Ogunsen: Tough Q2, but it's not getting worse - ABG

Organic sales decline of 7% y-o-y
EBIT margin of 4.6% (7.1%)
Recruitment profitability under pressure


Unexpected drop in profitability, but demand is still OK

Q2 numbers were weaker than expected for sales (-5% vs ABGSCe) and especially for EBIT (-49% vs ABGSCe), as profitability in the recruitment business area was clearly lower y-o-y with an EBIT margin of 20% (34.5%). This could be an effect of a few deals not going as planned, or signs of high competition in a depressed market that leads to price pressure. We think the latter is more likely. There is currently no clear trend in demand: Q3 has started on the same level as in Q2, and in Q2 the demand pictured improved every month, meaning the situation is not getting worse. Rather, it paints a cautiously optimistic picture for H2e. Cash flow was strong from favourable working capital movements, and the company still has SEK 40m in cash after the dividend payout of SEK 37m in Q2.