company announcement no. 38
| EARNINGS INCREASED DESPITE LATE EASTER |
| STRONG PERFORMANCE IN NORTH SEA |
| POSITIVE OUTLOOK FOR 2017 CONFIRMED |
Q1 2017
· 10% freight volume growth in North Sea
· Passenger volumes reduced by late Easter
· Profit before special items and tax increased 10% to DKK 173m
· ROIC (LTM) of 17.6%
OUTLOOK 2017
· Positive outlook confirmed
· Revenue growth of 4%, adjusted
· EBITDA DKK 2.6-2.8bn
"We achieved a Q1-result ahead of last year. Combined with a continued positive outlook for growth in Europe, we are on track in 2017 to further improve on the all-time high results of last year," says Niels Smedegaard, CEO.
| Key figures | |||||||
| DKK m | Q1 | Q1 | LTM | LTM | FY | ||
| Before special items | 2017 | 2016 | Ch % | 2016-17 | 2015-16 | Ch % | 2016 |
| Revenue | 3,220 | 3,088 | 4.3% | 13,922 | 13,636 | 2.1% | 13,790 |
| EBITDA | 414 | 405 | 2.3% | 2,598 | 2,218 | 17.1% | 2,588 |
| EBIT | 189 | 181 | 4.6% | 1,652 | 1,353 | 22.1% | 1,644 |
| Profit before tax | 173 | 157 | 10.1% | 1,616 | 1,249 | 29.4% | 1,600 |
Revenue increased by 3% in Q1 adjusted for non-comparable items. Reported revenue was up by 4% to DKK 3.2bn.
EBITDA before special items increased by 2% to DKK 414m following higher earnings in the Shipping Division. The result was negatively impacted by non-comparable items vs 2016, including the late Easter in 2017. Q1 is the low season of the year for DFDS due to a low level of passenger activity.
Freight volumes in the Shipping Division's route network were up 7% and up 5% excluding the Hanko-Paldiski route acquired in October 2016.
Passenger volumes were 10% lower than last year mainly due to Easter falling in Q2 in 2017 vs Q1 in 2016.
The Logistics Division's Q1 EBITDA of DKK 48m was 11% below last year following a lower result in the Nordic business unit. Extra costs were incurred from startup of new logistics contracts and traffic imbalances and activity levels in some markets were below last year. The performance of the Continent and UK & Ireland business units were in line with expectations.
Distribution to shareholders
A total of DKK 826m was distributed to shareholders through share buybacks and dividend in Q1 2017. The total distribution for 2017 is currently expected to be DKK 1.3bn.
Outlook 2017
The European growth outlook continues to be supportive of DFDS' infrastructure of ferry routes and the logistics operations.
The Group's full-year revenue growth is still expected to be around 4%, excluding revenue from bunker surcharges.
EBITDA before special items is still expected to be within a range of DKK 2,600-2,800m (2016: DKK 2,588m).
Contact
Niels Smedegaard, CEO, +45 33 42 34 00
Torben Carlsen, CFO +45 33 42 32 01
Søren Brøndholt Nielsen, IR, +45 33 42 33 59
Gert Jakobsen, Communications, +45 33 42 32 97
Read the Interim Report Q1 2017:
https://www.dfds.com/Downloadables/2017-Q1-DFDS-Interim-report.pdf
Read more about Q1 2017 here:
https://www.dfds.com/group/investors/reports-and-presentations/q1-report-2017
