ACANDO : INTERIM REPORT JANUARY 1 – MARCH 31, 2016

FIRST QUARTER JANUARY 1 - MARCH 31, 2016

> Net sales of SEK 527 m (557)

> Operating profit SEK 34 m (46)

> Operating margin 6.4% (8.3)

> Operating profit excluding discontinued operations was SEK 38 m, corresponding to an operating margin of 7.2% (8.3)

> Profit after tax was SEK 24 m (29)

> Earnings per share were SEK 0.24 (0.28)

> Cash and cash equivalents totaled SEK 78 m (66)

Statement by Carl-Magnus Månsson, CEO

In the first quarter of the year, we continued our development into becoming the first choice for digital transformation. We have supplemented our strategy of offering understanding, insight and experience gained from strategic business transformations and solution implementation with new skills in digital design and customer interaction.

2016 started with a continued favorable trend in both Norway and Germany with rising margins and increasing organic growth. However, sales and operating profit in the first quarter were impacted by calendar effects, the influx of new employees during the first part of the quarter in Sweden and a negative earnings impact from the discontinued operations in India in the quarter. A broad customer base in Sweden with an increasing number of digitization-driven projects, strong framework agreement positions in the public sector in Norway and long customer relationships with industrial conglomerates in Germany provide us with an excellent base for continued growth, and we are proud to propose a dividend of SEK 1.20 per share to the AGM, which is our highest dividend to date.

We have noted how the proportion of assignments with clear digital profiles is on the rise. We are winning new assignments to drive digital maturity processes in customers' organizations, to work with customer behavior analysis based on data-driven methods and, not least, to create new opportunities through innovation and the application of digital technology in new contexts. However, we can also see how our own history and experience will play a crucial role in our success. Our ability to understand the overall perspective in terms of change, architecture and realization methods, in combination with long-standing customer relationships and managing customers' unique environments, gives us a decisive position whereby we can offer rapid and sustainable results. New models require the adaptation of basic skills, and our strong positions in areas such as supply chain design, business system optimization and transformation management make us the given choice for the most complex changes. In 2016, we will escalate our access to digital talent through continued recruitment of established specialist skills and digital talent through our trainee program, and in parallel through the acquisition of specific skills areas when opportunities arise.

To continue improving profitability, it is crucial to keep winning project-based deliveries and increase the proportion of packaging in parallel with continuously adapting the cost base. We will focus on our delivery center in Riga while we dispose of our delivery center in India, to thereby better leverage Acando's delivery centers in project assignments and achieve well-integrated and cost-efficient deliveries. Riga is already well-integrated and the focus will be on growth and access to digital talent. Given the structure and duration of projects in the business systems area, for continuity, we will continue to utilize skills from the discontinued operations in India over a transitional period.

Access to innovative environments and venues that create new possibilities is one of our greatest sources of inspiration together with arenas where our employees' talents can be developed to their full potential. We are therefore particularly proud of the collaboration Acando has entered into with GU Ventures, an organization linked to the University of Gothenburg that aims to utilize the benefits of research findings.

This is information that Acando AB (publ) is obligated to disclose under the Securities Market Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading Act. This information was submitted for publication on April 28, 2016.

For further information, please contact:
Carl-Magnus Månsson, President and CEO [phone]
Anneli Lindblom, CFO [phone]

Acando is a consulting company whose business concept is, in partnership with its customers, to create business value by enhancing and streamlining processes, organizations and digital solutions. We stand out due to our ability to combine skills in strategy and business operations with sound technical expertise and deep understanding of how organizations function. The Group has approximately 1,600 employees allocated over five countries. Acando had sales of close to SEK 2 billion in 2015 and is listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm.

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