IoT, cloud ride to rescue as Telit doubles profit in H1

Machine to machine communications (M2M) company Telit Communications saw revenues impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic – however adjusted EBITDA and profit in cash figures rose in H1.

Cost optimizations ahead of the worst of the pandemic are thought to have made this possible.

Figure 2: Machine uprising: IoT and cloud transformed Telit's results – pushing a focus on industrial IoT.
(Source: Bruce Tang on Unsplash)

Group revenues were $166.9 million, down by 7.4% reflecting the impact of COVID-19. IoT, cloud and connectivity revenues were $21.0 million, up by 12.3%, as against H1 2019 ($18.7 million).

The company said this was broadly in line with a strategic refocus on industrial IoT services.

Adjusted EBITDA increased by 12.5% to $18.0 million, and gross margin rose to 35.2% as a result of supply chain optimization and increasing share of service revenues.

Profit in cash increased to $5.9 million, supported by improved adjusted EBITDA and capex.

Adjusted profit before tax improved to $12.1 million from $4 million in H1 2019. Actual profit before tax was $9.7 million.

The net cash position rose to $56.2 million, including improved collection of receivables from Titan Operational.

Factory firsts
Telit said it would focus on industrial IoT going forward, and noted continued supply chain improvements with a new production facility in Vietnam fully operational.

It also noted the commercial launch of OneEdge, its integrated hardware and services IoT solution currently rolling out.

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The company also pointed to product certification progress made in H1, including a high-bandwidth 5G product and global certification for NB-IoT and LTE-M modules from major US networks.

"Customer demand softened as the reporting period progressed after early indications that the group's sales and supply chain would be relatively unaffected," according to the announcement.

"Whilst revenues are below those of the previous year, they have remained resilient," the company said.

Cost-cutting measures put in place included a temporary salary reduction, primarily for management, and a reduction in all areas of discretionary expenditure, including marketing and travel costs.

CEO Paolo Dal Pino said he expects to deliver full-year profitability in line with expectations.

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— Fiona Graham, editorial director, Light Reading