Navarre, 28 July 2023. – Azkoyen, a leading Spanish technology multinational that provides automated products and services designed to bring unique experiences to people in their daily lives, today announced its results for the first half of 2023, in which it recorded a net turnover of 99.6 million euros, an increase of 27.9% compared to the same period of the previous year. This growth was driven by the growth in the Coffee & Vending Systems and Payment Technologies business areas.
The EBITDA totalled 40.8% to stand at 17.1 million and the consolidated profit after tax for the first six months of the 2023 financial year amounts to 8.9 million euros, representing an increase of 34.6%. The Group’s EBITDA as a percentage of sales stood at 17.2%.
Continuing the trend of the previous financial year, organic growth has been 17.1%. Furthermore, the effect of the acquisitions of the Latvian company SIA Vendon and the Spanish company Ascaso, which were completed in 2022, represented an additional growth of 10.8%.
The implementation of improvement initiatives in the operations, purchasing, technical and R&D areas, as well as in the commercial area through selective price increases, have mostly offset the cost increases, resulting in a gross margin as a percentage of sales of 43% with a growth 27.2% to reach 42.8 million euros..
Fixed costs have increased by 21.2%, growth linked to the acquisitions made in 2022 and in line with the growth plans defined for the year.
In terms of consolidated turnover by region, Spain accounted for 15% of the total volume, Germany 26.3%, Italy 11.4%, Belgium 5.6%, the rest of the European Union 14.3%, the United Kingdom 12.6% and 14.8% in other countries. The Azkoyen Group works every day to distribute its products and services in more than 95 countries across the five continents.
The strength of the group’s results and financial position have allowed for the payment of dividends of 4.5 million euros, 30% of the consolidated net profit of the previous financial year.
Sales performance by division
Sales of the Coffee & Vending Systems division grew by 35.5% compared to the same period of the previous year (16.2% organic growth and 19.3% from the acquisition of Ascaso Factory, S.L.U.). During the first half of the year, there was significant growth in the Americas (especially in the United States) and in the UK, both reaching record figures, as well as in other countries on the European continent. The division has worked to strengthen the innovation and sustainability of its products, increasing its investment and production capacity. In addition, it has increased its sales force in its main markets, strengthening marketing and branding, especially in the hospitality, restaurant and catering channel. During the period, the Azkoyen Group was again awarded Best Automatic Coffee Machine Supplier in the UK by the National Independent Vending Operators (NIVO), it received the iF Design Award 2023 for its Neo Q coffee and water fountain machine that promotes sustainability in the workplace, it scooped the New York Design Awards for its Vitro X1 machine and took the award for Best Sustainable Product at the UK Vendies 2023 for the NEO Q.
The Payment Technologies division, which includes retail, industrial and vending payment systems as well as global IoT and telemetry solutions, reported growth in sales of 32.8% year-on-year (20.4% organic growth and 12.4% from the acquisition of SIA Vendon).
In Retail and Industrial Payment Systems, which represents 52% of the division’s revenues, improvements were made to the commercial network and new AI developments were incorporated. During the year and following significant efforts in R&D, a new version of the Cashlogy solution was launched, the automated cash control solution and a new service, Cashlogy Cloud, with complete information in real time, and, through its IoT, an application that allows shop owners to have full control of their business cash from their mobile device.
Regarding Payment Methods for Vending Machines, Coges, which accounts for around 39% of the division’s revenues, is working on machine connectivity and the development of global IoT solutions. So far in 2023, Coges has exceeded 57,500 connections and subscriptions for connectivity services.
Furthermore, the Time & Security division (Technology and security systems) achieved a 15% increase in sales for the first six months of the 2023 financial year compared to the same period in the previous year. Order intake has increased by 30% compared to the same period in 2022. As of 30 June 2023, the order book, including projects and maintenance contracts, amounted to 49.6 million euros, 21.2% more than in the same period of the previous year.
The division has worked to create integrated solutions that offer greater protection and efficiency in its management processes and has recorded a significant improvement in processes and resources and in the manufacturing of hardware and software solutions. In addition, with regard to R&D, the division continues with its ambitious technological and product development project. The Group will start to market the Mobile Credentials application in the coming months and which will complement the Prime Certified Access solution, the first commercial product for this innovative solution segment.
Main Outlook
During the beginning of 2023, the global economy has shown faint signs of improvement thanks to downward trends in inflation, solid growth and improving supply chains. However, the economic situation is fragile, with inflation much higher than anticipated and severe labour shortages in several economies, with real wages likely to rise, squeezing business margins.
Our strong positioning in the different businesses and geographies, as well as the Group’s performance in recent years, leads us to believe that we are well positioned to face the current situation. A scenario of geopolitical uncertainty, wars, inflation, labour shortages and tensions in supply chains which, we believe, is not without risks, but we will know how to manage them and which opportunities to seize.
In the Azkoyen Group, we continue to work on the foundations for future growth and results, focusing on our key pillars such as innovation, the growth of our sales outside Europe, the improvement of efficiency and internal management and teamwork to achieve our collective goals.
According to Darío Vicario, CEO of the Azkoyen Group, “the results of this half of the year are a reflection of the good progress of the Azkoyen Group’s business. All our divisions have recorded very good business figures and each and every one of them has experienced double-digit growth. In addition, during this half of the year, we have continued to work to deliver innovation, technology and an improved service to our customers and users, which has resulted in an increase in our results in all our divisions and geographies”.
“We have continued to consolidate the acquisitions of Vendon and Ascaso, which we made a year ago, and which have had a very positive impact on our results while offering us the possibility of growth in new markets and customers”.
“During these six months, we have been committed to sustainability in our products and operations and to innovation as a hallmark of the Group’s identity. In fact, we are especially proud that the company, according to the annual study “The 2022 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard”, is one of the most innovative companies in Europe, ranking seventeenth in the European Commission’s ranking”.
“I would like to emphasise that none of this would be possible without the great team we have in the Azkoyen Group, a great group of highly talented professionals who give their best every day to continue growing, innovating and providing the best service to our customers”.