ETTEPLAN Q1 2021: Back to growth with good profitability

ETTEPLAN Q1 2021: Back to growth with good profitability

Key points January-March 2021

Etteplan also monitors non-IFRS performance measures, because they provide additional information on Etteplan’s development. More information on performance measures is provided on pages 20-21.

President and CEO Juha Näkki:

The year 2021 started well even though we began the year at a disadvantage compared to the relatively normal comparison period. In the beginning of January 2021 we had 165 temporary laid off employees and the number of employees was approximately 5 per cent lower than a year ago. Nevertheless, we were able to turn our revenue back to growth and our profitability exceeded again our target level, improving clearly compared to the comparison period.

The market situation continued to improve in all of our operating countries and service areas as COVID-19 vaccinations progressed. The pandemic and the related restrictions are still reflected in demand to some extent, but orders received by our customers are growing and investments in product development and production increased. The clearest difference to the market situation in the comparison period was in China, where the worst stage of the pandemic took place during the comparison period. The demand situation in China is very good at the moment. The number of hours sold grew by 121 per cent year-on-year.      

Our business developed well in all of our service areas and profitability exceeded our target level in all three service areas due to good operational efficiency. The demand for our service solutions was at a good level. In the Engineering Solutions and Technical Documentation Solutions service areas, we performed particularly well in outsourcing solutions as customers sought flexibility and efficiency in their operations. We signed several outsourcing agreements. In the Software and Embedded Solutions service areas, some projects were slightly slow to get started after the turn of the year, but the demand for digitalization solutions was strong in general. At the beginning of the year, we also started our business in Denmark in this service area by acquiring the software company TekPartner. TekPartner’s partner-focused business model is an excellent fit with Etteplan’s solution-oriented strategy. It provides a good foundation for growth and selling all of Etteplan’s services in the Danish market in the future.

As the market situation has improved, we have resumed our investments in the implementation of our strategy and the development of our service offering. For example, during the review period, we introduced Etteplan HowTo, a digital solution for the creation and interactive distribution of documentation for e.g. mobile devices. The solution has attracted widespread interest among our customers. The service has already been sold to the first customer and we have several POC (proof of concept) projects under way. We also work continuously on developing other new service solutions to increase the value we can create for our customers in the future.

While the pandemic will still influence our business at least in the second quarter, we believe that business will gradually settle into a new normal thereafter. We estimate that the market situation will improve throughout the year. This means that the strong first quarter puts us in a good position for the remainder of the year, and we are increasing our financial guidance accordingly.

Market outlook 2021

The most important factor affecting Etteplan’s business is the global development of the machinery and metal industry. The prolongation of the global COVID-19 pandemic continues to have an impact on the global economy and market situation. As vaccinations progress, orders received by customers have turned to growth and investments in product development and production have accelerated. This has improved the demand situation and we estimate that the positive trend will continue during the year.

Updated financial guidance 2021

Etteplan changed its financial guidance practice at the beginning of 2021. Going forward, Etteplan issues guidance for revenue and operating profit (EBIT) as a numerical range: Etteplan updates its previous guidance and issues the following estimates:  

Revenue in 2021 is estimated to be EUR 285-305 million, and
operating profit (EBIT) in 2021 is estimated to be EUR 25-28 million.

Previous financial guidance 2021 (February 11, 2021)

Revenue in 2021 is estimated to be EUR 280-300 million.
Operating profit (EBIT) in 2021 is estimated to be EUR 23-26 million.

Disclosure procedure

This stock exchange release is a summary of Etteplan's January-March 2021 Interim Report. The complete Interim Report is attached to this stock exchange release in pdf format and is also available on Etteplan's website at www.etteplan.com.

Conference call and live webcast today, May 5, 2021

Etteplan’s President and CEO Juha Näkki will present the Company’s results for January-March 2021 in a conference call and a live webcast, held in English language, on May 5, 2021 starting at 2.30 p.m. Finnish time (EEST).

To participate in the conference call please dial 5-10 minutes prior to the start of the conference to +358 (0)9 8171 0310 and insert the conference PIN code 92737355#. Questions can be asked in Finnish and in English after President and CEO’s presentation only through conference call connection.

Juha Näkki’s presentation can be followed as a live webcast on https://etteplan.videosync.fi/2021-q1-results. The webcast starts at 2.30 p.m. Finnish time (EEST). A recording of the webcast will be available later at www.etteplan.com.

Espoo, May 5, 2021

Etteplan Oyj

Board of Directors

Additional information:
Juha Näkki, President and CEO, tel. +358 10 307 2077
Outi Torniainen, SVP, Marketing and Communications, tel. +358 10 307 3302

The information presented herein has not been audited.
Releases and other corporate information are available on Etteplan's website at www.etteplan.com.

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