ALSO DEVELOPMENT 2024

As stated on the occasion of the Investor Day on 20 November 2024 in Zurich, ALSO announces excerpts of its preliminary results by providing ranges:

• EBITDA between 230 and 240 million euros and
• ROCE between 28 and 31 percent

The IT industry has been one of the drivers of economic development in recent decades and will continue to play a key role in the future. Thanks to the industry's ability to constantly develop new innovative products, investment cycles are driven and economic potential is generated. Due to the work on our ALSO ecosystem over the past 13 years, we are in a position to benefit from this growth.

These framework conditions also played a key role in achieving the 2024 results. At around 11.0 billion euros, revenues were maintained at the previous year's level without compromising gross profit margins.

These results were achieved taking into account negative foreign currency effects and expenses for future growth. Furthermore, the company managed to generate the best EBITDA result in its history in the last three months of the year. The disproportionately strong performance of the digital platforms (cloud, AI, cybersecurity, etc.) was particularly pleasing.

With further improvements in working capital management and the resulting record cash balance of around 731 million euros, ALSO sees itself in a position to continue its current dividend policy and propose a further increase in the dividend for 2025.

ALSO will continue to invest in its ecosystem in 2025 and beyond, including through acquisitions, in order to exploit existing market opportunities with its platforms and technologies. The company expects the partnership with Westcoast to be completed in the course of the first quarter of 2025 once regulatory approvals have been obtained. At the same time, the company is examining the possibility of a share buyback program.

The full Annual Report 2024 will be published on 18 February 2025.