CONTINUED STRONG PROFITABILITY AND GROWTH

THIRD QUARTER, JULY – SEPTEMBER 2021

• Net sales increased by 17.0%, or 18.8% FX adjusted, to MSEK 66.7 (57.0)
• Gross profit increased by 26.8%, or 29.1% FX adjusted, to MSEK 53.1 (41.9)
• EBIT increased to MSEK 11.1 (5.9)
• Earnings after tax was MSEK 10.2 (5.6)
• Earnings per share was, basic SEK 1.29 (0.72), diluted SEK 1.29 (0.72)
   

NINE MONTHS, JANUARY – SEPTEMBER 2021

• Net sales increased by 13.5%, or 15.0% FX adjusted, to MSEK 216.8 (191.0)
• Gross profit increased by 20.3%, or 22.1% FX adjusted, to MSEK 168.3 (139.9)
• EBIT increased to 29.3 MSEK (10.3)
• Earnings after tax was 28.1 MSEK (8.8)
• Earnings per share was, basic SEK 3.58 (1.12), diluted SEK 3.58 (1.12)
   

IMPORTANT EVENTS

DURING THE PERIOD       

• P-O Westerlund resigned as CEO at his own request but remains as a board member. The costs for the notice period are reserved in this quarter.
• Ulrich Boyer was appointed as acting CEO for Nepa on August 24.
• The Board has started the search for a permanent CEO.
• Katarina Bonde was appointed as new Chairman of the Board.
   

AFTER THE PERIOD ENDED

• Nepa repaid the remaining 8.5 MSEK of the loan from the Swedish Tax Agency, after taking advantage of the opportunity to defer payment of social security contributions, VAT and other taxes. Therefore, the total loan is now fully repaid.

A WORD FROM OUR CEO

During the third quarter, Nepa has, in most of our markets, showed strong growth. We assume that the exceptional growth is partly due to customers continuing to compensate for the interrupted or low activity that prevailed during the most difficult period of the pandemic. How long this effect will last is difficult to say. The recovery also continues in our UK market with strong growth, even though the pandemic has hit the UK hard, as well as Brexit, the energy crisis and labour shortages.

Sales rose by 17.0 percent in the quarter to SEK 66.7 million (57.0). Gross profit strengthened 26.8 percent to SEK 53.1 million (41.9). The positive profitability trend continued with an EBIT margin in relation to gross profit strengthened to 20.8 per cent, an improvement of 6.8 percentage points from 14.0 per cent in the corresponding quarter last year. Profit after tax amounted to SEK 10.2 million (5.6). Furthermore, we have a strong financial position with SEK 78.5 million in cash and cash equivalents.
 

New CEO and highly motivated management team

During the quarter, I took over the role as CEO of Nepa after P-O Westerlund resigned, who chose to leave at his own request after many years in the company. P-O remains on Nepa's board, where he has been since 2011. I founded Nepa and I am still one of the largest shareholders. In total, I have founded over ten companies, all with connection to marketing, and I have more than 20 years of combined experience of the CEO role in several of these companies.

The management team is highly motivated in the work with taking the company to the next level. We have been welded together and worked as a team for many years. The work continues in accordance with the strategy laid down by the Board at the beginning of this year.
 

Investments for growth

We continue to transform our operations to increase efficiency, take advantage of economies of scale and focus our offering. The transition will enter a new stage where we aim to make better use of technology and IT tools to further raise the level of our advice business through tech augmented advisory. This will require increased investments in our technical platform with the aim of strengthening the conditions for faster growth long-term. We will quantify these planned investments in the Q1 report 2022.  

Our Finnish office is ahead in this transition and the response from the Finnish market is positive with high customer satisfaction regarding the quality, speed, and interface of our services. Therefore, I strongly believe that we will have similar positive outcomes in our other markets once the new platform is operational on a larger scale. The initial results clearly suggest so.

The average annual growth rate in our industry from 2016 to 2020 was 2 percent in Sweden and globally at 4 percent. In comparison, Nepa has grown by 7 percent in Sweden and 15 percent globally during the same period. Through our ongoing efforts, we will continue to maintain the lead and aim to increase it further.

We intensify our sales and marketing efforts, and the work with updating systems and processes, in line with legacy clean-up, where we are now running according to plan. With a continued strong market and improved profitability, I am optimistic about the possibilities to carry on showing solid revenue growth and stable profitability long-term.  

Ulrich Boyer
CEO

 

For further information, please contact:

Ulrich Boyer, VD                                  Michael Wallin, Head of Investor Relations
+46 708 226 618                                  +46 708 788 019
ub@nepa.com                                      michael.wallin@nepa.com
 

This is a translation of the Swedish interim report. If there should be any discrepancies, the Swedish language version governs. The Swedish version is information that Nepa AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out above, at 08:00 CET on November 19, 2021.

Nepa, a leader in Brand Experience and Marketing Optimization, helps some of the world’s most reputable brands drive growth through data. This is achieved by combining first-class research, cutting-edge technology, deep expertise and innovative solutions. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, with offices in Norway, Finland, Denmark, UK, USA and India, the company is listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange and has been publicly traded since 2016. Erik Penser Bank AB is Nepa’s Certified Adviser (phone: +46 8-463 83 00, e-mail: certifiedadviser@penser.se).