Shareholders’ meeting approves dividend increase

Digitalisation specialist init expects continued growth in 2025 despite increased risks

• Revenue in the first quarter of 2025 increased by around 40 per cent year-on-year
• Managing Board has confirmed its forecast for the 2025 financial year: revenue of over EUR 300 million and EBIT of over EUR 30 million

init innovation in traffic systems SE (ISIN DE0005759807) intends to continue growing strongly in the 2025 financial year, despite increased risks. This was confirmed by the Managing Board at today's Shareholders’ meeting in Karlsruhe. Following a record year in 2024, the globally active digitalisation specialist for buses and trains recorded a 40 per cent increase in revenue to EUR 70 million in the first quarter of 2025. The init group is therefore on track to achieve its target range of around EUR 300 to 330 million in revenues and EUR 30 to 33 million in earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) for the year as a whole. This represents an increase in earnings of at least 22 per cent compared to the previous record year of 2024.

Over EUR 7.9 million will be distributed

The shareholders in attendance were very satisfied with this outlook and also approved the Board's dividend proposal with 99,98 per cent of the votes cast. This equates to an increase in distribution to EUR 0.80 (previous year: EUR 0.70) per dividend-bearing share. A total of over EUR 7.9 million will be distributed.

All previous members were re-elected to the Supervisory Board. The Supervisory Board of init innovation in traffic systems SE continues to comprise Dipl.-Ing. Andreas Thun, Dipl.-Ing. Ulrich Sieg, Prof. Michaela Dickgießer, Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Christina Greschner, and Dr. Johannes Haupt.

AI and the cloud create new opportunities

The Management Board emphasised the company's growth prospects, which remain intact despite increased uncertainty. This is supported by the order backlog of EUR 375 million as of 31 March 2025, which is significantly higher than annual revenues. “We continue to see solid demand for our solutions in the sector, with further major opportunities arising from large-scale tenders. We can also significantly improve earnings by increasing productivity throughout the company,” comments CEO Dr. Gottfried Greschner.

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) plays a major role in this. Transport companies are finding it increasingly difficult to acquire all the specialist knowledge and resources required to operate a complex IT system landscape reliably and securely, in line with constantly increasing security requirements. Added to this is the intensifying competition for the necessary IT experts.

“As a technology partner, we provide reliable hosting concepts and cloud solutions that fulfil all legal compliance, reliability, high availability and cybersecurity requirements. Our intelligent system concepts ensure that the system is always up to date, and selected data centres in Germany guarantee secure operation. IT hosting from init allows transport companies to focus on their core business, safe in the knowledge that their operational IT systems are in the best possible hands," emphasised Greschner.

The shortage of skilled workers is posing an increasingly major challenge for transport companies. Drivers are a scarce resource, and many long-serving employees in control centres, depots, and administration are also retiring. Suitable IT solutions, such as those offered by init, can help to fill this gap. init's on-board computers also help new employees to quickly familiarise themselves with their new role and become flexible in their deployment. Intuitive operating concepts, similar to those found on smartphones, significantly reduce training time. To reduce language barriers, the user interface is available in multiple languages. In future, thanks to an AI-based assistant, drivers will receive text messages from the control centre in their native language.

The init Managing Board views account-based ticketing systems, such as the one currently being installed in Atlanta in time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, as a key area for global growth. This major project involves the implementation of the Automated Fare Collection System (AFC 2.0), which will enable passengers to pay for journeys on buses or trains and other public transport using contactless bank or credit cards, or smart devices via 'tap and go'.

“Nowadays, people expect to be able to buy tickets cheaply and conveniently using a mobile device or credit card. With our smart ticketing solutions, however, we can offer even more. Passengers simply pay by showing their customer, bank or credit card, or their smartphone, when boarding or at the gate. At the same time, our intelligent software takes care of the entire transaction and billing process. With init's hardware and software, public transport in the Atlanta metropolitan area is being taken to a new level. Against the backdrop of the World Cup and the associated global attention, this is valuable for us as a reference," says init CEO Dr. Gottfried Greschner.

In addition to AI solutions, he sees growth drivers for the coming years in the defined order volume, that exceeds the reported order backlog, success in selling Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and increased delivery of the next generation of the COPILOTpc3 on-board computer. Added to this, the completed acquisition of the data management specialist DILAX Intelcom GmbH is increasingly having a positive impact.

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