Humana reports first quarter 2020 results

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First quarter, January - March, 2020 in brief

• Operating revenue was SEK 1,938m (1,708), an increase of 13%, of which organic growth was 3.8%.

• Operating profit was SEK 98m (77), an increase of 28%.

• Net profit after tax for the period amounted to SEK 53m (44).

• Earnings per share for the period before and after dilution amounted to SEK 1.00 (0.83).

• Operating cash flow amounted to SEK 95m (33). 

Significant events in and after Q1

• The Board Of Directors decides to revise the Group's financial targets. The revised financial targets apply from 2020.
• Because of the current situation resulting from the covid-19 pandemic, the Board decides on 30 March to recall its proposal for dividends in order to boost the company’s ability to take action and strengthen its financial situation. Humana’s AGM will be held on 7 May 2020 (the same day as this report is published).
• The Board decides, with the authorisation of the 2019 AGM, to repurchase own shares on Nasdaq Stockholm. The purpose is to enable a transfer of shares to participants in a share savings programme for employees that ran from 2017 until 31 January 2020. At most 60,000 own shares may be acquired for a maximum of SEK 3,600,000. The repurchasing period was between 31 March 2020 and 14 April 2020. The number of repurchased shares is 52,462.
• Humana establishes a crisis organisation to ensure good management and minimised spread of the covid-19 virus. Risk analyses are being performed routinely in all operations and a number of precautionary measures are being taken. These include a halt on all visits to Humana’s elderly care homes. The work is continuing.
• In April, Humana extended its existing credit facilities, with unchanged terms, by an additional year until 2022.

President and CEO Rasmus Nerman comments on the quarter

"The first quarter of the year for Humana, like for all companies, took a turn that was unlike anything we have previously experienced. Even before it became clear that societal spread of covid-19 could not be avoided, Humana had a crisis organisation in place to support management in our operations. Its job is to do risk analyses, make sure routines are at all times fully adapted for the current situation, ensure the supply of protective equipment and communicate with employees, customers, clients and relatives. In our elderly care operations, which operate in Sweden and Finland, this has been a particularly challenging time when we daily put a lot of work into preventing spread and handling any cases of covid-19 in a good manner. But the same is also true of our other operations. In total Humana serves 9,000 customers and clients, and all of our operations must manage the development of covid-19 to various degrees and with a variety of challenges in the day to day operations”, says Rasmus Nerman.

“Financially, we saw a good development during the first quarter. Humana’s operating revenue was SEK 1,938 million, an increase of 13 percent that is partially explained by last year’s acquisition in Finland, partially by a 4 percent organic growth. Operating profit was SEK 98 million, with an operating margin of 5.1 percent. The ongoing pandemic contributed somewhat negatively to both the revenue and costs during the last weeks of the quarter”, he says.

"The pandemic puts Humana, like the whole of society, to a difficult test and will continue to take a lot of our focus, during the current quarter and the rest of the year. We are expecting higher costs associated with covid-19 in the second quarter, as well as a continued impact on revenue. In the end, the most important thing is how we take care of our customers and clients as well as the working environment for our 15,000 employees. I am proud of what we together have accomplished this far. It has been hard work, with a lot of anxiety, but we have also had great unity and an incredible commitment. A warm thank you to all employees, as well as our customers and clients including relatives who have all contributed. This year’s recently completed employee survey confirms and enhances last year’s good results where the overall employee satisfaction figures continued to increase. I am convinced that the result of the employee survey together with the result of the Humana Quality Index are important indicators of how strongly we will be able to stand also in the future", Rasmus Nerman says.

Conference call

A conference call will be held 7 May 2020 at 09:00 CET, at which President and CEO Rasmus Nerman along with Vice President and CFO Ulf Bonnevier will present the report and answer questions. Due to the ongoing pandemic, Quality Director Eva Nilsson Bågenholm will also be present to answer questions. To participate, call:

SE: +46 8 5055 8354
UK: +44 33 3300 9031
USA: +1 833 526 8397

This information is information that Humana AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out below, at 08:00 CET on 7 May 2020.

For more information, please contact:

Ulf Bonnevier, Vice President and CFO, +46 70 164 73 17, ulf.bonnevier@humana.se 
Anna Sönne, Head of Investor Relations, +46 70 601 48 53, anna.sonne@humana.se