Hello everyone. It's 12 o'clock at least here in Oslo, so that's the plan for when going to start. So welcome everybody to this Q4 presentation. It is scheduled to be 30 minutes, a little bit shorter than some of the previous ones earlier on. But the idea is to have it perhaps a little bit shorter and crisper. This presentation will be recorded, as you probably all can see, and it will be made available on our website sometime after this presentation. And we did the same time for the Norwegian one earlier on today. So as soon as the technical people are finished to do some finalizing with the recordings, they will be available. I will go through the slide deck that is also published.
It's available, both on our website, I believe, and also on the Stock Exchange pages. So, I will, of course, do my comments and go through these slides. If time, then I will set some minutes at the last part of the presentation. So if there are any questions, I'm able to answer those. And also, as always, if you have any questions and not at this moment, please use our investor relations at huddlestock.com if you'd like to send me questions, or of course, you can send it also directly to me. So our policy is to be available and answer all questions that we get. So, don't be afraid of that. Well, then, let's start, and not with me today.
Unfortunately, he was not able to participate because of something else. John Skajem, Øyvind Hovland, the chairman, and me will be responsible for this presentation. For those of you who have followed Huddlestock for some time, you probably have seen me before because I've been within the company for some months, but not in this role. My new role was valid from February the 1st. So I thought it could be a good idea to just have a quick review of myself. As the CEO, that's of course lovely to be able to spend some time talking about yourself. So I'll just use this first time at least to say a few words. Well, okay. I'm a Norwegian guy, living just outside Oslo. My education is within economics, finance, and business, where I have my master.
From the professional career side, I have a few years from the Oslo Stock Exchange, now part of the Euronext group. At the Stock Exchange, I was working on the customer side, and customers from the Stock Exchange then was listed companies. So I have actually some experience then from the exchange side, where compared to the side now where we're all listed. So I think that experience is good to have. After the Stock Exchange, I was working at the Norwegian CSD, VPS, also now part of Euronext, start to work with issuers, which had their securities registered in the CSD. And the last years, I was focusing more and more on the fund side. And I was responsible for a fund system that was providing services to fund managers, originally, to the Norwegian market.
But during a project, we enhanced that product. So it was also able to serve clients outside Norway. So that was the start of a journey with being responsible for a spinoff from the VPS Euronext system, a company called Centevo with the subsidiary in then both Sweden and in Norway. And we focus on wealth management, asset management services to primarily the Norway, the Nordic market. After some years at Centevo, I was responsible for a startup called Dtech, pension service provider to pension providers, also as SaaS solution. And that was actually back in June 2022 I started up. And part of that journey, I came across the Huddlestock guys.
The result of that journey was that Huddlestock acquired Dtech in March last year, meaning that since March last year, I've been within Huddlestock, where I have been responsible for corporate development and also investor relations. I think that that is a very good background for me in my new role now because I have quite an insight into the company. I know the clients and what is good and what should be better. I think that's. I'm not coming in with totally a white piece of paper in front of me. I think I know this company quite well. Within these different companies I've just mentioned, my roles have typically been on the management side, different management positions.
And my main focus, except of course from working within the tech industry, has been on the market and clients and customers and sales side. So I define myself as a quite commercial guy. And also at least the last companies, of after the Stock Exchange and the CSD has been very much about to build tech companies and also to industrialize them, as I call it, to go from a situation where you have a good product and great customers and you have revenues and then start to turn these companies into more structured entities with a more streamlined setup. So that's short about me. Then probably to the more interesting stuff here. And that is the financial figures for 2023. A few highlights to start with.
First of all, Huddlestock has been and is and will be a company that is reaching for growth. So growth is important for us. And it is with that background very good to see that also 2023 delivered on that part. The top line growth was 88%, almost 90%. And that is definitely within what we had reached for. On the right side of this slide, you can also see another objective that we are focusing on, and that is the part of our revenues that are recurring, meaning that revenues from clients that are coming steadily in month by month. That is a business model that is very good when you are building a company because then you have steady revenues at the bottom, and then you can use them when you are doing your scaling job.
At the same time, when we are focusing on growing, we definitely also have focus on the profitability. And that is a topic that we have been discussing many times also during these quarterly presentations. I'm coming a little bit back to that. We have been working through 2023 systematically with different areas to improve the EBITDA margin. If you just look at the number 2023 compared to 2022, it was an increase in a negative way by 14%. And is that good or bad? Well, of course, I would like to have it positive, and that's my objective to get it positive as soon as possible. But I think it is also important to remember that EBITDA figure from 2023 must be compared to the growth of almost 90% on the top line.
So if you from relative terms, if you compare these, these two figures, it's a big improvement that, that, I think also is worth to, to mention. Okay. Then, let's go through some highlights, from the last quarter last year. As I have mentioned, we are, very satisfied with the top line growth, year-over-year growth, almost 90%. Also, I think it is very important to highlight a little bit more, one very important part of our, group's, business. And that's the, the consulting, area, professional services. It's called the Visigon. For 2023, they delivered NOK 51 million in revenues. And as you then can see, there's that's actually more than 50% of the top line. And also very positive is to see the EBITDA margin of that business, reaching 13% last year.
So, that is also something that I think it's very important to highlight, and actually not only for Q1 and Q4, but that's something that is for the whole year. So I'll come back to Visigon a little bit later as well. When it comes to profitability, I've just mentioned about the EBITDA margin for 2023 as the full year compared to 2022. But if you look into the year, the financial year 2023 and look at Q4, I'm very happy to see that EBITDA margin in that quarter was actually the same as last year. So that is a signal about that we are working in the right direction with both focus on cost and revenues, so that in some time ahead, we'll make these two lines between the revenues and cost cross each other.
The revenues, on the recurring side, as I mentioned, good growth, year-over-year, and a big percentage of our revenues are coming from recurring revenues. And that's also a very good thing to have as a part of your revenue base. As always, when you are finalizing a year, you're going through the books and the balance sheet and doing evaluations of what is there. And in Q4, we have written down 18.5 million NOK after some considerations we did by the end of the year. And also, but not least, during Q4, we had a successful fundraising that was closed in November, I think. So that's also some of the things I think it is worth to mention from Q4. Okay. We are now in February.
So, yeah, actually, we are more than halfway through this Q1 . So definitely things have happened already. And that's why it's important to mention also things that is, from my perspective, important to highlight from this period. I have just mentioned myself and my new role in the company. So I'll not spend more time on that. But I think I would like also to mention that we have a new Group CFO that started January 2. It was, the news was published, yeah, sometime last year, I think. But Morten is now in place. He is coming from professional companies and have a lot of experiences. And also just after a few weeks, he has become one of my important wingmen, going forward.
So, to have Morten as part of the management team as well now is a big improvement. Garantum Wealth Management is a client we signed up, I think it was just before the summer last year, starting with reporting on clients and tax and using our depository. That relationship has worked very well. And they have decided now to extend their business relationship with us and include fund trading as part of the services that they are going to use from us. And for me, why I highlight this is that this is a good example of how our value proposition and our services are relevant and attractive for the market. And this is exactly how I'd like to see it. Companies and customers coming in, working with, or buying some of the products or services we have.
And then as they grow and as their needs are changing, we are able to serve them with exactly what they need. In the first part of this quarter, we brought out the news that we had signed an LOI with AVL in Germany. Definitely a very interesting and important milestone for us for when it comes to the German market. Sorry. What is happening now is that we are working on the practical setup. It's a lot of stuff that needs to be in place to make sure that a full solution is working. It's about tax reporting. It's about AML questions, its front-end solution, and so on. Some that needs to be in place around the trading engine. That said, we are both working with the setup.
And of course, we also need to see that the setup is a setup that is also good for us from a financial perspective. And last but not least, as mentioned before, Solaris in Germany, they have been focusing on both bank and card and investor investments, investment as a service. And as part of that setup, we have had an agreement with them. They have had some challenges internally. And the conclusion of that is, as mentioned before, they have decided to focus on their banking side. Still, Huddlestock is the partner that they would like to work together with. But because of their change in business model, we agree that the original agreement was terminated and let's sit down.
That is what we're doing now to see how we can set up and replace that with a new formal partnership agreement with them. So that is discussions that is going on. Going forward, what will be important? Well, I mentioned too that I am a client and sales and commercial man. So, making sure that we are building and growing our pipeline is definitely important. But since I also am very focused on profitability, the pipeline and the clients and the customers we are working ahead to need to be a very close connection to our profitable products so that we have a good match with the clients we are coming in with the products and services we have. That said, we do also have a lot of very well, and we love our clients.
And it's important to not forget to make sure that we also take good care of these clients, meaning that deliveries to these clients and the focus on these clients and how we can assure that we are a good provider to them is very important. And we'll also be focused very much going forward. When it comes to efficiency and cost, internal efficiency is always important. You can never be finished with that as a topic. That is a topic we have started to work with, done that through 2023, and it will continue in 2024. And it can both be about how we're working, the working processes, but also if we are organized in the right way. So no holy cows on that part.
As I mentioned, I think that Visigon is so a very important and interesting part of our group. So to grow the professional services business and Visigon is also a priority going forward, to grow a successful business and do even more of that. In general, this is a topic that I'm repeating myself in many times. Profitability is a focus. What is that meaning? Well, we need to do more of those things that can improve our increase our revenues, our profitable revenues, and also to make sure that we have cost control and where possible, where we can reduce cost. And both these two things are things that we are constantly working on every day.
Huddlestock has a growth strategy, as I mentioned before, meaning that, even though we have had a good growth up to this point, and of course, organic growth is perhaps and probably some of the most important areas where you grow your revenues. We are always open to see if there should come any opportunities that would fit into our strategy and make sense to have part of the group, meaning that we're working on also to identify any long-term financial partners that can support our strategy. So, to the end, going forward, my perspective and my message is that the activities and the business development that we are deciding to spend time and energy on should always be such that are supporting our objective of delivering long-term shareholder values.
So it's a long-term perspective that is always something that is very important for us. Well, that was a few slides first before we jump into the figures. And some of them will, of course, be some sort of repetition from the previous one because the previous slides has very much been to highlight some of the following ones. But anyway, let's go through them again. Start with the top line and the revenue side. Definitely happy to see a good growth from 2022 to 2023. The growth is definitely a big result of that is acquisitions of companies. But also there are organic growth within these figures. And that's a combination that is giving this growth with almost 90% that I think is very in line with the strategy we have.
When you do acquire companies, you always get cost with it. That's not a surprise. So the cost side has, of course, increased from 2022 to 2023 as well. In Q4, there are as normal, but also this year, some one-offs that have been taken. But the message that I think is important to send out is to see that the revenue growth has been 88% compared to the operating cost with 70%, meaning that these two lines are not at the same angle. So if you just follow that path, at some point, the revenues will exceed the cost. The challenge and the biggest objective now is to make sure and do whatever is necessary to get these two lines cross each other as soon as possible and then not sometime in the future.
So that's the challenge. And that's the way we need to manage it as well. When it comes to depreciation and amortization, as we could see by the end of last year, that was figures that was rising quite significantly compared to 2022. The main reason for that is because we have been working and investing in technology the previous years. And now in the late 2022, but especially in 2023, that technology has been started to use. And then it's the rules are quite easy to on that part when you're starting to use the technology and starting to get revenues on the technology, then you need to amortize, as well. So that is the biggest explanation. And it's actually not surprising.
Actually, to me, it's good to see because then it means that our technology is starting to be used. Also, as I mentioned, there have been some write-downs in Q4. On the group EBITDA side, the right side of it, I've commented. I think that it's worth to mention that the Q4 2023 compared to 2022 shows a flat path. We are in line with last year. If you compare that to the growth on the top line with almost 90%, that is actually a good improvement, even though the actual figures itself shows that it's not being that improved. But compared to the top line, it's a big improvement year-over-year. That's something we are very happy with, of course.
On the EBIT side, then you have everything with you, all the costs and amortizations as well. I have mentioned the amortizations regarding technology that has been starting to be used. But also in this picture, we will also include; it's included the amortization of goodwill that is following from companies that we have acquired during 2023. And since we acquired a lot of companies during 2023, now in 2022 and 2023, then the amortization on the goodwill is also giving the results here. Then technology, this is the revenues that are connected to our services that are recurring. So the figure of 41.9, as you can see here on the table on the left part of the picture here, is the same as we have on the recurring revenue side.
As you can see on the right side, it's definitely going through some shifts during the year, that is, following the companies we have been acquired. But, on the left-hand side, you can see how the revenues are steadily growing on this side. So as being a technology company, and we definitely would like to have. I would like to have 100% recurring revenues, at least that should be the target, is going in the right direction. And I think that is, out of NOK 87 million in top line to have NOK 41.9 million as recurring revenues is definitely a signal of that we are working on and going in the right direction. Then back to the Visigon business, the consulting revenues from Visigon.
As you can see, on the left side, they are going in the right direction and growing steadily today as well. And that's good. On the right-hand side, you, you see a typical pattern for a consultancy business where we have seasonal differences. And typically you can see in the summer season when there are vacation. That is something we saw last year. We saw it this year. We saw it year before last year. And we probably will see it next year. But what is very good to see is the big growth going out of the year. And the last quarter in last year was an all-time high on the revenue side. And as I highlighted in the beginning, 2023 also delivered an EBITDA margin of 13%. So that's very, very good.
That was short and sweet walkthrough of the slides that are all that is already published. Let's stop the presentation and see if there are any questions that has come. It might not have been that. That is, of course, okay. As mentioned initially, please send an email. You can call me. We have investorrelations@huddlestock.com as our preferred channel for written emails into the company. We also have an agreement with something called investorweb.no, where we also answer questions. Well, this PowerPoint will be present or be published at our website. The recording of this presentation will be available on our website as well. Aleš, I see that you raised your hand.
Yeah, I have one question about that, recurring revenue because that number, of course, is quite impressive, that 566% growth. But if I understand correctly, this is basically because, or it's coming from synergies, right, with acquisition companies or why that growth is so big. Because, for example, if you, let's say, take like a baseline, the recurring revenue which was in Huddlestock before and then recurring revenue which was in the Bricknode and after the acquisition, how much net growth do we have?
Net recurring revenues?
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, I do not have all the questions in all the answers in detail. But the general answer to your question is definitely because of a lot of the companies that is acquired, including Bricknode, is bringing in a lot of recurring revenues. So what we are looking at is how the number of millions of recurring revenues before Bricknode, for example, and after. And that is if you compare these two figures, you will see a big growth. So that's the simple answer.
Okay. Thank you.
Jan, hello.
Hi. It's one of those Norwegian names, right? Hi. We do this in English. I, first of all, it's a good result. Congratulations. I'm excited about the profitability being around the corner, around the corner. So I'd like to get some more view on that relative to your, how much cash you have left on, you know, at the end of 2023. So I, I don't know. How much will you, are you willing to say about that stuff?
Yeah, I'm not going to say a lot of the details about that. Definitely not. Well, we are working on two sides. One of them is, of course, the day-to-day side and the day-to-day decisions on how we can increase short-term revenues and short-term cost reductions. That's one part of the story. And also, as I mentioned, we are looking for how we in this period of time where we are growing and turning around the business and also looking for growth are potentially being able to attract some long-term financing partners. So that's part of the two or same story. So what I'm doing when I come in now, I've been in the chair for two, no, three weeks. So it's quite new for me.
But that's about to go through the business and see how we can shorten down and shorten the cash need on the day-to-day business, but at the same time use or have some partners that can support us on more strategic initiatives.
Noted. Good. Thanks. Also, the second question, if I may, is just visibility on the German market. I joined late, so you might have said something about it in the beginning, but what are you able to share about your expectations in 2024 for the German market?
Well, we do not guide. So, I'll not say that much about things. What we do and what I have commented today is about the status on this AVL LOI agreement, and how we are just now working on the practical setup. It's not only about the trading engine. It's about how it will work together with tax reporting, AML, front-end system, and so on. So, that's the practical part of it. And of course, we need to see that the practical setup is also giving meaning in a good way from a financial perspective. And then we have this Solaris agreement where they have been doing some changes, where they are now focusing more strictly on their banking business, while they are at the same time very interested in the investment as a service business.
But since they are now strategically working on the banking business, the agreement that we currently have is not fitting 100% in. So what we are discussing now is how we can work together as partners and set up a partner agreement, still with the same objective, but with the fact that they have changed a little bit about their business. So that's the part that we are working with there. Of course, we have, as you perhaps know, we have a couple of people also at onsite in Germany, working every day also on potential clients and partnerships over there.
So I think that a message for me, and that is something I also said in the Norwegian version today, is that I will be reluctant to say more things than I can promise if you understand what I mean. So I'm a little bit conservative, a little bit conservative, about that. So, but I'll definitely share information that is relevant and for the investors.
Okay. Cool. If I may, one last question. The write-down you did of NOK 18 million, have you shared what it's related to?
The.
The write-down you did? Yeah. Sorry. Yeah.
No, I haven't shared the details.
Can I read about that? I haven't read the reports yet. Sorry about that. So, but yeah, you haven't shared.
Yeah. No, no problem. Yeah. No, I do not think we have published the details. I mean, it's a combination of, you know, you go through the, the, what do you call it in English? Kundefordring. You are looking into all the in the balance sheet on the technologies there. So it's a combination of many things. So it's more a healthy walkthrough and something that also I would like to do as a new CEO, go through the balance sheet and see what is relevant or not. So, no dramatics in it, but it's a combination of many things that sums up to that figure.
Okay. So, top line, just, I want to say I'm very happy about Visigon actually also returning, you know, profitability. This is very good. And also your recurring revenue, promising signs. And with the cost-cutting stuff, you know, it's, it seems like it's around the corner, but at the same time, the company has been thinking that for a few quarters, right? Getting to that sort of quarter-to-quarter profitability. Yeah.
Yeah. And that's also why I mentioned some of my objectives is to go perhaps even more aggressive on these two parts, to see how we can shorten the period before these two lines cross each other. But as you say, and that's my message as well, we are on the right way, definitely. I just are impatient. So I wanted to go faster.
Indeed. Okay. Cool. Thank you. Thanks for taking the questions.
Okay. No problem. Thank you. Okay. Then, I think we need to stop this presentation, because some of the audience perhaps also have other agreements or appointments. So thank you very much, everybody, for participating. And please send questions if you have any and have a nice day and week, going forward. Okay. Goodbye, everybody.
Thank you. Bye.
Bye. Thanks.