Raute - Guides lower operating profit
Raute reported Q4 revenue above our expectations, however operating profit fell clearly short of our expectations as Raute discovered costs attributable to ’18 workload. As expected, Raute guides flat sales development for ’20, however we didn’t expect the company to guide lower operating profit for the year.
- Raute reported EUR 39.3m Q4 sales (27% y/y decline) in comparison to our EUR 37.0m estimate. Project deliveries generated EUR 24.1m in sales.
- Q4 EBIT amounted to EUR 1.8m, while we had estimated EUR 3.0m. The figure was burdened by unforeseen costs stemming from record-high workload in ‘18. Apparently Raute discovered these issues not before late ’19. Operating margin was thus 4.6% vs our 8.1% expectation.
- Q4 order intake was EUR 17m vs our EUR 19m expectation. Order intake thus decreased 39% y/y. Order book stood at EUR 88m (EUR 95m a year ago).
- The BoD’s dividend proposal is EUR 1.45 per share.
- Raute guides flat sales development for this year (as expected) but expects operating profit to decrease due to adaption measures taken to respond to shifting markets as well as investments in marketing, product development and digitalization.