Gofore - finska IT-konsult stjärnan

It´s very easy to own Gofore. Just sit back and enjoy the ride :grin:
Sometimes, the market might however give opportunities to buy more. Might be one of those moments ahead?

From Joni´s great analysis:

However, the company is expecting a weak
Q1 due to slower demand at the turn of the year. Throughout the year, the focus will be on profitability, which the
company has managed excellently for years in the face of headwinds.

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Nöjd aktieägare mao! “Just sit back and enjoy the ride” låter ju alldeles utmärkt!

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Här är mina konstiga funderingar. :smiley:

Många säger att Gofores aktie är dyr och sedan säger de att branschen fortfarande går nedåt och det finns inget ljus i tunneln…

Jag funderar också på att företaget förväntas mycket av och har ett utmärkt rykte. Om företaget inte längre presterar riktigt bra eller ens bra, utan bara som alla andra… hur investerare reagerar på det. Om medarbetarnas tillfredsställelse minskar; kompetens lämnar, då måste man locka med lönen - marginalerna minskar och omsättningen.

Företaget fungerar kvalitativt, medarbetarna är lyckliga så att de vill komma till jobbet och dessutom behöver företaget inte hålla mycket låga priser heller, vad jag har hört och läst. Gofore är vinnaren i sin bransch eller har åtminstone varit det, så jag är inte särskilt rädd för de risker jag nämnde.

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Styrelsen för Gofore har beslutat om nya aktiebaserade incitamentsprogram för koncernens nyckelpersoner samt en riktad nyemission. :slight_smile: (22.2.2024)

Gofore’s Board of Directors resolved on new share-based incentive plans for the group’s key employees and a directed share issue

The Board of Directors of Gofore Plc has resolved to establish two new long-term share-based incentive plans for the key employees of the Group. The aim of the new plans is to align the objectives of the company, shareholders and key employees in order to increase the value of the company in the long term, to commit key employees to work for the company and own the company’s shares as well as to offer them competitive incentive plans based on earning and accumulating the company’s shares.

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@Isa_Hudd ja @joni.gronqvist pratade om detta fantastiskt högkvalitativa företag.

Innehåll:

00:00 Inledning
00:24 Kvalitetsbolag
01:44 Höga marginaler, lönsamhetskontroll och visibilitet
03:25 Senaste kvartalen omsättningen ngt ner, lönsamheten på topp
04:20 Senaste översatta analysen från februari:länk nedan
04:35 Stort ägande bland personal och nyckelpersoner
07:17 Tydlig rapportering, god insyn

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Gofore’s revenue in Q1 was quite good, and the company itself at least believes in the remainder of the year.

EBITA was EUR 6.8 million, exceeding analysts’ forecasts. This corresponds to a strong EBITA margin of 13.8% given the circumstances and is among the highest in the sector.

The company has successfully reduced overhead costs better than expected. It manages profitability well.

When the economy starts to improve overall, Gofore is likely to be among the winners. However, many say the stock is expensive… are the expectations too high? :slight_smile:

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Gofore published a book in Finnish, and here is a small excerpt translated from Finnish to English:

Mikael Nylund, CEO, and Timur Kärki, Chairman of the Board, Gofore: “At the core of humane digitalization is the idea that services should make people’s everyday lives smoother – not that people should bend over backwards trying to cope in a digitalizing world. Digitalization is about building a sustainable, resilient, and functional society for all of us. The systems and operating models being developed now will define and guide people’s lives for years, even decades. Therefore, it is essential to build them with the thought that they will work well beyond tomorrow’s immediate needs. It is about creating added value and being beneficial to people, the environment, and businesses, which requires constructive data policy discussions and a shift in thinking and attitudes. We invite the entire society to join this dialogue – let’s solve real problems together and collaborate closely across organizational and national borders.”


Gofore is a bold, forward-thinking company with many strengths. Investors might wonder whether the stock is expensive and whether the company is considered so exceptional that even a small piece of bad news could drop its price, as it might be quite tightly “priced in.”

Witted, Gofore och Siili valdes till Yles ramavtalsleverantörer för 35 miljoner euro för åren 2024–2028, som en del av en grupp på åtta företag. 17 anbud deltog i upphandlingen. Avtalet omfattar applikationsutveckling, design- och underhållstjänster, men inkluderar inga obligatoriska inköpsåtaganden. Priset vägde 31 % av den totala bedömningen. Witted fick 79 kvalitetspoäng och ett timpris på 96 €, Gofore 68 poäng och 83 €, Siili 66 poäng och 91 €. Witted-konsortiet placerade sig på tredje plats, Gofore på femte och Siili på sjätte. Övriga utvalda var Solita & Kodan-gruppen, Reaktor, Nitor, Digital Expert Alliance och Nordcloud. Gofore och Siili har tidigare samarbetat med Yle. :slight_smile:

Inside information: Gofore Plc’s Business Review 1-30 June 2024: Net sales at 14.2 million euros

Inside information: In June 2024, Gofore’s net sales were 14.2 (15.9) million euros. The Group’s last 12-month (LTM) pro forma net sales were 189.7 million euros in. The Group employed 1,453 (1,396) people at the end of June.

CEO Mikael Nylund comments:

”Business continued in June in line with May until Midsummer. Thereafter began the Finnish summer holiday season, with which our business slows down as every year, to pick up again in August. June had 19 working days; less than any other month in the first half.

June was an active month in sales. We were e.g. invited in a significant frame agreement with the national broadcast company Yle for 2024-2028. In the agreement period, Yle will procure application development, design and maintenance services and other expert services for their information systems, applications, and digital services such as the Yle Areena streaming service, yle.fi website and the Yle application. The 35-million-euro frame agreement is shared between eight suppliers without priority order.

Much is happening in Finnish healthcare and social services, i.e. the wellbeing service counties, at the moment. Of the latest collaborations I could mention the North Ostrobothnia wellbeing services county named Pohde, a frame agreement of five suppliers on developing the operating procedures of wellbeing and rescue services for three years. This agreement’s total value is some 4.5 million euros.”


Och mer information och siffror finns här. :slight_smile:

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Flera IT-tjänsteföretag har haft det svårt på sistone.

Hur kommer det att gå för Gofore i framtiden? :thinking: Den nuvarande regeringen skär ner och kommer att hålla strikta kostnadskontroller inom den offentliga sektorn, och man kanske inte noggrant överväger vart resurserna ska riktas och vart det leder.

Inom branschen har åtminstone några haft det tufft, och Gofore verkar mycket inom den offentliga sektorn där det kommer fler nedskärningar. Företaget har visserligen ganska långa kontrakt, men dessa faktorer ser ändå inte bra ut.

Det är lugnande att Gofore presterar bra inom stora områden och att både anställda och kunder är nöjda.

This is not necessarily a huge deal in itself, but I believe it may indicate how well this company is doing! :slight_smile:

Gofore partners with Kela on single application model

Gofore has been chosen as Kela’s partner on the so-called single application model project. The single application model is government-programme-aligned renewal and development of Finnish social security that smoothens benefit application and is a step towards the ultimate goal of a universal benefit model.

One of the currently most significant projects in the Finnish digital society space, making Kela’s application processes smoother, will soon move forward in collaboration between Kela and Gofore. The single application model is written in Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government’s programme. In practice, the model means that in the future, a customer can apply for several benefits with one application.

”The meaning of Goforeans’ work shines through the most in projects like this with great societal impact. The single application model is an important step towards a real reform of the Finnish social security system by harnessing the possibilities of digital technology. It’s on par with groundbreaking Finnish digitalisation reforms like the Suomi.fi national identification system or the OmaVero tax portal”, says Gofore’s CEO Mikael Nylund.

The single application model development is part of Kela’s strategic development programme called Eepos, and part of the larger social security reformation aligned by Orpo’s government. It entails e.g. a reform of basic social security, targeting to improve profitability of work, make social security more accessible and simplify benefits. The reform is meant to create a universal benefit that includes a basic support for living, a housing support and a discretionary part for last-resort assistance. Transition to the universal benefit model will take place gradually by combining benefits and taking into account the national economy’s current state.

Combining the benefits will now kick off with the single application model creation by the government’s mid-term budget framework negotiations. On 28 August 2024, Kela announced it has chosen Gofore as its partner. The way of procurement has been a negotiation tendering procedure. Kela’s estimate value for the procurement is 10-15 million euros for the entire agreement period, and Gofore’s reference price according to the request for quotation has been 5.5 million euros. The project is estimated to last for three years. Gofore’s resource subcontractor and technology platform supplier in the project is Magnolia.

”This was an especially great win for us and goes to show that Gofore is a desirable partner for big, challenging aggregate development where the supplier carries significant responsibility of the success of the project. We successfully convinced the customer of our versatile expertise and comprehensive offering in the negotiating phase of the procurement”, Nylund says.

Kela’s programme director Miikka Saarteinen says in Kela’s press release that the single application service is intended to first have in use for unemployment benefit customers by the summer of 2025. In the first phase, the service will also entail an estimation of housing benefit needs. It is intended for the service to expand to also gradually concern other benefits.

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En bra översikt över de finska IT-tjänstebolagen finns via länken.

Gofore’s revenue was already known for Q2 and amounted to 48.0 MEUR, up 1% year-on-year. Organically, revenue decreased by 3%. Intense price competition limited growth opportunities as the company has not been willing to sacrifice too much on profitability. This is positive for the long term, as otherwise the quality of the order book would continue to deteriorate and it would take longer to return to growth when the market situation improves. Gofore’s adjusted EBITA increased by 13% to 6.1 MEUR but missed our forecast. This corresponds to a satisfactory/good EBITA margin of 12.7% for the company under the circumstances, but at the very top end of the sector. We forecast organic revenue development of -1% and and a slight decline in EBITA-% to 13.8% in 2024. Profitability is weighed down by the negative equation of customer prices and wage inflation. Q2 company update on Gofore is available here (in Finnish).

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Grattis Timur och Gofore! :slight_smile:

Gofore’s Chair of the Board Timur Kärki awarded Business leader of the Year 2024

Gofore’s Chair of the Board and co-founder, M.Sc. (Tech) Timur Kärki has today been awarded Business Leader of the year in an annual seminar of the Finnish business association (Suomen Liikemies-Yhdistys).

The jury that chose Timur Kärki as business leader of the year highlighted not only Gofore’s impressive business performance, but also the fact that Kärki has dared to shake up traditional leadership practices and to bring the spirit of modern, more open kind of corporate culture into his own industry as well as around it. The jury said Kärki also boldly discusses the pain points of the IT industry.

”Many thanks to the award jury and the association for showing me this tribute. Looking at the previous awardees, I quickly understood that at least the earlier awards have not been granted lightly. I accept this award with joy and great satisfaction”, Kärki comments.

Founded in 2002, Gofore has grown into a versatile international digital transformation expert company that is both growing and profitable. The company who employes over 1,400 experts in Finland and elsewhere in Europe has for long built a new kind of good working life for its employees. Gofore’s culture and values emphasise close collaboration between the company and its employees, low hierarchy and an inclusive discussion culture. The fact that Gofore’s Board of Directors invited an employee to the board for the first time in 2015 can be considered as an example of the transparent culture.

”Gofore is born out of an idea of a company that produces value around it in a sustainable way. I’m proud of both Gofore and all Goforeans who transform the Finnish society and business life into a better one together with our customers on a daily basis”, Kärki continues.

Business leader of the year Kärki is one of Gofore’s four founders and is currently Chair of the Board at Gofore, as well as board member in the Finnish Central Chamber of Commerce, Ilves-Hockey, Modulight, Navakka and Moovy. Kärki was as Gofore’s CEO in 2010-2019.

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Medarbetarnöjdhet är verkligen viktigt inom expertbranschen, och Gofore har lyckats utveckla det på ett utmärkt sätt. :slight_smile:

Gofore has long been an example of how concrete actions can gain the approval of both employees and talents in the market. A good example of this is the results from Universum’s fall 2024 Professional Survey, where we were ranked as the most desirable employer among IT consulting firms in Finland and placed seventh overall in the IT Professionals category.

Gofore’s omsättning sjönk som förväntat organiskt under det tredje kvartalet, men lönsamheten var något lägre än prognoserna. Förbättrade rekryteringar, positiva marknadssignaler och bättre lönsamhetsdrivande faktorer ökade dock förtroendet för företagets framtida resultatökning. Gofore’s omsättning var 39,1 miljoner euro, vilket innebär en minskning med 4 % från föregående år, främst på grund av hård prispress.

Justerad EBITA sjönk med 8 % till 4,4 miljoner euro och var något lägre än prognosen, även om en EBITA-marginal på 11,2 % fortfarande var stark jämfört med sektorns genomsnitt. Positivt var att Gofore lyckades balansera effekterna av kundprisernas utveckling och löneinflationen.

Marknadssituationen förblir utmanande, men det finns små tecken på återhämtning. Inderes prognoser för åren 2024–2026 förblev nästan oförändrade, och Inderes förväntar sig att företaget fortsätter att växa mer lönsamt än sektorn i genomsnitt.

Gofore’s värdering är attraktiv, särskilt med det förbättrade resultatförväntningarna i åtanke. Inderes höjde aktiens rekommendation till “öka” och behöll riktkursen på 24,0 euro.

Enligt VD Mikael Nylund var Gofore’s omsättning i oktober 18,8 miljoner euro, och antalet anställda ökade i Finland medan det minskade utomlands, delvis på grund av omstruktureringar i DACH-regionen. Viktiga avtal slöts med Helsingfors stad, Istekki och Fintraffic. Ramavtalet med Helsingfors stad sträcker sig över fyra år och omfattar ett brett utbud av utvecklingstjänster, med ett värde på cirka 55 miljoner euro. Med Istekki ingicks ett avtal om expert- och konsulttjänster till ett värde av 10,9 miljoner euro, och med Fintraffic slöts ett avtal om två års ICT-arkitekturtjänster.

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Jag anser att Gofore är ett av de mest högkvalitativa företagen inom IT-sektorn, och dess förmåga att försvara lönsamheten i en utmanande marknadsmiljö under det senaste året har varit imponerande. Jag tror att företagets omsättning och resultat kommer att återgå till tillväxt nästa år, vilket stärker min uppfattning om dess långsiktiga potential.

Jag ser Gofore som ett företag med utmärkta tillväxtmöjligheter och förmåga att skapa värde. Dess historiska prestationer är exceptionellt starka, och med aktiekursen som legat nästan stilla känns värderingen attraktiv i förhållande till företagets kvalitet (2024e EV/EBIT 12,5x). Jag ser Gofore som en tydlig ledare inom IT-branschen, vilket gör det till ett mycket intressant företag att investera i på lång sikt.

Aktien har sjunkit lite igen. Jag funderar bara på om jag borde köpa mer… men kanske inte, eftersom jag redan har så mycket av det i portföljen, och det finns trots allt vissa sektorspecifika risker och så vidare. :slight_smile:

Gofore har uppdaterat sina långsiktiga finansiella mål och gjort förändringar i ledningsgruppen. Bolagets mål är att uppnå en omsättning på 500 miljoner euro fram till 2030, samtidigt som man bibehåller en justerad EBITA-lönsamhet på 15 %. Minst hälften av tillväxten förväntas vara organisk. Utdelningspolicyn förblir densamma, där minst 40 % av nettoresultatet delas ut som dividend.

Ändringar i ledningsgruppen träder i kraft den 1 januari 2025. Elja Kirjavainen kommer att leda den finska verksamheten och fungera som ställföreträdande koncernchef. Marc Fuchs fortsätter som chef för verksamheten i DACH-regionen. Förändringarna speglar Gofores nya kundcentrerade organisationsstruktur som ska stödja stark tillväxt och lönsamhet.

Den uppdaterade strategin presenteras på Capital Markets Day den 16 januari 2025.

Here is a video and other materials from Gofore’s Capital Markets Day. :slight_smile:

In the event, Gofore’s CEO Mikael Nylund and other executives of the company delve into the company’s strategy update, as part of which the company announced changes to its long-term financial targets and the Group Executive Team.

The event is held in English. A recording of the event along with its presentation material can be found after the event on Gofore’s IR website at Reports and presentations - Gofore.

Press release (December 19, 2024): Invitation to Gofore’s Capital Markets Day on 16 January 2025

Congratulations to Gofore and Mr. Kärki! :slight_smile:

Timur Kärki has been awarded the Chairman of the Year at the Pörssigaala. He has led Gofore’s board since 2019, supporting the company’s growth from the First North list to the stock exchange. Kärki is known for his employee-centered leadership and active participation in societal discussions. The jury particularly praised his contributions to HR policies and his support for the CEO. Gofore has promoted workplace well-being and introduced progressive family leave policies. Kärki owns over 10% of the company and has been involved for nearly 30 years. The award was presented by Pauliina Tenhunen from Castrén & Snellman.