Organic sales decline of 6% y-o-y
EBIT margin of 7.9% (13.2%)
Q4 demand on same level as Q3
Q3: Sales 6% and EBIT 7% below ABGSCe
Ogunsen's Q3 results were below our expectations, with sales of SEK 111m (-6% y-o-y), which was 6% below ABGSCe. It was lower recruitment sales in particular that explained the deviation, as these only constituted 7% (12%) of total revenues. The consultancy part was roughly unchanged y-o-y, where our expectation was for it to grow by 2% (down from 4% in Q2). The decline in sales is roughly in line with the overall market, but as Ogunsen has a high degree of exposure in Stockholm (where the market was down 17% in Q3), we assess that it gained some market share in its targeted geographical area. EBIT was SEK 8.7m (15.5m) for an EBIT margin of 7.9% (13.2%). Although this was 7% below ABGSCe, we think it is positive that the company can maintain 7-8% EBIT margins in this market environment, as it suggests that the bottom in profitability will be clearly higher than during the last challenging period in '19-'20, where it bottomed at 4%.