Seafire: Operationally in line, and a BS improvement - ABG

Operationally as expected: sales SEK 233m, adj. EBITA margin 8%
SEK 94m tax deferral brings leverage down to 2.1x, BS under control
Mixed operational outlook for group companies largely unchanged


Q3: Tax deferral brings ND under control

In Q3, Seafire had sales of SEK 233m, up 4% y-o-y, of which -5% organically. Adj. EBITA was SEK 19m (22m), for a margin of 8.2% (9.7%). Broadly speaking, group companies exposed to the consumer and construction sectors continued to face headwinds, while companies within the plant and manufacturing industry saw positive developments. Interestingly, management noted that Nordbutiker started recovering on both sales and margins during the second half of Q3, a trend which has continued into Q4. Adj. net income was SEK 1m (-7m), for a margin of 0.4% (-3.0%), which converted into adj. EPS of SEK 0.02 (-0.22). Lease adj. FCF was SEK 86m (-12m). The high FCF was due to a tax deferral of SEK 94m, to be paid back semiannually in equal instalments during '25-'27. This brought ND/adj. EBITDA pro forma R12m down to 2.1x (from 2.7x q-o-q), more than doubling the margin to the bank debt covenant of 3.25x. We judge this to have greatly reduced the risk of the company breaching the covenant, a risk which we deemed fairly minor to begin with.

Länk till analysen i sin helhet: https://cr.abgsc.com/foretag/Seafire/Equity-research/2023/10/seafire---operationally-in-line-and-a-bs-improvement/