Read our Group CEO Interview in Naftemporiki newspaper. In this discussion, Manolis Kontos emphasizes our geographical presence in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the USA, noting that we have made €60 million in acquisition investments since 2019. 

Translated from the original Greek. 

From 2019 until today, the company has invested capital of €60 million. euros in acquisitions. Manolis Kontos, CEO of the Group, talks to “N” about the growth strategy, expansion plans and acquisition plan of the listed company on the Athens and Vienna Stock Exchanges.

“AUSTRIACARD Holdings is steadily evolving into an international applied technology group, with particular emphasis and priority on the banking sector and systematic expansion into other, related business areas, such as the broader field of fintech and challenger/neo-banks.

Our goal is to be a leading provider of integrated solutions in the markets where we operate, integrating technologies, products and services at the highest possible level. We want to be a point of total support for our customers, going beyond the simple provision of individual products and dynamically undertaking the complete and holistic treatment of their needs.

At the core of these solutions is, of course, absolute security in data management and their implementation, whether they are security and identification documents of citizens or bank cards or any other type of electronic documents, with the ultimate goal of analyzing and utilizing them to support and contribute to business decision-making”, Mr. Kontos stresses.

Regarding financial performance, “the analysis of the financial data shows that the strategy to evolve the group into a provider of holistic applied technology solutions is already being implemented, with revenues in this segment having quadrupled this year, reaching €16.3 million. EUR 4.4 million in the first half of 2023.

As the data shows, we are on track to achieve or exceed our forecast for FY 2024 – namely, revenue growth of 10% and increased adjusted EBITDA of 12%, as a result of enhanced operating synergies and an improved sales mix with a focus towards digital transformation technologies”, notes Mr. Kontos. At the same time, from 2019 until today, AUSTRIACARD Holdings has invested €60 million. euros in acquisitions.

Focusing on the group’s strategy, Mr. Kontos points out that “we focus on optimizing technologies and solutions that serve the digital transformation of modern business organizations, while at the same time we focus on geographic areas with high growth potential and, correspondingly, on market sectors that are evolving at very high rates, such as fintech. We know very well the markets in which we have an established presence, as well as those in which we systematically expand – both in terms of scope and geographically.

Our development choices focus on those technologies that are at the cutting edge of developments and come to complement our so-called total “offering”, always guided by our ability to holistically serve the needs of our customers and support their digital transformation in areas such as digital banking, security printing and citizen authentication. that is, citizen identification procedures, for which AUSTRIACARD Holdings maintains a leading role in Central Europe.”

He adds that “in these functions, AI is integrated as an instrument with a significant supporting role. Our AI moves and choices focus on “tangible” solutions for our customers, such as cost optimization and accurate prediction of consumer behaviors – key factors for sectors such as banking and fintech, with a large amount of data to manage, analyze and exploit.

We are systematically investing in this direction, especially with the recent acquisition of the specialized data analysis and management company LStech, based in the UK. This is the overall logic with which we approach growth through acquisitions – always aiming to enrich our portfolio and know-how by offering end-to-end solutions to our customers. This analysis underpins our strategy for future acquisitions, particularly in data analytics, automation, AI, data security.”

Regarding AUSTRIACARD Holdings’ international presence, according to Mr. Kontos, “geographically now, apart from the countries where we have a leading presence, such as Greece, Austria, Romania, the UK and North America (USA and Canada), we place particular emphasis on the markets of Turkey, Africa and the Middle East where the potential in the banking sector but also in the field of electronic identification procedures and other digital processes of the public sector management is showing great potential. That is why we make our presence felt in the markets of many of these countries – apart from Turkey, of course, where our presence is already long and strong.

There is, of course, always the geopolitical factor, which we obviously take into account when planning our moves,” he says. “It’s true that we’re also focusing on the U.S. and Canadian markets, among others, even though we don’t think just moving across the Atlantic is enough to fuel growth. Of course we are able and want to expand our business model in America: we started practically from scratch, supporting fintech companies of European origin operating in these countries, but now we have the ability to meet the demands of organizations such as large regional banks on the East Coast.

We believe that the prospects can be promising, which is why we are devoting considerable resources to this. We also put particular emphasis on the UK market.”

Regarding the valuation of the company’s presence in two stock exchanges and the planning after the placement that took place recently, Mr. Kontos argues that “our recent moves in the Athens Exchange show a clear message of support for the share from the main shareholder and the Management, but also confidence in the strategic plan that is evolving methodically and effectively. Our parallel presence on the Vienna Stock Exchange has additional symbolic significance, given the long history and tradition of our brand in Austria, as well as the extroversion of our Group as a business organization with an international presence and scope.

It is worth mentioning that, while we are talking about an organization that started in Greece, its participation in the total turnover of the company is around 10%, so it is clear that we are talking about a global presence and a high market share internationally. This is also proven by the staffing of the organization, which has now far transcended national borders, gathering know-how and business dynamics from the international environment”.