(AOF) – Esker once again achieved the best quarter and the best year in its history by easily crossing the threshold of 130 million euros in sales for the whole of 2021. During the fourth quarter , Esker achieved consolidated sales of 35.9 million euros, up 16% on a reported basis and 14% at constant exchange rates.
Group sales for the year 2021 amounted to 133.7 million euros, up 20% at constant exchange rates and 19% as reported.
The annual recurring value (ARR) of contracts signed over the quarter was €3.65 million, down slightly from the 4th quarter of 2020. The group recalls that this was exceptional because it had seen all deferred signatures during the first months of the health crisis
The specialist in solutions for automating the Procure-to-Pay and Order-to-Cash management cycles anticipates maintaining its operating profit at a level similar to that achieved in the first half of 2021.
Esker expects double-digit organic growth for the whole of 2022, which should bring turnover to around 155 million euros if the euro/dollar parity remains unchanged. At this level of growth, profitability should once again be between 12% and 15%.
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IT / Software: the consecration of the cloud
In 2020, for the first time, companies spent more globally with cloud players (or dematerialized computing) such as Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure, than with manufacturers of equipment and software (servers , routers, etc.).
By accelerating the digitization of exchanges and production methods, the health crisis has had a positive effect on the top hundred French software publishers. The cumulative turnover of the Truffle 100, ranking of French software publishers, increased by 6.6% from 10.9 billion euros in 2019 to 11.6 billion euros in 2020. Only 33% of these publishers show declining revenues, well below forecasts (62%). For the publishing business alone, all Truffle 100 revenues increased by 4.6%. 87% of these players offer SaaS (Software as a Service) and 63% want to increase their projects internationally, where 76% of them are already present.
Dassault Systèmes is still the leading French publisher, with 4.024 billion euros in revenue (+12.6%), followed by Sopra Steria (658.5 million), Murex (580 million) and Cegid (498 million euros, ). With growth of 56%, Claranova relegates Cegedim to sixth place.
The cloud strengthened by the health crisis
According to research firm Synergy Research, for the first time last year, companies around the world outsourced their data and software hosting more online, spending nearly $130 billion in the cloud. (+30% in one year). They have invested “only” 90 billion dollars in their computer rooms. First, the servers available online allowed massive remote use. In addition, the influx of new users on tools like Zoom or Teams has pushed the publishers of these software to spend more on cloud platforms. With 5G, currently being deployed, new uses will appear.