ETTEPLAN Q1 2017: Good development continued in the first quarter

Etteplan Oyj, Interim Report, May 3, 2017, at 2:00 p.m.

ETTEPLAN Q1 2017: Good development continued in the first quarter

Review period January-March 2017

• The Group’s revenue increased by 42.0 per cent and was EUR 54.8 million
  (1-3/2016: EUR 38.6 million). At comparable exchange rates revenue increased by 42.8 per cent.
• EBIT from business operations* improved and amounted to EUR 4.3 (2.2) million, or 7.9 (5.6) per cent of revenue. EBIT from business operations included exceptional items with a combined negative effect of EUR 0.4 (0.2) million.
• Operating profit (EBIT) was EUR 3.8 (1.9) million, or 7.0 (4.9) per cent of revenue.
• The profit for the review period was EUR 2.9 (1.5) million.
• Operating cash flow improved and was EUR 1.9 (-1.7) million.
• Earnings per share, adjusted for the share issue, were EUR 0.12 (0.07**).
• The number of personnel increased and the Group had 2,628 employees at the end of the review period (2,080).
• Due to better outlook Etteplan raises its financial guidance: revenue and operating profit will grow significantly compared to 2016.

*EBIT from business operations is an alternative performance measure, which reflects the Company’s operational performance: it does not include acquisition-related items such as amortization on PPA allocations and earn out revaluations. 
**The comparison period’s earnings per share have been issue adjusted. The rights issue factor was 1.050.

Market outlook 2017

The most important factor in the development of Etteplan's business is the global development of the machinery and metal industry. The development of our business environment is currently positive. However, the political situation in different countries continues to maintain uncertainty and slows down the start of new investments. The development of the Central European markets is expected to remain unchanged. The favorable development of the Swedish market is expected to continue. The Finnish market has improved, but the general market situation is expected to remain weaker than in the rest of Europe. In Asia, the growth of the service market is expected to continue.

Financial guidance 2017, updated on May 3, 2017

We expect the revenue and operating profit for the full year 2017 to grow significantly compared to 2016.

Previous financial guidance 2017, updated on February 9, 2017

We expect the revenue and operating profit for the full year 2017 to grow clearly compared to 2016.

President and CEO Juha Näkki:

“The year 2017 got off to a good start. Our revenue increased by a record 42 per cent during the review period, we doubled our operating profit and our cash flow improved significantly year-on-year. While acquisitions affected the development of revenue and operating profit, our organic growth was also strong at 15.7 per cent with comparable exchange rates. The implementation of our strategy progressed well and the share of Managed Services of Revenue (MSI index) increased to 57 per cent.

We invested in growth markets in Poland and China and opened a new office in Finland. In China we opened new offices in Xian and Beijing. In Poland we expanded our operations by opening a new office in Poznan, to serve customers in Poland and Central Europe better. In Poland we also expanded our service offering to technical documentation in addition to embedded systems and IoT solutions. In Finland we opened a new office, which is concentrating on digital solutions, in Vallila, Helsinki.

The demand situation improved in the first quarter. In Finland, demand remained at a weaker level than in the rest of Europe, but showed a clear improvement compared to the weak comparison period. The Chinese engineering market continued to open up. Working hours sold in the Chinese market grew by more than 70 per cent during the review period.

The Engineering services service area grew, boosted by our strong market position and outsourcing. Plant engineering also showed signs of recovery and tendering activity was high.

Embedded systems and IoT saw positive development and customers’ interest towards digital solutions continued strong. We expanded our service offering to include service design, which strengthens our positions in comprehensive solutions.

Technical documentation continued to see strong growth. In Germany and the Netherlands, projects started slowly. This together with the low level of the software business weakened our profitability slightly.

The second quarter will be substantially shorter than the comparison period due to the timing of Easter, and the markets continue to suffer from uncertainty. Nevertheless, through relentless strategy implementation we have created an excellent foundation for future growth. Therefore, in an improved market situation and after a strong first quarter we are raising our financial guidance: we expect our revenue and operating profit to grow significantly in 2017.” 

Disclosure procedure

This stock exchange release is a summary of Etteplan's January-March 2017 interim report. The complete interim report 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, May 3, 2017

Etteplan's President and CEO Juha Näkki will present Company's results for January-March 2017 in a conference call and a live webcast for analysts and investors, held in English language, on May 3, 2017 starting at 3.30 p.m. Finnish time (EET).

To participate in the conference call please dial 5-10 minutes prior to the start of the conference to +358 (0)9 7479 0361 and tell operator the event password: 4636743. Questions can be asked in English after President and CEO’s presentation only through conference call connection.

Juha Näkki’s presentation can be followed as a live webcast on http://platform.goodmood.fi/goodmood/etteplan/live. The webcast starts at 3.30 p.m. Finnish time (EET). A recording of the webcast will be later available at www.etteplan.com/Investors.

Vantaa, May 3, 2017

Etteplan Oyj

Board of Directors

Additional information:
Juha Näkki, President and CEO, tel. +358 400 606 372
Outi Torniainen, SVP, Communications and Marketing, tel. +358 40 512 1375


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


Etteplan provides industrial equipment and facility engineering, embedded systems, IoT (Internet of Things), and technical documentation solutions to the world’s leading companies in the manufacturing industry. Our services are geared to improve the competitiveness of our customers' products and engineering processes throughout the product life cycle. The results of Etteplan’s innovative engineering can be seen in numerous industrial solutions and everyday products.

In 2016, Etteplan had a turnover of EUR 183.9 million. The company currently has more than 2,500 professionals in Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland and China. Etteplan's shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd under the ETTE ticker. www.etteplan.com

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