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Interim Report 1 January - 31 March 2011

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The Quarter 

  • Net sales rose 19% during the period to SEK 1,816 million (1,527). The increase for comparable units was 12%.
  • Operating profit before amortisation of intangible non-current assets attributable to acquisitions (EBITA) rose 27% to SEK 183 million (144), and the EBITA margin was 10.1% (9.4%).
  • Profit after tax rose 17% to SEK 101 million (86).
  • Earnings per share for the period were SEK 2.53 (2.15).

CEO's message

Continued growth
The Group's order intake continues to develop well and reached more than SEK 2 billion during the first quarter, which is the highest level ever during a single quarter. Excluding the negative effect of currency movements when translating the results of foreign units, this corresponds to an increase of 31% compared with the same period a year ago. 

Geographically, the strongest countries are Sweden, Germany and now also Finland. In the other Nordic countries and in Benelux we have still not yet seen any clear upturn. 

In the Group's product areas we are seeing growth in most areas. Investments that were put on hold in 2009 are now beginning to be activated also in the process industry. Investments in the energy sector are still down, however, the level of activity has increased, and order intake is thereby expected to increase in the coming quarters. 

Order intake was 14% higher than net sales, which indicates continued growth in the Group's net sales. 

Apart from growth in business volume, maintaining the gross margin is important for the Group's continued development. During the quarter, it was 34%, which is slightly better than in the same quarter a year ago. Historically, Indutrade has always been able to maintain a stable gross margin. Parallel with organic growth in existing businesses, in certain companies, market investments are being made, which has reduced the EBITA margin. 

Acquisitions
Four acquisitions were carried out during the quarter. For many years, Indutrade has been looking for suitable acquisition candidates in Switzerland as a base for continued expansion in the region. It was therefore gratifying that we were able to acquire the Abima Group in early January, which is also active in Austria and Germany through subsidiaries. 

The Swedish company Abelko is the sixth company that the Group has acquired in measurement and sensor technology, which has been a special focus area for several years. 

In Benelux, we acquired Mijnsbergen, with operations in mechanics and electromechanics, and in Finland we acquired Dantherm, which is active in filtration technology. 

After the end of the quarter, the company Alcatraz was acquired in the Netherlands, which supplies interlock systems to the process industry. 

To be able to continue to grow through acquisitions, Indutrade has developed and established acquisition expertise not only in the Parent Company, but also in the Nordic countries, Benelux and Switzerland. This facilitates Indutrade's continued acquisition-based growth. 

Earnings
The EBITA margin for the Group was 10.1% for the quarter, which is higher than our target of a minimum of 10% during an economic cycle.

Johnny Alvarsson, President and CEO 

Comments on the report will be provided in the following ways:

         Further information
         For further information, please contact:
         Johnny Alvarsson, President and CEO, Tel. +46 70 589 17 95.

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