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BITTNET SYSTEMS SA

 

CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

Prepared in accordance with

Order of the Minister of Public Finance

no. 2844/2016, as further amended,

for the financial year ended

31 December 2023

 

 

 

  

 

 

-

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONSOLIDATED SITUATION OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME...........................................................................................

3

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION..................................................................................................

4

CONSOLIDATED SITUATION OF CASH FLOW......................................................................................................................

5

CONSOLIDATED SITUATION OF CHANGES IN EQUITY.....................................................................................................

6

NOTE 1.      GENERAL INFORMATION....................................................................................................................................

7

NOTE 2.      BASIS FOR DRAWING UP THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.............................................................................

16

NOTE 3.      ESSENTIAL ESTIMATES AND ACCOUNTING REASONING............................................................................

17

NOTE 4.      FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS - RISK MANAGEMENT.......................................................................................

18

NOTE 5.      ACTION RESULT....................................................................................................................................................

22

NOTE 6.      INFORMATION BY BUSINESS SEGMENTS.......................................................................................................

23

NOTE 7.      REVENUES FROM CONTRACTS WITH CLIENTS.............................................................................................

25

NOTE 8.      SALES COST ..........................................................................................................................................................

27

NOTE 9.      OTHER INCOME AND OTHER EXPENDITURE.................................................................................................

28

NOTE 10.      SALES EXPENSES ..............................................................................................................................................

29

NOTE 11.      GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES...............................................................................................

29

NOTE 12.      CLASSIFICATION OF EXPENDITURE BY TYPE..............................................................................................

30

NOTE 13.      FINANCIAL INCOME AND EXPENSES.............................................................................................................

31

NOTE 14.      PROFIT TAX..........................................................................................................................................................

32

NOTE 15.      GOODWILL...........................................................................................................................................................

33

NOTE 16.      OTHER INTANGIBLE ASSETS...........................................................................................................................

36

NOTE 17.      TANGIBLE ASSETS..............................................................................................................................................

38

NOTE 18.      SECURITIES..........................................................................................................................................................

39

NOTE 19.      INVENTORIY........................................................................................................................................................

41

NOTE 20.      TRADE RECEIVABLES AND OTHER RECEIVABLES.....................................................................................

42

NOTE 21.      CASH SI CASH EQUIVALENTS..........................................................................................................................

44

NOTE 22.      CAPITAL AND RESERVES..................................................................................................................................

45

NOTE 23.      BONDS...................................................................................................................................................................

48

NOTE 24.      BANK LOANS.......................................................................................................................................................

50

NOTE 25.      LEASING LIABILITIES........................................................................................................................................

53

NOTE 26.      TRADE LIANILITIES AND OTHER LIABILITIES............................................................................................

54

NOTE 27.      INFORMATION ON RELATIONS WITH RELATED PARTIES..........................................................................

55

NOTE 28.      CONTINGENT LIABILITIES...............................................................................................................................

56

NOTE 29.      SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES...........................................................................................................

60

NOTE 30.      RUSSIA - UKRAINE CONFLICT..........................................................................................................................

66

NOTE 31.      EVENTS AFTER THE BALANCE SHEET DATE................................................................................................

66

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

 

Note

2023

 

2022

Revenues from contracts with customers

[7]

375,532,179

 

192,156,489

Sales cost

[8]

(309,389,400)

 

(149,412,267)

Gross margin

 

66,142,779

 

42,744,222

 

 

 

 

Other revenues

[9]

5,169,765

 

3,481,459

Sales expenses

[10]

(18,432,534)

 

(13,793,331)

General and administrative expenses

[11]

(41,734,919)

 

(24,999,980)

Other expenses

[9]

(689,691)

 

(2,145,821)

 

 

 

 

Profit/(loss) – Equivalent securities

 

(121,055)

 

273,630

Financial income

[13]

(1,523,074)

 

(3,320,483)

Financial expenses

[13]

(7,076,271)

 

(4,308,881)

Gross profit

 

1,735,001

 

(2,069,186)

 

 

 

 

Profit tax

[14]

(911,339)

 

(123,400)

Net Profit, out of which:

 

823,662

 

(2,192,586)

related to the parent company

 

(4,604,953)

 

(5,358,890)

related to minority interests

 

5,428,615

 

3,166,304

 

 

 

 

Other elements of the overall result

 

-

 

-

Total global result

 

823,662

 

(2,192,586)

related to the parent company

 

(4,604,953)

 

(5,358,890)

related to minority interests

 

5,428,615

 

3,166,304

 

 

 

 

Earnings per share

[5]

 

 

 

basic

 

(0.0076)

 

(0.0105)

diluted

 

(0.0069)

 

(0.0098)

 

The financial statements from page [3] to page [67] were approved and signed on 22 March 2024.

Mihai Logofatu

Chief Executive Officer

Adrian Stanescu

Chief Financial Officer

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

 

Notes

31 December

           2023        

31 December

          2022       

ASSETS

 

 

 

Fixed assets

 

Goodwill

[15]

89,398,454

 

57,528,189

Other intangible assets

[16]

9,653,554

 

9,077,001

Tangible fixed assets

[17]

32,699,563

 

27,808,467

Investments accounted for using the equity method

[18]

2,797,885

 

2,918,940

Other financial fixed assets

 

695,988

 

2,426,167

Deferred tax

[14]

3,796,271

 

1,271,824

Total fixed assets

 

139,041,714

 

101,030,589

Current assets

 

 

 

Inventory

[19]

4,226,836

 

2,777,973

Trade receivables and other receivables

[20]

79,561,980

 

60,697,390

Financial assets at fair value

[18]

11,356,744

 

13,790,384

Cash and cash equivalents

[21]

70,013,171

 

42,300,365

Total current assets

 

165,158,731

 

119,566,112

TOTAL ASSETS

 

304,200,445

 

220,596,701

 

 

 

EQUITY AND DEBTS

 

 

Share capital

 

63,417,672

 

52,848,060

Issue premiums

 

31,934,768

 

9,738,583

Other equity items

 

(5,830,661)

 

(11,390,433)

Reserves

 

1,355,734

 

1,324,823

Reported result

 

(3,750,746)

 

1,149,789

Capital related to the parent company

 

87,126,767

 

53,670,822

Non-controlling interests

[22]

4,485,519

 

3,823,943

Total equity and reserves

 

91,612,286

 

57,494,765

Long-term debts

 

Bonds

[23]

24,340,699

 

9,609,806

Bank loans

[24]

18,976,363

 

11,166,109

Leasing liabilities

[25]

19,184,756

 

19,290,728

Long-term debts

 

5,000,000

 

-

Total long-term debts

 

67,501,819

 

40,066,644

Current debts

 

Bonds

[23]

47,458

 

25,194,352

Bank loans

[24]

8,542,343

 

13,998,791

Leasing liabilities

[25]

6,419,839

 

4,693,525

Dividends payable

 

3,265,428

 

500,942

Profit tax liabilities

[14]

622,641

 

284,250

Trade liabilities and other liabilities

[26]

126,188,631

 

78,363,431

Total current debts

 

145,086,340

 

123,035,292

Total liabilities

 

212,588,159

 

163,101,936

TOTAL EQUITY AND DEBTS

 

304,200,445

 

220,596,700

 

CONSOLIDATED SITUATION OF CASH FLOW

 

2023

2022

Gross profit

1,735,001

(2,069,186)

Adjustments for:

 

  Depreciation expenses

9,047,336

4,424,982

  Goodwill impairment adjustments

-

495,000

  Expenses related to disposed assets

11,021

12,517

  Benefits granted to SOP employees

1,073,576

890,381

  Adjustments for the depreciation of receivables

285,407

198,849

Adjustments for inventory impairment

94,994

-

  Expenses related to acquisitions of participating interests

689,691

1,650,821

  Interest expenses and other financial costs

6,852,862

3,604,056

  Interest income and other financial income

(547,343)

634,292

  Loss on securities placements

2,070,416

3,411,090

  Equity securities loss

121,055

(273,630)

Operating profit before working capital change

21,433,816

12,979,173

      Variation of receivables account balances

32,566,404

(15,174,426)

      Variance of the inventory accounts balances

38,968,927

2,240,336

      Variation of accounts payable balances

(28,351,874)

19,341,027

Cash generated from operation

64,617,273

19,386,111

Profit tax paid

(3,685,917)

(1,391,092)

Net cash from operating activities      

60,931,356

17,995,019

Investment activities: 

 

Payments for acquisition of subsidiaries/businesses, +/- cash acquired

(28,298,984)

(15,023,596)

Payments for the purchase of participation interests

(841,345)

(830,127)

Proceeds from the sale of participating interests

-

10,447,460

Loans repayments to related entities

-

240,000

Loans granted to related entities

(600,000)

-

Acquisitions of tangible and intangible assets

(1,710,863)

(4,054,298)

Other investments in financial instruments

(119,071)

(4,179,499)

Proceeds from other financial investments

413,635

4,809,727

Collected dividends

68,661

134,220

Interest received  

509,905

111,911

Net cash from investment activities

(30,578,062)

(8,344,203)

Financing activities:

 

Proceeds from share issue

31,260,944

-

Repurchases of own shares

4,550,607

-

Sale of own shares

-

(2,603,739)

Drawings of bank loans

10,000,000

9,951,863

Repayments of bank loans

(24,868,831)

-

Proceeds from bond issue

14,636,689

9,609,806

Repayments of bond issue

(24,403,700)

-

Payments of leasing liabilities

(7,231,873)

(2,956,494)

Interest paid

(5,968,724)

(3,326,805)

Dividends paid on minority interests

(615,600)

(1,428,279)

Net cash from financing activities

(2,640,488)

9,246,353

Net increase in cash and cash equivalents

27,712,806

18,897,168

Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the financial year

42,300,365

23,403,197

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the financial year

70,013,171

42,300,365

 

 

 

CONSOLIDATED SITUATION OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

 

Share capital

Issue

premiums

Other equity

items

Legal

reserves

Reported

result

Total

capital

Non-controlling

interests

Total equity

31 December 2022

48,043,690

14,542,953

(19,082,504)

1,114,139

6,719,360

51,337,639

1,164,851

52,502,490

Net profit

-

-

-

-

(5,358,890)

(5,358,890)

3,166,304

(2,192,586)

Other elements of the global result

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Total global result

-

-

-

-

(5,358,890)

(5,358,890)

3,166,304

(2,192,586)

Share capital increase

4,804,369

(4,804,369)

(9,895)

-

-

(9,895)

-

(9,895)

Benefits granted to SOP employees

-

-

890,381

-

-

890,381

-

890,381

Purchase/Sale of own shares

-

-

(2,649,244)

-

-

(2,649,244)

-

(2,649,244)

Sale of minority interests

-

-

9,460,829

-

-

9,460,829

538,472

9,999,301

Non-controlling interests

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Dividend distribution

-

-

-

-

-

-

(1,045,684)

(1,045,684)

Distribution of the legal reserve

-

-

-

210,683

(210,683)

-

-

-

31 December 2022

52,848,060

9,738,583

(11,390,433)

1,324,823

1,149,789

53,670,822

3,823,943

57,494,765

31 December 2022

52,848,060

9,738,583

(11,390,433)

1,324,823

1,149,789

53,670,822

3,823,943

57,494,765

Net profit

-

-

-

-

(4,604,953)

(4,604,953)

5,428,615

823,662

Other elements of the global result

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Total global result

-

-

-

-

(4,604,953)

(4,604,953)

5,428,615

823,662

Share capital increase (BNET)

10,569,612

22,196,185

(64,411)

-

-

32,701,386

-

32,701,386

Share capital increase (ISEC/Fort)

-

-

-

-

-

-

1,070,063

1,070,063

Private placement (Fort)

-

-

-

-

-

-

1,559,558

1,559,558

Benefits granted to SOP employees

-

-

1,073,576

-

-

1,073,576

-

1,073,576

Purchase/Sale of own shares

-

-

4,550,607

-

-

4,550,607

-

4,550,607

Non-controlling interests

-

-

-

-

-

-

(3,408,643)

(3,408,643)

Dividend distribution

-

-

-

-

(264,671)

(264,671)

(3,988,017)

(4,252,688)

Distribution of the legal reserve

-

-

-

30,911

(30,911)

-

-

-

31 December 2023

63,417,672

31,934,768

(5,830,661)

1,355,734

(3,750,746)

87,126,767

4,485,519

91,612,286

NOTE 1.                       GENERAL INFORMATION

 

Group structure and operational activities

The financial statements include the consolidated financial information of the parent company Bittnet Systems S.A. (the “Issuer”), headquartered in Bucharest, 44 Sergent Ion Nuțu street, ONE COTROCENI PARK, Building A & B, 4th floor, 5th District, Bucharest and the following subsidiaries, all of which are registered in Romania:

 

31 Dec 2023

 

31 Dec 2022

 

 

SUBSIDIARIES - % ownership

 

 

 

 

 

Dendrio Solutions

88.001%

 

88.001%

 

 

Dataware Consulting, 71,13% through Dendrio Solutions

100%

 

-

 

 

Top Tech, 46% through Dendrio Solutions

86%

 

86%

 

 

2Net Computer, through Dendrio Solutions

100%

 

100%

 

 

IT Prepared

50.2%

 

50.2%

 

 

Equatorial Gaming

98.99%

 

98.99%

 

 

Equatorial Training, by Equatorial Gaming

100%

 

100%

 

 

Computer Learning Center

100%

 

100%

 

 

Fort (formerly Global Resolution Experts)

58.87%

 

60%

 

 

GRX Advisory, through Fort

58.87%

 

60%

 

 

ISEC Associates, through Fort

58.87%

 

69.992%

 

 

Elian Solutions

51.02%

 

51.02%

 

 

Kepler Management Systems, 75,8% through Elian Solutions

100%

 

-

 

 

Nenos Software

60.97%

 

60.97%

 

 

Nonlinear

60%

 

60%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MINORITY INTERESTS

 

 

 

 

 

E-Learning Company

23%

 

23%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

The group has over 400 employees and collaborators working for one of the 16 companies included in the group (Bittnet Systems, Dendrio Solutions, Dataware Consulting, Top Tech, 2Net Computer, IT Prepared, Equatorial Gaming, Equatorial Training, Computer Learning Center, Fort (formerly Global Resolutions Experts), GRX Advisory, ISEC Associates, Elian Solutions, Kepler Management Systems, Nenos Software, Nonlinear).

During FY2023, the average number of employees of the Group was 300. The following table shows the division by functional departments at the end of the fiscal years 2022-2023:

Dep.

31 dec 2023

31 dec 2022

Sales

48

51

Technical

215

122

Marketing

7

7

Delivery

73

60

Management

14

10

TOTAL

357

250

The consolidated financial statements include the results of the business combination by the acquisition method. In the statement of financial position, the assets, liabilities and contingent liabilities of the purchasing entity are initially recognized at their fair values at the acquisition date. The results of the acquired operations are included in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income from the date of obtaining control (Dendrio Solutions - September 2017, Elian Solutions - November 2018, Equatorial Gaming and Equatorial Training - December 2020, Computer Learning Center, ISEC Associates, IT Prepared, Nenos Software, Nonlinear - August 2021, Fort (formerly Global Resolution Experts) and GRX Advisory - December 2021, Top Tech and 2Net Computer - September 2022, Dataware Consulting - May 2023 and December 2023 respectively, Kepler Management Systems - November 2023).

Bittnet Systems S.A.

Bittnet was established in 2007 and focused on providing IT training and integration solutions, based on market-leading technologies such as Cisco, Microsoft, Dell, Oracle, HP, VMware, Google, Amazon Web Services.

In February 2009, the company changed its legal status in the joint stock company (SA), following the increase of the share capital, using the profits generated in 2008. In 2012, the company received a first infusion of capital "from abroad" (equity investment) from the business angel Răzvan Căpățînă, who is still an important shareholder of the company.

In March 2015, Bittnet was listed on the AeRO market of the Bucharest Stock Exchange, under the symbol BNET. Bittnet was the first IT company to be listed on BVB, after an infusion of EUR 150,000 in the company, received from the Polish fund Carpathia Capital SA in exchange for a 10% stake.

In 2016, the company created a new area of expertise by introducing consulting and migration services in the cloud. As a result, Bittnet has launched a series of actions dedicated to customers strictly for this range of services, targeting a new group of customers, with a slightly different profile. During 2017, the company continued to invest in increasing and diversifying AWS and Azure-specific technical skills in order to meet the requests received.

From April 2018, the new structure of the group was adopted and the business structure of Bittnet Group was reorganized into two key segments: Education and Technology. Starting in 2023, the group has organised the Technology segment into 3 divisions/business pillars: Cloud & Infrastructure, Cybersecurity and Business applications & Software development.

The process of continuous evolution of the group, both through the launch of new products and services and through continuous acquisitions, has led to the current dimension where the activity is organised in more independent centres (“cells”), in areas of interest - “development pillars” or “business units”, which represent sub-areas of activity in the IT&C Services area. Bittnet is today a conglomerate offering investors exposure to the entire IT&C industry in Romania.

Starting with June 2020, Bittnet shares (BNET symbol) are listed on the BVB Regulated Market and are part of the main BVB indices.

a)       The Education Division

This division contains 4 companies (Bittnet Systems, Computer Learning Center, Equatorial Gaming and Equatorial Training, which are equal to the minority shareholding in The E-Learning Company), offering training to adults in two areas: Technical Skills and Human Skills in both traditional, face-to-face, Virtual Remote and instructor-led or eLearning formats. The trainings provided allow experts access to technology by teaching IT skills, starting from basic skills (e.g: Microsoft Office Suite) to the most advanced ones (Cloud, DevOps, Cybersecurity). The business training portfolio includes project management, IT services management, business intelligence, CRM, ERP, Agile, etc.

Equatorial Gaming

In 2018, the Group acquired a significant stake in the game-based learning company Equatorial Gaming. Following the acquisition, Equatorial's activities were integrated into the Education division.

In August 2020, Bittnet activated the conversion option on the loan of RON 1,050,000 granted in 2018 to Equatorial Gaming, equivalent to 20.1% of the share capital. In November 2020, Bittnet shareholders approved the purchase of a number of registered shares representing 60.3665% of the share capital of Equatorial Gaming SA. As a result of these transactions, Bittnet Systems reached a 98.99% ownership of the share capital of Equatorial Gaming SA.

Equatorial, a game-based learning company, specializes in providing transformational training and consulting programs at the individual, team and organizational levels in Romania and abroad. In 2015, the company invented and launched Equatorial Marathon, an Alternate Virtual Reality Game for corporations, which increases involvement and stimulates employee behaviour change. In 2018 Equatorial launched a new product: VRunners, a mobile platform evolution of the Marathon app. In 2019, Equatorial launched 2 new games: White Hat and Bona Fides Agency.

Computer Learning Center

In August 2021, the Group informed investors about the signing of the share sale and purchase agreement for the acquisition of the IT training company - Computer Learning Center.

The purchase price for 100% of the Computer Learning Center (CLC) was RON 725,000, which was settled in 2 instalments: the first instalment, amounting to RON 225,000, was paid by payment order in August 2021, and the second instalment – amounting to RON 500,000, conditional on the removal of assets from CLC's patrimony that are not relevant to the company's current activity – was paid in January 2022.

Bittnet Group has thus strengthened its Education division and expanded its certification portfolio, particularly in the cyber security sector. CLC works with over 30 certified trainers and has delivered over 2,500 trainings to 15,000 participants in recent years.

Following the entry of Bittnet Systems into the shareholding, a loan agreement was also signed by the parties in September 2021 whereby Bittnet provided Computer Learning Center the amount of RON 560,000 for working capital financing for a maximum period of 3 years and an interest rate of 9% per year. The loan was successively increased up to the amount of RON 2,405,000 from October 2021 to June 2022, and then partially repaid from August to September 2022 and then increased again throughout 2023, the remaining balance as of 31.12.2023 amounted to RON 1,445,000.

Computer Learning Center has been consolidated in the financial statements as of September 2021.

The E-Learning Company S.A.

According to the November 2020 mandate of the General Meeting of Shareholders, Group's management has completed in January 2021 negotiations to acquire 23% of the share capital of The E-Learning Company (ELC).

The E-Learning Company has a portfolio of solutions and various products structured in several directions covering areas such as personal and professional development, communication, sales and negotiation, marketing, human resources, project management, Microsoft Office, finance, English, etc.

The total value of the transaction was sized at RON 2.5 million. The payment to the founders of the E-Learning Company was made in two stages:

  • the first instalment amounting to Ron 850,000 was fully paid in cash, the amount of 450,000 during Q1 2021, and the rest in April 2021. Brittnet’s management has decided to pay in full the 1st instalment in cash considering the long period of time for processing the operation of clearing with shares to the founders of the previous M&A transactions – the acquisition of 25% of Softbinator and 99% of Equatorial Gaming.

  • the second instalment amounting to RON 1,682,690 (calculated following the closing of the financial statements as at 31.12.2021) was paid 50% in cash in April 2022, and the remaining 50% (which would have been paid to the founders of E-Learning Company through settlement in BNET shares in a share capital increase operation) was also paid in cash, in March 2023, following the signing of an addendum to the sale-purchase agreement.

As a result of the investment contract, Bittnet has allocated a position in the Board of Directors of E-Learning Company, a position that is occupied by Ivylon Management SRL through Logofatu Cristian.

Following Bittnet Systems' entry into the shareholding, the parties also signed a loan agreement by which the Issuer made available to The E-Learning Company the amount of RON 240,000 for financing the working capital for a maximum period of 3 years and an interest of 10 % per year. The loan was repaid in full during May 2022. During 2023 a new loan agreement was signed between Bittnet Systems and ELC, the balance of which as at 31.12.2023 amounted to RON 600,000.

b)       Cloud & Infrastructure Division (Digital Infrastructure)

This division contains 5 companies Dendrio Solutions, Dataware Consulting, Top Tech, 2Net Computer and IT Prepared) offering complex IT solutions to customers in the corporate, large corporate, enterprise and public sector segments throughout the country but also abroad (mainly CEE and USA).

The solutions offered start from physical communications infrastructure, perimeter security, video systems, digital signage systems and computing and printing systems and continue with the design and implementation of complex IT architectures such as data centre/hybrid or cloud, enterprise networking, cyber security platforms and the implementation of related software platforms, including collaboration platforms (modern workplace).

The services provided are both project-based and managed services, with managed services being delivered mainly to clients in mature markets, Europe and the United States.

Dendrio Solutions

During 2017, Bittnet Group acquired GECAD NET from Romanian entrepreneur Radu Georgescu. In the first half of 2018, GECAD Net was renamed Dendrio Solutions. Dendrio is the only “multi-cloud” hybrid solutions integrator in Romania, with a consolidated position as a certified company by the world's leading IT vendors, focusing on cloud and cybersecurity.

The IT solutions provided by Dendrio include: general consulting services, IT assessment services, implementation and migration services, maintenance and support services, infrastructure optimization services and IT training services. The company is the only "hybrid multi-cloud" integrator in Romania, consolidating its position as a certified company by the most important IT providers in the world, focusing on cloud and cybersecurity.

In December 2018, Bittnet acquired the IT&C integration activity of Crescendo International SRL, a company with 25 years of experience in Romania and on foreign markets. Crescendo's IT&C division has been integrated into Dendrio and, as a result of the merger, the company benefits from a more stable business structure, extensive staff resources, and an extensive portfolio of customers, products and services.

In June 2022, Bittnet Systems announced to the market through the current report no. 25/14.06.2022 that an institutional investor has joined the shareholding of Dendrio Solutions SRL. The transaction was carried out by selling an 11.999% stake in Dendrio to the investment fund Agista Investments for the amount of RON 7,499,982.76. Considering the transaction price, the market valuation of the IT&C integrator Dendrio Solutions at the date of the transaction amounted to about RON 62.5 million.

With Agista joining the shareholding, Dendrio is on its way to listing on the capital market either through a private placement or an initial public bid on the BVB, or through a merger procedure with a company listed on a regulated market or on a multilateral trading facility in a member country of the European Union.

Top Tech

Founded in 1992, Top Tech SRL (CUI: 2114184) is a Romanian company, integrator of IT&C products and services, with business in Transylvania. Currently, TopTech has partnerships with some of the most important technology manufacturers, such as Dell or HP, for the delivery of equipment, solutions and technological services. The company has over 80 employees and collaborators, being one of the most important IT integrators in the central and western part of Romania. TopTech has offices in Deva, Sibiu, Timisoara, Cluj-Napoca, Alba-Iulia and Medias. Following this transaction, the Bittnet Group has expanded its geographic coverage nationwide in the IT&C integration industry.

After signing the closing at the beginning of September 2022 and registering the mentions in the Trade Register regarding the new shareholding structure, Dendrio Solutions SRL owns 60% of Top Tech, while Bittnet Systems SA owns 40%. The total value of the transaction price is RON 12,874,306, of which RON 5,000,000 (2nd instalment) would be settled in BNET shares in a future capital increase; the cash component, worth RON 7,874,306 (1st instalment), was paid in full in September 2022. In March 2023, the parties signed an additional document to the share sale and purchase agreement, by which they agreed that the amount of RON 2,000,000.11, related to 2nd instalment, should be paid in cash by payment order, and the amount of RON 2,999,999.89 to be converted into BNET shares in the capital increase carried out in 1st quarter of 2023. The bank transfer was made in March 2023, and the allocation of BNET shares to the founder of Top Tech in April 2023.

In December 2022, Bittnet Systems announced to investors the joining of Agista Investments investment fund into the Top Tech shareholding. The transaction was carried out through the sale by the daughter company Dendrio Solutions SRL of a number of 56 shares, representing 14% of the share capital and voting rights of Top Tech, in exchange of the amount of RON 3,000,000. Following the joining of Agista as an investor in Top Tech, the Top Tech shareholding structure is as follows: Bittnet Systems owns 160 shares, representing 40% of Top Tech, and Dendrio Solutions SRL owns a number of 184 shares, representing 46% of Top Tech.

Top Tech has been consolidated in the financial statements starting from October 2022.

2Net Computer

2NET Computer SRL is a Romanian company with over 20 years of experience in providing IT&C products and services, mainly in the Brasov area and the center of the country for local and international clients present in Brasov, Harghita and Covasna counties. 2Net Computer provides products and technology solutions from the main international vendors,

proving expertise in the following fields: design and implementation of technical security systems; technology solutions & services for setting up equipment, servers, storage, networking, software, virtualization, hardware & software security; the sale of hardware components/PC/printers, copiers & multifunctional/scanners.

The total value of the transaction price is RON 5,241,931, the amount paid in full in September 2022.

2Net Computer SRL has been consolidated in the financial statements starting from October 2022.

Dataware Consulting

Dataware Consulting is one of the most important integrators of technology solutions and services regarding the implementation and configuration of IT infrastructures, data networks, storage and security solutions from the main international technology vendors. Dataware Consulting entered the Bittnet group as of June 2023 through the acquisition by the Group of a 70% stake of the shares (following the M&A transaction, Bittnet Systems owned 18.87% and Dendrio Solutions owned 51.13%). The total price of the transaction amounted to RON 19,861,795, of which the equivalent of RON 5,000,000 in BNET shares that would have been allocated to the 2 co-founders of Dataware in a future capital increase. Through an addendum to the share sale and purchase agreement, the cash payment of this instalment was agreed in June 2023.

In December 2023, the Group's Management decided to fully acquire the minority interests in Dataware Consulting from its founders, namely the percentage of 30%. The purchase price was set at EUR 3,000,000, to be paid as follows:

  • partly in cash by Bittnet Systems, the equivalent in RON of EUR 1,000,000, instalment paid 2 days after signing the completion certificate in January 2024.

  • partially in equivalent: respectively shares (stock) of Dendrio Solutions that will be allocated to the two founders of Dataware. They will also occupy 2 seats in the future Board of Directors constituted at the level of Dendrio Solutions and consisting of 5 members. The co-founders of Dataware thus remain in the management and development of the two IT integrators (Dataware Consulting and Dendrio Solutions) considering that the 2 companies have a similar business profile and complementary skills on various technologies. For the allocation of Dendrio shares in the account of the transaction price, Dendrio Solutions will increase its share capital and the conversion of receivables into Dendrio shares will also be done within this operation. The convertible value of the debt of the two Dataware co-founders will amount to EUR 1,000,000.

  • partly in cash: EUR 1,000,000, an amount that will be paid in RON at the exchange rate from the date of the bank transfer, until 31.05.2025 at the latest.

On 03.01.2024, the certificate of completion on the transaction was signed, after obtaining the agreement on the transaction from the Competition Council, and the necessary registrations were made at the Trade Registry Office, so that the ownership percentages in Dataware Consulting are:  Dendrio Solutions – 71.13% and Bittnet Systems SA – 28.87% of the share capital and voting rights.

Dataware Consulting has been consolidated in the financial statements as of June 2023.

IT Prepared (rebranded: Optimizor)

In August 2021, the Group informed investors and the Market about the completion of negotiations and the signing of the agreement for the acquisition of a majority stake in the company IT Prepared SRL. The transaction price amounted to USD 776,290 for 50.2% of the company's share capital and was to be paid through a mix of cash and BNET shares in 3 instalments:

  • The first instalment, in the amount of USD 265,200, was paid in cash, in RON equivalent, immediately after the signing of the share slae and purchase agreement, by payment order to the two founding shareholders of IT Prepared;

  • According to the share purchase agreement, 2nd instalment, in the amount of USD 368,290 (amount updated following the closing of IT Prepared's financial statements on 31.12.2021), would have been paid to the founders of IT Prepared by settlement in BNET shares in an operation to increase the social capital. In March 2023, the parties agreed to sign an addendum to the share sale and purchase agreement, whereby they established that the payment of the 2nd instalment should be made in cash, by bank transfer in national currency. Following the bank transfers in March 2023, 2nd instalment is considered fully paid.

  • The 3rd instalment, worth RON 1,078,768 (amount updated following the closing of IT Prepared's financial statements on 31.12.2022), was paid to the founders of IT Prepared, in cash, on 30.06.2023.

The transaction of taking over the majority stake in IT Prepared SRL was approved by the shareholders in the EGM of November 26, 2020. Taking into account that the financial and operational situation of IT Prepared SRL changed between the moment of approval granted by EGM and the moment of signing the investment agreement, the parameters of the transaction were renegotiated in favour of Bittnet, the final valuation being reduced by half (thus Bittnet took over the majority stake), and the payment was dependent on the confirmation of positive operational results in 2021 and 2022.

IT Prepared has been consolidated in the financial statements starting from September 2021.

c)       Cybersecurity Division

Currently, this division contains 3 companies (Fort S.A. - formerly Global Resolutin Experts, GRX-Advisory and ISEC Associates) that provide cyber security services to corporate, large corporate, enterprise and public sector clients from all over the country.

ISEC Associates

In August 2021, the Group informed investors about the signing of the share sale and purchase agreement for the takeover of the cyber security company – ISEC Associates SRL.

The purchase price for the purchase of 69.99% of the shares of ISEC Associates was RON 295,000, the amount which was paid in a single instalment, by bank transfer, to the funding shareholder, Alexandru Andriescu.

ISEC Associates is a company founded in 2003 specializing in comprehensive security audit, consultancy and testing services. ISEC helps companies identify, assess, secure and manage information security. By acquiring ISEC, Bittnet has developed its position in the cyber security market.

Following the joining of Bittnet Systems into the shareholding, a loan agreement was signed by the parties through which the Issuer made available to ISEC Associates the amount of RON 370,000 for working capital financing for a maximum period of 3 years and an interest rate of 9% per year. The loan was successively increased up to the amount of RON 650,000 in February-June 2022 and respectively in 2023.

ISEC capital increase – September 2023

In September 2023, ISEC Associates agreed to convert into capital the amount of RON 716,990, conversion made at the nominal value and which represented certain liquid and payable claims held by Bittnet Systems (RON 501,893, representing part of the loan granted) and by Provision Software (RON 215,097, representing receivables from the normal course of business) on ISEC Associates. Thus, the share capital of ISEC was increased up to the amount of RON 767,200, the registrations being also made with the Trade Register.

Acquisition of ISEC by Fort – October 2023

Considering the new operational organization of the group in the 4 business pillars (business units) but also taking into account the fact that a listing on the AeRO market of BVB is aimed for the Cybersecurity pillar – organized around FORT (formerly Global Resolution Experts SA), the management of the Group decided to organize all the companies that have as their object of activity the field of cyber security under the entity that is to become public, namely Fort. Thus, the group's first investment in a cybersecurity company, ISEC Associates, was transferred from the direct control of Bittnet Systems (which owned 69.99% of the capital), to Fort – which currently owns 100% of ISEC Associates.

In this respect, the assignment contract of 26.10.2023 was signed between the former associates of ISEC Associates (Bittnet Systems, Mr. Andriescu Alexandru and Provision Software) – transferor partners and Fort – transferee partner. The agreement provides for the full sale of ISEC Associates to FORT for the amount of RON 2,850,000 (the price of the transaction was established by the Decision of the Fort GMS dated 30.05.2022). On 30.10.2023, the Trade Register completed the registration of the mentions regarding the transfer of the ISEC shares, in this sense Fort SA being registered as the sole shareholder of ISEC, holding 100% of its share capital.

According to the share transfer agreement, the transferor partners agreed that in exchange for the transaction price, FORT shares will be allocated to them in a future operation to increase the share capital by converting the resulting receivables. Consequently, the transaction price did not involve the payment of any amount of money by Fort for the full purchase of ISEC.

ISEC Associates has been consolidated in the financial statements starting from September 2021.

Fort (formerly Global Resolution Experts) & GRX Advisory (GRX-A)

Fort, formerly Global Resolution Experts S.A., (tax registration number 34836770), 60% owned by Bittnet Systems, is a professional services company in the cybersecurity area, providing penetration testing, but also design, implementation and maintenance of solutions of cybersecurity. Fort fully owns GRX Advisory SRL (CUI 43813325), with similar services.

The group initially acquired, in December 2021, a 74% stake in the shares of the “parent” company – Fort, and later at the end of 2021 it attracted a number of natural and legal investors, by selling 14% of Fort's shares.

The price paid for 74% of Fort shares was RON 11,425,600, of which RON 5,150,400 paid in December 2021 and RON 6,275,200 paid between March and April 2022, after the completion of the audit for the financial results for 2021. The sale price for 14% of the shares held in Fort was RON 3,472,631, the amount received in full in December 2021 – January 2022.

The services provided by Fort are similar to those provided by ISEC: professional services in the area of cybersecurity: IT compliance audit, penetration test services for web applications and IT infrastructure, for beneficiaries from Romania and the European Union; Design, implementation and maintenance services for IT management systems and information security for compliance with ISO27001, ISO9001, ISO20000 standards; Design services of controls and IT security systems to be implemented (VPN, Antivirus/AntiX, DLP, NAC, IDS/IPS); Architectural design services, IT infrastructure technical solutions regarding the integration of financial IT systems in the Public Cloud; Architecture design services technical IT infrastructure solutions for the implementation of complex IT systems in the public sector (without participation in the implementation of the respective solutions by the beneficiaries).

Fort capital increase – November 2023

In November 2023, the share capital of FORT SA was increased by the amount of RON 8,550 from the amount of RON 90,000 to the amount of RON 98,550 by allocating a number of 85,499 shares to the transferor partners of ISEC Associates (Bittnet Systems, Mr. Alexandru Andriescu and Provision Software), in proportion to the certain liquid and payable receivables that they held from the assignment of the ISEC shares to FORT and which were certified by the accounting expertise report dated 02.11.2023. This capital increase resulted from FORT's acquisition of 100% of ISEC Associates, whereby FORT acquired full control of ISEC. In addition to the subscribed and paid social capital, this operation also generated an increase in Fort's own capital, by recording the amount of RON 2,841,414 as share premiums.

Fort private placement – December 2023

In December 2023, the Bittnet group informed the market about the successful completion of a private placement in order to increase the share capital through new cash contributions of FORT SA, an operation prior to the listing on the AeRO-SMT market and brokered by SSIF Tradeville. After analysing the subscription orders received during the placement period, the Board of Directors of FORT decided to successfully close the placement at the price of RON 50 per share. Thus, the subscriptions of 34 investors were accepted, and it was decided to increase the company's capital by the amount of RON 1,676,350, divided into RON 3,352.70 share capital and RON 1,672,997.30 share premium. Following the placement, Bittnet Systems' ownership in Fort is 58.87%.

Fort and GRX-A have been consolidated in the 31.12.2021 financial statements at balance sheet level only. As of January 2022, GRX and GRX-A have been fully consolidated in the Group's financial statements.

d)       Business applications & Software development division

Currently, this division contains 4 companies: Elian Solutions, Kepler Management Systems, Nenos Software & Nonlinear.

Elian Solutions

In 2018, the Group acquired a majority stake in the company that provides ERP solutions, Elian Solutions. Elian completed the offer of IT integration services by adding ERP solutions in the group's portfolio.

Elian Solutions is specialized in providing implementation services for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions, Microsoft Dynamics NAV. Elian is the only partner who holds a Gold Certificate for this solution from Microsoft in Romania. The solution implemented by Elian allows companies to know the situation of stocks, receivables and debts, to be able to forecast, inter alia, cash flow, to track production, cost centres and much more.

Kepler Management Systems

In November 2023, the Group informed investors and the market about the signing of the share purchase agreement for the acquisition of Kepler Management Systems. Founded in 2007, Kepler Management is a company similar in profile and business to Elian Solutions, being one of the main Microsoft partners in Romania for the implementation and support of the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central ERP (enterprise resource planning) solution. From an operational point of view, Kepler Management Systems will be integrated into the structure of Elian Solutions. The transaction price assumed a mix of cash and BNET shares as follows:

  • RON 3,132,175, the amount that was paid by payment order on the date of signing the assignment contract by Elian Solutions, which thus took over 75.8% of Kepler;

  • RON 1,000,000 in Bittnet Systems shares (which thus took over 24.2% of Kepler), which would have been allocated to former Kepler associates in a future capital increase. Through an addendum to the share purchase agreement, the parties agreed to the cash payment of this instalment, the payment of which was made during January 2024;

  • additionally, the transfer price also includes a variable component determined by Kepler's individual EBITDA value, related to 2023, an instalment that will be paid at the end of the 1st quarter, 2024, after the closing of Kepler's individual annual financial statements.

Kepler Management has been consolidated in the financial statements as of November 2023.

Nenos Software & Nonlinear

In August 2021, the Group informed the capital market about the completion of negotiations and the signing of contracts for the acquisition of majority stakes in the software developer Nenos Software SRL and in Nonlinear SRL.

The value of the transaction for the acquisition of 60.97% of Nenos Software was RON 4,850,000, price settled in two instalments, as follows:   

  • 50% of the transaction price (i.e. the amount of RON 2,425,000) was paid by bank transfer to the account of the sole associate of Nenos Software;       

  • According to the share purchase agreement, 50% of the transaction value would have been settled by allocating BNET shares in a capital increase operation. In March 2023, the parties agreed to sign an addendum to the sale-purchase contract of social shares, by which they determined that the payment of this instalment should be made in cash, by bank transfer. Following the transfer, in March 2023, the transaction price was fully paid.

For the acquisition of 60% of the company Nonlinear SRL, the transaction price was RON 120 and it is equal to the nominal value of the transferred shares. Nonlinear had in 2020 a turnover of Ron 392,442 and a net profit of Ron 115,018, with 4 programmers employed.

Nenos Software is a custom software development company with a focus on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML). Nonlinear SRL is an SPV established to access European financing; the activity is one of product-based software development, focused on the development of a platform for digitalization and automation of processes within small and medium-sized companies using low code/no code and machine learning technologies.

By taking majority stakes in Nenos Software and Nonlinear, Bittnet strengthened its position in the software development division, while also entering the artificial intelligence sector.

Nenos Software and Nonlinear have been consolidated in the financial statements from September 2021.

The Group’s Management

On 29 January 2020, the General Shareholder Meeting approved the amendment of the articles of incorporation of the company in terms of its administration by a Board of Directors composed of 3 members.

Given the current size of the Group, the General Meeting of 20 April 2023 approved the extension of the Board of Directors to 5 members. The composition of the Board is according to the election results and it was completed by the two new members:

1)     Ivylon Management SRL – Executive Director, by Mihai Alexandru Constantin Logofătu. On 31.12.2023, Mihai Logofătu held 55,651,882 shares, which represents 8.77% of the share capital. Mihai Logofatu is the co-founder of Bittnet Systems.

2)      Cristian Ion Logofătu – non-executive administrator. On 31.12.2023, Cristian Logofătu held 53,592,812 shares, which represents 8.45% of the share capital. Cristian Logofatu is the co-founder of Bittnet Systems.

Mihai and Cristian Logofatu are siblings, being the co-founders of the Issuer in 2007.

3)    Anghel Lucian Claudiu – non-executive director, who holds 5,468,395 shares of the Issuer on 31.12.2023, i.e. 0.86% of the share capital. 

4)      Rudolf Paul Vizental – non-executive director, does not hold as at 31.12.2023 shares of the Issuer.

5)  Dynamic Data Drawings SRL – non-executive director, through Anca Mănițiu. Anca Mănițiu holds on 31.12.2023 a number of 763,237 shares of the Issuer, representing 0.12% of the share capital.

The operational management of Bittnet Systems is provided by: Mihai Logofătu – CEO si co-founder and Adrian Stănescu – CFO, together with Cristian Herghelegiu – VP Technology and Cristina Ratiu – CEO Education. The 4 persons are identified as key management from the IFRS perspective.

NOTE 2.                       BASIS FOR DRAWING UP THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

a)       Declaration of conformity

The Group's financial statements were prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards adopted by the European Union ("EU IFRS"), and in accordance with OMFP 2844/2016, as amended and supplemented, "for the approval of accounting regulations in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards".

The consolidated financial statements were prepared on the basis of the historical cost convention and on the basis of the business continuity principle. The consolidated financial statements are presented in RON, which is also the functional currency of the Group.

The financial statements have been prepared for information purposes, for the purpose of and following the admission of the issuer Bittnet Systems SA to the regulated market and do not represent the statutory financial statements of the entity/group.

The main accounting policies adopted in the preparation of the consolidated financial statements are set out at Note 30 "Significant accounting policies".

b)       Business continuity

The year 2023 was characterized by a slower traction, a prolonged period of project implemntation and a greater requirement for the customization of delivered solutions. It was a year in which the IT industry felt cost-cutting strongly, and customers kept their budgets tight in the first part of the year, were more carefully in purchases and investing more cautiously. This situation could generate a liquidity crisis, as a result of the fears of consumers and companies about a future recession or economic crisis. However, it seems that the monetary measures taken by governments and central banks have given enough confidence to the business environment so that a 'credit crunch' does not occur. The group closely monitors liquidity indicators - conversion of receivables into cash, transactions with customers and suppliers, etc. In all scenarios taken into account, the Group will continue its operation, based on the principle of business continuity

 

c)       New standards and interpretations, valid at 31 December 2023

IFRS 17 "Insurance contracts", including amendments to IFRS 17 issued by the IASB on June 25, 2020 - adopted by the EU on November 19, 2021 (applicable for annual periods beginning on or after January 1, 2023).

Amendments to IFRS 17 "Insurance contracts" - Initial application of IFRS 17 and IFRS 9 - Comparative information adopted by the EU on September 9, 2022 (applicable for annual periods beginning on or after January 1, 2023).

Amendments to IAS 1 "Presentation of financial statements" - Presentation of accounting policies (applicable for annual periods starting on or after January 1, 2023);

Amendments to IAS 8 "Accounting policies, changes in accounting estimates and errors" - Definition of accounting estimates (applicable for annual periods starting on or after January 1, 2023);

Amendments to IAS 12 "Income taxes" - Deferred tax related to assets and liabilities arising from a single transaction (applicable for annual periods starting on or after January 1, 2023);

The adoption of the new amendments to the existing standards did not have any significant impact on the Group's consolidated financial statements

 

d)       New standards and interpretations, valid at 31 December 2022

The following amendments to existing standards issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and adopted by the EU are effective for the current reporting period:

  • Amendments to IAS 16 'Leasing contracts’ – Leasing debts in case of sale and leaseback (applicable for annual periods on or after January 1, 2024);

  • Amendments to IAS 1 "Presentation of financial statements" - Classification of liabilities into short-term liabilities and long-term liabilities (applicable for annual periods starting on or after January 1, 2023);

  • Amendments to IAS 1 "Presentation of financial statements" - Fixed liabilities with agreements (applicable for annual periods on or after January 1, 2024);

The group chose not to adopt these amendments to the existing standards before the effective dates of entry into force. The Group anticipates that the adoption of these standards and amendments to the existing standards will not have a significant impact on the consolidated financial statements of the Group during the initial application period.

e)       New standards and amendments to existing standards issued by the IASB, but which have not yet been adopted by the EU

Currently, IFRS as adopted by the EU do not differ significantly from the regulations adopted by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), with the exception of the following new standards and amendments to existing standards, which were not approved for use in the EU on the publication of the consolidated financial statements (the effective dates mentioned below are for the IFRS standards issued by the IASB):

  • IFRS 14 "Deferral accounts related to regulated activities" (applicable for annual periods starting on or after January 1, 2016) - The European Commission decided not to issue the approval process of this interim standard and to wait for the final standard;

  • Amendments to IAS 7 "Statements of cash flows" and IFRS 7 "Financial instruments: Disclosures" - Financing agreements in the relationship with suppliers (effective date set by the IASB: 1 January 2024);

  • Amendments to IAS 21 "Effects of Foreign Exchange Rate Variation" - Lack of convertibility (effective date set by the IASB: January 1, 2025)

  • Amendments to IFRS 10 "Consolidated financial statements" and IAS 28 "Investments in associated entities and joint ventures" - Sale of or contribution of assets between an investor and its associated entities or joint ventures and subsequent amendments (date of entry into force of has been postponed indefinitely by the IASB, but early application is permitted

The Group anticipates that the adoption of these new standards and amendments to the existing standards will not have a significant impact on the consolidated financial statements of the Group during the initial application period.

 


NOTE 3.                       ESSENTIAL ESTIMATES AND ACCOUNTING REASONING

TheGroup makes  certain estimates and assumptions about the future. Estimates and reasoning shall be assessed on an ongoing basis on the basis of the historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are considered reasonable in those circumstances. In the future, the real experience may differ from these estimates and assumptions. Estimates and assumptions that present a significant risk of generating a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities in the next financial year are discussed below.

 

Essential reasoning

  • Income recognition (Note 7) – principal/agent relationship;

  • Bittnet brand recognition (Note 16);

  • Recognition of the employee/collaborator loyalty program by offering actions - "SOP" (Note 22)

Estimates and assumptions

  • The assessment at fair value of the shares held for sale (Note 18)

  • Evaluation of the consideration related to the employee/collaborator loyalty program by offering actions – "SOP" (Note 22)

  • Adjustments assessment of the receivables impairment (Note 20)

Except for the valuation of financial assets held for sale, the Group does not have any assets and liabilities included in the financial statements that require measurement and/or disclosure of fair value.

 

NOTE 4.                       FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS - RISK MANAGEMENT

The Group shall be exposed through its operations to the following financial risks:

  • Credit risk

  • Interest rate risk

  • Currency risk

  • Other market price risks and

  • Liquidity risk.

Along with all other businesses, the Group is exposed to risks arising from the use of its financial instruments. This note describes the objectives, policies and processes of the Risk Management Group and the methods used to assess them. Additional quantitative information on these risks is presented below, in these financial statements.

There haven’t been any substantial changes over the reported periods in terms of the Group's exposure to the risks of its financial instruments, objectives, policies and risk management processes or the methods used to assess them in previous periods, unless otherwise specified in this note.

 

(i) Main financial instruments

The main financial instruments used by the Group, resulting in the risk of the financial instrument, are the following:

­   Receivables and loans;

­   Cash and cash equivalents;

­   Variable rate bank loans;

­   Bank loans and fixed-rate bonds;

­   Business debts and other liabilities.

 

(ii) Financial instruments by category

 

FINANCIAL LIABILITIES

31 Dec 2023

 

31 Dec 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Bond issue loans

24,388,157

 

34,804,159

 

 

 

 Leasing liabilities

25,604,595

 

23,984,253

 

 

 

 Bank loans

27,518,706

 

25,164,901

 

 

 

 Trade liabilities and other liabilities

118,165,601

 

72,238,862

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

195,677,060

 

156,192,175

 

 

 

 

FINANCIAL ASSETS

31 Dec 2023

 

31 Dec 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Receivables and loans

72,383,557

 

60,612,486

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents

70,013,171

 

42,300,365

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

142,396,728

 

102,912,851

 

 

 

 (iii) Financial instruments not measured at fair value

Financial instruments that are not measured at fair value include cash and cash equivalents, receivables and loans, trade and other liabilities, bank loans and bonds.

Due to the short-term nature, the net asset value of cash and cash equivalents, trade and other receivables as well as trade and other liabilities, including loans, is close to their fair value.

 

General objectives, policies and processes

The Board of Directors has overall responsibility for determining the Group's risk management objectives and policies and, while retaining accountability for them, has delegated authority for the design and operation of the processes that ensure effective implementation of the objectives and policies to the Group's finance function. The Council receives

monthly reports from the Group CFO examining the effectiveness of the processes implemented and the adequacy of the objectives and policies it sets.

The overall objective of the Board is to establish policies that seek to reduce risks as far as possible without unduly affecting the Group's competitiveness and flexibility. More details on these policies are given below:

 

Credit risk

Credit risk represents the risk that the Group's debtors may not fulfil their obligations at the due date, due to the deterioration of their financial situation. The group is less exposed to this risk due to the specificity of the products and services sold, which are addressed to companies of certain sizes, with a special financial situation.

The group analyses the new customers using specialized tools (sites with specific customer creditworthiness analysis) and has a strict procedure for documenting orders and providing services or delivering goods.

However, the Group has not identified a solution that can completely eliminate credit risk, which is one of the most important risks for a company of our size.

Additional relevant information on trade and other receivables, which are neither due or impaired, is provided at Note 20.

 

Cash in bank deposits and short-term deposits

The Group regularly monitors banks' credit ratings and at the reporting date no losses from counterparties' non-performance are expected. For all financial assets for which impairment requirements have not been applied, the net asset value represents the maximum exposure to the credit loss.

 

Market risk

Market risk arises from the use by the Group of interest-bearing, tradable and foreign currency financial instruments. There is a risk that the fair value or the future cash flows of a financial instrument may fluctuate due to changes in the interest rates (interest rate risk), foreign exchange rates (currency risk) or other market factors (other price risk).

Interest rate risk

The Group is exposed to the risk of rising interest rates, having contracted bank loans and from the issuance of bonds, in RON and EUR. Any increase in the interest rate will be reflected by the increase in financial costs. The Group regularly monitors the market situation to forecast the risk associated with the interest rate.

Most of the amounts borrowed currently have fixed annual interest. The weighted cost of borrowed capital is just under 9% per annum. We believe that the next financial period will be a period in which the fact that, for the most part, the price of the borrowed capital has been fixed will constitute a competitive advantage.

 

 

31 Dec 2023

 

31 Dec 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Variable interest

27,518,706

 

25,164,901

 

 

 

 

Fixed interest

49,992,753

 

58,788,412

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

77,511,459

 

83,953,313

 

 

 

 

On December 31, 2023, if interest rates related to loans in RON were 1 percentage point higher/lower, with all other variables held constant, gross profit for the year would be 275,187 lower/higher (31 December 2022: 251,649), mainly as a result of higher/lower interest expense on variable rate loans.

Currency risk

An important element of the market risk is the risk of exchange rate fluctuation. The group aims to be neutral against the fluctuation risk of the exchange rate. The activities carried out in this respect are:

  • The Group avoids as much as possible the submission of "cross currency” sales offers (offers with the sale price expressed in other currency than the purchasing currency);

  • If such offers are requested, clauses such as "variation limit” are included;

  • All sale prices from the contracts are expressed in a foreign currency and are invoiced in RON at the exchange rate on the delivery date;

  • The group does not operate with stocks;

Starting with fiscal year 2018, there was a need to contract financial products to ensure a fixed price for purchasing foreign currency. Several requests for tenders received from customers require tendering in a different currency than the purchasing currency. Thereby, the Group analysed and tested various financial solutions in this regard.

Once the export activity increases, the Group keeps the collected currency in the initial currency, in order to be able to make the payments directly in the currency of the external partner. This approach allows us to cancel the effect of the exchange rate fluctuation for the open invoices (because the losses recorded by increasing the value of the payment invoices are compensated by the gains produced by the increased value of the owned foreign currency). Especially with Dendrio's acquisition, the estimates collected from Bittnet's customers are more relevant for Dendrio's payments to external suppliers (Dendrio has significant purchases from external suppliers).

On 31 December, the Group's net exposure to foreign exchange risk was as follows (equivalent amounts in RON):

 

Net financial assets/(liabilities) in foreign currency

31 Dec 2023

 

31 Dec 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RON

(29,520,884)

 

(34,740,510)

 

 

 

 

EUR

(25,440,626)

 

(21,063,600)

 

 

 

 

USD

1,681,178

 

2,524,786

 

 

 

 

 

On 31 December 2023, if the EUR/RON exchange rate had been 1 percentage point higher/lower, with all other variables held constant, gross profit for the year would have been 254,405 lower/higher (31 December 2022: 210,636), mainly due to the revaluation of net financial assets denominated in EUR.

 

Other market risk

The Group holds some strategic equity investments in other companies that complement the Group's operations. The management considers that the exposure to market risk in this activity is acceptable in the circumstances of the Group, but it is much higher than the risk associated with an investment in government securities or stakes in investment funds, mainly due to the volatility and unpredictable evolution of share prices, both on short term and on long term.

The general risks associated with the direct or indirect acquisitions that the Group has carried out or will carry out in the future described under the subsection are fully applicable also with respect to Dendrio's acquisition of the IT&C Integration Activity from Crescendo.

From the perspective of the way the investment was structured, the qualification of an operation between Dendrio and Crescendo as a business transfer, both from a tax point of view and from the perspective of employees' rights (at local and EU level) is essential. However, this qualification depends on a number of aspects that show, among others, the independence and economic identity of the business that has been taken over. The Group's efforts have been and continue to be the identification of the Transferable Elements so that the IT&C integration activity to be taken over from Crescendo maintains these characteristics (independence and economic identity). However, in the event of a dispute which would call into question the qualification of the operation between Dendrio and Crescendo (e.g. with the tax authorities and/or the transferred staff), there is no guarantee that the same assessment will be made by the court concerned.

To the extent that the operation between Dendrio and Crescendo would be removed from the scope of the business transfer, the negative effects may consist of the ineffectiveness of taking over Crescendo's employees, considered, by the specificity of the activity taken over, the most important element of the business transfer concerned and/or the incurrence of the obligation to pay VAT by Dendrio to Crescendo (if VAT would not be considered part of the price) in the context of the Business Transfer Agreement, in such case generating a limited liquidity risk for Dendrio.

In addition to the particularities of Crescendo's IT&C Integration Acquisition Structure and relevant documentation, the specifics of the Acquired Activity and the Transferred Items pose challenges for the Group and Dendrio that may decisively influence Crescendo's integration, customer base, expected margins or cash flows, or achieve anticipated acquisition benefits, including expected growth or synergies.

Liquidity risk

 

Liquidity risk stems from the Group's management of the working capital and financial expenses and main repayments of its debt instruments. There is a risk that the Group will encounter difficulties in meeting its financial obligations as they mature.

It is the Group's policy to ensure that it will always have sufficient cash to enable it to cover its debts at maturity. To achieve this objective, it seeks to maintain cash balances (or agreed facilities) to meet expected requirements for a period of at least 45 days. The Group also seeks to reduce liquidity risk by fixing interest rates (and therefore cash flows) on part of its long-term loans, and this is mentioned in the „interest rate risk” section above.

The following table shows contractual maturities (representing contractual cash flows of financial liabilities):

 

 31 December 2023

 Up to 3 months

 

 3 to 12 months

 

 1 to 2 years

 

 Over 2 years

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Bond issue loans

47.458

 

-

 

-

 

24,340,699

 Leasing liabilities

1,384,712

 

5,035,127

 

5,401,807

 

13,782,949

 Bank loans

2,378,112

 

6,164,231

 

6,423,531

 

12,552,833

 Trade liabilities and other liabilities

100,620,194

 

12,545,407

 

5,000,000

 

-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Total

104,431,496

 

23,744,765

 

16,825,338

 

50,676,481

 

 

31 December 2022

 Up to 3 months

 

 3 to 12 months

 

 1 to 2 years

 

 Over 2 years

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Bond issue loans

10,864,435

 

14,329,918

 

-

 

9,609,806

 Leasing liabilities

997,312

 

3,737,984

 

4,557,220

 

14,691,737

 Bank loans

1,468,501

 

12,530,290

 

1,684,079

 

9,482,031

 Trade liabilities and other liabilities

61,077,991

 

11,160,871

 

-

 

-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Total

74,408,239

 

41,759,063

 

6,241,299

 

33,783,574

 

Relevant information on capital

The Group shall monitor the capital comprising all components of the equity.

The Group's objectives in maintaining capital are:

  • protect the entity's ability to continue as a continuing concern so that it can continue to generate profits for shareholders and benefits for other stakeholders; and

  • provide an adequate return to shareholders by establishing the prices of the products and services in line with the risk level.

 


 

NOTE 5.                       ACTION RESULT

The group presents both the basic result per share and the diluted result per share:

  • the basic earnings per share are calculated by dividing the net profit for the current year attributable to the Group's shareholders by the weighted average number of shares over the period;

  • the diluted earnings per share shall be calculated on the basis of the net profit, adjusted by the dilutive effect of the employee's share options.

The earnings per share are adjusted retroactively at the beginning of the first period reported for the increase in the number of shares resulting from capitalization.

The calculation of the result per share for the financial years 2022-2023 is presented in the following table:

 

2023

 

2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net profit attributable to parent company (A)

(4,604,953)

 

(5,358,890)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number of shares - beginning of period

528,480,595

 

480,436,904

 

Capitalization ofpremiums/retained earnings

-

 

-

 

Shares issued during the period against cash

105,696,120

 

48,043,691

 

Number of shares - end of period

634,176,715

 

528,480,595

 

 

 

 

 

 

Average ordinary shares in the period (B)

607,752,685

 

512,466,031

 

Dilutive Effect Shares (SOP)

79,272,089

 

70,895,672

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total average (C)

671,170,356

 

544,905,932

 

Earnings per share

 

 

 

 

basic (A/B)

(0.0076)

 

(0.0105)

 

diluted (A/C)

(0.0069)

 

(0.0098)

 



NOTE 6.                       INFORMATION BY BUSINESS SEGMENT

 

Business segment reporting is carries out in a manner consistent with internal reporting to the main operational decision maker. The key operational decision maker, who is responsible for allocating resources and assessing business segment performance, has been identified as the Executive Management that makes strategic decisions.

Bittnet Group operates four key divisions: Education, Cloud & Infrastructure, Cybersecurity, Business application & Software development.

  • Education - this division is made up of 4 companies (Bittnet Systems, Computer Learning Center, Equatorial Gaming and Equatorial Training), offering training to adults in two areas: Technical Skills and Human Skills in both traditional, face-to-face, Virtual Remote and instructor-led or eLearning formats. The trainings provided allow experts access to technology by teaching IT skills, starting from basic skills (e.g: Microsoft Office Suite) to the most advanced ones (Cloud, DevOps, Cybersecurity). The business training portfolio includes project management, IT services management, business intelligence, CRM, ERP, Agile, etc.

  • Cloud & Infrastructure (Digital Infrastructure) - This division is made up of 5 companies Dendrio Solutions, Dataware Consulting, Top Tech, 2Net Computer and IT Prepared) offering complex IT solutions to customers in the corporate, large corporate, enterprise and public sector segments throughout the country but also abroad (mainly CEE and USA).

    The solutions offered start from physical communications infrastructure, perimeter security, video systems, digital signage systems and computing and printing systems and continue with the design and implementation of complex IT architectures such as data centre/hybrid or cloud, enterprise networking, cyber security platforms and the implementation of related software platforms, including collaboration platforms (modern workplace). The services provided are both project-based and managed services, with managed services being delivered mainly to clients in mature markets, Europe and the United States.

  • Cybersecurity - this division is made up of 3 companies (Fort S.A. - formerly Global Resolutin Experts, GRX-Advisory and ISEC Associates) that provide cyber security services to corporate, large corporate, enterprise and public sector clients from all over the country.

  • Business applications & Software development - this division is made up of 4 companies: Elian Solutions, Kepler Management Systems, Nenos Software & Nonlinear.

    Elian Solutions and Kepler Management Systems specialise in providing implementation services for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions, Microsoft Dynamics NAV. Elian is the only partner who holds a Gold Certificate for this solution from Microsoft in Romania. The solution implemented by Elian allows companies to know the situation of stocks, receivables and debts, to be able to forecast, inter alia, cash flow, to track production, cost centres and much more.

    Nenos Software is a custom software development company with a focus on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML). Nonlinear SRL is an SPV established to access European financing; the activity is one of product-based software development, focused on the development of a platform for digitalization and automation of processes within small and medium-sized companies using low code/no code and machine learning technologies.

Gross margin is the main indicator that management monitors in assessing performance in each segment. Sales costs are also tracked by segment, while other general and administrative costs have not been allocated.

OPERATIONAL RESULTS

2023

Education

Cloud&Infra

Cybersecurity

BA & Software

Total

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total income

14,106,165

327,820,937

16,750,250

24,430,309

383,107,661

Inter-segment revenue

(494,072)

(4,666,726)

(307,259)

(2,107,426)

(7,575,482)

Revenues from contracts with clients

13,612,094

323,154,211

16,442,991

22,322,883

375,532,179

Gross margin

6,454,603

49,402,350

3,129,937

7,155,889

66,142,779

Allocated sales costs

(4,712,228)

(11,343,858)

(810,266)

(1,188,173)

(18,054,526)

Unallocated sales costs

 

 

 

 

(378,008)

Margin, after cost of sales

1,742,375

38,058,492

2,319,671

5,967,716

47,710,246

Other revenues

(815,935)

1,509,928

3,206,771

29,672

3,930,436

Other unallocated revenue

 

 

 

 

1,239,329

Allocated operating expenses

(6,095,753)

(23,533,786)

(2,868,088)

(4,090,285)

(36,587,912)

Unallocated operating expenses

 

 

 

 

(5,147,008)

Operating profit

(5,169,314)

16,034,635

2,658,354

1,907,103

11,145,091

Other expenses

 

 

 

 

(689,691)

Financial income/expenditure

 

 

 

 

(8,720,399)

Gross profit

 

 

 

 

1,735,001

  

2022

Education

Cloud&Infra

Cybersecurity

BA & Software

Total

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total income

22,207,003

141,294,336

16,469,678

16,789,369

196,760,387

Inter-segment revenue

(748,053)

(1,560,118)

(1,421,156)

(874,570)

(4,603,898)

Revenues from contracts with clients

21,458,950

139,734,218

15,048,523

15,914,799

192,156,489

Gross margin

9,365,921

21,751,388

5,742,756

5,884,157

42,744,222

Allocated sales costs

(4,623,310)

(7,915,751)

(339,971)

(682,698)

(13,561,730)

Unallocated sales costs

 

 

 

 

(231,601)

Margin, after cost of sales

4,742,611

13,835,638

5,402,785

5,201,459

28,950,891

Other revenues

1,611,978

371,831

570,052

140,729

2,694,590

Other unallocated revenue

 

 

 

 

786,869

Allocated operating expenses

(6,850,591)

(11,383,652)

(2,331,080)

(3,090,572)

(23,655,895)

Unallocated operating expenses

 

 

 

 

(1,344,086)

Operating profit

(496,002)

2,823,817

3,641,757

2,251,616

7,432,369

Other expenses

 

 

 

 

(2,145,821)

Financial income/expenditure

 

 

 

 

(7,355,734)

Gross profit

 

 

 

 

(2,069,186)

 

 

ASSETS / LIABILITIES

2023

Education

Cloud&Infra

Cybersecurity

BA & Software

Total

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assets per segment

43,619,935

212,954,510

21,935,717

25,662,778

304,172,940

Unallocated assets

 

 

 

 

27,505

Total Assets

 

 

 

 

304,200,445

 

 

 

 

 

 

Debts per segment

14,768,108

158,220,060

4,090,556

7,990,730

185,069,454

Unallocated liabilities

 

 

 

 

27,518,706

Total liabilities

 

 

 

 

212,588,160

 

 

2022

Education

Cloud&Infra

Cybersecurity

BA & Software

Total

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assets per segment

61,383,109

126,115,365

15,445,352

13,412,859

216,356,685

Unallocated assets

 

 

 

 

4,240,016

Total Assets

 

 

 

 

220,596,701

 

 

 

 

 

 

Debts per segment

25,699,584

106,428,165

954,913

4,854,374

137,937,035

Unallocated liabilities

 

 

 

 

25,164,901

Total liabilities

 

 

 

 

163,101,936

 

NOTE 7.                       REVENUES FROM CONTRACTS WITH CLIENTS

 

Revenues from contracts with customers for the financial years 2022-2023 are detailed in the following table:

 

 

2023

 

2022

 

 

 

 

Training services

12,722,158

 

20,726,951

IT solutions integration services

84,913,571

 

44,765,567

Revenues from the provision of services

97,635,729

 

65,492,518

 

 

 

 

Merchandise sales IT solutions integration

233,638,675

 

80,678,297

Resold licenses

44,257,776

 

45,985,674

Sale of goods

277,896,450

 

126,663,971

 

 

 

 

Total

375,532,179

 

192,156,489

  

Training services

Revenues from training services include experts' access to technology through the teaching of IT skills, from basic ones (e.g.: Microsoft Office Suite) to the most advanced ones (Cloud, DevOps, Cybersecurity). The business training portfolio includes project management, IT service management, business intelligence, CRM, ERP, Agile, etc. Bittnet offers a wide range of IT courses. Each course can be held in two flexible ways: intensive (5 days a week, 8 hours a day) or mixed format (2/4/6-hour courses, depending on the client's need). Each student receives access to dedicated equipment, official curriculum, as well as online and offline exams.

Income is recognised at a specific point in time, on completion of the training following fulfilment of the performance obligation.

IT solutions integration services

The IT solutions provided by the Group include: general consulting services, IT assessment services, implementation and migration services, maintenance and support services, infrastructure optimization services. The integrator business involves offering solutions and services from the initial analysis, design, implementation and testing phase resulting in turnkey projects for companies with different IT needs.

Revenue from services rendered is recognised in the period in which they are rendered and in line with the stage of completion. The provision of services includes the execution of works and any other operations that cannot be considered as the delivery of goods.

The stage of completion of the work is determined on the basis of the statement of work accompanying the invoices, acceptance reports or other documents proving the stage of completion and acceptance of the services rendered.

If the selling price includes a separate, contractually specified amount for the subsequent provision of services (as in the case of revenue from the sale of producer guarantee services), that amount is deferred (account 472 “Deferred income”) and recognised as revenue during the period in which the services are rendered, but no later than the end of the period for which the subsequent provision of services was contracted. Conversely, the related expenses are deferred (account 471, “Prepaid expenses”) and recognised in the same period in which the services are rendered.

Income from the sale of goods and licences

Revenue from the sale of goods and licences is recognised when the customer obtains control of the assets transferred.

Revenue from geographical perspective

Revenues are semi-professionally rendered and goods delivered to entities in Romania.

Essential reasoning

The Group has analysed in the light of the provisions of IFRS 15 whether it acts in its own name („Principal”) in relation to the customers, namely whether it controls the promised goods and services before transferring the good or service to a customer.

Analysing the contracts for the sale of goods (hardware equipment and software licenses), Bittnet Group considers that in most cases it has the obligations in its own name, and therefore acts as “Principal” and not as an intermediary (“Agent”). To reach this conclusion, the Group analysed the ordering and delivery processes of the equipment and licenses, the moment of transfer of rights by the supplier to the Group and from the Group to the customer, and the occurrence of the risks associated with the control.

The Group sells the rights over the goods produced by the producers in combination with its own value-added services. These services are advisory and know-how services (often governed and certified by our partnership status with manufacturers), ensuring that the solutions sold to customers meet their specific requirements and needs. These services are an integral and essential part of our obligations to our clients, because these services do not provide separate value to clients, and are not billed separately. The combination of qualified consulting services (pre-sales and post-sales) and the goods produced by the manufacturers is, in fact, what ensures the benefit to the customers, as a solution tailored to their specific needs (e.g. providing various upgrade options and maximum flexibility) and law compliant. Also, even after the conclusion of the contract, during the whole duration of the contract, the Group is the sole point of contact and the sole responsible to the customer for any problems (in which case the Group's team solves the deficiencies and/or liaises with the manufacturer to rectify the problems) or additional requirements (e.g. software upgrade).

Even if the IT equipment or software licenses sold by the Group are produced by other entities, the Group's promise to its customers is not to produce those goods, but to deliver them, and often also to perform additional activities such as installation, customization, combination, activation, configuration, optimization and maintenance during operation – these being key elements of the performance obligations undertook towards customers. From the customer's perspective, the Group's promise represents a single performance obligation (i.e. the delivery of a customised and law compliant solution) and the Group undertook the performance risk for the entire solution, which attests to the Group's control over the products in the delivery flow. Regarding the delivery to the customer, this is performed by the Group – which takes actual possession of the goods (including the software activation keys) and transmits them to the final customer, along with the specific internal activation processes in the intended portals (processes performed by the Group team). Also, by means of the contracts concluded with manufacturers, the Group receives, according to its status as an authorized partner, the right to use the manufacturer's intellectual property, which is separate from the actual licenses sold to customers; as such, the Group controls the entire promise to the customer prior to delivery.

Although the Group does not normally incur inventory risk prior to receiving the order from the customer, from that moment on the Group takes over the inventory risk until the final transfer of control of the goods to the final customer. Even if by definition there is only one manufacturer for each type of equipment or software license sold to customers, the Group may decide to buy directly from the manufacturer, or from any other authorized supplier (distributor, importer, European, global wholesaler etc.). If, for any reason, the delivery to the customer is not completed, or is not successful (according to the obligations undertaken towards the customer), the Group will remain in possession of the goods without being able to return them to the supplier or sell them to another customer. Also, in certain situations the Group places advance orders with suppliers (i.e. before receiving the order from the customer) to secure volume discounts or to take advantage of favourable prices (thus voluntarily assuming the inventory risk), and subsequently transfers goods to customers as they confirm their purchase intentions.

In summary, the Group makes a promise to customers to deliver the goods, takes possession and control of the goods, and sets the selling prices through negotiation processes. The Group is free to set prices with customers; thus, the Group may grant additional discounts, or may request price increases to reflect currency risks, speed of delivery, risk of non-receipt from the customer, etc. In other words, to customers, the Group is the supplier of the goods, even if they are produced by manufacturers and/or delivered by distributors, and the Group is fully responsible for the proper delivery of agreed projects.

In addition, the Group bears the full credit risk for the entire value of the goods (hardware and software) – orders once placed with suppliers (either directly with the manufacturer or with authorised intermediaries) are non-refundable. In assessing the decision to initiate and/or continue business relations with customers, the Group only analyses the ability and the intention/goodwill of customers to pay invoices in due time. The Group has full control over the sales strategy, decides what goods and services to provide, deliver and ultimately implement/configure.

Notwithstanding the above, and taking into account also those mentioned in the interpretation (“agenda decision”) provided by the IFRS Interpretation and Maintenance Committee (“IFRIC - IFRS Interpretation Committee") in May 2022 regarding the resale of software licenses (“software resellers”), the Group analyses its commercial relationships with its customers in order to identify those cases where, during the year, only made occasional transactional deliveries of software licenses to a specific customer. The Group considers that such transactions represent resale of standard software licences, in the sense that in these cases the Group does not sell the rights associated with these software licences in combination with its own value-added services, but only intermediates their sale from manufacturers/distributors to end customers. As such, the Group has decided to amend the revenue recognition policy for the above mentioned categories of standard software licenses resold on a one-off basis (i.e. not combined with own value-added services), considering that in these cases it acts as Agent. Revenues from the resale of such standard software licenses were recognized on a “net” basis, i.e. the resulting gross margin was fully recognized as revenue, with zero cost of sales.

 

NOTE 8.                       SALES COST

The sales costs for the financial years 2022-2023 are presented in the following table:

 

2023

 

2022

 

 

 

 

Selling cost of the goods IT solutions integration

211,125,931

 

70,551,177

Resold licenses

35,228,802

 

36,533,989

Other direct materials

330,171

 

550,054

Cloud services

5,347,206

 

5,364,091

Staff expenditure

26,253,188

 

14,862,581

Expenses with collaborators

10,065,597

 

8,427,193

Services provided by third parties

21,038,505

 

13,123,183

Total

309,389,400

 

149,412,267

NOTE 9.                       OTHER INCOME and OTHER EXPENDITURE

a)       Other revenues

 

2023

 

2022

Sale of White Hat app

-

 

1,483,740

Subsidies

3,667,562

 

697,349

Sale & lease-back IT equipment

389,506

 

1,232,366

Other

1,112,697

 

68,003

Total

5,169,765

 

3,481,459

 

Subsidies

The government grants are mainly represented by the European Funds project run by Fort (formerly Global Resolutions Experts), which will deliver an innovative solution based on artificial intelligence. The value of the whole project is 7.34 million lei, of which the European funding represents RON 5.74 million. The project was completed in 2023 and is expected to generate an estimated minimum revenue of RON 250,000 as of 2024 onwards.

In 2023, Fort recognized income from operating subsidies in the amount of RON 2,997,709 (2022: RON 543.000) related to covering the costs of the research phase of the project.

 

  

Sale of White Hat app

On 15.12.2022 a sale and purchase agreement was signed between Equatorial Training and Bluepoint IT Solutions for the sale of the White Hat application. The contract price is of EUR 300.000 and will be received by Equatorial Training in 3 instalments until 2025.

b)       Other expenses

 

2023

 

2022

 

 

 

 

Pre-acquisition costs of participating interests

689,691

 

1,650,821

Goodwill impairment

-

 

495,000

Total

689,691

 

2,145,821

Following a review of the cost recognition principles in accordance with IFRS 3, “Business Combinations”, pre-acquisition costs of participating interests (specialised M&A consulting, financial and legal due-diligence services, legal services, etc.) were fully recognised in the period in which the services were rendered.

NOTE 10.                       SALES EXPENSES

The sales expenses for the financial years 2022-2023 are presented in the following table:

 

2023

 

2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

Staff expenditure

8,658,888

 

5,060,654

 

Expenses with collaborators

6,223,463

 

6,177,884

 

Commissions and fees

524,540

 

445,727

 

Advertisement

3,025,643

 

2,109,066

 

Total

18,432,534

 

13,793,331

 

 

 

 

NOTE 11.                       GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES

The administrative expenses for the financial years 2022-2023 are detailed in the following table:

 

2023

 

2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

Materials

1,792,127

 

864,742

 

Staff expenditure

12,148,863

 

5,529,706

 

Provisions for unused leave

394,933

 

428,237

 

Expenses with collaborators

6,407,936

 

4,608,772

 

Amortization

9,047,336

 

4,424,982

 

Headquarters rent

362,488

 

539,265

 

Rental of equipment and machines

212,513

 

154,300

 

Travel and transportation

731,301

 

478,815

 

Insurance

614,888

 

254,900

 

Post and telecommunications

437,645

 

209,505

 

Donations

583,081

 

327,484

 

Receivables adjustments

285,407

 

198,849

 

Stock adjustments

94,994

 

-

 

Bank fees

389,179

 

189,398

 

Other third party services

7,941,815

 

4,766,804

 

Other expenditures

290,413

 

2,024,222

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

41,734,919

 

24,999,980

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



NOTE 12.                       CLASSIFICATION OF EXPENDITURE BY TYPE

The classification of total operational expenses, by nature, for the financial years 2022-2023 is detailed in the following table:

 

 

2023

 

2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

Materials and goods

213,248,229

 

71,965,973

 

Resold licenses

35,228,802

 

36,533,989

 

Staff expenditure

47,060,938

 

25,452,942

 

Provisions for unused leave

394,933

 

428,237

 

Expenses with collaborators

22,696,996

 

19,213,848

 

Amortization

9,047,336

 

4,424,982

 

Cloud services

5,347,206

 

5,364,091

 

Rentals

575,001

 

693,565

 

Commissions and fees

524,540

 

445,727

 

Advertisement

3,025,643

 

2,109,066

 

Travel and transportation

731,301

 

478,815

 

Insurance

614,888

 

254,900

 

Post and telecommunications

437,645

 

209,505

 

Donations

583,081

 

327,484

 

Receivables adjustments

285,407

 

198,849

 

Stock adjustments

94,994

 

-

 

Bank fees

389,179

 

189,398

 

Services provided by third parties

28,980,320

 

17,889,987

 

Other expenditures

290,413

 

2,024,222

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total operating expenses

369,556,853

 

188,205,579

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOTE 13.                       FINANCIAL INCOME AND EXPENSES

Details of revenues and expenses for the financial years 2022-2023 are presented in the following table:

 

FINACIAL INCOME/EXPENSES

2023

 

2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interest income

547,343

 

90,607

 

Income/expenses from investments

97,282

 

(522,105)

 

Income/expenses from securities valuation

(2,167,698)

 

(2,888,985)

 

Bank interest

(2,882,169)

 

(1,300,663)

 

Factoring costs

(10,892)

 

(1,344)

 

Interest on issued bonds

(2,426,672)

 

(2,302,049)

 

Leasing interest

(1,367,887)

 

(740,163)

 

Net income/expenses exchange rate differences

(388,652)

 

35,339

 

Total

(8,599,345)

 

(7,629,363)

 

NOTE 14.                       PROFIT TAX

Details regarding the current and deferred profit tax for the financial years 2022-2023 are presented in the following table:

 

2023

 

2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current profit tax

3,398,863

 

1,095,107

 

Deferred tax

(2,524,447)

 

(1,075,051)

 

Total income tax

874,416

 

20,056

 

Micro-enterprise tax

36,923

 

103,344

 

Total tax

911,339

 

123,400

 

 

Income tax reconciliation

 

2023

 

2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

GROSS INCOME

1,735,001

 

(2,069,186)

 

Legal reserve

(30,911)

 

(22,561)

 

Non-taxable income

(1,445,245)

 

(5,781,854)

 

Non-deductible expenses

8,776,471

 

9,385,531

 

TAXABLE INCOME

9,035,316

 

1,511,931

 

 

 

 

 

 

Income tax (16%)

1,445,651

 

241,909

 

Sponsorship discount

(211,949)

 

(82,595)

 

OUG153 discount

(359,286)

 

(139,258)

 

Total income tax

874,416

 

20,056

 

  

Deferred tax

Payable and recoverable deferred taxes are valued at the effective 16% tax rate. Payable and recoverable deferred taxes as well as deferred tax expense/(income) recognized in the statement of comprehensive income are attributable to the fiscal loss, as well as the recognition in the consolidated financial statements of the pre-acquisition costs of participation interests. Details regarding the realization of receivables regarding deferred profit tax are presented in tab:

 

 

2023

 

2022

 

Receivables regarding deferred tax to be recovered within 12 months

-

 

-

 

Deferred tax receivables to be recovered after more than 12 months

3,796,271

 

1,271,824

 

Total deferred profit tax receivables

3,796,271

 

1,271,824

 

 

Details regarding the change in receivables/debts regarding the deferred profit tax during the years 2022-2023 are presented in the following table:

 

Deferred tax assets

Pre-M&A costs

Fisacal loss

Total

 

1 January 2022

-

196,773

196,773

 

Registered/(credited) to the account of profit and loss

424,819

650,232

1,075,051

 

31 december 2022

424,819

847,005

1,271,824

 

Registered/(credited) to the account of profit and loss

110,390

2,414,057

2,524,447

 

31 december 2023

535,209

3,261,062

3,796,271

 

NOTE 15.                       GOODWILL

Details on goodwill are presented in the following table:

 

31 Dec 2023

 

31 Dec 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

Positive goodwill – DENDRIO

2,536,315

 

2,536,315

 

Positive goodwill – ELIAN

348,385

 

348,385

 

Positive goodwill – CRESCENDO

14,816,943

 

14,816,943

 

Positive goodwill – EQUATORIAL

2,886,334

 

2,886,334

 

Positive goodwill – CLC

2,756,124

 

2,756,124

 

Positive goodwill – ISEC ASSOCIATES

1,901,660

 

1,016,504

 

Positive goodwill – IT PREPARED

3,395,739

 

3,395,739

 

Positive goodwill – NENOS & NONLINEAR

4,688,289

 

4,688,289

 

Positive goodwill – FORT& GRX- A

8,781,392

 

8,781,392

 

Positive goodwill – TOP TECH

10,687,350

 

11,470,235

 

Positive goodwill – 2NET COMPUTER

4,439,126

 

4,831,931

 

Positive goodwill – CLC

27,281,023

 

-

 

Positive goodwill – KEPLER

4,879,536

 

-

 

Total

89,398,214

 

57,528,189

 

 

Goodwill calculation:

 

 

Acquisition

cost

Net assets at

fair value

% ownership on acquisition

Goodwill impairment

Goodwill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dendrio Solutions

2,266,254

(270,061)

100%

-

2,536,315

 

Elian Solutions

510,000

316,768

51.02%

-

348,385

 

Crescendo

16,350,000

1,533,057

100%

-

14,816,943

 

Equatorial Gaming

4,646,000

1,277,570

98.99%

495,000

2,886,333

 

Computer Learning Center

725,000

(2,031,124)

100%

-

2,756,124

 

ISEC Associates

1,150,000

(1,131,330)

100%

-

1,901,660

 

IT Prepared

3,746,162

698,055

50.2%

-

3,395,739

 

Nenos Software & Nonlinear

4,850,120

266,344

60.97%

-

4,688,289

 

Fort & GRX-A

9,264,000

666,651

60%

-

8,781,392

 

Top Tech

12,874,307

2,186,957

100%

-

10,687,350

 

2Net Computer

5,128,266

689,140

100%

-

4,439,126

 

Dataware Consulting

34,859,495

19,741,531

100%

-

27,281,262

 

Kepler Management

5,677,582

798,046

100%

-

4,879,536

 

TOTAL

 

 

 

 

89,398,454

 

 

Details of the balance sheet items taken over at the acquisition date for the companies joining the Group in 2023 (Dataware Consulting - 31.05.2023 and Kepler Management Systems - 30.11.2023 respectively) are shown in the following table:

 

Dataware Consulting

Kepler Management

 

 

 

 

 

Tangible & intangible fixed assets

4,571,603

248,188

 

Inventory

40,512,783

-

 

Trade receivables and other receivables

49,186,750

1,007,730

 

Cash and cash equivalents

1,812,679

889,258

 

Bank loans

(17,222,636)

-

 

Leasing liabilities

(472,720)

-

 

Trade liabilities and other liabilities

(73,660,503)

(1,347,130)

 

Tax Profit

(588,522)

-

 

TOTAL FIXED ASSETS

4,139,434

798,046

 

 

 

Goodwill recognition

For the Gecad acquisition (currently Dendrio), the Management analysed the "ongoing" contracts at the time of acquisition, meaning that they were signed before September 2017. Taking into account the business typology that both Bittnet and Gecad carry out in the area of activity "IT Integration", the Management appreciated that there are no identified contracts that could have been included in the asset category and generate a significant change in the financial position. In this analysis, we considered the existence of multi-annual contracts, which were about to generate revenues in the financial years 2018 and 2019, but whose gross margin wasn’t significant, being rather marketing channels through which the Dendrio team maintains the relationship with customers, or by which it ensures Microsoft partner status. At the same time, the management considered that in both Dendrio and Bittnet cases, the most important part of the business is the ability to generate new projects, to be near the customers when they need them, and the ability to learn new technologies before customers, in order to provide value to the customers by installation, implementation, maintenance.

At the end of 2018, Dendrio took over the IT&C integration activity from Crescendo International, a company with 25 years of experience in Romania and foreign markets. For the business transfer from Crescendo International, Dendrio Solutions paid to Crescendo International the amount of RON 10.9 million and undertook to pay a difference in ratio with the "adjusted average EBITDA achieved by the IT&C integration activity prior to its transfer to the Beneficiary”, if the top management team ensures the retention of human resources and commercial relations with the existing clients and key suppliers related to the transferred activity, in order to preserve the value of the IT&C integration activity taken over from Crescendo International SRL.

The value of the IT&C integration activity transferred from Crescendo International SRL consists mainly of the related human resources, which also includes a significant component of technical and commercial expertise and experience, and of the commercial relations with the main customers and suppliers, often based even on the relations with the people in the team who served them.

Based on the final financial results as at 31.12.2019, the amount of the additional remuneration was 1 X average adjusted EBITDA achieved by the IT&C integration activity before its transfer to the Beneficiary, i.e. RON 5.45 million.  Consequently, the goodwill for this transaction increased from 9.37 million RON to 14.82 million RON.

In August 2020, Bittnet activated the option to convert the loan amounting to RON 1,050,000, granted in 2018 to Equatorial Gaming, the equivalent of 20.1% of the share capital. In August 2020 as well, the shareholders of Equatorial Gaming approved, by the Decision of the EGMS of 25.08.2020, the capital increase by contribution in kind of the shareholder Berteanu Daniel, representing the value of the brand “Equatorial playground for new habits”. Following these operations, Bittnet Systems reached a holding of 38.62% of the share capital of Equatorial Gaming SA.

In November 2020, Bittnet shareholders approved the purchase of a number of registered shares representing 60.3665% of the share capital of Equatorial Gaming SA. The transaction price was set to RON 2,546,000 and, according to the Decision of the EGMS, was partially settled in cash as well as in the form of BNET shares. During the same meeting, the Board of Directors was mandated to determine the percentage between the two settlement methods. As a result of these operations, Bittnet Systems reached a 98.99% stake in the share capital of Equatorial Gaming SA.

For acquisitions completed in August 2021 (Computer Learning Center, ISEC Associates, IT Prepared, Nenos Software & Nonlinear), December 2021 (Global Resolution Experts and GRX Advisory) and September 2022 (Top Tech and 2Net Computer) respectively, the Group carried out a purchase price allocation (PPA) exercise with an independent valuer to determine the fair values at the date of acquisition for all identifiable assets, liabilities and contingent liabilities of the acquired companies, which were initially recognised in the Group's consolidated statement of financial position.

For the acquisitions completed in May and December 2023 (Dataware Consulting) and November 2023 (Kepler Management) respectively, the Group will carry out a purchase price allocation exercise with an independent valuer during 2024.

Goodwill was tested for impairment at the end of the financial year.

NOTE 16.                       OTHER INTANGIBLE ASSETS

 

Intangible assets include mainly Bittnet Brand and software licenses.

 

 

Brands

Licenses and other intangible assets

Total other intangible assets

Net value

 

 

 

On 31 December 2021

6,450,518

2,768,850

9,219,368

M&A inputs

 

885

885

Inputs

(10,162)

2,286,518

2,286,518

Assignments/Transfer

-

(1,249,201)

(1,249,201)

Amortization

-

(1,170,407)

(1,170,407)

On 31 December 2022

6,440,355

2,636,646

9,077,001

M&A inputs

 

206,484

206,484

Inputs

-

1,499,859

1,499,859

Assignments/Transfer

-

(211,385)

(211,385)

Amortization

-

(918,405)

(918,405)

On 31 December 2023

6,440,355

3,213,199

9,653,553

 

Essential Reasons - Bittnet Brand (Recognition, Evaluation, Registration)

Bittnet brand

The Bittnet brand was purchased at the end of 2018 from the former owner, at a price equivalent to the value evaluated by an independent evaluator. The assessment was carried out by the cash flow method (DCF), having as reference a royalty of 5% of the turnover from the training activity, according to the previous licensing contract, the rate that is comparable to the market conditions.

Management has taken into account the fact that the Bittnet Mark is separable, i.e. it may be separated or divided by the entity and sold, transferred, authorized, rented or exchanged, either individually or together with a corresponding contract, asset or liability, and at the same time it has entered the Group's patrimony from contractual or other legal rights, regardless if those rights are transferable or separable from the entity or from other rights and obligations.

The Group controls the Bittnet Brand with the ability to obtain future economic benefits from the underlying resource and to restrict others' access to those benefits. The ability to control future economic benefits derives from legal rights the enforcement of which can be upheld in court - pursuant to the 8th Copyright Act. 

Debt remission transaction registration

The debt from the acquisition of the brand was remitted to the founders of the company, Mihai and Cristian Logofatu, subsequently paid by transferring some assets from the personal assets of the founders to the seller of the Brand.

The management analysed the debt remittance transaction and concluded that it represents an income and not a capital operation. The transaction was made with the founders of Bittnet Systems as managers, considering the founders' commitment to minority shareholders to bear in their own name the cost for acquiring the brand, thus correcting the error in the past of not being diligent enough to register the brand at State Office for Inventions and Trademarks. The income resulted from debt remittance amounting to 5,786,000 was recognized in the financial year 2018 in the Statement of comprehensive result on the line "Other income".

Equatorial brand

Equatorial brand was added as a capital contribution in kind to the capital of Equatorial Gaming by the shareholder Berteanu Daniel in August 2020, at a price equivalent to the value assessed by an independent valuator. The assessment was carried out by the cash flow method (DCF), having as reference a royalty of 4% of the turnover from the training activity, the rate that is comparable to the market conditions.

Management has taken into account that the Equatorial Brand is separable, i.e. it can be separated or divided from the entity and sold, transferred, licensed, leased or exchanged, either individually or together with a corresponding contract, asset or liability, and that it has become part of the Group's assets from contractual or other legal rights, regardless of whether those rights are transferable or separable from the entity or from other rights and obligations.

The Group controls the Equatorial Brand with the ability to obtain future economic benefits from the underlying resource and to restrict others' access to those benefits. The ability to control future economic benefits derives from legal rights the enforcement of which can be upheld in court - pursuant to the 8th Copyright Act. 

Key reasons – indefinite lifetime

The brands were acquired in a business combination and are the only ones allocated to the business. It has been established that it has an indefinite useful life as there is no intention to abandon the brand name. The Group has the ability to maintain brand value for an indefinite period of time. Thus, the brand is not amortised but it is tested annually for impairment. As brands do not generate largely independent cash inflows, they are allocated to the Group's CGUs for goodwill impairment testing as part of the assets of the business.

NOTE 17.                       TANGIBLE ASSETS

 

Tangible assets mainly include office space layouts and equipment necessary for operational activities. Movements within tangible assets are presented in the table below.

 

 

Leased spaces and fittings

Technical installations and machinery

Other equipment and furniture

Total fixed assets

Cost

 

 

 

 

On 31 December 2021

356,708

4,426,882

277,018

5,060,607

Leasing inputs

20,970,488

5,167,289

-

26,137,778

M&As entries

56,150

306,924

645,988

1,009,062

Inputs

2,802,684

134,318

226,762

3,163,764

Assignment/Transfer

(537,362)

(746,337)

(12,208)

(1,295,907)

On 31 December 2022

23,648,669

8,959,172

1,137,560

33,745,401

Leasing inputs

4,951,466

4,415,273

-

9,366,739

M&As input

2,133,709

2,029,259

192,357

4,355,325

Inputs

1,842,260

2,000,426

633,812

4,476,498

Assignment/Transfer

(4,977,103)

(511,418)

(241,408)

(5,729,928)

On 31 December 2023

27,599,001

16,892,711

1,722,321

46,214,033

Amortization

 

 

 

 

On 31 December 2021

-

2,519,758

188,336

2,708,093

Cost of the period

1,910,046

2,106,195

112,403

4,128,644

Assignment/Transfer

11,295

(898,595)

(12,504)

(899,804)

On 31 December 2022

1,921,341

3,727,358

288,234

5,936,933

Cost of the period

3,763,169

3,649,159

716,603

8,128,931

Assignment/Transfer

(17,587)

(452,584)

(81,223)

(551,394)

On 31 December 2023

5,666,923

6,923,933

923,614

13,514,470

Net value

 

 

 

 

On 31 December 2023

21,932,078

9,968,778

798,707

32,699,563

On 31 December 2022

21,727,327

5,231,814

849,326

27,808,467

On 31 December 2021

356,708

1,907,124

88,682

2,352,514

No mortgages or guarantees were established regarding the tangible assets held.


 

NOTE 18.                       SECURITIES

a)       Investments accounted for using the equity method

 

31 Dec 2023

 

31 Dec 2022

 

E-Learning Company

 

 

 

 

Initial

2,918,939

 

1,996,839

 

Contingent consideration

-

 

782,690

 

Dividend distribution

-

 

(134,220)

 

Profit/loss investmens accounted equity method

(121,055)

 

273,630

 

Total

2,797,884

 

2,918,939

 

The E-Learning Company

In January 2021, Bittnet Group acquired a 23% stake in E-Learning Company. The investment was accounted for using the equity method from the date it became associated party, i.e. January 2021. In applying the equity method, financial information as at 31 January 2021 was used.

 

2023

 

2022

 

Revenues from contracts with customers

1,926,294

 

3,756,969

 

Sales Cost

(1,083,861)

 

(1,461,205)

 

Gross margin

842,433

 

2,295,765

 

Other revenues

13,535

 

12,388

 

Sales expenses

(108,778)

 

(63,914)

 

General and administrative expenses

(1,210,579)

 

(970,453)

 

Other expenses

(38,718)

 

(19,855)

 

Financial income/expenditure

(10,621)

 

(36,103)

 

Gross profit

(512,728)

 

1,217,827

 

Tax Profit

(13,599)

 

(28,135)

 

Net profit

(526,327)

 

1,189,692

 

 In 2023, the Group recorded through equity accounted securities the share of ownership (23%) of the net loss realized by E-Learning Company. Summary of profit and loss account for 2023 at E-Learning Company is presented in the table below:

b)       Other financial assets (securities) at fair value

 

31 Dec 2023

 

31 Dec 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

Softbinator Technologies

9,600,543

 

12,308,834

 

Arctic Stream

1,756,201

 

1,481,550

 

Total

11,356,744

 

13,790,384

 

 Details of the evolution of securities at fair value in 2023 are shown in the table below:

 

Arctic Stream

 

Softbinator Technologies

 

 

 

 

 

 

Value 31.12.2022

1,481,550

 

12,308,834

 

Inputs

-

 

119,071

 

Output

(385,013)

 

-

 

Re-valuation

659,664

 

(2,827,362)

 

Value 31.12.2023

1,756,201

 

9,600,543

 

 

 

 

 

 

Softbinator Technologies

Softbinator is a product development company, specialized in the design, development and launch of software products mainly in the fields of Fintech, MedTech/HealthTech and EdTech for customers in Europe, North America and Asia.

Softbinator is involved in the development of software products, web and mobile solutions for digitizing the education process, lifestyle/medical and health, e-payments, e-commerce, online gaming and has ticked in 2020 areas unexplored in previous years through digital banking (including crypto), the Internet of Things (IoT), Automotive and it explored a new vertical in e-commerce expertise: marketplaces.

In December 2020, Bittnet Group acquired a 25% stake in Softbinator Technologies for the amount of RON 8,127,500, the first investment of the group in a software development company. In December 2020, Bittnet held 22,500 shares, with a nominal value of RON 1 per share, out of a total subscribed and paid-up capital of RON 90,000, divided into 90,000 shares. 

At the end of August 2021, Softbinator Technologies announced its intention to list on the AeRO market of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (under the trading symbol CODE) by the end of the year. Prior to the listing, Softbinator Technologies also announced its intention to conduct a private placement to raise capital to expand the company internationally.

In order to carry out the private placement for the sale of shares, as well as for the admission to trading on the AeRO-SMT market of the BVB for CODE shares, several operations were carried out, pre-placement, as follows:

  • reduction of the nominal value of a Softbinator Technologies share from RON 1 per instrument to RON 0.1 per instrument / Following this operation, Bittnet Systems held 225,000 shares, representing 25% of the 900,000 shares issued by Softbinator Technologies.

  • increase of the share capital by RON 10,000, which was allocated from the undistributed profit, by issuing 100,000 shares with a nominal value of RON 0.1.

  • the transfer of 10% of the total number of shares held, shares made available to Softbinator Technologies as treasury shares for the purpose of trading in the private placement / Following this operation, Bittnet Systems held a number of 225,000 shares, representing 22.5% of the total number of Softbinator Technologies shares.

  • the sale by Bittnet Systems of a total of 36,020 shares (representing 3.602% of the share capital and shares of Softbinator Technologies) to various individuals and legal entities for the amount of RON 2.16 million / Following these transactions Bittnet held a total of 188,980 shares, representing 18.898% of the total shares of Softbinator Technologies.

Following the operations described above, Bittnet Group has reviewed the reclassification of the investment in Softbinator Technologies as of 30.09.2021 and it decidedits reclassification from equity securities to securities at fair value through the profit and loss account.

On 31.12.2023, the investment in Softbinator Technologies shares was revalued using the average trading price on the AeRO market on 31.12.2023.

Arctic Stream

Valuation at fair value

Arctic Stream is an IT integrator focused on the technologies of the American manufacturer Cisco Systems, competitor of Dendrio Solutions in this market segment.

In June 2021, the Group's management invested in the private placement organised prior to the listing of Arctic Stream (AST) shares on the AeRO-SMT market. In the private placement, Bittnet subscribed the amount of Ron 10 million, the intention being to make a significant investment by entering the Arctic Stream shareholding in a relevant percentage. Following the early closing from the first day of the placement and the massive over-subscription, the tender intermediary informed Bittnet that it had been allocated 74,632 shares of AST, which represents 1.78% of the share capital and 1.78% of the voting rights. The value of the investment in Arctic Stream shares amounted to RON 1,865,800.

On July 29, 2021, the AST shares entered into trading on the AeRO market at a price approximately 40% higher than the one from the private placement.

As at 31.12.2022 and 31.12.2023 respectively, the investment in Arctic Stream shares was revalued using the average trading price on the AeRO market as at 31.12.2022 and 31.12.2023 respectively.

NOTE 19.                       INVENTORY

Details of stocks are presented in the following table:

 

31 Dec 2023

 

31 Dec 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

Materials

252,523

 

88,947

 

Goods

3,974,313

 

2,689,027

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

4,226,836

 

2,777,973

 

 

  

Reconciliation of stock adjustments:

 

2023

 

2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 January

20,700

 

1,062

 

 

Adjustments during the period

94,994

 

20,700

 

 

Disposal of stocks

-

 

(1,062)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

31 December

115,694

 

20,700

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOTE 20.                       TRADE RECEIVABLES AND OTHER RECEIVABLES

Trade receivables and other receivables are presented in the following table:

 

31 Dec 2023

 

31 Dec 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

Customer receivables

59,428,081

 

55,041,420

 

Adjustments for customer receivables

(698,898)

 

(413,256)

 

Contractual assets

4,456,880

 

446,206

 

Related party loans (Note 27)

637,438

 

-

 

Subsidies

2,891,562

 

791,144

 

Warranties

685,309

 

506,957

 

Other receivables

4,983,185

 

4,240,016

 

Total

72,383,557

 

60,612,486

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advances to suppliers

323,814

 

128,926

 

Prepaid expenses

6,858,701

 

1,456,194

 

Receivables from the state budget

691,896

 

925,951

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total, of which:

80,257,968

 

63,123,557

 

Fixed assets

695,988

 

2,426,167

 

Current assets

79,561,980

 

60,697,390

 

The item “Other receivables” as at 31.12.2023, amounting to RON 4,938,184, mainly consists of: receivable Bluepoint IT Solutions sale of White Hat app RON 1,765,651; receivable Graphein sale of Autodesk business RON 1,137,788; associated loan Synergetix Education project ADR RON 1. 052,147 (2022: receivable Bluepoint IT Solutions sale of White Hat app RON 1,765,651; receivable Graphein sale of Autodesk business RON 1,489,211; interim dividends Q3 2022 minority shareholders IT Prepared RON 846,600).

 

Statement of customers' net receivables per seniority:

 

31 Dec 2023

 

31 Dec 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inadequate

33,265,206

 

48,000,431

 

 

 

0-30

9,932,553

 

4,794,759

 

 

 

31-90

12,422,854

 

1,412,352

 

 

 

91-360

3,046,783

 

373,470

 

 

 

over 360

61,786

 

47,151

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

58,729,182

 

54,628,163

 

 

 

  Reconciliation of customer receivables adjustments:

 

2023

 

2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 January

413,256

 

146,675

 

 

M&As adjustments input

412,768

 

 

 

 

Adjustments during the period

31,510

 

275,672

 

 

Receivables cancellation

-

 

-

 

 

Resume adjustments

(158,636)

 

(9,181)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

31 December

698,898

 

413,256

 

 

Significant estimates

Impairment adjustments for trade and other receivables are recognized on the basis of the simplified approach in IFRS 9. In this process, the probability of non-payment of trade receivables is assessed, based on historical experience regarding the non-payment risk. The experience of the previous years has shown that the risk of non-collection is low, with no significant losses in recent years. However, management has estimated and recorded adjustments to the outstanding receivables balance at the end of 2022 as follows: Bittnet – 0,5%; Dendrio – 0.5%; Elian – 5%; Equatorial Gaming – 10%; IT Prepared – 0,5%; Nenos Software 0,5%. At the end of 2023, management has estimated and recorded adjustments to the balance of uncollected receivables as follows: Bittnet – 0,5%; Dendrio – 0.5%; Elian – 1,5%.

 

NOTE 21.                       CASH SI CASH EQUIVALENTS

Details on cash and cash equivalents are presented in the following table:

 

31 Dec 2023

 

31 Dec 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bank in RON

60,710,941

 

27,607,614

 

Bank in RON - collateral cash

4,382,728

 

2,202,968

 

Bank in foreign currency

3,872,527

 

11,450,866

 

Bank in foreign currency – collateral cash

973,658

 

968,334

 

Cash in Cash Register

73,317

 

70,582

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

70,013,171

 

42,300,365

 

  

Cash collateral deposits represent restricted cash - collateral in connection with cash and non-cash facilities contracted with bank lenders (Procredit Bank and Banca Transilvania).


 

NOTE 22.                       CAPITAL AND RESERVES

Details regarding the Group's capital reserves are presented in the following table:

 

 

31 Dec 2023

 

31 Dec 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

Share capital

63,417,672

 

52,848,060

 

Issue premiums

31,934,768

 

9,738,583

 

Other equity items

(5,830,661)

 

(11,390,433)

 

Legal reserves

1,355,734

 

1,324,823

 

Reported result

854,208

 

6,508,677

 

Current global result

(4,604,954)

 

(5,358,888)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

87,126,767

 

53,670,822

 

 

a)       Share capital

The share capital of the parent company , Bittnet Systems SA, includes only ordinary shares with a nominal value of RON 0.1/share.

The shareholding structure at each reference date is shown in the table below:

 

Shareholders and % shareholding

31 Dec 2023

31 Dec 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMPETUM INVESTMENTS S.A.

13.33%

6.86%

 

 

 

 

AGISTA INVESTMENTS S.R.L.

13.75%

7.98%

 

 

 

 

Mihai Logofătu

8.77%

10.85%

 

 

 

 

Cristian Logofătu

8.47%

10.14%

 

 

 

 

Others

55.68%

64.17%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

100%

100%

 

 

 

 

 

Share capital increase through new contributions and debt conversion - March 2023

In the first 3 months of the year, a new capital increase operation was successfully carried out, as a result of which Bittnet's capital increased by the amount of RON 32,765,796.89, related to 105,696,119 new shares. Within this financing operation, 96,018,700 new shares worth RON 29,765,797 (90.84% of the entire volume of the bid) were subscribed, the difference representing the conversion of receivables resulting from the M&A activity carried out in the last years. As part of this operation, the Company's management decided to pay the consideration for the receivables resulting from the M&A activity partly in cash and partly by conversion into BNET shares. Thus, following the signing of the additional deeds with the Sellers from the M&A transactions, the value of the receivables converted into shares at the price of RON 0.31 was RON 2,999,999.89 and represented the non-cash part of the purchase price of Top Tech SRL.

The cash payments made in March 2023 refer to the payment of the equivalent value of the receivables resulting from the acquisitions of the shares in ITPrepared, The ELearning Company, Nenos Software and Top Tech.

Following the completion of the procedures required for the registration of the new share capital and the new number of shares with the Trade Registry Office, the Financial Supervisory Authority, the Central Depository and the Bucharest Stock Exchange, the subscribed and paid-up share capital of Bittnet Systems SA is worth RON 63,417,671.40, corresponding to 634,176,714 ordinary shares.

Increase in share capital by incorporating reserves - July 2022

The share capital was increased by the amount of RON 4,804,369.10 by incorporating the share premium and issuing a number of bonus shares to the benefit of the shareholders as of the record date (1 bonus share for every 10 shares held), according to the EGMS Decision no. 2 of April 2022 and the additional opt-in procedure. Shareholders on the record date - 21 July 2022 - could opt online, between 29 July and 4 August, to leave these new shares at the Company's disposal for use in the key person incentive programmes approved in previous years by the AGM, in which case they would receive a cash distribution of 0.15 lei per 10 shares held on the record date.

During the option period, the Issuer received a total of 234 options from 234 shareholders representing a total of 205,693,904 voting rights, i.e. 43.34% of the Issuer's total voting rights. From the expressed options, 105 shareholders representing 175,297,189 voting rights, i.e. 36.93% of the total voting rights opted for OPTION 1 – ie for cash distribution and leaving the newly issued shares at the disposal of the company. The Company will distribute to these shareholders the amount of RON 2,629,453.80 starting from September 12, 2022, through the Central Depository system, with Banca Transilvania as paying agent.

On 12.08.2022, the Central Depository allocated, on the record date, shares in Section 1 to shareholders who opted out of the cash distribution or did not take any action during the option period. At the same time, the Central Depository charged to the Issuer's account a total of 17,529,692 treasury shares.

Following this operation, the subscribed and paid-up share capital of Bittnet, registered in the records of the Trade Register, ASF and Central Depository, amounts to RON 52,848,059.5 lei, divided into 528,480,595 BNET shares, each with a nominal value of RON 0.1.

b)       Issue premiums

Issue premiums were established on the occasion of capital increases and can be used to increase the share capital.

 

c)       Legal reserve

According to Law 31/1990, each year at least 5% of the profit is taken to form the reserve fund, until it reaches at least one fifth of the share capital. Reserves representing tax facilities may not be distributed with implications on the recalculation of corporate income tax.

 

d)       Other equity items

The Group recognises through other equity items mainly:

-          acquisition/sale of treasury shares held

-          loss resulting from the recognition and measurement of SOPs

-          the impact of operations related to the implementation of the SOP

Treasury shares held

TREASURY SHARES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balance on 01.01.2023

23,970,745

 

 

Sales 2023

14,723,545

 

 

Balance on 31.12.2023

9,247,200

 

 

 

 

 

During 2023, the Group sold 14,723,545 shares at a total price of RON 4,550,607.

During January 2024, the Group sold all treasury shares held as at 31.12.2023.

SOP Recognition and Measurement

The Group has assessed from an IFRS 2 perspective whether share-based payment transactions with employees (SOPs) are settled in cash or by issuing shares.

The Group settles transactions by issuing to option holders a number of shares equivalent (at market price) to the financial value of the option. The capital increase is made by lifting the pre-emptive right and on the basis of the Director's Decision.

As a result, although at an intermediate stage the “debt” is valued with respect to the settlement of the SOP, the economic substance of the transaction is that they are settled in shares. As a result, the Group has recognised the SOP transactions as being settled in shares, and has recognised and measured the services received in the Statement of Comprehensive Income and the corresponding increase directly in equity.

Transactions with employees and other collaborators providing similar services have been measured at the fair value of the equity instruments granted, as it has not usually been possible to reliably estimate the fair value of the services received.

Significant estimates - SOP assessment

Fair value measurement at grant date (as per IFRS 2) - the date of approval by the EGMS of each plan - is performed using the Black-Scholes model, using as values for the model:

  • the spot price at the GMS date, i.e. the average split-adjusted price at t-1

  • the strike price (at the reference date) according to each plan

  • volatility, according to the analysis of the daily price of BNET shares, adjusted for splits

  • risk-free interest rate, i.e. ROBOR 12M published at t-1

  • number of shares of the company at grant date

  • the dilution percentage of the Stock Option Plan

The full value of each plan is recognised in costs over the life of each plan.

SOP2020A & SOP2020B – “SOP2020”

By resolution no. 3 of the OGMS of 29 January 2020 the following were voted:

  • including the incentive plan with options for key persons, with a number of options equal to 0.5% of the total number of shares, annually, each member of the Board of Directors except the Chairman of the Board of Directors; and 

  • including in the key persons’ stock options plan, with a number of options equal to 0.75% of the total number of shares, annually, of the Board of Directors, with the exception of the Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Additionally, by Resolution No. 5 of the AGM of 29 April 2020, the Company's shareholders voted an incentive plan with options for key persons with a duration of 2 years, worth a maximum of 5% of the Company's total shares.

Under this incentive plan, 24 key persons notified the company of the purchase of a total of 40,428,754 BNET shares under the option contracts entered into under the incentive plans “SOP2020A” and “SOP2020B” approved by the above-mentioned EGMS resolutions, hereinafter cumulatively referred to as “SOP2020”.

The exercise price of the options under SOP2020 was calculated, according to the approved incentive plans, taking as reference the market capitalization as of 31.12.2019 for SOP2020A, i.e. the value of RON 113.000.000, respectively the market capitalization as of 21.04.2020, for SOP2020B, i.e. the value of RON 101.445.399.  Thus, the resulting strike price is RON 0.235203/share for SOP2020A and RON 0.211152/share for SOP2020B.

Considering that the amounts of money that should have been paid by the key persons to the company on account of the shares acquired in SOP2020 through the exercise of the options could have been paid by various methods, one of them being the sale on the market of a part representing the equivalent of approximately 65% of the shares that are the object of SOP2020, and this additional volume could have unbalanced the balance between supply and demand, the Group's management took the decision that the 24 key persons would be settled in shares for the economic value of the options under the incentive programme, i.e. a total of 26,020,845 shares. The economic value of the option is the difference between the market price and the purchase price in the SOP (option strike price), multiplied by the number of options. The total number of shares was calculated by dividing the option’s economic value by the price of RON 0.34 per share (the price approved by the GMS for the implementation of a buyback programme).

The allocation of shares representing the economic value of the option was made without the need for a cash consideration from the key persons. Thus, a total of 26,020,845 BNET shares, transferred by the Central Depository from the Issuer's treasury shares, were settled to the 24 key persons.

SOP 2021

By Decision No. 5 of the EGMS of 27 April 2021, the Company's shareholders voted an incentive plan with options for key persons with a duration of 2 years, worth a maximum of 5% of the Company's total shares. In May 2023 key persons did not exercise their option given the execution conditions of the plan, so the SOP2021 plan expired unexercised.

SOP 2022

By resolution no. 7 of the EGMS of 20 April 2022, the Company's shareholders voted an incentive plan with options for key persons with a duration of 2 years, worth a maximum of 5% of the Company's total shares.

 

SOP 2023-2026 (Long Term Incentive Plan through Equity Participation in the Company)

By Decision No. 11 of the EGMS of 27 April 2023, the shareholders approved an incentive plan for key persons based on options for participation in the Company's capital. Compared to previous incentive plans, it has a duration of 3 years and a value of 7.5% of the Company's total shares.

NOTE 23.                       BONDS

Details of bond issues loans are presented in the following table:

 

 

31 Dec 2023

 

31 Dec 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BNET23

-

 

4,690,017

 

 

BNET23A

-

 

9,639,901

 

 

BNET23C

-

 

9,991,667

 

 

BNET26E

9,689,651

 

9,609,806

 

 

BNET27A

4,899,486

 

 

 

 

BNET28

9,751,562

 

 

 

 

Accrued interest

47,458

 

872,768

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total, of which:

24,388,157

 

34,804,159

 

 

Long-term fraction

24,340,699

 

9,609,806

 

 

Short-term part (interest)

47,458

 

25,194,352

 

 

In 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022 and 2023, the Group carried out bond offerings maturing in 2019, 2022, 2023, 2026, 2027 and 2028, through which it raised “committed” financing of over RON 50 million from the capital market (all issues are listed on the BVB).

BNET23

On July 4, 2018, Bittnet successfully completed the third private placement of corporate bonds in the history of the Company. In the private offering, carried out from 26 June to 4 July 2018, Bittnet attracted an investment of RON 4.7 million.

BNET23 bonds have a nominal value of RON 100, a maturity of 5 years and an annual interest rate of 9%, payable quarterly. In accordance with the decision of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of 25 April 2018, BNET23 bonds entered into trading in November 2018 on the AeRO ATS-Bonds market operated by the Bucharest Stock Exchange, under the BNET23 symbol.

The BNET23 bond issue was redeemed by the Issuer at maturity. Thus, on July 05, 2023, the nominal value was reimbursed to the holders, and at the same time the last coupon related to this issue was paid.

BNET23A

On December 27, 2018, Bittnet successfully closed the fourth private placement of corporate bonds and the second in 2018. Following the private placement of BNET23A, the Group obtained the amount of RON 9,703,700 from 20 investors individuals and one legal entity. Within the process, 21 transactions amounting to a total of 97,037 registered, dematerialized, corporate, non-convertible, unsecured bonds with a nominal value of 100 RON/bond were settled through BVB mechanisms (POFBX market).

BNET23A bonds had maturity at 5 years, a fixed interest rate of 9% per year, payable on a semester basis and the allocation date was 28.12.2018. The BNET23A bond issue entered into trading on the ATS-Bond market of the Bucharest Stock Exchange on February 18, 2019.

The BNET23A bond issue was redeemed by the Issuer at maturity. Thus, on 28.12.2023 the nominal value was refunded to the holders and then the last coupon related to this issue was paid.

BNET23C

On 23.01.2023, Bittnet repaid the principal amount borrowed (nominal value) under the BNET23C bond issue at maturity. According to the Memorandum of admission to trading on the SMT-Bonds market of the BVB, the redemption price was 100% of the nominal value of the issue, i.e. RON 10,000,000, the Record Date for identifying the bond holders who benefited from the redemption of the nominal value was 16.01.2023, and the Payment Date for the redemption was 23.01.2023. The last trading session for BNET23C bonds was 12.01.2023. In addition to the redemption of the nominal value, the distribution of the last semi-annual coupon to bondholders, coupon 8, was also made with the same reference and payment dates.

BNET26E

From 21 to 27 December 2022, the issuer conducted a private placement offering of a corporate bond issue, denominated in euro, in which 20,596 bonds were subscribed by 53 individual, legal and professional investors. The amount raised in this bond financing round is EUR 1,961,144. The nominal value of the instrument is EUR 100/bond and the total amount of the issue is EUR 2,059,600. The annual coupon is 9% and will be paid quarterly via the T2S mechanism and the Central Depository. Redemption of the nominal amount is at 3.5 years and will take place on 30.06.2026. BNET26E bonds are traded on the BVB Reregulated Market, category dedicated to corporate bonds, as at 07.03.2023.

BNET27A

During the period 30 May - 21 June 2023, Bittnet Systems carried out the first public offering of corporate bonds on the Bucharest Stock Exchange when it offered for sale a maximum number of 50,000 corporate bonds, unsecured, with a nominal value of 100 lei, each interested investor having the possibility to subscribe in the price range RON 96 – 104 per bond, i.e. between 96% and 104% of the nominal value of the instrument. During the offering period, a total of 803 buy orders were placed and the closing price of the offer was RON 100, with a total of 71,814 bonds subscribed. According to the Offering Circular, the allocation of shares to the accepted subscriptions (placed at the offer price and above) was done pro-rata. Purchase orders at prices below the issue price will not be executed. The execution date of the transaction was 22 June 2023 and the settlement date of the transaction was 26 June. On 19 July 2023, BNET27A bonds started trading on the Regulated Market administered by the BVB.

BNET28

From 27 November to 12 December 2023, a maximum number of 100,000 corporate bonds, unsecured, with an individual nominal value of RON 100 and a total nominal value of RON 10,000,000 were put up for sale, with each interested investor having the possibility to subscribe in the price range of RON 94-106 per bond, i.e. between 94% and 106% of the nominal value. A total of 530 subscription orders were placed during the offering period across all price levels of the range, totalling an aggregate volume of 185,602 bonds. Given the Issuer's setting of the issue price at the nominal value of the bond (RON 100) and in accordance with the Offering Circular, the volumes subscribed at prices above the issue price were fully settled at the issue price (RON 100). Thus the volume of 87,446 bonds represents the guaranteed allocation in the offering according to the Offering Circular. For the volume of bonds subscribed at the price of RON 100/bond (i.e. for 71,050 bonds) the allocation was made pro-rata, the allocation index being 0.1766924701, resulting in a volume of 12,554 bonds. Purchase orders priced below the issue price were not executed. On 02.02.2024, BNET28 bonds were admitted to trading on the Regulated Market administered by the BVB.

NOTE 24.                       BANK LOANS

Details of the bank loans are shown in the following table:

 

31 Dec 2023

 

31 Dec 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

ProCredit long-term loans (BNET & DEND)

3,940,619

 

1,795,128

 

BT investment loan (DEND)

7,016,012

 

9,621,839

 

ProCredit investment loan (DEND)

9,381,614

 

-

 

ProCredit line 4.5 mil. (DEND)

3,610,155

 

4,500,000

 

BT line 1.6 mil. EUR (DEND)

-

 

4,620,807

 

Raiffeisen line 2.5 mil. (2NET)

905,351

 

-

 

Raiffeisen IMM invest (EQG)

-

 

93,360

 

Raiffeisen IMM Invest (2NET)

258,621

 

1,822,660

 

BRD IMM Invest (TT)

2,406,334

 

2,711,107

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total, of which:

27,518,706

 

25,164,901

 

Long-term fraction

18,976,363

 

11,166,109

 

Short-term fraction

8,542,343

 

13,998,791

 

The bank lending structure of the Group is mainly made up of revolving overdrafts aimed at short-term financing of specific projects. On the date of this report, the Group has loans to finance its current activity, both in national currency and in euro, with the following financial institutions: ProCredit Bank, Banca Transilvania, BRD, OTP Bank, Unicredit Bank, Raiffeisen Bank as well as several non-cash cap products for the issuance of various types of bank guarantee letters contracted from Procredit Bank and Banca Transilvania.

ProCredit Bank

In July 2023, Dendrio Solutions SRL signed the conversion of the revolving credit line of 4.5 million lei (contracted since 2019 from ProCredit Bank) into a loan with monthly repayments. Repayment will be made over a period of 36 months and the interest is: ROBOR6M+3%. At the same time, the cash collateral deposit for this product was released.

In February 2020, Bittnet Systems converted the loan product amounting to RON 2,790,000 also contracted with ProCredit Bank from a revolving overdraft into a loan with monthly repayments of principal and interest. The new maturity of the loan was set for a period of 36 months and the interest rate remained unchanged, ROBOR 3M+2.5%.
 The last instalment of this loan was paid in February 2023.

Also in December 2020, the Group informed shareholders of the signing of a bank loan agreement by Dendrio Solutions with ProCredit Bank. The total amount of the facility was 5,000,000 lei and the purpose of the loan is to finance Dendrio Solutions' working capital and current activity. The maturity of the product was 36 months and the interest rate was ROBOR 3M+3% per year. The collateral for this loan product was: cash collateral deposit for 10% of the facility amount. The last instalment for this product was paid in December 2023.

In May 2023, Dendrio Solutions contracted from ProCredit Bank, an investment loan in the amount of RON 10,000,000, for a period of 7 years, with monthly repayments of principal and interest for the purpose of acquiring the majority stake in Dataware Consulting SRL. The annual interest rate is ROBOR6M+2.50%. The guarantees provided are: chattel mortgage on Dendrio Solutions accounts opened with ProCredit Bank, chattel mortgage on the shares acquired by Dendrio Solutions (51.13% of Dataware), guarantee from Bittnet Systems SA as co-signer and guarantee issued by the European Investment Fund for 60% of the loan amount as well as collateral cash deposit for the amount of RON 2,500,000.

In May 2023, Dendrio Solutions contracted a non-cash cap bank product from Procredit Bank in the maximum amount of RON 2,300,000. The validity period is 36 months. The product is intended for the issuance of various types of BGLs (bank guarantee letters for participation in tender procedures; performance guarantee letters, etc.). Dendrio uses this product in order not to tie up its own cash in issuing BGLs.

In October 2023 Top Tech SRL contracted a non-cash product from ProCredit Bank in the maximum amount of RON 1,400,000 for a period of 12 months with the possibility of extension. The cap is used in the current activity for the constitution of bank guarantees of participation in tender procedures or of good performance for commercial contracts requiring such instruments. Top Tech uses this product in order not to tie up its own cash in issuing BGLs.

Banca Transilvania (BTRL)

On 06.09.2022 Dendrio Solutions contracted a credit product in the form of a cap - investment loan - from Banca Transilvania in the maximum amount of 11.000.000 lei for the financing of 75% of the price of the transactions for the acquisition of shares of Top Tech SRL and 2NET Computer SRL. The investment loan has been contracted for a period of 7 years and is repayable monthly in constant annual instalments. The annual interest rate is variable and consists of the 3-month ROBOR index plus the Bank's fixed margin of 2.50%. The guarantees provided for this loan product are a chattel mortgage on the Dendrio Solutions accounts opened with Banca Transilvania, a chattel mortgage on the shares acquired in the two companies, a guarantee from Bittnet Systems as co-signer, a guarantee issued by the European Investment Fund. Dendrio Solutions made 2 drawdowns from this cap, during 2022, after signing the closing documents with the selling shareholders of the two target companies, Top Tech and 2NET Computer, paying the consideration for the shares. The 2 drawdowns amounted to RON 9,724,885 and the repayment of the loan is made over a period of 7 years.

On 20.10.2022, the issuer informed investors about the signing of a credit agreement with Banca Transilvania The agreement is in the form of a cap/revolving overdraft facility in the amount of EUR 1,800,000 and was intended to finance the working capital and ongoing business of Dendrio Solutions. The maturity was initially set at 12 months with the possibility of extension and interest at EURIBOR 6M+2.15% per year. The Group's management chose in 2022 to explore the opportunity to borrow loans in foreign currency given the evolution of monetary policy interest rates, which led to higher interest costs on RON borrowings in the period 2020-2022, a trend that tends to reverse with Q3, 2023. In October 2023, Dendrio Solutions made the decision to put the balance it had drawn down/borrowed against this cap at that time (around EUR 900,000) and signed an additional product amendment with Banca Transilvania.

In December 2023, the extension and supplement of a loan product contracted by Dataware Consulting from Banca Transilvania was signed under the following conditions: Increase of the cap for working capital financing by RON 15,000,000 from RON 2,500,000 to RON 17,500,000. This banking product is used by Dataware for one-off financing of commercial contracts. The guarantees are: mortgage on bank accounts opened with Banca Transilvania, assignment of receivables resulting from the financed contracts and guarantee from Dataware Consulting's majority shareholder, Dendrio Solutions. The interest rate for this product is ROBOR3M+2.75% applied to the actual balance drawn from the cap. The period of use of the cap is 12 months from signature with the possibility of extension and the validity period is 24 months. The product is used on a revolving basis, through successive drawdowns, to provide the project pre-financing component - where applicable - for contracts with a long implementation cycle and involving the delivery of complex IT&C integration solutions.

Also in December 2023, Dataware Consulting signed an additional deed with Bnaca Transilvania for the additional amount of RON 3,000,000 to the non-cash cap for issuing bank letters of guarantee. The product is used in the current activity for the constitution of bank guarantees of participation in tender procedures or of good performance for commercial contracts requiring such security instruments. The company requested the bank to supplement the existing non-cash cap so that it would not be necessary to block its own cash in the guarantee instruments.

In October 2023 Dendrio Solutions contracted a non-cash product from Banca Transilvania in the maximum amount of RON 2,000,000 for a period of 12 months with the possibility of extension. The cap is used in the current activity for the constitution of bank guarantees of participation in tender procedures or of good performance for commercial contracts requiring such instruments. Dendrio uses this product in order not to tie up its own cash in issuing BGLs.

In October 2023 Top Tech contracted a non-cash product from Banca Transilvania in the maximum amount of RON 3,000,000 for a period of 12 months with the possibility of extension. The cap is used in the current activity for the constitution of bank guarantees of participation in tender procedures or of good performance for commercial contracts requiring such instruments. Top Tech uses this product in order not to tie up its own cash in issuing BGLs.

OTP Bank

In July 2023 the addendum for the extension of the revolving overdraft credit product for working capital financing between Dataware Consulting and OTP Bank was signed. The total amount of the facility is RON 1,500,000, the maturity is 12 months and the interest rate is ROBOR3M +2.5%.

Unicredit Bank

In February 2023 Elian Solutions signed the addendum to extend and supplement the loan product - revolving overdraft for working capital financing - contracted with Unicredit Bank. The agreement was extended for a period of 12 months and the cap was increased from 800,000 lei to 1,600,000 lei under the same conditions as the additional extension agreement signed in 2022, namely: interest rate: ROBOR3M+3%; maturity of the facility: February 2024; use of proceeds: to finance working capital and current activity. The structure of the guarantees consists of a chattel mortgage on the accounts of Elian Solutions SRL opened with Unicredit Bank, assignment of receivables and corporate guarantee letter issued by the majority shareholder Bittnet Systems SA. This product has been extended for a period of 12 months, the current maturity being February 2025.

 

Raiffeisen Bank 

In August 2020, Equatorial Gaming contracted a credit facility from Raiffeisen Bank through the government's program ‘IMM Invest’ in the total amount of RON 495,000. The interest rate of the loan is ROBOR3M+2.5% per year and the maturity is 36 months. The last instalment was paid in August 2023.

In November 2023 the addendum of extension of the credit facility that 2Net Computer had contracted with Raiffeisen Bank was signed. The new maturity is 12 months. The extension was made under the same conditions as the original agreement. The amount of the facility is RON 2,500,000 and is intended to finance the working capital and the current activity of the borrower.

BRD

In April 2023, an addendum was signed agreeing to extend the maturity of the Top Tech cap contracted from BRD by 12 months. The facility is worth RON 1,500,000.

On 26.04.2022 a new credit agreement was signed between Top Tech and BRD whereby the bank made available to the borrower a cap amounting to RON 3,000,000 in total. The new maturity of the cap is 07.04.2025.

All Top Tech's loan products are contracted with BRD and are for working capital financing.


 

NOTE 25.                       LEASING LIABILITIES

The Group has concluded long-term operational leasing contracts for technical equipment with final terms in 2024-2027.

 

31 Dec 2023

 

31 Dec 2022

 

 

 

 

Short-term fraction

6,419,839

 

4,693,525

Long-term fraction

19,184,756

 

19,290,728

 

 

 

 

Total

25,604,595

 

23,984,253

 

The reconciliation of lease liabilities and rights of use recognised as a result of the application of IFRS 16 is presented in the following tables:

Leasing liabilities

Spaces

 

Equipment

 

Cars

 

Total

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 1 January 2022

-

 

880,535

 

337,180

 

1,217,715

Inputs

20,463,780

 

3,238,112

 

1,296,240

 

24,998,133

Output

-

 

-

 

-

 

-

Interest and exchange rate differences

625,575

 

96,564

 

2,669

 

724,899

Leasing payments

(2,155,060)

 

(721,893)

 

(79,541)

 

(2,956,494)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 31 December 2022

18,934,297

 

3,493,409

 

1,556,547

 

23,984,253

Inputs

2,402,676

 

2,096,172

 

2,891,091

 

7,389,939

Output

-

 

-

 

(70,653)

 

(70,653)

Interest and exchange rate differences

1,103,981

 

289,513

 

139,436

 

1,532,930

Leasing payments

(4,183,871)

 

(1,771,564)

 

(1,276,438)

 

(7,231,873)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 31 December 2023

18,257,083

 

4,107,530

 

3,239,983

 

25,604,596

Rights of use

Spaces

 

Equipment

 

Cars

 

Total

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 1 January 2022

-

 

696,991

 

416,367

 

1,113,358

Inputs

20,463,781

 

3,374,844

 

1,086,446

 

24,925,071

Output

 

 

-

 

(3,973)

 

(3,973)

Amortization

(1,910,046)

 

(1,289,904)

 

(268,974)

 

(3,468,924)

On 31 December 2022

18,553,735

 

2,781,932

 

1,229,867

 

22,565,534

Inputs

2,391,381

 

2,741,823

 

3,221,705

 

8,354,909

Output

 

 

-

 

(68,962)

 

(68,962)

Amortization

(3,503,725)

 

(1,561,105)

 

(1,046,014)

 

(6,110,843)

On 31 December 2023

17,441,392

 

3,962,650

 

3,336,596

 

24,740,638

 

NOTE 26.                       TRADE LIABILITIES AND OTHER LIABILITIES

Trade and other liabilities are detailed in the following table:

 

31 Dec 2023

 

31 Dec 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

Suppliers

95,460,369

 

58,599,686

 

Employed debts

3,494,169

 

2,032,048

 

Other liabilities

234,451

 

319,257

 

Debts for the purchase of shares

17,545,407

 

11,160,871

 

Provisions

1,431,205

 

127,001

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total financial liabilities

118,165,601

 

72,238,862

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advances to customers

3,902

 

1,404,086

 

VAT

3,467,892

 

2,740,087

 

Other budget liabilities

1,672,742

 

1,281,186

 

Income in advance

7,878,495

 

699,210

 

Total, of which:

131,188,632

 

78,363,431

 

Long-term debt (acquisition of shareholdings)

5,000,000

 

-

 

Current debts

126,188,632

 

78,363,431

 

 

 

The item “Provisions” as at 31.12.2023, amounting to RON 105,831, is mainly composed of: provision for litigation Bucharest Mall & Development RON 105,831; penalties for EES Dataware project RON 1,139,237 (2022: unbilled production in progress for Fraher project RON 127,001).


 

NOTE 27.                       INFORMATION ON RELATIONS WITH RELATED PARTIES

 

Details of balances and transactions with related parties are provided below.

Remuneration paid to Key Management (identified in Note 1) is as follows:

 

 

2023

 

2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

Management contracts

2,836,799

 

917,395

 

SOP expenditure

733,463

 

275,967

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

3,570,262

 

1,193,362

 

  

As at 31 December 2023 the liabilities related to management contracts are in the amount of 210,844 LEI (31 December 2022: RON 87,093).

 

Receivables and loans

31 Dec 2023

 

31 Dec 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

E-Learning Company - loan

600,000

 

-

 

E-Learning Company - interest

37,438

 

-

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

637,438

 

-

 

  

The loan to The E-Learning Company was granted to finance working capital for a period of 1 year and at an interest rate of 10% per annum.

NOTE 28.                       CONTINGENT LIABILITIES

a)       Protection of personal data

In the course of its work, the Group collects, stores and uses data that is protected by personal data protection laws. Although the Group takes precautions to protect customer data, in line with legal privacy requirements, there may be data leaks in the future. In addition, the Group works with suppliers or third parties acting as trading partners who may not fully comply with the relevant contractual terms and all data protection obligations imposed on them.

Unanticipated IT issues, system deficiencies, unauthorized access to the Group's IT networks or other deficiencies may result in the inability to maintain and protect customer data in accordance with applicable regulations and requirements and may affect the quality of the Group's services, as well as compromise the confidentiality of its customer data or cause service disruptions, resulting in the imposition of fines and other penalties.

Also, with the entry into force of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR), on 25 May 2018, the Group is subject to its personal data processing requirements, whose non-compliance may entail several types of sanctions, including fines of up to 4% of the overall turnover or up to 20 million EUR (whichever is higher); in addition, if they have suffered damage, data subjects may obtain compensation covering the amount of such damage and their rights may also be represented by collective bodies.

b)       Risk associated with changing legislation and taxation in Romania

Changes in the legal and fiscal regime in Romania may affect the economic activity of the Company. Changes related to the adjustments of the Romanian legislation with the regulations of the European Union may affect the legal environment of the Group's business and its financial results. The lack of stable rules, legislation and cumbersome procedures for obtaining administrative decisions may also restrict the future development of the Company. In order to minimize this risk, the Group regularly reviews changes to these regulations and their interpretations.

Considering that the legislation increasingly leaves to the discretion of the fiscal body the interpretation of the application of the tax rules, in conjunction with the lack of funds to the state budget and the attempt by any means to bring these funds, we consider this risk a major one for the company, because it cannot be addressed in any way in a real and constructive preventive manner. The Group considers that it has paid all its fees, taxes, penalties and penalty interest on time and in full, as far as appropriate. In Romania, the fiscal year remains open for verification for 5 years.

c)       Transfer price

In accordance with the relevant tax legislation, the tax assessment of a transaction with affiliated parties is based on the market price concept related to that transaction and the arm's length principle. Based on this concept, transfer prices must be adjusted to reflect market prices that would have been established between entities between which there is no affiliation relationship and which act independently, based on „normal market conditions”.

The taxpayers conducting related party transactions are responsible to prepare transfer pricing documentation, which must be submitted at the request of the tax authorities during the tax inspection. Thus, it is likely that the transfer pricing checks will be carried out in the future by the tax authorities, in order to determine whether the respective prices comply with the "normal market conditions” principle and that the Romanian taxpayer's taxable base is not distorted.

d)       Disputes

In the context of day-to-day operations, the Group is at risk of litigation, inter alia, as a result of changes and the legislation development. In addition, the Group may be affected by other contractual claims, complaints and disputes, including from counterparties with which has contractual relations, customers, competitors or regulatory authorities, as well as by any negative advertising it attracts. The Group management considers that these disputes will not have a significant impact on the Group's operations and financial position.

File 30598/3/2021 – litigation București Mall Development and Management S.R.L.

During 2021, the Group became aware of the existence of case 30598/3/2021 on the Bucharest Court's docket, in contradiction with the owner of the former office space - București Mall Development and Management S.R.L. (“Anchor” or “the Owner”).

During February 2022, the Group (or “Tenant”) became aware of the contents of this file and the amount of the claims, as follows:

i)         RON 267,214.96 representing rent, service charge and utilities;

ii)       RON 100,109.95 representing late payment penalties related to the principal amount; and

iii)      RON 3,632,709.91 representing compensatory damages (penalty clause).

Taking into account the approval given by the GMS in September 2021 for the expansion of the office and classroom space, in order to accommodate the team that will result from the M&A operations already carried out, in addition to those that have been approved to be carried out in the next 3 years, the Group has exercised, pursuant to article 4.1 of the Contract, the option to expand the Space by an additional 3.500 sqm of office space, undivided and on the same floor as the existing Space “inside the Building or in another building owned by the Owner or another company in its group (which benefits from similar commercial and technical conditions - i.e. is a class A office building and is located within walking distance of a metro station)”, based on the notification sent to the Owner on 10.12.2020.

According to the contractual provisions mentioned above “The Tenant will notify the Owner of the need/intention to expand the office Space, if necessary, 4 (four) calendar months before May 2021”. Through the response communicated by email on 12.01.2021, the Owner informed the Group about the following:

i)         does not have a free area for rent of the requested size, but a reduced area, namely 2,563.14 sqm of which only the area of 1,495.61 sqm has a certain availability, the difference of 1,067.53 sqm having an uncertain situation, namely its availability is conditional on the relinquishment (unlikely, as it follows from the communicated response) of its use by another tenant;

ii)       the availability of the space differs, there being a gap of 3 months between the space available on the same floor (in area of 1,495.61 sq m) and that located on a different floor (1,067.53 sq m); and

iii)      the proposed area is offered under different commercial and/or technical conditions than those on the basis of which the use of the existing space was agreed (i.e. different duration, the need to bear some refurbishment costs, etc.).

On 18.01.2021, the Owner sent to the Group the Notification regarding the technical and commercial proposal for the expansion of the space, in accordance with the information previously communicated by email sent on 12.01.2021. Consequently, the conditions for the unilateral termination of the contract, as notified by the Group on 01.27.2021, have been met.

In the correspondence between the parties prior to the formulation of the summons request, Anchor contested the unilateral notice of termination of the Group, and considering the Contract as being in force, continued to issue invoices after the termination of the Contract by unilateral termination. The Group has maintained and confirmed its position by refusing to pay invoices issued after the termination date in the absence of a contractual relationship.

Through the Notification dated April 23, 2021, the Group requested Anchor to deduct the remaining rent payments until the date of termination of the contract as a result of the unilateral denunciation by the Renter (i.e. the remaining rent payments for the months of March - May 2021) with the Guarantee provided by the Tenant according to Annex 5 to the Contract, as it was increased by Additional Act no. 2/14.01.2019 to Bank Guarantee Letter no. 246/12.06.2017.

On August 4, 2021, the Anchor sent its own notice of termination of the Contract citing the fault of the Tenant for non-payment of invoices, at the same time requesting compensatory damages according to the penal clause. Also, on 1.09.2021, Anchor executed the Guarantee provided by the Renter according to Annex 5 to the Contract.

On 23.09.2021 the Group notified the Owner regarding the fact that the Notice of Termination sent on 04.08.2021 is without object, considering that the respective Contract was already terminated as a result of the Notice of Unilateral Denunciation sent by the Group on 27.01.2021 , and Bittnet's unilateral manifestation of will, unequivocal and firm in the sense of denunciation, is sufficient to produce effects and operates legally and irrevocably from the date of its communication.

Therefore, the court will have to clarify the date and manner of termination of the Contract, respectively either on May 27, 2021 based on the unilateral denunciation by the Tenant, or on August 4, 2021 based on the termination invoked by the Owner, following that the material claims that are the subject of this action to be resolved according to the court's ruling in this regard.

At the first term of the trial on 10.06.2022, the court asked the plaintiff to indicate the amount of the annual rent owed under the rental contract and the method of calculating it, the corresponding documents, with the mention of proving the payment of the court fee of stamp, calculated at this value, until the next court term of 14.10.2022, under penalty of cancellation The plaintiff requested the re-examination of the stamp duty, a request that was rejected. The plaintiff paid the stamp duty in full.

By the closing of the hearing of 24.10.2022, the court postponed the ruling on the testimonial evidence after the submission of the answers to the interrogatories and an expert accountant was appointed to draw up the expert report with the following objectives, granted to the defendant:

1. The amount of Rent and Penalties owed by the Defendant outstanding on the date of the filing of the summons referred to 27.05.2021 as the date of termination of the contract.

2. The Amount of Rent and Penalties owed by the Defendant outstanding on the date of the filing of the summons, reported on 24.08.2021 as the date of termination of the contract.

3. The separate value of the costs of utilities and services for the period March-May 2021 and of the penalties related to 27.05.2021 as the date of termination of the contract.

4. The separate value of the costs of utilities and services for the period June-August 2021 relative to 24.08.2021 as the date of termination of the contract.

5. Correctness of the calculation of the amounts requested for payment by the claim, namely the amounts of RON 267,214.96, representing rent, service charge and utility costs, RON 100,109.95 representing late payment penalties and RON 3,632,709.91 representing compensatory damages, as requested by the plaintiff.

The parties responded to the questioning and by the conclusion of the session dated January 27, 2023, the court approved the testimonial evidence with 2 witnesses who were heard in the session of 03.10.2023.

Until the deadline of 10.03.2023, the appointed expert did not submit the expert report and requested a postponement without specifying a deadline for its completion. In view of the absence of the expert report the court granted a new deadline of 21.04.2023. The expert's report was filed on 16.06.2023, and the court stayed the ruling for 30.06.2023.

After successive postponements the court has ruled on 04.08.2023. Solution in brief: “Admit in part the application as specified. Orders the defendant to pay the plaintiff the amount of RON 102,627.51 by way of late payment penalties. Dismisses the other claims as unfounded. Orders the defendant to pay to the plaintiff the sum of EUR 3 203.92 by way of costs. Appeal within 30 days of service. The appeal shall be lodged with the Bucharest Court - Civil Division VI. Up to the date of this report, the judgment has not been communicated to the parties.

The Group has recorded a provision in the amount of 105,831.42 lei in the financial statements as at 31.12.2023.

File 30598/3/2021 – dispute Fraher Distribution

By application registered at the Court of Tulcea - Civil, Administrative and Fiscal Division on June 4th, 2020 under no. 665/88/2020, the plaintiff FRAHER DISTRIBUTION S.R.L., in adversarial proceedings against the defendant ELIAN SOLUTIONS S.R.L., requested to declare the termination of Contract no. 201/29.12.2017, with the consequence of putting the parties back in the previous situation, by the repayment by the defendant of the amount of RON 541.490,08; to declare the termination of Contract no. 202/29.12.2017, with the consequence of putting the parties back in the previous situation, by the repayment by the defendant of the amount of RON 344. 886.00 and order the defendant to pay the contractual penalties for late payment, as well as the amount of RON 129,103.38 by way of damages; declare that Contract No 240/21.03.2019 has been terminated and order the defendant to pay the amount of RON 33,868.59 by way of damages; order the defendant to pay the costs.      

Elian Solutions has submitted a statement of defence in which it has requested that the application be dismissed and that the plaintiff be ordered to pay the costs.

By Civil Judgment no. 1898/2021 pronounced by the Bucharest Court, Civil Section-VI, the court found that Elian Solutions duly fulfilled its obligations under Contract no. 202/29.12.2017, regarding the provision of Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2017 software implementation services and implicitly provided support and maintenance services under Contract no. 240/21.03.2019. The court therefore found that the plaintiff did not prove that the conditions of contractual liability relating to tort, damage, causation and fault were met. For those reasons, the Court dismissed as unfounded the action brought by the plaintiff FRAHER DISTRIBUTION S.R.L. against the defendant ELIAN SOLUTIONS S.R.L.

The appellant-plaintiff Fraher Distribution S.R.L. on 16.12.2021 filed an appeal against the civil judgment no. 1898/ 02.07.2021 pronounced by the Bucharest Court - Civil Division VI in case no. 665/ 88/ 2020.

At the deadline of September 7, 2022, the Court of Appeal approves for the appellant-plaintiff the written test and technical expertise in the IT specialty, with the following objectives:

1. Let the expert determine the version (year) of the licenses required to use the Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2017 application that were delivered by the respondent-defendant pursuant to contract no. 201/29.12.2017;

2. Let the expert determine the number of users related to Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2017 licenses delivered by the respondent-defendant pursuant to contract no. 202/ 29.12.2017;

3. Let the expert determine if there are malfunctions in the implementation of the Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2017 computer program that was the subject of contract no. 202/ 29.12.2017 and, if applicable, what they are, as well as their causes;

4. Let the expert determine whether the implementation phases of the Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2017 program were completed late;

5. Let the expert determine whether all phases of the implementation have been executed or how many of the total number (implementation stage);

6. Let the expert determine whether the implementation of the Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2017 program has been completed;

7. Let the expert determine whether, given the current state, the Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2017 application is operating within optimal parameters.

By the conclusion of the session dated 02.11.2022, the court granted a deadline for 25.01.2023 in order to carry out the forensic expertise in the IT specialty, to submit the forensic expertise report, as well as in order to summon the respondent-defendant to the new registered office, postponing the appeal.

By the conclusion of the hearing dated 25.01.2023, the court granted a deadline for 22.03.2023 in order to carry out the forensic expertise in the IT specialty, to submit the forensic expertise report, postponing the appeal.

On 14.02.2024, the Bucharest Court of Appeal by Judgment No. 251/2024 admitted the appeal as follows:

- Partially reverses the judgment under appeal in that it orders the termination in part of contract No 201/29.12.2017 and orders the defendant to pay to the appellant-plaintiff the amount of RON 186,137,215.

- Upholds the remainder of the judgment under appeal.

- Admits the request of the forensic expert and order an increase in his fee of RON 5,000. Orders the appellant-plaintiff to pay the expert's fee of RON 5,000.

- Forces the respondent to pay the amount of RON 15,925 as court costs to the appellant-plaintiff, of which the amount of RON 5,000 under the condition of proof by the appellant-plaintiff of paying the increased fee of the forensic expert.

- The appellant-plaintiff is ordered to pay the amount of RON 5,672 as court costs to the respondent-defendant. Partially compensates the court costs up to the  amount of RON 5,672.

- Subject to appeal within 30 days of communication. The application for exercising the right of appeal is submitted to the Bucharest Court of Appeal, Civil Section VI.

Up to the date of this report, the judgment has not been communicated to the parties.

The Group has recorded a provision in the amount of 186.137 lei in the financial statements as at 31.12.2023.

 

e)       Environmental aspects

The implementation of environmental regulations in Romania is in the development phase and the application procedures are reconsidered by the authorities. Bittnet's professional activity has no impact on the environment.

Acting in the field of 'services’, our activity consists of acquiring knowledge and transferring it to customers, either during training courses or through consultancy, design and implementation services.

NOTE 29.                       SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The main accounting policies adopted when drawing up the consolidated financial statements are presented below.

a)       Grounds for consolidation

If the Group has control over an investee company, it is classified as a subsidiary. The group controls the investee company if all three of the following elements are present: it has control over the investee company, there is exposure to variable returns from the investee company and the investee company has the ability to use its power to affect those variable returns. Control is reviewed whenever facts and circumstances indicate that there may be a change in any control elements.

The consolidated financial statements present the results of the company and its subsidiaries (“the Group”) as if they were a single entity. Transactions between companies and balances between group companies are therefore eliminated in their entirety. The consolidated financial statements include the results of the business combination by the acquisition method. In the statement of financial position, the assets, liabilities and contingent liabilities of the purchasing entity are initially recognized at their fair values at the acquisition date. The results of the purchased transactions shall be included in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income as of the control acquisition date. Subsidiaries shall be deconsolidated from the date on which control ceases.

b)       Non-controlling interests

Non-controlling interests are disclosed in the consolidated financial position statement, within equity, separately from the shareholders' equity of the Parent Company. Changes in a parent's shareholding in the equity of a subsidiary that do not result in the loss of control by the parent over the subsidiary are equity transactions (i.e. transactions with shareholders in their capacity as shareholders).

c)       Associated entities

If the Group has the power to participate in (but not control) the financial and operational policy decisions of another entity, it is classified as an associate entity.

Associated entities are initially recognized in the statement of consolidated financial position at cost. Subsequently, the associates are accounted for using the equity method, in which the Group's share of post-acquisition profits and losses and other comprehensive income is recognized in the consolidated profit and loss statement and other comprehensive results (except for losses exceeding the Group's investments in the associate entity, unless there is an obligation to offset those losses).

Profits and losses arising from transactions between the Group and its associates are recognized only to the extent of the interests of unrelated investors within the associate. The investor's share in the associate's profits and losses arising from these transactions is eliminated in relation to the carrying amount of the associate.

Any surplus paid to an associate above the fair value of the group's participation in identifiable contingent assets, liabilities and liabilities shall be capitalized and included in the carrying amount of the associated entity. Where there is objective evidence that the investment in an associate is not recoverable, the carrying amount of the investment is tested for impairment in the same way as other non-financial assets.

d)       Goodwill

Goodwill represents the excess cost of a business combination over the Group's interest in the fair value of acquired and assets, liabilities and identifiable contingent liabilities.

The cost comprises the fair value of the assets given, liabilities assumed and capital instruments issued, plus the value of any minority shareholdings in the acquirer.

The contingent consideration shall be included in the cost at fair value at the acquisition date and, in the case of contingent consideration, classified as a financial liability, subsequently revalued at profit or loss.

Goodwill is capitalized as an intangible asset and any impairment of net asset value is recorded in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income.

Where the fair value of identifiable contingent assets, liabilities and liabilities exceeds the fair value of the paid consideration, the excess shall be credited in full to the consolidated statement of comprehensive income at the acquisition date.

e)       Revenue recognition

The Group recognizes revenues so that they can reflect the obligations to be performed in relation to the transfer of promised goods or services to customers with an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services.

Obligations to be fulfilled and revenue recognition methodology

Most of the group's revenues come from the provision of IT services and training and integration, including the sale of goods, with revenues recognized at the time when control over the goods was transferred to the customer.

The performance obligations identified in Group's contracts are generally limited to the goods or services explicitly stipulated in that contract, without any tacit promises as a result of usual business practices, published policies or other specific statements.

If the selling price includes a separate, contractually specified amount for the subsequent provision of services (as in the case of revenue from the sale of producer guarantee services), that amount is deferred (account 472 “Deferred income”) and recognised as revenue during the period in which the services are rendered, but no later than the end of the period for which the subsequent provision of services was contracted. Conversely, the related expenses are deferred (account 471, “Prepaid expenses”) and recognised in the same period in which the services are rendered.

Determination of transaction price

Most of the income of the group is obtained from fixed price contracts and therefore the income amount to be obtained from each contract is determined by reference to fixed prices. In the estimation of contractual revenues, the component related to discounts granted to customers is deducted, when they are likely to decrease the value of the revenues.

Allocation of amounts to be executed

For most contracts, there is a fixed unit price for each product or service sold. Therefore, there are no reasoning applied in allocating the contract price for each product or service.

 

Costs for obtaining contracts

Most contracts are short-term, so any incremental commissions paid to sales personnel for the work performed to obtain the contracts are directly recognized in the comprehensive income statement, without being capitalized.

f)       Subsidies

Grants are recognised when there is sufficient certainty that the Group will comply with the conditions of the grant and the grant will be received.

Grants for assets, including non-monetary grants at fair value, are recorded in the accounts as investment grants and they shall be recognised in the balance sheet as deferred income. Deferred income shall be recognised in the profit and loss account as depreciation expense is recognised or on the disposal of assets.

Grants that compensate the Group for expenses incurred shall be recognised in the income statement on a systematic basis in the same periods in which expenses are recognised and are presented in the income statement as items of operating income.

g)       Impairment of non-financial assets (excluding inventories, real estate investments and deferred taxes)

Impairment tests on goodwill and other intangible assets with undetermined useful economic life shall be carried out annually at the end of the financial year. Other non-financial assets are subject to impairment tests whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that their carrying amount cannot be recovered. If the carrying amount of an asset exceeds its recoverable amount (i.e. higher value of use and fair value less selling costs), the asset is reduced accordingly.

Where it is not possible to estimate the recoverable amount of an individual asset, the impairment test is performed on the smallest group of assets to which it belongs, for which there are separately identifiable cash flows - its cash-generating units. Goodwill is allocated to the initial recognition of each of the Group's cash-generating units that are expected to benefit from a business combination giving rise to goodwill.

Impairment adjustments are included in profit or loss unless they represent reversals of gains previously recognized in other comprehensive income. A recognized impairment loss on goodwill is not reversed.

h)       Balances and transactions in foreign currency

Transactions carried out by Group entities in other currency than the currency of the primary economic environment in which they operate (the "functional currency”) are recorded at the rates at the time of the transactions. Monetary assets and liabilities in foreign currency are converted at the rates at the reporting date.

Exchange rate differences arising on the restatement of monetary assets and liabilities shall be recognized immediately in profit or loss.

i)       Financial assets

The Group's accounting policy for the classification of financial assets is as follows.

Amortized cost

Loans and receivables are non-derivative financial assets with fixed or determinable payments and not listed on an active market. They are included in current assets, except those with a maturity of more than 12 months after the end of the reporting period. These are classified as non-current assets.

These assets come mainly from the provision of goods and services to customers (e.g. trade receivables), but also include other types of financial assets where the objective is to hold these assets to collect contractual cash flows and contractual cash flows are exclusively principal and interest payments. They are initially recognized at fair value plus transaction costs that are directly attributable to their acquisition or issue and are subsequently accounted for at amortized cost using the effective interest rate method, less adjustments for impairment.

Impairment adjustments for trade and other receivables are recognized on the basis of the simplified approach in IFRS 9, using an adjustment matrix in determining expected losses. The likelihood of non-payment of trade receivables is assessed in this process. This probability is then multiplied by the amount of expected loss resulting from non-payment to determine the expected credit loss for trade receivables. For trade receivables, these adjustments are recorded in a separate adjustment account, the loss being recognized within the general and administrative costs in the comprehensive income consolidated statement. Upon confirmation that the trade receivable cannot be collected, the gross carrying amount of the asset is written off against the associated adjustments.

Claims impairment adjustments with related parties and loans to related parties are recognized on the basis of an anticipated credit loss model. The methodology used to determine the amount of the adjustments is based on the existence of a significant increase in credit risk since the initial recognition of the financial asset.

For those for which the credit risk has not increased significantly since the initial recognition of the financial asset, credit losses expected for twelve months together with gross interest income are recognized. For those for which credit risk has increased significantly, estimated losses on receivables together with gross interest income are recognized. For those that are determined as obvious credit impairments, expected losses on receivables, together with interest income on a net basis, are recognized.

The Group's financial assets measured at amortized cost comprise trade receivables and other receivables and cash and cash equivalents in the consolidated statement of financial position.

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, term deposits with banks, other extremely liquid short-term investments with initial maturities of three months or less, and - for the purpose of cash flow statement - bank overdrafts. Banking disclosures are presented in loans and loans in current liabilities in the consolidated statement of financial position.

Financial assets at fair value

The Group holds financial assets in the form of equity securities, which are recognised in the financial statements at fair value with changes in fair value recognised in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income.

j)       Financial liabilities

The Group's accounting policy for the classification of financial liabilities is as follows:

Bank loans and loans from the Group's reimbursable bond issue are initially recognized at fair value, net of any transaction costs directly attributable to the issuance of the instrument. Interest-bearing liabilities are subsequently measured at amortized cost using the effective interest rate method, which ensures that any interest expense in the repayment period is at a constant rate on the balance of the liability recorded in the consolidated financial position statement.

Loans are classified as current liabilities unless the Group has an unconditional right to defer payment of the debt for a minimum of 12 months from the end of the reporting period.

For each financial liability, interest expenses shall include the initial transaction costs and any premium payable on redemption, as well as any interest or coupon payable over time.

The Group does not hold derivative liabilities to be accounted for in the consolidated financial statement at fair value, with changes in fair value recognized in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income and has no trading obligations nor has it designated financial liabilities as at fair value through profit or loss.

k)       Share-based payments (SOP)

The Group grants options for purchasing shares settled from equity to employees and collaborators.

The fair value of options at the date of granting shall be systematically recorded in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income for the period up to the exercise of the option. Non-market-based conditions of entry shall be taken into account by adjusting the number of equity instruments expected to be recorded at each reporting date so that ultimately the cumulative amount recognized in the vesting period is based on the number of options that may be paid. The conditions of non-qualification and the conditions of entry into rights are included in the fair value of the granted options. Cumulative expenditure shall not be adjusted for failure to fulfil a condition of entitlement or where a condition of non-qualification is not fulfilled.

l)       Leasing

As of January 1, 2019, IFRS 16 replaced IAS 17 Leasing and related interpretations. The standard eliminated the accounting model for tenants and instead requires companies to bring most leases on the balance sheet within a single model, eliminating the distinction between operational and financial leasing.

In accordance with IFRS 16, a contract is or contains leasing if it conveys the right to control the use of an identified asset for a period of time in exchange for a mandatory payment. For such contracts, the new model requires a lessee to recognize a right-of-use asset and a lease liability. The right-of-use asset is depreciated and the debt accrues interest. This will result in a model with higher payments at the beginning of the lease period of the expenses for most leases, even when the lessee pays constant annual rents.

The new standard introduces a number of exceptions to the scope for users which include:

  • leases with a lease term of 12 months or less and which do not contain purchase options, and

  • leases where the underlying asset has a low value ('low value' leasing transactions).

The Group has analysed all leasing contracts for the rental of equipment and premises where operates.

Transition method and Practical Exceptions used

The Group adopted IFRS 16 using the amended retrospective approach, recognizing transitional adjustments at the date of initial application (1 January 2019) without restating comparative figures. The Group has chosen to apply the practical exception not to reassess whether it is a contract or contains a lease at the date of initial application. Contracts concluded prior to the transition date that were not identified as leases under IAS 17 and IFRIC 4 have not been restated. The definition of a lease in accordance with IFRS 16 only applied to contracts concluded or amended on or after 1 January 2019.

IFRS 16 provides for certain optional practical exceptions, including those related to the initial adoption of the standard. The Group applied the following practical exceptions when applying IFRS 16 to leases previously classified as operating leases in accordance with IAS 17:

(a) applied a single discount rate to a rental portfolio with reasonably similar characteristics;

(b) excluded initial direct costs from the valuation of right-of-use assets at the date of initial application, where the right of use of the asset was determined as if IFRS 16 had been applied from the commencement date;

(c) it was based on previous assessments regarding whether the leases are onerous compared to the preparation of an impairment review in accordance with IAS 36 at the date of the initial application; and

(d) applied the exemption of not recognizing the rights of use of the assets and liabilities for leases with less than 12 months of lease remaining at the date of the initial application.

As a user, the Group has previously classified leasing as operational or financial leasing based on its assessment of whether the leasing contract has transferred substantially all the risks and benefits of ownership. In accordance with IFRS 16, the Group recognizes leasing assets and liabilities by right for most of the leasing. However, the Group has chosen not to recognize leasing assets and liabilities for some low-value asset leases based on the new value of the underlying asset for short-term rental with a lease term of 12 months or less.

When adopting IFRS 16, the Group recognized the rights to use of the leasing assets and liabilities as follows:

Classified according to IAS 17

Rights of use

Leasing liabilities

Operational leasing

Assets from rights of use are measured at an amount equal to the leasing debt, adjusted by the value of any amounts paid in advance or pre-empted.

Measured at the current value of the remaining lease payments, discounted using the Incremental Loan Rate of the Company as of January 1, 2019.

The Incremental Loan Rate of the Company is the rate at which a loan could be obtained from an independent donor on comparable terms and conditions. The average rate applied was 5% p.a.

Financial leasing

Measured on the basis of accounting values for leasing assets and liabilities immediately before the date of initial application (carrying amounts, unadjusted).

m)       External purchased intangible assets

Intangible assets acquired externally are recognized initially at cost and subsequently amortized linearly over the useful economic life: Licenses – 3-5 years, with the exception of the brands which are tested annually for impairment.

n)       Tangible fixed assets

Tangible assets comprise premises, equipment, machines furnishing and other assets used for the current activity. Tangible assets are initially recognized at acquisition cost.

The acquisition cost includes the directly attributable costs and the estimated present value of any unavoidable and future costs of dismantling and disposing those items. The corresponding obligation is recognized in the provisions.

The depreciation of other tangible assets shall be calculated on the basis of the linear method with a view to allocating their cost less the residual value, over their useful life, as follows: Premises - for the duration of the lease contract, Other fixed assets - 2-5 years.

o)       Inventory

Inventories are recognized initially at cost and subsequently at the lowest cost and net realizable value. The cost comprises all acquisition costs, conversion costs and other costs incurred in bringing the inventories to their current location and condition. Specific identification is used to determine the cost of interchangeable items.

p)       Provisions

Provisions are recognized when the Group has a legal or implicit obligation as a result of the previous events, when the settlement of the obligation requires a resource outflow incorporating economic benefits and for which a credible estimate of the value of the obligation can be made. Where there are a number of similar obligations, the likelihood that a resource outflow will be required for settlement is established following the assessment of the liability class as a whole. The provision is recognized even if the likelihood of a resource outflow related to any item included in any class of obligations is low. Where the Company expects repayment of a provision, for example through an insurance contract, repayment is recognized as a separate asset, but only when repayment is theoretically certain. 

Provisions are valued at the present value of the expenses estimated to be necessary to settle the obligation, using a pre-tax rate reflecting current market assessments of the time value of the money and the risks specific to the obligation. The increase in the provision due to the time passing is recognized as interest expense.

q)       Employee benefits

In the normal course of business, the Group makes payments to the Romanian State on behalf of its employees for health, pension and unemployment funds. All employees of the Company are members of the Romanian state pension plan, which is a fixed contribution plan. These costs are recognized in the profit and loss account with the recognition of salary expenses.  

r)       Current and deferred profit tax

Tax expense for the period includes current and deferred tax and is recognized in profit or loss, unless it is recognized in other comprehensive income or direct equity because it relates to transactions that are themselves recognized in the same period or in another period, in other comprehensive income or direct equity. 

Current income tax expense is calculated based on the tax regulations in force at the end of the reporting period. The management periodically assesses the positions in the tax returns in relation to situations where the applicable tax regulations are interpretable and constitute provisions, where applicable, based on the amounts estimated to be due to the tax authorities.

Deferred income tax is recognized, based on the method of the balance sheet obligation, for temporary differences between the tax bases of assets and liabilities and their accounting values in the financial statements. However, deferred income tax resulting from the initial recognition of an asset or liability in a transaction, other than a business combination, which at the transaction date does not affect the accounting profit or the taxable profit, is not recognized. Deferred corporate tax is determined on the basis of the tax rates (and legal regulations) in force until the end of the reporting period and are to be applied during the period in which the deferred tax to be recovered will be capitalized or the deferred tax will be paid. 

Deferred tax to be recovered is recognized only to the extent that a taxable profit is likely to be derived in the future from which temporary differences are deducted.

IFRIC 23 provides guidance on the accounting of current and deferred liabilities and taxes and assets under circumstances where there is uncertainty about corporate tax treatments. The interpretation provides as follows:

  • It must be determined whether uncertain tax treatments should be considered separately, or together as a group, depending on the approach that provides better predictions about resolution;

  • Determine whether tax authorities are likely to accept uncertain tax treatment; and

  • If uncertain tax treatment is unlikely to be accepted, the tax uncertainty will be measured according to the most likely amount or expected value, depending on any method that better predicts the resolution of the uncertainty. The measurement should be based on the assumption that each of the tax authorities will examine the amounts they are entitled to examine and have full knowledge of all the information related to these examinations.

Following the application of the provisions of IFRIC 23, no impact on corporate tax liabilities was identified.

NOTE 30.                       RUSSIA - UKRAINE CONFLICT

I.         Russia-Ukraine conflict

The invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation and the subsequent global response to these military actions could have a significant impact on some companies, especially companies with physical operations on the territory of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, but also entities with indirect interests (e.g. those that they have suppliers and customers, investments and creditors, with operations on the territory of these countries). Also, the sanctions imposed on the Russian government, Russian entities and Russian persons in many jurisdictions could affect societies, such as through the loss of access to financial resources and trade, but also through the collateral effects of the sanctions on global prices (e.g. oil, natural gas and other products derived from oil). The effects of the conflict are large-scale and rapidly evolving. Companies that do not have operations in Russia and Ukraine could still be affected by the conflict, the effects including but not limited to:

  • Destruction, confiscation or abandonment of tangible and intangible property;

  • Sanctions imposed on a company that may impact its ability to operate (e.g. access to funds, banking systems, etc.);

  • Sanctions imposed on a company's customers, which may impact its ability to sell goods and services and collect debts;

  • Sanctions imposed on a company's suppliers, which may impact its ability to obtain raw materials, goods and services, or which may indirectly increase the costs of obtaining these elements from alternative sources;

  • Sanctions imposed on creditors and/or banks of an entity, which may limit its ability to access funds and credits;

  • Changes in the approach to clients and consumers regarding companies with ties to Russia, Belarus or other jurisdictions related to the Russian Federation, which could reduce demand for the products of those companies;

  • Changes in risk appetite that can lead to the situation where creditors and investors withdraw their financial support for companies with ties to Russia, resulting in an increased liquidity risk and/or doubts regarding the continuity of the respective companies' activity;

  • Volatility in the prices of financial instruments and goods, including oil, natural gas, other products derived from oil and minerals, but also volatility in exchange rates.

Based on the information available up to this moment, the Company's Management has not identified concrete potential risks related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and thus, at this moment, it does not expect a significant impact in terms of the current operations. The direct exposure of the Company to third parties affected by the sanctions imposed since the initiation of the conflict (customers, suppliers, banking institutions with which the Company collaborates, which have been directly affected by the sanctions) does not exist. The indirect exposure (customers, suppliers with whom the Company collaborates, with links with third parties affected by sanctions, as well as risks related to the future volatility of commodity prices or currency exchange rates) is unquantifiable, the Company's Management not having received until this moment any sign of regarding any significant impact on the Company's activity.

 

 

NOTE 31.                       EVENTS AFTER THE BALANCE SHEET DATE

I.                     Change of the Board of Directors of Bittnet Systems S.A.

On January 25, 2024, Bittnet Systems SA shareholders voted for the composition of the new Board of Directors, considering the expiring mandates of the former members at the end of January. The new composition of the CA is:

  • Ivylon Management S.R.L. through legal representative Logofătu Mihai Alexandru Constantin, executive administrator and President of the Board of Directors

  • Anghel Lucian Claudiu, Vice President of the CA, non-executive member of the Board of Directors

  • Constantinescu Gabriel-Claudiu, non-executive member of the Board of Directors

  • Quercus Solutions S.R.L. through legal representative Micheș Paul, non-executive member of the Board of Directors

  • Eccleston Square Capital Limited, through legal representative Ciucu Bogdan, non-executive member of the Board of Directors

The mandates of the current CA members are for a period of 4 years.

II.                     Signing of significant contracts by Dendrio Solutions

During Q1 2024, the Issuer informed the capital market on several occasions about the signing of significant contracts by an affiliated entity (Dendrio Solutions SRL) exceeding in value 10% of last year's individual turnover through current reports no. 08 dated 17.01.2024, no. 14 dated 01.02.2024 and no. 17 dated 20.02.2024.

III.                   BNET28 bond listing | February 2024

On 02.02.2024, the first trading session took place for the bonds issued on 15.12.2023 under the symbol BNET28. The BNET28 issue consists of 100,000 bonds with an individual value of RON 100 and a total value of RON 10,000,000. The bonds are listed on the main market of the Bucharest Stock Exchange, the segment dedicated to fixed income instruments.

IV.                 CA decision – primary offering of corporate bonds

On 28.02.2024, the issuer informed the capital market about its intention to launch a new primary offer for the sale of corporate bonds under conditions similar to the previous two offers: BNET27A and BNET28. In this regard, the Board of Directors decided the coordinates of the operation and of the future instrument. The underwriting period will start after receiving the approval from the ASF for the offer documentation.

 

The financial statements from page [3] to page [67] were approved and signed on 22 March 2024.

 

Mihai Logofatu

 

Chief Executive Officer

 

Adrian Stanescu

 

Chief Financial Officer