Mutares : publishes Annual Report 2016

April 12, 2017

The mutares Group (ISIN: DE000A0SMSH2) published today its Annual Report for the financial year 2016. The year was driven by strong organizational developments as well as a high transaction activity in the fourth quarter. The Executive Board and the Supervisory Board want their shareholders to participate in this success of the company by proposing a dividend payment of EUR 0.35 per share.

The mutares Group generated revenues of EUR 647.6m in FY 2016 (previous year: EUR 683.8m). The decline in revenues is particularly due to changes in the scope of consolidation. Most of the portfolio companies, notably GeesinkNorba and A+F, achieved significant organic growth. Operating earnings (EBITDA) amounted to EUR 20.7m (previous year: EUR 39.9m). The portfolio companies STS, A+F and Zanders contributed most to this progress. The Executive Board would like their shareholders to participate in this success and will therefore propose a dividend payment of EUR 0.35 per share to the AGM. The Annual Report 2016 of the mutares Group is available for download at www.mutares.de/investor-relations.

High transaction activities in 2016

The FY 2016 was driven by numerous acquisitions, particularly in the fourth quarter. Through the acquisitions, the ambitious growth targets were fully achieved. The strategic buy&build approach could be implemented in particular at STS and Artmadis. With the two add-on acquisitions from Mecaplast and Plastic Omnium Group, STS will develop into a global commercial vehicle supplier with annual revenues of EUR 400m generated by 2,700 employees in 15 plants. Two add-on acquisitions were also made for Artmadis, which perfectly complement the French wholesale company and will grow the revenue level to EUR 100m. With Balcke-Dürr and Cenpa, two companies were acquired as new platform investments. Balcke-Dürr, a renowned German equipment manufacturer for power plants strengthens the Engineering & Technology segment. Cenpa, a French core board manufacturer, complements the Wood & Paper segment.

Good start into 2017 and positive outlook

With the acquisition of Aperam Tubes Europe, an add-on for BSL, and the divestment of EUPEC Germany, mutares had a very successful start into FY 2017. The Executive Board expects five transactions in 2017, among them at least one more exit. The mid-term target of an annualized turnover of EUR 1.8bn until the end of 2018 is still set. mutares sees itself organizationally and financially well positioned for further acquisitions.

Strong development of the organization

In 2016, mutares significantly invested in the development of the organization. In Munich and Paris, mutares moved into new offices and the teams in M&A and Operations were significantly enlarged. The ambitious recruiting activities will be continued in 2017. The Italian organization is currently in the process of establishment. The sharpened investment focus on platform and add-on acquisitions already showed its great potential in 2016. The Executive Board sees the growth opportunities strengthened by the development of the organization. The current portfolio has been segmented into five industry segments. Thus, the profile and the core competencies of mutares as an operational, sustainable investor get distinctly emphasized.

NAV will be published quarterly

In order to inform investors more frequently about the operational development of the group's segments and to be able to reflect the dynamic transaction activities, mutares will publish updates of the NAV with the press releases to quarterly, half-year and full-year figures.

The valuation was done applying a discounted cash flow model and taking into account the budgets for the coming three years of each portfolio company. The annual growth rates following the detailed planning period have been set for each company specifically between 0.5 and 1.5 percent according to the relevant industry. The discount rates are the WACCs (weighted average cost of capital) of each of the portfolio companies. The WACCs are industry and country specific and lie between 5.7 and 11.2 percent.

Company profile of mutares AG

mutares AG, Munich (www.mutares.de), acquires companies, that are being sold in the course of a repositioning process at their owners and that show a clear operational improvement potential. Getting engaged with its own teams, mutares actively supports its portfolio companies to achieve a clear value increase. The focus of the operational work is to ensure sustainable, long-term growth. The shares of mutares AG are listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol 'MUX' (ISIN: DE000A0SMSH2).

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