The numbers are in for ICT Group’s Q3 2019, showing revenue of 35.9 million euros. This is an increase of 13 percent compared to the same quarter last year. The growth was fully driven by the acquisitions of Additude and BNV in Q1 2019 (links in Dutch). Organically, revenue increase was limited to 2 percent in the third quarter, mainly due to weak market developments.
In the Netherlands, the performance of the segment Engineering R&D was affected by the termination of a number of projects. The Infra & Mobility segment experienced lower productivity in the energy activities and results were also impacted by the upfront outlays in mobility-as-a-service. The Swedish activities of Additude reported lower than anticipated results due to low productivity. In Bulgaria, Strypes realized healthy growth, mainly driven by ongoing demand for nearshoring services.
“After a strong first half of 2019, the third quarter was disappointing for ICT Group,” reports CEO Jos Blejie. “In our business, Q3 is traditionally a quarter with uncertainties due to the summer breaks. Although we anticipated the high organic growth levels to level off in the second half of the year, we didn’t foresee the rate of deterioration in market conditions. Clients terminated a number of projects unexpectedly, impacting productivity in the third quarter. At the same time, we see increased momentum for our software-as-a-service offerings and we continue to invest in them. These upfront outlays do however impact the short-term profitability. We expect the situation of the third quarter to stabilize in the fourth quarter.”