Comments from the CEO ÅF continues to grow with profitability Year 2016 saw high growth, strategic acquisitions and a strengthened client offering. Our business is fuelled by global societal trends and we are seeing a market that is slightly more positive than in 2015. Growth was strong and operating profit for the year was the highest in ÅF’s history, providing a solid platform for continued profitable growth in 2017. ÅF continues to comply with the UN Global Compact, which include the principles of human rights, labour standards, environment responsibility and measures against corruption, which guide us in our work and in our overall sustainability efforts. Improved profit and somewhat more positive market We experienced a positive trend in 2016, which meant that operating profit excl uding items affecting comparability amounted to SEK 964 million, an increase of 16 percent on 2015. The pace of acquisi tions has been high and in 2016 a total of 15 operations were acquired, with com bined sales of SEK 1.5 billion. The acqui sitions have positioned ÅF for further growth primarily in Norway, Denmark and Switzerland, and expanded our offer ing to cover new areas. The acquisition of Sandellsandberg, one of Sweden’s most successful architectural and design com panies, is one such example. It allows ÅF to come on board at an earlier stage in infrastructure planning projects and deliver end-to-end solutions, while rein forcing our offering within design aimed at industry. We are continually deepening our industry knowledge, with the automotive industry being a specific example, and establishing more global business areas. In the 2015 annual report, I described the outlook as more difficult to predict than usual. We can now report that 2016 proved more positive than anticipated, and that we feel slightly more optimistic about 2017 than we did a year ago, although concerns have not disappeared entirely. Demand from the industrial sec tor varies considerably, with a high pace of investment in the automotive, pulp, food and pharmaceutical industries, while min ing, steel and the nuclear power industries are showing weaker demand but also signs of stabilising. Demand in infrastructure planning is strong in both roads and rail ways, as well as the property sector. Investments in renewable energy, trans mission and distribution are increasing, but the energy market, particularly in Europe, remains weak, and ÅF’s exposure to the sector is persistently declining. Through its broad offering, ÅF has good opportunities to balance economic fluctu ations in different industries. Driving forces for our business Engineers are and will continue to be increasingly important going forward in resolving future social challenges. We are now seeing several global societal trends that directly affect our clients, and where strengthened competitiveness and a sus 1 ÅF SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2016
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