Etteplan Interim Report January-March 2023 published: Exceptional items burdened the good result

Etteplan news release May 11, 2023

Etteplan’s Interim Report January-March 2023 has been published. You can find the report and the related presentation materials at https://www.etteplan.com/investors/reports-presentations.

Etteplan’s President and CEO Juha Näkki will present the Company’s results for January-March 2023 in a conference call and a live webcast, held in English, on May 11, 2023 starting at 2.30 p.m. Finnish time (EEST). Join our webcast here: https://www.inderes.fi/fi/videot/etteplan-q123-115-klo-1430.

A recording of the webcast will be available later at www.etteplan.com.

President and CEO Juha Näkki:

“The first quarter of the year went as expected. At comparable exchange rates, revenue grew by eight percent in a slightly softened market situation. The result was burdened by significant exceptional items consisting of one-time salary payment defined in the collective labor agreement in Finland, as well as organizational restructuring costs. During the review period, we carried out measures that were mainly directed at the company’s management. The measures are aimed at ensuring that the company develops in the right direction in all of its businesses. Without the exceptional items, profitability would have been at our target level.

As expected, the market situation was slightly softer than at the end of the previous year. Inflation has remained high due to the war in Ukraine and geopolitical tensions. This has affected consumers’ purchasing behavior, and several European countries have fallen into a slight recession. This is also reflected in industrial investments, and some of our customers have been slightly more cautious in starting for example new product development projects. This caution was apparent particularly in our Software and Embedded Solutions service area, where product development accounts for most of the business. The demand for delivery projects and plant engineering projects remained at a good level. This enabled our Engineering Solutions service area – which had very strong operational performance – achieve an excellent result, if exceptional items are taken into account. The Technical Communication Solutions service area (formerly the Technical Documentation Solutions service area) performed well, but the weaker profitability of Cognitas continued to burden the result. During the review period, we took measures to improve the situation, and we expect the service area’s profitability to return to a level that is in line with our expectations towards the end of the year.

Etteplan’s strategy has proved its effectiveness in both good and weaker market conditions. In connection with the Annual General Meeting, we extended our strategy period and raised our financial targets slightly. Although there was slight softness in demand in the early months of the year, we also see opportunities and expect demand to pick up towards the end of the year. With strong implementation of our strategy, we can achieve the targets set also for this year, and we keep our financial guidance unchanged.”

Additional information:
Juha Näkki, President and CEO, tel. +358 10 307 2077
Outi Torniainen, SVP, Marketing and Communications, tel. +358 10 307 3302