
ÅF AB Interim Report January - September 2012
Mon, 15/10/2012 - 13:50 CEST
Regulatory
President and CEO, Jonas Wiström, +46 70 608 12 20 CFO, Stefan Johansson, +46 70 224 24 01 Director, Corporate Information, Viktor Svensson, +46 70 657 20 26 Third quarter 2012 * Net sales totalled SEK 1,183 million (1,130) * Operating profit totalled SEK 75 million (67) * Operating margin was 6.3 percent (5.9) * Earnings per share, before dilution: SEK 1.49 (1.38) January-September 2012 * Net sales totalled SEK 3,949 million (3,667) * Operating profit totalled SEK 324 million (278) * Operating margin was 8.2 percent (7.6) * Earnings per share, before dilution: SEK 6.87 (5.95) A few words from the President, Jonas Wiström: The market for most of ÅF's operations remained strong throughout the third quarter. Conditions in the Scandinavian countries continued to be favourable, while elsewhere in Europe there was a general slackening in demand. On the whole, market prospects are predominantly positive, even though the current state of the global economy is continuing to cause increasing uncertainty. ÅF's operating profit rose to SEK 75 million (67) with an operating margin of 6.3 percent (5.9). After adjustment for currency effects, this translates into growth of just over 7 percent, most of which is organic. For Scandinavia the corresponding figure was slightly more than 10 percent. The third quarter also saw ÅF pass the milestone of 5,000 highly qualified co-workers in approximately 20 countries, and our appeal as an employer remains strong. On 11 October ÅF was ranked in the top five of Sweden's most popular employers in Universum's "Career Barometer 2012-13", a survey conducted among a total of some 3,000 engineering professionals. The improvement in ÅF's earnings owes most to a small rise in capacity utilisation and a continued increase in profits for the Infrastructure Division. Infrastructure more than doubled its profits while also further consolidating its position in the market following the acquisition of the leading Norwegian project management company, Advansia. The Industry Division also continued to report strong earnings with an operating margin in excess of 10 percent. For the Technology Division profitability in the third quarter slipped slightly as signs of a slowdown began to show in the market for telecommunications. The International South Division reported an improvement in profitability thanks to a higher level of capacity utilisation, particularly in the nuclear power industry, while the fall in profits for International North was due chiefly to relatively large write-down costs in one of its projects. From the start of the fourth quarter in 2012 these two divisions will be amalgamated into a single International Division with Roberto Gerosa as Division President (see separate press release). Initially, the main focus for the new division will be on raising profitability to a level that is on a par with that for the ÅF Group as a whole. Our fundamental objectives remain unchanged: to continue to generate levels of profitability that place us among the very best performers in our industry, and to grow our business by approximately 15 percent a year. The ambition is to expand through organic and acquired growth in more or less equal measure. Group Head Office: ÅF AB (publ), SE-169 99 Stockholm, Sweden Visitors' address: Frösundaleden 2, 169 70 Solna, Sweden Tel. +46 10 505 00 00 Fax +46 10 505 00 10 www.afconsult.com / info@afconsult.com Corporate ID number 556120-6474 The information in this interim report fulfils ÅF AB's disclosure requirements under the provisions of the Swedish Securities Markets Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading Act. The information was released for publication at 13:30 CET on 15 October 2012. All assumptions about the future that are made in this report are based on the best information available to the company at the time the report was written. As is the case with all assessments of the future, such assumptions are subject to risks and uncertainties, which may mean that the actual outcome differs from the anticipated result. This is a translation of the Swedish original. The Swedish text is the binding version and shall prevail in the event of any discrepancies. The full report including tables (pdf) is available for download