Financial statements bulletin 1-12/2021: Strong net sales growth in all divisions

Uponor Corporation     Stock exchange release     10 February 2022     8:00 EET

Financial statements bulletin 1-12/2021: Strong net sales growth in all divisions

October–December 2021

  • Net sales were €329.3 (280.5) million, a growth of 17.4%. Organic growth was 17.9% in constant currency terms.
  • Comparable operating profit was €26.7 (27.3) million, a decrease of 2.3%.
  • Operating profit was €22.8 (23.8) million, a decrease of 4.2%.
  • Earnings per share were €0.23 (0.27).

January–December 2021

  • Net sales were €1,313.2 (1,136.0) million, a growth of 15.6%. Organic growth was 16.0% in constant currency terms.
  • Comparable operating profit was €160.5 (142.7) million, a growth of 12.5%.
  • Operating profit was €154.1 (132.3) million, a growth of 16.5%.
  • Earnings per share were €1.33 (1.21).
  • Cash flow from business operations was €139.2 (207.5) million.
  • Return on investment was 24.7% (21.8) and gearing 4.3% (3.6).

Guidance statement for 2022:

Excluding the impacts of currencies, Uponor expects its net sales and comparable operating profit to increase from 2021.

(Increase indicates a growth of 2.5% or more.)

The Board’s dividend proposal:

The Board proposes to the Annual General Meeting that a dividend of €0.67 (0.57) per share be paid, of which €0.33 will be paid in March 2022 and €0.34 is planned to be paid in September 2022.

When deciding on its dividend proposal, the Board considered the solvency, investment plans and other capital needs of the company.

Michael Rauterkus, President and CEO, comments:

“I want to thank all Uponorians for their hard work and contribution to our result in 2021. We achieved a record year in both net sales and operating profit in a very volatile market environment. Throughout the year the raw material prices increased and remained on a significantly higher level than in 2020. We have implemented additional price increases, but the timing of impacts differ from market to market. We expect the margin recovery to continue during the first half of 2022.

In 2021, Building Solutions – Europe continued to improve its performance increasing both net sales and comparable operating profit. The division’s strong performance was driven by volume growth in all key markets combined with price increases and savings generated in the operational excellence programme. In October, we also completed the acquisition of the Polish company Capricorn S.A.

Building Solutions – North America had a strong year, posting a record-breaking $100 million in full-year operating profit for 2021. Demand remained at a good level in the residential segment, and the commercial segment recovered faster than expected from the COVID-19 shock that hit in 2020. This resulted in higher sales volumes, which supported our profitability development together with strong operational performance and price increases.

Uponor Infra’s net sales increased, but the operating profit was impacted by higher raw material prices, which could not be fully compensated. On the positive side, Uponor Infra improved the sales volumes and the sales mix. In addition, operational improvements in Finland continued.

We also took important steps forward in our sustainability agenda. In April, we received approval from the Science Based Targets initiative for our new greenhouse gas emission reduction targets as the first building material company, committing to limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5°C. We launched our first product, Ultra Rib 2 Blue, utilising renewable raw materials and with an up to 70% smaller carbon footprint in September. During the first quarter of 2022, we will launch more products utilising renewable raw materials to European markets.

We are starting the year 2022 with stable demand and actions in place to address a very volatile environment: continuing pandemic, supply shortages, high raw material price levels and levels of inflation that have not been seen for decades.”

Key figures

M€ 10–12/
2021
10–12/
2020
Change1–12/
2021
1–12/
2020
Change
Net sales329.3280.517.4%1,313.21,136.015.6%
Building Solutions – Europe133.9126.85.6%564.2499.513.0%
Building Solutions – North America127.5100.526.9%467.5389.120.2%
Uponor Infra69.154.127.6%286.8252.013.8%
Operating expenses293.9243.520.7%1,110.8952.016.7%
Depreciation and impairments12.613.5-6.5%49.152.7-6.8%
Other operating income0.10.3-80.1%0.91.0-6.7%
Operating profit22.823.8-4.2%154.1132.316.5%
Building Solutions – Europe4.68.5-46.4%65.945.146.1%
Building Solutions – North America20.215.629.0%84.574.513.4%
Uponor Infra2.52.024.2%16.219.0-14.6%
Comparable operating profit26.727.3-2.3%160.5142.712.5%
Building Solutions – Europe8.611.9-27.6%72.055.130.6%
Building Solutions – North America20.315.629.8%84.774.613.5%
Uponor Infra2.62.127.7%16.319.0-14.1%
Financial income and expenses-1.0-3.5-71.5%-7.9-6.326.9%
Profit before taxes21.919.412.6%139.8121.814.8%
Profit for the period18.420.8-11.2%103.496.17.6%
Earnings per share0.230.27-14.8%1.331.219.9%

  

 

 
  Change

 
31 Dec 202131 Dec 2020
Net working capital, M€93.365.941.6%
Net-interest bearing debt, M€20.915.138.9%
Solvency, %50.248.73.1%
Gearing, %4.33.621.2%
Return on investment, %24.721.813.3%

Webcast of the results briefing and the presentation

A webcast in English will be broadcast on 10 February at 10:00 EET. It can be viewed via our website at uponorgroup.com or via the Uponor IR mobile app. The recorded webcast can be viewed via the website or the app shortly after the live presentation. All presentation materials will be available at www.uponorgroup.com > Investors > Reports and presentations.

Uponor Corporation’s financial reporting in 2022

14 March 2022      Virtual Capital Markets Day in Helsinki, Finland
28 April 2022        Interim report 1–3/2022
27 July 2022        Half-year report 1–6/2022
4 Nov 2022         Interim report 1–9/2022


For further information, please contact:
Michael Rauterkus, President and CEO, requests through Päivi Dahlqvist, tel. +358 20 129 2823
Markus Melkko, CFO, tel. +358 20 129 2038

Susanna Inkinen, Vice President, Communications and Corporate Responsibility, tel. +358 20 129 2081


DISTRIBUTION:
Nasdaq Helsinki
Media
www.uponorgroup.com

Uponor in brief
Uponor is rethinking water for future generations. Our offering, including safe drinking water delivery, energy-efficient radiant heating and cooling and reliable infrastructure, enables a more sustainable living environment. We help our customers in residential and commercial construction, municipalities and utilities, as well as different industries to work faster and smarter. Uponor employs about 3,900 professionals in 26 countries in Europe and North America. In 2021, Uponor's net sales totalled approximately €1.3 billion. Uponor Corporation is based in Finland and listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. www.uponorgroup.com

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