Schaltbau Holding AG: Schaltbau closes fiscal year 2017 with increasing momentum as expected and confirms forecast of rising profitability for 2018

CORPORATE NEWS
issued by Schaltbau Holding AG, Munich, Germany
WKN 717030 – ISIN DE0007170300

Schaltbau closes fiscal year 2017 with increasing momentum as expected and confirms forecast of rising profitability for 2018

• Group EBIT 2017 before exceptional items above EUR 2 million, as previously announced
• Order intake up considerably (+7.8%) to EUR 594 million
• EBIT margin excluding exceptional items of around 3% forecast for 2018

Munich, Germany, 16 April 2018. The Schaltbau Group operationally performed well and in line with expectations in the fourth quarter 2017. Over 2017 as a whole, Group sales climbed from EUR 509.1 million to EUR 516.5 million, in line with management’s guidance. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) for the fiscal year finished, as expected, at a negative amount of EUR 23 million. It was necessary to recognise a non-operating and non-cash-relevant expense of EUR 24.2 million in the form of an impairment loss on the subsidiary Albatros S.L.U. (“Schaltbau Sepsa”), which is now available for sale. In addition, an impairment test carried out for the subsidiary Pintsch Bubenzer, which was sold with effect from 31 December 2017, resulted in a one-off expense of EUR 1.1 million. Excluding these two exceptional items, Schaltbau’s EBIT for the 2017 fiscal year amounted to EUR 2.4 million.

Order intake across the Group rose sharply (+7.8%) in 2017. Boosted by the expected high level of incoming orders in the fourth quarter, new orders received during the twelve-month period totalled EUR 594.0 million (2016: EUR 551.2 million). The Group’s order book stood at EUR 508.3 million as at 31 December 2017, also significantly higher (+18.3%) than one year earlier (EUR 429.8 million).

“When the new Executive Board took up office last year with a view to steering the Schaltbau Group back on track to success, three main items were uppermost on the agenda – to stabilise the Group’s finances, cut costs and improve competitiveness. Good progress has been made with respect to all three objectives. We have also gained considerable momentum at operating level. Despite still having a challenging path ahead of us, Schaltbau is now in a far better position and its prospects are much brighter than they were twelve months ago,” commented Dr Bertram Stausberg, Spokesman of the Executive Board of Schaltbau Holding AG since 1 April 2017, on the consolidated financial statements for 2017 and the outlook for the current fiscal year 2018 the Company published today.

The management team confirmed its intention to push ahead with the raft of measures already initiated to focus Schaltbau Group on its strategic core competencies and to increase profitability. Going forward, Schaltbau continues to not exclude selling any business fields that are not part of its core business or not profitable on a sustainable basis. With this objective in mind, the Company may see a slight contraction in absolute sales during the period to fiscal year 2020, while at the same time achieving gradual, but definite improvements in profitability as the basis for core business growth.

The recent sale of the Schaltbau Pintsch Bubenzer Group will result in lower sales for the Schaltbau Group in 2018, a development which can only partially be offset by the planned moderate growth of the remaining companies. Given the current scope of consolidation, i. e. excluding Schaltbau Pintsch Bubenzer sales, but including sales of Schaltbau Sepsa, the management team is targeting total sales of between EUR 480 million and EUR 500 million and incoming orders of between EUR 500 million and EUR 520 million for the current year. Based on the current order book – which had already returned to a stable trend in 2017 – the adjusted EBIT margin (i.e. before exceptional items) in 2018 is expected to improve to around 3% of sales. The restructuring measures initiated in 2017 will begin to bear fruit, including productivity improvements achieved by optimising production processes and lower materials and personnel costs due to improved purchasing terms and conditions. Non-operating exceptional items could also arise in 2018 as a consequence of impairment losses recognised in connection with restructuring measures and the sale of subsidiaries.

Products for rolling stock sold by the Mobile Transportation Technology segment were the main drivers of the Schaltbau Group’s growth in the fiscal year 2017, whereas Stationary Transportation Technology business declined significantly. Components business, however, made good contributions to both sales and margins.

The Mobile Transportation Technology segment saw significant growth, with order intake up by 26.7% to EUR 333.4 million and sales up by 19.4% to EUR 265.3 million. However, the segment finished with a negative EBIT of EUR 26.4 million due to the revaluation of the Schaltbau Sepsa Group. Excluding the impact of the revaluation, the Mobile Transportation Technology segment recorded a loss of EUR 2.2 million, mainly reflecting Schaltbau Sepsa’s negative operating contribution of EUR 6.5 million as well as negative contributions from other foreign companies.

The Stationary Transportation Technology segment suffered from a massive decline in orders for railway crossing and railway signal technology in Germany in 2017. A conscious reluctance to engage in foreign projects also had a negative impact. Order intake fell by 27.6% to EUR 114.3 million, while sales dropped by 19.4% to EUR 120.5 million. The segment recorded a negative EBIT of EUR 5.5 million due to the decline in business volumes. Partly thanks to cost-cutting measures, however, this performance was nevertheless an improvement on the previous year’s negative EBIT of EUR 28.1 million.

The Components segment made excellent progress in 2017. Order intake improved by 12.5% to EUR 146.3 million, sales were only marginally down on the previous year at EUR 130.7 million, and EBIT rose by 24.8% to EUR 21.4 million.

Consolidated financial statements of Schaltbau Holding AG for 2017

Further details on the 2017 consolidated financial statements can be found in the Annual Report 2017 published today and which is available at www.schaltbau.com. Results for the first quarter 2018 (interim notification) will be published on 8 May 2018.

Contact
Wolfgang Güssgen
Head of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
Schaltbau Holding AG
Hollerithstrasse 5
81829 Munich
Germany
Tel. +49 89 – 93005 209
Fax +49 89 – 93005 318
guessgen@schaltbau.de
www.schaltbau.com

About Schaltbau
With annual sales of over EUR 500 million and more than 3,000 employees, the Schaltbau Group is one of the leading international suppliers of components and systems for the transport technology and capital goods industries. Schaltbau Group entities supply complete level crossing systems, shunting and signals technology, door and boarding systems for buses, trains and commercial vehicles, sanitary systems and interiors for trains as well as high- and low-voltage components for rolling stock and other applications. Its innovative and future-oriented products make Schaltbau a key business partner for industry, particularly in the transportation technology sector.

Disclaimer
This Corporate News contains statements about future developments that are based on currently available information and that involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ from the forward-looking statements. Schaltbau Holding AG does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.