Poolia: Performing at a new, higher level in Q2 - ABG

Q2: Net sales up 37% y-o-y, EBIT margin of 4.6% (1.2%)
We think Poolia’s Q2 report was a positive surprise. Net sales were SEK 473m (345m), corresponding to y-o-y growth of 37%, and 8% vs. Q2’19. That was 10% ahead of ABGSCe and the deviation was mainly driven by Poolia Sweden, which grew 46% y-o-y from a rebound in recruiting revenues, the addition of new customers and good momentum from key areas such as IT and Life Science. As far as we understand, there was no extraordinary income for Poolia Sweden in Q2 and revenues have reach a new, higher plateau. In fact, all segments except Germany saw a strong recovery in the quarter, with the Finnish operation posting the largest gain vs. our forecast. EBIT was SEK 21.8m (2.1m), well ahead of our forecast of SEK 9.8m. The deviation was mainly driven by Uniflex Sweden, which recorded a record high EBIT margin of 5.1% (1.7%) in Q2. However, we also saw positive EBIT margin development in Poolia Sweden, as well as in Germany, where Poolia again managed to show a positive contribution.