Digital Workforce Services Plc’s Financial Statements Bulletin, January 1 – December 31, 2023: Company achieved targeted turnaround, full-year adjusted EBITDA positive
28.2.2024 09:00:00 EET | Digital Workforce Services Oyj | Company Announcement
Financial Statements Bulletin January 1 – December 31, 2023 (unaudited)
Unless otherwise stated, the comparison figures provided in parentheses refer to the corresponding period of the previous year.
COMPANY ACHIEVED TARGETED TURNAROUND, FULL-YEAR ADJUSTED EBITDA POSITIVE
The company met its target of becoming profitable and expanding internationally in 2023. Continuous Services’ share of revenue increased, and the company achieved planned progress in the healthcare business area.
July-December 2023:
- Revenue was EUR 12.3 (13.5) million and decreased by -8.7%.
- EBITDA was EUR -0.8 (-0.2) million and adjusted EBITDA EUR -0.2 (0.5) million.
- Operating profit was EUR -0.9 (-0.9) million.
- Revenue from Continuous Services was EUR 7.6 (7.8) million and decreased by -3.0%. The percentage of revenue increased to 61.7% (58.1%).
- Revenue from Professional Services was EUR 4.7 (5.7) million and decreased by
-16.6%. The percentage of revenue was 38.3% (41.9%). - Earnings per share (EPS) amounted to EUR -0.08 (-0.10).
January-December 2023:
- Revenue was EUR 24.9 (25.5) million and decreased by -2.2%.
- EBITDA was EUR -0.6 (-1.8) million and adjusted EBITDA EUR 0.2 (-0.9) million.
- Operating profit was EUR -0.8 (-2.6) million.
- Revenue from Continuous Services was EUR 15.2 (15.0) million and increased by 1.6%. The percentage of revenue increased to 61.1% (58.9%).
- Revenue from Professional Services was EUR 9.7 (10.5) million and decreased by -7.5%. The percentage of revenue was 38.9% (41.1%).
- Earnings per share (EPS) amounted to EUR -0.06 (-0.27).
- At the end of the reporting period, cash and bank receivables and other liquid assets were at EUR 13.2 (18.1) million.
- The number of employees at the end of the reporting period was 177 (190) and the average number of employees was 186 (193).
- On February 15, 2023 the company announced delivering professional business process automation services and staff augmentation to one of the most prestigious healthcare systems in the US.
- On March 3, 2023 Digital Workforce Services received an order for Professional Services of approximately EUR 2.2 million for year 2023 from a major utility company in the United States.
- Jussi Vasama joined the company as CEO on March 27, 2023.
- On March 28, 2023 Digital Workforce received the prestigious ISO 27001 certification for its information security management. The certification is awarded to companies that demonstrate a high level of commitment to protecting their information assets and implementing effective security controls.
- On May 25, 2023 the company announced a partnership with one of the leading NHS Foundation Trusts to Improve Patient Experience with End-to-End Process Automation. Using Digital Workforce’s innovative Outsmart PASS solution, the customer can speed up the registration process, inform nurses immediately about high-priority patients, and centrally monitor, orchestrate, and control the registration lifecycle.
- Digital Workforce has won the prestigious ‘Improving back-office efficiencies through digital’ HSJ Digital Award for their revolutionary Intelligent Automation Transformation Programme in Maternity in England on June 22, 2023. The HSJ Digital Awards recognize outstanding contributions towards healthcare services in England, and winning this national award demonstrates the exceptional drive of the team to innovate, build impactful solutions, and take on an instrumental role in transforming healthcare delivery.
- On November 1, 2023, the company announced that research firm Forrester published a Forrester WaveTM: Robotic Process Automation Services, Q4 2023 survey of key service providers in the market. Digital Workforce became the best supplier in the Current Offering category, achieving the best possible result e.g. criteria for Vision, Innovation, Pricing flexibility and Transparency.
- The company issued a profit warning on November 24, 2023 and updated its guidance: Digital Workforce’s full-year 2023 revenue is expected to be 24-25 million euros and profitability is expected to be positive on an adjusted EBITDA basis.
- The company announced on December 7, 2023 that the new Certified Adviser is Aktia Alexander Corporate Finance Oy. The agreement with the current advisor Danske Bank A/S, Finland Branch expires on November 31, 2023. Aktia Alexander Corporate Finance Oy takes over the responsibilities of Certified Adviser as of January 1, 2024.
- The company announced on December 12, 2023 that a major Nordic pension insurance company selected Digital Workforce as its provider of end-to-end automation services.
- The company announced on December 12, 2023 that it will start the acquisition of the company’s own shares. The maximum number of shares to be acquired is 110 000, which corresponds to approximately 1 per cent of the company’s shares. However, the amount used for acquiring shares will be at most EUR 250 000. The acquisition of the company’s own shares starts on 13 December 2023 at the earliest and ends on 30 June 2024 at the latest.
Outlook for 2024
Digital Workforce’s full-year 2024 revenue is expected to be higher than in 2023 and adjusted EBITDA is projected to be positive and improve compared to 2023.
Key figures
CEO Jussi Vasama:
“The year 2023 was a time of significant turnaround for Digital Workforce. In line with our strategy, we succeeded in acquiring large new customers and driving business growth in North America and in the strategically important healthcare business area. In addition, excellent cooperation in diverse automation projects in Finland intensified with both new and existing customers in the wellbeing services counties during the second half of the year.
We signed long-term contract extensions with our current customers, such as the Finnish Defence Forces, during the second half of the year. Our measured customer satisfaction, which was already at a good level, continued to rise to an even higher mark during 2023, demonstrating our ability to create value for our customers across our service offering. The Outsmart service offering extended to cover end-to-end process automation, including the AI-based intelligent document processing (IDP). The services under Outsmart are easily and effortlessly available to all our existing and new cloud customers and are flexibly priced according to customer value creation.
Our growth was less than targeted in the second half of the year. Despite this the full-year net income improved by EUR 2.3 million from 2022. The share of Continuous Services of our revenue, which is central to the company’s strategy, grew in 2023 reaching 61.7% of revenue at the end of the year. The high share of Continuous Services provides the company with predictability and business continuity in the face of short-term fluctuations in demand.
The profitability figures for the second half of 2023 include, as non-recurring expenses, cost saving measures at EUR 0.6 million, implemented to improve operational efficiency. Going forward, we will serve customers in Norway and Denmark from our centralized Scandinavian unit in Sweden and from global operations. This will enable us to direct our investments in 2024 into our growth markets, notably the USA and the UK.
In June, we announced a second strategic business area, Financial Services Industry (FSI). In this business, we are focusing on end-to-end business process automation and Continuous Services enabled by our Outsmart service offering. During the second half of the year, we deepened our cooperation with our strong existing FSI customer base. In addition, a major Nordic pension insurance company chose us as a provider of end-to-end automation services in December.
Digital Workforce is an attractive employer. The availability of employees from the market has been good, and the existing employee retention rate has decreased. We continue to recruit in our strategic business areas and in our growth markets in the US and UK. A thriving and skilled personnel is at the heart of Digital Workforce, and this will also be reflected in the Sustainability Report which will be published as part of the Annual Report.
I see the year 2024 providing us with a solid foundation for implementing our profitable growth strategy. We have great opportunities to leverage business process automation and AI in our current customer base, and we will strengthen our investments in strategic business areas and growth markets. Our cash position is good, and potential acquisitions are still part of our plans. We believe in a successful future and in excellent growth opportunities in the medium term.
We expect the company’s revenue to grow and the adjusted EBITDA to be positive and improve compared to 2023. From the beginning of this year, we are moving back to quarterly reporting, believing that this is the best way to keep investors informed of our rapid progress. By the end of 2026, the company aims for revenue of EUR 50 million and an EBITDA of over 10%.”
Helsinki February 27, 2024
Digital Workforce Services Plc
Board of Directors
For further information, please contact:
Jussi Vasama, CEO, Digital Workforce Services Plc, Tel. +358 50 380 9893
Certified advisor
Aktia Alexander Corporate Finance Oy, Tel. +358 50 520 4098
About Digital Workforce Services Oyj
About Digital Workforce Services Plc
Digital Workforce Services Plc is a leading business process automation services and technology solution provider globally. Digital Workforce Outsmart services and technology solution suites allow organizations to save costs, accelerate digitalization, increase revenue, improve customer experience, and gain a competitive advantage. Globally, over 250 large customers use Digital Workforce’s services and technologies to transform their businesses with automation. Founded in 2015, Digital Workforce currently employs over 200 business automation specialists in the US, UK & Ireland, and Northern and Central Europe. Digital Workforce is publicly listed in Nasdaq First North Growth Market Finland. https://digitalworkforce.com
Attatchments