Source: https://cobaltstrike.net/2022/04/06/positive-technologies-to-pay-shareholders-half-of-net-profit/
As promised, the company plans to spend half of this amount on paying dividends to shareholders, the total number of which has already exceeded 21 thousand. Positive Technologies is one of the few public companies in the domestic technology sector that is currently a growth company and will pay dividends.
At an online event on April 5, top managers of one of the leaders of the Russian information security market presented the financial results of 2021 and consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), with the conclusion of an independent auditor.
The company’s revenue reached 7.1 billion rubles, an increase of 28%. The dynamics of gross profit amounted to +32%, it increased to 6.2 billion rubles, while the gross margin was 87.8% (+ 2.8 percentage points compared to last year). Adjusted EBITDA reached 2.9 billion rubles, and adjusted EBITDA margin increased to 41%. The company’s net profit for 2021 amounted to 1.9 billion rubles, which exceeds the 2020 figures by 26.5%.
The company’s Board of Directors made recommendations on the payment of dividends to shareholders in the amount of 14.4 rubles per share. The total amount of dividends, if approved by the General Meeting of Shareholders, will amount to about 950 million rubles, which is equal to 50% of the net profit under IFRS received for 2021. Thus, the company will fulfill the previously announced dividend policy and become one of the few public technology companies that not only grow, but also pay dividends.
“Last year 2021 was a kind of assembly moment for us. It was this year that the implementation of our three-year strategy, which included three main directions, was completed. Firstly, we have developed all the technologies necessary to protect companies in line with the concept of effective cybersecurity. Now we have about 15 products and services in our portfolio, which together are guaranteed to detect hacker activity before unacceptable damage is inflicted on the company. This became the foundation for the implementation of the concept of metaproducts. Secondly, as a company, we have moved to a strategic perspective when setting our financial goals to increase sales from 2019 to 2021 in the amount of 4-6-8 billion rubles. Thirdly, in 2021 we conducted an offering on the Moscow Stock Exchange aimed at individuals. This moment became a synchronization point for all our plans — both technological and business. As a result, we realized that we can work effectively in our market, set and achieve ambitious strategic goals even in the face of a pandemic, sanctions and geopolitical turbulence.”, — noted Denis Baranov, CEO of Positive Technologies.
The company believes that new challenges in the field of cybersecurity in the current conditions open up new opportunities for Positive Technologies.
“Since the end of February, Russian organizations have been subjected to an unprecedented wave of cyber attacks. Hackers attack literally everything: Military-industrial complex and fuel and energy complex, state institutions and banks, mass media and IT sphere. In these new realities, the demand for our services and products has increased dramatically. The number of requests from customers for services in just three weeks is comparable to a third of orders for the whole of last year, the picture is similar in the number of requests for the prompt delivery of our products — the application–level firewall (PT Application Firewall), PT Network Attack Discovery – traffic analysis systems, MaxPatrol SIEM – real-time incident detection systems, sandboxes (PT Sandbox), — he told me Maxim Filippov, Director of Sales and Business Development of the company. — At the same time, there is an almost complete exodus of foreign vendors from the Russian information security segment, and the volume of the released market tends to 80 billion rubles. Against this background, the market is being radically rebuilt: the request for a real result and protection from unacceptable events is relevant in every first case, and information security has really become a priority of the top officials of companies.”
In December 2021, Positive Technologies (ticker POSI) became the first public Russian company from the cybersecurity industry on the Moscow Stock Exchange, betting on the domestic market and private investors.
“After the resumption of trading on the Moscow Stock Exchange at the end of March, Positive Technologies shares were in the top-3 list in terms of growth rates. In the first two days, they added 96% in price, and in a week they increased 2.3 times. The capitalization of the company at the end of trading on April 5 in total exceeded $ 1 billion., — explained Maxim Pustovoy, Chief Operating Officer of Positive Technologies. — This is due to the high demand for domestic solutions in the field of cybersecurity, the release of entire market niches after the departure of foreign IT companies and the support of the industry from the state. At the same time, 98% of our clients are Russian organizations, and our company is the only representative of the industry on the stock exchange. The number of investors is also growing: if at the start there were about 1400 of them, by the end of February the total number of co—owners of the company reached 21,446, of which more than 20 thousand are external investors from among individuals”.
In 2021, the company fulfilled all the main financial performance goals presented to investors before placing shares on the Moscow Stock Exchange. A number of them, including net profit, profitability and EBITDA, exceeded previously formed forecasts.
This year, Positive Technologies plans to maintain the ambitious growth rates of the main indicators. Revenue for the year, according to the company’s plan, will amount to 12-15 billion rubles. Adjusted EBITDA is planned in the range of 4-6 billion, and adjusted EBITDA margin is at the level of 40-45%. The company’s net profit for 2022 may be from 3 to 5 billion rubles, and the net profit margin is 30-35%.