PANOSTAJA OYJ´S INTERIM REPORT November 1, 2015–January 31, 2016

Panostaja Oyj          Interim Report  3 March 2016   10.00 a.m.

November 1, 2015 – January 31, 2016 (3 months)

• Grano’s net sales for the review period increased more than 50% from the previous year. The main reason behind this is the acquisition of Multiprint Group in June 2015. Grano’s EBIT improved correspondingly from MEUR 0.8 to MEUR 1.3. The Multiprint integration is making progress.
• KotiSun’s growth continued in the review period with net sales increasing by 26%. The provision of sewer renovation services began in the metropolitan area.
• The market situation remained challenging in almost every investment target. Net sales increased in four of the eight targets. The Group’s total net sales increased by 29% and stood at MEUR 40.7 (MEUR 31.6).
• EBIT improved in three of the eight investment targets, and the EBIT of the entire Group increased from MEUR 1.0 to MEUR 1.3.
• Earnings per share (undiluted) were 0.4 cents (-2.2 cents).
• Panostaja updated its estimate of the fair value of the additional purchase price receivable from the Flexim Security sale and recorded a MEUR 2.0 additional purchase price, in which Panostaja’s share before taxes is MEUR 1.4. The amount of the additional purchase price will be determined based on the period ending on April 30, 2016.
• Panostaja Oyj signed agreements for a financing package worth a total of MEUR 30 on December 8, 2015. The package consists of MEUR 20 in loans and a MEUR 10 acquisition limit. Panostaja Oyj has good financial resources for making new investments.

Outlook for the 2016 financial period

Panostaja keeps its result management issued on December 11, 2015 unaltered.The Group’s EBIT is expected to improve substantially over the course of the 2016 financial period.

Changes to business segment names

The names of Panostaja’s business segments have changed, but their contents have remained as before. The investment targets in Panostaja’s majority ownership form the company’s business segments, in addition to which the Others segment has been set up to report on the Group’s parent company, including associated companies and non-allocated items. The segment names are the names of the businesses serving as the investment targets.

CEO Juha Sarsama:

“There was significant variation in the profitability development of the investment targets during the review period. The market situation remains poor in many of our investment targets. Furthermore, the profit development of the investment targets was partially weaker than expected. Overall, the Group’s net sales grew to MEUR 1.3 from the previous year’s MEUR 1.0.

The development measures in the investment targets continued. The Grano integration process proceeded to the implementation of the new strategy, and joint systems were adopted for operational purposes. KotiSun began to provide sewer renovation services in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, taking a significant step towards building a nationwide range of such services in line with its growth strategy. Megaklinikka signed two agreements on licensing its oral health care ERP system to the cities of Jyväskylä and Joensuu, which is further proof of the operating model’s excellent growth opportunities. 

The economic situation in Finland remains uncertain. Various threat scenarios related to the development of the global economy, political risks, the collapse of raw material prices and the financial market cause widespread and prolonged uncertainty that affects economic development in Europe and Finland. The general economic situation and atmosphere are challenging, which is reflected in almost all of our investment targets.

In the review period, activity in the corporate acquisition market has been at a good level overall, even though the availability of new targets has been fairly sparse since the beginning of the year. The markets still provide opportunities for both new acquisitions and select divestments, and we will continue to actively explore new corporate acquisition opportunities.

The income statement for operations discontinued during the reference period has been separated from the income statement for continuing operations and the profit/loss for them is presented in accordance with the IFRS standards in the row ‘Earnings from discontinued operations.’ Prior to separating discontinued and sold operations from continuing operations in the income statement, the consolidated net sales for the reference period were MEUR 39.6 and EBIT was MEUR 1.4.

PRESS CONFERENCE   

Panostaja will arrange a press conference for analysts, institutional investors and representatives of the press on March 3, 2016, at 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., at the Scandic Simonkenttä, in Helsinki, at the address Simonkatu 9, Helsinki.

The Interim Report will be available at the address www.panostaja.fi on March 3, 2016, at 10:00 a.m.

Panostaja Oyj

Juha Sarsama
CEO

Further information
CEO Juha Sarsama +358 40 774 2099