Year of acquisitions and continued organic growth

Zalaris' Q4/17 revenues reached NOK 193.5 million, up 83.6% compared to Q4/16 (105.2 million), reflecting two significant acquisitions during the year and continued organic growth. Operating profit (EBIT) in Q4/17 was NOK 12.4 million before other costs, corresponding to a 6.4 % margin.

The fourth quarter of 2017 marks the end of an extraordinary year for Zalaris. The company entered the year as a mostly Nordic player, and celebrated the New Year with a broad footprint across North and Central Europe and with activities in India and Thailand.

“With the acquisition of ROC Group and sumarum AG we have positioned Zalaris as a leading provider of consulting and outsourced human capital management and payroll services. We have built a scalable platform, which will provide for further growth in regions characterized by significant potential”, says Hans-Petter Mellerud, Zalaris’ CEO and founder.

An important five-year contract with Santander Consumer Bank in Norway was also signed this quarter.

Organic and M&A driven growth
Group revenues increased 32.8 % or NOK 42 million from Q3/17 to NOK 193.5 million in Q4/17, mainly because of the ROC acquisition. Zalaris pre-acquisition businesses showed 7.4 % organic growth in Q4/17 compared with Q4/16.

While HR Outsourcing remains the largest segment in terms of revenues, the Consulting and Cloud Services business segments have become significantly more important in Zalaris’ total offering, a reflection of new customer demands. Consulting and Cloud combined represented 46 % of group revenues in Q4/17 compared with 12 % one year before.

Integration
Throughout the year Zalaris has invested in consulting competency within the SuccessFactors area, which will increase Zalaris presence and competitiveness going forward. Together with integration activities, this has had a somewhat negative impact on the profit margin. Q4/17 operating profit was NOK 12.4 million or 6.4% before other costs of NOK 9.2 million mainly related to the transactions.

“With ROC already rolled into the Zalaris brand and sumarum following in the second quarter this year, we will now continue streamlining our own operations and expand our margin. Not only by reducing cost, but by ensuring that the organization is running at an optimal speed. Furthermore, the joint group’s combined capability has boosted our pipeline of opportunities with existing and new customers”, Mellerud says.

Profits before tax was marked by a negative NOK 12.1 million non-cash foreign currency effect on EUR based acquisition financing in Q4/17.

6-7% annual growth
According to industry analysts, the market for multi-process HR services has grown consistently 6-7 % annually over the past few years and is expected to continue to grow by the same rate. 

“We have seen even stronger growth in market segments that are particularly relevant for Zalaris, such as multi-country payroll services, which is growing by more than 20 % per year”, Mellerud observes.

In the fourth quarter, Zalaris signed a five-year contract with Santander Consumer Bank in Norway and will handle BPO transactional HR and payroll services from day one. The project goes live May 1, 2018.

“We welcome yet another client in the banking and finance industry to Zalaris, and we are excited to demonstrate our ability to deliver our integrated solutions and services regardless of the clients existing HR system,” says CEO Hans-Petter Mellerud.

Contact
Hans-Petter Mellerud, CEO and founder
Mobile: +47 928 97 276
E-mail: hans-petter.mellerud@zalaris.com

Nina Stemshaug, CFO
Mobile: +47 982 60 394
E-mail: nina.stemshaug@zalaris.com

Zalaris excels in delivering comprehensive cloud- based HR and payroll services. The company is certified as a SAP Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Partner and is a leading SAP Human Capital Management (HCM) and SuccessFactors consulting partner. Founded in 2000, Zalaris today operates in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, India, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Germany, Spain, the UK and Ireland including local-language service centers with extensive expertise in HR- related laws and regulations. Learn more about Zalaris at www.zalaris.com