Rise in revenues to EUR 95.6m as at the end of September (previous year: EUR 89.6m)
Operating profit (EBIT) on track at EUR 3.5m (previous year: EUR 4.7m)
Forecast for the full year confirmed
Karlsruhe, 8 November 2018.
At the end of the third quarter of 2018, the Managing Board of init innovation in traffic systems SE (ISIN DE 0005759807) sees good prospects for growth to accelerate further. The trend regarding orders in particular is a source of optimism. With a large contract won from the US, the leading international provider of integrated planning, dispatching, telematics and ticketing solutions for buses and trains saw new orders in the third quarter amounting to EUR 64.2m (Q3 2017: EUR 21.5m). As a result, both incoming orders (EUR 137m) and the order backlog (EUR 157m) were around 30 per cent above the previous year’s levels after the first nine months of the financial year. Revenues of EUR 95.6m (previous year: EUR 89.6m) also set a new record.
As a result, the init group continues to be well on its way to achieving the targets set for the year as a whole. The Managing Board is therefore confirming its forecasts with regard to revenues (EUR 135-145m) and EBIT (EUR 10-12m). “We will easily reach and even exceed our planned target for 2018 of EUR 140-150m in incoming orders,” asserts the quarterly statement, which is now available and can be found at https://www.initse.com/ende/investors/financial-reports.html.
Ticketing business with high growth potential
In the short to medium-term, the Managing Board sees good prospects for revenue growth at init to accelerate further. High growth potential is emerging in the ticketing business in particular, as is evidenced by the contracts that were won in the third quarter.
One ground-breaking development in particular is the largest project in the group’s history: At the end of September, the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority (Sound Transit), Seattle, US, awarded init an order to supply and operate a next-generation ticketing system. It consists of a four-year project contract with a volume of around USD 50m. In addition, 11 one-year options for operation and maintenance have already been ordered. This increases the total value of the contract to more than USD 90m and secures calculable, recurring revenues for init for several years to come.
Increased customer loyalty as a system Partner
In this way, init is establishing itself in the long term as a system partner and full-service provider for fare and payment management, which leads to a much higher level of customer loyalty. This can include managing the entire technical operation of our products for transport companies and creates additional, sustainable growth potential in this area. In the medium and long term, topics such as electromobility, “Mobility as a Service” (MaaS), autonomous driving and cyber security will have a positive impact on the demand for integrated init system solutions.
Revenues of EUR 36.3m (Q3 2017: EUR 31.3m) were generated in the third quarter of 2018. The operating result before interest and taxes (EBIT) was on par with the previous year’s level at EUR 2.4m. It should be noted that init invested over EUR 3.0m more in research and development than in the same period in the previous year, at EUR 8.2m. Sales and administrative expenses also increased owing to the acquisition of Mattersoft. As at 30 September, EBIT therefore fell to EUR 3.5m, down from EUR 4.7m in the previous year.
The cash flow from operating activities continued its positive trend. After nine months, it stood at EUR 2.2m (Q3 2017: EUR -8.8m) and rose largely due to the sharp reduction in trade accounts receivable and a reduced expansion of inventories.
The equity ratio improved from 40.3 per cent to 44.3 per cent compared to the same period in the previous year.
