Etteplan Q1: Demand situation as challenging as expected

ETTEPLAN OYJ     INTERIM REPORT     MAY 3, 2013 AT 2.00 P.M.

ETTEPLAN Q1: DEMAND SITUATION AS CHALLENGING AS EXPECTED

Review period January-March 2013

– The Group’s revenue decreased by 3.3% and was EUR 34.5 million
  (1-3/2012: EUR 35.6 million).
– EBITDA declined by 20.3% and was EUR 2.5 million (EUR 3.1 million).
– Operating profit (EBIT) decreased by 32.6% and was EUR 1.8 million (EUR 2.6 million).
– The profit for the review period was EUR 1.0 million (EUR 1.7 million).
– Operating cash flow decreased and was EUR -2.0 million (EUR 1.6 million).
– Earnings per share were EUR 0.05 (EUR 0.09).
– Etteplan adjusts its estimate of outlook for 2013.

Outlook 2013

Market outlook

Changes in Etteplan’s customers’ order books quickly influence the development of Etteplan’s revenue. At the end of the review period, the order books of Etteplan’s major customers were, on average, at a lower level than in the corresponding period in 2012. We estimate that the demand situation for engineering design services continues to be challenging.

Financial guidance

We expect the revenue and operating profit for the year 2013 to be on the same level as in year 2012.

Previous estimate of outlook

Market outlook

Changes in Etteplan’s customers’ order books quickly influence the development of Etteplan’s revenue. At the end of the review period, the order books of Etteplan’s major customers were, on average, at a lower level than in the corresponding period in 2011. We anticipate the demand for engineering design services in early 2013 to remain unchanged from the end of 2012 and subsequently improve towards the end of the year.

Financial guidance

We expect the revenue and operating profit for the year 2013 to grow compared to 2012. The operating profit will accumulate towards the end of the year.

Key figures

Juha Näkki, President and CEO of Etteplan Oyj comments on the interim report:

“The market situation in the review period was difficult. The demand for engineering design services weakened in several client industries compared to the high demand seen in the corresponding period last year. The development of revenue and operating profit remained at the same level as in the fourth quarter of 2012. The turbulence in the European economy created increased uncertainty in the markets towards the end of the review period. Decision-making on new investments slowed down and some design projects were suspended.

Demand in Finland varied regionally. The demand situation in Sweden improved somewhat in the early part of the review period, but this trend leveled out toward the end of the period. Demand in the Netherlands decreased slightly compared to the level seen at the end of 2012. Sales to key customers remained at a reasonably good level on average.

In China, the positive development of the local market continued and the demand for engineering design services improved. We acquired new customers in China during the review period and our existing customer accounts grew. The number of working hours towards the Chinese market increased approximately by 70 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2012, and I expect this positive development to continue. Under the prevailing uncertain market conditions, our customers are looking for new solutions to improve their competitiveness. Etteplan’s service products and solutions offer our customers substantial cost savings and the demand for these services grew in the period under review. We were active in submitting quotations. Our customers were particularly interested in our advanced technical product information services, and we launched several significant pilot projects during the period.

I believe that through our comprehensive service offering our market position will remain strong during the remainder of the year.”

Hollola, May 3, 2013

Etteplan Oyj

Board of Directors

Additional information:

Juha Näkki, President and CEO, tel. +358 400 606 372

The information presented herein has not been audited.

Releases and other corporate information are available on Etteplan’s Web site at www.etteplan.com.

DISTRIBUTION:
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki
Major media
www.etteplan.com

Etteplan provides engineering services and technical product information solutions to the world’s leading companies in the manufacturing industry. Our services are geared to improve the competitiveness of our customers’ products and engineering processes throughout the product life cycle. The results of Etteplan’s innovative engineering can be seen in numerous industrial solutions and everyday products.

In 2012, Etteplan had turnover of EUR 134.5 million. The company has more than 1, 700 professionals in Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands and China. Etteplan’s shares are listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd under the ETT1V ticker.