Atea Q3 2020 financial report and presentation

Atea, the leading provider of IT infrastructure products and services in the Nordic and Baltic regions, reports record high revenue and EBIT in the third quarter of 2020.
Atea’s revenue in Q3 2020 was NOK 8,185 million, an increase of 4.6% from last year, with growth across all lines of business. Atea reported exceptionally high growth in software sales during the quarter, with software revenue up 16.0% from last year. EBIT increased by 18.6% to NOK 215 million, with solid growth in nearly all countries.

“Atea has delivered record high financial results for the third quarter despite an adverse economic environment,” commented Atea CEO Steinar Sønsteby.  “The company’s record operating profit was driven by increased revenue, improved gross margin and cost efficiency programs. Atea is well suited for the current business environment, based on its strong leadership position in the IT infrastructure market and on its stable base of public sector and large corporate customers.  At the same time, the company has taken active measures to reduce its operating expenses in order to enhance productivity. Based on a continued turnaround in Atea Denmark, a reduced cost base and an expected growth in the market for IT infrastructure, Atea expects a strong improvement in operating profit during 2021.”

Denmark returned to profitability
In Denmark, Atea returned to profitability in the third quarter of 2020, based on higher gross margins and a major reduction in operating expenses. The return to profitability marks another step forward in the company’s turnaround.

Strong financial position
Cash flow from operations was an outflow of NOK 7 million in the third quarter of 2020, compared with an outflow NOK of 434 million last year. Atea maintained a very low working capital balance throughout the quarter. Atea had a positive net financial position (cash, less interest bearing debt) of NOK 299 million at the end of Q3 2020.

Dividend to shareholders of NOK 5.00 per share
Given Atea’s profit growth and solid financial position in the current business environment, the Board of Atea ASA has resolved to pay a cash dividend to shareholders in Atea ASA of NOK 5.00 per share. The resolution to pay a cash dividend is in accordance with the power of attorney granted to the Board by the General Meeting on 22 April 2020. The dividend payment of NOK 5.00 represents approximately 100% of the basic earnings per share of the Atea Group in 2019. Additional information regarding the dividend payment can be found in a separate stock exchange announcement, released today. 

The interim report and presentation are available at:
https://www.atea.com/investors/financial-reports/
A webcast of management's presentation of the financial results is available at:
https://www.atea.com/investors/financial-reports/2020/webcast-q3-20/

For further information, please contact:
Steinar Sønsteby, CEO Atea ASA, mobile (+47) 930 55 655
Robert Giori, CFO Atea ASA, mobile (+47) 934 09 188
 

About Atea
Atea is the leading supplier of IT infrastructure and system integration in the Nordic and Baltic regions with over 7,000 employees. Atea is present in 85 cities in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Atea delivers IT products from leading vendors and assists its customers with specialist competencies within IT infrastructure services. Atea had revenue of approximately NOK 37 billion in 2019 and is listed on Oslo Stock Exchange. www.atea.com