Claranova stabilizes financial results for the first-half of the year

PlanetArt parent Claranova reported strong revenue for the first half of the 2024-2025 (July – December 2024) year of €294 million, holding steady compared to last year’s first-half like-for-like (-1% at actual exchange rates). The performance in H1 2024-2025 is all the more noteworthy given the unfavorable year-end holiday season calendar for the group’s key markets of the United United States and the United Kingdom, the company said. In particular, the less-than-four-weeks proximity of Thanksgiving and Christmas reduced the number of sale days for key products during this period, like greeting cards, gift cards, personalized gifts, etc., the company said.

In this context, Claranova’s teams overcame these logistical challenges and confirmed their ability to effectively execute digital marketing campaigns with Q2 2024-2025 revenue remaining steady at €206m versus €207m last year. Due to the fine-tuned management of sales and the first measures of the “One Claranova” plan (start of work on tax optimization, capitalization of R&D expenses), Claranova is expecting double-digit growth in EBITDA for H1 2024-2025.

Based on this positive momentum for profitability, the Group reaffirms its 2027 target of 5%-8% for CAGR or total annual revenue of €575 million -€625 million, accompanied by an EBITDA margin of 13%-15%, and a ratio of net financial debt to EBITDA of less than 1x.

“Claranova’s teams were able to overcome the commercial and logistical hurdles created by a tighter calendar for the year-end holiday season,” said Eric Gareau, CEO, Claranova. “Not only did they execute their plans with success, but they also further improved their operating margins despite 5 fewer promotional days than last year. Thanks to our resilience and agility, we reported solid sales for the first half and are on track for achieving further gains in profitability.”

Revenue trends by division for Q2 2024-2025:

Revenue trends by division for H1 2024-2025:

*Because the myDevices division is henceforth considered as a non-core business, on November 5, 2024, Claranova tasked the investment bank, Canaccord Genuity, with the mission of selling this division. As a result, the division is no longer included in the Group’s scope of consolidation under IFRS 5.
** 2023-2024 revenue restated to exclude the myDevices division

PlanetArt: Robust business with a focus on profitability

PlanetArt, the Group’s e-commerce division for personalized objects, reported consolidated sales for H1 2024-2025 of €234 million, compared with €235 million one year earlier, despite a shorter promotional period during the year-end holiday season as explained above. This good level of sales, particularly in the Mobile segment, confirms the pertinence of the new customer acquisition channels rolled out in recent years, the division’s ability to optimize its marketing campaigns, and its agility in terms of product logistics.

Avanquest: new developments planned for the second half

Avanquest, the software publishing subsidiary, reported H1 revenue of €60 million, up 3% like-for-like (-3% at actual exchange rates, largely reflecting the proportion of non-core activities sold off in October 2023). With the contribution of non-core activities in the U.S. continuing to decline, it now accounts for only 8% of the division’s sales for the first half of the year, or €4.8m at December 31, 2024.

On this basis, the percentage of core business consisting of the sale of proprietary SaaS products accounted for 92% of total H1 revenue (down from 88% one year earlier) or €55.2 million, representing growth of +2%. During the first half, Avanquest teams developed new technologies and applications for the division’s key segments, which are expected to drive growth in sales in H2 2024-2025, the company said.

Update on legal proceedings pending with Pierre Cesarini: judgment rendered by the Luxembourg Labor Court

As mentioned in previous communications, the former CEO Pierre Cesarini filed lawsuits against Group companies contesting his dismissals and seeking total compensation of €15 million, including approximately €14 million in a claim filed with the Luxembourg Labor Court (Tribunal du Travail de et à Luxembourg).

The Luxembourg Labor Court issued its ruling on the claim filed by Cesarini against Claranova Development SARL on Jan. 16, 2025. In particular, this court determined that it lacked jurisdiction to rule on this matter as it was not established that Cesarini had been an employee of Claranova Development SARL. It also ordered Cesarini to pay the costs of the proceedings. To date, Cesarini has not appealed this ruling, the company said.