• In the first half of the year, the Group reduced its net financial debt by 35%.
• Gross margin grew 4.8%, mainly due to the change in the business mix.
• EBITDA amounted to 16,801 thousand euros.
Azkoyen Group, a leading Spanish technology multinational offering automated products and services designed to bring unique experiences to people in their daily lives, has announced its results for the first half of 2024, in which it recorded a consolidated business turnover of 100.46 million euros, a growth of 0.9% compared to the same period of the previous financial year. This is the first time in the company’s history that it has exceeded 100 million euros in a six-month period.
Furthermore, as a result of these results and due to the decrease in working capital, the net financial debt has been reduced by 35% to 26.8 million euros as of 30 June 2024, after a dividend distribution of 8.7 million euros.
The gross margin reached 4.8 million euros, an increase of 4.8% compared to the first half of 2023. The improvement in the margin is mainly due to the change in the business mix. During the first half of the year, 27% of business turnover was generated in Germany, 18.7% in Spain, 9.5% in Italy, 6.2% in Belgium, 15.8% in the rest of the European Union, 9.9% in the United Kingdom and 12.9% in other countries.
The EBITDA amounted to 16,801 thousand euros, 1.8% lower than in the same period of the previous year. The reduction in EBITDA is due to the increase in commercial and R&D fixed costs to drive future growth.
All the figures show that the Azkoyen Group has a very solid financial, economic and liquidity position.
Juan José Suárez, president of the Azkoyen Group, highlighted the good results with these words: “In 2023, the company achieved the best results in its history, and in 2024 we remain on a path of moderate growth. To achieve this, we are continuing to successfully implement our strategic plan, which is based on continuous innovation, business diversification and internationalisation, with sustainability at the heart of them all.
Sales by division
The Payment Technologies division grew by 12.3% compared to the first half of 2023. It includes products and services for retail and industrial payments and vending, as well as global IoT and telemetry solutions. It is worth highlighting the excellent performance of Cashlogy solutions, which offer establishments easy payment management; the development of payment methods for vending machines through the Coges brand, and the cloud connectivity and intelligence solutions provided by the Latvian company Vendon, acquired by the Azkoyen Group in 2022.
The Time & Security division‘s sales grew by 10.2% compared to the first half of 2023. The division focuses on two distinct areas: firstly, on the development of electronic systems for access control; and secondly, on software to manage and analyse the hours worked by employees. It should be noted that 64% of the sales in the first half of the year were made in Germany.
Lastly, the Coffee & Vending Systems division experienced a decrease of 15.9% compared to the same period of the previous year. Looking ahead to the second half of 2024, the division is expected to normalise and grow.
Main Outlook
In 2023, the company achieved the best results in its history. For 2024, as announced in recent months, and as shown by the first half-year figures, a year of moderate growth is expected, with demand normalising, which will go from strength to strength.
In the short term, the Azkoyen Group’s focus remains the same: preserve profitability while continuing to increase revenues at a sustained pace and maintain a high EBITDA-to-cash conversion. The company continues building the foundations for future growth and results, focusing on its key cornerstones: (i) innovation and development of sustainable technologies, products and services, (ii) growth of sales outside Europe, (iii) improvement of internal management and efficiency, and (iv) teamwork to achieve collective goals.