WALLIX GROUP 
- 96 NEW CLIENTS GAINED AND 24% SURGE IN REVENUES
- FURTHER STAFF HIRED AND INTERNATIONAL MARKETING STEPPED UP
- €37.7 MILLION NET CASH FOLLOWING SUCCESSFUL SHARE ISSUE
- NEW SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS LAUNCHED AND OFFICES OPENED IN GERMANY AND NORTH AMERICA
WALLIX GROUP, a software company providing cyber security and governance solutions for information systems access, has released its first half 2018[1] results.
| Consolidated results (€000) | H1 2017 | H1 2018 |
| Revenues | 4,380 | 5,425 |
| Other operating income (capitalized production, subsidies, etc.) | 1,633 | 2,027 |
| Total operating expenses | (7,333) | (9,288) |
| o/w other operating costs | (2,047) | (2,543) |
| o/w payroll | (4,154) | (5,275) |
| o/w depreciation and provisions | (899) | (1,050) |
| Operating income/(loss) | (1,319) | (1,836) |
| Net income/(loss) | (1,335) | (1,828) |
ONGOING BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
First half 2018 continued to feature buoyant new business with a total of 96 new clients won, up from 62 in H1 2017, which bodes well for future growth.
Revenues leapt 24% year-on-year (to €5,425,000) despite a revenue spike in H1 2017 after the signing of a major contract worth over €1 million. Growth was largely fueled by a 64% surge in international business which accounted for one third of H1 2018 revenues.
Under the Software business (97% of revenues), Maintenance sales for the first half of 2018 came in up 54%, pointing to strong repeat business and a recurring future revenue stream. Group management decided to ramp up its ‘Customer Success' 24/7 support package, which by the year-end will involve 17 staff and a new Montreal office will be opened in addition to the Paris office.
WELL CONTROLLED FIRST HALF EARNINGS
In line with the operational plan presented last March, the Group strengthened its workforce, both in respect of the Management Committee (Strategy Director, Human Resources Director, and DACH[2] Sales director) and the sales teams (11 staff hired). As a result, the average headcount came to 79 people for first half 2018 (94 as at June 30, 2018), up from an average headcount of 70 for first half 2017.
Meanwhile, WALLIX stepped up its marketing activities, notably by increased attendance at trade shows. This upward trend will continue in second half 2018 when the Group plans to attend 17 trade shows during the last four months of the year, of which nearly half will be outside France.
In view of the above increase in payroll and other external expenses, first half 2018 operating earnings came in as a €1,836,000 loss (H1 2017: €1,319,000 operating loss). The net loss amounted to €1,828,000 compared to a H1 2017 net loss of €1,335,000.
SHARP INCREASE IN CASH
In the space of just 6 months, Group gross cash soared 5.6-fold to €39.5 million boosted by the €34.3 million net proceeds of the May 2018 share issue and tight control exercised over cash burned in operations (free cash flow[3] amounted to a €1.7 million outflow).
As of June 30, cash net of borrowings stood at €37.7 million and equity at €40.5 million.
AMBITION 2021 PLAN STEPPED UP
In second half 2018, the Group seeks to focus on rolling out the strategic plan and reaffirms its 2021 goal to be a mid-size cyber-security firm backed by 250 staff and revenues above €50 million.
Indeed, the Group has sharply expanded its software offering over the last few months with the launch of DataPeps®, an end-to-end encryption platform that secures data transmission in the high-potential Cloud-based security services market, and the brand new version of its flagship product Bastion that was unveiled recently. Modular and backed by further interoperability with the capacity to integrate additional features seamlessly, Bastion will be the WALLIX Group's driving force in its quest to build alliances – one of the crucial sources of its growth over the next few years.
Meanwhile, the Group stepped up expansion of its international sales force by opening sales offices in Munich (10 staff by the year-end) and Boston (5 staff) so that it has offices covering its two top priority regions, namely DACH and the US.
Lastly, the WALLIX Group reaffirms its goal to play a pivotal role in the industry with a view to developing a European cyber-defense offering. Having reviewed several M&A opportunities over the last few months, the Group expects to be in a position to carry out an initial transaction in 2019.
Jean-Noël de Galzain, WALLIX Group CEO, said: “2018 was a chance for us to lay the groundwork for our Ambition 2021 plan and, one by one, leverage all growth drivers to enhance our offering, forge alliances and expand on an international scale. In so doing, we will meet our financial targets, and looking beyond that, we will succeed in establishing ourselves as European cyber-security market leader.”
Next publication: 2018 revenues on February 14, 2019
ABOUT WALLIX
A software company providing cyber security solutions, WALLIX Group is a European specialist in privileged account governance.
In response to recent regulatory change (NIS/GDPR in Europe and OVIs in France) and the cyber security threats affecting all companies today, Bastion helps users protect their critical IT assets: data, servers, terminals and connected objects. It is the first market solution to have been awarded first-level security certification (CSPN) by France's National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) and thus meet all of the criteria for regulatory compliance
WALLIX accompanies more than 570 companies and organizations on a day-to-day basis, securing the access to more than 200,000 hardware and software resources. Its solutions are marketed through a network of more than 130 resellers and trained and accredited integrators. Listed on Euronext under the code ALLIX, WALLIX Group is a leader on the PAM market with a strong presence throughout Europe and EMEA. Alain Afflelou, Dassault Aviation, Gulf Air, Maroc Telecom, McDonald's, Michelin, and PSA Peugeot-Citroën trust WALLIX to secure their information systems.
WALLIX Bastion was a winner at the 2016 Computing Security Awards and has been rated Best Buy by SC Magazine, as well as being named among the PAM leaders in the Product and Innovation categories of the KuppingerCole 2017 Leadership Compass report. The company is a member of Bpifrance Excellence, a champion of the Pôle Systematic Paris Region cluster and a founding member of the Hexatrust grouping of cyber security companies. In 2017, WALLIX Group was included in Forbes France's Futur40 ranking of fastest-growing listed companies.
For more information, visit the WALLIX website at: www.wallix.com
| ACTUS finance & communication Investor Relations Natacha Morandi Tel. +33 (0)1 53 67 36 94 / wallix@actus.fr Financial Press Relations Nicolas Bouchez Tel. +33 (0)1 53 67 36 74 / nbouchez@actus.fr |
WALLIX Press Relations Joelle MONETTE Tel. +33 (0)1 81 69 93 65 / jmonette@walllix.com |
[1] The first half consolidated financial statements were approved by the Management Board and reviewed by the Supervisory Board on October 17, 2018. The statutory auditors performed a limited review on the first half consolidated financial statements and the financial report will be published by October 31, 2018.
[2] Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland
[3] Operating cash flows + investing cash flows + repayments of borrowings
News releases under ongoing reporting obligations:
- News release on accounts, results
Full and original press release in PDF:
https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-55584-wallix_cp_rs_2018_vuk-def.pdf
© 2018 ActusNews
