AB Angpanneforeningen: Interim Report January-March 2001.Business Editors STOCKHOLM Stockholm (stŏk`hôlm'), city (1995 pop. 692,954), capital of Sweden and of Stockholm co., E Sweden, situated where Lake Mälaren flows into the Baltic Sea. , Sweden--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 8, 2001 AB Angpanneforeningen -- Substantial increase in profit to SEK 35 (9) million -- Operating margin 8.1 (3.3) percent -- Sales grow by 13 percent to SEK 478 (422) million -- AF to remain a preferred supplier to Ericsson -- Acquisition of 20 percent of Finnish forestry consulting company CTS Engineering The strong demand in significant parts of the market for consulting services Noun 1. consulting service - service provided by a professional advisor (e.g., a lawyer or doctor or CPA etc.) service - work done by one person or group that benefits another; "budget separately for goods and services" during the second half of 2000 continued into the first quarter of 2001. All six business areas improved their profit margins compared with the corresponding period in 2000. Three of the business areas - those working with Installations and the development of Systems and Products - achieved profit margins of between 10 percent and 14 percent. Ericsson Er·ics·son , John 1803-1889. American engineer and inventor who built the first ironclad warship, the Monitor (1862), which engaged the Confederate Merrimack in a famous naval battle of the Civil War (March 9, 1862). continued to show confidence in the AF Group by signing a new co-operation agreement primarily covering the development of systems and products. This suggests that opportunities for the AF Group to acquire new shares of this market will remain good. At the same time, the prospects for development continue to remain positive in the installation field as well. The market in those business areas which are active mainly within Plant and Process Industries remained weak - primarily because of widespread reluctance to invest in the process industries and the energy sector. However, the situation has shown a clear improvement compared with that a year ago and is expected to continue to improve even further. The Group's Inspection & Testing business has benefited from a far better balance between supply and demand and a significant improvement in capacity utilisation. The result for the reporting period was SEK SEK In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Swedish Krona. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. 2 million better than budgeted, or a loss of just SEK 1million compared with SEK -5 million for 1999. This points the way to a positive result for the year as a whole. The first-quarter acquisition of 20 percent of Finnish CTS (1) (Clear To Send) The RS-232 signal sent from the receiving station to the transmitting station that indicates it is ready to accept data. Contrast with RTS. (2) (Common Type System) The data typing used in . Engineering has done much to consolidate the AF Group's position in international forestry consulting, with more than 800 consultants working with the forestry industry in half a dozen countries. The agreement with CTS provides the AF Group with an option to increase its ownership to 33 percent. CTS, which employs 250 people in Finland, is one of Europe's most competitive consulting firms Noun 1. consulting firm - a firm of experts providing professional advice to an organization for a fee consulting company business firm, firm, house - the members of a business organization that owns or operates one or more establishments; "he worked for a in the field of paper machine technology. Group profit after net financial items and proportions of associated companies' profits amounted to SEK 35 (9) million, corresponding to an operating margin Operating Margin A ratio used to measure a company's pricing strategy and operating efficiency. Calculated by: of 8.1 (3.3) percent and a profit margin of 7.2 (2.2) percent. These profits are charged with unrealised losses in the share portfolio of SEK 3.2 million, and have also been influenced by a bonus to AF Group staff calculated at SEK 4 (1) million. Return on equity was 16.8 (7.6) percent. Sales amounted to SEK 478 (422) million, with order stock rising to SEK 466 (430) million. The number of employees (calculated as full-time equivalents Full-time equivalent (FTE) is a way to measure a worker's involvement in a project, or a student's enrollment at an educational institution. An FTE of 1.0 means that the person is equivalent to a full-time worker, while an FTE of 0.5 signals that the worker is only half-time. ) including those in associated companies associated company associate n → Partnerfirma f associated company n → società collegata rose to 2,444 (2,209). Parent company sales totalled SEK 27 (27) million, and the result after net financial items was SEK -6.1 (3.3) million. The Group's net worth, after a 20 percent standard tax deduction Tax deduction An expense that a taxpayer is allowed to deduct from taxable income. tax deduction See deduction. on the estimated surplus value of property was SEK 126 (78) per share. Adjusted equity ratio was 47 (38) percent. Consulting businesses Overall profit from consulting operations after net financial items totalled SEK 42 (12) million, with sales increasing to SEK 511 (454) million. Capacity utilisation during the period was 71 (66) percent.
Profit and sales by business area
Amounts in millions of SEK
January-March January- Full-year
2001 March 2000 2000
Profit Sales Profit Sales Profit Sales
Elec. Eng. & 16 154 7 129 38 522
Instrumentation
Energy, Environment & 3 106 -5 100 1 442
Process Technology
HVAC & Sanitation Eng. 9 61 4 49 17 191
Software, Electronics & 15 132 13 116 50 462
Mechanical Eng.
Inspection & Testing -1 27 -5 28 -8 115
Education & Management 1 31 -2 32 0 136
Profit improved substantially despite the fact that demand remains relatively weak for significant parts of the Group's operations. All business areas showed improvements with the greatest advances being made in Energy, Environment & Process Technology, Inspection & Testing and Education & Management. HVAC (Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning) In the home or small office with a handful of computers, HVAC is more for human comfort than the machines. In large datacenters, a humidity-free room with a steady, cool temperature is essential for the trouble-free & Sanitation sanitation: see plumbing; sanitary science. Engineering recorded the best profit margin for the period, in excess of 14 percent. Business within the field of Energy, Environment & Process Technology has been affected by the general tendency to adopt a "wait-and-see" attitude to investments in the forest and energy sectors. However, it is anticipated that these sectors will step up their investments during the coming year at the same time as the acquisition of a share of CTS will enable the AF Group to compete for more and bigger commissions. Profits for Software, Electronics & Mechanical Engineering have continued to improve, but there is uncertainty as to developments in the telecom sector. The recently signed framework agreement with Ericsson ensures that we will remain a preferred supplier over the coming year, which we believe will lead to continued favourable development. Real Estate and Finance Administration The Group's properties, which consist of 95 percent offices, are used primarily by the Group's consulting businesses. The vacancy VACANCY. A place which is empty. The term is principally applied to cases where an office is not filled. 2. By the constitution of the United States, the president has the power to fill up vacancies that may happen during the recess of the senate. ratio at the end of the period was 5 (5) percent. The Group currently owns 34,300 sq.m. of real estate. In an evaluation carried out by Fastighetsforum at the end of 2000 the market value of the Group's properties was assessed at SEK 469 (394) million. Book value was SEK 270 million. Gross investments in machinery and equipment amounted to SEK 13 (14) million excluding investments made via corporate acquisitions. The Group's liquid assets Cash, or property immediately convertible to cash, such as Securities, notes, life insurance policies with cash surrender values, U.S. savings bonds, or an account receivable. amounted to SEK 215 (99) million, with SEK 24 million of this total being invested in Swedish and foreign shares. Interest-bearing liabilities and allocations totalled SEK 368 (350) million, bringing the Group's net borrowings to SEK 153 (251) million. The negative cash flow for the period of SEK -86 (-14) million is attributable chiefly to the payment of tax on the large premium refund TO REFUND. To pay back by the party who has received it, to the party who has paid it, money which ought not to have been paid. 2. On a deficiency of assets, executors and administrators cum testamento annexo, are entitled to have refunded to them legacies from Alecta (formerly SPP (1) (Scalable Parallel Processor) A multiprocessing computer that can be upgraded by adding more CPUs. (2) (Standard Parallel Port) The Centronics parallel port that was used on the first PCs. ), which was entered in the Group's last set of annual accounts. Accounting and valuation principles The principles and calculation methods remain unchanged from those used in the most recent annual report. Outlook for 2001 as a whole It is anticipated that market conditions for those segments in which the AF Group is active will be somewhat more favourable throughout the remainder of 2001 than they were in 2000. Despite some concern about the downturn Downturn The transition point between a rising, expanding economy to a falling, contracting one. downturn A decline in security prices or economic activity following a period of rising or stable prices or activity. for the telecom industry and a certain amount of uncertainty about the general state of the economy and its effect on attitudes to investment we believe that the consolidated result for the AF Group, excluding premium refunds from SPP, will show a marked improvement on that for 2000. Stockholm, 8 May 2001 AB ANGPANNEFORENINGEN (publ) Gunnar Gronkvist Managing Director and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se ----------------- The following files are available for download To receive a file transmitted over a network. In any communications session, "download" means receive, and "upload" means send. The download/upload often implies a big/little scenario, in which data is being downloaded from the "big" server into the "little" user's computer. : http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/05/08/20010508BIT01120/bit0001.doc Full Report http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/05/08/20010508BIT01120/bit0002.pdf Full Report |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion