Dear shareholders – our operational businesses are turning a profit.
The fourth quarter of the year continued to be marked by the implementation of the strategy decided on by the board during the summer. I took over as CEO in October, and can proudly state that our solid work has already begun to bear fruit. The group had a turnover of SEK 60 million in the quarter, and we show a growth for the whole year of 112 percent compared to the previous year. Our focus on turning to profitability is moving forward, and during the fourth quarter we showed a positive operating EBITDA of SEK 0.6 million, which is a profit improvement of 128 percent compared to the previous year. We are well on our way to achieving our goal of becoming a globally scalable and profitable company.
During the autumn, we developed a new vision and mission, as well as a new brand that laid the foundation for our scalable strategy. We appointed a new management team, built new structures and optimized our organization. Now, we have a highly motivated and close-knit group working towards the same goal. Together, we have also made a lot of tough decisions and streamlined our organization, worked in an increasingly cost-effective manner and increased the degree of digitization more broadly.
During Q4, CUBE landed some of its biggest deals ever, which was reflected by the fact that both turnover and profitability reached new record levels. Turnover for Q4 was SEK 25 million, up 50 percent quarter over quarter, and the EBITDA margin was 10 percent. We are also pleased that the order situation for 2023 is looking to be very strong.
Gigger also ended the year with strong growth of 32 percent and has entered 2023 with a good order situation. During the month of January, growth was 30 percent year over year with greatly improved margins.
The increased turnover and focused work on reducing our costs led to a positive operating EBITDA result for the quarter of SEK 0.6 million. However, the cost savings that were made had only a partial impact during the fourth quarter, and will gradually have a full impact during the first half of 2023.
After a careful analysis of the market, we made the decision during the quarter to launch Collabs as Freemium. We have put a lot of resources into developing our unique AI-based technology that resulted in the platform as a “Google for influencer marketing”, so when Collabs Freemium was launched at the beginning of February, the pressure was great. During the first two weeks, over 60 customers joined, and a total of 100 selected customers will be admitted to the platform during February. Together with them, we will refine the strategy before more customers have access to the service.
In a macroeconomically tough situation, where many companies are reviewing their running costs and the customer churn at tech companies is increasing, the Freemium model is just right. We are already seeing how Collabs is gaining market shares, will continue to do so in multiple markets, and that, as a result, we will be able to drive new customers to Syncro Group.
I would like to conclude by thanking the old and new owners for the trust they put in the new share issue, which, during the quarter, added approximately SEK 15 million. Succeeding in completing the issue in the turbulent market that prevailed in December is a sign of strength. We are very pleased that previous owners increased their ownership and that we simultaneously brought in new well-known owners who share our strong vision for Syncro’s future prospects. The financing provides stability and even better opportunities to fully realize our strategic plan.
We see that the interest and demand for our new offers is continuously increasing, so it is with great confidence that I look ahead. After an extensive restructuring of our organization, our processes, and our market offering, we are taking powerful steps towards our goal of becoming a globally scalable and profitable company. I look forward to this journey and to returning to you with more updates as and when.
Ebbe Damm,
CEO Syncro