Spir Group ASA

OSE:SPIR

Earnings Call Transcript

[Per Lomsdalen, executive]

Good morning, and welcome to the presentation of the first quarter 2025 results for Spir Group. My name is Per Haakon Lomsdalen. I am the Chief Executive Officer of Spir Group, and I'm happy to be here together with our CFO, Cecilie Hekneby, to present our results.

Let's kick off this presentation by looking at some of our key KPIs from the first quarter. Spir Group's annual recurring revenues increased by 10% compared to last year and ended at NOK 439 million at quarter end. Total revenues reached NOK 316 million in the quarter, up 20% from Q1 last year.

Our business model has resulted in stable and high margins. Gross profit came in at NOK 194 million, an increase of 21%, while cash EBITDA ended at NOK 30 million in the quarter, more than doubling from Q1 last year. Overall, the first quarter has been a very positive start to the year for Spir Group with strong progress across the portfolio.

I'll now leave the floor to Cecilie, who will give you some more details about our financial figures from the quarter.

[Cecilie M. Hekneby, executive]

Thank you, Per Haakon, and good morning, everyone. I will take you through the financial results for the first quarter '25, starting with the highlights for the quarter. We use Norwegian kroner as reporting currency.

The first quarter was a strong quarter for Spir with extraordinary high activity in the Norwegian real estate market and the Swedish real estate market in recovery, impacting Spir Group's real estate business area, together with steady and predictable growth in the public administration business area. I'm pleased to report yet another quarter of double-digit revenue growth and improved profitability as key KPIs like total revenues, gross profit, adjusted EBITDA and cash EBITDA all continued to improve.

Revenue increased by 20% to NOK 316 million in the quarter, driven by strong development in the real estate business area. The revenue increase is attributable to 16% organic growth and NOK 10 million in new revenue from iVerdi, which is fully consolidated from September last year. We had steady growth in our sales revenues, and annual recurring revenue had an increase of 10% to NOK 439 million compared to 1 year earlier, including NOK 16 million in annual recurring revenue from iVerdi.

Revenues in Metria is impacted negatively by the implementation of open data in Sweden from February, but has developed according to our estimates with increased gross profit. Margins and profitability across the group are increasing. We had double-digit EBITDA growth as adjusted EBITDA increased by 51% to NOK 52 million, and the adjusted EBITDA margin increased from 13% to 17%. Cash EBITDA increased from NOK 10 million in first quarter '24 to NOK 30 million in first quarter '25.

Net finance is impacted by reduced financial income. In first quarter last year, there was a gain on fair value of interest rate swaps of NOK 7 million, while there was a loss of NOK 1 million in the first quarter this year. Finance expenses of NOK 18 million were at the same level as in first quarter '24.

Operational profit of NOK 7 million is up from NOK 1 million in first quarter '24, but net income in the quarter was minus NOK 9 million compared to minus NOK 6 million in first quarter '24, impacted by lower financial income, higher level of depreciation and amortization in addition to a noncash impairment loss of NOK 4 million related to the previously capitalized internal development costs that are derecognized and expensed following a reassessment by management.

Let's look into some more details in the revenue development. The 20% revenue growth in the quarter is driven by 24% growth in the real estate business area, including NOK 10 million in new revenue from iVerdi. Organic growth in the real estate business area is 19%. Both Ambita and iVerdi are positively impacted by the extraordinary high activity in the Norwegian real estate market with 28% more properties put out for sale than in first quarter '24 and managed to take more than their share of the growth.

Boligmappa continues its steady growth, while revenue growth in Metria of 4% is negatively impacted by the implementation of open data in Sweden from February, but with higher gross profit as data costs are lower.

Within public administration, Sikri has steady revenue growth of 3% and growth in run rate annual recurring revenue of 8%. Total gross profit is 21% up, and the gross margin is up 1 percentage point compared to last year to 62%.

Spir Group delivers its offerings as subscriptions, transaction-based data and software sales and consulting services. The subscription-based revenues are primarily based on Software-as-a-Service licenses to customers characterized by long-term contracts and low churn. Subscription revenues are up 4% in the quarter, following steady development in annual recurring revenues across the companies, although negatively impacted by the implementation of open data in Sweden. Transaction-based revenues is up 35% in the quarter, impacted by strong development in the real estate market in Norway and market recovery in Sweden.

Revenue from consulting constitutes a small part of total revenue in Spir Group, but our consulting services is an important success factor for implementation and utilization of our data and solutions.

We see increased operational profitability across the companies in the group with all operating companies delivering solid growth in cash EBITDA. The increased focus the last year on strategy and measures to increase profitability is starting to show results, and cash EBITDA is up from NOK 10 million in first quarter '24 to NOK 30 million in first quarter '25.

Development in cash EBITDA in segment Other is impacted by new cost in Spir data, previously Unbolt, mainly related to new initiatives to consolidate data and drive synergies and innovation across the real estate business area in the group.

These are some of the drivers for the quarter's results. I will now dive into more detail in the key segments of Spir Group.

In the first quarter, total revenues in Ambita were up 29% to NOK 140 million. A major part of the revenues correlate with the development in the Norwegian real estate market and number of properties put out for sale, which was up 28% in the quarter. Following the extraordinary high activity in the real estate market, transaction-based revenues was up 32% to NOK 126 million. Annual recurring revenue at the end of March was steady at NOK 43 million. Commencement of new homes is still at a low level, but was up 31% in the first quarter, positively affecting Ambita's sale of digital maps and digital real estate information. Gross profit in the first quarter of NOK 55 million is up 28% from first quarter '24. Adjusted EBITDA was NOK 20 million with adjusted EBITDA margin up from 12% in first quarter '24 to 15%. Cash EBITDA of NOK 17 million is up from NOK 10 million in first quarter '24.

In the first quarter, revenues in Boligmappa were up 24% to NOK 17 million. The wholly owned subsidiary 4CastMedia that delivers content marketing was merged with Boligmappa in December '24, and the comparable number on this slide is restated to include '24 results for 4CastMedia.

Run rate annual recurring revenue from B2B was NOK 55 million, which is up 12% from first quarter last year. Transaction-based revenues, primarily from B2C products introduced late '23 sold as monthly subscription, adds NOK 3 million to total revenue.

It is positive to see that the profitability in Boligmappa is increasing. Adjusted EBITDA of NOK 4 million is up from minus NOK 3 million in first quarter last year with adjusted EBITDA margin of 21%. Cash EBITDA has improved from minus NOK 8 million in first quarter last year to minus NOK 2 million in first quarter '25.

In the quarter, total revenues in Metria were up 4% to NOK 77 million, impacted by the implementation of open data in Sweden in February. With open data, a large part of data costs within geodata disappears, impacting revenue negatively, but Metria's aim is to further improve the company's gross profit during '25, and it is positive -- and is positive to the possibilities that open data may create.

The first 2 months after the implementation of open data have developed according to our estimates. Although subscription revenue is down 8% and annual recurring revenue of NOK 109 million is down 5% following the implementation of open data, total gross profit in Metria has increased by 12% to NOK 50 million, and the gross margin has increased from 60% in first quarter last year to 65% in first quarter this year.

Transaction-based revenues in Metria is highly correlated with the volumes of properties sold and sizes of mortgages taken out within banking and finance. And transaction-based revenues has increased with 14% to NOK 29 million, following market recovery in the Swedish real estate market.

There is a solid demand for Metria's consulting services, and consulting revenues were up 7% to NOK 20 million in the quarter. We are pleased to see increased profitability in Metria with adjusted EBITDA of NOK 12 million, up 6% from first quarter last year and cash EBITDA of NOK 8 million, doubling from NOK 4 million 1 year earlier.

iVerdi is a new segment in Spir from September '24. New revenue from iVerdi impacts the first quarter with NOK 10 million and run rate annual recurring revenue with NOK 16 million. iVerdi owns the software IVIT, which is Norway's most used professional software for valuation engineers. The software offers effective process support, data-driven quality assurance and a variation of different valuation reports. It allows direct interaction and sharing of information between real estate agents and valuer system for increased security and efficiency.

In the first quarter, iVerdi revenues amounted to NOK 10 million with 82% gross margin. Subscription revenue amounted to about NOK 2 million, while transaction-based revenues amounted to NOK 7 million. Transaction revenues are related to revenue from condition reports and other valuation reports generated by more than 700 valuation companies in Norway. There was a 23% increase in the reports in the first quarter compared to the same period 1 year earlier, following high activity in the Norwegian real estate market. Adjusted EBITDA in the quarter was NOK 3 million with 27% adjusted EBITDA margin. Cash EBITDA in the first quarter is NOK 2 million.

Sikri continues its steady growth with NOK 69 million in revenues in the quarter, up 3% from first quarter '24. Revenue from subscription sales increased by 7% to NOK 53 million. Run rate annual recurring revenue increased by 8% to NOK 215 million at the end of the quarter. The growth in the annual recurring revenue is related to upselling and cross-selling within existing customers in addition to new customers.

Subscription revenue have grown at a steady pace during the last years, driven by a stable and high win rate and constitute in the first quarter 77% of total revenues in Sikri. About 87% of the customers in Sikri are now on cloud solution, and the team works closely together with the remaining on-premise customers towards a planned cloud migration.

Consulting revenue is up 8% compared to first quarter '24, mainly related to Easter effect. Following Sikri's success with cloud migration of existing customers, there were fewer upgrade projects in the first quarter of '25 than 1 year earlier, and the focus is on converting on-prem deliveries to annual recurring revenue.

The gross margin is higher for subscription revenues than for consulting revenues, impacting gross profit positively, and the gross profit increased by 9% to NOK 64 million in the first quarter with a gross margin of 93%. Adjusted EBITDA in the quarter was up 25% to NOK 23 million with 33% adjusted EBITDA margin. And cash EBITDA was up 50% in the quarter to NOK 14 million.

As an innovative software house, development of new functionality and new features on existing products to strengthen our market-leading positions and expansion of the product portfolio is vital for future growth. Total CapEx in the first quarter was NOK 21 million. This is NOK 2 million lower than in first quarter '24. We have an increased focus on return on investments and optimization of investments across the group. The planned range of CapEx for full year '25 is NOK 90 million to NOK 95 million compared to NOK 115 million in '24, when adjusting for full year effect of Unbolt and its subsidiaries.

Free cash flow increased from NOK 130 million in first quarter '24 to NOK 138 million in first quarter '25. As illustrated on the left-hand side on this slide, you can see that our free cash flow is impacted by seasonal fluctuations. First quarter is historically always a strong quarter in terms of free cash flow as Sikri invoices a large part of its customers in advance on a yearly basis in January.

Moving on to the illustration on the right-hand side, you can see that we generated NOK 164 million of operational cash flow in first quarter '25. Investment cash flow amounts to NOK 22 million in the quarter, and consists mainly of capitalized development costs. Financing cash flow amounted to NOK 92 million and consisted of repayment of the credit facility and installment on borrowing, paid interest and payment for the principal element of leases. In the first quarter '24, there were [ non ] installments on borrowing as we changed from semiannual installments in April and November to quarterly installments from July last year. Spir Group's cash balance at the end of March was NOK 93 million.

Our financial position as of March shows that assets, to a large degree, consists of intangible assets whereof NOK 1.2 billion is goodwill and the remainder is capitalized development cost, customer contracts and trademarks. Equity is close to NOK 1.3 billion, giving an equity ratio of 50%.

Net interest-bearing debt of NOK 582 million, including lease liabilities of NOK 69 million at the end of March, is down NOK 126 million from the end of 2024. Reducing interest-bearing debt has been and still is a priority for us. In August '24, however, we increased that by NOK 80 million to finance a strategic acquisition of the remaining shares in Unbolt with subsidiaries and make it a fully owned company.

Interest-bearing debt at the end of March '25 is down NOK 29 million to NOK 606 million from 1 year earlier. We have 2 interest rate swaps at favorable terms of 3.24% and 3.25%, covering 67% of the interest-bearing loans. The cash balance at the end of March was NOK 93 million. In addition, Spir Group has a liquidity reserve of NOK 100 million.

Summing up the financial results, there are 4 key areas I would like to highlight. Firstly, double-digit revenue growth in our real estate business area accelerate total revenue growth. Secondly, the public administration business area continues to deliver steady and predictable growth with increasing annual recurring revenue and loan contracts. Thirdly, we have a continued focus on cost control across the group, and I'm pleased to see that the effects from cost initiatives have started to materialize and that profitability is increasing, evidenced by the increase in cash EBITDA across all the operating companies in the group. Lastly, I would like to highlight that we continue to have a strategy of reducing net interest-bearing debt and have strict focus on down payment on borrowing.

Now Per Haakon will comment on the business development in the quarter.

[Per Lomsdalen, executive]

Thank you, Cecilie. It's great to see continued progress and that the growth rate certainly has accelerated during the first quarter.

Our ambition is to make Spir Group the lighthouse for real estate data and software in the Nordics. We deliver powerful software and data solutions to key players across the real estate value chain.

To real estate agents, players and banks, we digitize property transactions by providing seamless access to data, software and advanced data workflows. To banks and financial institutions, we deliver high-quality property data and tools that automate and accelerate loan processes. To property owners and contractors, we offer a digital platform to track and document renovations, ensuring compliance and better property management. To land developers, utility companies and public agencies, we provide geo information and tools for planning, maintaining and protecting land assets. With these solutions, we help our customers streamline critical workflows, reduce costs and drive value creation.

We are evolving from a group of strong niche companies into a unified connected platform for real estate actors, leveraging shared data bundled solutions and deep customer insight across the whole group. Our goal is clear: to be the go-to partner for digital transformation of the real estate industry.

Our public administration offering is provided by Sikri, supporting the public sector with insight, control and digitalization of law regulated processes.

Looking at the real estate business, the positive signs of the past few quarters have continued during the first quarter. In the quarter, all Spir companies within this segment delivered solid revenue growth, driven by a positive development in the transaction-based real estate markets in Norway and Sweden.

Ambita maintains a strong market position. And in the quarter, Ambita launched together with our tech partner, Prosper AI, an automated sales assignment generator. It is also encouraging to see that the commencement of new homes increased by 31% in the first quarter, positively impacting Ambita's [ I & O's circulating ] business.

iVerdi is a key component to Spir Group's real estate portfolio, enhancing its offering in property valuation and operational software. With iVerdi, around 90,000 condition reports are generated annually throughout the IVIT solution, providing Spir Group's real estate data with unique insights on the conditional Norwegian homes.

In Sweden, the introduction of open data under an AI directive is an important change for Metria. While it removes much more data cost in geodata, it is also reduced revenues. Still, Metria aims to improve gross profit in 2025 and seize potential opportunities from open data.

Boligmappa continues to explore new revenue streams and partnerships to leverage scale and continue to grow the usage of service by both homeowners, customers and other industry partners.

Then we look at the public sector. Sikri is increasing sales to new customers in addition to upsells to existing customers. Sikri has long-term contracts with low churn and a steady high win rate on public tenders. Most of the growth in the RR is related to upsell and cross-sell within existing customers.

Stavanger municipality, a tender one in July last year, went live at the end of Q1, valuing Sikri as a strategic partner, not just a system provider. Also, in the quarter, Sikri won the tender for Indigo IKT with a 3-year contract worth NOK 8.7 million. Sikri submits offer on nearly all public tenders that align with these products and services and 150% of the tenders submitted in this quarter. The winning tender Indigo accounted for 82% of the TCV for this period.

Now let's wrap up this presentation with an update on our outlook. As we have already entered the second quarter of 2025, our outlook remains positive. The demand for secure and efficient IT solutions is growing across our business. As customers seek to reduce costs by streamlining and digitalization of their operations, we expect our subscription-based revenues to continue to grow steadily with low churn as they are primarily based on long-term contracts. We also plan to optimize investments to enhance margins and cash flow and prioritize ROI with a projected capital investment range of NOK 90 million to NOK 95 million for 2025. Cost control continues to be the key focus areas as we need to adjust to the current market situation at all time. Overall, we have a very solid building blocks in place and expect continued growth in our software business for 2025.

Before we conclude, I'm pleased to introduce Line Stenseth who will step into the role of interim CFO effective 15th of May. Line brings extensive experience from her time at Spir, most recently serving as Group Finance Manager. She's a proven talent. I look forward to working with her in this new capacity.

With that, I would like to thank you all for watching this presentation and wish you all a great day.