Bucharest, 26 February 2021 – Bittnet (BNET), a group of IT companies, listed on the Main Market of the Bucharest Stock Exchange, reported 108.6 million lei consolidated revenues in 2020 and an operating profit of 4.3 million lei, an increase of 400% compared to the same period of last year. The consolidated net result of the Group increased by almost RON 2.7 million, and consequently, Bittnet Group ended the year with a net profit.
“Just as bridges are subjected to extreme endurance tests before they are open to the public, so has 2020 been for us – a sum of endurance tests for Bittnet Group. I am happy that we have passed these tests well. Our Group is financially and operationally ready for a new cycle of accelerated growth, adapted to the new business realities, challenges and local and international market opportunities. In a challenging year, we have still grown all our indicators, turning back to profit. In 2020, we generated a business of 140 million lei, but the international lockdowns and general elections in Romania resulted in delays finalization of the projects gained. We expect these delayed projects to have an additional, positive effect on our 2021 results,” said Mihai Logofatu, CEO and co-founder of Bittnet Group.
In a year in which most of the companies were either severely affected or registering significant drops in turnover, Bittnet Group achieved an operating cash flow of over 8 million lei, which combined with access to the capital market, allowed the Group to carry out investments in the development of the Group. Consequently, in 2020 Bittnet Group made new investments worth over 10 million lei in Equatorial Gaming, The eLearning Company and Softbinator.
In the context of a national economic contraction of 3.9% in 2020, the technology division of the Bittnet Group, which includes Dendrio and Elian, recorded 96.6 million lei in revenues, an increase of over 11%. The gross margin grew 33%, and the division ended 2020 with an increase of over 4 million lei in operating profit, reaching 2.5 million lei. The Education Division’s activity, represented by Bittnet Training and Equatorial, was impacted by the training budget cuts or freezes. Consequently, the revenues decreased by 6% compared to 2019. Nonetheless, the Group ended the year with an operating profit of 4.3 million lei and almost 25 million lei in cash, approximately 20% more than last year.
The market capitalization of BNET appreciated by 22% during 2020, reaching 159 million lei. In the course of 2020, approximately 40% of Bittnet’s free-float was actively traded by investors. In 2020, Bucharest Stock Exchange included BNET shares in BET-XT, BET-XT-TR, BET-BK and BETPlus indices. As of March 22, 2021, BNET shares will also be included in two global indices: FTSE Global Micro-Cap and FTSE Total-Cap.
“In a difficult year when BET-XT index registered a decline of 4%, Bittnet shareholders registered yield of 22%, without considering the additional return recorded by investors who participated in the capital increase in March last year. We have a clear roadmap for 2021 in terms of our activity on the capital markets – a public offer of Bittnet preferential shares, which will allow us to eliminate financing costs, and significantly increase the profit margin without diluting the voting rights of existing shareholders. Paired with our recent inclusion in the FTSE indices, we look forward to 2021 as a transformational year in terms of our presence on the Romanian capital market,” said Cristian Logofatu, co-founder at Bittnet Group.
In 2020, Bittnet launched several strategic projects that benefited from the global context of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as Work from Home and Business Continuity initiatives of Dendrio as well as DevOps Artisans and CTRL+N projects of Bittnet Training. The investments carried out in the course of 2020 are expected to continue to deliver results in 2021.
According to the preliminary budget for 2021, Bittnet aims for a consolidated turnover of 157 million lei and a gross profit of 12.8 million lei. These estimates include the results to be generated by the companies that joined the Group in 2020. As of 2021, Bittnet Group’s Education Division consists of Bittnet Training, Equatorial Gaming, the eLearning Company. The Technology division consists of Dendrio Solutions, Elian Solutions and Softbinator Technologies.
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About Bittnet Group
Bittnet was founded in 2007 in Bucharest, by brothers Mihai and Cristian Logofătu, as a company offering IT training and IT solutions in Romania and abroad. Today, Bittnet is a Group of companies in the IT field of which the following brands are part: Bittnet Training, Dendrio, ELIAN Solutions, Equatorial Gaming, the eLearning Company and Softbinator. Bittnet Training is the leader of the IT training market in Romania, with over 15 years of experience and the largest team of IT trainers in Romania. Equatorial is a game-based learning company specialized n providing transformative training and consulting programs at the individual, team and organizational levels in Romania and abroad. Dendrio is the only multi-cloud integrator in Romania, consolidating its position as a company certified by the most important IT providers globally, focusing on cloud security and cybersecurity. Elian Solutions specializes in providing Microsoft Dynamics NAV Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation services. Bittnet Group is listed on the Main Market of the Bucharest Stock Exchange under the BNET symbol.