Amsterdam, 7 september 2022

H1-2022 Business Summary
  • 6-month Revenues: €6.4M (YoY +19%)
  • All growth organic
  • 6-month Earnings: €1.5M
    • YoY stable
    • Because of one-off UAid expenditures
  • Icecat Fund: €3M investment in VirtuaGym
    • SaaS for fitness clubs and trainers
    • Known for their consumer apps
  • Team size: stable as hiring picks up
    • Expanding Turkish office
  • Noteworthy client deals:
    • Disney licensing
    • Alibaba service level agreement
  • Note:
    • H1-2022 figures are unaudited
    • 2021 annual figures: auditor now wraps up audit

Icecat is steadily improving year by year. The timing of the exit from Hatch (where-to-buy) was “brilliant”/”lucky”, given current bearmarket valuations in SaaS.

FAQ
What is the ultimate goal of Icecat? Enhance the business or grow by acquisitions?

The goal of Icecat is to provide companies with any type of product data. We are currently not there yet as we see opportunities in other categories and in the US. But what is the smartest way to expand? Increase the position of the company. Therefore we are reaching out to former employees from competitors as Icecat is seen as a winner.

In the current bear market selling your business is not a smart decision. We have cash and are able to pay out dividends. Something we did last year. But when a potential buyer understands and appreciates the business, we will enter the talks. At the moment, we do not expect this (before the end of the bear market) within a timeline of two years.

Icecat is listed on NPEX, but what about offering new shares?
At the moment, we have sufficient cash after the selling of the Hatch participation and don’t need to raise money. There are potential acquisition targets and investments, for example, Virtuagym. We can finance these from our reserves and cash flow. We see on a shorter time horizon of 3 years enough business opportunities. We have weekly presentations of teams looking for investments, but we are very selective. In the end, it is all about valuation expectations which are different now compared to last year.

Do you consider a share buyback?
Yes, we did consider this. We have asked for buyback advice for Icecat, but given the limited liquidity, the buyback limitation is only 100k/year. In the current situation, it is also possible to keep buying shares via iMerge.

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