For further information, please contact:
Jonas Wiström, President/CEO +46 (0)70-608 12 20
Jonas Ågrup, CFO +46 (0)70-333 04 95
Viktor Svensson, Director, Corporate Information +46 (0)70-657 20 26
Third quarter 2010
* Operating income totalled SEK 911 million*) (Q3 2009: SEK 997 million)
* Operating profit amounted to SEK 91 million (SEK 72 million), including a
capital gain of SEK 31 million
* Operating margin, excluding the capital gain, was 6.6 percent (7.2 percent)
* Earnings per share before dilution were SEK 2.09 (SEK 1.36)
January - September 2010
* Operating income totalled SEK 3,518 million (SEK 3,404 million), including
SEK 458 million from sales of subsidiaries
* Operating profit amounted to SEK 711 million (SEK 278 million), including
capital gains of SEK 488 million
* Operating margin, excluding capital gains, was 7.3 percent (8.0) percent
* Earnings per share before dilution were SEK 19.00 (SEK 5.63)
*) A structural effect of SEK -98 million as a consequence of the sale of the
subsidiary ÅF-Kontroll.
A few words from the President, Jonas Wiström:
ÅF's market share has stabilised after the financial crisis, but the road to
recovery will be a long one. While demand remains good in the energy and
infrastructure sectors, there is still a cautious approach to any major new
investments in industrial production capacity.
Operating profit for the third quarter was in line with last year's third-
quarter earnings, bearing in mind that ÅF-Kontroll (the Group's former
Inspection Division, since sold) contributed profits of SEK 12 million during
the corresponding period in 2009.
Profitability has suffered from the continued expansion in the Infrastructure
Planning business area and as a result of delays to the starting date for ÅF's
involvement in the Stockholm Bypass Project after an appeal was lodged. ÅF has
made a strategic decision to take a leading position in this market, where the
prospects for sustained, long-term expansion are very good. At the time of
writing, there are almost 500 ÅF employees working on infrastructure planning,
which is twice the number we had 12 months ago.
ÅF is positive about the immediate future. Not only do we believe that the
market will continue to improve, but interest in ÅF as an employer has never
been greater. Recently ÅF was ranked as Sweden's third most attractive employer,
according to a survey of some 6,000 engineers conducted by Universum.
ÅF has a strong balance sheet which means that ÅF can continue to play an active
role in the process of consolidation that is currently taking place in the
technical consulting industry, taking advantage of opportunities for growth
through acquisitions in both existing and new markets in Europe.
Our overall objective remains, however, to ensure that ÅF continues to generate
levels of profitability that place us among the best performers in our industry,
while increasing our growth rate in the years to come.
Group Head Office:
ÅF AB, SE-169 99 Stockholm, Sweden
Visitor's address: Frösundaleden 2, 169 70 Solna, Sweden
Tel. +46 (0)10-505 00 00 Fax +46 (0)10-505 00 10
www.afconsult.com / info@afconsult.com
Corporate ID number 556120-6474
The information in this interim report fulfils ÅF AB's disclosure requirements
under the provisions of the Swedish Securities Markets Act and/or the Financial
Instruments Trading Act. The information was released for publication at 08:30
CET on 21 October 2010.
All assumptions about the future that are made in this report are based on the
best information available to the company at the time the report was written. As
is the case with all assessments of the future, such assumptions are subject to
risks and uncertainties, which may mean that the actual outcome differs from the
anticipated result.
The full report including tables can be downloaded from the following link:
[HUG#1453697]
