Media release 24.03.2020
agta record finishes 2019 in growth mode and improves margins
| in EUR million | 2019 | % | 2018 | % | Change |
| Turnover | 404.8 | 100.0% | 375.4 | 100.0% | +7.8 % |
| Gross margin | 294.4 | 72.7% | 277.0 | 73.8% | +6.3% |
| Personnel expenses | 174.1 | 43.0% | 177.6 | 47.3% | -2.0% |
| Structure cost | 51.7 | 12.8% | 51.2 | 13.6% | +1.0% |
| EBITDA | 70.8 | 17.5% | 50.8 | 13.5% | +39.4% |
| EBIT | 53.0 | 13.1% | 37.8 | 10.0% | +40.2% |
| Financial result | (1.0) | - | (2.6) | - | NM |
| Net income | 40.3 | 10.0% | 25.9 | 6.9% | +55.6% |
After booking revenue growth of 7.8% in 2019, agta record broke through the EUR 400 million barrier for the first time. Growth of product sales was higher (+9.4%) than in service and maintenance (+5.6%) which resulted in a slight reduction in the gross margin (in percent of revenue). Good cost management let the EBITDA margin climb to 17.5%, also supported by a one-time pension credit (due to IAS19) and the first-time application of IFRS 16 (Leasing) which contributed a combined 1.6 percentage points to the improvement. EBIT increased by 40.2% to EUR 53 million. The improved financial result and a lower tax rate of 22.4% resulted in net growing by 55.6%.
Outlook and impact of the pandemic
By the end of February, agta record had grown order intake by 7%. At this point in time and depending on the country, construction sites have been closed or show limited activity, orders and projects are being postponed and technicians are restricted in their mobility. The office based workforce of the group is predominatly working from home. Depending on the country, various options exist to mitigate the negative cost impact of personnel without work. The spreading pandemic and reduced activity are already having negative influence on the March results. Due to the low visibilty it is not possible to evaluate the impact on the full year.
As communicated on 28 February 2020, ASSA ABLOY received phase 1 conditional clearance by the EU Commission to indirectly acquire the 54% shareholding in agta record from the shareholders of agta finance. ASSA ABLOY is expecting the closing in the second half of 2020 after all remaining closing conditions and the EU Commission requirements have been fulfilled.
