(2017-02-16) Kitron ASA today reported solid growth, improved profit and increased dividend.
Kitron's revenue in the fourth quarter amounted to NOK 570 million, compared to 525 million in the fourth quarter last year. Operating profit (EBIT) was NOK 34.1 million, compared 33.6 million last year.
Net profit amounted to NOK 25.4 million, an increase from 22.6 million. This corresponds to earnings per share of NOK 0.14, compared to NOK 0.13 last year.
The Board of Directors proposes a dividend of NOK 0.25 per share for 2016. Last year the dividend was NOK 0.21.
Peter Nilsson, Kitron's CEO, comments: "We had solid growth in revenue and order backlog in the fourth quarter, pointing the way to expected growth in 2017. We also keep up our projects on operational improvement, gradually improving underlying profitability and capital efficiency. Lastly, we relocated our facility in Sweden during the fourth quarter, concluding major upgrades of our main facilities in Lithuania, Norway and Sweden over the past three years, leaving us in a very competitive position."
Kitron will host a Capital Markets Day later today, at which the underlying business improvements will be described in more detail. See separate stock exchange notice for highlights. The event will be webcast, and the presentation material will be made available at Newsweb.no and Kitron's web site.
Strong revenue, solid order backlog Kitron's revenue for the fourth quarter increased by 9 per cent compared to the same period last year. Adjusted for foreign exchange effects, the increase was 13 per cent. The pattern from the preceding quarters continued, with the market sectors Defence/Aerospace and Industry growing compared to the same quarter last year.
The order backlog ended at NOK 1 019 million, an increase of 4 per cent compared to last year. Adjusted for foreign exchange effects, the increase was 9 per cent.
Improved profitability Operating profit (EBIT) for the fourth quarter was NOK 34.1 million, an increase of 1 per cent. Profitability expressed as EBIT margin was 6.0 per cent, compared to 6.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2015. EBITDA was NOK 45.9 million, an increase of 4 per cent compared to last year.
Full year improvement Full year revenue of NOK 2 093 million gave an overall revenue growth of 7 per cent for the year. Growth adjusted for foreign exchange effects was 5 per cent. Operating profit for the year ended at NOK 117.8 million, compared to 102.7 million in 2015, resulting in an EBIT margin of 5.6 per cent, up from 5.3 per cent in 2015. Profit after tax was NOK 74.6 million, up from 72.2 million, corresponding to NOK 0.43 earnings per share, compared to 0.42 in 2015.
Improved capital efficiency Net working capital increased by 1 per cent from NOK 508 million to NOK 512 million compared to the same quarter last year, continuing the trend of decreasing net working capital compared to revenue. Operating cash flow was NOK 36.4 million, compared to 87.8 million in the fourth quarter 2015.
Facility relocation in Sweden Kitron Sweden relocated during December to the new-built facility in Torsvik, not far from the current facility in Jönköping. The move has been completed according to budget and without significant technical problems. Some temporary inefficiencies remain in production.
Outlook For 2017, Kitron expects revenue to grow to between NOK 2 150 and 2 350 million. EBIT margin is expected to be between 5.6 and 6.4 per cent. The growth is primarily driven by customers in the Industry sector. The profitability increase is driven by cost reduction activities and improved efficiency.
Enclosed in PDF are the quarterly report and the presentation.
The interim report is presented today at 8:30 a.m. The presentation will be given in English by CEO Peter Nilsson and CFO Cathrin Nylander, and will be webcast at the following link: http://webtv.hegnar.no/presentation.php?webcastId=44472059
For further information, please contact: Peter Nilsson, CEO of Kitron ASA, Tel: +47 948 40 850 Cathrin Nylander, CFO of Kitron ASA, Tel: +47 900 43 284 E-mail: investorrelations@kitron.com
Kitron is one of Scandinavia's leading electronics manufacturing services companies for the Defence/Aerospace, Energy/Telecoms, Industry, Medical devices and Offshore/Marine sectors. The company is located in Norway, Sweden, Lithuania, Germany, China and the United States. Kitron had revenues of about NOK 2.1 billion in 2016 and has about 1 350 employees. www.kitron.com
This announcement is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
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