Last twelve months
- Net sales for the last twelve months amounted to 620 MSEK (533) - a 9 % increase in local currencies
- Operating profit for the last twelve months was 108 MSEK (94) - a 17 % (18) operating margin
- Order intake for the twelve-month period was 637 MSEK (544)
- Cash flow from operating activities for the twelve-month period amounted to 92 MSEK (83)
- Profit after tax for the last twelve months amounted to 71 MSEK (68) and earnings per share was 6.26 SEK (5.99)
First quarter
- Net sales for the first quarter increased by 22 % to 170 MSEK (139) corresponding to a 10 % increase in local currencies
- Operating profit was 32 MSEK (22) corresponding to a 19 % (16) operating margin
- Order intake for the first quarter was 174 MSEK (148)
Comments from the CEO
The positive development during the latter part of 2014 continued into the first quarter of 2015. We can see a slightly improved situation in the global economy together with a large interest in our technology related to the trend "Industrial Internet of Things" (IIoT). The weakened Swedish currency especially in relation to the U.S. dollar has a positive effect but even adjusted for currency effects, we can report a double digit percentual sales growth. We are happy to report net sales of 170 MSEK and an order intake of 174 MSEK - both record levels for HMS.
Despite a decrease in activated development expenses and an increased impact from amortization on intangible assets, a solid gross margin together with a conservative cost increase gives us a 48 % improvement to 32 MSEK on the EBIT level for the first quarter.
The German and the Japanese markets continue to show solid progress. For the U.S.A. we see a more mixed picture. We have a tailwind from a strong U.S. currency but adjusted for this, we have experienced some delays related to orders. Our increased focus on the Nordic market during the recent years is paying off and the growth on the Scandinavian market was very strong during the first quarter.
Our investments in the area of wireless communication, which was initiated through an acquisition of a product line of wireless industrial gateways last year, also show very good development. For our growth area Netbiter, we can see a 50 % sales increase during the first quarter. Still, we expect that this part of our business has the potential to perform even better going forward.
Our focus is to drive growth within our three main product brands Anybus, Netbiter and IXXAT. We continue our efforts to balance our long term growth strategy with a conscious view on expenses. In the long term, we consider the market for industrial communication and remote management to be interesting growth areas and we continue to focus around our motto "Connecting Devices."
Halmstad 2015-04-23
Staffan Dahlström Chief Executive Officer
Further information can be obtained from: CEO Staffan Dahlström, telephone +46 (0) 35-17 29 01 or CFO Gunnar Högberg, telephone +46 (0) 35-17 29 95. See also: http://investors.hms.se
HMS Industrial Networks is the leading independent supplier of products for industrial communication including remote management. HMS develops and manufactures solutions for connecting automation devices and systems to industrial networks under the Netbiter, Anybus and IXXAT brands. Development and manufacturing take place at the headquarters in Halmstad, Sweden and in Weingarten, Germany. Local sales and support are handled by branch offices in China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, UK, and USA. HMS employs over 370 people and reported sales of 63 million EUR in 2014. HMS is listed on the NASDAQ OMX in Stockholm.
Q1 Report 2015 http://hugin.info/138433/R/1914187/683954.pdf
HUG#1914187
