Jena, Scheidegg, May 18, 2022 – The tenth Annual General Meeting of Smart Commerce SE took place in Scheidegg in the Allgäu to kick off the event marking the 10th anniversary of the company. At the Annual General Meeting on May 18, 2022 in the Edita Hotel, the Management Board reported on business development and the financial results for 2021 and gave an outlook for the current year 2022.
• 10th profitable financial year in a row: absolute EBIT over €1,233 thousand and EBIT margin of 12.7%
• Highest dividend to date (along with last year) of 50 cents per share
• Share rises to record level €16.36 (up 33%)
The Chairman of the Board, Dr. Ludger Vogt, explained the business development of the past year 2021. On the customer side, this was characterized by
(1) the strategic cooperation with fischerwerke including the project 'Craftsupply',
(2) the continuous development of eCommerce solutions of our premium customers and
(3) a successful "Restart Sales" initiative with the acquisition of 8 new customers.
Smart Commerce developed the rooom 3D integration for eCommerce, initially for Intershop. The integration of the rooom 3D Product Viewer in Intershop enables modern 3D product visualization in online shops, later also a comfortable search in spare parts shops, it was published on February 1st, 2022 and will be presented at the Intershop customer fair INPULSE in Amsterdam. After being named “Intershop Partner of the Year DACH” in the previous year, Smart Commerce became Intershop’s “Platinum Partner” in 2021. The solution partnership with rooom in the area of 3D/AR/VR technology for eCommerce is to be strengthened in 2022; we will develop the integration for more commerce platforms (first Spryker Commerce).
The Board Member for Finance and Controlling, Frank Schneider, supplemented the financial review. The company has been consistently profitable since it was founded in 2012; 2021 was the ninth consecutive full profitable fiscal year since inception; with the profitable foundation short fiscal year 2012, there are 10 profitable financial years. Profit expectations were exceeded in the past financial year; the EBIT was over 1,233 T€ at 12.7% (targets were: 1,093 T€ and 10%). The free funds grew to €4,008 thousand at the end of 2021. The enterprise value is determined annually using the simplified earnings value method, Sections 199 to 203 BewG; the share grew by 33% to a high of €16.36. The company achieved sales of around €10 million in 2021, less than planned. The "Flexforce concept" (external developers used flexibly) served to secure EBIT in the event of fluctuations in sales or the order backlog.
On this basis, the Annual General Meeting resolved a dividend distribution of EUR 0.50 per share. As the employees also have a material interest in Smart Commerce SE, they participate in the increase in the value of the company (from 33% in 2021) and in the profit distribution (dividend of EUR 0.50 per share for 2021) in accordance with the level of their interest. The Annual General Meeting approved a new participation offer 2022 to employees (employee shares). This considered the increased annual tax and SV allowance of €1,440 from the Fund-Location-Law (FoStoG, in force from August 2, 2021) as a corporate allowance of 10% on the purchase price. The Executive Board was authorized to acquire and use treasury shares for the investment for 5 years.
Despite the current economic situation, the outlook for the 2022 financial year already underway from Ingo Körber, Executive Board member at the Leipzig site, was also positive. A profitable fiscal year with an EBIT margin of 10% is still planned. Demand for SAP Commerce, Intershop Commerce and Spryker Commerce experts is good, both among existing and new customers. Smart Commerce is pursuing a growth strategy and continues to seek experienced employees in the eCommerce environment (Intershop Commerce, SAP Commerce, Spryker Commerce OS).
