Events after the balance sheet date
The breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic in the fourth quarter of the financial year initially had limited impact on the Group’s operations. Addtech continues to monitor the recommendations issued by the appropriate authorities and is taking relevant health precautions to protect its personnel and to mitigate contagion in society. The pandemic is affecting the entire global market and will also have an impact on Addtech over the next financial year. Challenges are appearing in the supply chain and uncertainties prevail regarding our customers’ prospects of keeping their operations running at full capacity. We continuously prepare and undertake measures to be able to respond quickly to address reduced sales. All companies in the Group have prepared action plans and cost-saving programmes ready to be executed to protect earnings, liquidity and cash flow.

At the time of writing, approximately 120 of the Group’s total approximately 3,000 employees have been notified of redundancy and a further 800 employees are affected by short-term lay-offs. Sales in the first quarter of 2020/2021 is estimated to have been negatively affected by approximately 7 percent compared to sales in the first quarter previous year due to the current pandemic. Sales for the first quarter totaled SEK 2,805 million (2,934), a decrease of 4 percent of which 7 percent organically, with an operating margin of 8.7 percent (10.0).

On 1 April, Elkome Group Oy was acquired in Finland and joined the Automation business area. Elkome develops, integrates and delivers solutions for applications in industrial IoT, primarily targeting industrial production, smart solutions for sustainable cities and infrastructure. Solutions include customised computer systems, info kiosks, test systems, software, sensors and industrial communications. The company generates annual sales of approximately EUR 8 million and has 38 employees.

On 2 April, Peter Andersson AB was acquired in Sweden and joined the Energy business area. Andersson System provides electrical accessories for office and kitchen environments in Sweden and Norway, both as trade products and as products developed in-house. These products are sold via retailers in office furniture, office equipment, AV equipment, computer accessories and kitchen fittings. The company generates annual sales of approximately SEK 30 million and has nine employees.

On 8 April, the company Valutec Group AB was acquired in Sweden and joined the Industrial Process business area. Valutec is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of wood dryers for the forest industry. The company generates annual sales of approximately SEK 350 million and has 45 employees.

According to the preliminary acquisition analyses, the assets and liabilities included in acquisitions following the end of the year were: