Careium reports year-end report 2021

The quarter in summary

• Careium’s net sales amounted to SEK 162.3 million (144.7), an increase of 12.2 percent. Service sales amounted to 126.8 million (109.7) an increase of 15.6 percent. Product sales amounted to 35.5 million (35.0) an increase of 1.4 percent.
• Gross margin increased to 40.5 percent (39,6).
• EBITDA amounted to SEK 16.9 million (19.8), a decrease of 17.2 percent.

• Operating profit (EBIT) amounted to SEK 0.9 million (6.3) excluding restructuring costs of SEK 1.4 million corresponding to an operating margin of 0.6 percent (4.4). Including restructuring costs EBIT amounted to SEK -0.5 million (6.3) corresponding to an operating margin of -0.3 percent (4.4).

• Free cash flow before acquisition of SEK 15.5 million (-17.6).

January-December in summary

• Careium’s net sales amounted to SEK 587.5 million (524.1), an increase of 12.1 percent. Service sales amounted to SEK 464.0 million (418.7) an increase of 10.8 percent. Product sales amounted to SEK 123.5 million (105.4) an increase of 17.2 percent.

• Gross margin decreased to 40.9 percent (41.5).
• EBITDA amounted to SEK 65.2 million (77.9), a decrease of 16.3 percent.
• Operating profit (EBIT) amounted to SEK 11.5 million (29.3) excluding restructuring cost of SEK 2.9 million corresponding to an operating margin of 2.0 percent (5.6). Including restructuring cost EBIT amounted to SEK 8.6 million (28.4) corresponding to an operating margin of 1.5 percent (5.4).

• Free cash flow before acquisition of SEK -70.9 million (2.7).

CEO’s comment

We ended this eventful year with a listing on Nasdaq First North as an independent company. Over the past six years, as part of Doro, we are now established as one of the leading players in technology enabled care in Northern Europe through organic and acquired growth. During the year, we established the right conditions for us as an independent company, to realise the tangible benefits it gives us in the future. The organisation has done a fantastic job of getting us to where we are today and on December 10th, we were finally able to celebrate the listing with our colleagues in our offices around Europe. We are now accelerating towards the goal of being the leading player in developing and providing technology enabled care solutions and related services in Europe.

The positive sales trend continued in the fourth quarter, and we achieved the highest sales ever in Careium. Service sales increased by 16 percent in the quarter, which is a strong achievement. Sales are primarily driven by the Nordic market, where we have made great progress with new agreements implemented in the quarter. During the quarter, we also implemented our first major customer in assisted living (secure housing where municipal or private providers provide care for people with greater need for assistance) in Sweden, which is in line with our strategy to broaden our market and customer group. In Norway we have had an increased sales of our digital care hub Eliza and the rollout has now started for real. 

Although we delivered strong sales in the quarter, we have continued to face challenges with price increases on components and costs that arise to maintain the quality in the service delivery during the current pandemic.  Despite this, the gross margin has improved compared to the previous quarter and to the same quarter last year. We continue to monitor global developments in order to be agile and quickly adjust and adapt to the new reality.

We have during the quarter had a decreased profitability with major challenges in the UK. It requires continued effort and hard work to complete the integration of our acquisitions and achieve the synergies we know exist. During the quarter, we started a restructuring of the region to reverse the negative development. The project means, among other things, that we will merge all units in the UK into one legal unit, consolidate our sites and offices and introduce one system for our service delivery. In addition to this, we are working to appoint a new management in the region to accelerate and drive the development work. During the quarter, we were negatively affected by items affecting comparability, mainly linked to the UK, of SEK 9 million.

Despite the challenges we have in the UK, we have a positive view on the coming quarters with a strong belief that the activities we carry out will have an effect. In addition, we see new opportunities to broaden our offering in the remaining markets with great potential in the assisted living sector. We have a defined strategy and our purpose as a company is clear. We are here to help our users maintain a rich and independent life when conditions change. With a direct growth strategy and a strong position in the market, we will become the market leader in technology enabled care in Europe.

Carl-Johan Zetterberg Boudrie,

President and CEO

Webcast

A webcast conference call will be held Thursday 17 February at 10.00 am (CEST) when President and CEO Carl-Johan Zetterberg Boudrie will present the report. The webcast is accessed at https://tv.streamfabriken.com/careium-q4-2021. The presentation material is available on Careium’s financial website https://www.careium.com/sv-se/investerare.

Carl-Johan Zetterberg Boudrie, vd och koncernchef, +46 (0)703 35 84 49

Mathias Carlsson, CFO, +46 (0) 727 09 56 65

E-post : ir@careium.com

Careium is today one of the leading players in technology- enabled care in Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. This position means that Careium is one of the leading players in Europe that provides technology enabled care. Careium's innovative solutions improve the safety, quality of life and independence of seniors both inside and outside the home. For the care provider, the Company's solutions mean increased efficiency and the opportunity to invest resources in more valuable activities. Careium is one of the few players that can offer the entire chain with security alarms, sensors (fall sensors, smoke detectors, motion detectors, etc.), accessories (cameras, electronic locks, robotic medication assistive devices, etc.) and secure communication with alarm response: we offer a complete digital alarm chain.