Revenue dips for cyber firm Avast following Russian exit and acquisitions
Revenue was down one per cent to $234.6m (£187.3m) for cyber security firm Avast as the firm rolls out new products and makes strategic acquisitions for growth.
For the first quarter, Adjusted EBITDA was $127.9m, resulting in an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 54.5 per cent.
The FTSE 100 firm has made two recent acquisitions to underpin its growth in recent months. The first, in December 2021, was US-headquartered Evernym, who are a pioneer in the field of decentralised digital identity.
The second, in March 2022, was Canada-headquartered SecureKey, who are a provider of federated digital identity and bank-centric identity and authentication services. The SecureKey transaction completed on at the start of April.
Prague-based Avast agreed to be bought by US-based NortonLifeLock in August 2021, in a deal that saw shareholders receive cash and shares valuing the group at between $8.1bn and $8.6bn.
Looking forward, the group expects to deliver low single-digit organic revenue growth and mid-single-digit billings growth for the full year. Organic growth rates exclude the recent Evernym and Securekey acquisitions, as well as sales from Russia and Belarus.
The Google Chrome Distribution business has been reclassified as discontinued and Avast announced in March that it would be suspending its operations in Russia and Belarus.
Adjusted EBITDA margin for the year is expected to be slightly below 50 per cent. This reflects 10 months with zero sales in Russia, the continued investment in various customer initiatives, increased customer acquisition costs, and the impact of the recent strategic investments in DTS.