ESSEN (dpa-AFX) - The IT security service provider Secunet Security Networks wants to increase both sales and profits in the current fiscal year. However, the prerequisite for this is that the procurement situation on the global semiconductor markets and the general economic conditions do not deteriorate significantly, the group announced in Essen on Friday. In terms of sales, management expects significant growth to around 375 million euros in 2023. Operating profit is expected to increase slightly to around 50 million euros. On average, analysts had hoped for more in the forecast for both key figures.

The share lost around percent in the morning, albeit in a very weak overall market. However, at a price of 220 euros per share, the price pattern of recent weeks continues. Since the beginning of the year, the share has largely traded in a range between around 195 and 246 euros. However, the share is still a long way from its record high of 608 euros two years earlier. The great need for secure mobile workstations in the wake of the Corona pandemic and, for example, software updates at doctors' practices and hospitals had driven up revenues and also hopes among investors at the time.

Due to the difficult macroeconomic climate and supply chain problems, the past fiscal year was mixed for the Group. Bottom-line profits fell from 43 to 31 million euros. The dividend is to be lower than in the previous year. The Executive Board will propose to the Supervisory Board a payment of 2.86 euros per share. In the previous year, the dividend was 5.38 euros, including a special dividend of 2.01 euros.

The Group had already published key data at the end of January. According to these, a growing workforce, depreciation and amortization and higher costs depressed earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) by more than a quarter to just under 47 million. However, the IT security service provider set a new record in terms of revenue, which, according to the final figures, was even higher, rising by three percent to 347 million euros.

The fourth quarter in particular provided a further tailwind. Here, sales increased by half compared to the previous year. When presenting preliminary figures, Alsterresearch analyst Alexander Zienkowicz explained that customers had held back during the year due to budget uncertainties, which then dissipated at the end of the year. He expects that the bottom has now been reached.

Secunet supplies IT products for the public sector and international organizations, among others, which had generated high demand during the peak phases of the pandemic. The German armed forces are also among its customers. The much smaller Business Sector segment also includes customers from the private sector and healthcare./knd/nas/mis