Oslo, 27th April 2016: Itera continued the strong trend from
the end of 2015 and achieved good growth and profitability
improvements at all continuing units in the first quarter of
2016.
Easter fell in the first quarter of 2016. In addition to
more holiday taken, this meant that there were 2.5 fewer
working days in the first quarter of 2016 than in the first
quarter of 2015. This impacted operating revenue and
profitablity. Taking into account the fact that Easter was
in the first quarter of this year and the second quarter of
last year, the Group achieved a good improvement in growth
and profitability.
Pro forma operating revenue was NOK 104.1 million (99.3) for
the first quarter of 2016, equivalent to revenue growth of
5%. In percentage terms Itera's Danish and nearshore units
achieved the strongest revenue growth, but revenue was also
up at all the Group's Norwegian units.
The pr forma operating result before depreciation and
amortisation (EBITDA) for the first quarter of 2016 was a
profit of NOK 11.0 million (a profit of NOK 9.8 million in
Q1 2015), and the operating result before non-recurring
items (EBIT) was a profit of NOK 6.1 million (a profit of
NOK 5.1 million in Q1 2015). The EBIT margin was 5.9% as
compared to 5.1% in the first quarter of 2015.
Cash flow from operating activities was NOK -3.5 million
(-8.1) for the first quarter of 2016.
A key part of Itera's strategy is to maintain and develop
the Group's largest and most strategic relationships across
national borders and areas of expertise. Itera has a strong
customer portfolio in the Nordic region, where many
customers are served from more than one of Itera's various
locations.
Like previous quarters, the Group is experiencing that
digitization is a rapidly growing market trend, with
interest and demand in virtually all industries and sectors.
Customers are committed to delivering great user experiences
to their customers, and request the ability to innovate, a
"lean" development approach and a range of competencies
spanning over communications, technology and service design.
This makes the Group well positioned to continue to build a
strong position in the area.
- The simplification of the Group with a reduced number of
delivery units has helped to reinforce the positive trend
from the end of last year, as planned. We are very satisfied
with the development in the continuing units, with strong
performance particularly in Denmark and in our nearshore
operations, says Arne Mjøs, CEO of Itera.
The revenue from Itera's 30 largest customers grew by 6% in
the first quarter of 2016 and accounted for 71% of the
Group's operating revenue, up from 68% in the first quarter
of 2015.
The proportion of Itera's capacity that is located nearshore
(its nearshore ratio) was 36% (29%) at the end of the first
quarter. The Group's development centre in Bratislava
provides great flexibility with regard to meeting the target
of achieving a nearshore ratio of 50% in the future.
For more information:
Arne Mjøs, CEO
+47 905 23 172
arne.mjos@itera.no
Bent Hammer, CFO
+47 982 15 497
bent.hammer@itera.no
About Itera - great user experiences for the customers'
customers
Itera is a communication and technology company that
delivers services in the strategy and consulting, design and
development, and operations and management areas. The
customers are Nordic organisations that aim to deliver great
user experiences to their customers, and that see the
instrumental contribution of innovation, efficient
communication and good technology use can make to achieving
their goals. Itera is headquartered in Oslo, and has about
450 employees across the Nordics and in Ukraine and
Slovakia. Itera is listed on Oslo Stock Exchange under the
ticker ITE.