Press Releases

Enea Interim Report January-September 2020

Network solutions growing in importance

July – September 2020

  • Net sales amounted to SEK 206.4 million (246.9), equivalent to a 16 percent decrease.
  • Operating profit amounted to SEK 42.8 million (63.5), corresponding to an operating margin of 20.7 percent (25.7). Operating profit excluding non-recurring items amounted to SEK 47.6 million (63.5), equivalent to an operating margin of 23.0 percent (25.7).
  • Earnings per share amounted to SEK 1.44 (2.37).

January – September 2020

  • Net sales amounted to SEK 667.1 million (736.5), equivalent to a 9 percent decrease.
  • Operating profit amounted to SEK 124.5 million (197.7), corresponding to an operating margin of 18.7 percent (26.8). Operating profit excluding non-recurring items amounted to SEK 148.4 million (201.5), equivalent to an operating margin of 22.3 percent (27.4).
  • Earnings per share amounted to SEK 4.43 (7.21).

Significant events after period-end

1st of October Enea announced the acquisition of Aptilo, a leading provider of policy and access control solutions for carrier Wi-Fi and IoT (Internet of Things), headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.

Statement by the President and Chief Executive Officer

Net sales were SEK 206.4 million in the third quarter 2020, a 16 percent decrease on the corresponding period of the previous year. Operating profit excluding non-recurring items was SEK 47.6 million, equivalent to an operating margin of 23 percent. Despite lower sales, our operating margin is on target, thanks to an efficient cost structure and continuous adaptation to business volumes. Cash flow from operating activities before changes in working capital was SEK 68.1 million, further improving our already stable financial situation.

The decrease in net sales on the previous year is partly because of the continued downturn in operating systems, pursuant to Key Account contracts, combined with declining royalty streams. We are also impacted by lower demand for consulting services in North America, mainly from aviation industry customers impacted by the effects of the corona pandemic. However, we succeeded in minimizing the impact on operating profit due to rapid cost reductions in our American consulting business. Some telecom operators have decided to defer investments, which has meant that some major projects, in segments including 5G, as well as minor software upgrades, have been rescheduled to next year. Overall, we anticipate a negative impact on revenue in the coming quarters, as long as the corona pandemic is affecting our customers’ businesses and willingness to invest.

However, progress in Network Solutions is in the right direction, and this product group represents a growing sales share. Our DPI (Deep Packet Inspection) solutions are gaining ground with customers, who are seeing an increased need for advanced traffic classification to address more challenging demands in cybersecurity. Our offering in data management is well positioned in tenders for new 5G networks, for reasons including our major reference contracts in North America and Europe, announced earlier this year. Our traffic management and video optimization solutions help operators worldwide to enhance end-user experiences and expand the capacity of mobile networks, especially in areas of radio networks with high loading. We are continuing to invest in products and innovation to be one of the leading software vendors in 5G and cybersecurity.

Aptilo brings a unique position on the market

I’m pleased to present the acquisition of Aptilo, which further enhances our positioning as a software vendor in Network Solutions. Aptilo’s policy and access control for public Wi-Fi networks has been installed by over 100 customers worldwide. This business has a high share of recurring revenue, which grows as customers invest in new functionality and increased capacity. This high share of recurring revenue means that Aptilo has coped well with the corona pandemic so far, without any major negative impact on sales. Aptilo has also succeeded in establishing itself on the IoT (Internet of Things) market, which involves the installation and management of different types of device, often in high volumes. Although this market remains at an early stage, Aptilo’s IoT solutions create growth opportunities for current and new business customers.

Aptilo will be integrated as an independent business unit within Enea to ensure continuity and focus for customers and employees. But there are clear synergies that we will progressively realize. This applies not least in sales, where we now have an opportunity to deliver a broader product portfolio to more customers. Policy and access control is already an important component of our data management offering to network operators, and we enjoy an innovative and strong product portfolio for the 4G and 5G standards. The acquisition of Aptilo means we can also offer corresponding support for Wi-Fi and IoT, bringing us unique positioning on the market, where most software and infrastructure vendors specialize in either cellular or Wi-Fi access. Our vision is to become a leader in data management compliant with the new 5G core standard, supporting different types of access (4G, 5G, Wi-Fi, etc.) and multiple types of connected device.

The acquisition of Aptilo is being financed with a combination of a new bank loan and cash. This enables us to retain an efficient funding structure, and to benefit from our strong Balance Sheet. Revenue from the new business unit, expected at over SEK 20 million for the fourth quarter, will further increase the significance of the Network Solutions product group to total sales.

Outlook

Our target of an operating margin over 20 percent remains. Uncertainty in the short to medium term has increased because of the corona pandemic. Its after-effects are very likely to continue to delay projects and impact our business negatively in other ways, risking fluctuations in our earnings over forthcoming quarters. We still take a positive view of market prospects for software in telecom and enterprise networks. We see potential for our new solutions in 5G, cybersecurity and virtualization, which is why we are maintaining our investments in product development and innovation for long-term organic growth. In addition, we are continuing our search for potential acquisitions that can strengthen our market position, and long-term earnings capacity. However, overall, we see that the consequences of the corona pandemic will have a negative impact on our sales in 2020.

The full Interim Report is attached to this press release and has been published on the Enea website (see references below).

Presentation

Enea is pleased to invite investors, analysts, and media to a presentation of the Interim Report. The presentation will be conducted in English by Jan Häglund, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Björn Westberg, Chief Financial Officer, and will be concluded by a questions and answer session. It can be attended through a webcast or conference call and the presentation material as well as a recording of the presentation will be published on the Enea website (see details and references below).

Details

  • Date: October 21, 2020
  • Time: 8.30 a.m. CEST
  • Link for webcast: https://financialhearings.com/event/12942
  • Phone numbers for conference call:
    +46 8 5664 2693 (Sweden)
    +44 33 3300 9268 (UK)
    +1 844 625 1570 (US)

References

Contacts

Jan Häglund, President and Chief Executive Officer
E-mail: [email protected]

Lotta Trulsson, Executive Assistant
E-mail: [email protected]

About Enea

Enea is one of the world’s leading suppliers of innovative software for telecommunication and cybersecurity. Focus areas are cloud-native, 5G-ready products for data management, mobile video traffic optimization, edge virtualization, and traffic intelligence. More than 3 billion people rely on Enea technologies in their daily lives.

Enea is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, and is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm.

For more information: www.enea.com