Cybersecurity company Avast ups sales by 1.3 pct in Q1

Prague, April 16 (CTK) - Avast, a cybersecurity company founded by Czech engineers, raised its sales by 1.3 percent to USD214.6m (almost Kc5.26bn at the current exchange rate) in Q1, with organic growth of 6.5 percent, the company said in a press release today.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 3.1 percent to USD121.2m, the press release said.

Avast registered an increased demand of final consumers for its PC antivirus software because of the coronavirus epidemic, which is related to people switching to work from home.

The segment of small and medium-sized enterprises, on the other hand, generated a lower revenue.

Avast Secure Browser and mobile products also recorded a deterioration because of lower advertising expenses.

Adjusted sales were affected by Avast shutting down its data processing division Jumpshot which was selling Avast user data.

Business results of the group are in line with expectations, the company said.

Installations, uninstallations and the customer retention rate developed positively, Avast said.

Taking account of how fast the coronavirus crisis develops and its length cannot be predicted, it is difficult to quantify the impact in the coming months, which is why the company sticks with its previous outlook for this year, Avast said.

The company envisages single-digit sales growth and a stable EBITDA margin. It was at about 56.5 percent in Q1 and 55 percent in 2019.

Avast also confirmed the final dividend payment proposal for last year at USD0.103 (Kc2.56) per share.

Avast's Q1 results, outlook confirmation and especially the management's statement on the current situation is considered positive and the market is expected to have a favourable reaction, J&T Banka said.

Avast, which was set up by Czech engineers Eduard Kucera and Pavel Baudis in 1988, is a trailblazer in cybersecurity.

In 2016, Avast bought its Czech rival AVG.

Avast is the second largest cybersecurity company in the world in terms of sales, following Symantec, and its products have 435 million users worldwide.

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