Interim report Nepa AB (publ) Q3 2017

STRONG THIRD QUARTER GROWTH IN SALES AND GROSS PROFIT

This is a translation of the Swedish interim report. If there should be any discrepancies, the Swedish language version governs.

THIRD QUARTER, JULY – SEPTEMBER 2017 

• Net sales increased by 18.8% to MSEK 45.6 (38.4)
• Gross profit increased by 21.6% to MSEK 33.1 (27.2)
• EBIT amounted to MSEK -8.6 (-3.5)
• Earnings after tax amounted to MSEK -8.3 (-2.7)
• Earnings per share amounted to, basic SEK -1.16 (-0.38), diluted SEK -1.14 (-0.38)                           

NINE MONTHS, JANUARY – SEPTEMBER 2017 

• Net sales increased by 17.3% to MSEK 151.7 (129.3)
• Gross profit increased by 14.3% to MSEK 110.3 (96.5)
• EBIT amounted to MSEK -20.7 (0.1)
• Earnings after tax amounted to MSEK -21.3 (-1.6)
• Earnings per share amounted to, basic SEK -2.98 (-0.20), diluted SEK -2.93 (-0.20)

IMPORTANT EVENTS 

DURING THE PERIOD

• A new version on ActionHub® with increased functionality was launched in August. The first contract in the USA, with a global retailer, was signed the same month.
• Increased sales representation in the USA, where we now cover Miami and Denver, in addition to the New York office.

AFTER THE PERIOD ENDED

• For the sixth time since 2011, Nepa Sweden was recognized as a Gazelle company by Dagens Industri, Sweden’s largest daily business newspaper. Nepa is still one of Sweden’s 0.5 percent fastest growing companies.  
• Nepa Finland was appointed “Achiever 2017" by Finland's largest business newspaper Kauppalehti. Nepa Finland is in top 1 percent with regards to growth and only 4 percent of Finnish companies manage to meet the full criteria and get Achiever status.

A WORD FROM OUR CEO 

During the third quarter of 2016 we started to implement the four growth initiatives that were presented in connection with the IPO in the spring of 2016. Today, one year later, we can summarize that:

1. Growth of Nepa UK – Invest further in Nepa UK aiming at increasing growth in Europe’s largest and the world’s second largest market. Since the MD change in Nepa UK a year ago, growth has been strong. In the third quarter this year we began a global cooperation with one of the world’s largest consumer-packaged goods companies, headquartered in the UK. We view this as proof of concept of our strategy in the UK and that Nepa’s products are globally competitive.
2. Establish presence in the US – A key global initiative was to establish Nepa in the USA, the world’s largest market for our products and services. In May 2017, we hired Ken Peterson to head up Nepa USA and during the third quarter we started to implement ActionHub® for the first large American client. Sales and Marketing is a priority and the sales organization has been strengthened with representation in Denver and Miami. In parallel we are working on building the Nepa brand in the USA, for example by presenting a client case at TMRE in October, one of the world’s largest annual industry events.
3. Continued growth in existing markets – Continued growth in Sweden and driving growth in existing markets Norway, Finland, Denmark and India. In the third quarter of 2017, Nepa’s net sales grew by 18.8% compared to the third quarter of 2016, while gross profit grew by 21.6%. All markets are growing and Nepa Sweden was for the sixth time awarded the Gazelle award by newspaper Dagens Industri, while Nepa Finland was awarded the Achievers Award 2017 by newspaper Kauppalehti. Both awards recognize companies with exceptionally strong growth.
4. Product investments for scalability – Increase investments in Nepa’s proprietary product platform, ActionHub®, to increase scalability and thus create the conditions for more rapid growth. Several features have been launched and our new partnership with Facebook has made an immediate contribution to sales. Nepa’s products have been selected by several international companies to optimize marketing investments and simulate future earnings effects.

We have invested in our initiatives through personnel in product development and expansion to realize our goals. The third quarter personnel costs increased substantially compared to last year, however at a lower growth rate compared to previous quarters during the last year. Earnings before interest and tax amounted to MSEK -8.6 in the third quarter 2017.

We are continuing to show stronger net margins on our Swedish home market. Combined with a strengthened product portfolio and growing international businesses, we have the right conditions for continued progress on our four growth initiatives as we enter into the second year.

Fredrik Östgren

CEO

nepa.com or contact Deputy CEO and CFO P-O Westerlund,
p-o.westerlund@nepa.com +46 706 404 824

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