STRENGTHENED CASH FLOW DESPITE LOWER MARGINS
SUMMARY FOR JANUARY - DECEMBER 2016
- Net sales SEK 675 M (618)
- Profit before tax SEK 81,9 M (94,7)
- Operating margin 13,1 % (16,3)
- Earnings per share before dilution SEK 2,27 (2,66)
- Cash flow from operations SEK 158,5 M (139,8)
- The board proposes a dividend of SEK 1,00 (0,90) per share
SUMMARY FOR OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2016
- Net sales SEK 193 M (170)
- Profit before tax SEK 24,3 M (26,9)
- Operating margin 13,3 % (16,7)
- Earnings per share before dilution SEK 0,71 (0,86)
- Cash flow from operations SEK 34,7 M (33,9)
- Acquisition of Plania AS
CEO's COMMENTS
Vitec continues to grow and is now listed among the mid-sized Swedish companies. The Group's risk diversification across countries and business areas has further improved during the year. Sweden's share of Group sales were 42 percent this year compared to nearly 50 last year.
We made three acquisitions during the year. The latest, Plania AS in Stavanger December 2016, along with the other acquisitions, added approximately 110 million to the Group's turnover and profitability.
From an earnings point of view 2016 was a transitional year, although if cleared for negative currency effects the operating profit was slightly better than last year. Cash flow continues to improve. Fourth quarter results were weaker than last year, but last year non-recurring items of close to five million flowed into Q4 2015, which partly distorts the comparison between years.
The proportion of recurring revenues decreased slightly to 77% (78%). However, the decline was less than we initially estimated. The business model is strong and well rooted in the Group. It has a momentum that drives the internal culture and business in the desired direction more power-ful than we dared to hope.
The operating margin for the full year was 13.1 percent, which is under our target of 15 percent. Market demand in our niches is sustainable in a long-term perspective, which means that our foundation is strong to continuously strive for improving efficiency and profitability.
The number of active acquisition dialogues remains high and we continue to devote significant resources to main-tain and further develop these dialogues. Our financial position and readiness for acquisitions is good, and we see significant opportunities for further acquisition-based growth.
With a clear shift from traditional license sales to subscription of cloud-based systems reduces reliance on individual license sales, which increases our long-term ability to control our business. This, together with our people's great capacity to innovate and integrate acquisitions, provides good conditions for long-term development of our business. With the acquisition of well-established companies and a high proportion of recurring revenues, Vitec continues the path to act in several independent and specialized niches to achieve sustainable profitable growth. As usual, we increase the dividend. Now for the 15th consecutive year.
Lars Stenlund, CEO
Disclaimer: This information is of such a kind that Vitec Software Group AB (publ.) is legally required to disclose pursuant to the EU's Market Abuse Regulation and the Swedish Securities Market Act. The information was submitted for publication at 08:30 CET on Thursday, February 16, 2017.
Vitec Software Group AB (publ) is a Nordic software company that develops and delivers standardised software for industry specific needs. The Group has operations in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway and grows in the mature part of the software industry by consolidating vertical software segments. Our customers include facility management companies, construction and real estate companies, banks and insurance companies, utilities and energy traders, healthcare companies, car spare part dealers and newspaper companies. The Group has 500 employees and had 2016 a turnover of SEK 675 million. Vitec is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm.Vitec Software Group AB (publ).
www.vitecsoftware.com Address: Tvistevägen 47 A, 907 29 Umeå, Sweden. Phone +46 90 15 49 00
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