Interim Report Jan-June 2013: Healthy order intak

First half-year • Order intake was 721.4 MSEK (724.5). • Net sales were 663.8 MSEK (689.1). • Operating profit was 37.3 MSEK (52.0). • Profit after tax amounted to 17.5 MSEK (20.8). • Earnings per share were 0.93 SEK (1.00). Second quarter • Order intake was 364.1 MSEK (371.5). • Net sales were 336.0 MSEK (350.2). • Operating profit was 12.6 MSEK (26.5). • Profit after tax: 0.7 MSEK (8.0). • Earnings per share were 0.11 SEK (0.38). • Acquisition of 15% of Altus Sistemas of Brazil. • Acquisition of Turkish distributor Petek Teknoloji. COMMENTS FROM FREDRIK JÖNSSON, CEO “Beijer Electronics progressed in two different directions in the second quarter. In absolute terms, order intake was the best third quarter to date. Sales were poor and also negatively affected by currency effects. In turn, lower sales had a sharp impact on our profit numbers, which were clearly below our estimates. The discrepancy in sales and profit relate to the HMI Products business area. Apart from significantly lower sales, HMI Products experienced disruptions to manufacturing and the logistics chain of its new operator terminals. Actions have been taken, which caused costs, in segments including manufacturing, which exerted pressure on the business area’s gross margin. In combination with lower sales, this had a significant negative impact on business area profit. The good order intake indicates increased sales going forward, and with costs under control, we anticipate a positive turnaround of HMI Products’ business in the second half-year. The IDC business area maintained its stable progress, with a sharp upturn in underlying order intake and some sales increase. The business area’s long-term initiatives are now paying off. Simultaneously, profit was charged with higher amortization of capitalized product development expenses. The Automation business area continued to struggle with inconsistent and weak demand on the market, affecting the business area’s order intake and sales. Despite this, Automation was able to post increased operating profit. Additionally, Automation has secured new OEM accounts with the new products it has launched, and the business area is now preparing aggressively for the fall, with a series of new product launches. Beijer Electronics advanced its positioning further, by acquiring 15% of Altus Sistemas of Brazil and Petek Teknoloji of Turkey in the second quarter. Altus, where we hold an option to increase our holding to 49%, develops and manufactures high-technology control systems that we can market globally. Petek is a full-range automation vendor with exciting growth prospects in the region. Beijer Electronics’ sales and profit made weak progress in the second quarter, and in the first half-year overall. But, against the background of the healthy order intake in the past period, we think that operations will perform positively in the second half-year, with higher sales and better profit than in the first half-year.”    INVITATION TO TELEPHONE CONFERENCE Today a conference call will be held for the press and stock market, where President and CEO Fredrik Jönsson and CFO Anna Belfrage will present and comment on the Report. Time:  Friday July 12, at 1.30 p.m. CET To participate in the conference please dial: From Sweden:  +46851999353 From UK: +442076602079 To access the presentation please use this link: https://www.anywhereconference.com/?Conferenc...PIN=154574 The interim report and the presentation will be available at Beijer Electronics’ website www.beijergroup.com under Investors/Presentations. A recording of the conference call will also be available here after the event. Welcome! For more information please contact: President and CEO, Fredrik Jönsson, tel 46 (0)40 35 86 10, mobile 46 (0)705 17 16 26 CFO, Anna Belfrage, tel 46 (0)40 35 86 53, mobile 46 (0)706 35 86 53 Beijer Electronics is a fast growing technology company with extensive experience of industrial automation and data communication. The company develops and markets competitive products and solutions that focus on the user. Since its start-up in 1981, Beijer Electronics has evolved into a multinational group present in 22 countries and sales of 1,367 MSEK 2012. The company is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Nordic Stockholm Small Cap list under the ticker BELE. www.beijerelectronics.se