Coronavirus: TeamViewer Sees Demand for Home-Working Options

German software company TeamViewer said on Monday it was seeing extra demand for its connectivity services due to the coronavirus outbreak, as it forecast that revenue and core profit would grow by about a third this year.

TeamViewer offers an "anytime, anywhere" service that makes it possible to log in and work remotely, and this was seeing increased demand in China, where coronavirus was first detected and has had the greatest impact.

"We have significantly higher demand for home-working options," CEO Oliver Steil told reporters after TeamViewer reported strong fourth-quarter results and confirmed the 2020 outlook it gave when it floated in September.

The company, which operates a 'freemium' model that seeks to convert heavy users into paying subscribers, has however suspended marketing in China out of respect for the difficult situation for many businesses and people there, Steil added.

TeamViewer offers secure remote access, support, remote control and collaboration tools, and has been installed on more than 2 billion devices. Up to 45 million are online at any one moment in time.

TeamViewer, now listed on Frankfurt's mid-cap and tech stock indexes, is targeting 2020 billings of EUR 430 million-440 million ($471 million-$482 million), representing year-on-year growth of 34 percent.

Core earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were forecast to grow at a similar pace to EUR 240 million-250 million, said the firm, which is based in the town of Goeppingen.

The September listing, which valued TeamViewer at EUR 5.25 billion, added a rare technology firm to a Frankfurt market heavy with industrial and auto stocks.

Shares, which traded strongly at Monday's open, turned negative during morning trade in Frankfurt to stand 5.5 percent lower. They held on to gains of 17 percent since Europe's biggest stock offering of 2019.

TeamViewer, controlled by private equity house Permira, has profiled itself to investors as a play on the so-called 'megatrend' of sustainability, offering companies a way to cut the environmental impact and expense of travel.

It is focusing on higher-spending enterprise customers to drive growth.

It counted 698 customers at the end of 2019 with an annual contract value of more than EUR 10,000, up 67 percent on a year earlier. Its total number of paying subscribers rose 71% to 464,000.

The guidance for 2020 implies growth in profits will slow compared with 2019, when billings rose by 41 percent and adjusted EBITDA rose by 51 percent.

Fourth quarter billings rose by 34 percent to EUR 100.6 million while adjusted EBITDA jumped by 46 percent to EUR 62.6 million.

© Thomson Reuters 2020