Customers are Sectra’s top priority. We create profitable growth by having satisfied customers and dedicated employees, which ultimately benefits our shareholders.
Sectra works towards targets related to four areas:
By governing our operations with these goals in mind, we ensure that our operations create value and contribute to sustainable business development. In addition to the Group-wide goals, there are also business-specific goals in each business area and entity.
Sectra’s overall goal is to create significant value for the company’s customers. Since our customers are incredibly important for functioning societies, this is also our most important sustainability target.
The advantages and value we create for customers lay the foundation for Sectra’s long-term, sustainable success. High levels of customer satisfaction are the ultimate proof that we deliver value and that Sectra’s services and products markedly improve customers’ operations.
Our progress toward the goal is measured on an ongoing basis through internal customer satisfaction surveys based on the Net Promoter Score (NPS) methodology and through leading external evaluations in each area, such as KLAS for our medical IT systems.
Customer satisfaction—number of 19 sub-areas measured that achieve the goal of NPS ≥ 20.
Our employees—and the corporate culture that shapes their conduct and decision-making—are our main competitive advantage. We therefore aim to ensure we have satisfied employees who perceive Sectra as an equal-opportunity workplace without bullying or harassment. We want our employees to feel that our corporate culture motivates and inspires them. This is also crucial to our ability to recruit and retain the right personnel.
We follow up our progress toward achieving these goals with a number of result indicators (see below), which are based on answers from an annual employee survey. To ensure we have the right process and that we can grow in an efficient manner, we also monitor our operating profit in relation to payroll expenses over time.
Corporate culture index—weighs together the answers to questions about Sectra’s corporate culture.
Equal treatment—the degree to which the employees agree with the statement “Sectra is an equal-opportunity workplace”.
Employee “gut feeling”—score for the feeling the employees have when they come to work.
Sectra aims to be a future-proof partner for our customers. Innovation and continuous development are therefore important. This target can be summarized in a quote ascribed to hockey great Wayne Gretzky: “Skate to where the puck is going to be.” In other words, we must ensure that Sectra is well-positioned to meet future customer needs.
How well we meet this target is monitored through our annual employee survey.
Innovation—the degree to which the employees agree with the statement “Sectra is innovative”.
Financial targets in order of priority:
The equity/assets ratio is to be at least 30%.
The operating margin (EBIT margin) is to be at least 15%.
Operating profit (EBIT) per share is to grow by at least 50% over a five-year period.
A strong financial position provides security for customers and enables investments in products, services and areas that create additional value.
The equity/assets ratio exceeds the strategic goal. Higher total assets as a result of increased contract assets and liabilities as well as large advance payments from customers contributed to a lower equity/assets ratio in 2021/2022.
A healthy operating margin means that the business transactions in which Sectra can provide the most value are given higher priority than devoting resources to areas in which such value is lower. Favorable profitability enables Sectra to implement growth initiatives that generate a strong long-term return for its shareholders.
Profitability exceeds the strategic goal by a comfortable margin. Effects of pandemic restrictions contributed to a temporarily higher operating margin in 2020/2021. During the fiscal year, the restrictions were eased, making it possible to once again visit customers and attend trade fairs, although not to the same extent as before the pandemic. During the year, we also strengthened our delivery capacity and increased our reinvestment in future growth.
Profit growth is a more relevant goal for the company than higher sales since the proportion of software, services and deliveries via the Internet increases at the expense of hardware deliveries, for example.
The goal is calculated per share in order to include the effects of potential acquisitions paid for with treasury shares and other dilution effects. This places the focus on ensuring that each acquisition results in higher operating profit per share, which is in the best interests of the shareholders.
Profit growth exceeds the strategic goal by a comfortable margin. This is a result of sales growth and Sectra’s long-term efforts to boost cost-efficiency and the proportion of higher-margin products.
“Our financial focus on long-term growth continues, and we consider two of our goals—the equity/assets ratio and operating margin—to be hygiene factors. Any profit we generate above a 15% operating margin will be reinvested in growth opportunities—a strategy that has proved successful for Sectra’s shareholders in the past.”
Torbjörn Kronander, CEO and President Sectra AB
