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• Q1 2019 Infront reports strong revenue and user growth - Becomes leading European financial market solutions provider

Q1 2019 Infront reports strong revenue and user growth - Becomes leading European financial market solutions provider

Infront reports strong revenue and user growth - Becomes leading European financial market solutions provider. The acquisition of VWD will turn Infront into one of top-three financial terminal providers in Europe.

Infront reports strong revenue and user growth - Becomes leading European financial market solutions provider

• Acquisition of VWD will turn Infront into one of top-three financial terminal providers in Europe
  • Adding ~50 000 professional users and ~2 400 customers
  • Highly complementary operations with significant cross- and upsell opportunities, significant cost savings identified
  • Expected to add approximately NOK 650m of annual revenue
  • Platform for growth across Europe and in other markets
  • Purchase price of EUR 130 million on EV basis to be financed through equity rights issue and bond issue, both fully underwritten
• Infront Italia integration and synergy capture on track
  • Initial savings of NOK 5 million per year realized by consolidation of exchange and data contracts
  • Infront Professional Terminal successfully launched in Italy
• Q1 2019 revenue increased 52% to NOK 104.8 million from NOK 68.9 million in Q1 2018
  • Inclusion of Infront Italia
  • Continued strong quarterly growth in UK, South Africa and Finland
  • Positive contribution from Infront Web Technology solutions
• Q1 2019 EBITDA of NOK 15.1 million (NOK 13.4 million before IFRS 16 effects) compared to Q1 2018 EBITDA of NOK 14.5 million
  • Continued personnel and other operational investments for geographic expansion and product development for future growth
  • Adjusted for M&A cost impact, EBITDA of NOK 15.6 million (NOK 13.8 million before IFRS 16 effects)
• Number of paying professional users amounted to 38.3k, up from 17.7k in Q1 2018

Oslo, 7 May: Infront ASA (INFRNT) today announced its interim results for Q1 2019. Group revenue was NOK 104.8 million (NOK 68.9 million), an increase of 52% from the same quarter last year, driven by higher sales and prices across the group, full revenue recognition from Infront Italia, as well as continued growth in new markets led by South Africa and UK.

Q1 2019 EBITDA included Market Connect transaction-related costs of NOK 0.5 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 7.5% to NOK 15.6 million from adjusted EBITDA of NOK 14.5 million in Q1 2018. Before implementation of IFRS 16, adjusted EBITDA amounted to NOK 13.8 million compared to NOK 14.5 million in adjusted EBITDA for the same period last year. This decrease was mainly due to high employee and other operational investments related to geographic expansion and product development for future growth.

On 11 April, Infront announced an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares in vwd Group GmbH (“VWD“) for EUR 130 million on an enterprise value basis. The combined business will be among the top 3 providers of professional terminals in Europe and a leading full-service provider of real-time market information and portfolio management solutions to financial professionals with ~3 600 diversified customers and ~90 000 professional users. 2018 revenue for the combined company exceeded NOK 1 055 million and adjusted EBITDA was NOK 195 million, accounting for estimated near-term cost savings of NOK 25 million. The transaction is proposed financed by a bond issue of EUR 105 million and an equity rights issue of approximately NOK 240 million (equivalent to approximately EUR 25 million), both fully underwritten.

“Our ambition has been to become a top three provider of financial terminals in Europe and we deliver on that ambition with the announced acquisition of VWD and take-over of Market Connect late last year. Both are highly complementary businesses, both in terms of customers and products offerings. We will now be able to reach even more customers to drive organic growth, explore significant cross- and upsell opportunities from an expanded product range and capture cost synergies from consolidating data feeds and other efficiencies,” said Kristian Nesbak, CEO and Founder of Infront.

Infront generates most of its revenue based on recurring subscription contracts for the products. Subscription revenue represented 99% of total sales in Q1 2019.

Please find the full financial report and presentation enclosed.

CEO Kristian Nesbak and CFO Max Hofer will present the results via a webcast at 10.00 CEST at: https://infrontfinance.com/ir/webcast-q1-2019/

It will be possible to ask questions via e-mail. Send your questions to ir@infrontfinance.com. The presenters are also available for questions after the presentation, please schedule a time via the same email. A recording of the presentation will be available on the website shortly after the live webcast has ended.

For further information please contact:

Kristian Nesbak, CEO of Infront, +47 940 04 000
Max Hofer, CFO of Infront, +47 971 48 953

The interim report and presentation are also available on the investor relations pages at www.infrontfinance.com/ir/investors   

About Infront

Infront provides a unique combination of global market data, news, analytics and trading tools. With over 20 years of product development driven by our clients’ business needs, the Infront Professional Terminal is the most user-friendly and flexible terminal in the financial market. We help buy-side and sell-side institutions grow their businesses, reduce costs, adapt to fast changing market requirements and work more effectively with ever-increasing amounts of information. Over 40 000 professional subscribers worldwide rely on Infront’s services. Infront is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and has offices in eight countries across Europe and South Africa.