Higher dividend and growth momentum remains intact at the leading digitalisation specialist for buses and trains

• Dividend increased to EUR 0.70 per share (previous year: EUR 0.55 per share)
• Revenue and incoming orders continue to rise steeply following a record year
• Dr. Gottfried Greschner looks back on 40 years as founder and CEO

The shareholders of init innovation in traffic systems SE (ISIN DE 0005759807) have good reason to celebrate at today’s Shareholders’ Meeting in Karlsruhe: the dividend of the world’s leading digitalisation specialist for buses and trains has increased to EUR 0.70 per share (2022: EUR 0.55 per share). What’s more, according to the Managing Board’s report, growth momentum remains intact. Following the record set in 2022, the Managing Board expects the company to return to its long-term growth trajectory of 10 to 15 per cent annually in the current year. This implies that revenue in 2023 will reach between EUR 200m and EUR 220m for the first time (2022: EUR 191.3m) and that EBIT will reach between EUR 20m and EUR 25m.

init founder and chairman of the Managing Board, Dr. Gottfried Greschner, looks back on the company’s 40-year history and his activities as CEO. “We have come a long way from my PhD research project back then to today’s successful global corporation. Our goal has always been to pave the way for sustainable mobility. As a full-service provider of digital solutions for our global customers in the public transport sector, we possess the necessary experience and state-of-the-art technologies to continue the init success story,” states Greschner.

To mark the 40-year anniversary of the company, init shareholders will receive a one-off special dividend of EUR 0.10 per no-par value share. In addition, a regular dividend of EUR 0.60 per no-par value share will be paid for the 2022 financial year to reflect the positive trend in earnings. There was a large majority in favour of this proposal for the appropriation of earnings as well as for the proposal to exonerate the Managing Board.

Expansion of the Supervisory Board – female representation reaches 33 per cent

The shareholders also agreed with the proposal of the Managing Board to expand the Supervisory Board. It now has six members instead of four. In addition to the existing members of the Supervisory Board, Christina Greschner, Hans-Joachim Rühlig, Ulrich Sieg and Andreas Thun, two new members were elected to join the board: insurance professional Prof. Michaela Dickgießer and top manager Dr. Johannes Haupt. As a result, female representation on the Supervisory Board has reached 33 per cent, which exceeds the target.

In the Managing Board’s report, CFO Marco Ferber confirmed the outlook for the 2023 financial year. Based on the results for the first quarter of 2023, the company is on track in terms of both revenue and earnings. Incoming orders are showing a particularly positive momentum: at EUR 69.5m, outperforming the high figure set in Q1 2022 of EUR 62.9m by more than 10 per cent. Orders received from the United States and the optical components business are the main factors driving this trend.

“Demand for digital solutions for the public transport sector continues to grow steadily and is expected to be boosted by further government support and public policy makers’ decisions,” explains the CFO. Management expects that the number of tenders for digitalisation projects will continue to increase in the coming years, against the background of global efforts to realize the transition in public transport.