HanseYachts : significantly increased turnover in H1 2017/2018 and maintains a positive outlook

            - Order book of 87 million euros at the highest level in the company history

- Revenue share of motor yachts is growing

- Positive outlook for the full financial year 2017/2018 - highest turnover in the company history as well as further growth of adjusted EBITDA expected

Greifswald, 28 February 2018 - Germany's largest manufacturer of serial production yachts HanseYachts looks back at a successful first half of the financial year 2017/2018. Revenues grew by 14% to 51.2 million euros (H1 2016/2017: 44.7 million euros). At the end of H1 (31 December 2017), HanseYachts had a record-breaking number of orders with total value of
87 million euros on the books (31 December 2016: 74 million euros). Important impulses for both revenue and order growth came from the motor yacht segment, in particular from the Sealine brand, which was taken over in 2014. The market for motor boats worldwide is roughly 2.5 times larger than the market for sailing yachts. HanseYachts expects this market segment to continue to grow significantly in the coming years.

Usual seasonality of the business and cost of growth impacted result in the first half of the year - strong second half and year-on-year earnings growth for the full year expected

At minus 1.04 million euros, the EBITDA was lower than in the first half of the previous financial year (minus 0.3 million euros, adjusted for one-off income from the write-up on the Fjord brand in 2016/2017). However, for the full financial year, the adjusted EBITDA is expected to grow. In the first half of 2017/2018, the usual seasonality and cost of growth temporarily had a negative impact on the result. Strong growth and the resulting record-breaking number of orders led to a significant increase in inventories, consisting of yachts under construction which will be delivered and recorded as revenue in the second half of the financial year.

The consistent further development of the product range, with many new models which have been well received by the market, also temporarily led to higher marketing costs - mainly for trade fairs, image material and brochures. Additionally, Privilège motor catamarans are being marketed and sold through the global network of Hanse since summer 2017.

To further strengthen the company's positioning as the world's most modern yacht producer, HanseYachts heavily invested in new models and R&D in the current financial year. At the most important in-water boat show in Cannes in September 2017, the company was able to present six world premieres. Aside from significant sales numbers, this also led to expected additional marketing and personnel costs in the start-up phase of the production of new models.

CEO Dr Jens Gerhardt: "The sales numbers of our brands, especially Sealine and Fjord, are very satisfying, and this journey is far from over. With an increase in revenues from motor yachts in the first half of the current financial year of over 60%, we have shown that our strategy is paying off. HanseYachts AG is now perfectly equipped for the future and markets its seven brands via a global network of dealers as well as at around 100 trade fairs a year."

Outlook

Given the high number of orders and positive feedback the innovative product range receives, the company has a positive outlook on the remainder of the current financial year. Due to the seasonality of the business, which leads to the best months in terms of revenue and earnings usually being in second half of the financial year, HanseYachts is expecting the highest revenue in the company's history as well as further growth of the adjusted EBITDA in the financial year 2017/2018.

Facts and figures

*Adjusted for one-off income from write-up from 2016/2017

The full report on the first half of 2017/2018 is available for downloading at https://www.yachts.group/de/publikationen/finanzberichte.html.

End of press release

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