NOBINA INTERIM REPORT 1 MARCH - 31 MAY 2017
LOWER EARNINGS BUT UNDERLYING STABILITY
THE FIRST QUARTER
· Net sales amounted to SEK 2,276 million (2,224), an increase of 2.3 per cent.
· Operating profit amounted to SEK 87 million (121).
· Profit after tax amounted to SEK 35 million (69), and earnings per share totalled SEK 0.39 (0.78).
· Cash flow from operations was SEK 177 million (268).
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN THE FIRST QUARTER
- Nobina’s contract with Västtrafik for Grön Express and route 24 was extended by two years until 2021. The contract comprises about 50 buses.
- Region Skåne and the City of Malmö made their final political decisions regarding complete solutions for the conversion of electric buses on routes 3 and 7 in Malmö. The decision provides the conditions for Skånetrafiken and Nobina to agree on a transition to electric buses.
- Nobina commenced a strategic review of its interregional operation and this is expected to be completed in 2017.
- The 2016/2017 Annual General Meeting was held on 31 May in Stockholm. The Meeting approved the Board’s motion for a dividend of SEK 3.10 per share, with payment on 8 June, and the motion was approved to introduce a performance-based share-savings scheme for 22 key employees at Nobina. Monica Lingegård and Liselott Kilaas were elected as new Board members.
- The results include one-off expenses of SEK 12 million related to staff redundancy costs.
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS AFTER THE END OF THE QUARTER
- Nobina won a traffic contract in Kungsbacka comprising 15 buses and with a value of SEK 320 million. The contract starts in June 2018 with ten years duration.
- Skånetrafiken extended its contract with Nobina by two years until 2021 in Malmö and is investing in electric buses. The extension comprises a total of scheduled 83 buses, of which 13 are new electric buses.
- SL and Nobina are to develop the city transport in Norrtälje and invest in electric buses. The contract will extend until 2021 and the ambition is to place 5 electric buses in operation in August 2018.
- Troms Fylkestrafikk and Nobina Norway are in agreement not to utilise full extension option which means the existing contract in Tromsö, involving 127 scheduled buses, will end on July 31, 2019.
CEO’S COMMENTS
We began the year with a quarter in which we increased sales in all of our countries, but last year’s extensive contract migrations with major traffic start-ups continue to impact earnings. Higher temporary costs of recruitment and a weaker trend in the interregional operation also contributed to profitability that was lower compared with Q1 last year. Profit before tax amounted to SEK 50 million (86). We have continued to work with the traffic rerouting for the new contracts in Kallhäll and Södertälje, and starting up traffic in Borås and route 25 in Oslo. These contract migrations impact the income statement initially, but will generate rising profitability over time, since contracts are most profitable at the end.
As a part of our work to strengthen our focus, we are implementing a strategic review of our interregional business.
The underlying operation is otherwise developing in line with our strategy and we are continuing to invest in various future-oriented areas. Among several of our clients, plans are currently being made for major investments in electrically driven bus services. For example, during the quarter, the final political decisions were made to begin the conversion to electrical operation in Malmö.
I have now been with Nobina in the role of President and CEO since 1 June. After visiting many parts of the Group and familiarising myself with the business, I can say that I have found a great commitment to taking Nobina into the future and further strengthening our position as the leading public transport company in the Nordic region. The most important thing right now is to continue developing and refining the company’s well-established processes to further enable efficiency enhancement in our contract portfolio.
Magnus Rosén,
President and CEO
The information comprises such as Nobina AB (publ) is obliged to publicly disclose pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Securities Market Act. Through the above contact person, the information was submitted for publication at 8.00am CET on 30 June 2017.