ÿF - Interim Report, January-June 2009>
ÿF - Interim Report, January-June 2009
(Thomson Reuters ONE) - For further information, please contact:Jonas Wiström, President/CEO +46 (0)70-608 12 20Jonas ÿgrup, CFO +46 (0)70-333 04 95Viktor Svensson, Director, Corporate +46 (0)70-657 20 26InformationSecond quarter 2009 * Net sales totalled SEK 1,199 million (Q2 2008: 1,174 million) * Operating profit totalled SEK 100 million (SEK 135 million) * The operating margin was 8.4 percent (11.5 percent) * Earnings per share, before dilution: SEK 4.01 (SEK 5.53)First half 2009 * Net sales totalled SEK 2,407 million (Q1-Q2 2008: SEK 2,238 million) * Operating profit totalled SEK 206 million (SEK 251 million) * The operating margin was 8.6 percent (11.2 percent). * Earnings per share, before dilution: SEK 8.52 (SEK 10.22)A few words from the President, Jonas WiströmLittle by little the market continued to contract throughout thesecond quarter - with the exception of projects and services relatedto the business areas of Nuclear Power, Infrastructure Planning andEnergy Efficiency, where demand for services grew.In all, around 60 ÿF employees were laid off during the quarter,incurring a cost to the company of SEK 7 million. Right now, forreasons that have to do with the company's different markets and withits geographical spread, ÿF is having to put its foot on the brakesand the accelerator at the same time. Overall growth in the secondquarter was just over 2 percent, but organically the growth rate wasnegative.ÿF's operating margin for the second quarter was 8.4 percent,compared with 10.7 percent for the corresponding period in 2008(adjusted to take account of Alecta's reduction in pension premiums).Capacity utilisation was 72 percent (75 percent).However, the second quarter of 2009 had two fewer invoiceable daysthan the corresponding quarter in 2008, which equates to 3 percentless invoiceable time. Operating cash flow for the second quarter wasSEK 174 million (Q2 2008: SEK 114 million).In real terms the economy continues to dwindle, with the shortage oflong-term credits forcing the postponement of a great many industrialinvestments. Even so, ÿF has discerned signs of an improved situationin the Russian market.ÿF's aim remains unchanged - to continue to deliver levels ofprofitability that are among the highest in our industry. The companyhas a solid position in the market, long-term relations with itsclients and a strong brand. In the longer perspective the aim is tocontinue to expand with year-on-year growth of 15 percent."Green" issues are assuming an increasingly central position in ÿF'soffer and the market for these services is growing rapidly. To meetthis demand, a manager will be appointed on 1 September to lead thework of coordinating and developing this offer within ourEnvironmental Services.Important events during Q2 and after the reporting dateThe ÿresundsbro Consortium signed a major consulting agreement withÿF relating to five of a total of six areas of technology and makingÿF "principal supplier" of technical consulting services for theÿresund Bridge between Malmö in Sweden and Copenhagen in Denmark.Each year the consortium purchases technical consulting servicesworth DKK 10 million (EUR 1.35 million). The contract with ÿF runsfor 2 years with an option to extend.Via its Inspection Division (ÿF-Kontroll), ÿF has established asubsidiary in Lithuania (UAB AF Inspection LT), primarily to providetesting and inspection services for the nuclear power industry. Thenew company is starting operations with a staff of 30 qualifiedco-workers, all of whom have been transferred to ÿF as part of anagreement with the state-owned Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP).Sales and earnings, Q2 2009Net sales totalled SEK 1,199 million, a 2 percent increase on thefigure of SEK 1,174 million for the corresponding period in 2008.Operating profit amounted to SEK 100 million (Q2 2008: SEK 135million). The operating margin was 8.4 percent (11.5 percent). It isworth noting, however, that the profit for Q2 2008 was affected by apension premium reduction from Alecta, which had a positive impact onearnings of SEK 9.5 million.Capacity utilisation was 72 percent (75 percent).Profit after net financial items amounted to SEK 97 million (SEK 132million).The profit margin was 8.0 percent (11.3 percent).Profit after tax totalled SEK 70 million (SEK 94 million).Earnings per share, before dilution, were SEK 4.01 (SEK 5.53).Sales and earnings, Q1-Q2 2009Net sales totalled SEK 2,407 million, an 8 percent increase on thefirst-half figure of SEK 2,238 million in 2008.Operating profit amounted to SEK 206 million (Q1-Q2 2008: SEK 251million).The operating margin was 8.6 percent (11.2 percent). It is worthnoting, however, that the profit for the first six months of 2008 wasaffected by a pension premium reduction from Alecta, which had apositive impact on earnings of SEK 19 million.Capacity utilisation was 71 percent (75 percent).Profit after net financial items amounted to SEK 200 million (SEK 241million).The profit margin was 8.3 percent (10.8 percent).Profit after tax totalled SEK 147 million (SEK 174 million).Earnings per share, before dilution, were SEK 8.52 (SEK 10.22).Acquisitions and disposalsÿF sold its Norwegian subsidiary Brekke & Strand, with a staff of 25,to Hjellnes Consult AS in Norway. ÿF also sold a shareholding in theAlbanian company ITP-Infra Trans Project Ltd. These disposalsresulted in a capital gain of SEK 7.5 million in the second quarter.InvestmentsGross investment in property, plant and equipment for the periodJanuary to June totalled SEK 23 million (Q1-Q2 2008: SEK 26 million).Cash flow and financial positionOperating cash flow for the second quarter was SEK 174 million (Q22008: SEK 114 million). Total cash flow for the period was negativeat SEK -8 million (SEK +42 million).Cash flow for the second quarter was affected by the pay-out of ashareholders' dividend totalling SEK 111 million (SEK 112 million).The net of borrowing and amortisation of loans also had a negativeeffect on cash flow of SEK 50 million (SEK +97 million). The changein working capital was positive at SEK 103 million for the quarter(SEK -5 million).Cash flow for the period January-June overall was SEK -15 million(SEK -4 million), Acquisitions completed and additionalconsiderations paid amounted to a total of SEK 32 million (SEK 57million).The Group's liquid assets totalled SEK 270 million (SEK 310 million)at the end of the first half-year.Equity per share was SEK 100.3 and the equity/assets ratio was 49.9percent. At the beginning of 2009, equity per share was SEK 99.5 andthe equity/assets ratio was 47.1 percent.The Group's net loan debt amounted to SEK 146 million (SEK 114million) at the end of the first half-year.Number of employeesThe total number of employees at the end of the reporting period was4,333 (Q2 2008: 4,063): 3,139 in Sweden and 1,194 outside Sweden.Translated into full-time equivalents, this equated to 4,232employees (3,816).Divisional performanceEnergy Division Sales Q2, SEK 302 million (SEK 237 m) Operating margin Q2: 9.5% (13.3%) Sales Q1-Q2, SEK 615 million (SEK 444 m) Operating margin Q1-Q2: 8.7% (11.4%)The Energy Division is a front-rank international energy consultantand a world leader in nuclear power consulting.In the wake of the general downturn in the economy the market forenergy consulting services contracted, albeit from a high level. Areduction in the demand for electricity, falling energy prices and arestrictive credit market combined to reduce the rate of investment.The reported growth was primarily related to acquisitions andpositive currency effects. While the Energy Division's capacityutilisation rate rose marginally during the second quarter theoperating margin rose comparing to the first quarter.The fact that the markets in Finland and the Baltic countriesremained weak has led to some redundancies and to temporary lay-offsfor 18 co-workers.The Russian consulting company, Lonas Technologia, which was acquiredin 2008, continued to perform according to plan, and the volume ofassignments in Lonas's order books increased following signs duringthe second quarter of an improvement in the Russian market. InSwitzerland business continued to develop better than expected, andthe same also applies to the division's environmental consultingoperations in Sweden.Engineering Division Sales Q2, SEK 343 million (SEK 392 m) Operating margin Q2: 10.0% (11.5%) Sales Q1-Q2, SEK 687 million (SEK 761 m) Operating margin Q1-Q2: 10.3% (11.7%)The Engineering Division is Northern Europe's leading technicalconsultant for industry.The Engineering Division continued to feel the effects of a falteringindustrial economy in the second quarter. The drop in demand wasparticularly noticeable in the manufacturing industry, but this wasoffset to some extent by the fact that demand remained strong fromthe food, pharmaceutical, energy and nuclear power sectors.Thanks to the swift and successful redeployment of resources, 40percent of Engineering's sales currently derive from the energy andnuclear power industries. Most of the energy projects relate tobiofuel production facilities, new biofuel-fired boilers formunicipal energy companies, the renovation and extension of powerplants, new wind farms, and modernisation and efficiency improvementprojects for the nuclear power industry.To adapt operations to weaker demand from manufacturing industry afew members of staff were laid off at a number of units, while salesand marketing activities were intensified throughout the division.Infrastructure Division Sales Q2, SEK 442 million (SEK 489 m) Operating margin Q2: 7.5% (12.2%) Sales Q1-Q2, SEK 939 million (SEK 940 m) Operating margin Q1-Q2: 8.4% (12.3%)The Infrastructure Division holds a leading position in consultingservices for infrastructure development in Scandinavia. It hasclients in industry, the public sector, the defence sector and theproperty market.The market for infrastructure consulting services has, with theexception of services within the areas of Infrastructure Planning andEnergy Efficiency, contracted during the second quarter.Measures were put in place to offset this lower level of activity;sales efforts were intensified, consultants were redeployed withinthe division to work in business areas where demand remains good,some redundancies were made and a general review of costs wasundertaken.Capital gains from the sale of companies had a positive effect of SEK7.5 million on the division's second-quarter earnings, while the costof redundancies had a negative impact of SEK 4 million.Infrastructure Planning operations continue to deliver strongresults, first and foremost on the back of large-scale, long-terminvestments in Sweden's road and rail networks. ÿF is constantlycapturing new shares of the market for infrastructure planningservices and organic growth remains good.Inspection Division Sales Q2, SEK 108 million (SEK 96 m) Operating margin Q2: 8.4% (15.4%) Sales Q1-Q2, SEK 202 million (SEK 165 m) Operating margin Q1-Q2: 7.9% (12.2%)The Inspection Division works with technical inspections, chiefly inthe form of periodic inspections, testing and certification. Theengineering and nuclear power industries are among the division'smajor clients.Demand remained satisfactory in the second quarter, particularly forservices related to testing, and was strongest from the nuclear powerindustry.The fact that the capacity utilisation rate for the division'sSwedish operations was lower than during the corresponding periodlast year was chiefly due to a reduction in maintenance activitiesamong industrial clients in Sweden.The costs incurred in closing down unprofitable businesses and inbuilding up a bank of specialist skills to meet the demands of thenuclear power industry in Sweden and Lithuania also had a negativeimpact on earnings. It is anticipated that the results of theinvestments that have been made will begin to make themselves feltfrom the third quarter onwards.Operations in the Czech Republic continued to deliver results thatexceeded expectations.Parent companyParent company sales - primarily for various intra-group services -totalled SEK 144 million for the period January-June (Jan-Jun 2008:SEK 127 million). The parent company reported a loss of SEK 13million (SEK -17 million) after net financial items.Cash and cash equivalents totalled SEK 2 million (SEK 1 million), andgross investment in machinery and equipment for the period January toJune amounted to SEK 4 million (SEK 7 million).Accounting principlesThis interim report has been prepared in accordance with IAS 34("Interim Financial Reporting"). The report has been drawn up inaccordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS),as well as with statements on interpretation from the InternationalFinancial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) as approved bythe European Commission for use in the EU, and with the relevantreferences to Chapter 9 of the Swedish Annual Accounts Act. Thereport has been drawn up using the same accounting principles andmethods of calculation as those in the Annual Report for 2008 (seeNote 1, page 83). The parent company has implemented the SwedishFinancial Reporting Board's Recommendation RFR 2.1 ("Accounting forLegal Entities"), which means that the parent company in the legalentity shall apply all the IFRS and related statements approved bythe EU as far as this is possible while continuing to apply theSwedish Annual Accounts Act in the preparation of the legal entity'saccounts.Risks and uncertainty factorsThe significant risks and uncertainty factors to which the ÿF Groupis exposed include business risks linked to the general economicsituation and the propensity of various markets to invest, theability to recruit and retain qualified co-workers, and the effect ofpolitical decisions. In addition, the Group is exposed to a number offinancial risks, including currency risks, interest-rate risks andcredit risks. The risks to which the Group is exposed are describedin detail on pages 56-60 of ÿF's Annual Report for 2008. Nosignificant risks are considered to have arisen since the publicationof the annual report.ÿF sharesThe ÿF share price at the end of the reporting period was SEK 142.75,which represents a rise in value of 20 percent since the beginning ofthe year. During the same period the Stockholm Stock Exchangeall-share index (OMXSPI index) also rose by 20 percent.During the first quarter of 2009 a total of 45,000 ÿF shares wereacquired by the company. The purpose of these buy-backs was tosafeguard the company's obligations with regard to the 2008performance-related share programme.Next financial reportÿF's interim report for the period January to September 2009 will bepublished on 21 October.The Board of Directors and the President/CEO confirm that thisinterim report gives a true and fair view of the operation,performance and position of the company and the Group, and describesthe significant risks and uncertainty factors to which the companyand the companies comprising the Group are exposed.Stockholm, Sweden - 17 July 2009ÿF AB (publ)The full report including tables can be downloaded from the followinglink:http://hugin.info/1253/R/1329447/313880.pdfThis announcement was originally distributed by Hugin. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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Datum: 17.07.2009 - 08:30 Uhr
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