Increasing enterprise sales bolster Exclusive Networks’ 2022 results

Exclusive Networks has continued to reward investors that backed the distributor with a solid set of numbers for 2022.

The channel player has consistently delivered growth since going public in September 2021 and has kept that going, delivering a 38% increase in gross sales at €4.5bn and net margin climbing by 29% to €411m in 2022.

The distributor benefitted from retaining strong relationships, with its vendor and customer retention rates both up by more than 100% year-on-year.

In the fourth quarter, EMEA performance was up by 44% year-on-year, accounting for 79% of the firm’s total gross sales, with the end of the year finishing strongly as demand from the enterprise business picked up. One of the highlights of the fiscal year was the breakthrough of the €1bn revenue barrier across the region.

Jesper Trolle, chief executive officer at Exclusive Networks, said it had delivered a “record-breaking” year in terms of revenue and profit margin.

“Our momentum continued to build throughout the year, delivering three consecutive quarters of gross sales of over €1bn. This further demonstrates our ability to deliver sustainable growth through our specialised approach, unique business model and talented teams around the world,” he said.

Trolle added that the business was established in a strong and growing security market, putting the firm in a strong position.

“Cyber security continues to be one of the most challenging issues of our time facing CIOs. Cyber attacks are accelerating in frequency and intensity, with a ransomware attack estimated to occur every two seconds by 2031. Geopolitical tensions continue to threaten nation states and national critical infrastructure, driving new cyber legislation and compliance,” he said.

“Rapid digital transformation projects, new hybrid working practices and the migration to cloud-based architectures have created increased threat landscapes and greater vulnerabilities. Add to this a growing cyber skills and talent shortage and it’s clear that investment in cyber security will remain resilient in 2023,” he added.

Trolle said Exclusive Networks was focused on continuing the positive trend and expected the year ahead to deliver further growth for the business.

“Based on these macro tailwinds, our market-leading portfolio of cyber security, innovative vendors and our global ecosystem of specialist partners, combined with our ability to grow our addressable market through geographic expansion, strategic acquisition and service innovation, we estimate that in 2023 our addressable market opportunity will increase to more than $80bn. We are confident that we are well placed to take advantage of this growing opportunity,” he said.

Earlier this year, MicroScope caught up with Paul Eccleston, the UK and Ireland managing director at Exclusive Networks, who echoed that view of remaining untapped growth.

“The big, attractive and exciting thing for me was that it’s a great business globally ... specifically in the UK. We just finished a very strong year in 2022, and we’ve got so much more opportunity to grow and develop the business,” he said.