Rosenbauer International : Results of the third quarter 2017

• Consolidated revenues and order backlog stable
• Increased deliveries in Europe offsets decreased demand due to low oil price and political unrest
• EBIT for Q3/2017 has increased by 42% to € 12.1 million - turnaround has been initiated

A similar development to the previous year is expected on the global firefighting markets in 2017. Above all, demand is currently being driven by countries with continuous procurement or elevated security requirements following natural or terrorist disasters.

Revenue and earnings development
The Rosenbauer Group generated revenues of € 604.5 million in the first three quarters of 2017 (1-9/2016: € 602.9 million). While decreases in deliveries were observed in some Middle Eastern countries, deliveries were on the rise in parts of Europe, such as the Netherlands.

EBIT was down on the previous year at € 14.8 million in the first nine months of the year (1-9/2016: € 27.3 million).The results for the quarter were reduced by the low coverage of fixed costs at the plants in Leonding on account of weak capacity utilization, combined with the higher start-up costs of the platform manufacturer Rosenbauer Rovereto. In addition, results were also influenced by one-time costs for the reorganization of the staff structure in Austria, amortization on intangible assets, and exchange rate effects.

The quarterly observation shows that the result in the third quarter far outperformed the comparable figure from the previous year. The measures to decrease costs and increase efficiency that were carried out showed the first signs of a turnaround. For instance, EBIT for the months of July to September increased by 42% from € 8.5 million to €12.1 million.

Consolidated EBT for the reporting period amounted to € 13.9 million (1-9/2016: € 25.3 million).

Orders
The Rosenbauer Group enjoyed satisfactory order development in the first nine months of the year, with incoming orders of € 654.4 million (1-9/2016: € 588.8 million). While incoming orders decreased significantly in countries that are dependent on oil and commodity prices or that had to restructure their budgets due to conflicts, incoming orders were up in some parts of Europe. The order backlog as of September 30, 2017 was on par with the previous year's level at € 803.4 million (September 30, 2016: € 803.5 million).

Financial and net assets position
For reasons specific to the industry, the structure of the statements of financial position during the year is characterized by high working capital. This is due to the turnaround times of several months for vehicles in production. Total assets are therefore relatively high during the year at € 689.7 million (September 30, 2016: € 708.9 million).

As a result of the delivery volume in the second half of the year, inventories were up in the reporting period at € 208.4 million (September 30, 2016: € 708.9 million), while construction contracts were down slightly on the previous year at € 102.8 million (September 30, 2016: € 109.0 million). Current receivables were reduced due to a change of customer structure to € 181.5 million (September 30, 2016: € 194.2 million). The Group's net debt (the net amount of interest-bearing liabilities less cash and cash equivalents and securities) decreased year-on-year to € 254.0 million (September 30, 2016: € 266.5 million).

Owing to the high level of working capital, especially in inventories, the intra-year cash flow from operating activities is still negative compared to the end of 2016 at € -50.7 million (1-9/2016: € -24.7 million). An improvement in the cash flow from operating activities is expected by the end of the year.

Outlook
Political tension and the low price of oil could affect growth on certain markets in 2017 as well. Overall, however, stable development in global demand for firefighting technology is assumed.

The Group will continue to focus on efficiency enhancement and cost reduction to ensure that the intended growth can be implemented on a solid financial basis. In addition, far-reaching changes have been made in Rosenbauer's management and organizational structure that led to non-recurring expenses.

Owing to project-related lower capacity utilization at the Leonding plants, the change in the production program and the one-time effects, the Executive Board is forecasting an EBIT margin after extraordinary effects of around 3% with consolidated revenues at a consistent level.