Sweco: Is Sustainability Good Enough?

/ July 21, 2021

Sweco had a relatively mild financial performance in Q2 2021 with a 2% yoy growth at cc/cs to SEK 5,643m (USD 649m). The company did not benefit from favorable comps (Q2 2020: +2% yoy at cc/cs). Sweco suffered from its lower utilization rate and headcount

Accenture Gets Big in Germany with Umlaut

/ June 15, 2021

Accenture made a big move with the acquisition of Umlaut, an ER&D vendor headquartered in Germany. The transaction comes as a surprise: umlaut brings EUR 350m in revenues. It is the first sizable acquisition that Accenture made for Industry X. Up to now

M&As: Many Tuck-In Acquisitions and Cognizant ESG

/ April 14, 2021

ER&D vendors continue to be very active in M&As, with many tuck-in acquisitions. AFRY is now in full acquisition mode with six transactions in 2021 YTD. Competitor Sweco has also accelerated with four transactions. Accenture has made an unusual transaction by taking over a manufacturer of industrial automation and robots in Brazil for Accenture Industry X. Finally, Cognizant acquired a significant German automotive ER&D vendor, ESG.

Akka Raises EUR 200m. Share Up 40%

/ October 7, 2020

Akka’s share was up by almost 40% on Tuesday (October 6). The company reassured investors by raising EUR 200 at favorable terms for existing shareholders

Accenture X Acquires A SCM SAP Specialist

/ September 16, 2020

Accenture made another acquisition for its Industry X unit. Salt Solutions is based in Würzburg, 80 miles away from Frankfurt, in Germany. It, also, has offices in Stuttgart, Dresden, and Munich. Salt is SAP-centric with a specialization in SCM and also capabilities around production systems, all around SAP.

Bertrand Does Better than Competitors in Q3

/ September 6, 2020

Bertrandt reported its Q3 FY20 results (calendar Q2 2020). Revenues were EUR 205m, down by a massive-20.9% yoy, and the EBIT margin was -0.9% (Q3 FY19: +2.7%). Yet, Bertrandt’s results were better than those of EDAG ( yoy revenues down by 32.6%) and Akka (-31.4% yoy at CC/CS).

EDAG Declined by 33% in Q2 2020

/ August 30, 2020

We were expecting EDAG would have a difficult Q2, as the company is very European and services mostly the automotive sector. However, we had not anticipated a decline of this scale: revenues were down by 32.6% in Q2. Unsurprisingly, the EBIT margin was significantly in negative territory (-14.4%).

Bertrandt Suffers from its Lack of Diversification in Q2 FY20

/ June 5, 2020

A bit more than two years ago, the share of Bertrandt was above EUR 100 and its market cap above EUR 1bn. Investors liked Bertrandt’s annual growth of 10% and its high-single-digit EBIT margin. Today, Bertrandt’s market cap varies between EUR350-400m, and the financial performance continues to deteriorate.

Tuck-In Acquisitions Continue Despite the Stock Markets Melt-Down

/ March 11, 2020

Despite the stock market melt-down, ER&D vendors have continued to make tuck-in acquisitions in the past two weeks. The acquired firms were of small size and not likely to impact the net debt of their new owners. However, should the Covid-19-China-US trade-war-Stock Markets meltdown-oil price crisis degenerate into a recession, we expect suck tuck-in acquisitions to become scarce.

Bertrandt: Soft Quarter in Q1 FY20

/ February 23, 2020

Bertrandt had a soft quarter in Q1 FY20 (corresponding to calendar Q4 2019): revenues were flat (+0.4%) to EUR 263m, impacted by project delays, and reduced utilization rates in its Digital Engineering (DE) unit (-3.0%). DE, Bertrandt’s largest unit (55% of revenues), suffered from Germany OEMs shifting their R&D spending to digital.

UPDATED: Bertrandt Ends its FY19 with a Low Point

/ December 12, 2019

Bertrandt had a mixed Q4 FY19 performance with revenues up 2.6% and an EBIT margin of 5.2% (down 330 bps). For the full year, revenues reached EUR 1,060m, up 3,8%, within the guidance range the company had provided (EUR 1,041-1,071m).