capital expenditure and prior transaction and integration expenses. This concludes the H1 financial review. With that, I will hand over to Raphael for his closing remarks.

Thank you, Hanspeter. We are tracking well towards delivering against all targets. Looking at the numbers, FY '25 revenue growth was 1.4%. And on an LTM basis to June '26, that's now at 8.9% growth. Our '26 guidance remains mid- to high single-digit revenue growth. H2 2026 growth is expected to moderate as the benefits from accelerated EA to CSP conversion and early renewals, which supported H1 don't repeat at the same pace, compounded by a tougher comparison base in H2 '25. On EBITDA margin, FY 2025 was 20.9% on an adjusted basis with LTM now at 23.2%. We continue to guide to above 23% adjusted margin for 2026. Our dividend payout policy remains 30% to 50% of adjusted profit for 2026, moving to 30% to 50% of reported profit as we look forward 2030. And lastly, our cash conversion outlook for 2026 is above 60%. We wanted to use today's update as an opportunity to give you a bit more detail on what's driving the path to our 2030 margin ambition. We laid out at the Capital Markets Day in June. As a reminder, we are targeting an EBITDA margin above 28% by 2030, a 5 percentage point improvement compared to the '26 outlook, which we expect to phase roughly linearly over the period. The largest contributor, around 3 percentage points, comes from AI and automation efficiencies and further embedding that across our own internal processes. A further 1 percentage point comes from scaling our Channel business. Margin expands faster than growth, as we scale within our existing footprint and as we expand into new markets. The final percentage point comes from our Services business as AI drives a more scalable delivery model through, for example, central platforms that allow us to leverage expertise globally and standardize some delivery alongside continued SG&A efficiency. We expect this to improve margin with no dilution effect. And last, but not least, as we have already said this during the CMD, sharpening our Services portfolio is something that will contribute to the margin expansion. All 3 of these build on the foundation we have already delivered. Our CHF 100 million cost synergy program completed in H1 '26 and continued benefits from the more efficient operating model that the program put in place. Underpinning all of this is continuous cost discipline across the group. And now, I'm pleased to present our evolved Executive Board effective from 1st September. These changes mark the next phase of SoftwareOne's development, increasing regional representation at the Executive Board level and bringing customers, partners and markets closer to decision-making. Regina Manfred will assume responsibility for the full Americas region, expanding her current mandate for Noram to include LatAm. Regina led Crayon's Noram business ahead of the merger and has served as President of North America since July 2025. Rico Andreoli will lead the full EMEA region, broadening his responsibilities beyond Western Europe to include the Nordics, DACH and CEE, recovering nearly 2 decades of experience at software run, having joined in 2009 and most recently serving as Regional President of Western Europe. Varun Paliwal will continue to lead APAC, a region he has led since January 2025 after more than a decade in senior roles at SoftwareOne. Lastly, Gudmundur Adar Stenson has been appointed Chief Channel and Ecosystem Officer. Gudmundur recently served as Chief Partner and Sales Officer and brings more than 25 years in the software and cloud industry, including a decade at Crayon in senior commercial leadership roles. Combined, the new structure strengthens accountability and supports faster execution. I would also like to mention that our Chief Operating Officer, Oliver, has decided to leave the company. Let me close with a few key takeaways. With integration substantially complete and synergies of CHF 100 million achieved, our focus is now shifting fully from integration to commercial execution and customer value creation. We remain on track to deliver on our 2026 financial targets across growth, margin and cash conversion. And we continue to focus on sustainable working capital improvements to further strengthen our cash generation. Taken together, this sets a clear foundation for how we execute against our ambition going forward. And with that, we will now move to the Q&A.

[Operator Instructions] The first question comes from the line of Nooshin Nejati from Deutsche Bank.

Congrats on the quarter. I have a couple of questions on margin. Given how strong margin has been in H1, why are you only reiterating the guide for 2026? I guess my question is, what are you expecting to pay on margin in H2? And on 2030 margin, thanks for the color, very useful, the biggest piece is from AI and automation efficiencies, how much investment do you need to achieve this? And where exactly do you see those coming from? Is it internal processes, SG&A or delivery productivity? And if I may also on the linearity of that expansion, do you also expect the contribution from AI to be linear? Or is that more back-end loaded?

Thank you very much for the question. Maybe first of all on the EBITDA margin target. I think the lower end of the range would require a scenario where several things, I would say, would move against us at once. We are not seeing evidence of that today. The range has guided reflects the realistic band of outcomes, but based on the underlying growth trajectory, the momentum in Services and Channel and the trends across our regions, we are comfortable that we will land in the range, and we are from an EBITDA margin positive that we will not land at the bottom of the 23%. I hope this clarifies your question on the EBITDA margin. Then I think you had a point related to the AI efficiencies. We mentioned before on the trajectory to reach the 28% plus target for 2030 on EBITDA margin that we see this linearly improving. Now, for AI-related, for sure, we see some more of the effects, probably '28 onwards.

Right. And -- sorry, how much investment do you need to achieve these?

I mean this is what we have communicated at the Capital Market Day. The CapEx will increase in '27-'28 to -- we said also today 7%, 12% of revenue, funding these investments in AI and automation. And the funding will come from the res net working capital. So it should be in a way cash neutral. So we will have heavier investments in the next 2 years and then benefiting the years beyond.

The next question comes from the line of Florian Treisch from Kepler Chevreux.

I have basically 2 questions around this EA to CSP shift. So the first is, can you simply -- can you kind of quantify the tailwinds you have seen in H1 and what you expect to happen in H2? Or can we argue that higher pricing at Microsoft can compensate for the higher comparison base in H2? And the second one is like you flagged that the CSP shift has also positively impacted your services margin. Can you maybe talk a bit about the sustainability in that segment if you look into the coming quarters if it's fair to assume a 10% plus margin also the quarters to come?

Thank you very much, Florian. We mentioned during the call that the EA to CSP conversion was a bit accelerated in due to early renewals, also due to the fact of the price increases of Microsoft as per July. That clearly gave us certain tailwinds in H1. And we mentioned that the tailwind is around 4 percentage points overall. And this will then also have an impact on H2, where we see a bit of decelerated growth compared to H1. The second point, it's absolutely true that the EA to CSP conversion has an impact not only on our direct or Channel business, but also on our Services. Business line has a positive impact because we sell CSP always as a bundle, which consists of the license plus a service wrapped around. Typically, this is -- there is various support packages, which we offer to our customers. But there is always a service wrapped around. And obviously, that then also helps us accelerate our Services business and contributes to the growth, which we have achieved in H1, and we will also contribute to the growth which we see in H2.

We now have a question from the line of Marc Burgi from Finanz und Wirtscraft.

Actually, my questions were already asked. Yes, I was interested about the tailwinds that you get due to the early renewals, but you already clarified that.