F-Secure Corporation, Interim report, 9 November 2017 at 09.00 EET
CORPORATE SECURITY REVENUE UP BY 11%
- GOOD GROWTH CONTINUED
This is a summary of F-Secure’s Interim Report. The full report is a PDF file attachment to this stock exchange release and is also available on the company's website at the address: www.f-secure.com/ir.
Highlights of July-September (Q3)
- Revenue increased by 6% year-on-year to EUR 41.0 million (38.8m)
- Revenue from corporate security increased by 11% to EUR 16.8 million (15.1m), representing 41% (39%) of all revenue
- Revenue from consumer security increased by 2% to EUR 24.2 million (23.7m), representing 59% (61%) of all revenue
- EBIT was EUR 3.3 million, representing 8% of revenue (4.5m, 12%) and reflecting significant investments in growth
- Earnings per share (EPS) was EUR 0.02 (EUR 0.02, EUR 0.02 including discontinued operations)
- Deferred revenue increased by 11% to EUR 56.0 million (50.4m) at the end of the quarter, reflecting strong order intake in corporate security
- Cash flow from operations was EUR 1.3 million (6.8m)
Highlights of January-September
- Revenue increased by 8% year-on-year to EUR 125.3 million (115.9m)
- Revenue from corporate security increased by 16% to EUR 52.3 million (45.1m), representing 42% (39%) of all revenue
- Revenue from consumer security increased by 3% to EUR 72.9 million (70.8m), representing 58% (61%) of all revenue
- EBIT was EUR 7.2 million, representing 6% of revenue (12.3m, 11%)
- Earnings per share (EPS) was EUR 0.05 (EUR 0.06, EUR 0.06 including discontinued operations)
- Cash flow from operations was EUR 14.7 million (12.3m)
Figures in this Interim Report are unaudited. All income statement figures refer to continuing operations, and figures in brackets refer to the corresponding period in the previous year, unless otherwise stated. F-Secure’s personal cloud storage business (younited) was sold to Synchronoss Technologies in February 2015 and is reported as discontinued operations 2015–2016.
Outlook for 2017
The company’s outlook for 2017 is unchanged:
- Revenue is anticipated to grow from the previous year’s level (2016: EUR 158.3 million )
- Operating profit is anticipated to be EUR 8-12 million (2016: EUR 19.2 million); profitability in the first quarter of 2017 is foreseen to be lowest during the year following typical seasonality, and clearly better towards the year-end
CEO SAMU KONTTINEN
In the third quarter, the good progress with F-Secure’s new corporate security products underlined our on-going transformation into a broader provider of cyber security products and services. Our corporate security business continued to grow by double digits, as revenue from corporate security increased by 11%, and from consumer security by 2%. F-Secure’s total revenue increased by 6% compared to the previous year, amounting to EUR 41.0 million. At the same time, our deferred revenue grew by 11%.
Our order intake in corporate security is growing clearly faster than revenue, as new multi-year deals in corporate security have a strong impact on order intake but are less visible in reported quarterly revenue. This difference will be even more highlighted during the on-going quarter.
Our operating profit in July-September was EUR 3.3 million (8% of revenue). During the third quarter, our operating expenses were slightly lower than expected due to slowness in hiring, while overall we have continued our planned investments to support our growth.
In corporate security, we continue to see companies striving to improve their cyber resilience. There is strong customer demand for solutions that allow companies to safeguard themselves against targeted attacks, and to detect stealth mode breaches early on. This is driving interest both for F-Secure’s new products as well as services. With new products, I was particularly pleased with the positive progress with F-Secure’s Rapid Detection Service (RDS), including a significant win in the German financial sector, where we replaced a competing solution. With cyber security services we had another strong quarter, and added several new customer while expanding contracts with many existing key customers. Overall, we continued to see the benefits of having a comprehensive offering consisting of products that address most complicated cyber-attacks, as well as complementing services such as forensics, incident response and red teaming.
With endpoint security solutions, we continued to win market share, but the high performance in certain countries was partly offset by the lower performance in others. We are currently taking action to get those countries back to their anticipated growth pace. Due to the mixed performance with endpoint security solutions, our overall corporate security revenue growth was at the lower end of our expectations in the reporting period.
In consumer security, total revenue grew in line with our current thinking. Revenue from the operator channel was flat. However, we saw weakening in Latin America. In direct sales to consumers we experienced another very strong quarter. It is encouraging to see that we have been able to simultaneously increase sales of our endpoint protection (F-Secure SAFE) and privacy (F-Secure FREEDOME) solutions both individually and as a commercial bundle (F-Secure TOTAL). F-Secure SENSE continued to get positive reviews from the media, as well as generate interest among partners. However, revenue impact is still very limited and we continue to view SENSE primarily as a mid- to long-term opportunity.
As we continue to invest in growth, I’m pleased to see how our expanded portfolio of products and services is creating new business opportunities for F-Secure. Looking forward, cybersecurity will surely remain a top priority for organizations of every size as threats keep mounting. Moreover, as tensions build up globally, geopolitics are increasingly a factor when customers choose their security vendors. Being based in a neutral country such as Finland can be, and often is, viewed as an advantage.
Key figures
Key figures are for continuing operations unless otherwise stated.
| EUR m | 7-9/2017 | 7-9/2016 | Change | 1-9/2017 | 1-9/2016 | Change | 1-12/2016 |
| Revenue | 41.0 | 38.8 | 6 % | 125.3 | 115.9 | 8 % | 158.3 |
| Operating profit (EBIT) | 3.3 | 4.5 | -27 % | 7.2 | 12.3 | -42 % | 19.2 |
| % of revenue | 8 % | 12 % | 6 % | 11 % | 12 % | ||
| Profit before taxes | 3.5 | 4.5 | -23 % | 8.4 | 13.2 | -36 % | 20.8 |
| Earnings per share, continuing operations (EUR) 1) 3) | 0.02 | 0.02 | -11% | 0.05 | 0.06 | -17% | 0.10 |
| Earnings per share, (EUR) 1) 2) 3) | 0.02 | 0.02 | 4% | 0.05 | 0.06 | -13% | 0.10 |
| Deferred revenue | 56.0 | 50.4 | 11 % | 54.3 | |||
| Cash and available-for-sale financial assets | 81.1 | 86.6 | -13 % | 92.7 | |||
| ROI, % 2) | 25.1 % | 24.6 % | 17.3 % | 24.9 % | 28.6 % | ||
| Equity ratio, % 2) | 64.7 % | 67.9 % | 66.7 % | ||||
| Gearing, % 2) | -121.6 % | -123.4 % | -122.1 % | ||||
| Personnel, end of period 2) | 1,060 | 1,016 | 4 % | 1,026 |
1) Based on the weighted average number of outstanding shares during the period 156,710,000 (7-9/2017) and 156,430,933 (1–9/2017)
2) Includes both continuing and discontinued operations
3) Earnings per share (EPS) excluding returned withholding taxes was EUR 0.03 for 1-9/2017.
News conference and webcast
A news conference for analysts and media will be held (in Finnish) at the company's headquarters (address: Tammasaarenkatu 7, 00180 Helsinki) today at 11.00-12.00 a.m. (EET).
A webcast will be held (in English) at 14.00 p.m. (EET ).
- To participate in the online meetin, please click on the link: https://meet.f-secure.com/tapio.pesola/81VLJKPQ
- To participate via phone, please dial in to +358975110100. The conference ID is 5779133.
The material will be available at the company's website before the call begins: www.f-secure.com/investors.
F-Secure Corporation
Additional information
This is a summary of F-Secure’s Interim Report. The full report is a PDF file attachment to this stock exchange release and is also available on the company's website at the address: www.f-secure.com/ir.
Contact information
Samu Konttinen,
CEO, F-Secure
+358 9 2520 0700
Eriikka Söderström,
CFO, F-Secure
+358 40 669 1844
Tapio Pesola,
IR Manager, F-Secure
+358 44 3734693
Financial calendar
F-Secure Corporation will publish its financial calendar for 2018 later this year
Capital Markets Day
F-Secure will host a Capital Markets Day on 22 November in Helsinki. More information about the Capital Markets Day is available at www.f-secure.com/cmd. Analysts and instititutional investors are requested to register by 15 November to investor-relations@f-secure.com. –
