MADRID, Spain, May 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Technology services company Lleida.net (BME:LLN) (EPA:ALLLN) (OTCQX:LLEIF) increased its gross margin in the first quarter of 2023 by six percent over the same period last year, or EUR169,000.
In this first quarter, sales declined by 10 percent compared with the first quarter of 2022, closing at €4.69 million.
This decline was mainly due to a drop in SMS consumption. The Wholesale SMS market suffered a setback in the first quarter of 2023, with sales down 19 percent, while commercial SMS sales saw a decline in sales of 25 percent.
The natural decline in the SMS market has been replaced by growth in SaaS services.
Sales of Software as a Service line now represent 48% of Lleida.net's total sales, up from 41% in 2022.
Within this period, the growth of the line known as Other SaaS Products - which includes service licenses, as well as email, timestamp, phone number and identity verification transactions - stood out, increasing its weight in total sales by 31%.
International sales now account for 53 percent of total group revenue, which has also seen a 15 percent increase in absolute customer backlog compared to the same quarter in 2022, reaching around 1,800.
EBITDA for the quarter stood at 389 thousand euros, remaining at levels of the same period last year.
Sisco Sapena, CEO and founder of Lleida.net, explained that "although the first quarter is always the weakest of each year, we are satisfied with the increase in gross margin and the expansion of our customer base. Despite the challenges in the SMS market, we have managed to diversify our revenue sources and maintain sustainable growth."
The group's financial debt decreased in the quarter by 183 thousand euros, derived from the repayment of loans that were made thanks to cash from the group's own organic activity.
The company, founded in 1995 and listed on Euronext Growth in Paris, BME Growth in Madrid and OTCQX in New York, has obtained recognition in the form of 300 patents worldwide in more than 60 countries.
