Pöyry PLC: Half year financial report 2018

Pöyry PLC          Half year financial report 9 August 2018 at 8.30 a.m. EEST

Adjusted operating result nearly doubled, order stock up by 22%

Key figures for January-June 2018

 (Figures in brackets, unless otherwise stated, refer to the same period of the previous year.)

• The adjusted operating result increased to EUR 19.2 (10.0) million. Adjusted operating result has improved for eight consecutive quarters. It improved in all business groups. Operating result was EUR 32.9 (3.7) million.
   
  • Net sales were EUR 282.5 (267.3) million. Net sales excluding one-time settlement impacts increased in comparable currencies by 7%. They decreased slightly in the Energy Business Group and increased in other business groups.
     
• Order intake increased compared to the corresponding period in the previous year and resulted in a 21.9% increase in the Group's order stock, ending at EUR 578.4 (474.5) million.
   
• Net cash flow from operating activities amounted to EUR 37.3 (-1.9) million, pushing gearing to -15.9%.

All figures and sums have been rounded off from the exact figures, which may lead to minor discrepancies upon addition or subtraction.

Martin à Porta, President and CEO:

Already earlier we had reported several positive book to bill quarters and now we see this positive trend converting into a high order stock (+21.9%) which will drive solid organic growth in sales in the future. Also in terms of profitability, the positive trend from the first quarter continued and we have now seen that our transformation program produced eight consecutive quarters of result improvement compared to the previous year same quarter. All units have improved their profitability and we see good progress in the implementation of our transformation program including a continued increase in employee engagement and intrapreneurship. Our profitability is supported by a strong operational cash flow of EUR 37.3 million, which pushes our gearing to -15.9%.

Demand for our Industry Business Group services continued to be strong especially in Northern Europe and we saw also modest improvement in Latin America. Due to strong demand we have also been able to raise the number of experts in Industry Business Group by 5.8%. Demand for our Energy services was increasing especially in Middle East and in Asia while the European energy market continues to transform, providing selected business opportunities for consulting. I am also happy to see the return of EPC-projects to our offering in South-Eastern Asia. The Infra, Water and Environment Business Group has been well received by clients and the steady performance continues especially in Northern Europe. During the second quarter we have closed old legal cases and now we can spend even more effort on materializing the next generation Pöyry.

Our transformation and empowerment programs continue to have good momentum. Our employee engagement survey conducted in the second quarter of 2018 showed continued improvement in the motivation of our staff, and we see the benefits of an increase in high performance culture across the organisation.

Financial outlook for 2018

On 17 July 2018 Pöyry published a release on the expansion of the financial outlook for 2018. Earlier guidance was: "The Group's adjusted operating result for 2018 is expected to improve (2017: 26.0 MEUR)."

The updated guidance is:

The Group's adjusted operating result for 2018 is expected to improve clearly (2017: 26.0 MEUR).

Market outlook 2018

In general, the market conditions are expected to continue with similar trends to the last 12 months. Growth in the Eurozone has continued, but remains fragile with the potential to change rapidly based on macroeconomic events. In Asia the markets relevant to our operations continue to be strong and offer opportunities, especially to our energy offering. The Middle East shows continued high demand for desalination and new power capacity supported by higher oil price. Latin America is mixed, in Brazil we have seen several positive quarters in relation to GDP-growth but the economy is delicate. Whilst we continue to notice an increase in investment activity, these are yet to materialize as bigger projects. The North American market demand continues to be good but trade barriers set by the USA and potential counter-measures create uncertainties in global markets.

Our industry business sector has continued to be strong especially in Europe, where activity is expected to remain strong. The outlook remains mixed for other regions. The Energy market in Europe continues to provide a few selected business opportunities and remains strong for our Management Consulting services for market design, modelling and due diligence work.

The complete January-June 2018 half year financial report is enclosed with this company announcement and is available in full on the company's website at www.poyry.com. Investors are advised to review the complete half year financial report with tables.

PÖYRY PLC

Additional information:
Juuso Pajunen, CFO
Tel. +358 10 33 26632

Invitation to conference call today on 9 August 2018

The result will be presented in English at a conference for analysts, investors and the press at 1:00 p.m. Finnish time (EEST). The conference will be held at Pöyry house, Jaakonkatu 3, Vantaa, Finland. The event will be hosted by Martin à Porta, President and CEO, and Juuso Pajunen, CFO. The participants who will attend the conference at Pöyry house have been requested to inform about their participation by 6 August 2018. 

The participants can also join a conference call that will be arranged in conjunction with the conference. The conference call details can be found below.

A live webcast of the conference can be followed online on the company's website at www.poyry.com/investors. A recording will be made available by the next working day on the same website.

To attend the conference call, please dial:

FI:                         +358 (0)9 7479 0360
SE:                       +46 (0)8 5033 6573
UK:                      +44 (0)330 336 9104
US:                      +1 323-794-2095
Other countries: +44 (0)330 336 9104

Conference ID: 193708

Due to the nature of the live webcast, we kindly ask those attending the conference call to dial in 5-10 minutes prior to the start of the event.

Pöyry is an international consulting and engineering company.  We serve clients across power generation, transmission & distribution, forest industry, biorefining & chemicals, mining & metals, infrastructure and water & environment. Together, we deliver smart solutions and work with the latest digital innovations. Pöyry's net sales in 2017 were EUR 522 million. The company's shares are quoted on Nasdaq Helsinki. Approximately 5500 experts. 40 countries. 115 offices.

In 2018 Pöyry is proud to be celebrating its 60th Anniversary, together with employees, clients and partners.