Zalaris

Earnings Release • Aug 16, 2019

Zalaris on track with profitability initiatives

Zalaris on track with profitability initiatives

Zalaris' Q2/19 revenues reached NOK 187.5 million, with an operational EBIT of NOK 4.4 million (2.4% margin. Several group wide initiatives to cut costs and improve margins are ongoing, and the company is on track to deliver a target EBIT-margin of 10% by the end of 2019.

In Q2 Zalaris signed renewed five-year contracts with top-tier clients like Nordea, Telenor, Finnair, ABB and Bilfinger for business process outsourcing (BPO). The company also welcomed new clients like Frankfurt Airport (FRAPORT), Gasnetz Hamburg and Universität Siegen in Central Europe.

“In terms of market strength, the world has never looked better for a company like Zalaris. The demand for our services is strong, and we are currently in bid phase or renewal discussions for several large deals across all business regions, creating an interesting pipeline for the second half of 2019”, says Hans-Petter Mellerud, Zalaris’ CEO and founder.

The EBIT-improvement program announced in connection with the presentation of Zalaris’ Q1/19-results is ongoing, and potential cost savings of NOK 4.7 million pr. month have been identified. Of this target, 14% was realized in Q2, and the company expects a gradual increase in the coming quarters towards 100% realization in Q1/2020.

“I’m pleased to see that we are well on track in terms of executing these cost-cutting initiatives, but also that the EBIT-target itself has reinvigorated and focused the whole organization”, says Mellerud.

Speeding up recruitment

Zalaris’ Q2/19 revenues reached NOK 187.5 million (NOK 188.8 million), a 0.7% decline compared to the same quarter previous year. In terms of busines segments, Managed Services grew revenues by 3.2% year-on-year, while revenues in the Professional Services segment (previously Consulting) decreased by 10.4%.

Group operational EBIT in Q2/19 was NOK 4.4 million, representing a 2.4% margin (NOK 1.5 million and 0.8%).

“A shortage of consulting capacity in Professional Services, especially in Germany, is still impacting the growth capacity for this segment. However, we are currently in a positive recruitment trend, and should see improvement going forward,” Mellerud says.

Building a growth platform

The ongoing consolidation of back-office and support functions across the Zalaris group is freeing up resources for increased efforts in sales, marketing and other customer-facing functions.

“We significantly strengthened our UK salesforce through new hires in the second quarter, and this area will continue to be a priority for us. I want to stress that while profitability remains our short-term priority, we are not compromising our growth capacity. Market fundamentals remain very strong, we are retaining our top tier clients and continually securing new business”, says Mellerud.

Contact

Hans-Petter Mellerud, CEO and founder

Mobile: +47 928 97 276

E-mail: hans-petter.mellerud@zalaris.com

Nina Stemshaug, CFO

Mobile: +47 982 60 394

E-mail: nina.stemshaug@zalaris.com

About Zalaris

Zalaris excels in delivering comprehensive cloud- based HR and payroll services. The company is certified as a SAP Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Partner and is a leading

SAP Human Capital Management (HCM) and SuccessFactors consulting partner. Founded in 2000, Zalaris today operates in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, India, Latvia, Lithuania,

Norway, Poland, Sweden, Germany, Spain, the UK and Ireland including local-language service centers with extensive expertise in HR- related laws and regulations. Learn more about Zalaris at www.zalaris.com