Aspo now guides EUR 30-36m in FY ’21 EBIT

The guidance range midpoint is a positive surprise compared to the EUR 31.2m/30.9m Evli/cons. estimates before the release, not by that much but the guidance appears on the conservative side considering Aspo achieved EUR 9.6m in Q2 EBIT. This record quarterly EBIT topped the EUR 7.1m/7.0m Evli/cons. estimates by a mile and in our opinion Aspo seems poised towards the upper end of the new guidance range. Steel and forest industry customers in particular drive high cargo volumes for ESL. We also believe Telko has once again reached an above 7% EBIT margin; there might still be some long-term downward pressure on such a high profitability level, but nonetheless the prolonged strong performance makes the long-term 6% target seem a bit modest.

Both ESL and Telko are hitting long-term margin targets

We estimate EUR 35.7m in FY ’21 EBIT. We see H2 EBIT at EUR 18.2m and so only a bit above the EUR 17.5m H1 figure. H2 EBIT has tended to be meaningfully higher than that for H1, and perhaps Telko’s recent high profitability faces some headwinds going forward. ESL’s dockings this summer will dent Q3 EBIT, but Q4 is shaping up to be another record and in our view the carrier’s Q4 EBIT could touch EUR 6m. We estimate ESL to reach its 12% long-term EBIT target this year, thus see ESL FY ’21 EBIT at EUR 20.1m (prev. EUR 18.3m) and estimate another EUR 1.5m gain next year. We expect Telko to reach EUR 18.4m (prev. EUR 16.2m) in FY ’21 EBIT. Telko may find it hard to improve from such levels, at least in terms of margin expansion, as it has already reached the 6% long-term EBIT margin target level.

Stable performance and cash flow turn valuation attractive

Aspo could reach EUR 40m annual EBIT in a few years. We expect EBIT to gain some further EUR 3m next year. Going forward we see relatively stable performance for ESL and Telko, while it remains to be seen how much Leipurin can improve. Aspo is valued ca. 7x EV/EBITDA and 13x EV/EBIT on our FY ’21 estimates; we see further earnings growth and deleveraging, thanks to cash flow generation, helping the multiples lower in the years to come. Our TP is now EUR 11.5 (10.5), retain our BUY rating.

Evli Research