* Q4 revenue down 2%, op. profit falls 26%
* Seasonal growth in tickets is accelerated to 31%
* Confirms 2023 target for 1 bln euro revenue
* Sections opened 1.5% (Add Chief Executive’s Comments on Hockey Event)
BERLIN, Jan 27 (Reuters) – Germany’s AG Software reported Wednesday a decline in revenue and profit in the fourth quarter, but said the transformation of its business on the path as a proportion of his steady income grew.
Revenue in the fourth quarter fell 2% at fixed cash at the database and middleware group, while operating profit fell 26%. Shares rose 1.5% after the results were released.
Under the war of President Sanjay Brahma, Darmstadt-based AG Software is looking to increase the share of membership-based income, which last year rose to 85% of the total from 69% – already touching on the company’s 2023 target.
Companies that move to providing such software as a service tend to experience a temporary squeeze in profit as pre-license fees drop out of the equation. and payments will be spread over time in their place.
Brahmawar noted, however, that last year’s operating margin, at 21.2%, was still in line with the guidelines. Ticket growth accelerated to 31% in the fourth quarter, even as AG Software dealt with the fallout from a malware attack.
“We were able to maintain our focus on customers and operations,” Brahmawar said in an interview, adding that the attack was launched quickly and the company’s business and cloud services were unaffected.
The coronavirus outbreak is forcing businesses to speed up the process to get their businesses running digitally, Brahmawar said, adding that the normal sales process was now compressed to a few months. and contracts are made remotely.
Releasing its forecast for 2021, Software AG said it expected growth in total product revenue between zero and 5% and a density of operating margins to 16-18%. These should go back from 2022, Brahmawar said.
It confirmed its 2023 target of achieving revenue of 1 billion euros ($ 1.2 billion), up from 835 million last year, and an operating margin of 25-30%. ($ 1 = 0.8221 euros) (Reporting by Douglas Busvine Edited by Caroline Copley)