Risks and short-term uncertainty factors

Tecnotree’s risks and uncertainties in the near future relate to development of net sales, projects, to their timing, to trade receivables and to changes in foreign exchange rates.

Risks and uncertainty factors relating to business operations
As part of its strategic change and the streamlining of its business, Tecnotree is in the process of shifting the focus of its operations from services to product-based solutions. This change may involve risks, such as the time to develop new products, the timely market introduction of products, the competitive situation as well as the company’s ability to respond to customer and market demand.

Dependence on key customers
Tecnotree’s largest customers are much bigger businesses than the company itself and the two largest customers accounted for 80% of net sales in 2019 (84%). The relationship between the company and its major customers is one of interdependence, which offers business opportunities but also poses risks.

Carrying out customer projects, profitability, forecasting
Certain commitments are associated with the project and maintenance agreements made by the company, and unforeseen costs may arise in the future from these agreements. The company aims to limit these commitments with limitation of liability clauses in customer contracts. In addition, the company has a current global liability insurance to cover any liabilities that may materialise in connection with customer projects in accordance with the insurance agreement.

Carrying out projects involves risks. They are contained for example in projects that require new product development, where creating new product features may prove more difficult than anticipated. Another problem with project sales arises from variations in net sales and profit during the different quarters of the year. Forecasting these variations is often difficult.

Risks relating to international operations, receivables and developing markets
Project deliveries result in large accounts receivable. Most of Tecnotree’s net sales come from developing countries and some of these contain political and economic challenges. There is the risk of a considerable delay in the payment of invoices in these countries and that Tecnotree will have to record credit losses. Regulation by the authorities of foreign payment transactions and international sanctions hamper operations in certain countries. Various regulations can change frequently and may be ambiguous. In many countries it is common practice to delay payment of invoices. For these reasons forecasting customer payments is often unreliable and delays occur.

Exchange rate risks
Changes in exchange rates create risks especially in sales activities, but also in other income statement and balance sheet items and in cash flow. A significant part of the company’s net sales is in US dollars. The exchange rate fluctuations of Indian Rupees also have a significant impact on the Group's net result because of the costs for the large number of employees in India and other costs denominated in rupees. Intra-group receivables and liabilities result exchange rate differences in the consolidated income statement, since the Group companies usually have different functional currencies.

Financing and liquidity risks
The overall financial position of the company has improved through capital investments in end of year 2018 and beginning of 2019. The company reduced its debt under debt restructuring payment programme by EUR 3.6 million during the period. The aforementioned risks continue to put pressure on cash management.

 

 

 



Upcoming due schedule
Liquidity risk 2019, Me Balance sheet value Cash flow Due Less than
3 months
3-12
months
1-3 years Over 3 years








Guaranteed restructuring debts, interest-bearing 13.7 13.7
0.0 0.5 6.4 6.9
Interest payments on the loans 0.0 1.1
0.0 0.3 0.5 0.4
Trade payables 2.8 2.8 1.4 0.2 1.1 0.0 0.0
Non-interest bearing liabilities 3.7 3.7
0.0 0.3 1.3 2.1
TOTAL 20.2 21.3 1.4 0.2 2.1 8.2 9.4








 

Taxation
Operating in developing markets often involves problems relating to taxation. Local tax legislation can change rapidly and may be subject to conflicting interpretations. It is possible for the tax authorities in different countries to demand taxation of the same revenue. Withholding taxes are often imposed on sales of systems and services, and obtaining credit for this in the country receiving the revenue is not a clear case. In Finland Tecnotree has a large amount of tax-deductible costs from previous fiscal periods, which can be capitalized in taxation.

As a rule, Tecnotree applies the cost-plus method in its transfer pricing. This clarifies the taxable result recorded in different countries. When the Group makes a loss, however, the consequence is that it has to pay tax in countries where it has subsidiaries. In many cases, withholding taxes have to be paid for dividends, too.