International. With an annual growth rate of 14 percent over the past five years, Milestone Systems' net income increased to DKK (Danish kroner) 1.03 billion in 2019 (about US$151 million). Operating income (income before interest and taxes) was DKK 124 million (about US$18 million), compared to DKK 194 million the previous year (about US$28 million), an expected consequence given the increase in investments in innovation and development.
The positive revenue assessment stemmed primarily from an increase in license and care sales. In addition, Milestone Systems continued to increase sales in all of its markets.
"Two main factors affect our positive result: our continued commitment to long-term sustainable growth, which is why we have been profitable every year since our company was founded 22 years ago. And perhaps most importantly, our people. Prioritizing long-term sustainable growth requires the best human talent, who can identify the right opportunities for our company. Without the right people, even the strongest business strategy can fail," said Milestone Systems Interim CEO Lars Larsen.
In the last five years, Milestone Systems has nearly doubled the number of employees to more than 900 people. Last year, greater investments were made in research and development capacity, engineering teams were expanded in Copenhagen and Sofia and a new engineering center was created in Barcelona.
The company explained that it continues to provide flexibility to its community of partners and end customers, allowing them to respond in an agile way to new disruptive technologies. The open technology platform allows partners to integrate with their software, while Milestone Marketplace, the open business platform, allows them to grow their business faster. Milestone Marketplace was launched in 2019 and connects buyers and sellers to create innovative solutions together. In 2020, the company will release version 2.0 of the Milestone Marketplace, which allows customers to find vendors and integrators that offer video solutions.
"With these two open platforms, we continue to offer the power of openness to our partners. To drive them forward, we have created a program, Accelerate Innovation, with significant investments in our engineering teams. In 2019, we continued with these investments and so far in 2020 we have already begun to see the results," continued Lars Larsen.
Industry analysts expect continued growth in the video surveillance equipment market by 2020. For its part, Milestone Systems expects to further strengthen its position in the global market. Revenue growth will be driven by continued expansion of the product portfolio, which includes both video management software and network video recorders, as well as the international ecosystem of business partners, camera providers, technology and solution partners.
