GN Store Nord A/S: GN Store Nord delivers strong 12% organic growth - EBITA up 56% bringing EBITA margin to 16%

Copenhagen, 2013-05-03 08:00 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- -- GN Store Nord delivered 12% organic growth driving revenue to DKK 1,627 million in Q1 2013 compared to DKK 1,478 million in Q1 2012. Group EBITA, excluding SMART restructuring costs, increased by 56% to DKK 258 million -- GN ReSound grew revenue to DKK 980 million with organic growth of 7% driven by ReSound Verso(TM) and continued strong growth in GN Otometrics. EBITA, excluding SMART restructuring costs, was DKK 158 million corresponding to an improvement of 72% from DKK 92 million in Q1 2012 -- The SMART restructuring program in GN ReSound is on track to deliver the targeted EBITA improvement of DKK 240 - 290 million in 2013 compared to 2011. Driven by the SMART program, the EBITA margin improved from 10% in Q1 2012 to 16% in Q1 2013 -- At the AudiologyNOW! 2013 conference in April, GN ReSound extended the ReSound Verso' family, which was already the most extensive product family on the market. ReSound Verso(TM) TS is GN ReSound's third generation of advanced tinnitus solutions, and ReSound Verso' 5 strengthens GN ReSound's position in the basic segment -- GN Netcom achieved strong organic growth of 20% driven by 33% growth in Unified Communications (UC) headsets and 39% growth in the Mobile business. GN Netcom delivered an EBITA of DKK 119 million, up 38% from Q1 2012 and equivalent to an EBITA margin of 18% -- The growth prospects in the UC segment continue to be highly attractive. During Q1 2013, GN Netcom won a number of large deals including a deal with one of the larger Fortune 500 companies of approximately 70,000 headsets where 3,000 of these have been shipped in the quarter. GN Netcom also advanced its position in the UC segment through the launch of the innovative Jabra MOTION headset and the launch of a global Cisco partnership -- The growth in the Mobile business was driven by a significant increase in demand for traditional mono headsets in China following a legislation change with effect from January 1, 2013

Guidance 2013

GN Store Nord confirms the guidance for 2013 communicated in the Annual Report 2012: 9 - 12% organic revenue growth and an EBITA improvement of 40 - 50% compared to 2012 (excluding restructuring costs).

Quotes from the Executive Management

Lars Viksmoen, CEO of GN ReSound: "It is truly rewarding to see how the organization consistently delivers strong commercial results driven by our high-tech innovations while at the same time executing on the SMART program. During Q1, we took another great step toward delivering on our 20% EBITA margin target for 2013"

Mogens Elsberg, CEO of GN Netcom: "Q1 2013 has been a remarkable quarter for GN Netcom with the best financial Q1 result ever in our history. We are pleased to confirm continued strong growth for UC headsets where we delivered 33% organic growth in addition to a remarkable 39% organic growth in Mobile due to increased demand triggered by the change of legislation in China"

Teleconference

GN Store Nord hosts a teleconference at 11.00 a.m. CET today. Please visit www.gn.com to access the teleconference. Presentation material will be available on the website approximately half an hour prior to the start of the teleconference.

For further information, please contact:

Michael Bjergby Director - IR, Communications, CSR & Treasury GN Store Nord A/S Tel: [phone]

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