NOVA performs well with 38 percent growth
Nova Consulting Group (NOVA) has had another year of solid growth – with revenue increasing by 38 percent to 873 million NOK in 2023.
NOVA continued to develop its business in 2023, and announced acquisitions of the Norwegian companies Egde Consulting and Dekode in early January. Throughout the year, NOVA has focused on getting to know and integrate the new subsidiaries, in order to leverage synergies between them in the best way possible. Otherwise, the group has put a lot of energy into navigating through a turbulent market.
Proud of its organic growth
The group achieved a growth of 38 percent, taking revenues to 873 million NOK, up from 632 million in 2022. Eight percent of this growth is organic, while the group's EBITDA margin was seven percent.
“Given the state of the market last year, I am pleased with our growth and that we delivered a positive result, even though our ambitions were much higher.
Geir Allan Hove, CEO of NOVA.
In Norway, NOVA experienced a difficult market in the first half of the year, with a considerable improvement in the second half. In Sweden, however, it experienced a difficult market throughout the year.
Hove highlights the results of the NOVA companies Northern Beat, Novanet, and Rocket as particularly positive.
“In a turbulent market, investments in services such as user experience, design, and communication are often the first things customers reduce. Therefore, we are very pleased that Northern Beat performed very well, took good care of its employees, and achieved a profit margin of 14 percent,” he says.
“The same applies to Rocket, which more than doubled its revenues to 20 million NOK and achieved a profit of 16 percent. I am also very impressed by the development that Novanet had in 2023, with organic growth of 15 percent and solid results. This considering that the market for the sale of more traditional IT consulting services faced major challenges, with several competitors either going bankrupt or having to lay off employees,” says Hove.
Optimistic about the future
When NOVA budgets were set for 2024, the unsettling and unpredictable previous year was fresh in memory, something the budgets reflect. However, with the developments so far this year, it may seem that the group’s budgetary planning may have been a little too conservative – although we won't know the answer to this until the year end.
“Judging by the start of this year, it seems that the market is now starting to stabilize, although it is still somewhat sluggish, especially in Sweden. Nevertheless, we are experiencing a positive development in the first few months with good progress and growth,” explains Hove.
“This year's budget ambitions are somewhat lower, but if the development continues as it looks now, it will be interesting to see if NOVA surpasses a billion NOK in turnover. Surpassing the billion is of course a milestone, but whether we reach it in 2024 remains to be seen,” Hove underlines.
A key driver for NOVA’s growth is the interest that its customers are demonstrating with regard to the use of artificial intelligence to help streamline business processes. For example, the NOVA company Point Taken is a launch partner and expert on Microsoft's Co-pilot, which is currently receiving a lot of attention.
“Technologies like these make important contributions to business-critical projects and increase activity levels for us and our employees,” says Hove.
Newly established advisory unit
In January of this year, NOVA announced the establishment of NOVA Advisory, a cross-functional advisory unit that delivers transformation programs focused on two primary needs: sustainable growth and utilization of technology.
“By bringing together all the senior advisory expertise we have in the group under the NOVA Advisory umbrella, our aim is to work even closer across the board to create new insights, innovation, and value development for our customers. The advisory unit is already engaged in projects within AI and data-driven insights that look very promising,” Hove concludes.
