SKF Half-year report 2021: Record operating profit

Gothenburg, 20 July 2021

Rickard Gustafson, President and CEO:
"The second quarter saw a record in adjusted operating profit of SEK 3,118 million (1,565 million) and an adjusted operating margin of 15.0% (9.4%).

The result was especially strong, given continued headwinds in the form of negative currency impact and rising input costs. Through mitigating actions we have been able to compensate for approximately 50% of this cost increase. We've done well to serve our customers under these circumstances, and we're doing our outmost to capture additional growth opportunities.

Organic sales development in the quarter was just above 33%, with net sales of SEK 20,735 million (SEK 16,599 million). Sales were significantly higher on all main geographical markets with organic growth of 91% in Latin America, 40% in EMEA, 27% in North America and 19% in APAC.

The Industrial business delivered a record set of results, with an adjusted operating margin of 18.0% (14.0%). The Automotive business delivered an adjusted operating margin of 7.6% (-7.6%).

Cash flow generation in the quarter was SEK 509 million (negative 838 million), an improvement compared to last year as well as the last quarter.

We continue to invest in and consolidate our manufacturing footprint. Since 2019 we have permanently closed six sites and are currently in the process of closing an additional 11. Regretfully, some of these initiatives have a negative impact on some employees which we try to mitigate to the extent possible. Nevertheless, they are necessary to align our presence and capabilities with customer demand and, thereby enabling growth opportunities.

Investments in our factories are expected to reach SEK 3.8 billion for the year, 200 million higher than our previous guidance. These investments make us more flexible and efficient as well as being an important foundation for winning more business from customers in fast-growing segments and regions.

These investments and consolidation efforts have, on an annual basis, realized SEK 1.1 billion of the 5 billion in savings we expect to generate by 2025.

We are moving towards a more sustainable future and we already have an ambitious net zero CO2 emissions target from our own operations by 2030. By also committing to the Science Based Targets Initiative, we're now taking steps to further increase our ambition and transparency levels throughout our supply chain. This will also ensure that our efforts are fully aligned with the ambitions of the Paris Agreement.

The record high operating result for the quarter is a proof point on SKF's ability to drive efficiency and effectiveness in a volatile and demanding market environment. Together with opportunities to further capitalize on our strong market position and industrializing new offerings and business models, we have a solid platform to fuel future growth.

I'm thrilled and eager to embark on the exciting journey that lies ahead of us!

Looking ahead, demand is expected to remain strong but there is also uncertainty related to both Covid and to the supply situation. For the third quarter we expect an organic growth of about 10 percent compared to Q3 2020."

Key figures, SEKm	Q2 2021	Q2 2020	Half year 2021	Half year 2020
Net sales	20,735	16,599	40,600	36,684
Adjusted operating profit	3,118	1,565	5,907	4,137
Adjusted operating margin, %	15.0	9.4	14.5	11.3
Operating profit	2,878	669	5,577	2,937
Operating margin, %	13.9	4.0	13.7	8.0
Adjusted profit before taxes	3,040	1,476	5,626	3,635
Profit before taxes	2,801	580	5,296	2,436
Net cash flow after investments before financing	509	-838	-193	1,902
Basic earnings per share	4.59	0.75	8.50	3.50
Adjusted earnings per share	5.11	2.72	9.23	6.13

 

Net sales change y-o-y, %, Q2	Organic	Structure	Currency	Total
SKF Group	33.2	-	-8.3	24.9
Industrial	21.7	-	-7.9	13.8
Automotive	75.9	-	-9.8	66.1

 

Net sales change y-o-y, %, Half year	Organic	Structure	Currency	Total
SKF Group	19.6	-	-8.9	10.7
Industrial	13.1	-	-8.6	4.5
Automotive	39.2	-	-10.2	29.0

 

Organic sales change in local currencies, per region y-o-y, %, Q2	EMEA	North America	Latin America	Asia
SKF Group	39.8	27.2	91.0	19.1
Industrial	+++	+++	+++	+++
Automotive	+++	+++	+++	+++

 

Organic sales change in local currencies, per region y-o-y, %, Half year	EMEA	North America	Latin America	Asia
SKF Group	18.0	11.8	42.9	22.4
Industrial	+++	+++	+++	+++
Automotive	+++	+++	+++	+++

 

Outlook and guidance

Demand for Q3 2021 compared to Q3 2020
Demand is expected to continue to grow and we expect an organic growth of about 10% for the third quarter compared to Q3 2020

Guidance Q3 2021
Currency impact on the operating profit is expected to be around SEK -150 million compared with Q3 2020, based on exchange rates per 30 June 2021.

Guidance 2021

• Tax level excluding effects related to divested businesses: around 28%.
• Additions to property, plant and equipment: around SEK 3,800 million. Previous guidance was around SEK 3,600 million

A teleconference will be held on 20 July 2020 at 08:00 (CEST):
Conference ID: 302722  
Sweden [phone]
UK / International [phone]

https://investors.skf.com/en

Aktiebolaget SKF

(publ)

The financial information in this press release is information which AB SKF is required to disclose under the EU Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 The information was provided by the above contact persons for publication on 20 July 2021 at 07.00 CEST.

For further information, please contact:
PRESS: Theo Kjellberg, Director, Press Relations
tel: [phone], mobile: [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]

INVESTOR RELATIONS: Patrik Stenberg, Head of Investor Relations
Patrik Stenberg, 46 31-337 2104; 46 705-472 104; [e-mail]

SKF's mission is to be the undisputed leader in the bearing business. We do this by offering solutions that reduce friction and CO2 emissions, whilst at the same time increasing machine uptime and performance. Our products and services around the rotating shaft include bearings, seals, lubrication management, artificial intelligence and wireless condition monitoring. SKF is represented in more than 130 countries and has around 17,000 distributor locations worldwide. Annual sales in 2020 were SEK 74 852 million and the number of employees was 40,963. www.skf.com

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