Last close As at 05/08/2026
EUR277.40
— 0.00 (0.00%)
Market capitalisation
—
Research: TMT
Esker reported constant currency revenue growth and operating profit growth of 9%, despite COVID-19 restrictions reducing volumes processed during the year and making it more difficult to sign new business in Q220. Order intake rebounded in Q3 and hit record levels in Q4, setting the company up for accelerating revenue growth in FY21. We have revised our forecasts to reflect lower ongoing tax rates and upgrade our FY21 EPS forecast by 10.5%; with our expectation that growth will return to pre-COVID levels in FY22 we forecast FY22 EPS growth of 42%.
Esker |
Signalling a return to double-digit growth |
FY20 results |
Software & comp services |
29 March 2021 |
Share price performance
Business description
Next events
Analyst
Esker is a research client of Edison Investment Research Limited |
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Esker reported constant currency revenue growth and operating profit growth of 9%, despite COVID-19 restrictions reducing volumes processed during the year and making it more difficult to sign new business in Q220. Order intake rebounded in Q3 and hit record levels in Q4, setting the company up for accelerating revenue growth in FY21. We have revised our forecasts to reflect lower ongoing tax rates and upgrade our FY21 EPS forecast by 10.5%; with our expectation that growth will return to pre-COVID levels in FY22 we forecast FY22 EPS growth of 42%.
Year end |
Revenue (€m) |
PBT* |
Diluted EPS* |
DPS |
P/E |
Yield |
12/19 |
104.2 |
13.6 |
1.79 |
0.33 |
109.3 |
0.2 |
12/20 |
112.3 |
14.5 |
1.95 |
0.35 |
100.3 |
0.2 |
12/21e |
128.6 |
17.7 |
2.32 |
0.40 |
84.3 |
0.2 |
12/22e |
151.8 |
25.5 |
3.29 |
0.45 |
59.4 |
0.2 |
Note: *PBT and EPS are normalised, excluding amortisation of acquired intangibles, exceptional items and share-based payments.
FY20 results demonstrate robust business model
Supported by a high level of recurring revenues (81% in FY20), Esker survived the disruption from COVID-19 remarkably well, still managing to generate revenue growth of 9% (constant currency) and even increased reported operating margins by 0.2pp to 12.1%. The company continued to hire staff during the year, with average headcount up 13% y-o-y and a particular focus on R&D, consulting and customer experience. Despite this, lower than expected operating costs (helped by reduced marketing and travel costs) combined with a lower tax rate resulted in normalised EPS 19% ahead of our forecast. Net cash grew by 44% over the year to €30.2m. The pandemic has accelerated the need for cloud-based solutions which has benefited Esker as a SaaS-based technology provider for digital transformation of the back-office.
Growth accelerating in FY21, back to normal in FY22
Based on bookings growth of 17% for FY20, the company expects to be able to generate constant currency revenue growth of c 15% in FY21 with similar profitability to FY20. In FY19, the company generated constant currency revenue growth of 18%, and we believe it should be able to return to similar growth rates in FY22. Factoring in the lower tax rates due to the patent box, we upgrade our FY21 EPS by 10.5% (19% growth y-o-y) and forecast EPS growth of 42% for FY22.
Valuation: Reflects high level of recurring revenues
The stock trades at a premium to document processing automation (DPA) software and French software peers but at a discount to US SaaS peers. Esker has re-rated over the last year (the stock is up 112% over the last 12 months), with its P/E multiple moving more towards the US SaaS software peer group. We believe this is due to the value placed on businesses with high levels of recurring revenue, providing visibility through a period of economic uncertainty. Esker has the added advantage of a strong balance sheet to fund growth. Successful execution of Esker’s partner strategy could be a trigger for earnings and share price upside.
Review of FY20 results
Exhibit 1: FY20 results highlights
€m |
FY19 |
FY20e |
FY20a |
% change |
% y-o-y |
Revenues |
104.2 |
112.3 |
112.3 |
(0.1%) |
7.8% |
EBITDA |
20.1 |
21.3 |
21.9 |
3.2% |
9.3% |
EBITDA margin |
19.2% |
18.9% |
19.5% |
0.6% |
0.3% |
Normalised EBIT |
12.8 |
13.0 |
14.0 |
8.2% |
9.3% |
Normalised EBIT margin |
12.3% |
11.6% |
12.5% |
0.9% |
0.2% |
Reported EBIT |
12.4 |
12.6 |
13.6 |
8.4% |
10.2% |
Reported EBIT margin |
11.9% |
11.2% |
12.1% |
0.9% |
0.3% |
Normalised PBT |
13.6 |
13.1 |
14.5 |
10.2% |
6.1% |
Normalised net income |
10.1 |
9.6 |
11.5 |
20.1% |
13.9% |
Reported net income |
9.7 |
9.9 |
11.6 |
16.9% |
18.6% |
Normalised dil. EPS (€) |
1.79 |
1.63 |
1.95 |
19.2% |
8.9% |
Reported basic EPS (€) |
1.80 |
1.75 |
2.04 |
16.9% |
13.7% |
Reported diluted EPS (€) |
1.72 |
1.69 |
1.96 |
15.9% |
13.8% |
Net cash |
21.0 |
27.0 |
30.2 |
11.8% |
43.6% |
DPS (€) |
0.33 |
0.35 |
0.35 |
0.0% |
6.1% |
Source: Esker, Edison Investment Research
Esker reported FY20 revenues in January. FY20 EBITDA came in 3% ahead of our forecast – while staff costs were in line with our expectations, the company reduced spending on marketing and travel resulting in lower-than-expected other operating expenses. Amortisation was also slightly lower than expected, driving normalised EBIT €1m higher than our forecast. The normalised EBIT margin increased by 0.2pp y-o-y to 12.5%. The company reported an exceptional credit of €0.5m before PBT, reflecting the benefit to FY19 results of applying the patent box regime for the first time in FY20 (software development in France entitled to tax credits for the first time). This also reduced the tax rate in FY20 to a reported rate of 22%, and on our normalised forecasts, to 20%. The joint venture with Quadient contributed €0.5m, ahead of our €0.3m estimate, as volume recovered in H220. Overall, this drove normalised net income 20% higher than forecast and normalised diluted EPS 19% higher. Net cash increased to €30m by year-end, 12% ahead of our forecast. The company has not yet declared a dividend for the year.
COVID-19 had biggest impact on Q2 revenues
The charts below show the bookings and SaaS revenue trends through the year.
|
Exhibit 2: Bookings by quarter (€m) |
Exhibit 3: SaaS revenues by quarter (€m) |
|
|
|
Source: Esker |
Source: Esker |
|
Exhibit 2: Bookings by quarter (€m) |
|
|
Source: Esker |
|
Exhibit 3: SaaS revenues by quarter (€m) |
|
|
Source: Esker |
Esker’s SaaS contracts are constructed so that customers pay a monthly fixed subscription fee plus variable fees dependent on the volume of transactions going through Esker’s platform. In Q2, the volume of transactions dropped significantly as COVID-19 restrictions hit, with April and May levels dropping c 25% from the expected level. Volumes improved steadily from June, although even now, the company estimates that volumes are c 5% below the level anticipated pre-COVID. Overall, SaaS revenues grew 12% in FY20, despite the drop in Q2.
Bookings also dropped in Q2 as signing new business was more difficult during this period. Bookings recovered from Q3 and grew 30% y-o-y in Q4 (to record levels); however, this delay meant that fewer implementations took place in H2, reducing consulting revenues. Management expects a fuller rebound in consulting revenues from Q221.
Maintenance, licence and hardware revenues continued to decline as expected, with the company not actively marketing any products in the licence-based DPA or legacy product categories.
Exhibit 4: Revenues by type and product
Revenues by type |
growth y-o-y |
% of total |
Revenues by product |
€m |
Constant currency growth y-o-y |
Growth y-o-y |
SaaS |
12% |
76% |
SaaS-based DPA |
104.1 |
12% |
11% |
Consulting |
4% |
18% |
Licence-based DPA |
5.6 |
(14%) |
(15%) |
Maintenance |
(10%) |
5% |
Legacy products |
2.6 |
(31%) |
(33%) |
Licenses |
(46%) |
1% |
Total revenue |
112.3 |
9% |
8% |
Hardware |
(44%) |
0% |
Source: Esker
Recurring revenues (SaaS plus maintenance revenues) made up 81% of the total, compared to 79% in FY19.
The majority of bookings in FY20 (c 80%) were from new customers. The company has not aggressively tried to cross-sell but is putting more focus on this now. Product demand is split roughly 50/50 between procure-to-pay (P2P) and order-to-cash (O2C), with a trend towards P2P.
Business update
Partner programme making steady progress
Esker has signed up a variety of partners over the last two years. They are still making only a small contribution to new business wins, but this is steadily increasing. Management noted that the Fuji Xerox deal in Asia Pacific had resulted in more than 12 wins in Japan during FY20 (from zero in FY19). The company had invested in making the product ready for the Japanese market and this appears to have paid off. The KPMG Netherlands partnership generated three sizeable contract wins in FY20 which have yet to be implemented. More recent partner signings such as Sword in France are still going through the process of training staff and devising joint marketing plans. Management noted that it takes at least 18 months from the date of signing a partner to generate new business, taking into account the work needed to train the teams and develop marketing plans, as well as the typical sales cycle.
Slowly gaining recognition with market analysts
Esker has recently started to be recognised by market research analysts. This recognition should raise Esker’s visibility with potential customers.
In the IDC MarketScape 2021 reports, the company was categorised as:
■
A leader in worldwide SaaS and cloud-enabled accounts receivable automation applications for mid-market vendors; and
■
A major player in worldwide SaaS and cloud-enabled accounts payable automation applications for enterprise vendors.
The company was included in the Gartner Magic Quadrant 2020 for P2P solutions as a niche player.
M&A back on the agenda
Management noted that from Q420, it had started to consider M&A again. Targets would be relatively small (€5–10m) and would most likely bring additional functionality on the periphery of current solutions such as payments, supply chain finance or contract management. It had previously stopped looking for acquisitions in 2017 as most companies with interesting technology were too highly valued. The company had cash of €45.3m at the year-end (including €4.9m included in fixed assets) and debt of €15.1m, which includes €11.5m of loans from the French government for COVID-19 support. The company plans to repay the €11.5m in loans, leaving c €34m in cash available to invest in growth.
Outlook and changes to forecasts
Management noted that business year-to-date has been strong and it currently believes it should be able to beat the 16% growth in bookings achieved in FY20. For FY21 revenues, the company expects to be able to generate constant currency revenue growth of c 15% with profitability at similar levels to FY20. Revenue growth is likely to accelerate in FY22 as business returns to normal and Esker’s partner programme has a more material impact. We have revised our forecasts to reflect FY20 results and a lower tax rate due to the patent box regime. We introduce FY22 forecasts.
Exhibit 5: Changes to forecasts
€m |
FY21e old |
FY21e new |
change |
y-o-y |
FY22e new |
y-o-y |
Revenues |
128.7 |
128.6 |
(0.1%) |
14.5% |
151.8 |
18.1% |
EBITDA |
25.3 |
25.8 |
2.1% |
17.8% |
34.2 |
32.3% |
EBITDA margin |
19.6% |
20.1% |
0.4% |
0.6% |
22.5% |
2.4% |
Normalised EBIT |
16.4 |
17.0 |
3.3% |
20.8% |
24.7 |
45.6% |
Normalised EBIT margin |
12.8% |
13.2% |
0.4% |
0.7% |
16.3% |
3.1% |
Reported EBIT |
16.0 |
16.5 |
3.4% |
21.5% |
24.3 |
46.8% |
Reported EBIT margin |
12.4% |
12.9% |
0.4% |
0.7% |
16.0% |
3.1% |
Normalised PBT |
17.1 |
17.7 |
3.2% |
22.1% |
25.5 |
44.4% |
Normalised net income |
12.5 |
13.8 |
10.2% |
19.7% |
19.9 |
44.4% |
Reported net income |
12.2 |
13.4 |
10.3% |
16.3% |
19.6 |
45.5% |
Normalised dil. EPS (€) |
2.10 |
2.32 |
10.5% |
18.9% |
3.29 |
42.0% |
Reported basic EPS (€) |
2.12 |
2.34 |
10.6% |
14.5% |
3.35 |
43.0% |
Reported diluted EPS (€) |
2.04 |
2.26 |
10.6% |
15.6% |
3.23 |
43.1% |
Net cash |
32.0 |
37.2 |
16.5% |
23.4% |
48.9 |
31.2% |
DPS (€) |
0.40 |
0.40 |
0.0% |
14.3% |
0.45 |
12.5% |
Source: Edison Investment Research
Valuation
The stock has gained 112% over the last year, is 72% ahead of its pre COVID-19 peak and is up 10% year-to-date. We have compared Esker’s valuation to a group of listed global DPA software companies and to French-listed small-cap software companies (Exhibit 6). We have also included aggregate data for a group of more than 40 US SaaS software companies. We note that most companies in the first two peer groups are not predominantly SaaS companies, whereas Esker has been operating a SaaS business model for more than a decade.
US SaaS companies on average are growing faster than Esker, although they are generating operating margins below the level of Esker. The typical growth path for US SaaS companies involves investing heavily in sales and marketing to gain market share as fast as possible, with little focus on achieving profitability in the short term. Esker’s model sits somewhere between low-growth, high-profitability on-premise software businesses and US SaaS companies’ high-growth operating model, aiming for a happy medium of double-digit revenue growth while achieving mid-teen operating margins.
Esker has re-rated over the last year, with its P/E multiple moving more towards the US SaaS peer group. We believe that this is due to the value placed on businesses with high levels of recurring revenue, providing visibility through a period of economic uncertainty. Esker has the added advantage of a strong balance sheet that does not require additional funding to support growth.
Exhibit 6: Peer group financial and valuation metrics
Company |
Share |
Market |
Rev growth |
EBIT margin |
EBITDA margin |
EV/Sales |
P/E |
|||||
Price |
Cap m |
CY |
NY |
CY |
NY |
CY |
NY |
CY |
NY |
CY |
NY |
|
Esker |
€ 195.40 |
€ 1,111 |
14.5% |
18.1% |
13.2% |
16.3% |
20.1% |
22.5% |
8.5 |
7.2 |
84.3 |
59.4 |
Software companies with DPA software offerings |
||||||||||||
Basware |
€ 37.10 |
€ 538 |
2.9% |
12.1% |
3.8% |
8.1% |
13.6% |
17.2% |
3.7 |
3.3 |
N/A |
257.6 |
Bottomline |
$43.62 |
$1,964 |
7.0% |
11.9% |
14.5% |
16.1% |
21.2% |
22.2% |
4.1 |
3.7 |
37.5 |
30.3 |
Coupa |
$253.00 |
$18,432 |
25.4% |
24.6% |
-1.7% |
5.5% |
5.2% |
7.8% |
28.5 |
22.8 |
N/A |
420.3 |
ITESoft |
€ 3.64 |
€ 22 |
9.2% |
3.1% |
3.1% |
5.2% |
8.4% |
10.3% |
0.8 |
0.8 |
14.6 |
7.1 |
OpenText |
$59.90 |
$16,340 |
6.1% |
2.4% |
35.2% |
31.6% |
38.2% |
38.6% |
4.6 |
4.5 |
14.6 |
14.0 |
Proactis |
£0.43 |
£41 |
2.9% |
2.9% |
9.0% |
10.3% |
25.1% |
26.7% |
1.8 |
1.7 |
13.9 |
10.8 |
Tungsten Corp |
£0.31 |
£39 |
-0.6% |
8.1% |
-42.1% |
2.1% |
9.2% |
14.4% |
1.2 |
1.1 |
N/A |
46.9 |
Average |
7.6% |
9.3% |
3.1% |
11.3% |
17.3% |
19.6% |
6.4 |
5.4 |
20.1 |
112.4 |
||
Median |
6.1% |
8.1% |
3.8% |
8.1% |
13.6% |
17.2% |
3.7 |
3.3 |
13.9 |
30.3 |
||
French small-cap software companies |
||||||||||||
Axway Software |
€ 27.30 |
€ 585 |
5.8% |
6.8% |
9.4% |
10.7% |
12.6% |
13.6% |
2.1 |
1.9 |
24.7 |
20.8 |
Claranova |
€ 6.68 |
€ 266 |
20.1% |
14.6% |
4.6% |
6.6% |
6.0% |
7.3% |
0.6 |
0.5 |
25.0 |
15.8 |
ESI Group |
€ 49.40 |
€ 295 |
38.3% |
6.8% |
5.7% |
7.0% |
11.1% |
12.2% |
2.4 |
2.2 |
59.0 |
44.0 |
Lectra |
€ 27.85 |
€ 908 |
20.5% |
33.3% |
15.5% |
14.3% |
21.4% |
19.3% |
2.8 |
2.1 |
38.2 |
25.7 |
Linedata Service |
€ 34.60 |
€ 226 |
2.5% |
2.5% |
17.6% |
18.1% |
27.5% |
28.0% |
1.8 |
1.8 |
12.1 |
11.4 |
Sidetrade |
€ 126.00 |
€ 180 |
19.5% |
19.9% |
3.0% |
7.3% |
6.2% |
10.5% |
4.8 |
4.0 |
203.2 |
64.3 |
Average |
17.8% |
14.0% |
9.3% |
10.7% |
14.1% |
15.1% |
2.4 |
2.1 |
60.3 |
30.3 |
||
Median |
19.8% |
10.7% |
7.6% |
9.0% |
11.9% |
12.9% |
2.2 |
2.0 |
31.6 |
23.3 |
||
US SaaS software companies |
||||||||||||
Average |
24.3% |
21.4% |
8.0% |
11.0% |
13.7% |
15.8% |
14.9 |
12.0 |
302.3 |
95.6 |
||
Median |
21.1% |
23.1% |
8.5% |
10.1% |
12.4% |
14.2% |
14.6 |
11.4 |
101.7 |
105.5 |
||
Source: Edison Investment Research, Refinitiv (as at 25 March)
Exhibit 7: Financial summary
€'000s |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021e |
2022e |
||
Year end 31 December |
French GAAP |
French GAAP |
French GAAP |
French GAAP |
French GAAP |
French GAAP |
French GAAP |
||
PROFIT & LOSS |
|||||||||
Revenue |
|
|
65,990 |
76,064 |
86,871 |
104,188 |
112,274 |
128,608 |
151,847 |
EBITDA |
|
|
14,871 |
16,399 |
18,279 |
20,054 |
21,927 |
25,835 |
34,171 |
Operating Profit (before amort and except) |
|
|
9,934 |
10,547 |
11,955 |
12,843 |
14,037 |
16,960 |
24,696 |
Amortisation of acquired intangibles |
(200) |
(300) |
(344) |
(425) |
(425) |
(425) |
(425) |
||
Exceptionals and other income |
(474) |
(456) |
(88) |
(62) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Other income |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Operating Profit |
9,260 |
9,791 |
11,523 |
12,356 |
13,612 |
16,535 |
24,271 |
||
Net Interest |
(108) |
(110) |
(57) |
268 |
(67) |
100 |
100 |
||
Profit Before Tax (norm) |
|
|
9,949 |
10,669 |
12,215 |
13,634 |
14,462 |
17,660 |
25,496 |
Profit Before Tax (FRS 3) |
|
|
9,275 |
9,913 |
11,783 |
13,147 |
14,528 |
17,235 |
25,071 |
Tax |
(2,950) |
(3,148) |
(2,940) |
(3,402) |
(2,966) |
(3,792) |
(5,516) |
||
Profit After Tax (norm) |
6,785 |
7,281 |
9,168 |
10,106 |
11,510 |
13,775 |
19,887 |
||
Profit After Tax (FRS 3) |
6,325 |
6,765 |
8,843 |
9,745 |
11,562 |
13,443 |
19,555 |
||
Ave. Number of Shares Outstanding (m) |
5.3 |
5.3 |
5.4 |
5.4 |
5.7 |
5.7 |
5.8 |
||
EPS - normalised (c) |
|
|
128 |
138 |
170 |
186 |
203 |
240 |
340 |
EPS - normalised fully diluted (c) |
|
|
122 |
132 |
165 |
179 |
195 |
232 |
329 |
EPS - (GAAP) (c) |
|
|
120 |
128 |
164 |
180 |
204 |
234 |
335 |
Dividend per share (c) |
30 |
32 |
41 |
33 |
35 |
40 |
45 |
||
Gross margin (%) |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
||
EBITDA Margin (%) |
22.5 |
21.6 |
21.0 |
19.2 |
19.5 |
20.1 |
22.5 |
||
Operating Margin (before GW and except) (%) |
15.1 |
13.9 |
13.8 |
12.3 |
12.5 |
13.2 |
16.3 |
||
BALANCE SHEET |
|||||||||
Fixed Assets |
|
|
28,324 |
37,912 |
39,635 |
47,201 |
48,987 |
51,587 |
54,587 |
Intangible Assets |
22,381 |
26,673 |
28,096 |
29,323 |
30,787 |
33,287 |
35,787 |
||
Tangible Assets |
5,158 |
7,115 |
7,050 |
10,434 |
10,036 |
9,536 |
9,336 |
||
Other |
785 |
4,124 |
4,489 |
7,444 |
8,164 |
8,764 |
9,464 |
||
Current Assets |
|
|
42,024 |
42,823 |
49,016 |
52,022 |
72,918 |
69,206 |
86,189 |
Stocks |
101 |
176 |
147 |
185 |
257 |
257 |
257 |
||
Debtors |
19,523 |
21,253 |
25,551 |
30,015 |
31,440 |
35,940 |
42,434 |
||
Cash |
21,338 |
20,632 |
22,794 |
21,357 |
40,421 |
32,209 |
42,698 |
||
Other |
1,062 |
762 |
524 |
465 |
800 |
800 |
800 |
||
Current Liabilities |
|
|
(28,299) |
(26,206) |
(30,072) |
(34,300) |
(50,150) |
(41,465) |
(45,471) |
Creditors |
(28,299) |
(26,206) |
(30,072) |
(34,300) |
(38,650) |
(41,465) |
(45,471) |
||
Short term borrowings |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
(11,500) |
0 |
0 |
||
Long Term Liabilities |
|
|
(7,657) |
(14,909) |
(10,810) |
(8,276) |
(6,342) |
(3,842) |
(2,698) |
Long term borrowings |
(7,657) |
(13,716) |
(9,318) |
(6,516) |
(3,644) |
(1,144) |
0 |
||
Other long term liabilities |
0 |
(1,193) |
(1,492) |
(1,760) |
(2,698) |
(2,698) |
(2,698) |
||
Net Assets |
|
|
34,392 |
39,620 |
47,769 |
56,647 |
65,413 |
75,485 |
92,607 |
CASH FLOW |
|||||||||
Operating Cash Flow |
|
|
15,944 |
17,311 |
18,366 |
20,290 |
24,389 |
24,150 |
31,682 |
Net Interest |
(127) |
(75) |
63 |
352 |
(30) |
100 |
100 |
||
Tax |
(1,456) |
(2,053) |
(2,795) |
(3,329) |
(884) |
(3,792) |
(5,516) |
||
Capex |
(7,021) |
(9,304) |
(7,789) |
(10,995) |
(10,223) |
(11,300) |
(12,200) |
||
Acquisitions/disposals |
(935) |
(7,551) |
(225) |
(486) |
(492) |
0 |
0 |
||
Financing |
467 |
(345) |
785 |
1,449 |
48 |
0 |
0 |
||
Dividends |
(1,550) |
(1,633) |
(1,756) |
(2,237) |
(1,896) |
(2,093) |
(2,433) |
||
Net Cash Flow |
5,322 |
(3,650) |
6,649 |
5,044 |
10,912 |
7,065 |
11,633 |
||
Opening net debt/(cash) |
|
|
(8,978) |
(13,681) |
(10,016) |
(16,576) |
(21,018) |
(30,177) |
(37,242) |
HP finance leases initiated |
(645) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Other |
26 |
(15) |
(90) |
(602) |
(1,753) |
0 |
0 |
||
Closing net debt/(cash) |
|
|
(13,681) |
(10,016) |
(16,576) |
(21,018) |
(30,177) |
(37,242) |
(48,875) |
Source: Esker, Edison Investment Research
|
|
Research: Healthcare
Newron and Zambon will now progress the crucial Xadago Phase III study in Parkinson’s dyskinesia. This indication, if successful, should give an important boost to US sales. FY20 results showed Xadago royalties of €5.2m. Newron expects evenamide Phase II results in late March. This data on the novel schizophrenia drug could enable two Phase III studies to start from mid-2021. Newron hopes to partner evenamide for ‘inadequate response to current atypical antipsychotic agents’, a large indication. We estimate a deal might be signed from late Q321. Newron estimates it has about €61m available to fund development until late 2022. After an evenamide deal, it hopes to acquire further projects. Our current indicative value of CHF121m will be updated after evenamide Phase II data.