Year of integration, enabling pan-European reach
Zalaris achieved full year revenues of NOK 745 million in 2018, up 29 percent year-over-year due to the addition of businesses acquired at the end of 2017 in Continental Europe and the UK. New contracts and renewals signed in the fourth quarter demonstrate a positive change of pace into 2019.
Late 2017 Zalaris acquired two companies in Germany and the UK, expanding the company to a pan-European supplier of HR and consulting services. 2018 has been a year of integration, positioning the company for further growth and profitability in 2019. 2018 revenues amounted to NOK 745 million, compared to NOK 577 million in 2017.
“The integration process has been more time-consuming than we anticipated, but we are now a better integrated company and in a stronger position to support our customers”, says Hans-Petter Mellerud, Zalaris’ founder and CEO.
Adjusted EBIT for the year amounted to NOK 17.3 million (NOK 33.9m). Zalaris is now present in 13 countries, including Central European markets through its acquired business in Germany and the UK.
Moving in the right direction
Zalaris' Q4/18 revenues reached NOK 194 million, in line with Q4/17. Adjusted EBIT in Q4/18 was NOK 10.0 million, corresponding to a 5.2 % margin (4.8 %).
“Even though the end of 2018 marked a step in the right direction, we still have much untapped potential. Over the past quarters we have increased our efforts on customer relations, business development and pipeline in our new markets; Poland, UK and Germany”, Mellerud says.
Zalaris delivered strong profitability improvement in Q4/18 compared to previous quarters, establishing a good starting point for 2019. However, pre-tax profits for the quarter were strongly impacted by a non-cash revaluation of debt in EUR, with a corresponding positive currency translation difference, resulting in total comprehensive income for the quarter of NOK 12.4 million.
New contracts and renewals
Several new contracts and renewals have been signed in the fourth quarter of 2018. In the UK, the global real estate consultants Knight Frank signed with Zalaris for the delivery of cloud-based talent management solutions. In Germany, multiple new and renewed contracts were signed in the end of 2018. Two new customers were Archdiocese Freiburg and Protestant Foundation Neuerkerode.
“This combination of new and continuing business demonstrates our strong market position in Germany, and also the long-term nature of relationships with the customer base,” says Mellerud.
For more information please 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’ mission is to help our clients maximize the value of their human capital through excellence in HR processes. Our outsourced payroll, HR and consulting services are delivered from local language service centers. Our geographic coverage currently includes Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, UK, Ireland, Thailand and India. Zalaris’ services utilize web and mobile based cloud solutions powered by SAP and SuccessFactors. We are a certified SAP Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Partner. Zalaris is listed on the Oslo Stock exchange as ZAL. For more information visit our website at www.zalaris.com.