| KPI (TEUR) | 1 Jan. – 30 June 2022 | 1 Jan. – 30 June 2021 | Change |
| Sales | 116,450 | 115,532 | +0.8 % |
| EBIT | 8,179 | 11,377 | -28.1 % |
| Group net result | 4,446 | 7,034 | -36.8 % |
| Earnings per share (EUR) | 0.28 | 0.45 | -37.8 % |
Berlin, July 28, 2022 – The PSI Group improved sales by 0.8% to 116.5 million euros in the first half of 2022 (Jun. 30, 2021 adjusted: 115.5 million euros). Due to a decline in the Electrical Grids division, the operating result (EBIT) of 8.2 million euros was 28.1% below the previous year's value (Jun. 30, 2021 adjusted: 11.4 million euros), the group net result decreased accordingly to 4.4 million euros (Jun. 30, 2021: 7.0 million euros). Despite the withdrawal in Russia and the weakness of orders in the Electrical Grids business, new orders at 150 million euros were 2.7% higher than in the prior-year quarter (Jun. 30, 2021: 146 million euros). At 188 million euros, the order book volume on June 30, 2022 exceeded the prior-year figure by 8% (June 30, 2021: 174 million euros).
In the first half of the year, the Energy Management segment (energy grids, energy trading, public transport) generated 2.9% lower sales of 61.3 million euros (June 30, 2021 adjusted: 63.1 million euros) and a significantly lower operating result of 0.9 million euros (June 30, 2021 adjusted: 4.7 million euros). The segment's earnings were mainly impacted by a cyclical setback in the Electrical Grids business. Following the strong growth and the acquisition, the decline is more pronounced than in previous cycles, and is compounded by the continuing investments in the conversion of all product lines to the PSI platform. Up to now, upgrades still have to be rolled out in long-running project contracts, which delays the inflation adjustment. The Gas Grids business is suffering from the expiring Russian business, as PSI is no longer accepting new orders here. However, there are advanced inquiries and orders from gas export regions such as Malaysia, Norway, Kazakhstan, North America and the Middle East. In Central Europe, the Gas Grids division is recording numerous system renewal inquiries and orders to increase supply security and for conversion to hydrogen. In Public Transport, PSI experiences high demand for software for electric bus depots and received an important major order at the beginning of the third quarter.
Sales in the Production Management segment (metals, industry, logistics) in the first six months were 5.3% up on the previous year's figure at 55.2 million euros (June 30, 2021 adjusted: 52.4 million euros). The segment's operating result was improved by 9.0% to 7.8 million euros (June 30, 2021 adjusted: 7.2 million euros). PSI is benefiting from the boom in the metals producing industry with the usual time delay. After the receipt of the major orders postponed in the first quarter, numerous further inquiries and offers are being processed. Thanks to the PSI platform, customers and partners are integrated into the order processing, so that demand worldwide can be served better than ever. In the automotive and mechanical engineering sector, the first ERP system for more than 1,000 users was successfully delivered. The customer can customize more than 3,000 screen views independently via workflow and PSI Click Design. After the first customer system was delivered in the logistics business, in which the server was also natively converted to the PSI platform, PSI now offers the warehouse and transport management software also to metals customers worldwide.
In the first quarter of 2022, the risk situation of the business activities in Russia was reassessed by the PSI management. In the course of this assessment, a separate segment was formed, as a significantly higher risk situation was assumed due to the war in Ukraine and the associated sanctions as well as the changed legal framework in Russia. In the second quarter of 2022, the PSI management decided to discontinue the business activities combined in the segment and to report them separately from the continuing business activities accordingly. At the end of the first half of 2022, this resulted in an effect on earnings of -1.7 million euros (previous year: -1.1 million euros). In the prior-year comparison, all carrying amounts have been adjusted to allow an economic period comparison.
The number of employees in the Group increased to 2,266 (June 30, 2021: 2,145) due to targeted new hires in Germany, Poland and the USA. PSI is withdrawing personnel for use in production management from some customers who do not accept inflation adjustments. In the production management segment, customers, such as in the automotive and mechanical engineering industries, practice passing on inflation themselves or even profit from the raw materials boom, as in the steel industry. Numerous Internet companies (business-to-consumer) have cut staff by 10% or more as consumers have to pay more for energy, transportation and basic necessities, and cut back on media and luxury goods. PSI supplies energy and transportation companies and expects better recruiting conditions again.
At -3.0 million euros, cash flow from operating activities was significantly below the figure for the prior-year quarter (June 30, 2021: 11.3 million euros). Despite the higher dividend payment, cash and cash equivalents were at 50.5 million euros (June 30, 2021: 45.4 million euros), up 11.4% on the prior-year figure.
In view of the stronger cyclical downturn in the business with electricity grid operators, PSI's management is taking the precaution of adjusting the annual target to the changed framework conditions. Instead of an increase in earnings of just under 20%, growth of 5 to 10% is expected. In real terms, despite the withdrawal of the Russian business, sales growth of 5% is expected. Major orders from the booming steel industry also offer great opportunities for growth.
The PSI Group develops its own software products for optimizing the flow of energy and materials for utilities (energy grids, energy trading, public transport) and industry (metals production, automotive, mechanical engineering, logistics). The industry-specific products, which are built from standard components, are sold both directly and via the multi-cloud PSI App Store and can also be customized by customers and partners themselves. PSI was founded in 1969 and employs more than 2,200 people worldwide.
