Continued sales growth and improved earnings
Message from the CEO
Continued sales growth and improved earnings
Consolidated net sales for the third quarter rose by 20 percent compared with last year, from SEK 646 m to SEK 778 m. Acquisitions contributed by 12 percent, organic growth was 3 percent and currency exchange rate effects was 5 percent.
At SEK 87 m, EBIT before items affecting comparability was above last year's profit of SEK 83 m, an increase of 5 percent. At the same time, EBITDA increased 7 percent to SEK 103 m compared with SEK 96 m in the corresponding period in the preceeding year.
Our third acquisition this year, Veg Tech, was completed in the beginning of July, in line with our commitment to develop our business towards sustainable and environmentally efficient solutions. The warm and unusually dry summer has been challenging for VegTech and required unusual watering efforts to secure the growing of sedum and other plants. With the actions taken, we were able to manage the challenges and fulfilled our delivery committments.
The consolidated net sales growth of 20 percent in the third quarter was driven by pick-up effects from the strong roofing and infrastructure markets in Sweden and Norway, but also the prefabricated elements business in Norway. While our Products & Solutions operating segment reported a sales increase of 26 percent, our Installation Services operating segment increased 7 percent.
Within our Products & Solutions segment, Sweden and Norway showed a strong development and continued pick-up effects, while Denmark continued in a strong market although growth was lower than previous year. We have implemented a second sales price increase for our bitumen based products with effect from the end of the third quarter, but this will unfortunately not fully offset the most recent bitumen price increases as bitumen is not hedged for 2018. The prefabricated elements business in Norway continues to develop well and enjoys strong order intake, while we have experienced some delays from our customers in Denmark which have had a negative effect on deliveries and production efficiency in the quarter.
The profit improvement program within our flat roof installation services business in Finland is developing according to plan within the larger unit, KerabitPro, and our efforts, including a more selective approach towards roofing projects and the execution of the projects, have shown positive financial effects as of mid-2018. At the same time, we experience a somewhat weaker market in Finland. Our Danish franchise companies continued to perform well during the third quarter, with strong order books and an EBIT contribution in line with the preceding year.
By widening and enhancing our products and services with new product categories, we foresee that the Group will increasingly become a one stop shop opportunity for customers seeking comprehensive solutions for building and infrastructure protection. We intend to maintain our focus on small to medium sized companies presenting good synergistic potential with our existing businesses.
Vejen, 1 November 2018
Martin Ellis,
President and CEO
Conference call
A conference call for investors, analysts and media will be held today, 1 November 2018, at 10:00 a.m. CET and can be joined online at www.nordicwaterproofing.com (https://tv.streamfabriken.com/nordic-waterproofing-q3-2018). Presentation materials for the call will be available on the website one hour before the call.
To participate, please dial:
From the United Kingdom: +44 20 3008 9806
From Denmark: +45 35 44 55 75
From Sweden: +46 8 566 193 53
Further information can be obtained from
Martin Ellis, President and CEO tel: +45 31 21 36 69
Jonas Olin, CFO & Investor Relations tel: +46 708 29 14 54
This information is information that Nordic Waterproofing Holding A/S is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out above, at 1 November 2018, 08:00 a.m. CET.
This information was distributed by Cision http://www.cisionwire.se/