HMS Networks presents its third quarter report and new financial targets
26/10/2020
Net sales for the third quarter reached SEK 345 m (377), corresponding to a decrease of 8%. Currency translations had a negative effect of SEK 10 m on net sales
Order intake was SEK 336 m (372), corresponding to a decrease of 10%
Operating profit reached SEK 77 m (56) equal to a 22.3% (14.9) operating margin
Profit after taxes totalled SEK 61 m (46) and earnings per share was SEK 1.33 (0.98)
Cash flow from operating activities amounted to SEK 116 m (90)
First nine months
Net sales for the first nine months reached SEK 1,061 m (1,172), corresponding to a 9% decrease. Currency translations had a negative effect of SEK 9 m on net sales
Order intake was SEK 1,039 m (1,134), corresponding to a decrease of 8%
Operating profit was SEK 213 m (188), equal to a 20.0% (16.0) operating margin
Profit after taxes totalled SEK 163 m (138) and the earnings per share was SEK 3.58 (2.96)
Cash flow from operating activities amounted to SEK 286 m (193)
Subsequent events
Acquisition of 70% of the shares in Procentec B.V.
Acquisition of the remaining 25.1% of the shares in WEBfactory GmbH
The Board of Directors have decided on new financial targets for the Group
Comment from the CEO The third quarter was characterized by continued market uncertainty due to the corona pandemic. During the quarter, our sales saw weak development, but as costs remained low, we can show a record in both result and cash flow for the quarter.
Continued challenging market in Europe, hesitant in the USA and better in Asia
Compared to the corresponding quarter in 2019, sales decreased organically by 6% and order intake by 7%. The development from the second quarter continues with weak demand in Central Europe, mainly in our large markets such as Germany, France and Italy. On the other hand, Asia has continued to develop well, especially when it comes to order intake, where Japan has a stable growth rate and China is showing impressive growth of more than 50%. The U.S. continues to show a slow growth and combined with a weaker dollar and the upcoming presidential election, it is difficult to assess the outlook in the near future.
Despite the lower volume, we still manage to maintain a gross margin of 62%, which is primarily driven by internal improvements and a good product mix within Anybus.
Home office and digital transformation
The health of our employees remains our absolute top priority, which is why we continue to have a mix of office and home office work in most of our locations in the Group. We completed most of our short-time work in Sweden in connection with the summer holidays and today we mainly have short-time work in Germany.
With new ways of working and new digital meeting places, we see an opportunity for continued savings even after the pandemic. New ways of working, together with the restructuring program we implemented at the end of last year, have resulted in the operating costs for the quarter decreasing by 8% in comparable terms compared with the previous year. A good gross margin in combination with our new cost situation means that we can deliver an operating profit for the quarter of SEK 77 m, which means that we exceed our long-term profitability target of 20%. The good profitability and management of our working capital has resulted in a continued strong cash flow of SEK 116 m for the quarter.
New acquisitions
After the end of the quarter, we made two acquisitions. On October 1, we acquired 70% of Dutch Procentec BV, where the remaining 30% is owned by three senior executives in the company. The company, which offers hardware and software to monitor and diagnose network traffic in industrial processes, will provide HMS with new opportunities for business with users of automation equipment. We see great opportunities to develop this business from today's diagnostic tools and offer preventative maintenance services to reduce operational problems in our customers' critical networks.
We have also acquired the remaining 25.1% of German WEBfactory GmbH. As a 100% owner, we can now increase the integration and use of WEBfactory's software products together with our other product brands, and we see great opportunities for new business where hardware meets software.
New financial targets
The HMS Board of Directors has decided on new financial targets for 2025, which include a growth target for net sales exceeding billion (SEK 3.14 billion) with an operating margin target of 20%. To achieve these ambitious goals, we will have more focus on acquisitions than before, which has resulted in a slightly adjusted dividend policy. The new policy will be to distribute 30-50% of the annual earnings per share, which gives the company greater flexibility to finance future acquisitions.
HMS has invited for a Capital Markets Day on November 18 to present the updated strategy and ambitions for the coming five year period.
An uncertain future and a bright future
We continue to see great uncertainty about the future and how the corona pandemic will affect our customers in the coming quarters. The fourth quarter has started at the same order intake pace as during the third quarter and although some market data looks somewhat more positive now, compared with a quarter ago, we still believe in a slow recovery. However, with a strong financial position, we will, despite the uncertain situation in the short term, continue to focus on new acquisition opportunities and invest in technology innovation.
Our assessment is that automation and digitalization of industrial processes will see increased demand when we have the corona crisis behind us. HMS must then be ready to meet this demand with competitive products and solutions. Despite the turbulence in the short term, we continue to work with a focus on long-term growth based on a balanced view of our cos
LINK: | http://www.hms-networks.com/news-and-insights/news-from-hms/2020/10/23... |
See more stories from hms |
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet Appoints Santiago Solanas as CEO to Lead Next Era of Growth and Innovation
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
15/05/2024
UKTV Ventures partners with The Farewell Guide in 1million airtime-for-equity deal
12th March 2024 - Award-winning broadcaster UKTV has today announced it has inve...
15/05/2024
Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Jianjie Lin, the Writer-Director Behind Brief History of a Family
By Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festi...
15/05/2024
De viktigaste insikterna frn Spotifys rliga Loud & Clear-rapport
Med sin rliga royaltyrapport Loud & Clear kar Spotify transparensen i musikindustrin, s att artister, l tskrivare, fans och hela musikbranschen f r en st rre...
15/05/2024
Chegaram as ltimas estatsticas: Artistas brasileiros geraram mais receita e alcanaram mais fs no Spotify - basta perguntar Anitta
Nos ltimos 10 a 15 anos, a mudan a para o streaming de udio transformou comple...
15/05/2024
The Latest Stats Are In: Brazilian Artists Generated More Revenue and Reached More Fans on Spotify-Just Ask Anitta
Over the last 10-15 years, the move toward streaming audio has completely transf...
15/05/2024
Celebrating 80 years of success in Morganton
On May 15th, we celebrate the 80th anniversary of the SGL Carbon site in Morganton, North Carolina. The entire SGL Morganton family came together to celebrate t...
15/05/2024
SBS Audio marketing campaign tells the stories of new Australians, with multilingual content offerings to assist migrants
SBS Audio marketing campaign tells the stories of new Australians, with multilin...
15/05/2024
ST Engineering iDirect's SKYflow Wins 2024 NAB Show Product of The Year Award
The pioneering satellite OTT solution clinched the Hardware Infrastructure award...
15/05/2024
L3Harris CEO to Present at Bernstein Annual Strategic Decisions Conference
MELBOURNE, Fla., May 15, 2024 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) Chair and CEO Christopher E. Kubasik will present at the Bernstein Annual Strategic Decisions C...
15/05/2024
Netflix to Stream Live Christmas Day NFL Games
In a major example of how large streaming services are successfully battling for lucrative sports rights, Netflix has announced that it has secured global right...
15/05/2024
NAB Show: Creative Lens on Live Sports
LAS VEGAS The premise of the 2024 NAB Shows Creative Lens on Live Sports: Next Gen Video Production and Fan Experiences session was very simple to understand if...
15/05/2024
ATEME Integrates Advanced HDR by Technicolor into TITAN Encoders
SILVER SPRINGS, Md. Encoder specialist ATEME has integrated Advanced HDR by Technicolor into its TITAN video compression solution, Technicolor said today....
15/05/2024
Berklee Artists to Perform at Major US Music Festivals this Summer and Fall
Berklee Artists to Perform at Major US Music Festivals this Summer and Fall The Berklee Popular Music Institute arranged placements at top festivals including...
15/05/2024
ABC Sets The Golden Bachelorette' for Fall Schedule
ABC shared its 2024-2025 fall schedule hours before the Disney upfront presentation Tuesday, May 14. There's The Golden Bachelorette, a new Ryan Murphy show...
15/05/2024
Alicia Keys Kicks Off Amazon Upfront Show, Reese Witherspoon Wraps It Up
Amazon's first-ever upfront presentation, at Pier 36 in Lower Manhattan, got a late start due to its remote location. But the energy spiked when Alicia Keys...
15/05/2024
Disney Upfront Welcomes Back Bob Iger and Jimmy Kimmel
The Walt Disney Co.'s upfront presentation went on with a connections theme, and Bob Iger himself appeared onstage moments after it began. Emma Stone introd...
15/05/2024
Hulu's Under the Bridge' Tops TVision Power Score Rankings
Hulu's Under the Bridge moved up to take the top spot in TVision's Power Score rankings of the top shows on connected TV for the week of May 6....
15/05/2024
The CW Gets Rights to 11 PAC-12 Football Games
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network has announced it will be the broadcast home for 11 Pac-12 football games featuring Oregon State and Washington State during the u...
15/05/2024
Nielsen: Disney Is Top Media Distributor with 11.5% of TV Usage
NEW YORK Disney has landed on top of Nielsens newly launched Media Distributor Gauge, which offers its first cross-platform view of total TV consumption across ...
15/05/2024
Max Sets a May 21 Streaming Debut for 'Dune: Part Two
Warner Bros. Discoverys Max streaming services has finally set a launch date for Dune: Part Two with the announcement that the film will begin streaming on Thur...
15/05/2024
FCC Establishes Spectrum Steering Team
WASHINGTON, D.C. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has announced the establishment of the Spectrum Steering Team that will lead the FCC's efforts to develo...
15/05/2024
Gary Heelas joins TSL as principal engineer
TSL said the appointment marks a strategic enhancement in the companys commitment to focusing on UK and US-designed and manufactured solutions By Jenny Priestl...
15/05/2024
Is Sony about to pull out of its bid for Paramount?
Sony and Apollo may decide to acquire Shari Redstone's National Amusements, which is the controlling shareholder of Paramount Global By Jenny Priestley P...
15/05/2024
Presteigne Broadcast Hire enters administration
The company appointed administrators yesterday (May 14th) By Jenny Priestley Published: May 15, 2024 The company appointed administrators yesterday (May 1...
15/05/2024
Matrox Video Demos at InfoComm 2024 Will Showcase New AVo...
Technology innovator Matrox Video today announced that the company will highlight its leading AV-over-IP (AVoIP) technologies including the brand-new, next-g...
15/05/2024
RMi Amplifies Connectivity and Clarity at Major 2024 Musi...
Riedel Communications today announced its pivotal role in bringing unparalleled audio clarity and connectivity to one of the U.S.'s biggest 2024 music and a...
15/05/2024
Chyron Unveils Significant Updates to Chyron LIVE Cloud P...
Chyron today released a series of significant updates to its Chyron LIVE cloud-native live production platform that were demonstrated at the 2024 NAB Show in La...
15/05/2024
VisualOn to Showcase Revolutionary Optimizer Content-Awar...
VisualOn, a leader in video software technology, is set to unveil its groundbreaking Optimizer suite at Broadcast Asia 2024. The unveiling will take place in th...
15/05/2024
StreamVue announce exclusive parnership with DigiBox
StreamVue, one of the global leaders in IPTV and digital signage solutions is excited to announce an exclusive distribution partnership with DigiBox, one of the...
15/05/2024
Vega Project Uses Blackmagic Design Workflow for XR Studio in Hilton Tokyo
Vega Project Uses Blackmagic Design Workflow for XR Studio in Hilton Tokyo Brie Clayton May 14, 2024 0 Comments Blackmagic Design announced today that...
15/05/2024
Chaos Releases V-Ray 6 Benchmark
Chaos Releases V-Ray 6 Benchmark Brie Clayton May 14, 2024 0 Comments Popular Rendering Benchmark Brings Back CPU/GPU Stats in a Minute; New Benchmark...
15/05/2024
Rose City Futsal Sets New Standard for Community Sports Venues with AI-Automated Sports Production & Streaming Solution
Rose City Futsal Sets New Standard for Community Sports Venues with AI-Automated...
15/05/2024
That Station Artist Notes Series Returns This Summer
Artist Notes is back! Join That Station this summer for the conversation and concert series where you get to hear an artist on stage to not only play music, but...
15/05/2024
Assembling Disney's Upfront: It Takes More Than Magic (Video)
A lot goes into making The Walt Disney Co.'s upfront presentation....
15/05/2024
Madhive Names Premion Founder Jim Wilson President
Madhive, which provides technology for local connected TV advertising, said that it named Jim Wilson as president....
15/05/2024
Amazon Prime Video Swings With Nicholas Cage Spider-Man Series
At its first upfront presentation to advertisers, Amazon Prime Video announced new series and renewed some of its hits....
15/05/2024
Nielsen Crowns Disney in New Ranking of Media Distributors
Nielsen released a new ranking of companies in the media distribution business, including broadcast, cable and streaming, and The Walt Disney Co. was at the top...
15/05/2024
Latin Culture Is Key at TelevisaUnivision Upfront
TelevisaUnivision told advertisers at its upfront presentation Tuesday about more ways they can connect with Latin culture, including through music and live eve...
15/05/2024
VEON Publishes Annual Corporate Governance Report for Financial Year 2023
15 May 2024 VEON Publishes Annual Corporate Governance Report for Financial Year 2023 Amsterdam, 15 May 2024 - VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON, Euronext Amsterdam: VEO...
15/05/2024
VEON and Beeline Kazakhstan Partner with GSMA and Barcelona Supercomputing Centre to Support Use of AI in Local Languages
15 May 2024 VEON and Beeline Kazakhstan Partner with GSMA and Barcelona Superco...
15/05/2024
TRIBECA FESTIVAL AND CHANEL HOST THROUGH HER LENS CONVERSATION, JUNE 7 AT CROSBY HOTEL
May 15th, 2024 Press Materials Available Here TRIBECA FESTIVAL AND CHANEL HOST...
15/05/2024
Thuraya unveils groundbreaking next generation IP NEO terminal developed in collaboration with Cobham Satcom
Abu Dhabi, 15 May, 2024 : IP NEO is a Thuraya 4-ready lightweight portable sate...
15/05/2024
Thuraya unveils groundbreaking next generation IP NEO terminal developed in collaboration ...
Abu Dhabi, 15 May, 2024 : IP NEO is a Thuraya 4-ready lightweight portable sate...
15/05/2024
MAGYAR TELEKOM RESULTS FOR THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2024
MAGYAR TELEKOM RESULTS FOR THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2024 Budapest, May 15, 2024 17:35 Magyar Telekom today reported its consolidated financial results for the...
15/05/2024
Tech Focus: Production Music, Part 1: Changes Come to the Sports Sector
Tech Focus: Production Music, Part 1: Changes Come to the Sports Sector Spurring the changes are increased custom-music demand, RSN turmoil, legal issues, AI B...
15/05/2024
SVG Sit-Down: Diversified's Justo Gutierrez Explores the Evolution of Sound for Sports Venues
SVG Sit-Down: Diversified's Justo Gutierrez Explores the Evolution of Sound ...
15/05/2024
SVG Sit-Down: Audiotonix' CEO James Gordon on Utilizing the Company's Brands for Smart Investment
New deal: Audiotonix' CEO James Gordon on utilising the company's brands...
15/05/2024
Commentary Revolution: DAZN's Technical Production Manager Max Mosgraber Talks Doing More With Less
Commentary revolution: DAZN's technical production manager Max Mosgraber tal...