Press release
11 February 2021, 08:00

Sdiptech AB (publ) publishes year-end report 2020
The report is available on the company's website: www.sdiptech.se

SDIPTECH SHOWS RESILIENCE THROUGHOUT A TURBULENT YEAR

FOURTH QUARTER 2020

• Operating profit EBITA* increased by 20.4% compared to the previous year to SEK 100.8 million (83.7), corresponding to an EBITA* margin of 16.7% (16.3). Organic EBITA* growth for the Group was 10.2%, excluding currency effects.
   
• Net sales increased by 17.8% to SEK 604.3 million (513.0). In total for the Group, organic sales growth was 7.7%, excluding currency effects.
   
• Profit after acquisition costs before financial items (EBIT) decreased by 3.1% and amounted to SEK 77.1 million (79.5). The difference from the previous year is mainly that acquisition-related costs and revaluations in the period were negative, compared with a positive adjustment for the comparison period, SEK -16.5 million (9.0). The cost of revaluations is driven by higher estimated future results in previous years' acquired units.
   
• Earnings after tax for the Group amounted to SEK 43.0 million (55.3), of which SEK 40.9 million (53.5) was attributable to the Parent Company’s shareholders.
   
• Cash flow from current operations amounted to SEK 154.4 million (104.0), corresponding to a cash conversion of 137% (128).
  
  
• Earnings per ordinary share (average number), less minority interests and dividends on preference shares amounted to SEK 1.07 (1.65). After dilution, earnings per shares amounted to SEK 1.05 (1.65).
   
• On December 15, Sdiptech acquired all shares in GAH (Refrigeration) Ltd.
   
• An Extraordinary General Meeting was held on December 17, where the Board received a new authorization to decide on a share issue of the ordinary shares, convertibles and/or warrants. The authorization entails a maximum further dilution of 10% of the current number of issued ordinary shares.

JANUARY - DECEMBER 2020

• Operating profit EBITA* increased by 32.5% to SEK 347.3 million (262.2), corresponding to an EBITA* margin of 16.6% (14.4). Organic EBITA* growth for the Group was 11.3%, excluding currency effects.
   
• Net sales increased by 14.4% to SEK 2,088.0 million (1,825.4). In total for the Group, organic sales growth was 3.5%, excluding currency effects.
   
• Profit after acquisition costs before financial items (EBIT) increased by 39.9% and amounted to SEK 310.5 million (221.9).
   
• Earnings after tax for the Group amounted to SEK 220.2 million (165.2), of which SEK 214.6 million (161.4) was attributable to the Parent Company’s shareholders.
   
• Cash flow from current operations amounted to SEK 450.8 million (312.7), corresponding to a cash conversion of 109% (115).
   
• Earnings per ordinary share (average number), less minority interests and dividends on preference shares, amounted to SEK 6.24 (4.87). After dilution, earnings per shares amounted to SEK 6.18 (4.87).
   
• During the period January to December, four acquisitions were completed: Oy Hilltip Ab, Stockholmradio AB, Alerter Group Ltd and GAH (Refrigeration) Ltd.

COMMENTS BY THE CEO:

SDIPTECH SHOWS RESILIENCE THROUGHOUT A TURBULENT YEAR

Despite that 2020 has been an extraordinary year characterized by uncertainties, Sdiptech have had the strength to increase both sales and earnings. Organic net sales increased by 3.5 percent, excluding currency effects. EBITA* improved in total with 32.5 percent, of which 11.3 were organic, 22.7 from acquisitions and -1.6 from currency effects. At the same time, the EBITA* margin increased by 2.2 percentage points to 16.6 percent during the year. We also had a strong cash flow generation of 109 percent and earnings per share amounted to SEK 6.18.

THE YEAR – All financial targets met despite the pandemic
Like most others, Sdiptech has been affected by the pandemic. But thanks to our strong position in socially important infrastructure, stable customers and successful local leadership, the effects of Covid-19 have had a limited impact on Sdiptech's operations. Our goal is to grow EBITA by SEK 90 million through acquisitions and by 5–10 percent organically. We met the top of both these growth targets. In addition, we have established a position to be able to act offensively on fine acquisition opportunities thanks to a strong cash flow and a growth-oriented share issue during the year.

FOURTH QUARTER – Stable end to a strong year
Despite political uncertainties and a second virus wave, we increased our delivery levels in the fourth quarter compared to last year, corresponding to organic sales growth of 7.7 percent excluding currency effects. During the quarter, we have been able to catch up on the order volumes that were postponed due to restrictions at the beginning of the pandemic. Thanks to brilliant efforts in our business unit, this has been possible to carry through faster than we thought.

The organic EBITA* growth for the quarter amounted to a strong 10.2 percent adjusted for exchange rate effects. As we have begun to resume investments that were paused during the spring 2020 for precautionary reasons, our profit margins have begun to normalize. The EBITA* margin in the Group amounted to 16.7 percent (16.3 percent) during the last three months of the year.

ACQUISITIONS – We welcome GAH (Refrigeration)
During the quarter, we acquired GAH (Refrigeration) Ltd. GAH is a leading British company in the design, manufacture and service of transportation refrigeration solutions. The company specialises in last mile deliveries for smaller vehicles, which includes, for example, refrigerated and freezer transport of food and medicines. Demand, which among other things is driven by home deliveries, has increased significantly during the pandemic in line with changing consumer behaviour and increased online shopping.
GAH is our seventh acquisition in the UK, where we are gradually experiencing an increased awareness of Sdiptech, which has resulted in a stronger response from entrepreneurs and owners of great companies. The infrastructure market is to a large extent domestic, and increased trade barrier through Brexit thus have a limited impact on our UK companies. During the year, we acquired a total of four well-managed companies, all of which contribute in various ways to the UN's global sustainability goals. The inflow of interesting acquisition opportunities has been good and even if the limited mobility somewhat prolongs the acquisition discussions, we have a strong pipeline going forward.

OUTLOOK – Full speed ahead with sustainability in focus
Our strategy is to invest and develop companies that contribute to more sustainable, efficient and safe societies. In addition to our strong belief in this from a commercial perspective, it also gives us an important meaning in our daily work. During the year, we established a sustainability council, expanded our ESG reporting, mapped Sdiptech's sustainability risks, developed our stakeholder dialogue and materiality analysis, produced a handbook for sustainable investments and updated our code of conduct. The work will continue in 2021 and we look forward to presenting more value-creating initiatives in the coming months.

Before the general vaccination is carried out in our markets, individual units will be affected by, for example, limited mobility, difficulties in export sales and postponed projects. With that said, in 2020 we have established new routines that mitigate potential negative effects and the underlying demand from our customers is generally strong.

With a margin increase of 2.2 percentage points, Sdiptech have had extra high profitability levels in 2020, especially in the Special Infrastructure Solutions business area. In 2021, we will return to more normal cost levels to continue to grow, and for the full year, we are guiding for approximately 17 percent EBITA* margin for the Group. This means that our business units continue to develop and increase their underlying profitability.

Finally, I would like to thank all our dedicated employees for your commitment and strong efforts during this year of challenges. I would also like to thank all shareholders who joined in 2020 for your trust in us. Going forward, I look forward to continuing the work towards our vision – to improve the infrastructure around us by acquiring and developing leading niche companies that contribute to more sustainable, efficient and safe societies.

Jakob Holm
President and CEO

For additional information, please contact:

Bengt Lejdström, CFO, +46 702 74 22 00, bengt.lejdstrom@sdiptech.com
My Lundberg, Sustainability & IR Manager, +46 703 61 18 10, my.lundberg@sdiptech.com

Sdiptech's common share of series B share is traded under the short name SDIP B with ISIN code SE0003756758.
Sdiptech AB's preferred shares are traded under the short name SDIP PREF with ISIN code SE0006758348.
Sdiptech AB's Certified Adviser at Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market is Erik Penser Bank, +468-463 83 00, certifiedadviser@penser.se. Further information is available on the company's website: www.sdiptech.se 

Sdiptech AB is a technology group with a primary focus on infrastructure segments critical to well-functioning societies and to welfare, e.g. water & sanitation, power & energy, transportation, energy efficiency and air climate. As part of our offering in urban areas, we also provide niched technical services for buildings and real-estate such as renovation of elevators and roofs. The company has approximately SEK 2,000 million in sales and is based in Stockholm.

Sdiptech AB (publ) is required to disclose this information pursuant to EU Market Use Regulation 596/2014. The company is based in Stockholm. The information was provided by the above contact person for publication 11 February 2021 at 08:00 CET.

Attachment

• EN Sdiptech Interim financial report 2020