Madrid, February 21.-Lleida.net (BME:LLN) (EPA:ALLLN) (OTC:LLEIF)'s gross margin increased by 41 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2021 and by 17 per cent for the year, in its best results since it went public in 2015.

Throughout 2021, the company posted a margin of €9.37 million, up from the €8 million recorded in the previous year. Meanwhile, the company's sales grew by nine per cent to €17.97 million.

This increase is primarily due to the significant growth of its SaaS services line, which for the first time exceeded fifty per cent of the group's sales in the fourth quarter of the previous year.

"The commitment we made to research and develop proprietary technology in the signature, notification, and registered electronic contracting industry is already paying off steadily, and most of our revenues come from SaaS," explained Sisco Sapena, CEO and founder of the company.

Part of this consolidation is a direct consequence of purchasing the technology company inDenova.

The last two months of 2021 already included revenues from the same subsidiary of more than 50,000 euros and the incorporation of a research laboratory for new lines of business. EBITDA at the end of 2021 once again exceeded two million euros, allowing us to continue investing in the company's strategic pillars: internationalisation, intellectual property, and innovation.

Over the year, the company sold more than €7.4 million of SaaS services, which corresponds to 30 per cent more than in 2020. In 2020, the change in companies' behavioural habits due to the health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic had already triggered the use of the company's SaaS services, which continues to consolidate.

In the fourth quarter of the year alone, the SaaS line grew by EUR 1.2 million, or 74 per cent more than in the third quarter of the year.

The company's debt position - especially short-term - has increased this year due to the acquisition of inDenova for EUR 7.1 million.

The company negotiated loans at very favourable exchange rates to finance the transaction at the purchase. Lleida.net is the European leader in the registered electronic signature, notification, and contracting industry. It is listed in Paris, Madrid, and New York and has one of the largest intellectual property portfolios in the industry internationally.

More than 60 countries have recognised its inventions with more than 205 patents, and its intellectual property portfolio is one of the largest in the industry worldwide.

In 2021, the company's international sales amounted to 56 per cent of the total, with revenues coming mainly from the Eurozone and Latin America.

The company closed the year with 179 employees, almost 80 per cent more than at the end of the previous year.