Swedish lighting conglomerate Fagerhult Group reported half year January-June 2023 results, showing net sales of $420M (SEK 4.4B) up +11.6% (not including currency and business closure effects.) Order intake during second quarter was mixed across the company’s brands and geographies, and reported to be a little slower the same period in 2022. Operating profit remained strong with operating margin for the first half of 2023 increasing 100 basis point to 10.2%. Cash flow was strongly positive, and the company’s net leverage came down to 2.39x from the prior period’s 2.72x.
Fagerhult Group operates and reports results under 4 business units:
| Business Unit | Key Brands | Market & Product Focus | Net Sales H1 2023 | Net Sales Prior H1 2022 | % Change YoY | Business Unit’s Share of Total Group Sales |
| Collection | iGuzzini, LED Linear, we-ef, ateljé Lyktan | Global, indoor & outdoor architectural | $187M (SEK 2B) | $180M
(SEK 1.9B) |
+3.8% | 43% |
| Premium | Fagerhult, LTS | Europe, often bespoke indoor projects | $147M (SEK 1.5B) | $126M
(SEK 1.3B) |
+16.5% | 34% |
| Professional | Arlight, Eagle, Whitecroft | Local partners & production in Turkey, AUS, UK | $48M
(SEK .5B) |
$47M
(SEK .49B) |
+1.8% | 11% |
| Infrastructure | Designplan, VALO, VEKO | Europe, rugged environment projects | $53M
(SEK .55B) |
$38M
(SEK .39B) |
+30.5% | 12% |
All business units experienced growth in the first half of 2023, with the Infrastructure growing substantially, although order intake declined by -12% in the second quarter. CEO and President Bodil Sonesson noted in her comments that “as a result of external factors and the mix of private investment and public investment, new-build and refurbishment, the overall market activity remains mixed.” CEO Sonesson also highlighted Fagerhult’s innovation going beyond their luminaires, noting “we have embedded an AI Chatbot in our OR [Organic Response] Customer Support Portal. The AI can answer 95% of the basic enquiries in more than 100 languages.”
For more details, find the H1 2023 Fagerhult Group Interim Report here.