Hitit (HTTBT), one of the world's leading names in the field of airline and travel technologies, achieved a net sales income of USD$12.5M in the Q2 of 2023. Hitit increased its sales revenues by 59% compared to the same period of the previous year and its EBITDA margin was 41%.
Hitit's Departure Control System, which exchanges data with the border and customs systems of 84 countries worldwide, is used in over 700 airports. Last year, the sales volume realized by airlines and travel companies through Hitit infrastructure reached USD$4.5Bn.
This year, Hitit won the passenger reservation systems tender of Ajet (AnadoluJet), a Turkish Airlines subsidiary, and Hitit also continues to grow in Türkiye. The company expects to close 2023 with a growth rate of 33-38% and an EBITDA margin of 43-48%.
12 August 2023 / ISTANBUL - Hitit (HTTBT), Türkiye’s largest service exporter in the field of airline and travel technologies, announced that it achieved sales revenue of USD$12.5 million in Q2, 2023. According to the balance sheet disclosed to the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP), Hitit increased its sales revenues by 59% in the first half of 2023, and the number of passengers served, which forms the basis of SaaS revenues, increased by 59% . Having gained three new partners in the first half of 2023, the company's EBITDA increased by 51% compared to the same period of the previous year and reached USD$5.1M
Continue to grow with strong capital and financial structure
Pointing out that Hitit's cash and cash equivalents totalled USD$16.6M as of the end of Q2, 2023, Sezer Tuğ Özmutlu, CFO at Hitit, noted that the cash amount – excluding bank loans and financial leasing obligations for the same period – was USD$16.1M. Stating that Hitit continues to grow as a debt-free company with its strong capital and financial structure, Ms. Özmutlu continued as follows:
"In this quarter, compared to the same period of the previous year, shareholders' equity increased from USD$43.3M to USD$47.6M, sales increased by 59% from USD$7.9M to USD$12.5M, net profit increased by 456 % from USD$0.5M to USD$2.7M and EBITDA increased by 51 % from USD$3.4M to USD$5.1M. 78% of our revenues were denominated in foreign currency and 22% in Turkish Lira (TL), while the international/domestic portion was 71% and 29%, respectively. This is an indicator of our strong exporter structure. Due to the low rate of imported inputs, I would like to state that we export with high added value."
Ms. Özmutlu also shared her forward-looking expectations for the end of 2023: "As of the end of 2023, we expect a 33 – 38% growth in turnover in USD$ terms, a margin of 43 – 48% in EBITDA and a margin of 25 – 30% in net profit. Özmutlu said that the investment / turnover ratio is projected to be 30 – 35%.
"Despite the macroeconomic conditions, in parallel with the sectoral developments, we have achieved a turnover growth above the period-end growth expectation. The strong operational course in the aviation sector is expected to continue to have a positive impact on our operating results.
With our strong capital and financial structure, our investment/turnover ratio continues to be strong in accordance with our principle of maintaining our product and service structure in line with the latest demands and trends and our commitments during the public offering. All the values we refer to are in USD."
Preferred by 67 airlines and travel companies from 47 countries
Nevra Onursal Karaağaç, Hitit's CMO, stated that Hitit now serves 47 countries and partners reached is 67 as of the second quarter of 2023. She added: "One of the most important achievements of this year was the agreement we made with the Anadolujet (AJet with its new registered name), a Turkish Airlines brand. It was an agreement for the use of Hitit's software solutions, especially the Passenger Service System (PSS). This co-operation with our national airline will carry us even further. Our significant achievements in Türkiye went along with our successes abroad. During the same period, we achieved a significant success in North America by signing an agreement with an airline from Canada, and we have also contracted with new airlines both in Europe and Africa.
In addition to our award-winning reservation and ticketing solutions, which are highly recognized worldwide, we also signed agreements to sell our cargo and airline accounting solutions independently.”
Significant investments in R&D and cloud architecture
Pointing out that the number of partners and the steady increase in sales were triggered at three points, Ms. Karaağaç said, "As of the second quarter of 2023, we invested USD$3.6M in R&D and USD$930,000 in licenses, hardware and fixtures. The first of our main investment areas was the development of product infrastructure and software in parallel with different markets. We allocated 35% of our investments to this area. Infrastructure development and improvement for the transition to Cloud architecture was another important investment area and received 30% of the funds. Another 25% was allocated to the development of new business units. This enabled us to develop a single integrated solution suitable for all airlines, from the smallest to the largest. With Cloud-based, modern and flexible technology infrastructure, we had the opportunity to scale our services worldwide. The cost-reducing and revenue-enhancing effects of our investments will be more clearly visible from Q3 2023."
Shaping the airline technologies of the future
Ms. Karaağaç emphasized that negotiations and pilot projects were carried out with different cloud providers for the development of the "multi-cloud" architecture, which enables synchronized operation on multiple Cloud systems. She added: "The initial phase of the Offer & Order Management System solution has been finished. This phase was designed using the latest IATA data standards, considering Hitit's market analysis. The system is expected to play a crucial role alongside PSS in the global market soon’’. Further phases have also received a favorable opinion from the airline consortium headed by IATA, consisting of 27 airlines, including the world's 10 largest carriers. This demonstrates how important a role Hitit will play in shaping aviation’s future trends."
Rehabilitation of earthquake affected children with table tennis
Giving information about Hitit's social responsibility activities, Ms. Karaağaç went on: "As we continuously evolve as a global technology company, we also continue our social responsibility to the community. As well as providing mentorship to support women in the technology sector, preparing students for the future with scholarships and internship opportunities, we have also customized our social responsibility “Rackets Up” programme, which we have implemented in the field of sports, for the earthquake zone. We have established permanent table tennis areas in container cities in the provinces primarily affected by the earthquake and have also started providing regular table tennis coaching sessions to children. We will continue to do our best to contribute to the children’s rehabilitation through sports."