Date set for Crayon offer and CFO departure: SoftwareOne reports FY24

A poor UK performance dragged the EMEA full year results down

Swiss solutions provider SoftwareOne has reported a small growth in revenue for FY24 despite a tumultuous year marked by low go-to-market (GTM) sales.

Group revenue went up 2.9 per cent year-on-year in constant currency (ccy) to CHF 1.017bn (£892.1m), compared to CHF 1.01bn last year.

Despite revenue increasing two per cent in DACH, from CHF 299.4m to CHF 301.1m, results were dragged down by the rest of EMEA, with revenue dropping 1.1 per cent, landing at CHF 299.5m compared to CHF 310.4m in FY23.

Poor results in the region were mostly driven by cautious customer spending and GTM-related sales execution issues in the UK during H2.

NORAM revenue ccy also fell slightly by 0.1 per cent (CHF 145.9m compared to 149.1m in FY23).

Revenue in LATAM grew 2.7 per cent (from CHF 99.7m in FY23 to CHF 100.3m in FY24), and APAC was drastically on the rise, with a 15.8 per cent increase (from CHF 144.3m in FY23 to CHF 163.4m this financial year)

Globally, revenues were boosted by the reseller’s software and cloud services unit, which rose 7.3 per cent year-on-year, from CHF 461.2m to CHF 484.6m.

On the other hand, the software & cloud marketplace segment impacted overall results, with a 0.8 per cent decline due to low performance in the Microsoft business.

Adjusted EBITDA dipped 7.6 per cent year-on-year ccy to CHF 223.4m, with margin down 2.3 per cent.

“In 2024, our performance was impacted by continued uncertainty in the economic environment resulting in a muted Q4 budget flush in key markets, including DACH, as well as GTM-related execution issues in the second half of the year,” said Raphael Erb, CEO of SoftwareOne.

“In response, we focused on the priorities we set out in November last year.

“Firstly, we took decisive action to resolve the GTM-related disruption, with impacted countries demonstrating early signs of generating new sales pipeline and improved sales productivity.

“Secondly, we swiftly executed on the cost reduction programme, over-achieving the targeted savings well ahead of schedule. With fewer management layers and reduced complexity, this was an important step to empowering our front-line and restoring customer centricity and agility.

“Finally, we appointed highly experienced leaders in several regions, including DACH and the rest of EMEA, to drive positive change.”

Keep reading to learn more about SoftwareOne’s leadership changes, merger with Crayon, and outlook for the future...

Reshuffle and expansion

The Stans, Switzerland-HQ group announced that CFO and member of the executive board Rodolfo Savitzky will leave the company in Q2 2025, after three years in the role.

The search for his successor has reportedly been completed and will be named in the next few weeks.

“We would like to thank Rodolfo for the contributions he has made to SoftwareOne,” said Erb.

“He strengthened the finance and IT organisations and implemented the operational excellence programme, which leaves the company with a solid basis for the integration of Crayon.”

Savitzky added: “It has been an honour to be part of SoftwareOne’s leadership.

“I am confident that the company is very well-positioned for its exciting next chapter after the acquisition of Crayon.”

The merger with Oslo-based Crayon will bring around CHF 1.6bn to the reseller, and a presence across over 70 countries, as well as 13,000 employees.

The voluntary recommended offer for Crayon is to start around 17 March 2025 following publication of combined offer document and prospectus, with the transaction now expected to be completed in June instead of Q3 FY25.

Growth expected in the future

SoftwareOne expects FY25 to follow an upward trend, with a predicted revenue growth between two to four per cent ccy, adjusted EBITDA margin of 24 to 26 per cent, and reported EBITDA to double compared to 2024.

The company also expects the benefits of the GTM transformation to come through but is still bracing itself for revenue decline in Q1 FY25, impacted by the changed Microsoft incentives on enterprise agreements, which will bottom out in 2025.

Looking even further, the company intends to make double-digit revenue growth ccy with an adjusted EBITDA margin nearing 27 per cent in 2026.