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Acando Interim Report January 1–September 30, 2017

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Third quarter, July 1–September 30, 2017

  • Net sales totaled SEK 518 m (469)
  • Operating profit amounted to SEK 27 m (33)
  • The operating margin was 5.2% (7.0)
  • Profit after tax was SEK 17 m (28)
  • Earnings per share were SEK 0.17 (0.27)

Accumulated, January 1–September 30, 2017

  • Net sales totaled SEK 1,753 m (1,573)
  • Operating profit amounted to SEK 157 m (128)
  • The operating margin was 8.9% (8.2)
  • Profit after tax was SEK 113 m (113)
  • Earnings per share were SEK 1.09 (1.09)
  • Cash, cash equivalents totaled SEK 59 m (68)

Statement by Carl-Magnus Månsson, CEO

We continue to grow and posted growth of just over 10 percent in the first nine months of the year in parallel with growing our earnings by 23 percent. At the end of Q3, we have 100 more employees in Sweden than at the start of the quarter, we have more than 400 employees in Germany and we are approaching 300 employees in Norway. Altogether, we now number 250 consultants more than at the start of the year and 150 more than at the start of Q3. The considerable influx of new employees negatively impacted the quarter’s earnings, however, all geographies reported rising utilization rates and increasing demand in all skills areas driven by innovation, digitalization and completely new applications for integrated technology in services and products.

During the quarter, we entered into an agreement to acquire the Norwegian company Bitvis, which focuses on advanced software development services. The acquisition is part of our aim to build a strong chain from built-in and software-defined product properties, and IoT-based solutions to advanced analytics and machine learning. The acquisition of Bitvis means we create a very unique combination of capabilities that enable entirely new functions, from data collection via pre-processing data to advanced algorithms where Bitvis’s capability in advanced software design comprises a crucial component.

We have also established the Acando Business Design Studio — where customer, technology and strategy perspectives meet. The add-on acquisitions of Daytona and Transformator Design mean we are now a leader in the creation of exceptional customer experiences and hold a unique position from which we can not only support definitions of strategies with a strong customer focus, but are also able to realize these through transformative projects ranging from the creation of in-house digital capabilities to the realization of technical solutions. Our compiled expertise makes us unique in the Nordic market.

In pace with ever accelerating development; new regulatory and security-related requirements are also being stipulated. Acando’s fastest growing skills area is Security and Compliance, where the Group now has some one hundred employees. This includes skills in everything from cyber security to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and all focused on safe and correct information management. Acando’s GDPR offering focuses on combining regulatory compliance with long-term sustainable information architecture, and we already have some 40 customers, from small start-ups to global conglomerates.

We believe the world will increasingly be driven by technology but that understanding of human behavior will always be key to creating the best solutions. It’s what we are — Technology Driven and Behavior Centric.

This report comprises information that Acando AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Securities Market Act. This information was submitted through the agency of the following contacts for publication on October 27, 2017 at 8:00 a.m. (CET).

For further information, please contact:
Carl-Magnus Månsson, President and CEO, +46 (0)8 699 70 00
Anneli Lindblom, CFO, +46 (0)8 699 70 00

Acando is a consulting company that leverages an equal balance of specialist technical expertise and human behavioral insight to innovate, streamline and mobilize organizations for sustainable change. The Group has approximately 1,900 employees allocated over five countries. Acando had sales of more than SEK 2 billion in 2016 and is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm.

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