Letter to shareholders

Chairman’s letter to shareholders

Dear shareholders,

SoftwareOne continued its growth journey in 2022, demonstrating resilience and discipline against a backdrop of inflationary pressures, worsening macroeconomic conditions and the conflict in Ukraine.

Together with the Executive Board, we took decisive action in responding to challenges, particularly with regards to cost control, leadership changes and external reporting improvements. As a result, I believe we have made solid progress in starting a new chapter for SoftwareOne, with the aim of consistently delivering profitable growth and value for our shareholders.

Returns to shareholders

Reflecting on our 2022 financial performance, overall results were solid. Revenue grew 14.1% YoY ccy to CHF 1,011.0 million, thereby reaching the one billion milestone. Adjusted EBITDA corresponded to CHF 240.4 million, with a margin of 25.6% of gross profit.

Given this solid performance and our strong balance sheet, the Board of Directors (BoD) will propose to shareholders a dividend of CHF 0.35 per share for 2022, representing a pay-out ratio of 47% of adjusted profit for the year and an increase of 6.1% compared to the prior year (2021: CHF 0.33 per share), at our upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM). This is the third consecutive dividend increase since our IPO in late 2019.

We will also launch a share buyback programme of up to CHF 70 million in Q2 2023, in line with our balanced capital allocation framework. While investing in growth remains our priority, we are pleased to have identified scope for further returns for our shareholders.

Striving for a sustainable future

We also made progress with our global Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) programme in 2022. As a company, we aim to drive more sustainable outcomes via technology for our clients, whilst further embedding sustainability in our own operations and value chain.

Having laid the groundwork in 2021, we dedicated significant resources this year to developing our strategy and ambitions to align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We also enhanced our ESG governance structure by creating three employee-driven committees to ensure a people-centric approach to our ESG strategy.

We look forward to sharing with you our first ESG report in H2 2023, which will align with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) international reporting standard.

Changes to Executive Board

At SoftwareOne people will always be our greatest asset. During 2022, we continued to invest in talent to ensure that we have the right competencies at all levels.

With Julia Braun as our new Chief Human Resources Officer and Executive Board member, we have added a wealth of experience from global, people-centric organisations to our company. She is already making an impact in defining our people strategy to ensure that we continue to attract, develop, and retain high-performing and diverse talent.

Well-positioned for future success

As organisations continue to push forward with cloud-first digital transformation, I remain confident that SoftwareOne is well-positioned as an all-in-one global software and cloud solutions provider in a large and fast-growing market. Together with a strong focus on operational excellence, our success story is set to continue.

On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, I would like to thank our employees around the world for their hard work and contribution to our success and our clients for their loyalty.

Finally, I thank you, our shareholders, for your trust, continued support and investment in SoftwareOne. I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible at our first in-person AGM on 4 May 2023.

Yours sincerely,

Daniel von Stockar

Chairman of the Board of Directors