Columbus increases earnings by 13% to 81.6m and delivers the best result in the company's 25-years history.

Ballerup, 2015-03-17 12:46 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Columbus continues the growth of recent years in earnings and announces record high earnings for the second year in a row. Columbus increases earnings in both the consultancy and the software business and sells more industry solutions, which gives the global consultancy a great result with bottom line growth.

Earnings (EBITDA*) amounted to DKK 81.6m, which is a growth of 13% compared to 2013. The net result for the year amounted to DKK 52.7m and constitutes a growth of 142%. Revenue amounted to DKK 878.3m and are on the same level as 2013.

"2014 was a satisfying year for Columbus. We delivered progress for 13 successive quarters and 2014 was another record year for Columbus. We follow a strategic plan and the result shows that it is a profitable business," says Thomas Honoré, CEO in Columbus.

Continuous progress in earnings in the consultancy business
Columbus' consultancy business achieved an increase in revenue by 5%. At the same time, the company has improved efficiency. Overall, this resulted in a considerably progress in earnings in the consulting business.

Increased earnings in Columbus' software business
In 2014, Columbus increased the sale of own software by 3%. Earnings (EBITDA) in Columbus' software business improved by 26%, primarily because of the increased sales. Columbus' software business constituted 44% of EBITDA* in 2014 (2013: 39%)

Growth in revenue from industry solutions
Revenues from our industry solutions: food, retail and manufacturing continued the progress and now constitutes 77% of the total revenue. This is in line with expectations and the company has hereby achieved an important target for the year.

New acquisitions strengthen Columbus' market position
In 2014, Columbus strengthened its market position by the acquisitions of the companies Omnica - a retail and e-commerce consultancy, and Dynamics Anywhere — a mobility software company.

Columbus strives to grow organically as well as through acquisitions of companies with a profile similar to Columbus within the company's key industries and in selected geographical areas.

Expectations of growth and increased earnings in 2015
2015 is the last year of Columbus' strategy Columbus15, with the goal of transforming the company into a global consultancy with industry knowledge and own software while improving earnings.

"The results of recent years shows that Columbus' strategy is right. Today, we are a strong global consultancy with industry knowledge and own developed software. 2015 is about maintaining focus on running a healthy business, while we prepare our strategic plan beyond 2015", says Thomas Honoré.

In 2015, Columbus expects continued growth in sale of industry solutions and in sale of own software, and maintains focus on improving earnings in the consultancy. Columbus expects revenues in the level of DKK 1bn and EBITDA* in the level of DKK 90m, corresponding to a growth of 14% and 10% respectively compared to the 2014 results.

   

* EBITDA before share-based payment