(Boursier.com) — Despite a drop in organic activity in 2023 and strong investments in human resources (HR), Qwamplify maintains a good level of profitability. Thus, EBITDA, which increased during the second half compared to the first half, reached 2.9 million euros for the 2023 financial year at 14% of the Gross Margin, down -22%.
The net result is strongly impacted with the decline in certain activities, in particular since mid-2022 for emailing and coregistration, linked to a tightening of ISP conditions and the drop in certain retail budgets. The company thus records significant asset depreciation over the 2023 financial year (10.8 ME). The increase in Depreciation and Provisions is also linked to provisions for customer risk which reach €529 thousand for the year 2023. All of these DAP are non-cash elements. After taking them into account, the group’s share of net income (RNPG) shows an exceptional decline at -9.2 ME.
Net cash (deduction of financial debts and cash held on behalf of customers as part of ongoing marketing campaigns) stood at 3.2 ME, recording an increase of 0.7 ME compared to October 30 2022 (+26%).
The group continued to reduce its debt by 0.9 ME during the financial year, while preserving its ability to generate cash from its operational activity, resulting in an increase of 1.8 ME in cash.
In the 1st quarter of 2024, turnover is up sharply by +18.2% to €9.1 million, organic growth for two consecutive quarters now. The gross margin increased by +22.4% to 6 ME. The group is seeing the first impacts of its new Bespoke offer and its HR investments, particularly in management, which have made it possible to win major accounts and further develop synergies between expertise. Furthermore, the e-mailing activity, in significant decline during the 2022 and 2023 financial years, experienced a rebound due to a favorable base effect and good commercial momentum, particularly during the Black Friday period. .
Outlook 2024
The group anticipates a return to organic growth in 2024, despite the end on December 31, 2023 of the contract of its first client Optical Center which repatriated its activities to Israel. In fact, the group anticipates an increase in its profitability with a slowdown in increases in HR costs.
The group, which could still be affected by restrictions on the distribution of emails by ISPs during the coming financial year, remains attentive to the consumption context and in particular to Retail budgets.