Interim Report, January-September 2021

Third quarter

• Net sales amounted to MSEK 92.8 (75.6), rendering a net sales growth of 23 % (11 %)
• Recurring revenue amounted to MSEK 64.7 (48.5)
• The quarter was impacted by one-off items affecting comparison, amounting to MSEK -0.0 (0.0). Comparison attributable to acquisitions
• Adjusted EBITA amounted to MSEK 25.5 (24.7) which corresponds to an adjusted EBITA margin of 27 % (33 %)
• Net income amounted to MSEK 11.1 (15.0)
• Earnings per share SEK 0.83 (1.13) and diluted SEK 0.83 (1.13)

 

First nine months

• Net sales MSEK 290.2 (245.6), rendering a sales growth of 18 % (18 %)
• Recurring revenue MSEK 177.9 (143.9)
• The first nine months were impacted by one-off items affecting comparison, amounting to MSEK -1.1 (0.0). Comparison attributable to acquisitions
• Adjusted EBITA amounted to MSEK 79.4 (70.0) which corresponds to an adjusted EBITA margin of 27 % (29 %)
• Net income MSEK 41.3 (42.6)
• Earnings per share SEK 3.11 (3.20) and diluted SEK 3.11 (3.20)
• The acquisition of 90 % of the shares in the German company, Userlike UG, who are experts in UM – Unified Messaging
• Lime has raised a new bank loan of SEK 250 million and repaid a bank loan of SEK 50 million
• Decided to establish Lime in Germany

 
 

CEO’s comments
The reopening is paving the way for high growth and a stronger market position

We have seen a continued high demand for our services as we leave the third quarter behind us. We exceeded our targets for both growth and profitability, and we can see positive developments in our markets outside Sweden. A gradual return to the offices, an all-time high in the number of onboarded employees and the opportunity to meet our customers face-to-face again, have given us the energy we need to continue to build the international growth company which Lime is and intends to be.

An ideal product portfolio for the current situation
It is very clear across many industries that the pandemic has helped accelerate the process of general digitalisation, not least for Lime’s focus verticals. There is an increasing transition to a hybrid arena in which employers, employees and customers expect flexibility and accessibility on all channels. Accordingly, over the past eighteen months, we have seen an increased demand in areas such as communication and automation – a trend which appears to be increasing rather than decreasing as restrictions are eased. With our offering in both web chat and Marketing Automation, we are ideally placed to help companies work smart with digital solutions, thereby generating substantial value both for their business and their customers.

When it comes to our most recent acquisition, Userlike, we are already seeing positive effects from our joint offering, which has been well received during meetings with our German customers. There is a demand in all our markets for a strong ticket handling solution with integrated chat and chatbot functionality and our ambition is to release this during the fourth quarter.

The reopening of the markets is generating new energy and increased competitive advantages
During the third quarter, many of our markets reopened, and we are pleased to be able to meet clients and colleagues once again. Nothing generates energy like a face-to-face meeting!

What distinguishes Lime from the global players is our local presence and the opportunity that this gives us to work directly with clients throughout the process, without intermediaries - a market position which is strengthened by face-to-face meetings. We have already experienced how our continued focus on this makes us really stand out at a time when digital meetings are becoming the dominant form of customer interaction. Even though digital interaction is a valuable complement for us, we are absolutely convinced that the opportunity to meet our customers on their own turf and during their day-to-day work increases our understanding of their needs and fosters long-term relationships. Accordingly, we are really looking forward to meeting our customers’ requests by visiting them during the coming quarters.

An improved business situation with growth and profitability targets surpassed
In this quarter, we also exceeded our targets for both growth and profitability. Growth in the third quarter amounted to 23 %, profitability to 27 %, and our ARR growth performance was again good, achieving 34 %.

As we have already mentioned, our countries outside Sweden have been particularly affected by the restrictions. This makes it very pleasing to see the improved inflow of orders in these markets during the third quarter, compared with the preceding period. New sales are continuing in the right direction, although there is still some way to go to reach pre-pandemic levels. During the quarter, we were delighted to welcome several new customers - F. Junckers Industrier A/S, Midt Energi AS, Nacka vatten och avfall AB and Miele AB among others - an excellent mix of large and small companies within our focus verticals.

As expected and welcomed, we have been able to perform more activities than during the pandemic. As a consequence, expenses have been higher compared to the third quarter of last year, which explains the lower EBITA-margin. Increased travel and more events, as well as the on-site onboarding of our trainees during the period, contributed to an increase in costs at the same time as we are continuing to invest in growth-promoting activities such as product development, sales and marketing, our employees, the start-up of our German operation and the ongoing integration of Userlike.

We are continuing to invest in our employees
In the aftermath of the pandemic, just as with many other companies, we are facing a challenge in the skills shortage in the labour market. A reduced labour supply, in combination with increased mobility in the labour market, will challenge us over the next few months. We can see that this is having a slight effect on our rate of growth in Expert Services. We are actively recruiting and we are aiming at onboarding an all-time high number of new employees. In combination with this, we are continuing to invest in our employees, focusing on areas such as leadership and staff development.

We will bring our A-game to the final quarter of the year, filled with energy from finally getting to meet our customers and colleagues face-to-face again.

/Nils Olsson, Managing Director and CEO, Lime Technologies

 
Read the entire report in the attached PDF.

 

Invitation to webcast for the presentation of Lime Technologies’ Year-end report for January-September 2021

On Thursday, October 21, at 09:30 CEST, analysts, investors, media, and other interested parties are invited to attend a webcast where Lime’s CEO, Nils Olsson, and CFO, Magnus Hansson, will comment on the published report and answer questions. The presentation will be held in English.

The presentation material will be available on Lime’s website.

The link to the webcast can be found here.

 

For more information, contact:

Lime Technologies AB (publ)

Nils Olsson, CEO / +46 736-44 48 55 / [email protected]

Magnus Hansson, CFO & Head of Investors / +46 708-55 55 40 / [email protected]

This information constituted inside information prior to publication. This is information that Lime Technologies AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Securities Markets Act. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out above, at 07.50 CET on October 21, 2021.

About Lime
Lime helps European businesses to become better at customer care. The company develops and sells digital products for” Customer Relationship Management”, development and management of customer relationships. Lime was founded in 1990 and has 350 employees. The company has offices in Lund, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Gävle, Oslo, Copenhagen, Utrecht, Cologne and Helsinki. Their customers include everything from sole traders to large organisations. www.lime-technologies.com