”It has been an intense start to the year marked by the necessary decision to close our activities in Russia, but also a quarter with good progress in our remaining business – which has demanded investments in creating the foundation to fuel for growth.”, says CEO & President Søren Krogh Knudsen.
Important topline growth
In Q1 2022, revenue grew organically by 7% to DKK 393m compared to DKK 367m in Q1 2021. Columbus delivered good progress in all areas of the business with the majority of our Business Units delivering top-line growth.
Columbus’ Norwegian business continued their strong momentum from last year with 13% growth closely followed by Columbus Sweden growing by 10%. So did the strategic business areas Data & Analytics, Customer Experience, Digital Commerce and Columbus Care which grew by 200%, 23%, 17% and 15%, respectively. In addition, Columbus starts to see a stabilization of our US business with a growth of 5% in Q1 2022.
The scarcity of talent affects EBITDA
Columbus is like the rest of the IT industry affected by the high demand for talents which puts a pressure on salaries and causes high attrition. Despite these challenges, Columbus has been able to increase our average number Full time employees (FTE’s) by 70 in Q1 2022. This has been possible due to our employer branding activities and dedicated HR efforts.
Efficiency was 62% in Q1 2022, which is an improvement compared to 59% in Q4 2021. Many new hires, ramp up of new consultants and low utilization of our offshore center in India are affecting the efficiency and this remains a key focus for us in the coming quarters. Overall, EBITDA declined from DKK 38m to DKK 30m in Q1 2022, a decline of 23%.
Performance highlights for Q1 2022.
All numbers and comments are on the continued business (excluding the divested entities Russia, US SMB, To-Increase and Baltics):
- Revenue increased by 7% in Q1 2022 to DKK 393m (Q1 2021: DKK 367m)+
- EBITDA decreased to DKK 30m in Q1 2022 (Q1 2021: DKK 38m)
- Negative effect of discontinuing Columbus Russia by DKK 25m
- YTD efficiency 62%
- Divestment of Columbus Russia
- Strengthening our One Columbus culture
Outlook for 2022
Based on the financial performance in Q1 2022, current order book and pipeline, our full year guidance for 2022 will remain unchanged as follows.
- Revenue is expected to be in the range of DKK 1,525m – 1,625m corresponding to an organic growth of 8% to 15%.
- EBITDA is expected to be in the range of DKK 120m –145m corresponding to a growth of 34% to 62%.
Read the Q1 report here: https://ir.columbusglobal.com/news-releases/news-release-details/q1-report-2022