Smartoptics Group AS

Earnings Release • Aug 10, 2021

Smartoptics Group AS (SMOP) - Q2 and first-half 2021 financial results

Smartoptics Group AS (SMOP) - Q2 and first-half 2021 financial results

Oslo, 10 August 2021 - Smartoptics AS today reported its results for the second

quarter and first half 2021. In Q2, recognized revenue grew by 62 percent Y/Y to

USD 12.4 million. Adjusted EBITDA was USD 1.4 million (increase of 286 percent

vs Q2 2020), implying an EBITDA margin of 11 percent. Operating profit (EBIT)

was USD 1.0 million, up from USD 0.2 million in Q2 2020. Cash flow from

operating activities was USD 2.3 million, up from USD -0.4 million in Q2 2020.

"We have concluded our first quarter as a publicly-listed company with strong

results. Our revenue growth accelerated in Q2, our EBITDA margin expanded, and

our customer base grew and diversified further, as communication service

providers, internet content providers and enterprises globally expand their

networks to meet the increased demand for bandwidth. The demand for bandwidth is

driven by e.g. video streaming, roll-out of 5G, IoT and continued growth in the

data center market to meet the need for more cloud based services and computing.

This ever-growing demand for bandwidth and our open networking solutions

approach, which allows the customers the freedom to remain flexible and reduce

costs, means that we have a perfect position to compete with the giants of the

industry," said Magnus Grenfeldt, Chief Executive Officer of Smartoptics.

Smartoptics' customer base includes thousands of enterprises, governments, cloud

providers, Internet exchanges as well as cable and telecom operators in the

Nordics, US, Europe, and APAC. The products are based on in-house developed

hardware and software for optical data networks, enhanced through associated

services.

"The global volume of data is expected to grow 29 percent annually in the period

2019-2024, and optical transport solutions like ours are a pre-requisite to

handle this tremendous growth in demand. During Q2 our order backlog has

continued to develop well. For example, we received a second major order from

one of the leading Mobile Backhaul/Tower Companies in the US. Our products are

used in the build-out of 5G networks in the US.," said Grenfeldt.

In June 2021, Smartoptics successfully raised USD 11 million and went public on

Euronext Growth (Oslo). The strengthened balance sheet provides a solid platform

for continued growth going forward.

"After a good first half of the year and continued strong business momentum I

can conclude that the outlook for the second half of the year looks positive and

in-line with, or slightly above, the growth rate communicated at the time of our

listing. We have raised the revenue growth guidance to 20-35% for 2021

(previously 20-30%). There is a remaining uncertainty related to potential

disturbances in the supply chain, caused by the global shortage of semi

-conductor components required in our products. So far, we have managed well in

these challenging times. Our long-term growth targets remain," said Grenfeldt.

Please find enclosed Smartoptics' Q2 and first half 2021 interim report and the

presentation material related to the report.

QUARTERLY PRESENTATION:

Smartoptics will host a presentation of the results by CEO Magnus Grenfeldt and

CFO Mikael Haag today, 10 August at 08:00 CEST at Hotel Continental in Oslo. The

presentation will be held in English and will also be webcast.

Webcast link: https://channel.royalcast.com/landingpage/hegnarmedia/20210810_1

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

www.newsweb.no. A recorded version of the presentation 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

Mikael Haag

CFO Smartoptics

Phone: +46 704 264 872

E-mail: mikael.haag@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 EMC and have a global

reach through more than 100 business partners.

For additional information about Smartoptics, please visit

https://www.smartoptics.com