Interim Report 3rd Quarter 2017/18 (1 June 2017 – 28 February 2018)
Company announcement No 17.15
Q3 highlights
“We realised a solid result with 10 per cent revenue growth and improved profitability. The result was driven by a 25 per cent increase in revenue in the B&O PLAY business unit, strong sales in the Greater China Region; and our continued focus on costs and operational improvements. Overall, we are pleased with the progress we have made in the first three quarters of this financial year, which we expect will continue in the fourth quarter,” says CEO Henrik Clausen.
Third quarter 2017/18
The Group realised a revenue growth of 10 per cent (13 per cent in local currency). The increase was driven by the strong performance in the B&O PLAY business unit that continued the growth momentum, especially in China, and increased revenue by 25 per cent (28 per cent in local currency). The revenue in the Bang & Olufsen business unit declined by 1 per cent (2 per cent increase in local currency).
The gross margin for the Group decreased to 41.0 per cent from 42.6 per cent last year, primarily due to the B&O PLAY product mix and a higher share of the revenue coming from the B&O PLAY business unit. The development was in line with expectations.
Capacity costs in the underlying business decreased by 4 per cent.
EBITDAC increased by DKK 38 million in the underlying business compared to last year and was DKK 101 million against DKK 63 million last year, which corresponds to an EBITDAC margin of 12 per cent.
EBIT for the underlying business was DKK 50 million compared to DKK 18 million last year, which corresponds to an EBIT margin of 6 per cent.
Free cash flow was DKK 34 million against DKK 97 million last year.
Year-to-date 2017/18
The Group’s total revenue for the first three quarters of 2017/18 was DKK 2,456 million, corresponding to an increase of 13 per cent (16 per cent in local currency), which was driven by 25 per cent growth (28 per cent in local currency) in the B&O PLAY business unit and 4 per cent growth (7 per cent in local currency) in the Bang & Olufsen business unit compared to last year.
EBITDAC in the underlying business for the first three quarters of 2017/18 was DKK 195 million, which was an improvement of DKK 129 million compared to last year, while EBIT in the underlying business was DKK 55 million compared to negative DKK 34 million last year.
Free cash flow in the first three quarters of 2017/18 was negative DKK 80 million against DKK 196 million last year. The development was mainly due to an increase in net working capital of DKK 183 million compared to 31 May 2017.
Outlook
The Group expects to continue the growth momentum and realise revenue above 10 per cent (previously around 10 per cent) compared to 2016/17, and to increase the underlying EBITDAC margin to 8-10 per cent in 2017/18. The Group’s free cash flow is expected to be positive in 2017/18. The EBIT margin for the underlying business is expected to be around 3 per cent for 2017/18.
Any enquiries about this announcement can be addressed to:
Investor contact, Claus Højmark Jensen, tel.: +45 2325 1067
Press contact, Jens Bjørnkjær Gamborg, tel.: +45 2496 9371
A webcast will be hosted on 6 April 2018 at 10:00 CET. Access to the webcast is obtained through our website www.bang-olufsen.com
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