Caverion – Caverion Corporation’s Half-year Financial Report for 1 January – 30 June 2023

Performance improvement continued

 

1 April – 30 June 2023

• Revenue: EUR 628.2 (577.0) million, up by 8.9 (5.9) percent. Organic growth was 8.6 (4.7) percent. Services business revenue increased by 5.0 (7.7) percent. Projects business revenue increased by 16.4 (2.5) percent.
• Adjusted EBITA: EUR 25.5 (22.9) million, or 4.1 (4.0) percent of revenue, up by 11.4 percent.
• EBITA: EUR 13.2 (21.4) million, or 2.1 (3.7) percent of revenue, impacted by the cost reimbursement of EUR 10.0 million to Bain Consortium
• Operating profit: EUR 8.9 (17.5) million, or 1.4 (3.0) percent of revenue, down by 49.1 percent.
• Operating cash flow before financial and tax items: EUR -12.7 (-9.3) million.
• Earnings per share, undiluted: EUR 0.03 (0.09) per share.

 

1 January – 30 June 2023

• Order backlog: EUR 2,004.8 (1,907.9) million, up by 5.1 (6.6) percent. Services backlog increased by 4.0 (4.3) percent. Projects backlog increased by 6.5 (9.8) percent.
• Revenue: EUR 1,243.0 (1,105.1) million, up by 12.5 (4.2) percent. Organic growth was 11.0 (3.6) percent. Services business revenue increased by 10.0 (6.1) percent. Projects business revenue increased by 17.4 (0.8) percent.
• Adjusted EBITA: EUR 50.0 (40.3) million, or 4.0 (3.6) percent of revenue, up by 24.0 percent.
• EBITA: EUR 35.6 (36.4) million, or 2.9 (3.3) percent of revenue, down by 2.1 percent, impacted by the cost reimbursement of EUR 10.0 million to Bain Consortium.
• Operating profit: EUR 27.2 (28.9) million, or 2.2 (2.6) percent of revenue, down by 5.8 percent.
• Operating cash flow before financial and tax items: EUR 39.4 (29.7) million, up by 32.6 percent.
• Cash conversion (LTM): 106.9 (81.3) percent.
• Earnings per share, undiluted: EUR 0.12 (0.13) per share.
• Net debt/Adjusted EBITDA: 1.7x (1.5x).
• Acquisitions: Caverion closed three acquisitions in January–June 2023, total annual revenue EUR 48.8 million.

 

Unless otherwise noted, the figures in brackets refer to the corresponding period in the previous year.

Guidance for 2023: In 2023, Caverion Group’s revenue (2022: EUR 2,352.1 million) and adjusted EBITA (2022: EUR 105.8 million) will grow compared to 2022.

 

 

Jacob Götzsche, President and CEO:

“We continued on our profitable growth path in the second quarter of 2023. Together with the strong first quarter, the financial result of H1/2023 is clearly ahead of the previous year. Despite the challenges posed by the higher interest rate environment to the building construction and building technology markets, our order backlog at the end of the second quarter of 2023 provides us with a solid basis to deliver on our guidance of increasing revenue and adjusted EBITA for the full year.

Our second quarter revenue increased by 8.9 percent to EUR 628.2 (577.0) million and organic growth was 8.6 percent. Currency devaluation in Sweden and Norway impacted our reported revenue by -4.6 percent. These two divisions together accounted for approximately one third of the group revenue in the second quarter. Acquisitions increased the revenue by 4.9 percent compared to Q2/2022.

Our adjusted EBITA improved by 11.4 percent to EUR 25.5 (22.9) million and was 4.1 (4.0) percent of revenue during the second quarter of 2023. The devaluation of the Swedish and Norwegian Krona impacted also our adjusted EBITA negatively. Even if the corona pandemic in large scale seems to be behind us, we are still experiencing a higher sickness rate than before the pandemic, which continues to have a negative impact on our activity level and thereby our profitability. Furthermore, an unexpected strike in Norway in April impacted negatively on our EBITA. Our operating cash flow before financial and tax items improved to EUR 39.4 (29.7) million in the first half of the year 2023.

Our order backlog amounted to EUR 2,004.8 (1,907.9) million at the end of June and was 5.1 percent higher compared to the previous year. We expect our solid order backlog to support revenue growth also going forward. Overall, our business so far has been quite resilient to the high inflation and interest rate environment. Whereas the increasing interest rates have as much as stalled certain segments of the building construction market, the impact on Caverion’s Projects business as a whole has been modest. Inflation still continues to have some impact on the building technology market, although we have already seen the material price inflation slowing down. On the other hand, we expect wage inflation to gradually increase during the rest of the year.

As part of the implementation of our Sustainable Growth strategy, we completed the acquisitions of TM Voima group’s substation and power transmission line business in Finland and in Estonia, as well as the acquisition of CRC Clean Room Control AB in Sweden during the first half of 2023. We continue to screen high quality companies that complement our existing capabilities or geographical footprint.

I would like to thank our customers, partners, shareholders and our almost 15,000 employees for their great contribution and cooperation. I am proud that we together delivered great achievements and financial results for the first half of 2023. With our solid backlog, knowledgeable employees and successfully completed acquisitions we are well set to continue our sustainable growth path in the second half of 2023. As a company, we continue to focus on our customers as well as delivering excellent and sustainable solutions and customer service.”

 

 

Market outlook for 2023

Caverion expects the underlying demand to be overall positive in Services during 2023.

In Projects, the economic uncertainty driven by the high inflation and increasing interest rates as well as the war in Ukraine is impacting the demand environment for new construction negatively. With its balanced Projects business portfolio, Caverion still expects the underlying business activity to remain stable in 2023.

The digitalisation and sustainability megatrends are in many ways favourable to Caverion and they are believed to increase demand for Caverion’s offerings going forward. The increased energy efficiency requirements, and the increasing digitalisation, automation and technology requirements in the built environment remain strong, together with the urbanisation megatrend. Increasing awareness of sustainability is supported by both EU-driven regulations and national legislation setting higher targets and actions for energy efficiency and carbon-neutrality. The continued focus on energy efficiency and CO2 reduction activities and projects continues to support activity and business volume in Caverion’s operating environment.

 

Financial and sustainability targets

Caverion updated its financial targets in connection with publishing its updated strategy on 9 May 2022. Sustainability targets remained unchanged.

* Calculated as Dividend per earnings (%). The Annual General Meeting approved the proposal of the Board of Directors according to which a dividend of EUR 0.20 per share was paid from the distributable funds of the company for the financial year 2022. The dividend was paid on 5 April 2023.

 

* Sustainability eLearning available since Q4/2022. During the year two other ESG related eLearnings conducted with performance rates of 97% (InfoSec eLEarning) and 97% (Code of Conduct eLEarning).

** Sustainability eLearning not yet available. Two other ESG related eLearnings conducted with performance rates of 86% (Safety eLearning) and 92% (Code of Conduct eLearning).

 

 

NEWS CONFERENCE, WEBCAST AND CONFERENCE CALL

Caverion will hold a news conference on its Half-year Financial Report on Thursday, 3 August 2023, at 10.00 a.m. Finnish time (EEST) at the Company’s premises, Torpantie 2, 01650 Vantaa, Finland. The news conference can be viewed live on Caverion’s website at www.caverion.com/investors. It is also possible to participate in the event through a conference call by registering beforehand on the following link: https://palvelu.flik.fi/teleconference/?id=1009622. Phone numbers and the conference ID to access the conference will be provided after the registration. To ask a question, press *5 on your telephone keypad to enter the queue. More practical information on the news conference can be found on Caverion’s website, www.caverion.com/investors.

 

Financial information to be published in 2023

Q3 Interim Report for 2023 will be published on 3 November 2023.

Financial reports and other investor information are available on Caverion’s website www.caverion.com/investors. The materials may also be ordered by sending an e-mail to IR@caverion.com.