It is soaring in the stock market thanks to three small acquisitions and revenues and profits expanding by more than 20 percent. And with 50 million in cash, it can now set out to find bigger prey
The digitization of the Italian business fabric, which is mostly composed of small and medium-sized companies, also passes through tricolor software houses capable of developing solutions tailored to the needs of businesses.
A reality such as Sys-Dat, a Milan-based group founded in 1977 that develops software tailored to customers’ needs, and which since 2020 has launched a campaign of strong expansion, including through the aggregation of smaller realities, until it landed on the Star in July on the Milan Stock Exchange. The products put on the market are the most varied: from platforms for the management of internal processes, to value-added solutions, to services such as cybersecurity and data management. A market worth 27 billion in Italy and expected to rise to 32.8 billion in 2027.
Sys-Dat’s first few months on the stock exchange testify to how there is investor interest in betting on such a reality: the stock, at the close on December 6, was trading at 5.15 euros, a price about 50 percent higher than the 3.4 euros of the July IPO price and implying a capitalization of more than from 160 million euros.
The growth strategy
Spurring the run at Piazza Affari is the dual soul of the group, whose key shareholders are the Neuroni family (more than 50 percent between founder Vittorio and children Matteo and Marta) and vice chairman Emanuele Angelidis. “Our strategy involves a dual track to expand the business,” Angelidis explains. On the one hand there is “organic growth, with the development of software for certain clients and target markets that is then resalable to other companies operating in the same sectors.”
On the other hand, continues the vice president of Sys-Dat, “the continuous search for entities to be integrated into the group that are able to open up markets in which we are not present or to expand our offerings in the sectors we already preside over.” A strategy that, from a results perspective, is paying off. Revenues have risen from 29.1 to 46, million from 2021 to 2023, with an average annual growth rate of 26.3 percent, and with 2024 set to easily surpass the set bar, given that as of September 30, revenues already stood at 41 million. According to Intermonte’s forecasts, it should reach 57 million in the current year, rising to 68 in 2025 and 74 million and in 2026. Realistic estimates, thanks in part to the high visibility on turnover: about 70 percent is recurring year-on-year.
Constant margins
But it is the consistency on margins and the ability to generate profits that are the group’s strength. The ebitda margin has remained consistently at 20 percent even during these years of strong expansion, and the company has continued to post increasing profits. “This is because the realities that are included in the perimeter of the Sys-Data group, despite not always having kpi at the level of those maintained by the group, manage to improve thanks to the synergies we manage to put in place to make them grow,” Angelidis explains. All the acquired entities maintain their identity, but benefit from services and expertise offered by the group.
First and foremost, “a sales network with about 60 salespeople present throughout Italy and with access to thousands of customers that create new opportunities for realities that, before joining the group, were often local and that in this way can scale quickly.” Not to mention “support from the point of view of management, human resourcesmanagement and enhancement, technology and communication,” the Sys-Dat vice president continues.
The latest prey…
Since landing on the Milan Stock Exchange, Sys-Dat has made three small acquisitions: Flexxa, which offers automated and unstaffed cybersecurity services; Matrix Solutions, which specializes in business process management; and Glam and Glam Digital Lab, both active in digital commerce. While the latter two “are excellences in their fields and strengthen the company’s offerings,” Flexxa represents “the perfect example of a rapidly scalable reality, thanks to its cross-functional and highly automated services, leveraging our commercial network.” The three new group elements bring in 4.6 million in revenues, an ebitda of 1.3 million, and profits of 860,000 euros.
…and the next shopping
But Sys-Dat’s shopping spree is not destined to end. In fact, the desire to land on the Milan Stock Exchange was inextricably linked to the decision to accelerate further on the growth front by raising resources to be allocated to m&a. The nine-month results testify to the fact that there are still plenty of cartridges to fire: the net financial position as of September 30 was positive by 36.6 million, an improvement of 3.1 million from the end of 2023, and liquidity rose from 19.1 to 52.3 million.
SOURCE: Milan Finance
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