Init innovation in traffic : The stock market flotation 20 years ago provided the (init)ial spark

Today, init innovation in traffic systems SE (ISIN DE 0005759807) is the leading international digitisation specialist for public transport. In 2020, both its revenues and its share price reached new record highs. However, the "initial spark" for this success story came 20 years ago: on 24 July 2001 the Karlsruhe-based systems provider went public - the last to do so on the Neuer Markt, a growth stock segment on the Frankfurt stock exchange whose days were numbered. Using the funds raised from its flotation, init achieved a market breakthrough in North America and subsequently in other growth markets as well.

A brief look back: In July 2001 there was a sell-out mood on the Neuer Markt. Following some bankruptcies and an unprecedented slump in share prices, "death lists" were circulating detailing which of the 300 plus firms listed in this segment might go bust. Business in new issues, which had been very brisk in previous years, had almost come to a complete standstill. Investors were pulling out.

However, the flotation planning at init innovation in traffic systems was already well advanced. The company, founded by Dr Gottfried Greschner and managed by him and a team of co-founders, had gone to great lengths to make itself ready for the stock market. Now the decision had to be made - float at a low issue price compared to other telematics stocks, or wait for potentially higher valuations.

Following an energetic roadshow, the Managing Board decided to go ahead late on the Friday evening. init obtained its initial quotation at a price of EUR 5.10. The company received net proceeds of EUR 8 million, thereby fundamentally improving its equity base. That meant that init would now be able to participate in larger international tenders - and win.

In 2001 there were only two successful IPOs - Deutsche Börse and init

At the end of 2001 - after the fateful events of 09/11 and an outright collapse on capital and product markets - there were only two stock market debutants that brought success to investors. Deutsche Börse AG with a rise of 20 per cent and init with a price increase of over 40 per cent.

More importantly, however, init now had the capital it needed to grow under its own steam. Even though there were a number of setbacks in the next few years, init's annual average growth over the past 20 years has been in excess of 10 per cent. Revenues have increased from EUR 22.9 million to over EUR 180 million during this period.

The share price also reflects this: After its successful stock market launch, init's share price essentially tracked the performance of the DAX German equity index until 2008, at which point it began to climb with ever-greater momentum. Its share price has increased eightfold in the 20 years since init first listed. Compared to the DAX, this represents an outperformance of more than 600 per cent in this period. And: init's first shareholders have more than recouped their investment merely through the dividends of over EUR 6 per share paid in the meantime.

In operational terms, too, init has enjoyed success after success, with digital innovations always paving the way: For instance, in 2002 init converted its intermodal transport control system to a modern JAVA-ITCS, a technology that subsequently became widespread very quickly. The decision made in 2002 in favour of a PC architecture and the then new Windows(R) XP Embedded from Microsoft likewise proved to be a trendsetter. Compared to other on-board computers, init's COPILOTpc was already at that time a genuine Windows computer and thus enabled the use of widely available software tools and programming libraries.

Worldwide list of major projects and customers

With products like these, init subsequently conquered the world market: In Oslo, the most comprehensive passenger information and intermodal transport control system in Europe was installed at the beginning of the 2000s; an ITCS went into operation in Munich for the 2006 football World Cup. This was followed by a telematics system for the superlative public transport system in Dubai and the largest telematics system in Germany for DB Regio in Bavaria. init received the National Transport Award for a groundbreaking ITCS in London, the prize for the most innovative IT and telematics project in Stockholm in 2006, and a number of corporate recognition awards for the extraordinary performance of its telematics and ticketing systems.

Today, init's list of major international projects spans the globe - from Christchurch in New Zealand, Vancouver and Montreal in Canada, Seattle, Houston, New York in USA, Dublin in Ireland, Luxembourg, the Hague in the Netherlands, Birmingham in the United Kingdom, all the way to Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. init systems control the largest vehicle fleets in public transport worldwide, totalling over 150,000 buses and trains across more than 1.100 transport companies and transporting billions of passengers annually.

The newest and most promising area of growth is smart ticketing. ID-based ticketing systems are particularly successful here. The concept is very simple. The ticket medium, usually a smartcard, stores only a unique ID for the customer's account and not, as in traditional e-ticketing systems, the credit balance or ticket information. All other information resides exclusively in the background system, where it is stored and managed in real time. The principle offers some decisive advantages: different ticket media can be used flexibly, customers are better protected if they lose their ticket medium and system-wide interventions, such as ticket price changes, can be handled much more flexibly. This means that bank cards, credit cards, company cards, smartphones, etc. can be easily integrated. In recent years, init has won the contract for a total of ten major ticketing projects in the USA alone, for example in Honolulu, Tampa, Nashville, Los Angeles, in the high-tech region of Seattle, in San Diego and most recently in Houston.

"These are successes that could not have been foreseen in 2001, but for which the flotation in that year ultimately paved the way", init founder and CEO Dr Gottfried Greschner sums up. He and his family remain on board as major and anchor shareholders. In the opinion of many analysts who have followed init over its years on the stock market, this is also one of its success factors - the stability and continuity on the Managing Board as well as in the shareholder structure.

init is well equipped to continue its success story in the years to come, too. The growth strategy pursued by Dr Greschner is based on the motto "Integrated. Innovative. International." This includes solutions for smart ticketing, in which init is already the market leader in public transport, as well as the latest generation of control systems that integrate not only ticketing solutions but also the management and smart charging of electric vehicles.

Equipped for further stock market success with digitisation and innovation

A particular growth driver for init is the conversion of vehicle fleets in public transport to emission-free or electric vehicles. With this in mind, init has developed an integrated software product suite called eMOBILE, which optimises all processes, starting with the simulation and planning of services and operations, through depot and charging management and operational control, to range forecasting and consumption analysis. For its partner KEOLIS init is currently equipping two of the largest electric bus fleets in Europe, in the Netherlands and Norway.

Political decision-makers around the world are also promoting the transition to sustainable transport. As a result, there continues to be growing demand for digital solutions, from expanding e-mobility to online mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) platforms. "We expect to see attractive calls for tender and contracts emerge in all of these areas - and we anticipate continued growth as a result. In the last five years alone, we have invested around EUR 45 million in basic developments. That is starting to pay off more and more now. This means that we should be able to return to our sustainable growth target of 15 per cent on average per year from 2022", explains Dr Greschner.

Digitisation and innovation, which have always been part of init's DNA and are more important today than ever before, certainly bode well for 20 more successful years on the stock market.

Contact:

Person making the notification:

Simone Fritz

Investor Relations

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