Nilfisk Q1 Interim Report 2018: Solid momentum continues into 2018 with strong progress on strategic initiatives

Company announcement
May 16, 2018
Announcement No. 12

Nilfisk, a leading provider of professional cleaning products and services, is announcing its results for Q1 2018.

Highlights for Q1 2018

• The positive sentiment from Q4 2017, which produced an organic growth of 5.4%, continued into Q1 2018 as order intake remained strong
   
• In Q1, an unusual delivery situation created an order backlog of approximately 7 mEUR above normal at the end of the quarter, leading to a total revenue for Q1 2018 of 257.5 mEUR with an organic growth of only 1.3%
   
• Delivery performance improved significantly in April 2018 and the order backlog was reduced, leading to a solid organic growth of 4.4% for the first four months of 2018
   
• Organic growth in Q1 was driven by EMEA, APAC, and Specialty Professional, where the Industrial Vacuum Solution business delivered double-digit growth
   
• EBITDA before special items was 30.5 mEUR and the EBITDA margin before special items was 11.9%, positively impacted by a phantom share adjustment (10.3% before the adjustment)
   
• The Q1 gross margin was 42.4%, representing a continued improvement over the past two quarters of 2017 (40.8% and 40.4%, respectively)
   
• The cost saving program progressed ahead of plan, and the saving target has been increased from 35 mEUR to 38-42 mEUR by the end of 2019 and 50 mEUR in annual EBITDA improvements by the end of 2020
   
• Nilfisk signed an agreement to sell its Nordic Chemicals & Utensils business with annual revenue of 10 mEUR. The divestment took effect on April 30, 2018, with a minor positive P/L effect
   
• The 2018 outlook is unchanged. Organic growth is expected in the range of 3.0%-4.0% and EBITDA margin before special items is expected in the range of 11.5%-12.0%

CEO comment
 
Commenting on the results, Hans Henrik Lund, CEO of Nilfisk, says:

"Looking at the first months of 2018, the momentum from 2017 continued with a strong order intake throughout the quarter plus solid growth for the first four months of 2018. This leaves us very confident in terms of our full-year outlook. Also, we have made good progress on our strategic initiatives to simplify the company. Our cost saving program is progressing ahead of plan now with an increased saving target of 50 mEUR.”  

Conference call
Nilfisk will host a conference call today at 10:00 CET. Please visit investor.nilfisk.com to access the call. Presentation materials will be available on the website prior to the conference call.

To dial in
Denmark: +45 3515 8121
UK: +44 (0)330 336 9411
US: +1 323-701-0225

Conference ID: 4004773
Link to webcast: https://edge.media-server.com/m6/p/7juw3xu5

Contact

Investor Relations
Henrik Mølgaard
Head of Investor Relations
T: +45 2046 4948

Media Relations
Louise Refsgaard Klinge
Global Media Relations
T: +45 2067 0833

Attachments

• 12 Announcement_16052018_Nilfisk Q1 Interim Report 2018
• Nilfisk Q1 Interim Report 2018