q.beyond increases earnings and financial strength in Q1 2025 and confirms outlook

q.beyond increases earnings and financial strength in Q1 2025 and confirms outlook

• EBITDA rises year-on-year by 15% to € 2.3 million
• Free cash flow increases to € 0.8 million
• Net liquidity now at € 39.9 million

Cologne, 12 May 2025. IT service provider q.beyond increased its earnings strength in the first quarter of 2025 despite the ongoing weak economic backdrop and can thus report a good start to its new financial year. Based on revenues of € 46.4 million (Q1 2024: € 47.1 million), quarterly EBITDA rose year-on-year by € 0.3 million to € 2.3 million, while consolidated net income improved by € 0.8 million to € -0.3 million.

q.beyond’s financial strength also grew further, with free cash flow rising from € 0.6 million in the first quarter of 2024 to € 0.8 million. Net liquidity at the company, which has no debts, now totals € 39.9 million, corresponding to € 0.32 per q.beyond share. A further sum of around € 5 million will be received by q.beyond in the third quarter of 2025 at the latest, as all tax-related questions relating to the sale of the Plusnet telecommunications subsidiary in 2019 have now been clarified.

Thies Rixen, q.beyond’s CEO, sees the company as being well on track: “Our strategy is working. Profitability has priority over growth. And our earnings strength is rising even though the climate in which we operate is still challenging.” The company’s consistent focus on profitable solutions and services proved its worth, even if, as was the case in the past quarter, this might involve discontinuing lower-margin revenues in agreement with customers.

Consulting margin improves to 14%

This focus played a key role in securing the high gross margin of 22% in the “Managed Services” segment and raising the gross margin in “Consulting”, the second segment, in just one year from 8% to 14%. Nora Wolter, q.beyond’s CFO, particularly highlights the progress made in Consulting: “Focusing our sales activities on marketing consulting and development services is paying off ever more clearly. As business volumes rise, we can make even better use of capacities in the existing team and thus further increase our efficiency.”

The growing share of nearshoring and offshoring activities is also helping to enhance efficiency across both segments. At the end of March 2025, the share of employees at the locations in Latvia, Spain, India, and the USA stood at 16%, compared with 12% one year earlier. This quota is set to rise to 20% by the end of the year.

Sustainably positive consolidated net income planned

Following the good start to the year, q.beyond has confirmed the full-year forecast for 2025 published at the beginning of March: the company plans for EBITDA to rise to between € 12 million and € 15 million, for sustainably positive consolidated net income, and for sustainably positive free cash flow built on revenues of between € 184 million and € 190 million. This outlook is based on the assumption that the German economy emerges from recession in the further course of the year.

q.beyond’s CEO, Thies Rixen, believes that the company is also well prepared for any more prolonged economic downturn: “We proved the resilience of our business model in the past two years. Despite the recession, we significantly increased our earnings and financial strength.” Based on Thies Rixen’s observation, the current turbulences may even harbour opportunities: “Many SMEs are very interested right now in regaining sovereignty over their IT. q.beyond can ensure just that, thanks to its extensive technological and sector-specific expertise and its proprietary high-security data centres.” Only recently, the company unveiled “Private Enterprise AI”, its AI platform that ensures 100-percent data sovereignty.

Key figures at a glance  

Notes:
This Corporate News contains forward-looking statements that are based on current expectations and forecasts on the part of the management with regard to future events. Due to risks or erroneous assumptions, actual results may deviate materially from these forward-looking statements. The complete Quarterly Statement is available at www.qbeyond.de/en/investor-relations.

About q.beyond AG:
q.beyond AG is the key to successful digitalisation. We help our customers find, implement, and operate the best digital solutions for their businesses. Our strong team of 1,100 specialists accompanies SMEs reliably as they tackle their digital transformation. Customers benefit here from our all-round expertise in cloud, applications, AI, and security. With locations across Germany and in Latvia, Spain, India, and the USA, as well as its own certified data centres, q.beyond is one of Germany’s leading IT service providers.

Contact:
q.beyond AG
Arne Thull
Head of Investor Relations/Mergers & Acquisitions
T +49 221 669-8724
invest@qbeyond.de
www.qbeyond.de