Interim report January-September 2016

July-September 2016
• Net sales for the third quarter amounted to SEK 3,252 million (3,204).
• Organic growth was 2 per cent (9). Additionally, net sales were positively impacted by acquisitions and negatively impacted by currency effects and a decline in sales for Hygena. 
• Operating profit amounted to SEK 337 million (343), corresponding to an operating margin of 10.4 per cent (10.7).
• Currency losses had an impact of approximately SEK 45 million on the Group’s operating profit, of which a negative SEK 25 million in translation effects and a negative SEK 20 million in transaction effects.
• Profit after tax amounted to SEK 246 million (258), corresponding to earnings per share of SEK 1.46 (1.52).
• Operating cash flow amounted to SEK 235 million (274).

Consolidated net sales, earnings and cash flow 
The market in total is deemed to have improved during the third quarter compared with the year-earlier period. 

Sales increased organically 2 per cent (9). Currency losses of SEK 228 million (gains: 176) affected sales for the quarter. Commodore and CIE, which were consolidated in the fourth quarter of 2015, generated sales of SEK 246 million in the third quarter. 

The gross margin amounted to 39.3 per cent (40.9), adversely impacted by currency effects, a changed sales mix and by Commodore and CIE having a structurally lower gross margin. 

Operating profit fell due to negative currency effects and higher costs, which could only partially be offset by the earnings contribution from Commodore and CIE and increased sales values.

The return on operating capital including items affecting comparability was 24.7 per cent over the past twelve-month period (Jan-Dec 2015: 26.9). The return on equity including items affecting comparability was 23.4 per cent over the past twelve-month period (Jan-Dec 2015: 24.1).

Operating cash flow declined mainly as a result of a negative change in working capital.

Comments from the CEO
“Nobia’s sales increased in the third quarter, despite significant currency effects. I am very pleased with the growth we can report for the Nordic region and that we succeeded in improving the operating margin in the UK. Although macro-economic uncertainty did rise in the UK following the referendum, Nobia’s third-quarter earnings in the region show that the company also remains on the right path there. Organic growth was the result of strong demand for kitchens in the project segment in the Nordic countries. We are working intensively towards achieving our target of an operating margin of 10 per cent as soon as possible,” says President and CEO Morten Falkenberg.


For further information
Contact any of the following on +46 (0)8 440 16 00 or +46 (0)705 95 51 00:
• Morten Falkenberg, President and CEO
• Mikael Norman, CFO
• Lena Schattauer, Head of Communication and Investor Relations

Nobia develops and sells kitchens through some twenty strong brands in Europe, including Magnet in the UK; HTH, Norema, Sigdal, Invita, Marbodal in Scandinavia; Petra and A la Carte in Finland; Ewe, FM and Intuo in Austria, as well as Poggenpohl globally. Nobia generates profitability by combining economies of scale with attractive kitchen offerings. The Group has approximately 6,600 employees and net sales of about SEK 13 billion. The Nobia share is listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm under the ticker NOBI. Website: www.nobia.com

This information is such that Nobia is obliged to made public pursuant to the EU’s Market Abuse Regulation and the Swedish Securities Market Act. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, on 28 October 2016 at 1:00 p.m. CET.