Now, an IT and software specialist based in Dortmund, had developed very weakly on the stock exchange in September and October. One reason for this was the general market weakness (especially among small caps) and the other was the fact that the market had expected a reduction in the earnings forecast.

The cat is out of the bag now! Adesso management had recently released preliminary figures for the 3rd quarter and the first nine months of the current year and in the process also reduced the earnings forecast for 2023. The Adesso share had only reacted negatively for a short time, but subsequently rose significantly. This underscores the potential of the share of the Dortmund company.

Continued dynamic sales growth Let us come to the figures: Based on preliminary figures for the 3rd quarter of 2023, Adesso increased sales compared to the previous year period by 19% to 288 million euros. With an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA margin) of 9.8%, the profitability could also be significantly increased compared to the first half of the year.

This was due to corresponding measures that were initiated earlier this year and improved utilization. Nevertheless, EBITDA in the 3rd quarter was 28 million euros, below the previous year’s figure of 33.3 million euros. However, it should be noted here that the very high value from the previous year was positively influenced by license agreements. Accordingly, the comparison with the previous year is somewhat lagging.

Sales not only developed positively in the 3rd quarter, but also in the first nine months of this year, in which it increased significantly by 28% to 833 million euros. EBITDA fell to 53 million euros, mainly due to growth-related utilization delays in the first half of 2023, weaker than in the previous year.

Despite the positive development in the core business with IT services, the 3rd quarter contributed less to the result than originally expected, especially due to additional expenditure incurred in the context of two larger fixed-price projects and license revenues that fell short of expectations.

Earnings forecast for 2023 reduced Therefore, the Adesso management has adjusted the earnings forecast for the current year 2023 as follows. Instead of an EBITDA of 100 to 110 million euros, a value of 70 to 90 million euros is now expected. The turnover is expected to remain unchanged at above 1 billion euros.

The outlook for Adesso’s further business development is still assessed positively by the management. The order intake remains at a record level, and despite the weaker economic outlook, no signs of weakening have yet been seen for Adesso.

The customer demand for the services offered by Adesso in the context of digitization remains high. The management also expects strong double-digit growth for 2024 and a return to the usual EBITDA target margin range. If these goals are achieved, the Adesso share should again be quoted significantly above 100 euros.