Cembre (STAR): consolidated sales decline slightly (-0.6%)

• In the 1 Half of 2016 domestic sales grew by 0.5% while exports declined by 1.3% on the corresponding period in 2015
• Capital expenditure for the 1 Half of 2015 amounted to €2.7 million
• The net financial position at August 31, 2016, was equal to a surplus of €21.7 million while sales for the first eight months of the year declined slightly (-1.4%) on the corresponding period in 2015

Brescia, September 9, 2016 - The Board of Directors of Cembre Spa - a STAR listed company and one of the largest European manufacturers of electrical connectors and tools for their installation - chaired by its Chairman and Managing Director Giovanni Rosani, approved at today's meeting the Report on the 1 Half of 2016.

In the first six months of 2016, the Group reported consolidated sales of €62.7 million, down 0.6% on €63.0 million in the corresponding period in 2015.

In the 1 Half of 2016, domestic sales amounted to €25.4 million, up 0.5% on the 1 Half of 2015, while sales outside Italy amounted to €37.2 million, down 1.3%. A total of 40.6% of Group sales were represented by Italy (as compared with 40.2% in the 1 Half of 2015), 41.9% by the rest of Europe (41.7% in the 1 Half of 2015), and the remaining 17.5% by the rest of the World (18.1% in the 1 Half of 2015).

Consolidated gross operating profit for the 1 Half of 2016 amounted to €15.2 million, representing a 24.3% margin on sales, down 0.3% on the corresponding period in 2015 when it amounted to €15.3 million, representing a 24.2% margin on sales.

In 1 Half of 2016 The cost of goods sold as a percentage of sales declined slightly in the period, while personnel costs as a percentage of sales grew as the number of persons employed increased by 34, from 625 in the 1 Half of 2015 to 659 in the 1 Half of 2016, of which 21 relating to the parent company. The increase in the number of employees is due to the strengthening of the administration, and in particular of the sales department, to support the expansionary sales policy implemented by the Company.

Consolidated operating profit for the period amounted to €12.3 million, representing a 19.6% margin on sales, down 1.4% on €12.5 million in the 1 Half of 2015, when it represented a 19.8% margin on sales.

Consolidated profit before taxes amounted to €12.2 million, representing a 19.5% margin on sales, down 3.9% on €12.7 million in the 1 Half of 2015, when it represented a 20.1% margin on sales. Profit before taxes was negatively affected by foreign exchange differences which in the 1 Half of 2016 were negative by €112 thousand, as compared with a gain of €207 thousand in the corresponding period in 2015.

Net profit for the first six months of 2016 amounted to €8.5 million, down 4.9% on €9.0 million in the 1 Half of 2015. The margin on sales amounted to 13.6%, as compared to 14.2% in the 1 Half of 2015.

Capital expenditure in the 1 Half of 2016 amounted to €2.7 million and consisted primarily in investments in plant and equipment. In the 1 Half of 2015 they amounted to €2.9 million.

The consolidated net financial position at June 30, 2016 amounted to a surplus of €14.5 million, improving on June 30, 2015, when it was equal to a surplus of €8.4 million, while on December 31, 2015 it amounted to a surplus of €17.8 million. In the 1 Half of 2016, the Company paid out €7.8 million in dividends, against €6.1 million in the corresponding period in 2015.

'Cembre closes the 1 Half of 2016 reporting a slight decline in consolidated turnover, down 0.6%. Sales through the end of August show a 1.4% decline on the corresponding period in 2015, though we look to a recovery in the last part of the year. We thus expect to close 2016 with an overall increase in consolidated sales and a further improvement in the financial position - commented Cembre's Chairman and Managing Director Giovanni Rosani. 'The Group's financial position at August 31, 2016 amounted in fact to a surplus of €21.7 million, improving further from a surplus of €15.4 million at August 31, 2015' continued Giovanni Rosani.

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Cembre designs, manufactures and distributes electrical connectors and cable accessories. It enjoys a leadership position in Italy and significant market shares in the rest of Europe. It is also the world's largest producer of connector installation tools (mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic) and tools for cable shearing. The products it has developed for connection to the rail and for other railway applications are used by the main companies in this sector round the world. Cembre owes its success to an insistence on innovative, high-quality products, a broad and thorough collection, and an extensive distribution network both in Italy and abroad.

Founded in Brescia in 1969, the Cembre Group is now a full-fledged international force. Along with the parent company in Brescia it has six subsidiaries: five trading companies (in Germany, France, Spain, the United States and Norway) and one manufacturing and trading subsidiaries (Cembre Ltd. in Birmingham, U.K.), for a total workforce of 663 as of June 30, 2016. Since 1990 its products have been certified by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance for the design and production of accessories for cables, electrical connectors and tools for their installation.

Cembre has been listed on the Italian Stock Exchange since December 15, 1997, and on the STAR section since September 24, 2001.

Contacts:

Cembre S.p.A. - Claudio Bornati +39 030 36921 claudio.bornati@cembre.com

Further information is available on the Company's institutional site www.cembre.com

The manager responsible for preparing the Company's financial reports, Claudio Bornati, declares, pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article 154 bis of the Consolidated Law on Finance, that the accounting information contained in this press release corresponds to the document results, books and accounting records.

Attachments - Financial Statements at June 30, 2016:

• Consolidated Statement of Financial Position
• Statement of Consolidated Comprehensive Income
• Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows

In the present document use is made of 'alternative performance indicators' which are not provided for under European IFRS, and whose significance and content are illustrated below (in line with Recommendation CESR/05-178b published on November 3, 2005):

Gross Operating Profit (EBITDA): defined as the difference between sales revenues and costs for materials, of services received, and the net balance of operating income and charges. It represents the profit achieved before amortization, financial flows and taxes.

Operating Profit (EBIT): defined as the difference between the Gross Operating Profit and the value of depreciation, amortization and write-downs. It represents the profit before financial flows and taxes.

Net Financial Position: it represents the algebraic sum of cash and cash equivalents, financial receivables and current and non-current financial debt.