Q3 2019 organic growth
-2.5%
Q3 2019 underlying EBITA
€ 298m
Q3 2019 EBITA margin
5.0%
Q3 2019 EBITA margin
down 10bp YoY to 5.0%;
selective investments in
growth areas continue.
gross margin 20.1%, up
30bp YoY; continued
management focus on
pricing, supported by
digital tools.
topline in Europe
stabilizing, US slightly
easing, both impacted by
macro uncertainty; robust
growthinRestoftheworld.
September organic sales
growth in line with Q3;
volumes in early October
indicate a continuation of
the trend.
Q3 FCF more than
doubling YoY to
€ 468m
ongoing market share
gains in several countries,
fueled by digital strategy.
"Our strong gross margin and balanced cost management were able to o?set slightly negative organic revenue growth
in Q3 2019, while generating record high quarterly free cash flow," says CEO Jacques van den Broek. “We continue to
gain market share in several countries, in part driven by the successful progression of our digital strategy across the
world. We experienced ongoing weakness in industrial-related sectors, while still identifying ample growth
opportunities globally. This means that we continue to balance selective investments for the longer term, while
managing more challenging markets. Meanwhile, our free cash flow more than doubled year-on-year in Q3 2019. This
underpins the countercyclical nature of our working capital requirements, and hence the resilience of our free cash
flow generation through the cycle.”
“Finally, I’m very happy with the proposal to nominate René Steenvoorden as Chief Digital O?icer to our Executive
Board. This appointment will further strengthen the new setup of our executive team, in which countries,regions, and the digital transformation are now all directly represented. With this team, I’m convinced we’ll be able to further
accelerate the execution of our Tech & Touch strategy.”