Karnov Group reports second quarter results 2021

Continued expansion

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS SECOND QUARTER

• Net sales increased to SEK 201 m (178), organic growth was 7%.
• EBITA amounted to SEK 70 m (63) with EBITA margin of 35.0% (35.5%).
• Adjusted EBITA amounted to SEK 70 m (63) with adjusted EBITA margin of 35.0% (35.5%).
• Net result amounted to SEK 20 m (27).
• Earnings per share after dilution amounted to SEK 0.20 (0.27).
• Adjusted operating cash flow amounted to SEK 38 m (49).

CEO Pontus bodelsson comments on the quarter:

Having joined Karnov Group and assumed my position as President and CEO in May 2021, this is an excellent opportunity to share my early insights. I also want to thank all employees on a strong quarter, as Karnov Group has delivered growth and expanded the business.  

Early insights as President and CEO
Karnov Group plays an important part in a society based on justice and democracy. Our mission is crystal clear. With over 1,500 dedicated legal experts and authors, we provide highly important content and information used daily by judges, lawyers and tax professionals. That is something to be proud of, but also to be humble about. We must continue to strive to maintain and develop our high-quality content and we need to stay close and relevant to our customers and listen to their challenges of today and their possibilities of tomorrow.

Since my first day at Karnov Group, I have been gaining insights into the company from various sources, meeting customers, employees, authors, experts, shareholders and analysts. It is my belief that Karnov Group has a solid strategy, and our work is not about changing the strategy, it’s about improving the execution. Along with all committed employees, I see promising potential to strengthening our offerings even more and to continue growing Karnov Group. One current example is our enhanced platform in Denmark. After a soft launch in February the platform is now the default solution for a majority of our customers. In Sweden we continue the dialogue with our customers understanding their needs and wishes, making updates to the JUNO platform.

Expanding the business and margin on a good level
Our organic growth in the second quarter was 6.6 percent, with both Denmark and Sweden/Norway contributing. Following the first quarter, we can see a trend where we continue to grow well in the public sector, municipalities and our EHS vertical. In Norway, our newly acquired business DIBkunnskap AS is progressing according to plan. Acquired growth from DIBkunnskap AS contributed with an additional 8.7 percent in the quarter.

Our non-subscription part of the offline business, mainly books, public trades and sales of legal training courses, has declined in line with the normal market trend, in the second quarter.                 

Our adjusted EBITA margin was 35.0 percent in the second quarter. The result was mainly due to higher net sales, better product mix and our initiatives for operational excellence. DIBkunnskap AS has diluted the adjusted EBITA margin on group level with approximately 1 percentage point as earlier announced.

Following the acquisition of DIBkunnskap AS and the pay-out of dividend, our leverage has increased to 3.0 times, but still within the range of our financial target.                              

Update on the Covid-19 pandemic
We are pleased to see that vaccinations against the Covid-19 virus are progressing in our markets. We continue to follow the regulations and recommendations from the authorities. At the moment, we are planning to be back in our premises in the autumn. I am very much looking forward to meeting all employees in real life, and also meet our authors, experts and customers.

conference call on 26 august

A webcasted telephone conference will be held at 10.00 a.m. CEST today, where CEO Pontus Bodelsson and CFO Dora Brink Clausen will present the report and answer questions.

You can follow the presentation via webcast and ask questions in written form on the following page:
https://tv.streamfabriken.com/karnov-group-q2-2021

The presentation will also be available on www.financialhearings.com. 

To participate in the conference via telephone, and thereby be able to ask questions verbally, please dial in on any number below a couple of minutes before the start of the call:

SE: +46 8 505 583 65
DK: +45 7 815 0107
NO: +47 2 396 3688
UK: +44 333 300 92 63
US: +1 646 722 4956

The presentation material and the report will be available before the conference starts at www.karnovgroup.com.  An on-demand version will also be available after the presentation.

For more information, please contact:
Pontus Bodelsson, President and CEO
Telephone: + 46 709 957 002
Email: pontus.bodelsson@karnovgroup.com

Dora Brink Clausen, CFO
Telephone: + 45 3374 1248
Email: dora.brink.clausen@karnovgroup.com

Erik Berggren, Investor Relations Specialist
Telephone: +45 5219 6552
Email: erik.berggren@karnovgroup.com

This press release contains inside information that Karnov Group AB (publ) is required to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) and information that Karnov Group AB (publ) is required to make public pursuant to the Swedish Securities Market Act. The information was submitted for publication by the contact person above on 26 August 2021 at 8.00 am CEST.

Karnov Group is a leading provider of mission critical information in the areas of legal, tax and accounting, and environmental, health and safety in Denmark and Sweden. With brands such as Karnov, Norstedts Juridik, Notisum, Legal Cross Border, Forlaget Andersen, LEXNordics and DIBkunnskap, Karnov Group delivers knowledge and insights, enabling more than 80.000 users to make better decisions, faster – every day. With offices in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo and Malmö, Karnov Group employs around 280 people. Net sales in 2020 amounted to SEK 771 M. The Karnov share is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm, Mid Cap segment under the ticker “KAR”. For more information, please visit www.karnovgroup.com.