Financial highlights first quarter
- The Group’s net sales increased by 2.9% to SEK 632 m (614). Organic growth (constant currency) was 2.5%. Currency effect was 0.4%.
- The Group’s adjusted EBITA amounted to SEK 144 m (140) with adjusted EBITA margin of 22.7% (22.9).
- Net result amounted to SEK -12 m (18).
- Earnings per share before and after dilution amounted to SEK -0.11 (0.17).
- Adjusted free cash flow amounted to SEK 107 m (153).
Comment from CEO Pontus Bodelsson
Karnov Group expanded its mission-critical solutions in the first quarter, resulting in solid net sales growth and robust margins. We achieved an organic growth of 3% and the adjusted EBITA margin was 23%. The Region South integration continued to progress ahead of plan and annual run-rate synergies of EUR 2 m from the Acceleration Initiative were executed.
Solid net sales growth within the Group
The Group’s net sales amounted to SEK 632 m in the quarter, a solid increase from the previous year. Growth is driven by increased online sales, especially within the public sector in Sweden. Our proprietary content is mission-critical for legal professionals in our local European markets and the churn in Region South has improved.
We experience tailwinds from increased regulations within Europe, creating a growing demand for governance solutions among corporates. DIBkunnskap launched its ESG solution in Region North in the quarter with strong interest from the market. The solution is built on proprietary content and supports corporates with the increasing ESG compliance. Furthermore, we acquired the business QSE Conseil SAS, another piece of the French EHS market to our European expansion.
The Group’s adjusted EBITA margin reached 23% in the first quarter, in line with the previous year. We have a strong focus on costs and harvesting synergies from our two cost-efficiency initiatives, which was off-set by higher depreciations in the first quarter.
The adjusted free cash flow was SEK 107 m in the first quarter and leverage improved to 2.7x adjusted EBITDA LTM. The free cash flow was impacted by timing of tax payments and a positive development within net working capital coming from timing of invoicing in Region South.
Region South integration ahead of plan
We continue to progress ahead of plan with the Region South integration. We have migrated close to 70% of the Aranzadi content onto the common content platform. Our cross-selling initiatives in Spain are making progress and the organisation is preparing the launch of the common product suite for later this year.
We are transforming our French business Lamy Liaisons and started the year positively. We are making a turn-around and have strengthened our sales team as a first step. We will also launch a modernised product suite in the fall for greater customer value and profitable growth.
By the end of the first quarter, the annual run-rate synergies from the Region South integration amounted to EUR 3 m. We reiterate our ambition to generate synergies of EUR 7.5 m on annual run-rate basis by the end of 2024 and EUR 10 m on annual run-rate basis by the end of 2026.
Acceleration Initiative for further customer value and profitable growth
Encouraged by the successful merger in Spain and the new opportunities from global technology shifts, we launched our Acceleration Initiative in February this year. This is a Group-wide initiative to generate further customer value as well as additional efficiencies of EUR 10 m on annual run-rate basis by the end of 2026. The synergies will come from product rationalization, common IT infrastructure, office consolidation and an acceleration of offline to online within the Group. The synergies are being harvested in Region North and Group in the first phase, while synergies in Region South are part of the second phase.
By the end of the first quarter, the annual run-rate synergies from the Acceleration Initiative amounted to EUR 2 m.
At the forefront of transformation
We have through the decades consistently developed our solutions to generate mission-critical value for our customers. 25 years ago, we launched our online legal research platform, rapidly making our customers more efficient. Generative AI is the next technology shift and a tailwind for our industry. Updated, local jurisdiction proprietary content is indispensable for trustworthy AI solutions and that is Karnov’s core asset. Leveraging AI, we will solve more customer problems in new and better ways, while also improve internal productivity. Generating more value for our customers will also enable growth opportunities for Karnov.
conference call on 3 may 2024
A webcasted telephone conference will be held at 09.00 a.m. CEST today, where CEO Pontus Bodelsson and CFO Magnus Hansson will present the report and answer questions.
You can follow the presentation via webcast and ask questions in written form on the following page:
https://ir.financialhearings.com/karnov-group-q1-report-2024
If you wish to participate via telephone, and thereby be able to ask questions verbally, please register on the link below. After registration you will be provided phone numbers and a conference ID to access the conference. You can ask questions verbally via the teleconference.
https://conference.financialhearings.com/teleconference/?id=50048829
The presentation material and the report will be available before the conference starts at www.karnovgroup.com. An on-demand version will also be available after the presentation. The presentation will also be available on www.financialhearings.com.
For more information, please contact:
Pontus Bodelsson, President and CEO
Telephone: +46 709 957 002
Email: pontus.bodelsson@karnovgroup.com
Magnus Hansson, CFO
Telephone: +46 708 555 540
Email: magnus.hansson@karnovgroup.com
Erik Berggren, Head of Investor Relations
Telephone: +46 707 597 668
Email: erik.berggren@karnovgroup.com
This press release contains inside information that Karnov Group AB (publ) is required to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation (MAR). The information was submitted for publication by the contact person above on 3 May 2024 at 07:45 CEST.
Karnov Group clears the path to justice, providing mission critical knowledge and workflow solutions to European professionals in the areas of legal, tax and accounting, and environmental, health and safety. With content provided by over 7,000 well-renowned authors and experts, Karnov Group delivers knowledge and insights, enabling more than 400,000 users to make better decisions, faster – every day. With offices in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, France, Spain and Portugal, Karnov Group employs around 1,200 people. The Karnov share is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm, Mid Cap segment under the ticker “KAR”. For more information, please visit www.karnovgroup.com.