Impero releases Q1 Report 2024: Achieved 28% growth in ARR (YoY) with continuous improvement in the free cash flow to net-new ARR ratio

Company Announcement No. 9-2024

Copenhagen, 23 May 2024

At the end of the first quarter of 2024, Impero realized a 28% year-on-year Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) growth rate and continued to demonstrate solid SaaS metrics. Compared to first quarter 2023, reported revenue for the quarter increased by 28% while capacity costs (other external expenses and staff costs) increased by 7%, leading to an improvement in the EBITDA. Impero maintains guidance for the full year of 2024 with ARR within the DKK 38M to 42M range and EBITDA expected within the DKK -11M to -9M range.

Financial highlights on 31 March 2024

• ARR increased by 28% to DKK 32.4M, from DKK 25.3M on 31 March 2023
• Net ARR growth in Q1-2023 amounted to DKK 2.1M, compared to DKK 2.6M in Q1-2023
• Uplift was 14% YoY, compared to 19% in the 12-month period ending 31 March 2023
• Churn was 6%, YoY compared to 2% in the 12-month period ending 31 March 2023
• Net Revenue Retention was 108% compared to 118% in the 12-month period ending 31 March 2023
• Revenue in Q1-2024 increased by 28% to DKK 7.8M, compared to the same period in 2023
• EBITDA for Q1-2024 was negative DKK 2.0M, compared to negative DKK 3.6M for the first quarter of 2023

By the end of 2024-Q1 we delivered 28% YoY growth in ARR, and we were satisfied to close the quarter with the largest increase in ARR contracted during any Q1 in Impero’s history.

The known churn for the coming periods is lower than at the same time last year, and improved churn is expected for the next period. 

In the first quarter we welcomed 8 new enterprise customers from Denmark, Germany, and Sweden. This included our fourth leading automobile manufacturer in the German market, a leading Swedish agricultural cooperative, and a Danish-based international energy trading house. With the most recent additions Impero now serves 30% of the companies in the Danish OMX C25 index and close to 20% of the German DAX40 index.

We have been particularly pleased with the development in the German market during the first quarter and believe we are in a position to benefit from the investments made over the past few years.

Our new customers' use of Impero includes tax compliance management, SOX compliance, month-end closing processes, and wider financial compliance. Further, we saw substantial uplift from several large organizations in the German, Danish, and North American markets, which is testament to the ongoing value Impero brings.

We are pleased to see our customers increase the use of Impero to strengthen assurance related to ESG. Not only related to the recently-passed CSRD legislation, but also to support solid and automated internal control setups for the new reporting requirements. It creates confidence in our future development to see how Impero's platform is proven to be a good fit for the ongoing development in assurance requirements in the ESG domain.

Partnerships

With 52% of the new ARR generated in Q1 2024 stemming from the Partner channel, we are pleased to see the strong commitment from partners across our main markets. We have continued to experience a solid inflow of leads from our long-term partner in Germany, KPMG, and are simultaneously expanding partnerships in Germany to more players across multiple compliance domains. In the coming periods we will increase investments in developing both existing and new partnerships.

Product development

We continued developing features for better control performance and operational efficiency, helping customers handle increasingly-complex compliance requirements across tax, finance, and ESG domains. Following Q1 we successfully released a comprehensive update of the platform providing even better support of – among others – Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) control environments.

Capital

At the beginning of 2024, several warrant holders, including CEO, Rikke Stampe Skov, members of the Board of Directors and employees of the company decided to exercise warrants, with total proceeds for the company of DKK 2.6M. In combination with improved working capital, Impero ends Q1 2024 with a solid cash position of DKK 18.9M, and with sufficient funding for continuing investments in accordance with the strategy.

As reflected in our outlook, management is focusing on striking a balance between improving EBITDA and investing in the development of the company. By the end of Q1 Impero continues to improve the ratio between cash-burn from ordinary activities and net new ARR generated.

Organization

During Q1 we were pleased to welcome CTO David W. Højelsen along with our new Head of Sales for Denmark. In general, we strengthened our customer-facing organization to facilitate continued high levels of customer satisfaction supporting our growth strategy.

Financial guidance

Impero maintains the outlook for 2024 with Live ARR in the range of DKK 38M to 42M by the end of 2024. The outlook corresponds to growth rates between 25% and 38%. Impero will invest in scaling the organization to ensure long-term ARR growth and at the same time focus on improving the cash-burn to net-new ARR ratio. We expect EBITDA for 2024 to be in the range of DKK -11M to -9M.

Read the Report in its entirety via Impero.com/investors or in the attached

CEO Rikke Stampe Skov and CFO Morten Lehmann Nielsen will present the Q1 Report at a webinar 24 May 2024, at 11:00 AM CET.

Register for the webinar via: https://www.inderes.dk/videos/impero-praesentation-af-q1-2024.