Guidance 2012: further EBITA growth:
As expected, management guides that in 2012 EBITA will grow further due to organic growth and acquisitions.
P&L broadly in line:
The 2011 P&L was in line, with sales and amortisation costs slightly higher than expected, and EBITA margins, interest, and tax rate in line. Hence, the quality of profit was good. Sales were € 5,114m (CSS 4,981, KBCS 4,997), EBITA was € 288.4m (CSS 286.3, KBCS 289.2), the operational margin was 6.1% (CSS: 6.1%, KBCS: 6.2%), and net profit reported was € 154.0m (CSS 151.6, KBCS 158.7). Sales rose 14% y/y of which +5% organic growth, +0.6% FX, and +8.4% from M&A. EBITA rose 11% y/y of which +5% organic and +6% from acquisitions. The dividend proposal is € 0.70 (KBCS 0.72).
Divisional performance in line:
All divisions reported in line with expectations, with only minor deviations. The sole exception was overhead, which was € -21.6m vs. our estimate of
€ -18.9m. This includes M&A-related costs that can no longer be amortized, and 2011 was a busy year re M&A.
Backlog looks very promising:
The value was already disclosed: € 5.811bn, +12% y/y due to organic growth and M&A. The B2B is 114% (116% last year). The split: Benelux -5%, Germany & EE +14%, UK/Ire/Sp +25% (inc M&A), Nordic +56% (inc M&A, strong organic growth), and Tech +4%. Germany & EE and Nordic are promising as they have premium margins.
........working capital 5.5% of sales:
WC was € 281m, or 5.5% of sales, or 5.3% M&A-adjusted. Imtech's definition is 10bps higher than ours. This compares to € 300m at the end of 2010. The decline y/y is in spite of sales growth of € 633m y/y (€ 224m organic). Inventories + Debtors - Creditors was € 11m or 0.2% (2010: 32 or 0.7%), WIP was € 333m or 6.5% (2010: 326 or 7.3%) and other was € -63m or
-1.2% (2010: -57 or -1.3%). We expected 7.0% of sales so we will lower our estimates for 2012 and beyond to 6% or so. The 5.5% at year-end is even more impressive when considering that 1H11 was 10.5% vs. 7.9% in 1H10, so 2H11 must have been orgasmic.
Net debt pushed up by M&A:
Net debt amounted to € 521m vs. our estimate of € 430m due to higher than expected spending on M&A and (presumably) intangible assets. Net debt/EBITDA was 1.6x, which should decline strongly in 2012 due to FCF. This leaves plenty of firing power for M&A.
Estimates under review. Analyst meeting at 11.00 CET. Webcast: www.imtech.eu