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Sitowise Group Oyj — Earnings Release 2021
Aug 25, 2021
3291_rns_2021-08-25_ea4348a8-5cd1-40d4-a3ca-dce941a8123e.html
Earnings Release
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Sitowise’s Half-year Report January – June 2021: Strong Profitability, Record High Order Book
Sitowise’s Half-year Report January – June 2021: Strong Profitability, Record High Order Book
Sitowise Group Plc, Half-year Report January 1 – June 30, 2021, 25 August 2021
at 08.30 am (EEST)
Q2: STRONG PROFITABILITY, RECORD HIGH ORDER BOOK
Highlights from April – June
· Order book increased by 20 percent and amounted to EUR 140 (117) million
· Net sales increased by 8 percent to EUR 46.5 (43.2) million
· Adjusted EBITA was EUR 5.9 (7.2) million, or 12.7 (16.6) percent of net
sales
· Sitowise acquired Enco Oy, who are specialists of digital real estate
management in Finland
· Personnel survey conducted in May showed a strong trust in Sitowise’s future
success and a high satisfaction of supervisors’ work
Highlights from January – June
· Net sales increased by 7 percent to EUR 89.3 (83.3) million
· Adjusted EBITA was EUR 10.6 (12.3) million, or 11.9 (14.8) percent of net
sales
· Net debt/adjusted EBITDA declined to 1.5 (2.2) x
· Listing on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd’s main list in March
· Five acquisitions strengthened Sitowise's position in digital solutions and
in sustainability services both in Finland and Sweden
· 94 percent of Sitowise’s clients feel that the COVID-19 pandemic has not
impacted the quality of the services
CEO Pekka Eloholma
Sitowise’s order book grew to a record high also in the second quarter due to
market revitalization and active sales work. The order book grew in all business
areas in Finland and remained on the previous, good level in Sweden. Our order
book was 22 percent higher compared to the year end of 2020. Sitowise’s clients
both in public and private sector have become more active. Uncertainty is still
visible in the market, which is partly due to increased material costs in the
construction industry.
April–June was in line with our expectations. Our second quarter net sales of
EUR 46.5 million grew 8 percent compared to last year, and we reported a strong
adjusted EBITA of 5.9 million euros, which was 12.7% of net sales. The
profitability was lower than last year, but this is explained by the exceptional
nature of spring 2020. At that time, the COVID-19 pandemic shifted the focus
fully to project execution, as calls for tenders waned, and personnel vacations
were postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions. This increased the number of
working hours and the utilization rate above normal levels.
As expected, our utilization rate improved significantly in the second quarter
from the first quarter of 2021, increasing from 75 percent to 78 percent.
Towards summer the continued market revitalization affected the utilization rate
favorably. The utilization rate was temporarily lowered by Sitowise’s IPO in the
beginning of the year.
The most significant new projects during the second quarter include the
renovation of Itsenäisyydenkatu bridge and station tunnel in Tampere, Finland,
where Sitowise’s Buildings and Infrastructure businesses are both involved.
Respectively, Sitowise’s Digital Solutions business area entered into a
significant software solutions delivery agreement with Landis+Gyr, who have been
the market leader of energy management solutions for over 125 years.
According to the personnel survey conducted during spring, our specialists’
satisfaction has remained high. Despite of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on
work, our personnel’s willingness to recommend Sitowise (eNPS score) increased
by 12 percent and was 28. According to the personnel survey – which reached a
high response rate of 80 percent – Sitowise’s strengths are especially the
highly rated supervisor work and our specialists’ strong confidence in the
company’s future. The results prove a strong commitment of our personnel.
Based on our strategy, we seek growth both especially in Sweden and digital
business. The Infracontrol acquisition, which was prepared during the review
period and completed in July, furthers our goals in both areas. The Swedish
company Infracontrol provides real-time digital solutions for traffic and
infrastructure, offering solutions for over 120 Swedish municipalities as well
as the national transport and infrastructure authorities in Sweden. The
acquisition further expands the market for Sitowise’s digital expertise. We also
strengthened our wide range of special expertise in Finland when the digital
real estate management specialist Enco Oy joined our group. We continue
executing our growth strategy actively both in Finland and in other Nordics.
Key figures
EUR million 4–6/20 4–6/20 1–6/20 1–6/2020 1–12/2020
21 20 21
Net sales 46.5 43.2 89.3 83.3 160.1
EBITA, adjusted 5.9 7.2 10.6 12.3 20.6
% of net sales 12.7% 16.6% 11.9% 14.8% 12.9%
EBITA 4.7 6.9 8.7 11.8 19.5
Operating profit 4.2 6.7 7.9 11.3 18.3
Cash flow from operating 3.1 5.9 8.4 14.4 31.5
activities before financial items
and taxes
Net debt 29.9 46.4 56.6
Net debt/EBITDA, adjusted 1.5x 2.2x 2.6x
Equity ratio, % 47.8% 33.0% 30.2%
Earnings per share (EPS), EUR *) 0.10 4.40 0.07 6.11 9.69
Number of personnel, average 1,960 1,841 1,935 1,810 1,823
*) Not comparable because of the changes in number of shares due to the initial
public offering.
Market outlook
The stable growth in the demand of design and consulting services to create
sustainable societies is supported by megatrends such as urbanization,
renovation backlog, sustainability, and digitalization.
In the short-term, there is still uncertainty related to market development as
well as the initiation and progress of projects. However, the market
revitalization noticed in the beginning of the year has continued, as the
clients have been more active, and the order book has been growing.
Guidance
Sitowise Group has not published financial targets for 2021.
Long-term financial targets
The Board of Directors of Sitowise Group has set the following long-term
financial targets:
· Growth: Annual net sales growth of over 10 percent, including acquisitions;
· Profitability: Adjusted EBITA margin of at least 12 percent;
· Leverage: Net debt / adjusted EBITDA should not exceed 2.5x, except
temporarily in conjunction with acquisitions; and
· Dividend policy: Sitowise targets paying a dividend corresponding to 30–50
percent of net profit.
Main events after period-end
The company’s Board of Directors decided on 29 June 2021, by virtue of the
authorization granted by the unanimous resolution of the shareholders on 3 March
2021, to issue in a directed issue 250,000 new Sitowise shares to the company
itself. The number of shares issued in the share issue corresponds to
approximately 0.7 percent of shares in Sitowise after the registration of the
new Shares. Sitowise carried out the share Issue to itself in order to have a
sufficient number of shares available for use in reinvestments and as
consideration in future corporate acquisitions and in the company’s incentive
plans and to increase commitment of key personnel. The shares were registered in
the Trade Register on 9 July 2021 and admitted for trading on the official list
of Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd on 12 July 2021. As a result of the share issue, the
number of shares in Sitowise increased to 35,415,927.
Sitowise announced on 9 July 2021 that it has acquired the Swedish traffic and
infrastructure IT company Infracontrol. Infracontrol provides digital services
and SaaS solutions currently for about 120 Swedish municipalities as well as the
national transport and infrastructure authorities. Infracontrol employs 29
specialists and is a subsidiary of Sitowise Group after the acquisition.
Sitowise announced on 18 August 2021 that it has appointed Jonas Larsson as Head
of Sitowise’s Swedish operations and member of the Group Management Team. He has
an extensive experience of over 24 years in multiple executive roles and has a
broad understanding about leading a project-oriented organization. Larsson will
be responsible for the Sitowise’s business operations in Sweden and its
comprehensive development. He will start in his new position no later than in
January 2022.
Sitowise Group’s financial reporting in 2021
Planned publication dates for the Sitowise Group’s financial reports in 2021 are
as follows:
· Interim Report, January-September 2021, 10 November 2021
Webcast for analysts, media, and investors
Sitowise's CEO Pekka Eloholma and CFO Heidi Karlsson will present the company's
results in English in a conference call and live webcast on 25/08/2021 starting
at 11:00 am (EEST).
Webcast
The briefing will be streamed at https://sitowise.videosync.fi/2021-08-25
-sitowise-q2. Written questions can be submitted through the webcast.
Presentation material and a recording of the event will be available at
www.sitowise.com (https://sitowise.com/investors) after the event.
Conference call
It is also possible to dial-in to the briefing 5–10 minutes before the start of
the event by calling a number below and entering the PIN code 90192211#
· Finland Toll-Free: 0800 523 163
· Finland Toll: +358 9 8171 0310
· United Kingdom Toll-Free: 0800 358 9473
· United Kingdom Toll: +44 3333 000 804
· US Toll-Free: +1 855 85 70686
· US Toll: +1 631 913 1422
· Sweden Toll-Free: 0200 883 685
· Sweden Toll: +46 856 642 651
International access numbers and further instructions available
here (https://events
-ftp.arkadin.com/ev/docs/NE_W2_TF_Events_International_Access_List.pdf).
Additional information
Pekka Eloholma, CEO, [email protected], m +358 50 555 5590
Heidi Karlsson, CFO, [email protected], m +358 40 759 3320
Minttu Vilander, Chief Communications and Corporate Responsibility Officer,
[email protected], m +358 40 575 6660
About Sitowise
Sitowise is a Nordic expert in the built environment that offers sustainable
design and consulting services. Sitowise operates in various size projects to
enable more responsible and smarter urban development as well as smooth
transportation. Sitowise offers its services in the following areas: Buildings,
Infrastructure and Digital Solutions. Sitowise’s operations are primarily in
Finland and Sweden, and it also has competence centers in Estonia and Latvia
mainly serving Sitowise’s projects in Finland and Sweden. The group’s net sales
was approximately EUR 160 million in 2020 and the company employs about 2,000
experts.
This release is a summary of Sitowise Group’s Half-year Report January–June
2021. The complete Half-year Report is attached, and also available on the
company’s website at www.sitowise.com/investors/reports-and-presentations
The figures in this report are unaudited. Comparative figures for the
corresponding period of the previous year are in brackets. This report has been
published in Finnish and English. In the event of any differences between the
English translation and the Finnish original, the Finnish report will prevail.
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