Strong organic growth in both business areas
October – December 2023
- Net sales amounted to SEK 91.3 (55.3) million, an increase of 65% compared to the corresponding period previous year. Organic growth (adjusted for the new accounting principle implemented in iMotions 2022) sums up to 50%. Both the business area Automotive and Behavioral Research show very high growth in the quarter.
- EBITDA amounted to SEK -27.1 (-60.6) million. The improved result is driven by higher sales and lower OPEX. One-time expenses impact the result negative with 4.8 million, mainly due to social security charges from share incentive programs referring to higher stock market price. This expense does not affect the cash flow.
- Operating loss amounted to SEK -67.1 (-100.1) million. Depreciation of the surplus value created in conjunction with the Affectiva and iMotions acquisitions amounts to SEK 29.5 million.
- Earnings after tax per share are 3.88 (-3.78), and after full dilution 3.75 (-3.78). Earnings after tax is positive due to deferred tax posted in quarter (SEK 209.9 million), which refers to upcoming tax position.
- Cash and cash equivalents totaled SEK 79.7 million at the end of December. The cash ending balance including credit facilities amounts to 161.6 million.
- Strong order intake during the quarter included 77 design wins for DMS and our first Tier 1 contract. Early January 2024 additional 19 design wins were signed. The estimated revenue of the orders amounts to SEK 2,050 million based on estimated product life cycle projections.
January – December 2023
- Net sales amounted to SEK 302.2 (219.5) million, which corresponds to an increase of 38%. Organic growth amounted to 33% (adjusted for the new accounting principle implemented in iMotions 2022) and is driven by Automotive business. Behavioral Research also shows stable growth.
- Operating loss amounted to SEK -282.9 (-343.0) million. The improved operating loss is driven by higher sales and lower OPEX, excluding exchange rate impact, compared to last year. Depreciation of the surplus value created in conjunction with the Affectiva and iMotions acquisitions amounts to SEK 116.3 million. The period was burdened by one-time costs due to the funding process amounting to SEK 2.8 million.
- Profit/loss after financial items amounted to SEK -283.2 (-344.1) million.
- Earnings after tax per share is -2.15 (-12.98), and after full dilution -2.15 (-12.98). Earning after tax has improved due to deferred tax posted in the period.
Comments from the CEO
The fourth quarter is characterized by an increased growth rate compared to the previous quarter. The organic growth came in at 50% (32% in Q3 2023). Again, it’s Automotive that leads the way thanks to the rollout of our production programs. We have costs under firm control and continue to execute our business plan. 2023 ends in a fantastic way, 2024 looks even better.
Automotive
In accordance with our plan, the automotive volumes continued to rise in the quarter. The increase in demand can be attributed to the European regulation going into effect this year, affecting the decisions of OEMs in Europe as well as in other markets. The design wins that we announced during 2019 and 2020 are the cars that now reach production readiness. That’s why our automotive business area is growing with 121% (83% in Q3 2023) compared to the same quarter last year.
Korea is still the primary growth engine, being well on their way to implement DMS broadly. Volumes have yet to pick up in other markets, although they are growing from a low level. We expect other markets such as Japan, Europe and the US to mature in the quarters to come. Simultaneously there’s a strong market pull for Interior Sensing in the automotive premium segment. We are very well positioned for upcoming business in this new and exciting area.
Our new development programs are progressing as planned, and we see growth in the AIS product. The requests are coming both from fleet customers as well as from commercial vehicle OEMs eager to fulfill the European regulations. We expect a steady ramp up of AIS during this year.
Behavioral Research
The Business Area has really picked up speed since last year, growing at a very good 29% (17% in Q3 2023). This means that we are increasing our market share, thanks to a broad offering of software, hardware and services. We are confident that the profitable growth will continue this year, one of the cornerstones in turning the whole company profitable. We are as always exploring new innovations, whether they manifest themselves in our core technologies or how we package them to the customers. The research market for human insight technology is still in an early stage and continued growth is to be expected, far into the future.
Final Words
Behavioral Research is on a trajectory of profitable growth, which we project will continue for many years. Our automotive business is not yet profitable, but thanks to the inevitable inertia of the industry we see a very clear path towards profitability during this year, as a steady stream of new car models goes into production and starts ramping up. These two factors work together to secure profitability for the whole company later in 2024.
The large automotive OEMs have awarded a major portion of the early contracts for DMS. As programs are nominated it’s becoming clear what the distribution of market share looks like. It’s the background for the market consolidation that we have seen in the latest quarters. This development is expected to continue, the reason being the shift towards Interior Sensing which will require an increased investment in product roadmaps.
We believe the increased technology investment is beneficial for Smart Eye, since being market leader means significant economy of scale.
Martin Krantz
CEO Smart Eye
