Strong earnings trend in the fourth quarter and full-year 2020

Regulatory Information 2021-02-08

Fourth quarter 2020: Performance Ratos business group, adjusted for Ratos’s holdings

• Net sales decreased to SEK 5,671m (6,277)
• EBITA increased to SEK 332m (88)
• Cash flow increased to SEK 439m (425)
   

Full-year 2020: Performance Ratos business group, adjusted for Ratos’s holdings

• Net sales decreased to SEK 24,071m (24,499)
• EBITA increased to SEK 1,913m (1,198)
• Cash flow increased to SEK 1,770m (949)
   

Fourth quarter 2020: Performance Ratos Group

• Operating profit for the Ratos Group increased to SEK 372m (122)
• Earnings per share after dilution increased to SEK 0.05 (-0.53)
   

Full-year 2020: Performance Ratos Group

• Operating profit for the Ratos Group increased to SEK 1,929m (1,655)
• Earnings per share after dilution, adjusted for capital gain in 2019, increased to SEK 2.17 (0.59)
• Earnings per share after dilution increased to SEK 2.17 (2.11)
• Cash and cash equivalents in the parent company totalled SEK 1,166m (1,607)
• The Board of Ratos proposes a dividend for full-year 2020 of SEK 0.95 per share (0.65)
   

Events after the end of the period

• In January 2021, Ratos divested Bisnode, excluding its operations in Belgium, to Bisnode’s partner Dun & Bradstreet. The equity value for Ratos’s holding of 70%, as communicated earlier, was SEK 3,900m, yielding a consolidated capital gain of approximately SEK 1,900m.

“In the fourth quarter of 2020, EBITA for the business group increased for the sixth consecutive quarter. EBITA more than tripled compared with the corresponding period in 2019 and increased 60% for the full year. At the same time, strong cash flows in our companies resulted in a rapid decline in the leverage. Most companies are now demonstrating good stability and profitability, which is creating favourable conditions for continued organic and acquired growth. Earnings per share in the Ratos Group for 2020 nearly quadrupled, adjusted for the sale of a Ratos property in 2019. Ratos also improved its liquidity by approximately SEK 3 billion after the end of the period as a result of completing the divestment of Bisnode. Ratos is well prepared for its continued journey towards a business group focused on EBITA growth.” 

Jonas Wiström, President & CEO, Ratos

A telephone conference will be held today at 09.00 CET to present the result. The presentation will be held in English and will also be available as an audiocast on Ratos website, www.ratos.com

Link to the audiocast: https://financialhearings.com/event/13548

Those who wish to participate in the conference call in connection with the presentation are welcome to call the number below. To make sure that the connection to the conference call works, call a few minutes before the conference starts to register.

Dial-in number:
UK: +44 333 300 9031
SE: +46 8 505 583 50
US: +1 833 526 83 47

Stockholm 8 February 2021
Jonas Wiström
President & CEO

For further information, please visit www.ratos.com or contact:

Helene Gustafsson, Head of IR & Press
+46 (0)70 868 40 50
helene.gustafsson@ratos.com

Jonas Wiström, President & CEO
+46 (0)70 868 40 50
 

This is information that Ratos AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 07:00 CET on 8 February 2021.

About Ratos:
Ratos is a business group consisting of 11 companies divided into three business areas: Construction & Services, Consumer & Technology and Industry. In total, the companies have SEK 33 billion in sales and EBITA of SEK 2 billion. Our business concept is to develop mid-sized companies headquartered in the Nordics that are or can become market leaders. We enable independent mid-sized companies to excel by being part of something larger. People, leadership, culture and values are key focus areas for Ratos. Everything we do is based on Ratos’s core values: Simplicity, Speed in Execution and It’s All About People.