GOFORE PLC COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENT 14 JANUARY 2021 AT 9.30
Gofore Plc’s Business Review 1–31 December 2020: Strong year end – December net sales EUR 7.1 million, growth 40.6% in the fourth quarter
Gofore’s net sales in December 2020 were EUR 7.1 million (2019: EUR 4.6 million). The Group had a total of 724 employees (582 employees) at the end of the period.
Net sales for the full-year 2020 were EUR 78.0 million (EUR 64.1 million), with a growth of 21.7%.
Net sales for the fourth quarter (1 October–31 December 2020) were EUR 24.3 million (EUR 17.3 million), with a growth of 40.6%.
CEO Mikael Nylund comments:
“December net sales EUR 7.1 million met our expectations. As usual, during Christmas and New Year, goforeans took time off, and net sales relative to working days were slightly lower than in other months.
On the customer projects front, we continued to progress well and strengthened our position as a builder of a digital, more sustainable society of the future.
In December, we strengthened our cooperation with the Finnish railway company VR when we were selected as the flexible resource service provider for cloud service experts. Gofore acts as the primary provider of the Azure cloud expert service and the secondary provider of the AWS expert service under VR’s ranking-based sourcing model. The four-year agreement (2 + 2-year option) is a good example of the need for expert services related to cloud services, and good demand. The value of the agreement is estimated at EUR 1.5 million.
In November and December, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) carried out its IT service procurements for 2021–2022 and selected us as a partner for several different projects. The projects cover extensively our consulting services, from top management strategy support and agile transformation to software and service development and information security consulting. In a large organisation, comprehensive digital transformation requires extensive expertise and new capabilities to the fullest. It is our pleasure to walk alongside our significant customer, enabling the successful transformation on our part. The total value of these agreements is approximately EUR 3.4 million.
Gofore continued its profitable growth in 2020. Our growth has continued uninterrupted for 16 consecutive fiscal years, thanks to our customers and all goforeans today and earlier along the way. In December, we published our updated strategy and long-term financial targets. We aim to continue growth with new, more international focus. Join us at our Capital Markets Day today on 14 January 2021 and hear how we see our story continue.
In December, Gofore’s security management system received an ISO 27001 certificate. Themes related to cyber security and the use of ethical data and artificial intelligence are increasingly actual and we have seen how neglect and failures in these areas can lead to huge distress to individuals and damage to businesses. The certification demonstrates our full commitment to cyber security and privacy issues. We take these issues seriously and will continue to be reliable partner for our customers now and in the future”.
In the Business Reviews, the monthly number of employees and net sales with comparable information is published. The reviews also include other key indicators that further facilitate transparency of the company’s growth strategy and comparisons between different periods. Reporting has been supplemented with the Full Time Equivalent (FTE) figure as well as subcontracting FTEs. Additionally, in the monthly Business Reviews for the quarter ending in March and September, the company publishes the Group’s adjusted EBITA and adjusted EBITA-% as well as corresponding figures for the same period in the previous year.
The figures are unaudited.
Quarterly development
| Group (consolidated) | Q1/2020 | Q2/2020 | Q3/20201 | Q4/20202 |
| Net sales, MEUR | 18.8 | 18.6 | 16.3 | 24.3 |
| EBITA, MEUR, adjusted | 3.3 | 2.5 | 1.8 | |
| EBITA-%, adjusted | 17.3% | 13.8% | 11.3% | |
| Group (consolidated) | Q1/2019 | Q2/2019 | Q3/2019 | Q4/2019 |
| Net sales, MEUR | 16.7 | 16.8 | 13.3 | 17.3 |
| EBITA, MEUR, adjusted | 2.9 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 1.8 |
| EBITA-%, adjusted | 17.2% | 12.6% | 9.2% | 10.5% |
| Growth-% | Q1/2020 | Q2/2020 | Q3/20201 | Q4/20202 |
| Net sales, growth-% | 12.8% | 10.6% | 22.1% | 40.6% |
| EBITA, adjusted, growth-% | 13.9% | 20.8% | 49.2% |
1 Qentinel Finland Oy figures have been combined with the Gofore Group figures from 1 September 2020.
2 Adjusted EBITA, adjusted EBITA-% and adjusted EBITA growth-% will be published in the 2020 financial statements release on 5 March 2021.
| Month (2020) |
Net sales, MEUR (net sales 2019)1 | Number of employees2 |
Number of working days in Finland (number of working days 2019) | Overal capacity, FTE3 |
Subcontracting FTE4 |
| December | 7.1 (4.6) | 724 | 21 (18) | 669 | 105 |
| November | 8.5 (6.0) | 727 | 21 (21) | 670 | 128 |
| October | 8.7 (6.6) | 718 | 22 (23) | 663 | 127 |
| September | 8.3 (5.9) | 716 | 22 (21) | 666 | 107 |
| August | 5.6 (5.3) | 612 | 21 (22) | 579 | 64 |
| July | 2.4 (2.2) | 609 | 23 (23) | 569 | 33 |
| June | 6.1 (5.1) | 610 | 21 (19) | 579 | 71 |
| May | 6.0 (6.2) | 606 | 19 (21) | 572 | 75 |
| April | 6.4 (5.5) | 596 | 20 (20) | 559 | 80 |
| March | 6.8 (6.1) | 585 | 22 (21) | 549 | 73 |
| February | 5.9 (5.3) | 578 | 20 (20) | 539 | 68 |
| January | 6.1 (5.2) | 587 | 21 (22) | 548 | 60 |
1 Net sales, MEUR (net sales in 2019), reports net sales (unaudited) for that month.
2 The number of employees at the end of the review period.
3 The Overall capacity, FTE (Full Time Equivalent) figure shows the overall capacity of the Group’s personnel, converted into a value corresponding to the number of full-time employees. The figure includes the entire personnel, regardless of their role. The figure is not affected by annual leave, time-off in lieu of overtime, sick leave or other short-term absences. Part-time agreements and other long-term deviations from normal working hours reduce the amount of overall capacity in comparison with the total number of employees.
4 The Subcontracting, FTE (Full Time Equivalent) figure shows the overall amount of subcontracting used in invoiceable work, converted into a value corresponding to the number of full-time employees.
Further information:
Mikael Nylund, CEO, Gofore Plc
tel. +358 40 540 2280
mikael.nylund@gofore.com
Certified Adviser: Evli Bank Plc, tel. +358 40 579 6210
Gofore Plc is a Finland-based digitalisation specialist with international growth plans. Together with our customers, we are pioneering an ethical digital world. We’re made up of over 700 impact-driven people across Finland, Germany, Spain and Estonia – top experts in our industry who are our company’s heart, brain, and hands. We use consulting, coding and design as tools to incite positive change. We care for our people, our customers, and the surrounding world. Our values guide our business: Gofore is a great workplace that thrives on customer success. In 2020, our net sales amounted to EUR 78.0 million. Gofore Plc’s shares are quoted in the Nasdaq First North Growth Market Finland. Learn more: www.gofore.com.