Telecom. IT: KEYSFIN ESTIMATE: ROMANIAN SOFTWARE INDUSTRY WILL CONTINUE TO GROW IN 2023 AND REACH A NEW RECORD LEVEL OF OVER EUR 14 BILLION

The turnover of companies in the Romanian software industry increased by 29% compared to 2021 and was 323% higher than in 2013, reaching a record level of almost EUR 13 billion in 2022, according to data from the Ministry of Finance. "Despite the growth rate tempering, we estimate the continuation of the uninterrupted trend of the last 10 years and reaching a new all-time high this year, of over EUR 14 billion, and we have chosen to publish the results of the latest edition on the evolution of the software industry close to December 1st, because we observe how software is consolidating its key role in the development and digitization of the economy and transforming Romania into a regional hub, after one of the fastest growth rates, if not the fastest in the last 10 years, of more than 4-fold", said Diana Florescu KeysFin economic analyst, the largest provider of business information solutions with 100% local capital in Romania.   In 2022, over 37 thousand companies were active in the software industry in Romania, 19% more than in 2021 and 148% above the 2013-level. Of these, 35.5 thousand were micro-enterprises, 1.2 thousand small companies, 398 medium companies and 32 large companies. CASTLINGS IN THE TOP 10 SOFTWARE COMPANIES IN ROMANIA UIPATH SRL remains the industry leader after the largest annual nominal advance of EUR 126 million and the largest annual percentage increase in the top 10 of 38%, to EUR 459 million in 2022. BITDEFENDER SRL remains in second place, with a turnover of almost EUR 295 million in 2022, being followed by ENDAVA ROMANIA SRL which surpassed IBM ROMANIA SRL, subsequent to an annual increase of 37% thus reaching the third position, with a turnover of EUR 261 million in 2022. The 10 largest companies in the industry accumulated business of approximately 2.2 billion euros, representing 17% of the total. RECORD NET RESULT, 9-FOLD INCREASE SINCE 2013 The net result recorded by companies in the software industry increased substantially to almost EUR 2 billion in 2022, 28% more than in 2021 and almost 9-fold that of  2013. Also, companies in the software industry generated 77% of the net result recorded by the entire IT&C sector and over 5% of the net result of all non-financial companies in Romania in 2022. 2-FOLD INCREASE OF THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE SOFTWARE INDUSTRY TO THE LOCAL ECONOMY The share of turnover generated by Romanian software companies in the IT&C sector increased from 40% in 2013, to 64% in 2022 through the lens of the much faster advance of the software component, 4-fold compared to the 2.6-fold increase in the IT&C sector from 2013. At the level of the total turnover generated by non-financial companies in Romania, the share of the software industry increased from almost 1.3% in 2013, to over 2.5% of the total in 2022. BLACK FRIDAY IN ROMANIA: INCREASED APETITE FOR E-CREDIT SHOPPING STARBYTE SRL, a local company with 100% Romanian capital, developed the 4Apply plug-in application for e-commerce, which facilitates the increase in sales by introducing the Online Credit (e-Credit) payment option.   “The 4Apply application, which integrates data services from KeysFin, saw record flows of over 500 clients per hour, with peaks of around 30 clients per minute. Based on the data recorded by the application, requests for the purchase of products in instalments increased by 500% compared to the previous Black Friday, the peak being recorded on Saturday, November 11th", said Adrian Bacaianu, Starbyte founder and CEO. The application connects e-commerce sites with financing institutions such as banks and NBFIs. In this way, any client who chooses to shop online has the option to pay by e-credit, in addition to the usual card payment. The app provides remote biometric identification with online new account creation, 100% digitally, with functionalities such as facial recognition, Liveness Detection, or digital signature. Practically, by creating the client's virtual account, banks affiliated with the application can provide loans online, on the spot. COMPUTER SERVICES EXPORTS, PLUS 17% IN THE FIRST 9 MONTHS OF 2023 The exports of computer services increased by 17%, to EUR 5.8 billion in the first 9 months of 2023, compared to the same period of the previous year, as did imports, to 2.1 billion euros, according to data from the National Bank of Romania*. It means a record trade surplus in computer services of EUR 3.7 billion in the first 9 months of 2023. Data on export and import of services are compiled according to the methodology ensured by the IMF’s sixth edition of the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM6) and are classified according to EBOPS (Extended Balance of Payments Classification). Note: The KeysFin analysis is based on annual, non-adjusted, aggregated financial data reported by companies to the Ministry of Finance (at the end of the period) whose main scope of activity was one of the following NACE codes: 5821 (publishing of computer games), 5829 (other software publishing), 6201 (computer programming activities), 6202 (computer consultancy activities), 6203 (computer facilities management activities), 6209 (other information technology and computer service activities), 6311 (data processing, hosting and related activities) or 6312 (web portals). All figures are expressed in euro, and the exchange rate used is the official one, published by the National Bank of Romania (at the end of the period).