Polygon AB (publ) - Interim report 1 January - 31 December 2018

The trend continued in the fourth quarter

FOURTH QUARTER 2018

• Sales grew 18.7% to EUR 165.9 million. Adjusted organic growth remained strong at 6.4%, driven by Continental Europe reporting growth of 12.4%. Acquisitions, completed in late 2017 and early 2018, contributed EUR 17.4 million in sales, corresponding to growth of 12.5%. The stronger euro had a negative impact of 0.2%. Order intake in the quarter was up 17.0% on last year.
• Adjusted EBITA amounted to EUR 10.6 million (9.5), up 11.2%. Continental Europe was up slightly compared with last year by 3.3%, while earnings in Nordics & UK decreased 5.4% and earnings in North America improved 58.2% impacted by hurricanes.
• EBITA amounted to EUR 5.4 million (8.0). Items affecting comparability were recognised in a net amount of EUR 5.2 million (1.6) during the quarter, mainly consisting of impairment of IT systems, acquisition related and restructuring costs.
• In the beginning of the quarter, Polygon Sweden acquired Refix Skadesanering AB with yearly sales of EUR 3 million and Polygon UK acquired Neways Property Care Ltd with yearly sales of EUR 6 million.

JANUARY - DECEMBER 2018

• Sales growth for the period was 20.8% and amounted to EUR 619.3 million. Adjusted organic growth totalled 7.4% driven by Continental Europe reporting growth of 11.4%, and acquisitions contributed EUR 72.8 million in sales, corresponding to growth of 14.2%. Currency rates had a negative effect of 0.8%.
• Adjusted EBITA amounted to EUR 39.6 million (33.0), up 20.0%. Earnings in Nordics & UK improved 39.9%, Continental Europe was up on last year by 7.7% and North America was slightly up on the year-earlier period after an improvement in the fourth quarter. Earnings for Nordics & UK improved due to recent acquisitions and a strong performance in the UK.
• EBITA amounted to EUR 31.9 million (30.1). Items affecting comparability were recognised in a net amount of EUR 7.7 million (2.9).
• Cash flow from operating activities totalled EUR 31.2 million, compared with EUR 40.7 million last year due to increased working capital as a result of high growth in the months before closing. The liquidity buffer amounted to EUR 69.1 million (Dec 2017: 60.9).
• During the year, Polygon completed six acquisitions with total yearly sales of EUR 46 million, of which Dansk Bygningskontrol accounted for EUR 29 million. After the closing date, Polygon Netherlands signed a contract to acquire Tiedema Lekdetectie BV and Tiedema Droogtechniek BV with yearly sales of EUR 1 million and Polygon signed a contract to acquire a company with yearly sales of EUR 10 million in Switzerland.
• Axel Gränitz was appointed as CEO of Polygon Group effective from 15 October 2018.  Lars Blecko (formerly of Loomis) joined the Board in December. Lucas Hendriks, Lars-Ove Håkansson and Ole Skov resigned from the Board at the same time.   

This information is information that Polygon 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 person set out above, at 8.00 CET on 8th of February 2019. For participation in investor´s call at 11.00 CET the same day, please see web page for detailed information.

For more information, please visit www.polygongroup.com or contact Mats Norberg, Chief Financial Officer, mats.norberg@polygongroup.com, +46 70 331 65 71.

Polygon is a Global Expert and the European market leader in Property Damage Control. On 3 continents and in 13 countries, our approximately 4.000 specialists prevent, control and mitigate the effects of water, fire and climate. Our innovative and tailor-made solutions combine people, knowledge and technology for a wide range of customer segments.