New growth goal for Sectra
The Board of Directors of the IT and medical technology company Sectra (STO: SECT B) has set a new growth goal for the company. This is a consequence of Sectra being active in markets that are changing rapidly, where the nature of deliveries is being changed and streamlined.
The decision by the Board implies that Sectra is continuing to prioritize increased profit, but is also clarifying that profit growth is more important for the company than growth in sales. The Board has also placed the company’s goals in order of priority. Following revision, the financial goals are (in order of priority):
1. Stability: The equity/assets ratio must be a minimum of 30% (unchanged)
2. Profitability: The operating margin (EBIT margin) must be a minimum of 15% (unchanged)
3. Growth: The operating profit (EBIT) per share must increase, on average, 10% per year over a five-year period (changed growth goal, the previous goal was that Sectra’s sales should increase, on average, by a minimum of 15% over a seven-year period)
When calculating the growth goal, adjustments are made for any changes in the number of shares outstanding due to the cancellation of treasury shares or for bonus issues.
Trend broken
For the last five-year period, Sectra posted a negative average annual growth in EBIT per share. However, the negative trend was broken in the last two years.
“Sectra’s annual growth in EBIT per share in the past two years has been more than 8%, which is a result of our long-term effort to increase cost-efficiency and at the same time increase the number of products with a higher margin, such as software licenses,” says Torbjörn Kronander, President and CEO of Sectra AB.
Focused expansion
Medical systems and secure communication are niche markets with large and increasing customer requirements. Sectra’s primary growth strategy is to expand in markets in which the company is already present and through partners in carefully selected emerging markets.
“We will achieve our financial goals through streamlined sales of products and services by which we provide unique values to our customers. We will also develop our offering to Sectra’s large customer base and continue our efforts, with retained or further enhanced quality, to optimize the resources used to deliver and support our systems,” says Torbjörn Kronander.
For further information on the reasons for the revision of Sectra’s financial goals, refer to Sectra’s 2012/2013 Year-end Report, which will be published at 08:00 a.m. today.
The information in this press release is such that Sectra AB (publ) is obligated to disclose in compliance with the Swedish Securities and Clearing Operations Act. The information was submitted for publication on May 28, 2013, at 07:55 a.m. (CET).
For further information
Torbjörn Kronander, President and CEO of Sectra AB, Tel: +46 (0)13-23 52 27
About the Sectra Group
Sectra conducts successful development and sales of high technology products and services in the niche segments of medical IT and secure communication. The company was founded in 1978 and grew from research carried out at Linköping University. Sectra has offices in twelve countries and sells its products through partners worldwide. Sectra is listed on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm AB exchange. For more information about Sectra, visit our website at: www.sectra.com.
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