Poolia Interim Report 1 January – 31 March 2015

Quarterly period January-March, continuing operations
Reported revenue, earnings, cash flow and financial ratios relate to continuing operations, and do not include Poolia UK.

• Revenue amounted to SEK 182.2 (181.6) million, an increase of 0.3%, 
• Operating profit was SEK 3.5 (4.0) million, with an operating margin of 1.9% (2.2%).
• Profit before tax amounted to SEK 3.5 (3.9) million.
• Profit after tax was SEK 2.4 (2.7) million.
• Earnings per share amounted to SEK 0.14 (0.16).
• Cash flow from operations for the quarter was SEK -0.3 (7.7) million.
• The equity/assets ratio ended the period at 33.9% (32.0%), and the Group’s equity per share was SEK 4.06 (3.89).

Discontinued operations

• Profit/loss from discontinued operations for the period was SEK 0.0 (-1.6) million.
• Cash flow for the period was SEK 0.0 (7.5) million.

Other significant events

Examples of agreements concluded with major new clients in the first quarter:

• SAS
• Skanska
• Government Offices of Sweden
• Cramo
• Fortum
• SPSM (National Agency for Special Needs Education and Schools)

From the CEO – Slowly but surely

Poolia's revenue from continuing operations was SEK 182.2 million in the first quarter of 2015, an increase of SEK 0.6 million (0.3%) compared with the first quarter of 2014. Operating profit for the same period was SEK 3.5 (4.0) million.

Revenue for the Swedish business was SEK 124.4 (134.1) million, which corresponds to 68% of the Group's revenue for the quarter. Operating profit/loss for Sweden was SEK -0.9 (0.3) million. The proportion of unplaced resource temps is now down to a good level. Poolia Sweden incurred restructuring costs of SEK 3.3 (0.0) million during the quarter.

The spring budget bill includes a proposal for increased employer contributions for young people, and if adopted this will increase Poolia Sweden's holiday liability by about SEK 0.3 million in the third quarter of 2015 and by about SEK 0.1 million in 2016.

Poolia's German business continues to develop well. Revenue amounted to SEK 43.7 (36.7) million, an increase of 19%, while operating profit was SEK 3.7 (3.5) million.

Our Finnish operations also reported a good first quarter with revenue of SEK 14.1 million, representing growth of 32%. Operating profit was SEK 0.7 million, corresponding to an operating margin of 5.2%, which is acceptable given Finland's economic situation.

Although we do not see our market segment growing significantly in Sweden, Poolia is working persistently to return to a profitable growth phase. The long-term objectives are clear and well established in the business. We must win back the market shares we lost during the period 2011-2014.

When resurrecting an activity that has long had insufficient focus on sales and marketing, you have to regain lost clients' trust and get them to see the benefits of specifically having Poolia as the supplier of such important services as permanent placement and temporary staffing. This requires a monumental effort.

During the last year, we have changed our marketing strategy and now focus on both large and medium-sized employers, in both the private and public sectors. We are now building up our KAM activities and strengthening our marketing to the SME segment in order to generate qualified leads, thereby achieving effective sales.

We have put a difficult period behind us. Poolia is recovering and we are now equipped to win contracts and bring in new clients. Our target group, ambitious managers, will find that we are the best choice when they need to resolve the difficult task of building up their successful teams.

At Poolia, we now have a strong belief in our future. In a number of tendering processes in the last quarter, we have demonstrated that we are back in the game. Our surveys show that our clients are very satisfied with what we deliver. Our focus is now on providing increasing numbers of clients with even more top-class candidates.

                       
Morten Werner
Managing Director and CEO

Contact person:
Morten Werner, MD and CEO, tel: +46 70 636 25 25, +46 8 555 650 60

Poolia’s business concept is to provide companies and organisations with the skills that, either temporarily or permanently, meet their needs for qualified professionals. Poolia specialise in temporary staffing and permanent placement of professional staff in our focus areas of Finance & Accounting, Financial Services, Office Support, IT, Life Science & Engineering, Sales and Marketing, Human Resources, Legal, and Executive Search. Poolia has business in Sweden, Finland and Germany. Poolia is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Stockholm AB since 1999.

This information has been published pursuant to the Swedish Securities Markets Act and/or the Swedish Financial Instruments Trading Act. The information was released for publication at 16.05 CET on 29 April 2015.

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