First quarter 2025
• Net sales SEK 351.5 million (430.2)
• EBITA SEK 10.4 million (17.4)
• EBITA margin 3.0 percent (4.0)
• EBIT SEK 8.0 million (15.1)
• EBIT margin 2.3 percent (3.5)
• Profit after financial items SEK 8.6 million (13.5)
• Profit for the period SEK 6.9 million (10.5)
• Basic earnings per share SEK 0.72 (1.09)
• Diluted earnings per share SEK 0.72 (1.08)
Performance measures
Chief Executive Officer's statement
"A still-challenging market in the first quarter of 2025"
Purchasing of healthcare staffing was down by between 15 and 40 percent in autumn 2024 on the markets where Dedicare operates. Market conditions remained challenging in early-2025, characterised by price pressure and increased payroll expenses due to intensified competition. This resulted in a poor first quarter for Dedicare in revenue and profitability terms. Meanwhile, Dedicare's size and diversified business means it has better potential to deal with such downturns than many of its competitors. The outcome is that Dedicare is increasing market shares in a declining market. Dedicare is also taking more action to increase internal efficiency while simultaneously exploiting new opportunities.
The Dedicare group's net sales were SEK 351.5 million in the first quarter, an 18.3 percent downturn in year-on-year terms. All our markets weakened, but primarily the Swedish healthcare staffing market. Consolidated EBITA was also down in the quarter, and the EBITA margin was 3.0 percent (4.0) for the quarter. Reduced demand with intensified competition over each assignment, persistent price pressure and increased payroll expenses explain the lower profitability. The group's financial position remains stable, and at the end of the first quarter, our equity/assets ratio was 48.4 percent.
We took a range of actions in 2024 to adapt to prevailing market conditions, generating an annual cost saving of SEK 16 million. In response to progress in the first quarter, more actions were taken to adapt our costs. A new cost savings programme was initiated to generate annual cost saving of some SEK 17 million, with full effect from the fourth quarter 2025.
Net sales for Norway, which make up 62 percent of the Dedicare group's revenues, were down by 17.6 percent to SEK 220.1 million in the quarter. Adjusted for currency effects, net sales were down by 14.3 percent, or NOK 38.5 million.
The Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) is indicating that market growth remains weak, reporting that healthcare staff contracting was down by 13 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024. Although market conditions are challenging in Norway, we succeeded in maintaining profitability. Our EBITA margin in the first quarter was 6.2 percent (6.1).
In Sweden, net sales in the quarter were SEK 68.7 million, down by 27.0 percent on the corresponding quarter of the previous year. As in the previous three quarters, EBITA was negative, at SEK -1.8 million (1.1). Statistics from the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SKR) indicate healthcare staff contracting by the regions decreased by 36 percent in 2024 and the biggest reduction was in the second half-year, by over 40 percent.
In the first quarter, we focused on addressing the demand for staffing services in life science, a market that we're seeing grow. This is an investment we have a lot of confidence in, and we now have an organisation in place to develop this business going forward.
Net sales for the Denmark segment were SEK 55.3 million, a 5.0 percent decrease. Denmark has been subject to contracting limits on nurse staffing for some time, which had a negative impact on sales. The EBITA margin reduced to 3.8 percent (5.5) in the quarter. Although there are no official statistics available in Denmark, we estimate that the Danish market reduced by 25 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Net sales for the UK segment were SEK 12.2 million in the quarter, a 1.6 percent reduction year on year. EBITA was SEK -0.6 million (0.9). We're also seeing a pronounced negative trend in the UK, with the National Health Service (NHS) reporting a 40 percent-plus reduction in healthcare staff contracting in 2024.
To summarise, this has been a challenging start to 2025 for Dedicare, and some way into the year, we're seeing no signs of improvement on the healthcare staffing market. But at the same time, I can state that with its size and diversified business, Dedicare is better equipped to deal with temporary downturns like this than many of its competitors, and I'm delighted to note that we won market shares on all our markets in the second half-year 2024.
After the cost savings and organisational adaptations we made in 2024 and started in 2025, I think the Dedicare group is now well positioned to face continued challenges but also to exploit the opportunities across all our service segments. Additionally, we have good potential to also grow on declining markets, while simultaneously investing where demand is growing, like life science for example.
Fundamentally, the staffing sector is a people business-it's people that make the difference. That's why I want to express my appreciation for the commitment and professionalism Dedicare's people show every day-even in these turbulent times. With the skills and drive we have in our organisation, we're well equipped to face upcoming opportunities and challenges.
Bård Kristiansen, CEO and Managing Director
This information is mandatory for Dedicare AB (publ) to publish pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) and the Swedish Securities Markets Act. This information was submitted for publication through the agency of the below contacts at 3 p.m. CET on 24 April 2025
Bård Kristiansen, CEO & Managing Director, +47 97 08 88 83
Anette Sandsjö, CFO, +46 (0)73 343 44 68
About Dedicare
At Dedicare, we're passionate about adding expertise to healthcare, life science and social work. We're driven by making a responsible and sustainable contribution to people's health, development and quality of life. Dedicare was founded in 1996 and is the Nordic region's largest recruitment and staffing provider. We have operations in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and in the UK. Dedicare is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and had sales of SEK 1.7 billion in 2024. Each day, we have about 2,000 employees on assignment. We see Europe as our future market, and in time, our vision is to grow into one of Europe's leading recruitment and staffing providers in healthcare, life science and social work.
Read more about Dedicare at www.dedicaregroup.com
