Good afternoon. This is the CORUSCO conference operator. Welcome, and thank you for joining the Wiit SpA First Quarter 2025 results conference call. As a reminder, all participants are in listen-only mode. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Should anyone need assistance during the conference call, they may signal an operator by pressing star and zero on their telephone. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Alessandro Cozzi, CEO of Wiit. Please go ahead, sir.
Good afternoon, everybody, and thanks for joining this conference call. The board of directors of Wiit approves the result of the first quarter 2025. You can follow the presentation I sent, and we can start with the highlights, and we can go directly to the page number three of the presentation. Revenue growth to 22% from EUR 33.5 million Q1 2024 to EUR 41.1 million Q1 2025. EBITDA adjusted to grow to 21% from EUR 13 million Q1 2024 to EUR 15.8 million of the current year. The part of the EBITDA margin was adjusted to 38.4%, but the most important, the like-for-like margin of 42.9%. Like-for-like means, excluding all the company acquired in the last 12 months. EBIT adjusted, growth 8.5% to EUR 7.8 million compared to EUR 7.2 million Q1 2024. EBIT margin was 18.9%.
The profit is stable within the growth of EUR 4.3 million compared to EUR 4.1 million. EBIT adjusted and adjusted with excluding the IFRS 16 effect and including the value of treasury shares on the market value end of March 2025 was EUR 176 million compared to EUR 163 million. In this value, we have enough of the effect, negative effect of the share price in the la in this during the first quarter 2025. We go to the breakdown of the revenue on the page number four. Italy reported EUR 14.4 million, is, 35% of the group revenues. Germany, EUR 22.1 million, 53.8% of group revenue, and Switzerland, EUR 4.6 million, 11% roughly of the group revenue. In terms of profitability, Italy is performing well, EUR 7 million EBITDA, which means 48.9% EBITDA margin. They are very happy.
Germany is recovering the EBITDA margin after obtaining the synergy, EUR 8.1 million, and the EBITDA margin was 36.3%. Switzerland EBITDA was normal material. It's only EUR 600,000, but it's important that in terms of EBIT in Switzerland, we obtain the break-even in terms of EBIT margin. EBIT margin in Italy was EUR 2.7 million, 18.8% of margin, and very, very successful in terms of EBIT in Germany, where we have EUR 5 million EBIT, 22.8% of the revenue. Page number five, the breakdown in terms of revenue and in terms of more detail about the growth. Revenue increase mainly driven by annual recurring revenue, and that means, in group level, we have EUR 33.7 million of recurring revenue, plus 26% of the Q1 2024. 4.6% was organic results. The other part is M&A. In terms of breakdown of country, Italy reports 13.4.
90% of total revenue was recurrent, and the last year was 82. The organic growth in terms of recurrent is 7.4%. In Germany, we had EUR 17.3 million of recurring revenue, 96% of the total, or 98% if we exclude the business of Geico because Geico business is a consulting business, and they don't is not related to recurring revenue. Switzerland, EUR 3 million, 65% of revenue. Very important, notice about contract because in Germany, we disclosed in the market in the last few weeks, we signed an important contract with one of the first customers we have in Germany. We signed this contract, related to the new Cloud Native Platform, and we won this deal, fighting with UpScale and the customer per se to our scalability and secure platform and to protect the data sovereign in Europe.
This is the first contract sizable, and now we are pushing to expand in all our customer base in Italy and in Germany, naturally, with a new platform. Page number six, we have more detail about the profitability. EBITDA adjusted was EUR 15.8 million compared to EUR 13 million. EBITDA margin, 38.4%. Like-for-like, 42.9%, very, very well adjusted, compared to 38.9% of Q1 or 36% full year 2024. We can analyze the cost, mainly increase the cost for the consolidation of the acquiring companies in Germany and Switzerland, mainly offset of cost synergy, and, naturally, the main voice is, the main item is the cost of personnel, increased EUR 13 million, total EUR 13 million, and show increase thanks to the acquisition of the company. EBITDA margin adjusted was 13%. Like-for-like, 42%, up by 400-400 basis points compared to last year.
Italy growth from 44.3 to 48.9, and Germany increased from 34 to 36. Most important is, from our point of view, the like-for-like margin because you know when you acquire a company for the first 18 months, we need 18 months to obtain the cost synergy. For this reason, the first year, the acquisition diluished a little bit, diluished our margin. Like-for-like margin, excluding, the consequence, the aging cloud business and the other was 38.4 compared to 34, 4 point more profit like-for-like. If you consider like-for-like excluded the consulting business, it was 41.5 compared to 36, 5 point more profitable like-for-like. Significantly higher thanks to the increasing focus on high-value services and starting to achieve the cost synergy. EBIT, page number seven, growth 8% from 7.2 to 7.8. EBITDA margin is rather stable, 18.9 compared to 18 full year.
Here we have the effect of the more and more pricing of all the investment we did the last two years. We consider we expand a lot of capacity in terms of data center, and, now we are, naturally more and more pricing, in terms of touch of the of these graphics. Net profit is, plus 41% considering EUR 2.1 million of financial expenses, mainly of the interest of the bond issued and partially of the bank loan. The bank loan, naturally, is decreasing because interest rate we expect in the next quarter, in, in respect. We just know that the interest rate, this year is, is lower. The consequence, we expect to have a little low value in terms of interest for the part of variable interest. Page number eight, we have the full debt, was, EUR 216.9 million.
Little increase compared to 212.7, but we did consider that, we anticipate a lot of CapEx in the first quarter. We did EUR 11 million CapEx, EUR 8.2 million for maintenance and growth CapEx, and EUR 2.9 million is related to the rental and the right to use the new office in Frankfurt and the vehicles. We consider that we estimate roughly EUR 31 million of total CapEx in the full year. The increase on the debt is mainly for the anticipate of the CapEx in the first quarter. We expect, naturally, to have less CapEx in the following quarters. Okay. That's all. We are ready for a Q&A session. Thanks.
Thank you. This is the CORUSCO 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 touchstone 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 Giorgio Tavolini in Termonte. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good evening. Thanks for taking my questions. The first one is, brief update on your expectation for the full year in terms of organic growth. I don't know if you are still targeting mid-single-digit growth in Germany, high single-digit growth in Italy. Since I saw in Germany, you have posted 2%, 2.4% organic growth. I was wondering if you expect we should expect an acceleration going forward. The second question is on CapEx. You said very clearly that you expect less CapEx in the next quarter. The consensus expects EUR 27 million for this year. I don't know if you if we should stick at this figure or we should look at some reduction for the full year. The third one is on the German profitability. I mean, the result of this quarter was very impressive.
I guess you already achieved most of the synergies with Edge&Cloud. I was arguing if we should expect an improving come in the next quarter as well, driving an estimate revision for the full year. Thank you.
Okay. I start to answer the first question about organic growth. We expect, to stay in line with our budget, with our forecast to Italy, organic growth, high single digit, that means 8-10%. For Germany, from 4-6%. Depend of the naturally, the date of the signing of the new contract. We have a strong pipeline in Germany currently, but we do not have always exactly the time when we sign the contract. Depend of the timing of the contract, but roughly we assume to stay 4-5% organic growth in Germany and close to 10% in Italy. Because in Italy, we have just a very good visibility in terms of contract signed last year, and the activation of the contract will be in the second quarter.
CapEx, to this, I confirm that we estimate EUR 27 million total cash CapEx, but on the top, we have EUR 4 million of IFRS 16 effect. Okay? It's not full cash, but it's the effect of the rent of the office. For example, in the second quarter, we started the new headquarter in Milan, and in the first quarter, we have the effect of the 10 years contract in Frankfurt. It's not cash, but it's inside our CapEx. I confirm we assume that we stay EUR 27 million of cash CapEx of the operation, and we spend EUR 8 million in the Q1. About the third quarter, the first question is about German profitability. We think that we can achieve a little better in the Q2 because we have additional step in terms of synergy during the second quarter.
We assume this will stay a little stable or a little more in terms of revenue, but decreasing a little bit employee cost for Q2 because after the merge of six companies, we had a little effect reduction in terms of number of people on board in Germany. We expect it will improve a little bit the profitability in the following quarters.
Okay. Thank you. Just a follow-up on the, the merger when you say merger of the Swiss company into the German one, should we expect for the future a single entity in terms of reporting, or you will continue to provide a separate figure for Switzerland and Germany?
No. Currently, we have reported two figures. We again consolidate all the cloud business and deckle the consultants. Last week, we started to merge the last company acquired, the Mieter. Okay?
Okay.
Switzerland remains separate.
Okay.
It's separate again. Switzerland is a separate delegation.
Oh, thank you.
In Germany, we exclusively all the cloud business in WITAG, and we have only one second legal entity about the consulting business. Geico in Switzerland, there is Econis. Separate one.
Yeah. Thank you.
The next question is from Domenico Gilotti, Equita. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon. A couple of questions. First is, it's a follow-up on the German organic performance, in particular on the pipeline of the commercial activity. I'm trying to understand if you are seeing some traction in ordering pay that will translate maybe in stronger organic growth into 2026. Second is on the M&A pipeline. As usual, it's interesting to get your thoughts on potential opportunities in the market.
Okay. I start to answer the second question about M&A, and after, I hang on to Eric Rampin to answer about the sales pipeline. Alright. About M&A, currently, we are analyzing one-third in Germany, mid-size, to understand, is, below EUR 20 million revenue, but very, very close to our business in terms of full set of services and assets, and another, another smaller in the north side of Germany. We continue to look in, we are looking to consolidate in Germany where we have very fast, very, very responsive, fast time to achieve cost synergy. Now, because if you are entering, if you enter a new country, we need time, and the first acquisition, we do not have synergy. In Germany, currently, it is more easy for us to obtain synergy in 12-18 months.
For this reason, we have two targets at the moment on the table, but small size. About the organic growth, Eric, if you want to tell about, how is, sentiment around.
Yeah. The sentiment in general in all the countries, basically more in, of course, in Italy and Germany, is good. The pipeline is good. It's increasing month after month, also considering that Q4 was very strong for us, positively impacting. I've seen a very good build-up in terms of the pipeline, both in Italy and in Germany. Channel is performing in a good way, also in terms of booking, considering that the channel does have a sales cycle that is quite short compared to the other one. It was quite positive. Of course, it depends a lot on our ability and the time and the timing for closing the order. At the moment, I've seen good opportunities. I'm just having very good feedback in terms of potential adoption of European cloud providers in Germany.
We are receiving several comments from clients that want to rebalance quite soon the hyperscalers. The effect of the first deal we signed is also reflected in other potential opportunities that are coming. This is an effect that I am currently facing more in Germany than in Italy, but probably it is an effect that we will see in the next quarter. Still positive. We will see, of course, on the booking side if we are successful again in the timing of closing. For the rest, I am quite positive.
Thank you.
The next question is from Michela Mombelli, TP Cap MidCap. Please go ahead.
Hello. Thank you for the presentation. Given that WITAG already holds over 7% of treasury shares and the current buyback authorization is close to the 10% thresholds, are you considering cancelling any of the existing treasury shares in the near term? The second question is you mentioned that you won a EUR 9 million contract in Germany against U.S. hyperscalers. Thanks to better pricing and services, could you explain a bit more about this competitive advantage and if you think that this edge is sustainable or maybe a cool de-escalation in trade tension, for example, lower tariffs help U.S. hyperscalers regaining a little bit of momentum? That's my question. Thank you.
Okay. About treasury share, the reason why we continue our buyback program is, to support the company in the M&A. In the past, we used always treasury share to exchange part of the price or part of the commercial value in the, the M&A transaction. Okay? Naturally, depend, who is the counterpart at the moment of the closing, but if, there is an entrepreneur, already part of the price will be paid in treasury share. Otherwise, we can sell in the same moment in the market, but, to it's only related to M&A. Okay? About the, our platform, Eric, you want to give more color about, the.
Sure.
The deal and the point of entry we have in our offering respect to the hyperscale.
Yes. In general, it's been a competitive tender, and basically the first topic that we have to address was, of course, matching feature on feature, the capabilities of the platform compared to the hyperscaler. That was a very good, very positive, very good confirmation and result from our point of view because technically you have to be trustable, first of all. The competitive advantage in terms of economics, yes, there is a part of the pricing comparison that could result in a benefit. On top of the benefit, there are several other key advantages. First of all, we are pure European. This is a major relevant topic for a lot of companies, for the rebalancing and making a more harmonic risk management within the companies. Of course, we are not just European.
We can fulfill to the clients managed services, cybersecurity, and super high reliability in terms of services. This is something that can benefit a lot the clients, on top of just the pure technologies. The reality is that it is a mix of quality of services, full comprehensive stack of capabilities, not just pure infrastructure. Last but not least, a positive effect on the pricing that could result in some saving, but this is not, as always in the critical application, is not the major reason why the client joins Wiit. Of course, we are part of the tender. The clients want to negotiate. The major topic is that this kind of client will probably look for more European providers.
This is a request that I was commenting a few minutes ago is becoming more and more relevant for the company.
Okay. Thank you. Maybe, last point that I would like to touch upon is about the cybersecurity. Thanks a lot for your answer, by the way.
Yeah.
I just wanted to know if there is any kind of breakdown you could provide us with regarding the cybersecurity. I was very interested in the last, the last quarter, I mean, and the full year when you were talking about it. Do you have any number I would think about?
I could currently consider that 70% of the contracts signed in the last two years have always inside the cybersecurity. We don't split the revenue inside the contract with the cloud. So it's a cloud, it's SQL cloud. We don't have currently exactly the figures about the revenue of the cybersecurity separate on the.
In general, this is becoming one of the major reasons why our key value proposition is resulting in a very good positive effect. Of course, our Cybersecurity Platform connects directly, connected, and designed into our cloud offering, but it is also an offering that could span across the other areas of clients. I mean mobile capabilities, networking, also outside of the cloud services that we provide. This is very powerful because, generically, you say, "Okay. Okay. All the cloud services are covered by cybersecurity." Our cybersecurity cover also covers many other areas of the client that make it much more secure, profitable for the clients, and also, of course, engaging the clients in all their business processes that are much wider than the single cloud capabilities.
Thank you.
Gentlemen, Mr. Cozzi, there are no more questions registered at this time. I turn the conference back to you for any closing remarks.
Okay. Thanks to everybody to join this call. We stay in touch for next disclosure. I hope we have good news in the future about sales perspective. Eric, I speak that we have a good pipeline and stay in touch. I am about.