Year-end Report 2021 – Pricer AB (publ)

Stable net sales development in the fourth quarter and new record-high sales and order intake for full-year 2021

Fourth quarter 2021

• Net sales amounted to SEK 487.9 M (680.3), a decrease of 28 percent compared to the same period last year.
• Operating profit amounted to SEK 17.2 M (69.3), which corresponds to an operating margin of 3.5 percent (10.2).
• Order intake was SEK 453 M (454), unchanged compared to the same period last year.
• Order backlog amounted to SEK 383 M (495), of which the majority is expected to be delivered in the first half of 2022.
• Profit for the period was SEK 14.2 M (50.2).
• Earnings per share (basic) were SEK 0.13 (0.46). Earnings per share (diluted) were SEK 0.13 (0.45).
• Cash flow from operating activities was SEK 0.6 M (203.1).

Full year 2021

• Net sales amounted to SEK 1,765.8 M (1,759.5), a marginal increase compared to the same period last year.
• Operating profit amounted to SEK 97.2 M (155.2), which corresponds to an operating margin of 5.5 percent (8.8).
• Order intake was SEK 1,610 M (1,588), an increase of 1 percent compared to the same period last year.
• Profit for the period was SEK 79.1 M (127.5).
• Earnings per share (basic) were SEK 0.72 (1.16). Earnings per share (diluted) were SEK 0.71 (1.15). 
• Cash flow from operating activities was SEK -174.7 M (264.9).
• The Board of Directors proposes a dividend of SEK 1.00 (1.00) per share with a postponed payment date in November 2022.

Temporary effects in the form of increased lead times and costs for raw materials and transport have had a negative effect on the operating margin and increased capital tied up in inventories during 2021.

Events after the end of the reporting period

• Helena Holmgren resigns as CEO of Pricer.

Comments from CEO Helena Holmgren

2021 was an exciting year of transformation that laid the basis for a new business model that secures the company’s future with growth in recurring revenue streams from cloud and software related services. Central to this transformation is our cloud-based platform Pricer Plaza, which was launched in 2020 and now has 1,500 stores connected to it. In addition to simplifying the installation and operation of our digital communication system, Pricer Plaza opens the door to new opportunities with regard to the compilation and analysis of data, as well as effective integration and communication with other connected systems.

In addition, we have been focused for several years on greater market expansion in the form of both a wider customer base and establishments on new markets. These investments generated results in 2021 with growth in several of our strategically important markets and a decreased dependence on individual large customer projects. Our largest customer in 2021 represented around 15 percent of sales compared to almost 40 percent in 2020. We intend to continue with our market expansion and have the ambition to increase the growth rate and gain market share.

With order intake of SEK 453 M in Q4 2021 and a backlog of SEK 383 M distributed across a large number of customers and regions, the outlook for the coming quarter is positive. Net sales in the fourth quarter amounted to SEK 488 M, which is our fourth-best quarter historically and in line with the third quarter, but lower than the record-high close to last year that included large deliveries to a major US customer project.

Rising prices on raw materials and transports were the primary reason the operating profit fell to SEK 17 M in the fourth quarter compared to SEK 69 M in the corresponding period in 2020. We are starting to see some signs that transport availability is improving, and we expect more normalized costs toward the end of the year. Furthermore, we are also increasing our focus on a number of profitability-enhancing measures. Through innovation and product development, we increase value creation in our solutions at the same time as a higher degree of automation enables more scalable and efficient production. The production capacity will be expanded and brought closer to customers with the new facility in Europe, which is planned to be operational in the second half of 2022.

Rising inflation, a labor shortage and increasingly competitive retail trade are some of the underlying forces driving greater store automation and efficiency. Consumers are also becoming more demanding in terms of what constitutes a good shopping experience, which drives the need for data-based analyses and insights and the possibility of communicating in real time with both store staff and store visitors. Pricer’s world-leading system for digital store communication acts as the hub in our customer offering, and the solutions we provide are based on the digital labels’ strategic placement next to the goods in the store. As the volume of data and analyses to optimize store operations increase, tools that enable effective execution of labor-intensive store processes become increasingly sought after.

In addition to growing our core business with digital labels, our goal is to have 3,500 stores connected to Pricer Plaza before the end of the year. We intend to continue to invest in the development of more software based solutions and a broader service offering with the goal of improving the company’s profitability. In a few years, it is reasonable to expect that a significant portion of our profitability will be generated from revenue streams related to software and service based sales.

With customer satisfaction and innovation as our primary drivers, in combination with the above-mentioned underlying forces driving greater store automation and efficiency, we look forward to an exciting and eventful 2022. We have already received the first proof of this with the supermarket chain Plus, which has renewed its confidence in Pricer's solutions. With a strong start to the year, I look forward to connecting soon again. 

Helena Holmgren
President and CEO

For further information, please contact:
Helena Holmgren, President and CEO, +46 (0)702 870 068
Susanna Zethelius, CFO, +46 (0)704 440 092
ir@pricer.com

This information is information that Pricer AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Securities Market Act. The information was submitted through the agency of the contact persons mentioned above for publication on February 11, 2022, at 08:30 CET.

Every care has been taken in the translation of this document. In the event of discrepancies, the Swedish original will supersede the English translation.

About Pricer

Pricer AB is a leading global technology company serving the rapidly growing smart retail market with in-store digital solutions that enhance both store performance and the shopping experience. Through electronic shelf labels, advanced technology, such as optical wireless communication and AI, and continuous innovation, Pricer offers the foundation for in-store communication and efficiency. The industry leading Pricer platform delivers benefits from 30 years of deployment experience and is fast, robust, interconnectable and scalable. Pricer was founded in Sweden in 1991 and is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. For further information, please visit www.pricer.com

Tags: