Hexagon Composites nine months' sales rise 5%

Highlights:

- Net sales amounted to 576.6 MEUR (578.1). Using fixed exchange rates and a comparable group structure, net sales increased by 5 per cent

- Operating earnings (EBIT) increased to 118.4 MEUR (115.4)

- Earnings before taxes, excluding non-recurring items, amounted to 109.9 MEUR (103.4)

- Net earnings, excluding non-recurring items, amounted to 89.0 MEUR (83.7)

- Earnings per share, excluding non-recurring items, increased by 4 per cent to 0.25 EUR (0.24)

- Operating cash flow increased by 11 per cent to 94.3 MEUR (84.6)

Comments from Ola Rollén, President and CEO, HEXAGON AB

“Hexagon reports 5 per cent organic growth in the third quarter. Geosystems' growth accelerated, supported by an improving European construction market and strong customer demand for the new products launched in July. We experienced solid demand in the aerospace, power and energy sectors, but faced weakness in the US defence sector, as well as automotive, which is currently in the trough of its capex cycle.

“The operating margin expansion in the quarter underscores the shift in our business model as we move towards software centric solutions. We continue to report strong cash flow which has enabled us to increase expansion activity, evidenced by the acquisitions of Devex, AHAB, and the public offer for Veripos.

Business development Q3

Organic growth was 5 per cent in the third quarter while recorded sales grew by 0 percent. Operating profit (EBIT) increased by 3 per cent to 118.4 MEUR.

The organic growth in the Group’s core business, Measurement Technologies (MT), was 5 per cent and net sales amounted to 566.1 MEUR. Operating earnings in MT increased to 122.3 MEUR, corresponding to an operating margin of 21.6 per cent.

Geosystems reported organic growth of 12 per cent and represented 35 per cent of net sales in the third quarter. Metrology, which represented 30 per cent of net sales, reported organic growth of 3per cent.

Technology, which represented 33 per cent of net sales, reported 0 per cent organic growth. Intergraph PP&M continued to expand and reported organic growth of 7 per cent despite tough comparison numbers from Q3 2012. Intergraph SG&I reported negative growth due to the continued downturn in the defense segment which contracted by -36 per cent in the quarter.

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