Smartoptics Group AS

Earnings Release • Aug 23, 2023

Smartoptics Group AS (SMOP) - Q2 2023: Continued strong growth and solid margins.

Smartoptics Group AS (SMOP) - Q2 2023: Continued strong growth and solid margins.

Oslo, 23 August 2023 - Smartoptics Group AS (OSE: SMOP) today reported revenues

of USD 17.0 million in the second quarter of 2023, up 16.3 percent from the

corresponding period in 2022 (USD 14.6 million) and an EBITDA margin of 18.7

percent, compared to 22.9 percent in the second quarter 2022. EBIT margin was

16.0 percent compared to 20.3 percent in the same period last year.

"Smartoptics' second quarter 2023 was another quarter of solid growth and high

operating margins. The quarter saw strong development with enterprises and

service providers. The strong growth in these traditional Smartoptics segments

has compensated well for the lack of larger projects related to 5G mobile

backhaul. This shows that we have several vehicles for growth in the future,"

said CEO of Smartoptics Magnus Grenfeldt.

Providing optical networking solutions based on open standards, Smartoptics

operates in a USD 16 billion fiber optical network market, Smartoptics has

delivered double-digit revenue growth and high margins over many years.

"We are still a minor player in the total market, but we are constantly

capturing market share. In the first half of 2023, our market share of the Metro

WDM market in EMEA and North America was 1.7 percent, compared to 1.1 percent in

2021 and 1.4 percent in 2022. In the coming years, it is our clear ambition to

continue the steady growth in market share," said Magnus Grenfeldt.

To capture the growth, Smartoptics continues to invest in the product

organization and has lined up several essential product launches in the

Solutions business area, which will broaden the addressable market.

"We have a strong financial position with good cash flow generation. With a

strengthened product portfolio and improved sales capability, we are gradually

becoming a relevant contender for a larger part of the market. We see no reason

to adjust our goals of growing our revenue to around USD 100 million by

2025/2026, combined with profitability and EBITDA margin of 17-20% and EBIT

margin of 13-16%" said Grenfeldt.

- ENDS -

Investors, analysts, and media are welcome to join a presentation today at 10:00

CEST at Hotel Continental in Oslo.

The presentation will be held by CEO Magnus Grenfeldt and CFO Mikael Haag and

will be available via a live webcast. Webcast viewers may submit written

questions during and after the presentation.

Date: Today, August 23, 2023 Time: 10:00 CEST Venue: Hotel Continental,

Stortingsgaten 24/26, Oslo

Language: English

Webcast link: https://channel.royalcast.com/landingpage/hegnarmedia/20230823_6/

The report and presentation will be made available at www.smartoptics.com and

www.newsweb.no. A recorded presentation version will be available after the live

stream is concluded.

For further information, please contact:

Magnus Grenfeldt

CEO Smartoptics

+46 73-366 88 77

E-mail: magnus.grenfeldt@smartoptics.com

About Smartoptics

Smartoptics provides innovative optical networking solutions and devices for the

new era of open networking. Our customer base includes thousands of enterprises,

governments, cloud providers, Internet exchanges as well as cable and telecom

operators. We have an open networking approach in everything we do which allows

our customers to break unwanted vendor lock-in, remain flexible and minimize

costs. Our solutions are used in metro and regional network applications that

increasingly rely on data center services and specifications. Smartoptics is a

Scandinavian company founded in 2006. We partner with leading technology and

network solution providers such as Brocade, Cisco and Dell and have a global

reach through more than 100 business partners. For additional information about

Smartoptics, please visit https://smartoptics.com/

This information is considered to be inside information pursuant to the EU

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) and is subject to the disclosure requirements

pursuant to MAR article 17 and Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading

Act. This stock exchange announcement was published by Per Burman, Chief

Marketing Officer of Smartoptics on the time and date provided.