Vmp’s Half-Year Report January 1–june 30, 2018

VMP’S HALF-YEAR REPORT JANUARY 1–JUNE 30, 2018: STRONG GROWTH OF REVENUE AND PROFITABILITY CONTINUED

April–June 2018 in brief

• The Group’s revenue was EUR 32.4 million (EUR 27.2 million in April–June 2017). Revenue increased by 19.1%.
• The Group’s adjusted¹ EBITDA was EUR 2.7 million (2.1). Adjusted EBITDA increased by 24.8%.
• The Group’s earnings per share (EPS) was -0.26 euro². The result was impacted by the increased amortizations of goodwill, EUR 1.7 million, and listing expenses, EUR 3.3 million.

January–June 2018 in brief

• The Group’s revenue was EUR 60.5 million (EUR 50.4 million in January–June 2017). Revenue increased by 20.0%.
• The Group’s adjusted³ EBITDA was EUR 5.0 million (3.7). Adjusted EBITDA increased by 37.0%.
• The Group’s earnings per share (EPS) was -0.29 euro². The result was impacted by the increased amortizations of goodwill, EUR 3.2 million, and listing expenses, EUR 3.3 million.

Outlook for 2018 (unchanged)

VMP expects adjusted EBITDA to grow clearly during the financial period ending December 31, 2018, compared to the financial period ended December 31, 2017.

Key figures

VMP Plc Chief Executive Officer Juha Pesola

“The revenue and profitability of VMP continued their strong growth in the second quarter. Growth was both organic and generated by acquisitions. I am especially happy that our focus on strategy execution and favourable economic development have led to the development and growth of our business both by service area and geographically. Furthermore, we have maintained a high customer satisfaction level amidst strong business growth.

Our adjusted EBITDA increased clearly, amounting to EUR 2.7 million. The increased profitability was mainly due to our scalable business model and good demand for recruitment services. To support growth, we invested in marketing activities in the second quarter mainly in staffing and self-employment business areas.

The market fundamentals in the HR services industry, boosted by the economic growth in Finland, are favourable. Structural changes in the labor market create opportunities for growth. Our growth is supported by industry consolidation, labor scarcity challenges in customer companies, and the growth service project related to the Finnish health, social services and regional government reform. We will be an active player in the industry consolidation, and believe that as a listed company we are an even more attractive partner.

VMP was listed in Nasdaq Helsinki’s First North marketplace on June 19, 2018. With the transformation of work, the HR services industry is in a very interesting phase, and we believe that as listed company our possibilities to execute our strategy are even better. With the initial public offering, VMP got more than 1,100 new Finnish and international shareholders. I am very satisfied with the interest shown by investors, and want to thank all our new shareholders for their trust in us. The company is in excellent shape, and we are well equipped to continue our profitable growth.”

Result publication event

A press conference for analysts and media will be held on Wednesday, August 29, 2018 at 11.00 a.m. Finnish time as a live audiocast at vmp.videosync.fi/h1-katsaus. The conference will be held in Finnish. The conference will be hosted by Juha Pesola, CEO, and Jarmo Korhonen, CFO. During the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions.

The presentation material will be available at company website at www.vmpgroup.fi/en/investors/reports-and-presentations/ before the conference.

A recording of the audiocast will be available at the same website later on the same day.

More information:

Juha Pesola, CEO
tel. +358 (0)40 307 5105

Jarmo Korhonen, CFO
tel. +358 (0)40 510 9336

Certified Adviser: Danske Bank A/S, Finland branch, tel. +358 10 546 7934

 Half Year report is attached to this release. 

VMP_Plc_half_year_report_january_june2018

VMP is a Finnish HR services company with a comprehensive offering of staffing, recruiting and organisational development and self-employment services. VMP is one of the leading HR services companies in Finland as measured by revenue. With its comprehensive services offering VMP aims to meet the changing needs of both employees and employers and is a holistic HR partner to its clients. In 2017, VMP’s revenue amounted to EUR 109.5 million and EBITDA was EUR 9.3 million corresponding to an 8.5 percent EBITDA margin.

¹ In April-June 2018, EUR 0.2 million in personnel expenses relating to severance payments has been entered as items affecting comparability.

² In the calculation of earnings per share, the number of shares is 13,505,191 (registered number of shares as of June 30, 2018). VMP Plc was founded on September 8, 2017. The company acquired Varamiespalvelu-Group on October 31, 2017 through a share transaction. Due to this, the consolidated financial statement of VMP Plc for 2017 only includes operative business activity from a two-month time period. The share transaction had no impact on business operations, but it resulted in VMP Plc having considerable consolidated goodwill and a changed financing structure. The financing structure has also changed due to the financing arrangement carried out in spring 2018 as well as the public listing carried out in June 2018. The half-year report presents information about VMP Group from January 1–June 30, 2018. Comparable data consists of interim information on Varamiespalvelu-Group (“VMP”) from the half year period ended June 30, 2017 as well as information on Varamiespalvelu-Group from the financial period January 1–December 31, 2017. The interim information is not comparable concerning amortizations of goodwill and financing costs resulting from the share transaction. The financial statements and interim reports of VMP Plc and Varamiespalvelu-Group are made pursuant to Finnish Accounting Standards (FAS).

³ In January–June 2018, EUR 0.5 million in personnel expenses relating to severance payments and bonus payments related to the acquisition has been entered as items affecting comparability.