Good afternoon, thanks for joining SeSa Group presentation. On behalf of SeSa, are participating Alessandro Fabbroni, Group CEO, Elisa Gironi, Corporate Governance and M&A Director, and myself as Stakeholder, IR, and Sustainability Manager. In the late morning, we made available our fiscal year 2023 corporate presentation on SeSa website, that we may follow during the conference call. Today, our board of directors has approved the 12-month integrated group results, reporting again an outstanding set of economic, financial, and ESG performance. Alessandro will open the presentation with the overview of our strategic achievements under the current market scenario.
Good afternoon, and thanks, everybody, for joining our call. Today, we discuss our full year 2023 results, with a strong improvement in technological skills and about 4,700 employees, up 13% year-on-year, and great financial results in terms of revenues, profitability, and operating cash flow. We continue to overperform our long-term track record, thanks to a great organic growth driven by successful market positioning on the main areas of digital innovation as cloud, securing the digital platform, data science, and digital workspace, and our great pipeline of industrial M&As, over 25 in the last 18 months, which contributed for about 15% to full year 2023 growth, both in revenues and profitability.
As of April 30, 2023, we closed a full year period of record growth, with a CAGR revenues equal to 17% from EUR one and a half billion in the full year 2019, up to EUR 2.9 billion in the full year 2023, and the CAGR EBITDA equal to 30%, moving from EUR 74 million in the full year 2018, up to EUR 209 million in the full year 2023. In terms of financial performance, full year group revenues achieved EUR 2.9 billion, up by 22% year-on-year, with positive contribution from all business sector, a 20% increase in VAD sector, up to EUR 2.2 billion, a 23% improvement in system integration to EUR 700 million, and a 43% growth in the business services sector to EUR 84 million.
Consolidating EBITDA reached the line of EUR 209 million, up by 25% year-on-year, with an EBITDA margin equal to 7.20%, higher than 7.0% as of April 30, 2022. VAD EBITDA increased by 20% year-on-year, achieving EUR 109 million, with an EBITDA margin equal to 4.9%, flat year-on-year. System integration EBITDA was up by 25% year-on-year, with an EBITDA margin equal to 12.10%, compared to 11.9% in the full year of 2022. Business services sector EBITDA achieved EUR 11 million, increasing by 92% year-on-year, with an EBITDA margin equal to 13%, compared to about 10% in the previous year.
Bottom line, group adjusted earnings after taxes achieved the line of EUR 100.1 million, up by 21% year-on-year, with an EAT margin on revenues equal to 3.4%, flat year-on-year. Thanks to the group higher focus on recurrent revenues, we reported a steady trend in cash flow generation, equal to about EUR 110 million. Consolidating net financial position as of April 30, 2023, was negative for about EUR 240 million, compared to EUR 245 million as of April 30, 2022, gross of IFRS debt for about EUR 200 million, and net of annual investments in CapEx and M&A for EUR 140 million, and dividend distribution and buyback plan in the same period for EUR 25 million.
In the last 12 months, we enlarged significantly our perimeter operation with more than 15 bolt- on M&As, contributing to full year 2023 growth by around 15% to the operating profit level. For the full year 2024, now, we expect an external leverage contribution from the M&As we already signed and announced, with additional revenues equal to about EUR 75 million, with an EBITDA margin around 15%. Now, I give the floor to Elisa Gironi, who will provide us an overview of our M&A programs and M&A pipeline and contribution.
As introduced by Alessandro, the external lines contributed in significant way to our historical track record by about 30% in the last four-year period, and by 15% in the fiscal year 2023 only. Since 2015, we closed over 16 M&As, with additional 2,400 skilled human resources and EUR 600 million revenues at acquisition time. That became about EUR 1 billion in the last fiscal year, confirming our industrial capability to aggregate skills across all business sectors.... The 18 M&As closed in 2022 and 8 M&As closed since January 2023, are generating a combined business of EUR 200 million revenues, with 17% EBITDA margin and over 900 skilled human resources. We selected the target companies in the group strategic areas as security, cloud, digital platform, data science, digital workspace, that represent some of the main digital trends of innovation technology.
In VAD sector, on May 2023, following the antitrust authorization, we executed the acquisition of 55% stake of Altinia Distribuzione, reference player in managed printing solution, with annual revenues equal to EUR 50 million. Altinia has been consolidated from May 2023, the starting date of the new fiscal year, as of April 30, 2024. In SSI sector, we acquired some mid companies operating in vertical applications, data science, and digital security. Last May, we closed the acquisition of Visualitics, consultancy company focused on data management and analytics, with 30 skilled human resources, annual revenues of EUR 4 million, and an EBITDA margin of about 20%. On June 2023, we acquired the majority stake of InformEtica, company with EUR 6 million revenues, EBITDA over 10%, and 40 human resources focused on SAP consultancy.
On June 2023, we enlarged our skills in digital workspace with the 55% stake acquisition of Sangalli Tecnologie, company with 30 skilled human resources and revenues of about EUR 7 million, with an EBITDA margin equal to 12%. Last week, in the digital security, we acquired the majority stake of Wise Security Global, company leader of cybersecurity Spanish market, with expected annual revenues over EUR 10 million and an EBITDA margin equal to 20% and 120 human resources. The build-up of new business services sector, focused on financial services industry, was driven by some strategic M&A that we integrated in progressive way.
Last March, we announced the acquisition of 130 Servicing, reference player in Italy in the securitization services, based in Milan, with a team of about 120 human resources, annual revenues for about EUR 50 million, and an EBITDA margin of 20%. We plan to execute the acquisition within September 2023, after the final authorization of Bank of Italy. Thanks to its organic growth, new term agreement with some strategic partners and customers, as Crédit Agricole Italia and Monte dei Paschi Group, and the integration of last M&As, our business services sector targets in the fiscal year 2024, revenues for around EUR 120 million, 850 human resources, and above 12% EBITDA margin.
In the new fiscal year, we will continue to attract on industrial basis, small mid companies with skilled human resources under a sustainable 5-time EBITDA multiple evaluation, with earn-out mechanism and progressive residual stakes acquisition, to commit in the long term the key people of the target company. Thanks to 8 M&As already closed since January 2023, and the pipeline of new targets, we intend to replicate the result of the last year with about 15 M&As and a combined perimeter of over EUR 100 million revenues and 500 new people, considering not only Italian targets, but also some opportunities across Europe. Now, I give the floor to Jacopo to provide an updated overview about our sustainability paths and some details on the next August shareholders meeting agenda.
Thank you, Elisa. We closed the fiscal year 2023 with great improvements of our ESG performance, consolidating our strong commitment to value generation for our stakeholders. The twelve-month period confirms the Group ability to attract skills and human resources, with 4,717 skilled human resources, up by 13% year-on-year, and our long-term growth and development plan, driven by our intensive recruiting programs, with 760 new hires in the fiscal year 2023, and M&A in the asset pipeline. On June 23, we also launched our new welfare program to support the parenting, diversity, wellbeing, and work-life balance, and continuing our program also in favor of diversity and inclusion under the management of the Group Sustainability Committee.
As for the main environmental results of fiscal year 2023, we reduced emission per capita, down 10% year-on-year, from 1.4 CO2 tons in fiscal year 2022, to 1.2 CO2 tons in fiscal year 2023. We improved the green energy produced by our photovoltaic systems, 1.3 million kilowatt hours, up by 25% year-on-year.... we increased the share of green electricity through shares from third parties, over 93%, including self-produced green energy. We decreased also the consumption of water, natural gas, as well as the waste per capita, 0.02 tons in fiscal year 2023, compared to 0.04 tons in fiscal year 2022. We will continue to work intensively to develop our ESG programs by focusing on energy and natural resources efficiency and energy production from renewable sources to fully improve our main sustainability ratings.
We underline recent achievement of gender equality certification, the expansion of ISO 14001 environmental certification to the main group companies, the improvement of MSCI score to BBB level, and the increase of CDP rating to B level. We also underline that our board of directors today has approved to the next shareholders meeting as of August 28th, by first call, and as of August 29th, by second call, a dividend distribution equal to EUR 1 per share, compared to EUR 0.98 per share of the previous year, in the light of the strong set of fiscal year results, to approve a new buyback plan for EUR 10 million, and to approve the corporate statute amendment, providing the possibility of free share capital increase to sell stock grant plans reserved to group human resources with strategic responsibilities.
Now I give the floor again to Alessandro for his conclusions.
Thank you, Jacopo. We close a very positive fiscal year and a four-year period with a record growth. We move from EUR 1.5 billion consolidated revenues in full year 2019, and we achieved EUR 2.9 billion in 2019, up to EUR 210 million in full year 2023. We closed the full year 2023 with a 22% growth revenues and 25% increase in profitability, with positive trend, a very positive trend confirmed also in the 4th quarter of the year. We improved our main industrial KPIs as customer set, revenues, human resources, and market share, consolidating our competitive advantages and market position as reference European system integration for the business segment.
We did a great job evolving our organization by integrating the last bought M&As and developing new strategic business lines, from cybersecurity to Digital Green, data science, and digital transform, while we continue to evaluate a wide pipeline of new potential targets with accretive EBITDA margin and perimeter of operation, both in Italy and across Europe, to expand also our international presence. Corporate and enterprises demand on digitalization is confirmed solid, with steady investments in digital transformation and growth rates in the coming two-year period higher than the pre-COVID ones, driven by market segments as cloud enterprise software security. Considering our strong full-year results, the contribution expected from the pipeline of M&As, as well as the demand of digitalization, today, we confirm our positive outlook for the full year as of April 30, 2024, with a target of revenues and EBITDA increase in line with our long-term track record.
That means a growth between 10%-15% at revenues level and between 15% and 20% at EBITDA level. As in the past, we will continue to invest in the long-term development of digital skills, employees, and business application. We intend to reinforce our role of reference player in the digital industry and continuing to deliver sustainable value for all stakeholders. Thank you for your attention. We stay available as you are for the Q&A session.
This is the Chorus Call conference operator. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchtone telephone. To remove yourself from the question queue, please press star and two. Please pick up the receiver when asking questions. Anyone who has a question may press star and one at this time. The first question is from Andrea Randone of Intermonte. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Good afternoon, and congratulations for the results. I have three questions. The first one is about, I mean, the guidance. You confirmed the guidance after releasing the positive results. I wonder if you can provide us with a comment about your perception on the market. Again, you confirm the guidance, but there are some macro uncertainties in Italy. If you can detail some comments on the sectors you are operating, and also the current trading in this beginning of the year. Second question is about the labor market. Again, if you can comment on what is the perception of the SeSa brand?
What means working for SeSa for young people, if you are finding more difficulties or if it's easier for you to hire talented people? The last question is more a curiosity, because everybody is speaking about artificial intelligence, and so if you can comment what you are doing with your customers in this field. Thank you.
Thank you for the question, Andrea. First of all, our guidance confirmation that is based on very positive trend that we are experiencing in the starting of new fiscal year. Solid trend also of IT demand that is confirmed despite the macroeconomic uncertainty, due to the fact that as of today, any company and organization requires a plan of digital investment and digital transformation. That is a trend confirm, and if we consider the market forecast both worldwide and considering also the national market, the forecast now continue to be with the growth annual rate around 4%-5% compared to the 2% in the pre-COVID years.
We continue to work in particular in the edge, in the so-called trendsetters on the market, where there's great competition for labor market. That is the second question. We close the fiscal year with record rate internal hiring. We managed to recruit about 760 new people, new talent people, and consider that in the last three-year period, we improved the people under 30 years old from 300 up to 1,100. Our great capability to include human capital and to retain with the churn rate below 7%, which are confirmed, and we are experiencing a market labor with decreasing pressure, that is positive for our trend of the business. Final question, the AI.
We are working a lot in the area of data science and data management. Since 2020, we improved our portfolio of technologies and also the number of consultants, also through small and medium M&As. We created inside the System Integration a business unit dedicated to data science with more than 100 people, of which 40% below 30 years old, and we believe that may represent an additional area of improvement and development for our organization. The plus coming from the adoption of AI, are much higher than the minus, that may rise from reduction of personnel in the area of the offices, that we usually don't cover as a line of business.
We are obviously monitoring the market in order to be able to benefit from this adoption. Until now, the business from this area is not so relevant, but we consider this trend as a crucial driver for coming 2-3-year period innovation and digital transformation agenda of any enterprise. We are invested, and we will continue to invest in that area.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Andrea.
As a reminder, if you wish to register for a question, please press star and one on your telephone. For any further questions, please press star and one on your telephone. The next question is a follow-up from Andrea Randone of Intermonte. Please go ahead.
Thanks again. I'm curious about the business service line. I mean, this year should be an important year for this business service segment. I wonder if you can extend some more comments on the business you are developing with value chain, as we call, and what can be the incident of this new venture in the targets you announced for the year? Thank you.
Thank you for the new question, Andrea. In effect, we achieve a positive results in the full year 2023. We close with EUR 84 million, improved by 43% our revenues. We achieve also a great improvement of EBITDA from about EUR 6 million to over EUR 11 million, with a 13% EBITDA marginality. These are positive results, considering that we started with this new business area just 2 years and a half ago. We are experiencing positive effects from several strategic partnerships. We sign just 3 months ago a multi-year agreement with Crédit Agricole Italia for developing several digital platform, in particular, one dedicated to treasury department.
There's a multi-year agreement, obviously, that is possible to disclose. We expect that this agreement may contribute to our growth in 2024, 2025. Hear I remember that we expect to improve our revenues from EUR 85 million up to about EUR 120 million revenues by keeping stable our EBITDA marginality, to move forward and to achieve EUR 150 million revenues for the full year, 2025. We are operating through dedicated company based in Parma, with more than 100 people, that is now serving several strategic customer, among them, Crédit Agricole.
Thank you. Thank you very much again, Andrea. Thank you.
Once again, if you wish to ask a question, please press Star and One on your telephone. For any further questions, please press Star and One on your telephone. Gentlemen, there are no more questions registered at this time. Back to you for any closing remarks you may have.
We close again, a very positive full year with a strong set of results. We continue to invest in the long term for achieving the target that today we disclose for the full year, 2024. Obviously, we stay available with our team, Jacopo Laschetti, Elisa Gironi, for additional meeting or request of information. Thank you very much for your attendance, and a nice day.
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