Kitron: Electrification and Industry Sectors Drive Revenue Growth

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Kitron reported quarterly figures showing strong growth within the market sectors Electrification and Industry. The company’s revenue for the first quarter was NOK 938 million, an increase of 7 percent compared to last year. Profitability expressed as EBIT margin was 7.0 percent in the first quarter, compared to 6.7 percent in the same quarter last year.

Peter Nilsson, Kitron's CEO, comments:

“We continue to capitalize on two of the most fundamental changes in the global economy: the move to renewable energy and electrification and the rapid growth in machine-to-machine communications. The demand is very strong. However, as the general material supply situation is challenging, Kitron’s operations will have to be flexible to deliver the demand. In general, the first quarter demonstrates that Kitron’s growth follows the strategic path we outlined at our capital markets presentation in March.”

Increased revenue
Kitron’s revenue for the first quarter was NOK 938 million, compared to NOK 878 million in the same quarter last year. Growth adjusted for foreign exchange effects in consolidation was 9 percent. 

As previously reported, Kitron has realigned the market sectors the company reports on to better reflect current activity as well as identified growth opportunities. Two new market sectors are added: Electrification and Connectivity.

In the first quarter there was strong revenue growth within the Electrification, Connectivity and Industry sectors, while revenue declined within Defence/Aerospace. As expected, revenue within Medical devices has gradually been normalized after the pandemic-related demand surge during 2020.

Solid order backlog
The order backlog ended at NOK 2 060 million, virtually unchanged from last year. The order backlog increased within the Electrification, Connectivity and Industry sectors. As expected, the order backlog within Medical devices declined. Adjusted for changes in currency rates, the order backlog increase was 8 percent compared to last year.

Improved profitability
First quarter operating profit (EBIT) was NOK 65.4 million, compared to 58.4 million last year. EBITDA was NOK 90.2 million, compared to 82.7 million last year. Profit after tax was NOK 43.4 million compared to 40.9 million in the same quarter the previous year. This corresponds to earnings per share of NOK 0.24, up from 0.23 last year. 

Strong operating cash flow
Operating cash flow was NOK 78.3 million, compared to 102.4 million in the first quarter of 2020. Net working capital was NOK 1 035 million, an increase of 2 percent compared to the same quarter last year. Capital efficiency ratios are expected to improve moving forward. 

Outlook
For 2021, Kitron expects revenue between NOK 3 900 and 4 200 million. EBIT margin is expected to be between 6.8 and 7.4 per cent. The outlook for 2021 implies that Kitron is back on its long term trajectory for revenue and profitability after exceptional growth in 2020, largely driven by Corona-related demand within the Medical devices sector. Growth is driven by Connectivity, Electrification, and Industry sectors. The Medical devices sector is expected to be normalised and in line with previous years. The outlook for Defence/Aerospace is slightly down.