Financial and press releases
Successful start to the year for INDUS
• Broad-based revenue growth of 7.1%
• EBIT slightly above record previous year, at EUR 35.5 million
• Earnings after taxes up 7.5%
The INDUS Group continued its good business performance in the first three months of 2018. Sales revenues picked up by 7.1% to EUR 408.2 million (Q1 previous year: EUR 381.0 million). Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) amounted to EUR 35.5 million (Q1 previous year: EUR 34.7 million). Adjusted for the effects of initial consolidations, EBIT was on a par with the previous year, at EUR 38.0 million. The EBIT margin stood at 8.7%, while the adjusted EBIT margin amounted to 9.3% (Q1 previous year: 9.1% and 10.0%, respectively). Earnings after taxes climbed 7.5% to EUR 20.0 million (Q1 previous year: EUR 18.6 million). Earnings per share rose sharply to EUR 0.81 (Q1 previous year: EUR 0.75).
Nearly all portfolio companies contributed to the renewed increase in revenues. The two repositioning exercises in the Automotive Technology and Metals Technology segments are largely proceeding to plan. Sales revenues and earnings in the Construction/Infrastructure and Engineering segments again reached a very high level, while the Medical Engineering/Life Science segment continued its stable trend. The Metals Technology segment already felt the success of the repositioning exercise. As steel prices are picking up, the automotive suppliers came under growing margin pressure.
Operating cash flow declined to EUR -31.9 million (Q1 previous year: EUR -11.9 million). Apart from rising materials purchasing prices, this is due to the fact that inventories were increased deliberately. Net cash used in investing activities amounted to EUR -14.5 million (Q1 previous year: EUR -27.1 million incl. net cash used for the acquisition of the M+P Group). At EUR 93.9 million, cash and cash equivalents declined noticeably as planned compared to the end of the year (31 December 2017: EUR 135.9 million). The equity ratio stood at 41.1%, which was slightly above the year-end level (31 December 2017: 40.8%).
Against the background of slightly lower economic momentum, INDUS remains poised for growth and has confirmed its revenue target of EUR 1.65 billion to EUR 1.70 billion as well as its EBIT target of between EUR 154 million and EUR 160 million for the year 2018. “Certain external risks that had been anticipated by the Board of Management, such as rising material and wage costs, materialized in the first months of the new year. The fact that the INDUS investments were able to perform successfully in the first quarter confirms that the INDUS portfolio is excellently positioned,” says Jürgen Abromeit, Chairman of the Board. “The Automotive Technology segment is facing growing pressure on margins, which makes it challenging for this segment to reach the target margin of 5 to 7 percent. At the bottom line, the outlook for the diversified INDUS Group is excellent and we are well on track. This is also confirmed by the continued good business trend in April.”
The full interim report for the period ended 31 March 2018 of INDUS Holding AG is available
for download here.