Padtec S A : ends 2022 with growth of 6.4% and record revenue driven by the foreign market

Padtec Holding (B3: PDTC3), the sole shareholder of Padtec S/A, a leading manufacturer of optical transport systems, ended 2022 with net revenue of approximately R$ 365 million, which represents growth of 6.4% compared to 2021. It was the best annual results in the history of Padtec - which completed 21 years of operation in 2022.

Sales in the international market played an important role in this result, contributing 21% of the company's net revenue for the year. Another 67% came from the sale of DWDM equipment in Brazil and 12% from the services area. As a result of its international expansion strategy, Padtec's net revenue from sales abroad increased by 67% in 2022, compared to the previous year, reaching R$ 77.2 million.

After strengthening its presence in Latin American countries and establishing a partnership in Europe, last year Padtec announced an agreement with the Angolan consultancy Zanecom to offer DWDM solutions in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, in February of this year, the company opened another commercial office in Latin America. Located in Lima, Peru, it is the company's fourth office in the region in addition to Brazil. The others are in Argentina, Chile and Colombia.

With a focus on new market verticals, Padtec also announced, in 2022, the creation of a new department focused on the area of solutions, software and telecommunications services. The purpose is to make its services unit even more strategic within the company, with a role dedicated specifically to the development of platforms and complete solutions for the telecommunications sector, including support (software, monitoring and automation solutions) and infrastructure to support telecom networks. As part of this strategy, Padtec has also launched new services - among the most recent is Smart Site, a cloud platform aimed at the remote management of network environments.

Padtec's gross profit in 2022 reached R$ 116.9 million, with a gross margin of 32%, maintaining the same level as in 2021. The company also recorded an Adjusted EBITDA result similar to 2021, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, discounting non-recurring effects, of R$ 46.6 million (and Adjusted EBITDA margin of 12.2%). In the fourth quarter of 2022, the company's Adjusted EBTIDA reached R$ 18.9 million (18.0% margin) - an increase of 40.4% when compared to the same period of 2021.

In the area of research and development, Padtec invested R$ 41.7 million of its revenue in the evolution of its product line. "One example of the result of our high investment in R&D is the standalone 400 Gb/s per optical channel transponder (800 Gb/s in total), launched at the beginning of this year", highlights Roberto Nakamura, Technology Director at Padtec. "It is a solution designed to meet the main requirements of regional providers as related to the evolution of their networks: high performance, availability and flexibility for rapid expansion, at a more accessible cost", he adds.

Carlos Raimar, Padtec's CEO and Investor Relations Officer, points out that the company's plans for the future include the continuity of its business with a focus on international expansion and strengthening commercial and financial partnerships. "The development of new products, software platforms, special services and RAN solutions for 4G and 5G networks is also under analysis. These solutions may be developed by Padtec itself, or through partnerships and acquisitions of other companies", reveals the executive.

The full results report is available on the 'Investor Relations' page of the Padtec website (www.padtec.com.br/investor/padtec-holding/).