ETTEPLAN 2022: Profitable growth in a changing market

ETTEPLAN OYJ Financial Statement Review February 17, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. (EET)

ETTEPLAN 2022: Profitable growth in a changing market

Key points October–December 2022  

• The Group’s revenue grew by 6.8 per cent and was EUR 91.0 million (10–12/2021: EUR 85.3 million). At comparable exchange rates, revenue increased by 8.6 per cent.
• Operating profit (EBITA) grew by 8.5 per cent and was EUR 9.7 (9.0) million, or 10.7 (10.5) per cent of revenue.
• Operating profit (EBIT) grew by 7.4 per cent and was EUR 8.4 (7.8) million, or 9.2 (9.2) per cent of revenue.
• Operating cash flow was EUR 11.0 (13.2) million.
• Basic earnings per share was EUR 0.30 (0.26). Earnings per share was improved by the realization of a currency hedge related to the public offer made for Semcon AB, compared to the third quarter valuations.

Key points January–December 2022  

• The Group’s revenue grew by 16.7 per cent and was EUR 350.2 million (1–12/2021: EUR 300.1 million). At comparable exchange rates, revenue increased by 17.7 per cent.
• Operating profit (EBITA) grew by 12.5 per cent and was EUR 33.9 (30.1) million, or 9.7 (10.0) per cent of revenue.
• Operating profit (EBIT) grew by 11.1 per cent and was EUR 28.6 (25.8) million, or 8.2 (8.6) per cent of revenue.
• Operating cash flow was EUR 28.1 (27.1) million.
• The combined effect of non-recurring items on operating profit (EBITA) and operating profit (EBIT) in January–December was EUR -1.0 (-0.7) million.
• Etteplan issued a public offer to the shareholders of Semcon AB on August 23, 2022. The offer subsequently lapsed. The expenses related to the offer and the realization of a currency hedge had a significant negative effect on the profit for the financial year and earnings per share.
• Basic earnings per share was EUR 0.73 (0.80).
• The Board of Directors’ dividend proposal is EUR 0.36 (0.40) per share.

Etteplan also monitors non-IFRS performance measures, because they provide additional information on Etteplan’s development. More information on performance measures is provided at the end of the release.

President and CEO Juha Näkki:

The expectation was that 2022 would be a slightly more normal year after the COVID-19, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting geopolitical tensions changed the situation dramatically. The outbreak of the war was followed by inflation, an energy crisis, interest rate hikes and other changes that affected everyone’s life and caused changes in the market situation.

The first quarter of the year began with a good demand situation, and the outbreak of the war in February had only a small impact on demand. However, in the second quarter, changes in the demand situation began to appear and uncertainty increased. Our customers in different industries reacted to the changed situation in different ways. In certain industries, product development investments were slowed to start, while investments related to the defense industry and the green transition increased, for example. More differences in demand between industries and customers began to occur but, generally, demand remained at a fairly good level throughout the year.

In spite of the uncertainty and the changes in the market situation, we succeeded in growing our business significantly and our net sales exceeded the milestone of EUR 350 million. Our growth was also profitable, and we almost achieved our target level of profitability. We continued to execute our acquisition strategy by making four acquisitions, which helped to accelerate growth, but our organic growth was also strong. The public offer that we made in the third quarter for Semcon AB’s shares did not lead to an acquisition, and the non-recurring costs related to the offer had a negative effect on our operating profit and earnings per share in the second half of the year. We slowed down our recruitment in the second quarter due to the uncertain market situation, which affected our growth. Sickness-related absences also increased significantly during the year as people moved more freely after the years of the COVID-19. Sickness-related absences were very high in the final quarter of the year particularly in China due to the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, but the levels were also high in Europe. This had a negative effect on our growth and the development of our profitability.

We achieved good results in all of our service areas during the year. The Engineering Solutions service area’s development was positive throughout the year and its operational performance was very strong. The profitability of the Software and Embedded Solutions service area fell slightly in the second quarter as the slowdown of product development investments and fluctuations in demand weakened our operational efficiency. However, we improved towards the end of the year and, in the final quarter, the profitability of the service area was again at a good level. In the Technical Documentation Solutions service area, our business otherwise developed positively, but the Cognitas acquisition we carried out in Germany at the beginning of the year did not meet our expectations and weakened the profitability of the service area throughout the year. We have taken corrective measures and the integration of Cognitas into Etteplan is progressing well. We expect the measures to have a positive impact on Cognitas’ business and the profitability of the service area to return to a good level in 2023. 

On the whole, we performed well in 2022 considering the circumstances, and I want to thank all of our employees for their excellent work. We were able to respond effectively to market changes, which puts us in an excellent position as we enter 2023. Forecasting market conditions and demand is still difficult as the war continues, and uncertainty is high, but the general market sentiment has recently turned to a more positive direction. We also see a lot of opportunities in the current market, which is why we expect our growth to continue and our profitability to develop favorably also in 2023.

Market outlook 2023

The most important factor affecting Etteplan’s business is the global development of the machinery and metal industry. The war started by Russia in Ukraine and the subsequent elevation in geopolitical tensions have increased uncertainty globally. Inflation reduces the willingness to invest and affects demand in certain industries. At the same time, investments related to the defense industry, energy efficiency and accelerating the green transition are growing. Uncertainty remains high and the demand situation is characterized by variation. The restrictions related to the COVID-19 in China have eased, but the sharp increase in the number of infections towards the end of the year continues to affect the market situation. Nevertheless, we expect the general demand situation to remain fairly good throughout 2023.

Financial guidance 2023

Etteplan issues guidance for revenue and operating profit (EBIT) as a numerical range and issues the following estimate:

Revenue in 2023 is estimated to be 360–390 (2022: 350.2) million, and
operating profit (EBIT) in 2023 is estimated to be EUR 28–33 (2022: 28.6) million.

Disclosure procedure

This stock exchange release is a summary of Etteplan's 2022 Financial Statement Review. The complete Financial Statement Review is attached to this stock exchange release in pdf format and is also available on Etteplan's website at www.etteplan.com.

Conference call and live webcast today, February 17, 2023

Etteplan’s President and CEO Juha Näkki will present the Company’s result for 2022 in a conference call and a live webcast, held in English language, on February 17, 2023 starting at 10.00 a.m. Finnish time (EET).

Questions can be asked in Finnish and in English after President and CEO’s presentation only through conference call connection. Participants must register through this link http://palvelu.flik.fi/teleconference/?id=10010365 to ask questions through the conference call lines. After registering the participants will receive a teleconference number and a code to join the call. The participants are asked to press *5 to join the queue for questions.

Juha Näkki’s presentation can be followed as a live webcast on https://etteplan.videosync.fi/financial-statement-release-2022. The webcast starts at 10.00 a.m. Finnish time (EET). A recording of the webcast will be available later at www.etteplan.com.

Espoo, February 17, 2023

Etteplan Oyj

Board of Directors


Additional information:
Juha Näkki, President and CEO, tel. +358 10 307 2077
Outi Torniainen, SVP, Marketing and Communications, tel. +358 10 307 3302
 

The information presented herein has not been audited.
Releases and other corporate information are available on Etteplan's website at www.etteplan.com.
 

DISTRIBUTION:
Nasdaq Helsinki
Major media
www.etteplan.com


 

Etteplan in brief

We are a rapidly growing technology service company specializing in software and embedded solutions, engineering solutions, and technical communication solutions. We are a forerunner in the engineering industry and we differentiate ourselves by the wide-ranging competence of our experts. Our customers include world’s leading companies in the manufacturing industry. We help them to create a better world through engineering, innovation and digitalization.

Etteplan has lead the way in the engineering field already since 1983. In 2022, we had a turnover of EUR 350.2 million. The company currently has some 4,000 professionals in Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Denmark and China. Etteplan's shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd under the ETTE ticker. www.etteplan.com