Interim report January to September 2018

Press release Stockholm, 25 October, 2018 

Successfully implemented cost cut activities

Third quarter

• Net sales decreased during the third quarter by 2,6% to 43,8 MSEK (45,0)
• Result before depreciation (EBITDA) for the third quarter amounted to 3,2 MSEK (4,0), corresponding to a margin of 7,3% (9,0)
• Net result after tax was 0,1 MSEK (2,3)
• Result per share was 0,00 (0,01)
• Cash flow from the business for the period was -1,5 MSEK (4,3)
• August 30tha newly formed subsidiary acquires all the assets related to the IoT specialist Hikob’s sensor products, gateway systems, the data collection platform and the related R&D team, all based in Grenoble (France). The consideration of approx. 1M€ was funded from existing bank facilities.

January - September

• Net sales increased during the period by 10,2% to 151,5 MSEK (137,5)
• Result before depreciation (EBITDA) was 11,8 MSEK (14,1), corresponding to a margin of 7,8% (10,2)
• Net result after tax was 3,8 MSEK (9,5)
• Result per share was 0,02 (0,05)
• Cash flow from the business for the period was 6,9 MSEK (15,8)

Comments by the CEO 

Our sales during the quarter has been influenced by the vocational months and by that we have taken some product/services areas with lower margins away to simplify our business. Earlier made personnel reductions start to show result in a lower cost level. The cash flow has been influenced negatively by payments of around 4 MSEK for earlier announced personnel reductions.

Our British businesses, CA Traffic and CitySync, have started to harvest from the ongoing integration, but they still have a way to go to reach our profit goals. Cost reductions are in principle ready and we continue the work to strengthen our sales and marketing resources.

Our French businesses have during the period shown satisfactory momentum, where Balogh continues to show good development. Personnel reductions in Balogh are in principle ready and we will soon have a cost level able to deliver a good profit also at lower volumes. Magsys has taken several projects with CA Traffic solutions in the French market and they have also started the introduction of CA Traffics management system for traffic solutions. The French government has the ambition to increase investments in favor of bicycle traffic in the cities and Magsys and CA Traffic will together offer solutions and be part of this exciting market. CitySync’s products have been adopted to the French market and are now ready to be marketed in full scale.

Our acquisition of Hikob strengthen our presence even further in the French market for smart cities and their IoT products are an important strategic complement both for parking solutions and for our traffic solutions. Hikob is one of the pioneers in sensor products for use together with charging stations for electric cars and they also work with sensors for environment and weather. We see in front of us Hikob’s products to be sold by CA Traffic in UK, by TagMaster in the Nordics and that some of our international sales channels could start selling Hikob’s products during 2019.

In France we have started recruitment to strengthen our sales and marketing resources.

TagMaster has had a quarter in line with expectations, considering that our rail sales are lower during 2018, with continued heavy development work with our new products for toll roads which should be ready during Q4. TagMaster continues the launch of CA Traffic products as well as now also Hikob products in the Nordic market and medium term we expect good growth also in this market.

We have come a long way integrating our acquisitions, but it is still worth mentioning that the variation could be significant between quarters and even years since among others our rail business is volatile to its nature.

Jonas Svensson

CEO

This as well as previous financial reports could be found at the company homepage www.tagmaster.com

For further information, please contact

Jonas Svensson, CEO, +46 8-6321950, jonas.svensson@tagmaster.com

This information is information that TagMaster AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Securities Markets Act. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 8.30 a.m. CET on October 25, 2018. 

About TagMaster

TagMaster is an application driven technology company that designs and markets advanced sensor systems and solutions based on radio & vision technology (RFID, Radar & ANPR) for demanding environments. Business areas include Traffic Solutions and Rail Solutions sold under the brands TagMaster, CitySync, Balogh, CA Traffic,   Magsys and Hikob with innovative mobility solutions in order to increase efficiency, security, convenience and to decrease environmental impact within Smart Cities. TagMaster has dedicated agencies in the US and in China and exports mainly to Europe, The Middle East, Asia and North America via a global network of partners and, systems integrators. TagMaster was founded in 1994 and has its headquarters in Stockholm. TagMaster is a public company and its shares are traded on First North stock exchange in Stockholm, Sweden. TagMasters certified advisor is Erik Penser Bank www.tagmaster.com