News

MakoLab grows during a turbulence-filled year

15th February 2023

5 min. read

MakoLab S.A. presented its results for Q4 2022 on 14th February 2023. The most important information is the 27% year-on-year growth in revenues, which reached more than PLN 69,000,000 for the entire year. Despite a plethora of negative external events, the share of exports in the company’s sales remained steady, at over 80%. Compared to 2021, the company significantly improved its profitability indicators. Following two years of pandemic, working remotely has become a fixture in the IT industry. The jobs market in the sector has gone global, with workplaces and employers frequently distanced from one another. The end of 2022 saw mass redundancies occurring among the IT titans, which might affect the employment market in the industry in Poland.

MakoLab S.A.’s report for the fourth quarter of 2022 offers excellent news regarding the company’s growing revenues and profitability. In a year dominated by the war in Ukraine and rising inflation, sales totalled PLN 69,161,000, as opposed to PLN 54,489,000 for 2021, a year-on-year increase of 27%. At a share of 82%, the export of services continued to take first place, growing at the same pace as domestic sales. The company significantly improved its profitability in relation to 2021, with an annual EBITDA of PLN 5,400,000 and a net profit of PLN 3,800,000, reflecting an increase of 43% and 119%, respectively.

There were no marked changes to MakoLab’s sales structure. Services in the sphere of creating software for connected vehicles in the automotive and air transport sectors were the primary force driving the company’s results. Higher revenues were also recorded for the supply of customised digital systems supporting vehicle sales, rentals, financing and insurance. On the domestic market, IT outsourcing produced good results, which were achieved under steadily more complex geopolitical and economic circumstances. The consequences of that will become visible in the months and years to come.

It was definitely a tough year for the world. We hadn’t even managed to shake off the pandemic properly when we found ourselves facing Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. Our business challenges were nothing in comparison with the problems the people beyond our eastern border have been facing. A great many of our staff are involved in helping refugees. The war and the worsening economic situation have triggered fears about the future in a lot of people. In spite of the dramatic circumstances, we succeeded in running our business professionally. We brought our projects in on time and met our clients’ demanding expectations for quality. That’s something a large number of them emphasise when they’re talking to me and I really do want to thank all our staff for that.

Wojciech Zieliński, President of the Management Board

The past year was another where we were dealing with demand outstripping supply in terms of experts on the IT jobs market. Even so, MakoLab took on more than one hundred new members of staff, a necessity in the light of its ongoing project needs. Together with the growing pressure on salaries, this was the main reason for the 24% rise in the company’s year-on-year operating costs.

Both our sector and our clients are pondering the issue of how to respond to constantly growing staffing needs. On the other hand, we’ve seen a number of employment ‘adjustments’ among the global IT giants like Google and Microsoft. As far as that’s concerned, we’re asking ourselves whether this phenomenon of the leading companies slimming down their personnel is the effect of a diminishing demand for online services as compared to the period of the pandemic, when it was often the only form of contact with the world, or if it’s a shift to a cheaper and more flexible outsourcing model. The forthcoming months are bound to give us at least a provisional answer to that.

Wojciech Zieliński

In 2022, MakoLab intensified its business development operations. Making the most of the funding it received as a result of successfully competing in the Go To Brand initiative, the company was actively engaged abroad in promoting its products and services at international conferences and industry trade fairs.

For the first time in its history, MakoLab took part in numerous and diverse events in the course of one year. With the pandemic years behind us, we were also interested to discover whether that particular channel of contact with clients would translate into new business opportunities. We were a presence at automotive industry events like AutoTech: Europe and Car HMI, events for the fintech sector, including Money 2020 and global events focusing on trends and inspirations. WebSummit, held in Lisbon, is unquestionably one of them. On that occasion, we had the chance of working with the Łódź city authorities on the Invest in Lodz (Central Poland) stand, promoting the IT sector that’s thriving in our region. We were represented at all the events by a number of our staff, which also gave them an opportunity of networking, exploring the directions that the digital sector is taking and enriching their experience. We’re counting on seeing the outcome of all this in 2023.

Michał Hertel, Head of Communication and Marketing

As regards research and development, one noteworthy achievement is a prototype system developed by MakoLab, in collaboration with an insurance company. It is designed to verify damage reported under motor insurance claims and the solution makes use of machine learning techniques.

Other important activities in 2022 include the implementation of the ISO 90012, 14401 and 45001 standards. The company is planning to obtain certification of its compliance with all three by the end of this year.

The report summarising Q4 is available at MakoLab raport kwartalny za IV kwartał 2022.

Insights

News

15th February 2023

5 min. read

Author(s)

MakoLab grows during a turbulence-filled year

Michał Hertel

Head of Communication

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