Pihlajalinna - Little surprises
Pihlajalinna’s Q4 revenue and adj. EBITDA were close to both our and consensus estimates. Profitability improved y/y, but looks to be largely explained by service provider refunds, which have involved a lot of fluctuation historically. Organic growth remained positive (+1.3%) from Q3. Dividend proposal is EUR 0.10 per share, marginally better than expected. Guidance for 2019E looks to be largely reflected in consensus: revenue is to improve while adj. EBIT is to improve clearly. Overall, the Q4 report looks just fine.
- Revenue was EUR 127m vs. EUR 127m/125m Evli/cons estimates. Revenue grew by 17.6% y/y, of which 16.3% was due to M&A. This implies organic growth of +1.3%. Organic growth was similar to Q3 (+1.1%).
- Adj. EBITDA was EUR 11.1m (8.7% margin) vs. EUR 10.9m/11.2m (8.6%/8.9%) Evli/cons estimates. Adj. EBITDA improved by EUR 2.6m y/y, of which EUR 2.4m looks to be explained by service provider refunds from hospital districts for public sector specialized care cost accruals. Volumes and profitability of clinic and surgical operations were lower y/y, due to the competitive situation and patient guidance by insurance companies. New clinics still had a negative EBITDA contribution (as expected), but this now lower than in previous quarters at EUR -0.4m in Q4.
- Dividend is EUR 0.10 per share vs. EUR 0.08 Evli and EUR 0.09 consensus.
- Guidance for 2019E looks to be largely reflected in consensus: Revenue will increase and adj. EBIT will improve clearly.