Financial Statement 2012: Improved Demand in the Fourth Quarter
Full Year 2012
• Order intake down 2% to 1,373.4 MSEK (1,406.9)
• Net sales amounted to 1,367.2 MSEK (1,417.7)
• Operating profit was 99.5 MSEK (150.3)
• Profit after tax amounted to 53.3 MSEK (99.1)
• Earnings per share were 2.64 SEK (5.03)
• The Board of Directors is proposing a dividend of 1.25 SEK (2.25) per share.
Fourth Quarter
• Order intake increased to 349.3 MSEK (343.2)
• Net sales decreased to 340.6 MSEK (345.3)
• Operating profit amounted to 18.7 MSEK (29.1)
• Quarter charged with inventory write-downs of MSEK 8.6
• Profit after tax was 17.3 MSEK (15.2)
• Earnings per share increased to 0.86 SEK (0.75)
COMMENTS FROM FREDRIK JÖNSSON, CEO
“The fourth quarter progressed somewhat better than previous quarters of the year. The market and demand stabilized. Beijer Electronics was able to achieve increased order intake, while sales decreased somewhat as a result of weaker order intake in the third quarter. In profit terms, the quarter was a temporary setback due to non-recurring expenses relating to our logistics chain.
Deficiencies arose in HMI Products’ logistics chain in the year. This resulted in an unfavorable inventory build-up of components that were subject to impairment in the fourth quarter. Accordingly, profit in the report was charged with MSEK 8.6 of one-time expenses, which include inventory write-downs of MSEK 7.5 as aforementioned. Excluding these one-time expenses, consolidated operating profit stabilized, and like order intake and sales, was at basically the same level as the previous year.
The inventory write-down affected the HMI Products business area, which otherwise would have achieved a positive profit turnaround, the reasons including a good sales increase of nearly 10% in the fourth quarter. The IDC business area staged a recovery after a problematic third quarter, securing several new orders, not least in the Rail segment, which meant that order intake increased by 22% in the fourth quarter. However, the lower order intake in previous quarters affected sales and profit negatively in the fourth quarter. In the quarter, the Automation business area won a number of major orders, which positively affected order intake. But the Swedish, Danish and Finnish markets remained hesitant, while the Norwegian market improved. Overall, this exerted a negative impact on Automation’s sales and profits.
The market was weaker than expected overall. But Beijer Electronics still succeeded in maintaining sales at a fairly good level. Poorer progress in Europe and Asia was partly offset by an improvement in the US. Harsher economic conditions coincided with Beijer Electronics’ large-scale product development and marketing initiatives, which will sharpen the group’s competitiveness for the long-term. In the short term, this has affected profitability. Of the 50 MSEK decrease in operating profit, about half is due to lower sales volumes and half on increased overheads and inventory write-downs. Our gross margins are unchanged, and remain at a good level.
At year-end, Beijer Electronics’ order book was at a higher level than the previous year. Even if it is too early to express an opinion on the full year 2013, there are signs of further stabilization with the resulting recovery in demand.”
INVITATION TO CONFERENCE CALL
Today a conference call will be held for press and analysts where President and CEO Fredrik Jönsson and CFO Anna Belfrage present the company and comment on the report.
Time: Thursday February 7, at 10.30 a.m. CET
To participate in the conference please dial:
From Sweden: +46(0)850556487
From UK: +44(0)2076602077
To access the presentation please use this link:
https://www.anywhereconference.com/?Conference=137345833&PIN=149134
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 robust data communication. The company develops and markets competitive products and solutions with focus on the user. Since its start-up in 1981, Beijer Electronics has evolved into a multinational group with offices in 21 countries and sales of 1.4 billion SEK in 2012. Beijer Electronics is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm’s Small Cap list under the ticker BELE. www.beijerelectronics.se
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