• 2019 figures: Strong increase in revenue (+20.7%) to EUR 556.9 million, primarily as a result of recurring revenues
• Over-proportional rise in EBITDA to EUR 165.7 million (+36.6%)
• Earnings per share significantly above previous year at EUR 1.10 (+66.3%), positively influenced by one-time effect arising from sale of DocuWare
• Confident but cautious planning for 2020 in view of the global Covid-19 pandemic: At least stable development to slight increase in Group revenue targeted with simultaneously high EBITDA margin of more than 26%

Munich, March 31, 2020 – The Nemetschek Group (ISIN DE 0006452907), one of the leading software providers for the building industry worldwide, looks back on a very successful 2019 financial year. With marked double-digit revenue growth and an over-proportional increase in earnings, the targets set for 2019 were even slightly exceeded in terms of growth and profitability (EBITDA margin). The very good performance of the past years and the continued favorable positioning of the Nemetschek Group in its customer segments form a very solid basis in these current times of uncertainty resulting from the Covid-19 crisis.

Major indicators of the Group’s success in 2019

• Group revenue rose to EUR 556.9 million, a growth of 20.7% compared to the previous year (currency-adjusted: 18.0%). Thus, Group revenue was slightly higher than the forecast corridor of EUR 540 to 550 million. The rise in revenue is attributable to organic growth of 15.8% (currency-adjusted: 13.1%) as well as to the strong business development of the newly acquired Spacewell brand in the Manage segment.
• Recurring revenues from software service contracts and subscriptions, which rose by 32.6% to EUR 299.5 million, continued to be growth drivers, and thus accounted for about 54% of Group revenue in 2019 (previous year: 49%).
  • Continued advances in global alignment are another growth driver. Revenues generated abroad rose by 24.2% to EUR 415.7 million in 2019. Nemetschek is extremely successful in North America, the trend-setting future market for new technologies.
• Consolidated operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased by 36.6% to EUR 165.7 million, which was over-proportional compared to revenue. Thus, the EBITDA margin (including positive effects arising from foreign currencies and from the initial application of the new IFRS 16 standard concerning the accounting of leases) rose from 26.3% in the previous year to 29.7%. The margin, therefore, was above the forecast range of 27% to 29%. Even without the special effects mentioned, the EBITDA margin at 27.0% was slightly higher than that of the previous year.
• The net income for the year increased significantly by 66.3% to EUR 127.2 million. The strong increase is attributable to growth in ordinary operations and a one-time gain arising from the sale of the nonstrategic minority interest in DocuWare. The earnings per share rose to EUR 1.10 (previous year: EUR 0.66). Adjusted for the one-time gain arising from the sale of DocuWare, the net income for the year was EUR 97.7 million (+27.7%). The adjusted EPS amounted to EUR 0.85 in 2019.
• The operating cash flow increased significantly by 60.8% to EUR 160.4 million. The cash conversion rate at 96.8% was at a very high level.

Performance of the segments

• In 2019, the Design segment generated revenues of EUR 314.6 million, which corresponds to 10.2% growth (currency-adjusted: 8.6%) compared to the previous year. The over-proportional increase in EBITDA of 23.3% to EUR 102.0 million led to an EBITDA margin of 32.4% (IFRS 16-adjusted: 30.0%, previous year: 29.0%).
• The Build segment again continued to be a growth driver for the Group with an increase in revenue of 25.6% (currency-adjusted: 20.7%), rising to EUR 177.7 million. The over-proportional increase in EBITDA (+47.3%) led to a high margin of 34.7% (IFRS 16-adjusted: 31.6%, previous year: 29.6%).
• The Manage segment was considerably strengthened by the acquisition of the Spacewell brand. As a result of organic growth and the strong contribution of Spacewell, revenues increased from EUR 13.8 million in the previous year’s period to EUR 38.5 million. The EBITDA margin of 20.5% (IFRS 16-adjusted: 16.9%, previous year: 21.1%) reflects the acquisition costs for the acquisition of the Dutch brand Axxerion in the first quarter of 2019.
• The Media & Entertainment segment generated strong growth with a simultaneously conversion to subscription models from the end of the third quarter on. Revenues climbed by 23.2% to EUR 33.9 million. In addition, as of the end of the reporting year, the company RedGiant based in the USA was acquired, which has been consolidated since January 2020 for the first time. The EBITDA margin at 27.8% (IFRS 16-adjusted: 26.6%) was below that of the previous year (43.1%) as a result of the acquisition and integration costs for Redshift (April 2019) and RedGiant.

“Nemetschek continued on its profitable growth course in 2019 and consistently advanced the digital transformation over the entire life cycle of buildings,” said Dr. Axel Kaufmann, Spokesman of the Executive Board and CFOO of the Nemetschek Group. “It is essential for our success that, with increasing size, we consistently strengthen our focus on our customers and their actual needs. This purpose is also served by the leadership structure implemented in 2019 that is focused on our segments. In this way, it is possible for us to act with even greater strength in our markets,” continued Kaufmann.

Guidance for 2020

With the long-term intact growth trends in the relevant markets in mind and the strong positioning of the company in many countries with great catch-up potential in terms of digitization, the executive board continues to take a fundamentally positive view of the future even in the currently very uncertain environment due to the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic. The possible direct and indirect effects of Covid-19 on the business activities of the Nemetschek Group cannot currently be reliably estimated in terms of the extent, duration and geographical spread. Nevertheless, the first two months of 2020 went according to plan.

Due to the significantly increasing share of recurring revenues from service contracts and subscriptions, which now account for 54 % of group revenues, Nemetschek has a higher degree of planning reliability than in previous crises. In addition, the international positioning of the group and the targeting of different customer groups across the four segments offer a broader risk diversification than in the past. This is complemented by the Nemetschek Group’s very solid financial structure with an equity ratio of approximately 41% and high levels of cash generation

Irrespective of these strategic advantages, the executive board’s expectations for the year 2020 take the emergency situation worldwide into account with the necessary caution: considering exchange rate fluctuations and the sharp increase in macroeconomic uncertainties, from today’s view, the executive board anticipates at least a stable development or a slight increase in Group revenues. The EBITDA margin is expected to exceed 26% of Group revenue in 2020.

These forecasts are expressly subject to the reservation that international economic and industry-specific framework conditions do not significantly worsen especially as a result of the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Overview of quarterly key figures (Q4)

For reasons of better comparability, the earnings per share after the stock split are shown

Full Year 2019 overview of key figures

*For reasons of better comparability, the earnings per share after the stock split are shown

Overview of quarterly key figures per segment (Q4)

For further information on the company, please contact:

Nemetschek Group

Stefanie Zimmermann
Investor Relations
+49 89 540459 250

szimmermann@nemetschek.com

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