Interim report January-March 2018: High order intake and increased sales, plus clear earnings improvement

• Order intake rose by 25% to 398 MSEK (318).
• Net sales increased by 16% to 337 MSEK (290).
• EBIT was 18.1 MSEK (2.5).
• Profit/loss after tax was 9.6 MSEK (-3.8).
• Earnings per share were -0.34 SEK (-0.14).
    
  

COMMENTS FROM CEO PER SAMUELSSON

“Beijer Electronics Group’s excellent progress in the first quarter confirms our previous view that the strategy we have set is working, and we have good prospects of achieving our long-term targets. The Group’s order intake of nearly 400 MSEK was our best to date in a single quarter. A sales increase of 16%, with all three business entities contributing, is also a source of real confidence going forward.  

The earnings increase, which meant we achieved an EBIT margin of just over 5% in the quarter, is consistent with our long-term plan. We can see that the major adjustment of the Group and significant initiatives executed in recent years are progressively paying off. Our new customer-oriented organization, which has undergone significant skills succession, has been fine-tuned, and is now supporting our sales process end to end, with an increasing range of new products with higher margins to sell on a growing market.

In combination with a higher share of proprietary products and greater efficiency in procurement and manufacturing, this meant that we were able to expand our gross margin. In combination with healthy growth and good cost control, this had a positive effect on EBIT. While earnings are still too low, we are heading in the right direction. We’re satisfied with our financial performance, but are cautious about drawing excessive conclusions from a single quarter, when we benefited from a weak Swedish krona in the period. This can change quickly, as can other external factors. The Group also secured a major single order of 28 MSEK, which doesn’t happen every quarter.

The Westermo business entity was the big stand-out with all-time high order intake, sales and earnings. These successes are mainly in network equipment for the train side. Westermo won a major prestigious order from Alstom of France, and breakthrough orders on new business accounts in Belgium and Canada. Other segments within this business entity also performed positively, and all product segments achieved growth in the period. High growth is also presenting certain challenges such as overcoming bottlenecks and capacity shortages.

The Beijer Electronics business entity corroborated its positive trend in the first quarter. Order intake increased, and sales progressed positively, while earnings also made a good improvement, albeit from a low level. Its new products gained a positive market reception, and sales are good. We have high expectations of the new version of X2 extreme, which made positive contribution to order intake in the quarter. A number of new products will also be launched in the year. Restructuring of the Danish and German sales organizations has progressed as planned, with the target of increasing sales volumes on these markets.

After a difficult previous year, the Korenix business entity was able to report order intake and sales growth in the first quarter. It turned around a loss, posting some positive earnings. Korenix’s focus is on gradual recovery through 2018.

For the Group overall, we are retaining our previous view that Beijer Electronics Group will be able to increase sales and earnings for the full year 2018, compared to 2017.”
  

INVITATION TO CONFERENCE CALL

Today, a conference call will be held for press and analysts, where President and CEO Per Samuelsson and Executive VP and CFO Joakim Laurén present the company and comment on the report.

Time:  Thursday April 26, at 2.00 p.m. CEST

To participate in the conference please dial:

From SE: +46851999031
From UK: +442030089804 
 

To access the presentation please use this link: http://www.anywhereconference.com?UserAudioMode=DATA&Name=&Conference=131696764&PIN=55611878 

The report and the presentation will be available at Beijer Electronics Group’s website www.beijergroup.com. A recording of the conference call will also be available here after the event.

Welcome!
   

For more information please contact:

President and CEO, Per Samuelsson, tel 46 (0)40 35 86 10, mobile 46 (0)708 58 54 40
EVP and CFO Joakim Laurén, tel 46 (0)40 35 84 96, mobile 46 (0)703 35 84 96.

This information is such that Beijer Electronics Group AB (publ) is required to disclose in accordance  with EU's Market Abuse Regulation (MAR). The information was submitted for publication through the agency of the contact persons set out above at 13:00 CEST, April 26, 2018. 
   

Beijer Electronics Group is a high-tech innovator active in smart automation and networks. The Group’s open software, hardware and IIoT solutions help customers optimize processes and create reliable secure communication, complete with leading-edge user experiences. Since its start-up in 1981, Beijer Electronics Group has evolved into a multinational group with sales 1.2 billion SEK 2017.  

The company is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm’s Small Cap list under the ticker BELE. www.beijergroup.com

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