Comment from the CEO The positive development from the recent quarters continues and we can present another quarter with record sales – SEK 180 m. This means that we have had seven consecutive quarters with an unbroken sales increase.
First nine months
Net sales for the first nine months increased with 22 % reaching SEK 527 m (433), corresponding to an 11 % increase in local currencies
Operating profit reached SEK 87 m (80), equal to a 17 % (18) operating margin
Order intake for the first nine months increased with SEK 76 m to 524 m (488) corresponding to a 7 % increase in local currencies
Cash flow from ongoing operations reached SEK 72 m (67)
Net result after tax amounted to SEK 57 m (54) and result per share amounted to SEK 5.01 (4.76)
Net sales for the last twelve months amounted to SEK 683 m (559) corresponding to a 13 % increase in local currencies
Operating result for the last twelve months amounted to SEK 105 m (93) corresponding to a 15 % (17) operating margin
Third quarter
Net sales for the third quarter reached SEK 180 m (152) corresponding to an 18 % increase
Operating result reached SEK 31 m (37)
Order intake during the third quarter was SEK 180 m (148)
Comment from the CEO
The positive development from the recent quarters continues and we can present another quarter with record sales – SEK 180 m. This means that we have had seven consecutive quarters with an unbroken sales increase.
A change in the product mix for the third quarter and a cost increase in our supply chain result in a somewhat weaker gross margin during the third quarter. Together with continuing intensive investments in product development and decreasing capitalization of development expenses, this results in a 17 % operating margin, which is lower than for the same period the previous year.
Our organic growth developed well during the first nine months, primarily driven by a good development of our Anybus products where both new product launches, and a solid, well-established customer base contributed to a good growth.
Central Europe and the Nordic region continues to develop well during the first nine months of the year. We can also see a positive trend in Italy where sales for the current year has developed very well. North America shows a relatively weak trend but the strong US currency raised reported sales. Sales in Asia, led by Japan and China developed well.
IXXAT INpact – the first product based on combined technology from both Anybus and IXXAT – was presented during the quarter. This is a network communication card for industrial PC applications, an area where IXXAT already provides a number of products for communication. This new product is developed using the HMS NP40 chip technology and opens up new application areas for our IXXAT products.
We continue to notice a substantial interest from IT companies intending to use HMS technology to bridge information from industrial machines to IT systems on the enterprise level, an expanding market in the area of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).
We assume a cautious approach to the market development and we consider the conditions for a long-term growth as positive.
Our focus remains to grow our three product brands Anybus, Netbiter and IXXAT. We continue to balance our long-term growth strategy with a restrictive approach to expenses and new resources. In the long term, we consider the market for industrial data communication and remote monitoring to be interesting growth areas and we continue to focus on our motto “Connecting devices”.
Halmstad 2015-10-28
Staffan Dahlström
Chief Executive Officer
HMS Networks Q3 Report 2015 (English)