For further information:
Jonas Wiström, President and CEO, +46 70 608 12 20 Stefan Johansson, CFO, +46 70 224 24 01
ÅF continues to grow and further increase profitability
Third quarter 2016
- Net sales amounted to SEK 2,348 million (2,147)
- Operating profit, excl items affecting comparability, totalled SEK 162 million (143)
- Operating margin, excl items affecting comparability, was 6.9 percent (6.7)
- Operating profit totalled SEK 162 million (112)
- Operating margin was 6.9 percent (5.2)
- Profit after tax totalled SEK 118 million (67)
- Earnings per share, before dilution: SEK 1.63 (0.84)
January-September 2016
- Net sales amounted to SEK 7,933 million (7,133)
- Operating profit, excl items affecting comparability, totalled SEK 666 million (575)
- Operating margin, excl items affecting comparability, was 8.4 percent (8.1)
- Operating profit totalled SEK 663 million (578)
- Operating margin was 8.4 percent (8.1)
- Profit after tax totalled SEK 490 million (418)
- Earnings per share, before dilution: SEK 6.47 (5.35)
COMMENTS BY THE CEO
ÅF's operating profit for the third quarter totalled SEK 162 million, which is an increase of 13 percent compared with last year and the best third quarter profit to date. So far this year operations have been acquired that together have net sales of approximately SEK 900 million on an annual basis. The Industry, Infrastructure and Technology Divisions continue to perform well. The International Division has been affected by unforeseen costs in the Angra 3 nuclear power project, a result of the unstable political situation in Brazil. As a consequence, the Division reports a break even result for the quarter.
The most gratifying news for the quarter is that ÅF now ranks as the most popular employer in Sweden among M. Sc. Engineers at a time when the demand for engineers is stronger than it has been for many years. This is a testament to ÅF's ongoing efforts to create a workplace that provides unique opportunities to develop in an environment of co-operation with interesting projects in many countries.
ÅF assesses the market situation as good, but with wide variations in demand between different industries. There is continued strong demand from infrastructure and urban planning clients, as well as the automotive, paper, food and pharmaceutical industries. Demand in the energy, commodities, and oil industries remains weak, even though last spring's energy agreement in Sweden is expected to have some positive effects on investments in nuclear power. The ongoing digitalisation of society increases demand for digital services from most industries.
The Industry Division continues to show a positive trend with profitable growth. The automotive business is growing and orders were received from Swedish, British and Chinese clients. ÅF's business in Denmark also showed good growth, where assignments include modernisation of production facilities.
The Infrastructure Division exhibits persistently strong growth with healthy profitability. In Sweden and Norway, the demand for the division's services in the road, railway and construction sectors remains high. With the division's combined expertise in hospitals, ÅF can now offer unique competence in new construction and remodelling projects, and among new major assignments are the modernisation of the emergency hospitals in Gävle and Hudiksvall. The expansion in Norway is proceeding, and earlier this year ÅF, together with the Norwegian engineering and consulting company Reinertsen, combined their infrastructure, construction and installation operations in a jointly owned company. In the third quarter ÅF took the next step and acquired 100 percent of the company.
The International Division continued to show negative growth due to a shrinking market in Europe. Profit was negatively affected by the political turmoil in Brazil, which has led to lost revenue and restructuring costs. Electronuclear, the state-owned Brazilian nuclear power operator, has called for a temporary suspension to the nuclear power project Angra 3. In South-east Asia, operations are developing positively with several new assignments in Indonesia, which is one of the fastest growing markets in the region.
Operating profit in the Technology Division continues to improve due to better prices and higher capacity utilisation. The market for digitalisation is growing and demand in the quarter was high in the automotive and defence industries where Technology has a strong offering and numerous assignments. Technology is growing profitably and in September the division was further strengthened by the acquisition of Sjöland & Thyselius.
Overall, ÅF continues to grow both organically and through acquisitions, while profitability improves. ÅF's innovation capability and its technological breadth, combined with high quality and delivery reliability, are appreciated by both clients and employees. The target for 2020 remains: ÅF will generate net sales of at least EUR 2 billion and achieve an operating margin of at least 10 percent over a business cycle. ÅF is stronger than ever.
Group Head Office: ÅF AB (publ), SE-169 99 Stockholm, Sweden Visitors' address: Frösundaleden 2, 169 70 Solna, Sweden Tel. +46 10 505 00 00 Fax +46 10 505 00 10 www.afconsult.com / info@afconsult.com Corporate ID number 556120-6474
The information contained in this press release is such that ÅF AB (publ) is required to disclose pursuant to the Securities Market Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading Act. The information was submitted for publication at 11.30 21 October, 2016.
All assumptions about the future that are made in this report are based on the best information available to the company at the time the report was written. As is the case with all assessments of the future, such assumptions are subject to risks and uncertainties, which may mean that the actual outcome differs from the anticipated result.
This is a translation of the Swedish original. The Swedish text is the binding version and shall prevail in the event of any discrepancies.
The full report including tables (pdf) is available for download.
