WithSecure Interim report 1 January – 31 March 2024: Elements Company profitability developing positively, despite slow start of the year
WithSecure Corporation, Interim report release 1 January – 31 March 2024, 24 April 2024 at 8.00 EEST
WithSecure Interim report 1 January – 31 March 2024: Elements Company profitability developing positively, despite slow start of the year
Highlights of January – March 2024 (“first quarter”)
- Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) (1) for Elements Cloud (2) increased by 10% to EUR 80.5 million (EUR 73.4 million)
- Elements Cloud ARR increase from previous quarter was 3%
- Net Revenue Retention for Elements Cloud was 101%
- Revenue for Elements Cloud increased by 10% to EUR 20.6 million (EUR 18.7 million)
- Cloud Protection for Salesforce ARR increased by 0.2% to EUR 8.2 million (EUR 8.1 million)
- Net Revenue Retention for CPSF was 87%
- CPSF Revenue decreased by 0.7% to EUR 2.0 million (EUR 2.0 million)
- Cyber security consulting revenue decreased by 5% to EUR 7.6 million (EUR 8.0 million)
- Adjusted EBITDA by segment was EUR 1.0 million (EUR -4.3 million) for Elements Company, EUR -0.4 million (EUR -1.1 million) for CPSF and EUR -0.5 million (EUR -0.8 million) for Cyber security consulting
- Adjusted EBITDA for WithSecure was EUR 0.0 million (EUR -6.2 million)
- Items affecting comparability (IAC) of EBITDA were EUR +0.1 million (EUR -4.6 million). Of this, approximately EUR -0.7 million relates to strategy projects, EUR +0.4 million to reversals of restructuring provisions and +0.3 million to valuation of earn-out from previously divested business.
- Annual recurring revenue (ARR) of cloud products is calculated by multiplying monthly recurring revenue of last month of quarter by twelve. Monthly recurring revenue includes recognized revenue within the month excluding non-recurring revenue
- Elements Cloud includes Elements Cloud portfolio software and services as well as the managed services
Outlook for 2024 (unchanged)
Technical change to Elements Cloud previous year revenue made in April 2024.
Annual recurring revenue (ARR) for Elements Cloud products and services will grow by 10–20 % from the end of 2023. At the end of 2023, Elements Cloud ARR was EUR 78.4 million.
Revenue from Elements Cloud products and services will grow by 10–16 % from previous year. Previous year revenue from Elements Cloud was EUR 76.1 million.
Total revenue of the group will grow by 6–12 % from previous year. Previous year revenue of the group was EUR 142.8 million.
Adjusted EBITDA of full year 2024 will be positive.
Figures in this report are unaudited. Figures in brackets refer to the corresponding period in the previous year, unless otherwise stated. Percentages and figures presented may include rounding differences and might therefore not add up precisely to the totals presented.
Interim CEO Antti Koskela
After 2023, year of significant transformation, we are satisfied that we have reached a cost structure that keeps the total company at break-even level, even in a slower revenue quarter.
The execution of our updated strategy is progressing as planned. We are transforming WithSecure into a partner-led SaaS company, and continue the strategic review of Cyber security consulting and Cloud Protection for Salesforce businesses. The unexpected change of CEO will not impact the strategy execution.
After changes in the organization, WithSecure is now reporting revenue and profitability of its three businesses separately, in line with the IFRS segment reporting requirements. We think this will also improve the visibility to the different value creation capacity of each of the units.
In the first quarter of 2024, WithSecure Elements Cloud revenue grew by 10% from the previous year and was EUR 20.6 million (EUR 18.7 million). Quarter-end ARR grew by 10% and was EUR 80.5 million (EUR 73.4 million). The growth driver for Elements Cloud revenue was the Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), as well as the smaller Elements modules. Countercept MDR revenue was at the previous year level.
Of the large markets, Elements revenue continued to grow in DACH, Finland, and France, while the UK revenue decreased, and Japan remained at the same level to previous year. These are both markets where WithSecure is increasing and re-focusing its sales efforts and expects to see improvements in the longer-term sales growth.
The Elements Company segment (including Elements Cloud products and services, as well as the On-premise products and Other products) reached an Adjusted EBITDA of EUR 1 million (EUR -4.3 million). This is in line with our plans of maintaining and improving profitability while the company grows.
In expanding our product offering further we have now opened the early access program to our Exposure Management. The product will officially be launched at our third SPHERE event in May. We are looking forward to the new possibilities to provide our partners and their mid-market end customers with the ability to drive the paradigm shift from reactive to proactive cyber security.
Cloud Protection for Salesforce revenue, which is now reported separately from the Elements Cloud, was at the previous year level of EUR 2.0 million (EUR 2.0 million). The lack of growth mainly results from a delay of some customer contracts that did not close as anticipated in the first quarter. CPSF remains as a unique solution for content protection in the Salesforce environment, and we expect it to generate additional value for WithSecure going forward.
Cyber security consulting, managed as a separate business unit from the beginning of 2024, did not reach its revenue and profitability targets in the first quarter. Revenue declined by 5% from the previous year and was EUR 7.6 million (EUR 8.0 million). This was caused by delays in some large customers’ cyber security spend in the beginning of the year. The low revenue caused the Gross margin to drop to 38%, which in turn led to a negative Adjusted EBITDA of Consulting of EUR -0.5 million (EUR -0.8 million). WithSecure cyber security consultants continue to deliver world-class, research-based offensive security services to our customers. We will continue to improve coordination between customer demand and resourcing of the work, to maintain continuous profitability between quarters.
On 8 April 2024, WithSecure CEO Juhani Hintikka announced that he steps down from his position in the company. The decision follows the Supreme Court ruling where he was found guilty of abuse of inside information related to a matter years before he joined WithSecure. I want to thank Juhani for his leadership in taking WithSecure through a significant transformation. The entire team and I will proudly continue the work in becoming a leading European cyber security company.
Financial performance
| (mEUR) | 1-3/2024 | 1-3/2023 | Change % | 1-12/2023 |
| Revenue | 36.2 | 35.2 | 3% | 142.8 |
| Cost of revenue | -10.6 | -10.8 | 2% | -42.6 |
| Gross Margin | 25.7 | 24.4 | 5% | 100.2 |
| % of revenue | 70.9 % | 69.3 % | 70.2 % | |
| Other operating income (1) | 0.4 | 0.4 | 3% | 1.4 |
| Operating expenses (1) | -26.1 | -31.0 | 16% | -117.7 |
| Sales & Marketing | -13.5 | -17.4 | 22% | -68.1 |
| Research & Development | -9.1 | -10.1 | 9% | -36.3 |
| Administration | -3.5 | -3.6 | 3% | -13.3 |
| Adjusted EBITDA (2) | 0.0 | -6.2 | 100% | -16.1 |
| % of revenue | 0.0 % | -17.6 % | -11.3 % | |
| Items affecting comparability (IAC) | ||||
| Other items | -0.7 | -0.1 | -373% | -1.4 |
| Restructuring | 0.4 | -4.5 | 110% | -8.9 |
| Divestments | 0.3 | 0.1 | 320% | 1.4 |
| EBITDA | 0.1 | -10.8 | 101% | -25.1 |
| % of revenue | 0.2 % | -30.6 % | -17.6 % | |
| Depreciation & amortization, excluding PPA (3) | -2.4 | -2.6 | 7% | -10.2 |
| Impairment | -6.2 | |||
| PPA amortization | -0.6 | -0.6 | 2% | -2.4 |
| EBIT | -2.9 | -13.9 | 79% | -43.9 |
| % of revenue | -8.0 % | -39.6 % | -30.7 % | |
| Adjusted EBIT (2) | -2.4 | -8.7 | 73% | -26.3 |
| % of revenue | -6.6 % | -24.8 % | -18.4 % |
| (mEUR) | 1-3/2024 | 1-3/2023 | Change % | 1-12/2023 |
| Earnings per share, (EUR) (4) | -0.01 | -0.06 | 81% | -0.23 |
| Deferred revenue | 69.9 | 70.3 | 0% | 66.9 |
| Cash flow from operations before financial items and taxes | -2.4 | -5.3 | 54% | -19.9 |
| Cash and cash equivalents | 32.3 | 34.5 | -6% | 36.6 |
| ROI, % | -7.1 % | -35.5 % | 80% | -30.5 % |
| Equity ratio, % | 77.1 % | 78.3 % | -2% | 73.3 % |
| Gearing, % | -18.9 % | -36.0 % | 48% | -22.2 % |
| Personnel, end of period | 996 | 1,245 | -20% | 1,087 |
1) Excluding Items Affecting Comparability (IAC) and depreciation and amortization. In 2023 excludes also costs of services provided to F-Secure under TSA and equivalent income charged for TSA services.
2) Adjustments are material items outside the normal course of business associated with acquisitions, integration, restructuring, gains or losses from sales of businesses and other items affecting comparability. For reconciliation and a breakdown of adjusted costs, see Note 6 (Reconciliation of alternative performance measures)
3) Amortization of intangible assets from business combinations (PPA, purchase price allocation, related amortizations).
4) Based on the weighted average number of outstanding shares during the period 175,893,452 (1-3/2024). Earnings per share has been recalculated for comparative periods using average weighted share amount after share issues.
Events after period-end
On 8 April 2024, Juhani Hintikka, President and CEO of WithSecure, announced that he steps down from his position in the company. The decision to step down follows the Supreme Court ruling of 5 April 2024 where Juhani Hintikka was found guilty of abuse of inside information related to a matter dating back to 2014, years before he joined WithSecure. The Board of Directors initiated a search process for a new CEO, and appointed Antti Koskela to act as the interim CEO of the company. Antti Koskela has served as a member of the Global Leadership Team and as Chief Product Officer since 2021. He will continue in the latter role in addition to assuming his duties as the interim CEO.
Additional information
This is a summary of WithSecure’s interim report 1 January – 31 March 2024. The full report is a PDF file attached to this stock exchange release. Full report is also available on the company website.
Webcast
WithSecure’s Interim CEO Antti Koskela and CFO Tom Jansson will present the results in a webcast starting at 14.00 EEST. The webcast will be held in English and can be accessed at
https://withsecure.videosync.fi/q1-2024
Questions in written format are requested in the webcast portal. Presentation material and the webcast recording will be available on the company website
Materials | Investor Relations | WithSecure™
Contact information
Tom Jansson, CFO
Laura Viita, VP, Controlling, investor relations and sustainability
+358 50 487 1044
[email protected]
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