Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the R22 Group

Despite the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the R22 Group continues to operate normally. The entire R22 team has moved to remote working, and the Group has not experienced any negative impact on sales volumes. In fact, the past week saw increased usage of online communication solutions, particularly high SMS traffic. The current situation may act as a catalyst for the acceleration of business digitalisation processes.

– The safety of our employees and collaborators is our top priority, which is why the entire team has transitioned to remote working. We are maintaining full operational continuity and the highest standard of customer service, while continuing to manage sales processes conducted online. – says Jakub Dwernicki, CEO of R22.

In the past week (11–17 March), R22 recorded increased use of digital customer communication channels. During this period, the number of SMS messages sent via the Group’s solutions was approximately three times higher than the average since the start of the year. VoIP traffic also picked up noticeably, running some 50% above the levels seen in the preceding period.

– The current situation is partly temporary and driven by crisis communications being conducted by both businesses and local authorities. However, in the longer term it may have a positive effect on the digitalisation and automation of business processes across many sectors. This should translate into increased demand for the technology solutions offered by R22. – comments Jakub Dwernicki.

R22 is observing increased interest in solutions supporting remote working for customer service and communication teams – including virtual PBX systems that enable calls to be routed to employees’ mobile phones according to predefined scenarios.

– We have quickly adapted to operating in this new environment. We are, however, aware that certain industries are particularly vulnerable to the negative impact of the coronavirus epidemic. For those clients, we are implementing a two-month invoice payment deferral option. Given our broad sector diversification, this will not represent a significant cost to us, but it may help our clients through this difficult period. We are also contributing to the purchase of medical supplies for hospitals in Poznań. – adds Jakub Dwernicki.

At the same time, Profitroom is observing a decline in bookings made through its Booking Engine module; however, the company assumes this is a temporary situation and that a scenario of increased domestic bookings in the summer season is likely, which may have a positive impact on the company’s revenue. The R22 Group holds just under 30% of Profitroom, and as a result the company’s results are not currently consolidated and have no impact on the Group’s cash flow.

R22’s strategy centres on supporting clients’ online presence and automating business processes, in particular communication, marketing and sales. The technology group is consistently developing its portfolio of services and tools spanning hosting, domains, multichannel communications and new SaaS solutions – developed both within the Group and through investments in external entities.