Copenhagen, 2016-02-12 07:30 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
- Reported revenue grew to DKK 8,404 million – an increase of 14% compared to 2014. Organic growth was 6%, in line with guidance
- Reported EBITA reached DKK 1,457 million, an increase of 16% compared to 2014 in both reported and constant currency terms
- The strong fundamental results are based on relentless focus on commercialization of innovation during 2015 – and provides a solid platform for growth in 2016 and beyond
- Cash conversion reached industry levels at 51%, an increase of 13 percentage points compared to 2014
- GN distributed DKK 1.2 billion in share buyback programs and dividend to its shareholders – an increase of 34% compared to 2014
In recent years, GN has been transformed from a company in restructuring mode to an industry leader in innovation and growth. 2015 was no exception: GN’s 2014 – 2016 strategy calls for upgrade and relentless focus to improve the group’s ability to commercialize innovation, and that is what was achieved in 2015.
Today, GN has a joint purpose across the group: Making life sound better. By combining knowledge in medical hearing instruments with professional and consumer headset competencies, GN is uniquely positioned to develop intelligent audio solutions that allow its users to hear more, do more and be more than they ever thought possible.
In 2015, GN ReSound continued its strong execution of the strategy 2014 – 2016: INNOVATION & GROWTH, delivering sustainable and profitable growth through the two strategic focus areas: commercialization and innovative product development. GN ReSound’s momentum is very strong and during 2015 GN ReSound captured around half of global unit growth.
The continued improvements in commercialization lead to strong performance across markets and channels and accelerating growth rates. Major efforts have been put behind improved market understanding and to establish stronger and closer relationships with its customers.
GN ReSound’s position as a leader in user-driven innovation was, again, a cornerstone in the profitable growth generated in 2015. The highly efficient R&D machine delivered yet another hearing aid family based on 2.4 GHz technology – ReSound LiNX2, the fourth generation of hearing aids using 2.4 GHz technology – which became GN ReSound’s most prominent and important launch in 2015.
Executing on the strategy 2014 – 2016: INNOVATION & GROWTH, GN Netcom continued to invest in growth opportunities, and during the year GN Netcom launched several innovative products that will strongly support the growth agenda in CC&O / UC and selective segments for Mobile in 2016.
The first half of 2015 saw unusually soft CC&O / UC market conditions but, as projected, a return to more normal market conditions was observed in the second half of 2015. The growth prospects of the UC market remain highly attractive, supported by significant investments made by the UC infrastructure vendors during 2015. GN Netcom strengthened its position as the world’s leading UC supplier – delivering an organic growth in UC of 16% for the year, driven by 23% growth during each of the third and fourth quarter of the year.
In 2015, the Mobile business launched two additional products in the fast-growing Sports Audio segment. The two new products, Jabra Sport Coach™ Wireless and Jabra Sport Pace™ Wireless, follow Jabra Sport Pulse™ Wireless (launched in 2014), and Jabra now offers the strongest Sports Audio headset portfolio in the market. The focus on Sports Audio solutions is part of the continued efforts to position the Mobile division towards faster growing segments of the market, and away from the traditional mono headset segment which is experiencing strong declining trends in most geographies.
At the annual general meeting on March 10, 2016, the Board of Directors will propose a dividend of DKK 161 million for 2015 equivalent to DKK 0.99 per share.
Financial highlights Q4 2015
- GN Store Nord delivered a strong finish to the year generating 7% organic growth and EBITA of DKK 522 million in Q4 2015
- GN ReSound delivered 9% organic growth and EBITA of DKK 340 million in Q4 2015. The full-year 2015 organic growth was 8% and EBITA was DKK 995 million
- GN Netcom delivered 3% organic growth in Q4 2015, despite a difficult comparison with 20% organic growth in Q4 2014. EBITA reached DKK 210 million in Q4 2015, compared to DKK 201 million in Q4 2014. Full-year organic growth ended at 2% and EBITA was DKK 540 million
Guidance 2016
GN’s financial guidance for 2016 reflects the continued strong underlying development of the company, expected continued fundamental attractive market conditions for hearing aids and the CC&O / UC segment and the somewhat volatile market conditions for the Mobile segment. The guidance is in line with the financial targets announced in 2013 as part of GN’s strategy for 2014 – 2016.
GN ReSound will aim to continue to grow at least double the speed of the market and GN Netcom will aim to continue to grow with double digit growth rate in its core CC&O / UC business. While continuing to invest in growth, GN ReSound and GN Netcom will ensure that the EBITA margin continues to be in line with top-tier competitors.
Guidance for 2016:
| DKK million | Organic revenue growth | EBITA | Profit before tax | Effective tax rate | |||
| GN ReSound | Around 6% | Around 1,200 | |||||
| GN Netcom | 7 - 10% | Around 590 | |||||
| • CC&O | More than 10% | ||||||
| • Mobile | 0 - 6% | ||||||
| Other | Around (70) | ||||||
| GN Store Nord | Around 7% | Around 1,720 | Around 1,520 | 25 - 26% |
Quotes from executive management
Anders Hedegaard, CEO of GN ReSound: “Throughout 2015 we saw excellent performance, with a particular strong Q4 2015 where organic growth in our Hearing Instrument business accelerated to 10%. We have solid momentum going into 2016, where we again expect to significantly outperform the market. The key focus in 2015 was the commercialization of our new breakthrough 4th generation of 2.4 GHz hearing aids – ReSound LiNX2. Strong commercial execution during the year helped us to capture around 50% of the global market unit growth”.
René Svendsen-Tune, CEO of GN Netcom: “I am pleased that we during 2015 – a challenging year with unexpectedly soft market conditions – have strengthened our competitive position. As expected our growth rates in the important CC&O division normalized in the second half of 2015, after soft market conditions in the beginning of 2015. In line with our 2014 – 2016 strategy, we have further improved our ability to commercialize innovation, and we have successfully launched very attractive and relevant products”.
Teleconference
GN Store Nord will host a teleconference at 12.30 p.m. CET today. Please visit www.gn.com to access the teleconference. Presentation material will be available on the website prior to the start of the teleconference.
For further information please contact:
Peter Justesen
VP – Investor Relations & Treasury
GN Store Nord A/S
Tel: +45 45 75 87 16
or
Michael Nass Nielsen
Manager – Investor Relations
GN Store Nord A/S
Tel: +45 45 75 02 40
