KPS AG (WKN: A1A6V4 / ISIN: DE000A1A6V48), Europe’s leading consulting firm for digital transformation and process optimization in retail, publishes the results for the business year 2020/2021.
Sales performance defined by two countervailing effects
In the business year 2020/2021, KPS achieved sales amounting to 158 million euros. Sales dropped 5.1% compared to 2019/2020. Sales performance was defined by two countervailing effects. Demand for transformation projects by retail companies in Germany continued to be muted due to the ongoing challenging situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast, development outside Germany was again positive. KPS was able to increase revenues from its international activities by 9.1% to 90.4 million euros. The share of revenues generated abroad rose from 49.8% in the 2019/2020 business year to 57.2% in the 2020/2021 business year. The drivers of this growth were KPS' e-commerce and omnichannel solutions.
Business model demonstrates its strengths once more – Moderate impacts on EBITDA and EBIT
As in the business year 2019/2020, the business model and the strategy of the KPS Group have once again demonstrated their strengths. While revenue declined by EUR 8.5 million, EBITDA fell moderately by EUR 1.0 million to EUR 21.6 million (previous year: EUR 22.7 million). EBIT was EUR 13.4 million (2019/2020: EUR 14.1 million), EUR 0.7 million below the previous year's figure. The cost base was reduced by a total of EUR 7.7 million to EUR 138.5 million (2019/2020: EUR 146.1 million), in particular due to a reduced use of freelance staff.
Earnings after income taxes increased by 7.1% to 8.7 million euros due to the improved financial result and tax rate.
Proposal to increase the dividend by 11.7% to 19 euro cents
At the Annual General Meeting on 18 May 2022, the Supervisory Board and the Board of Directors will propose a dividend of 0.19 euros per share. The dividend proposal takes into account the net income generated as well as the uncertainties arising from the further course of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Compared to the 2019/2020 financial year, the dividend proposal corresponds to an increase of 11.7% (dividend 2019/2020: 17 euro cents).
Ongoing development of the Rapid Transformation Method to become the Instant Platforms Family
KPS has continued to invest strategically in its innovative strength and technology even during the challenging business year 2020/2021. As a consequence, the Rapid Transformation Method, which has been tried and tested for years, was further developed into the Instant Platforms family. Instant Platforms are ready-to-use, standardised platform solutions with which companies can immediately initiate and implement their digital transformation. The Instant Platforms solutions have been developed for five sectors: Style, Grocery, Merchant, Foodservice and Growth. They enable companies to significantly accelerate their digital transformation while at the same time considerably reducing their investment expenditure. KPS expects to significantly improve its competitive position with this innovation.
Assessment for the business year 2020/2021 – return to growth trajectory expected
The first signs of a trend reversal and return to a growth trajectory for sales was already visible in the second half of 2020/2021. KPS is cautiously optimistic for the financial year 2021/2022. On the basis of the data available and the current level of information in January 2022, the Executive Board estimates that sales in the business year 2021/2022 will increase in the middle to high single-digit range compared with the previous year 2020/2021. Furthermore, the Executive Board believes that it will be possible to achieve an EBITDA at least at the level of the previous year 2020/2021.
The comprehensive Annual Report 2020/2021 is available here for download with immediate effect.
20 January 2022
KPS AG
The Executive Board
