Last week, LAIQON published final Q2´23 figures, that came in stronger than expected, proving that the company is on track to reach its goals for 2025. In detail:

• Sales of € 15.9m

  (+79% yoy) are above our estimates of € 14.5m, due to higher than anticipated AuM of € 6.0bn (+28% yoy vs eNuW: € 5.8bn) and a stable margin of 0.59% (vs 0.55% in FY22; avg annualized margin on AuM).

• EBITDA came in at negative € -1.9m

  (vs € -6.7m in H1´22), slightly better than expected (eNuW: € -2.5m), thanks to the further improving top-line and stable personnel expenses (€ 10.8m vs eNuW: € 10.5m), material expenses (€ 2.8m vs eNuW: € 2.5m) and other operating expenses (€ 4.3m vs eNuW: € 4.1m). Due to a financial result and depreciations to the tune of € -0.4m and € 3.2m, net profit stands at € -3.1m.

On the back of the constantly increasing AuM that should materialize with a slight delay in a further improving top-line, we expect a positive EBITDA in H2 (eNuW: € 0.3m), despite further growth investments.

The recently launched LAIC app, that should enable customers to make better investment decisions, is seen to additionally fuel AuM inflow, especially into the wealthTech LAIC. Mind you that we do not forecast performance related revenues, as high water marks are out of reach in FY23.

Overall, the company is well on track to reach its FY25 targets of

€ 8-10bn AuM

,

implying 15% CAGR 2022-25e. This

should translate into

€ 48m sales

and

€ 8m EBITDA

in FY25e (eNuW).

Importantly, our FY´25 EBITDA estimate implies a margin of only 16% (not including any performance related revenues), which is significantly below the EBITDA margin guidance of >45% as it includes potential performance fees.

Still,

platform thinking

and

customer centricity

as well as the constantly

growing number of sales channels

, are making LAIQON to the go-to shop when it comes to digital investments, putting the company at the forefront of the industry.

BUY with an unchanged PT of € 9.50 based on DCF.