Citing high order volume from network operators as well as private companies and governments, ADVA reported Q1 revenues of EUR 144.5 million, up by 2.8% from EUR 140.6 million in Q4 2020, also up by 8.9% compared to EUR 132.7 million in the same year-ago period.
Pro forma gross profit in Q1 2021 increased by 1.3%, reaching EUR 55.3 million (38.3% of revenues) compared to EUR 54.6 million (38.9% of revenues) in Q4 2020 and increased significantly by 30.9% compared to EUR 42.3 million reported in the year-ago quarter. Orders for network synchronization technology again developed positively in Q1. In addition, the customer mix contributed positively to the margin increase in the past quarter.
Pro forma operating income for Q1 2021 was EUR 12.9 million (8.9% of revenues) and decreased by 10.3% compared to EUR 14.3 million (10.2% of revenues) reported in Q4 2020. Compared to the year-ago quarter, pro forma operating income improved significantly by 869.6% from a loss of EUR 1.7 million (-1.3% of revenues). Hence the pro forma operating margin was at the top end of the guidance corridor of 7% to 9%. In addition to the higher gross profit, this substantial margin improvement is mainly due to improved operational expenditures. Operating income for Q1 2021 of EUR 11.6 million decreased by 11.6% from EUR 13.1 million reported for Q4 2020 and significantly increased by 386.6% from a loss of EUR 4.0 million in the same year-ago quarter.
Net income reached EUR 11.2 million in Q1 2021, down by 15.3% from EUR 13.2 million in Q4 2020, and significantly up by 255.2% from a loss of EUR 7.2 million in Q1 2020.
The company’s cash and cash equivalents totaled EUR 79.1 million, representing an increase of EUR 14.2 million compared to EUR 64.9 million at the end of Q4 2020. Year-over-year cash and cash equivalents substantially increased by EUR 26.3 million from EUR 52.7 million at the end of Q1 2020. The higher cash balance is mainly the result of the improved profitability and lower capital expenditures, particularly compared to the prior-year quarter. Consequently, net debt in Q1 2021 strongly decreased by EUR 14.9 million to EUR 10.6 million from EUR 25.5 million at the end of Q4 2020 and improved significantly by EUR 57.1 million compared to Q1 2020 (EUR 67.7 million).
“Today we report the best Q1 in our long history as a publicly listed company. We’ve never posted higher revenues in the first quarter of a financial year, and we’ve never achieved higher profitability, generated more cash, or recorded a better order intake,” commented Brian Protiva, CEO, ADVA. “The speed of digitization in many countries has increased noticeably and we are seeing very good demand from all of our customer groups. At the same time, we are making good progress with the transformation of our business. Focus on growth markets with a higher proportion of software and services as well as more verticalization will bring our pro forma EBIT to around 10% of revenues.”
“Our transformation strategy combined with strict cost control showed the expected effects and have opened the door to sustainably higher margin potential. Net income of EUR 11.2 million is already over 50% of the result generated in 2020. With that, we have made an excellent start to the new financial year,” said Uli Dopfer, CFO, ADVA. “We were able to further increase cash and reduce net debt to EUR 10.6 million. This further underlines our strong financial position.”
