KEYWARE : A pivotal year for the Authorisations division

The COVID-19 crisis and the change in Authorisations’ partner have weakened the group and should continue to do so in the short term. We remain, however, confident in the mid/long term as there are a number of opportunities from the increasing demand for payment apps and contactless payment. The well-managed debt is also a good point to mention.

• Revenue down by 15.7% to €7,695k
• EBIT down by 53.6% to €128k
• EBITDA +0.5% to €1.532k with the EBITDA margin of 19.9% (vs. 16.7% in H1 FY19)
• Net profit reached €278k (-36.5% yoy)

Keyware obviously didn’t get through the COVID-19 crisis without a hitch, but it could be one of those companies that will benefit in the mid/long term from the sanitary situation as it should contribute to furthering electronic and contactless payments.

The impact of COVID-19 in H1 FY20 represented an €828k loss in revenue, mainly attributable to authorisations as commissions fell sharply, while cost reductions (personal expenses) and government support slightly offset this. The impact on net profit was €-179k. At 30 June 2020, goodwill was, however, not subject to any impairment.

All in all, H1 revenue was down by 15.7% to €7,695k, while the company succeeded in maintaining EBITDA at its last year’s level (+0.5% to €1,532k). The savings (€507k) related to sponsorship, fees of third parties and subcontractors, as well as marketing expenses, offset the lower gross profit (€-370k).

By division, Authorisations was the main black spot (-27.1% revenue to €3,015k), with the lockdown having reduced the number of payment transactions, but also as Keyware decided to switch to a different Authorisations’ partner.

While this strategic choice resulted in a drop in results in the short term, the new cooperation should lead to higher margins in terms of Authorisations’ income. Keyware expects the total migration from its previous partner to the new one to take up to the middle of 2021 (depending on the technical aspects).

The Payment Terminal division’s revenue was down by 8.2% to €3,230k, pushed up promotional campaigns undertaken in June, while the Software division reported no change in revenue yoy (€1,575k). In addition, the latter division now accounts for 18.2% of the company’s revenue (vs. 16.2% on June 2019), showing it has done well to move to become a fintech provider.

Keyware’s solvency has been maintained during the crisis. Financial debt and loans decreased by €1,367k vs. 31 December 2019 and now amount to €2,842k. The group expects this amount to be mainly cleared by June 2021.

We will integrate the H1 FY20 figures and revise our estimates to account for the short-term troubles mentioned above (COVID-19 and the Authorisations’ new partner), which should still have an impact in H2.