“The fourth quarter was special in many ways. In part, the period was characterized by intensive efforts to prepare for the implementation of our decentralized and customer focused Simplify strategy, and, in part, conditions remained challenging in some of our principal markets. Also, in early December, our CEO Håkan Jeppsson unexpectedly and tragically passed away.”

“Despite these circumstances, the Group delivered satisfactory figures. Net sales for the quarter increased by 5 percent compared with the corresponding period in the preceding year, meaning that sales for the full-year were SEK 6,667 million (6,371). Operating EBITA also improved by 7 percent during the quarter, to SEK 215 million (201). Earnings for the full year increased to SEK 657 million (649).”

“One important reason for the improvement in earnings is that the share of consumer sales grew in relation to industry sales. One crucial factor behind this was growth of more than 30 percent in the e-Commerce operations. This had a positive impact on earnings, as the consumer segment has higher margins. At the same time, we also know that consumers are guided strongly by season – few want to replace windows in the winter, and thus we cannot expect to see the same effect in the first quarter of 2019.”

“As a market leader, with strong brands and leading industrial expertise, we are confident in terms of our prospects, at the same time we are also seeing signs of a weaker market trend in some geographic areas. Our long-term acquisition strategy stands firm and our efforts to further strengthen our balance sheet for this purpose are continuing.”

Read the full press release incl KPI table in the pdf attached