Telecomunicazioni
Hexatronic Group AB (publ) Year-End Report 2018
Hexatronic Group AB (publ)
Year-End Report 2018
(Full year 1 January – 31 December 2018
The full year (1 January – 31 December 2018)
The quarter (1 October – 31 December 2018)
Comments from the CEO
Continued strong international growth
2018 was a year of continued strong growth for Hexatronic. The main item on our agenda was to increase our presence the UK, Germany and USA. All these markets are in the early stages of developing fiber to the home (FTTH). We made acquisitions in these markets during the year, which means we are continuing to reposition Hexatronic strategically towards distinct emerging markets. On a pro forma basis, i.e. including Opternus and PQMS, sales to the relatively well-developed Swedish market today account for about 35% which is a gradual decrease from 49% in 2017 and 60% in 2016.
Overall, 2018 was a strategically successful year in which we advanced our positions on several emerging markets. In terms of profitability, however, it was a poor year in which we did not achieve our EBITDA target of 10%, mainly due to the biding Swedish FTTH market. In addition to the acquisitions in the UK, Germany and USA, we also made important investments in sales and marketing on these markets, which had an adverse impact on profitability for the full year.
Growth during the quarter totalled 36%, of which 34% related to acquisitions and 2% to organic growth. There is still very strong growth outside of the Nordics, and weaker development primarily on the Swedish market. In terms of financial results, the already seasonally weak quarter was burdened by agent costs of MSEK 3.0 relating to the patent dispute in the UK. In the corresponding period last year, we had a positive effect of MSEK 6.5 relating to the reimbursement of costs from our counterparty in the Swedish patent dispute, which we won. We continued to see good development in the USA, and our operations in the UK showed a strong upward trend. The recent acquisition in Germany has developed according to plan and has also created awareness of Hexatronic on the German market.
Looking ahead to 2019, we believe that the global market will show healthy growth. The Swedish market will be much the same as in 2018. We noticed a certain amount of price pressure on the Swedish market towards the end of 2018, which we are responding to with streamlining and cost cutting. We believe the British market will develop strongly and that we are well positioned to benefit from that growth. We are building up stock in the UK due to the uncertainty surrounding Brexit. Also, the North American market is expected to grow, and we believe we will take market share. The German market will grow from low volumes. We do however believe that the major growth on the German market is a year or so off yet.
We enter the first quarter of 2019 with an order book which is organically 18% higher than at the same point last year. We plan to continue making acquisitions intensively and are bolstering our resources so that we can carry on growing on important emerging markets. The first quarter is normally our weakest quarter due to the winter period. We believe that our comprehensive efforts in the UK, Germany and USA will have a positive effect on both growth and profitability during 2019.
We still have a highly positive view of the FTTH market, the opportunities 5G will bring in the shape of fiber expansion, and our potential for continued profitable growth moving forward.
Thank you for joining us on this journey.
Henrik Larsson Lyon
President and CEO of Hexatronic Group AB (publ)
Events during the quarter (October – December 2018))
Events since the end of the period
No events to report since the end of the period.
Publication
This information comprises disclosures that Hexatronic Group AB (publ) must publish according to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Swedish Securities Market Act. The information was submitted for publication, under responsibility of the contact persons named below, on 22 February 2019 at 08:00 CET.
Please direct any questions to:
• Henrik Larsson Lyon, President and CEO, + 46 (0)70-650 34 00
• Lennart Sparud, CFO, + 46 (0)70-558 66 04
Hexatronic Group AB (publ) is a group that develops, markets and delivers products, components and system solutions with the main focus on the fiber optic market. Hexatronic offers a wide range of innovative system and product solutions mainly for passive fiber optic infrastructure with global trademarks like Ribbonet®, Micronet™, Drytech™, Lightmate®, FibreHub™, Matrix, Viper, Stingray and Wistom®. The Group has its headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden and has sales offices and/or subsidiaries in Sweden, Norway, Finland, United Kingdom, Germany, China, New Zealand and the US. The Group is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm under the ticker HTRO. For more information, visit www.hexatronicgroup.com .
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