Safeture AB: Continued improved profitability but high churn
- Annual recurring revenue (ARR) growth of +23% to 54,2 MSEK.
- Recurring revenue amounts to 12,7 MSEK compared to 10,7 MSEK last year (+19%).
- Net Profit improvement year-on-year of 2,1 MSEK, reaching -0,4 MSEK.
- Bottom-line result at -3% of Net Sales compared to -23% one year ago.
- Quarterly churn at 4,1%
- Yearly NRR at 108%
Classics
First quarter (2024-01-01 to 2024-03-31)Net revenue amounted to 13 627 (10 668) KSEK (+28%).
Loss after financials amounted to -419 (-2 497) KSEK.
Loss per share before dilution amounted to -0,01 (-0,06) SEK.
Loss per share after dilution amounted to -0,01 (-0,06) SEK
SaaS Traction
First quarter (2024-01-01 to 2024-03-31)Annual recurring revenue (ARR) at the end of Q1 2024 reached 54 174 (43 978) KSEK, a year-on-year increase of +23%.
Recurring revenue increased by +19% to 12 692 (10 659) KSEK, which represents 93% (100%) of the quarterly revenue.
Churn for the quarter was 4,1%.
Net revenue retention (NRR) was 108%.
Message from the CEO
Continued improved profitability, but high churn
During the first quarter of 2024, Safeture continued to inch towards our mid-term targets. Since OPEX remained roughly the same and we got parts of the effect of the strong order intake from last quarter in the books, the result landed at -419 KSEK. A significant improvement compared to last year (-2.497 KSEK). The Net Revenue was a bit below our target, 28 % year on year, and the gross margin was just above our 80 % mark.
Macroeconomic effects generate longer sales cycles and higher revenue churn
We still find ourselves in an unstable macroeconomic environment, mirrored by the war in Ukraine and the aftermath of the 7th of October in Gaza. We also experience a generally difficult financial situation for many companies around the globe, still pressured by high interest rates and a high price level. While conflicts increase risk awareness, demand for risk mitigation and thereby benefit our business and the need for the Safeture technology, the economic uncertainty is the opposite.
Safeture has around 80 % of sales in Europe whereof Germany is our single biggest market. During Q1, we unfortunately experienced both logo- and revenue churns in the German market. Also, other European markets were affected. We expect the unstable macroeconomic environment and thereby the economic uncertainty amongst our customers to continue throughout the year. As a consequence, we foresee a somewhat slower growth during 2024. The churn was 4,1 % for the quarter which is higher than our long-term average. Our net revenue retention for the last twelve months (NRR) landed at 108 %. We are both defending our position and proving that our positioning is right.
We keep on winning new partners and adding new logos. Safeture added two new partners recently and our partners brought in 10 new logos during Q1. The most noteworthy was the media company Axel Springer in Germany. Safeture has a strong presence among media companies considering the risk exposure journalists may face when doing their important job, often at the frontline of conflicts.
Presence and visibility on trade fairs
During the first quarter, we participated in two trade fairs, ASIS in Vienna and Insurtech in London. ASIS was visited both as an exhibitor and speaker. Insurtech was attended to build a better understanding of the complex insurance ecosystem where Safeture is increasingly playing a vital role.
Behind the scenes, working with partner-led growth
Bringing Safeture to the market through our partners requires a special way of working. Our technology is generally bundled with a service offering, like security assistance. Our job is to make sure the delivery is as frictionless as possible and that our partners get as much support as possible in pre-sales/technical sales and tender requests, but we also feel that they can influence our product roadmap based on what the market is requesting. One aspect, that is often overlooked, is the role of marketing. We have a very proactive marketing strategy at Safeture. It consists of supporting our partners with branded material like case studies, videos, explainers, and manuals but we also try to facilitate prospecting. At the end of Q4, we launched a global risk map with one of our risk intelligence providers, Riskline. More than 4 400 downloads since launch including many of the world's largest enterprises but also NGOs, governments, and universities. A great way to build a brand but also indirectly help our partners with qualified prospecting.
Have a look and download your own here: https://safeture.com/riskmaps/
Soon time for celebration
Safeture has been around for quite some time. The company was founded in 2009, as "Global Warning System" or "GWS Production", a pioneer in positioning and alerting technology. From the start at the Ideon innovation hub with its proximity to Lund University, it has been an amazing journey. Later this year Safeture will celebrate 15 years! More information to come.
Magnus Hultman, CEO at Safeture.
Lund - April 19th 2024
For the full report: https://investor.safeture.com/financial-reports-presentations/
For additional information, visit safeture.com or contact:
Safeture CEO Magnus Hultman: +46 706 00 81 66. Magnus.hultman@safeture.com
This information is such information as Safeture AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, on April 19[th] 2024 at 08:00 CET.
About Safeture AB
Safeture (founded in 2009) is a Software as a Service (SaaS) company based in Sweden. The company offers a complete platform designed to handle safety and risks for employees, wherever they are. Through world-leading technology and innovative solutions, Safeture helps risk management- and assistance providers secure their clients, global companies, and organizations to protect what matters most - their people. The Safeture share is listed on the NASDAQ First North Growth Market Stockholm (ticker: SFTR). Redeye is the Certified Adviser.