MuM adds to PLMish good news

Mensch und Maschine Software says it “remained undeterred on the record track in Q3, achieving the strongest [nine month] figures in the company’s history” because of “strong new business for M+M Software, as well as solid renewal business in the VAR segment.” Recall that MuM is a value-added reseller (VAR) for Autodesk. It also develops and distributes its own software brands, including the Open Mind HyperMILL computer-aided machining solutions.

Since MuM (and many European companies) talk about the year to date, let’s start there. Revenue for the first nine months of 2022 was €228.25 million, up 18% as reported. €72.59 million came from M+M Software, up 19%, while the VAR business contributed €155.66 million, up 17%.

For the third quarter, total revenue was €73 million, up 24% — and that lets us infer that since the Q3 year/year growth was ahead of the year-to-date year/year growth, business is picking up.

Below is a chart from MuM’s Q3 report, which lets you see the progression. Like many businesses in our little sphere, the summer quarter, Q3, is typically slow. The move to subscriptions is smoothing that to a more even pattern throughout the year. We’re not there yet, obviously, but Q3 2022 is now on par with last year’s Q4 and nearing the level of 2021’s Q1. Of course, Autodesk offers all sorts of sales incentives (like right now — 20% discounts on many things keep coming into my inbox) which can skew any single quarter.

What can we learn from MuM’s results? That the PLMish world is better than OK — for now. MuM doesn’t forecast revenue but says it is raising its profit targets for 2022 and 2023. That’s likely a combination of growing revenue and closely watched costs. And that 17% increase in its VAR business due to solid renewals is good news for Autodesk, which reports results next month.