German software company Teamviewer <TMV.DE> said on Tuesday that demand for its remote connectivity services was normalising after a surge driven by the coronavirus pandemic, but it still nudged its billings guidance higher for the year.
Goeppingen-based Teamviewer, which provides "anytime, anywhere" access and is now integrated with Microsoft's <MSFT.O> workplace collaboration app Teams, got a huge boost from remote working during the pandemic.
Even though billings growth slowed to 29% in the third quarter from 45% in the preceding one, underlying trends towards digitalisation in business and automation in industry remain intact, CEO Oliver Steil told Reuters.
"In the third quarter, we profited from fundamental trends, and not extra corona-related demand," Steil said in an interview.
Billings, a measure of new business, are now expected to come in a range of 450 to 455 million euros ($532-$538 million) for the year as a whole, up from an earlier goal of 450 million euros, Teamviewer said.
The company kept its forecast for core profit margins at 56%, however, disappointing some market watchers who had been looking for an upgrade.
ENTERPRISE PLAY
Teamviewer attracts new users with a 'freemium' model that only charges them once it establishes they work in a business setting - its subscriber base grew by 31% year-on-year to 567,000. Its software has been installed 2.5 billion times.
Looking ahead to 2021, Teamviewer will focus on marketing its enterprise product in the Asia-Pacific region and the United States, Steil said. It has 1,658 enterprise clients paying more than 10,000 euros a year, up 181% on a year ago.
The company's shares performed strongly after the private equity-backed firm floated in Frankfurt in Sept. 2019, but have fallen from their summer highs as main investor Permira has sold down its stake.
Its shares have also been hit by the latest market optimism on COVID-19 vaccines, which has encouraged rotation out of software stocks and into sectors that stand to recover from the reopening of the economy. They traded flat on Tuesday.($1 = 0.8452 euros)
(Reporting by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Michelle Adair, Kirsten Donovan)
