ÅF AB Interim report January - September 2011

For further information, please contact: 

President and CEO, Jonas Wiström, +46 70 608 12 20
CFO, Jonas Ågrup, +46 70 333 04 95
Director, Corporate Information, Viktor Svensson, +46 70 657 20 26


Third quarter 2011

  * Net sales totalled SEK 1,130 million (Q3 2010: SEK 910 million)
  * Operating profit, excl capital gain, was SEK 67 million (SEK 60 million)
  * Operating margin, excl capital gain, was 5.9 percent (6.6 percent)
  * Earnings per share, excl capital gain and before dilution: SEK 1.38 (SEK
    1.18)
  * Earnings per share, before dilution: SEK 1.38 (SEK 2.09)



January - September 2011

  * Net sales totalled SEK 3,667 million (Q1-Q3 2010: SEK 3,057 million)
  * Operating profit, excl capital gain, was SEK 278 million (SEK 223 million)
  * Operating margin, excl capital gain, was 7.6 percent (7.3 percent)
  * Earnings per share, excl capital gain and before dilution: SEK 5.95 (SEK
    4.52)
  * Earnings per share, before dilution: SEK 5.95 (SEK 19.00)

Earnings for the first quarter of 2010 included a capital gain of SEK 458
million resulting from the sale of the ÅF Group's Inspection Division, ÅF-
Kontroll. Earnings for the third quarter of 2010 included a capital gain of SEK
30 million resulting from the sale ÅF TÜV Nord.



A few words from the President, Jonas Wiström:

The market remained good in the third quarter with a strong influx of new orders
across most of ÅF's operations. Overall growth totalled 24 percent and organic
growth was 12 percent. Nevertheless, the nervousness pervading the financial
markets has so far had little impact on ÅF. However, the business outlook is
less positive today than when we issued our previous interim report, and there
is a great deal of uncertainty.

The past quarter has seen a further increase in demand for the services of the
Industry Division and the division's order books are looking increasingly
healthy. The Technology Division also enjoyed good market conditions, although
profits here have been affected by a lower capacity utilisation rate as a
consequence of the expansion that took place prior to the summer holidays. For
September, however, the Technology Division reported an operating margin in
excess of 11 percent.

The Infrastructure Division continues to win market shares and to improve its
earnings, albeit from a low base, and the market outlook for the division
remains positive.

Third-quarter earnings for the Energy Division, on the other hand, were
unsatisfactory. Profitability was once again under-mined by low levels of
activity in the nuclear power industry and by negative trends in exchange rates
for the division's Swiss operations. One positive piece of news for the division
during the reporting period was the Swiss central bank's decision to peg the
value of the Swiss franc to the euro. This, together with improvements in orders
from the nuclear power sector, leads us to feel somewhat more optimistic about
the prospects for the coming quarters.

The third quarter saw a strong cash flow thanks to large advance payments from
customers, improved profits and a reduction in the Group's tied-up capital.

ÅF's most important objective is to continue to generate levels of profitability
that place us among the very best performers in our industry - regardless of the
state of the economy. The company now has more than 4,500 highly qualified
consultants and other members of staff and our ambition is to continue to grow,
both organically and through acquisitions, without compromising profitability.

On 12 October Universum's "Career Barometer 2011-2012" survey of some 3,300
professional engineers named ÅF as Sweden's second most popular employer.

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 in this interim report fulfils ÅF AB's disclosure re-quirements
under the provisions of the Swedish Securities Markets Act and/or the Financial
Instruments Trading Act. The information was released for publication at 13:30
CET on 17 October 2011.

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