Other Financial information

Profitability, financial position and cash flow

The return on equity at the end of the period was 29 percent (29), and return on capital employed was 21 percent (22). Return on working capital P/WC (EBITA in relation to working capital) amounted to 53 percent (53).

At the end of the period the equity ratio amounted to 35 percent (36). Equity per share, excluding non-controlling interest, totalled SEK 33.05 (27.30). The Group's net debt at the end of the period amounted to SEK 1,808 million (1,232), excluding pension liabilities of SEK 252 million (240). The net debt/equity ratio, calculated on the basis of net debt excluding provisions for pensions, amounted to 0.8 (0.7).

Cash and cash equivalents consisting of cash and bank equivalents and approved but non-utilised credit facilities amounted to SEK 477 million (528) at 31 December 2018.

Cash flow from operating activities amounted to SEK 320 million (388) during the period. Company acquisitions and disposals including settlement of contingent consideration regarding acquisitions implemented in previous years amounted to SEK 555 million (381). Investments in non-current assets totalled SEK 49 million (35) and disposal of non-current assets amounted to SEK 10 million (3). Dividend from associated company amounted to SEK 2 million (4). Repurchase of treasury shares amounted to SEK 38 million (31) and repurchase of call options amounted to SEK 11 million (5). Exercised and issued call options totalled SEK 27 million (33). Dividends paid to the shareholders of the Parent Company totalled SEK 269 million (235), corresponding to SEK 4.00 (3.50) per share. The dividend was paid out in the second quarter.

Employees

At the end of the period, the number of employees was 2,684 compared to 2,358 at the beginning of the financial year. During the period, completed acquisitions and disposal resulted in a net increase of the number of employees by 258. The average number of employees in the latest 12-month period was 2,501.

Ownership structure

At the end of the period the share capital amounted to SEK 51.1 million.

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Addtech has four outstanding call option programmes, see table below. Call options issued on repurchased shares entail a dilution effect of about 0.2 percent during the latest 12-month period. Addtech's own shareholding is estimated to meet the needs of the outstanding call option programmes.

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Acquisitions and disposal

During the period 1 April to 30 September 2018, the following acquisitions have been completed; Synthecs-group, Scanwill Fluid Power ApS and Willtech ApS, Fibersystem AB and Diamond Point International (Europe) Ltd to become part of the Components business area, Xi Instrument AB, Duelco A/S, Prisma Teknik AB and Prisma Light AB to become part of the Energy business area, KRV AS, TLS Energimätning AB and Nordautomation Oy to become part of the Industrial Process business area and Power Technic ApS to become part of the Power Solutions business area. The Group has also sold Solar Supply System AB, formerly part of the Power Solutions Business Area.

On 4 October, Wood Recycling Sweden AB, Sweden, was acquired to become part of  the Industrial Process business area. Wood Recycling designs, constructs and delivers wearing and spare parts for bark hoggers in the Swedish market. The company has sales of about SEK 7 million and 2 employees.

The purchase price allocation calculations for the acquisitions completed during the period 1 April – 31 December 2017 have now been finalised. No significant adjustments have been made to the calculations. Acquisitions completed as of the 2017/2018 financial year are distributed among the Group’s business areas as follows:

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If all the acquisitions had been completed on 1 April 2018, their impact would have been an estimated SEK 606 million on Group net sales, about SEK 37 million on operating profit and about SEK 26 million on profit after tax for the period.

Addtech normally employs an acquisition structure comprising basic purchase consideration and contingent consideration. The outcome of contingent purchase considerations is determined by the future earnings reached by the companies and is subject to a fixed maximum level. Of considerations not yet paid for acquisitions during the period, the discounted value amounts to SEK 72 million. The contingent purchase considerations fall due for payment within three years and the outcome is subject to a maximum of SEK 99 million. If the conditions are not fulfilled, the outcome may fall within the range of SEK 0-99 million.

Transaction costs for acquisitions that resulted in an ownership transfer during the period, amounted to SEK 6 million (6) and are reported under Selling expenses.

Revaluation of contingent consideration had a positive net effect of SEK 11 million (8) during the period. The impact on profits are reported under Other operating income and Other operating expenses, respectively.

According to the preliminary acquisition analyses, the assets and liabilities included in the acquisitions were as follows, during the period:

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Parent Company

Parent Company net sales amounted to SEK 45 million (44) during the period and profit after financial items was SEK -12 million (-13). Net investments in non-current assets were SEK 0 million (0). The Parent Company's net financial debt was SEK 150 million (43) at the end of the period.

Other Disclosures

Accounting policies

This interim report was prepared in accordance with IFRS and IAS 34 Interim Financial Reporting. Disclosures under IAS 34.16A are made not only in the financial statements, with associated notes, but also in other parts of the interim report. The interim report for the parent company was prepared in accordance with the Swedish Annual Accounts Act and the Swedish Securities Market Act, which complies with recommendation RFR 2 Accounting for Legal Entities, issued by the Swedish Financial Reporting Board. The same accounting policies and basis for calculations as in the latest annual report have been applied in this interim report, with the exception of the amended accounting policies described below.

IFRS 9, Financial Instruments, deals with classification, measurement and recognition of financial assets and liabilities and introduces new rules for hedge accounting. It has been applied with effect from 1 April 2018. IFRS 9 introduces, for example, a new model for recognition of impairment losses that is based on expected credit losses and that takes forward-looking information into account. 

During 2017/2018, Addtech analysed the impact, if any, on introduction of the new standard. The judgement is that the new impairment recognition model had no material impact on the Group’s financial position, based on historical information regarding bad debts. Because the Group does not use hedge accounting, the relevant parts of IFRS 9 do not affect Addtech's financial statements.

IFRS 15, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, introduces new requirements for recognition of revenue. The Group began to apply the standard as of 1 April 2018 with the forward-looking retroactive transition method under IFRS 15. An analysis of the impact of IFRS 15 in the Group was carried out in 2017/2018. The conclusion from the analysis was that IFRS 15 will not have any impact on accrual accounting of the Group’s revenue. IFRS 15 introduces increased disclosure requirements – see table Net sales by the subsidiaries geographical location, under the heading Disaggregation of revenue. This table presents a disaggregation of the Group’s income and included for the first time in the interim report for the first quarter of 2018/2019. 

At the end of the interim report period, the Group’s assessment is that no changes are necessary in the analysis relating to IFRS 9 and IFRS 15 for presentation in the 2017/2018 Annual Report.

IFRS 16 Leases will be applied as of 1 April 2019. Work on identifying and evaluating current leases and the impact of the new standard is in progress. When the standard enters into effect, Addtech will apply the modified retrospective transition method.         

Alternative performance measures

The Company presents certain financial measures in the interim report that are not defined according to IFRS. The Company believes that these measures provide valuable supplemental information to investors and the Company's management as they allow for evaluation of trends and the Company's performance. Since all companies do not calculate financial measures in the same way, they are not always comparable to measures used by other companies. These financial measures should therefore not be considered to be a replacement for measurements as defined under IFRS. For definitions of the performance measures that Addtech uses, please see page 18.

Risks and factors of uncertainty

Addtech's profit and financial position, as well as its strategic position, are affected by a number of internal factors under Addtech's control and by a number of external factors over which Addtech has limited influence. The most important risk factors for Addtech are the state of the economy, combined with structural change and the competitive situation. Addtech has four operating subsidiaries within the UK as well as a few other subsidiaries doing business with the UK. The effects of Brexit are to this date unknown, but all affected subsidiaries are closely monitoring the developments. Addtech Group’s total exposure to possible negative effects from Brexit are not considered material. Beside this, risk and uncertainty factors are the same as in previous periods, please see section Risks and uncertainties (page 38-40) in the annual report for 2017/2018 for further details. The Parent Company is indirectly affected by the above risks and uncertainty factors due to its role in the organisation.

Transactions with related parties

No transactions between Addtech and related parties that have significantly affected the Group's position and earnings have taken place during the period.

Seasonal effects

Addtech's sales of high-tech products and solutions in the manufacturing industry and infrastructure are not subject to major seasonal variations. The number of production days and customers' demand and willingness to invest can vary over the quarters.

Nomination committee

The 2018 Annual General Meeting authorised the Board Chairman to establish a nomination committee for upcoming elections to the Board, by appointing members among representatives of the five shareholders who controlled the largest number of votes in the Company at 31 December 2018, to serve with the Chairman on the nomination committee. In accordance with the above, the committee comprises these appointed members: Anders Börjesson (Chairman of the Board), Tom Hedelius, Åsa Nisell (appointed by Swedbank Robur Fonder), Mats Gustafsson (appointed by Lannebo Fonder) and Johan Strandberg (appointed by SEB Investmant Management). Information on how to contact the committee is available on the Addtech website.

Events after the end of the period

On 2 January, the assets of Nylund Industrial Electronics, Finland, were acquired to become part of the Components business area and part of an existing company. The business has sales of about MEUR 3.4 million and 3 employees.

On 29 January, Birepo A/S, Denmark, was acquired to become part of the Components business area. Birepo develops and delivers customized locks and security solutions under its own brand. The business is mainly focused on industrial applications, infrastructure, energy and transportation. The company has sales of about DKK 25 million and 10 employees.

Preliminary purchase price allocations has not yet been completed. 

Stockholm 7 February 2019

Niklas Stenberg
CEO and President

This report has not been subject to review by the company's auditor.