Kitron — Earnings Release 2016

Feb 16, 2017

Kitron: Q4 2016 - Solid growth, improved profit and increased dividend

Kitron: Q4 2016 - Solid growth, improved profit and increased dividend

(2017-02-16) Kitron ASA today reported solid growth, improved profit and

increased dividend.

Kitron's revenue in the fourth quarter amounted to NOK 570 million, compared to

525 million in the fourth quarter last year. Operating profit (EBIT) was NOK

34.1 million, compared 33.6 million last year.

Net profit amounted to NOK 25.4 million, an increase from 22.6 million. This

corresponds to earnings per share of NOK 0.14, compared to NOK 0.13 last year.

The Board of Directors proposes a dividend of NOK 0.25 per share for 2016. Last

year the dividend was NOK 0.21.

Peter Nilsson, Kitron's CEO, comments:

"We had solid growth in revenue and order backlog in the fourth quarter,

pointing the way to expected growth in 2017. We also keep up our projects on

operational improvement, gradually improving underlying profitability and

capital efficiency. Lastly, we relocated our facility in Sweden during the

fourth quarter, concluding major upgrades of our main facilities in Lithuania,

Norway and Sweden over the past three years, leaving us in a very competitive

position."

Kitron will host a Capital Markets Day later today, at which the underlying

business improvements will be described in more detail. See separate stock

exchange notice for highlights. The event will be webcast, and the presentation

material will be made available at Newsweb.no and Kitron's web site.

Strong revenue, solid order backlog

Kitron's revenue for the fourth quarter increased by 9 per cent compared to the

same period last year. Adjusted for foreign exchange effects, the increase was

13 per cent. The pattern from the preceding quarters continued, with the market

sectors Defence/Aerospace and Industry growing compared to the same quarter last

year.

The order backlog ended at NOK 1 019 million, an increase of 4 per cent compared

to last year. Adjusted for foreign exchange effects, the increase was 9 per

cent.

Improved profitability

Operating profit (EBIT) for the fourth quarter was NOK 34.1 million, an increase

of 1 per cent. Profitability expressed as EBIT margin was 6.0 per cent, compared

to 6.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2015. EBITDA was NOK 45.9 million, an

increase of 4 per cent compared to last year.

Full year improvement

Full year revenue of NOK 2 093 million gave an overall revenue growth of 7 per

cent for the year. Growth adjusted for foreign exchange effects was 5 per cent.

Operating profit for the year ended at NOK 117.8 million, compared to 102.7

million in 2015, resulting in an EBIT margin of 5.6 per cent, up from 5.3 per

cent in 2015. Profit after tax was NOK 74.6 million, up from 72.2 million,

corresponding to NOK 0.43 earnings per share, compared to 0.42 in 2015.

Improved capital efficiency

Net working capital increased by 1 per cent from NOK 508 million to NOK 512

million compared to the same quarter last year, continuing the trend of

decreasing net working capital compared to revenue. Operating cash flow was NOK

36.4 million, compared to 87.8 million in the fourth quarter 2015.

Facility relocation in Sweden

Kitron Sweden relocated during December to the new-built facility in Torsvik,

not far from the current facility in Jönköping. The move has been completed

according to budget and without significant technical problems. Some temporary

inefficiencies remain in production.

Outlook

For 2017, Kitron expects revenue to grow to between NOK 2 150 and 2 350 million.

EBIT margin is expected to be between 5.6 and 6.4 per cent. The growth is

primarily driven by customers in the Industry sector. The profitability increase

is driven by cost reduction activities and improved efficiency.

Enclosed in PDF are the quarterly report and the presentation.

The interim report is presented today at 8:30 a.m. The presentation will be

given in English by CEO Peter Nilsson and CFO Cathrin Nylander, and will be

webcast at the following link:

http://webtv.hegnar.no/presentation.php?webcastId=44472059

For further information, please contact:

Peter Nilsson, CEO of Kitron ASA, Tel: +47 948 40 850

Cathrin Nylander, CFO of Kitron ASA, Tel: +47 900 43 284

E-mail: investorrelations@kitron.com

Kitron is one of Scandinavia's leading electronics manufacturing services

companies for the Defence/Aerospace, Energy/Telecoms, Industry, Medical devices

and Offshore/Marine sectors. The company is located in Norway, Sweden,

Lithuania, Germany, China and the United States. Kitron had revenues of about

NOK 2.1 billion in 2016 and has about 1 350 employees. www.kitron.com

This announcement is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section

5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.