Roding, 09 August 2012. Overall, the globally active Mühlbauer technology group asserted itself well within an ever harsher market environment and managed to keep order income at a high level - with the support of the booming Tablet PC and Smartphone market, as well as the strong demand for technology solutions for the production of RFID Smart Labels. In parallel, sales rose considerably, as a result of continually clearing the order backlog.

Sales. The consolidated sales achieved by the Mühlbauer Group in Q2 2012 recorded tremendous growth year-on-year, with a plus of EUR 19.6 million or 46.5 %, to EUR 61.5 million (PY: EUR 41.9 million). This marked increase is due both to the company's core area

Cards & TECURITY®, which raised its share in sales by EUR 13,9 million or 67.2 % to EUR 34.5 million (PY: EUR 20.6 million) and Semiconductor Related Products, which also developed positively with an increase in sales of EUR 5.7 million or 39,9 % to EUR 20.0 million (PY: EUR 14.3 million). This massive growth can primarily be attributed to the semiconductor backend business. Precision Parts & Systems proved stable: As in Q2 2011, sales totaled EUR 7.0 million.

Earnings development. Due to the liquidity neutral adjustment of the risk provision in inventory assets to the current market and economic environment, the gross earnings margin dropped from 38.3% to 25,6%. Against this background, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) amounted to EUR 1.3 million, after EUR 2.3 million for the same quarter of the previous year. This corresponds to an EBIT margin of 2.1%, after 5.4% year-on-year. During the reporting period, the share of profit applicable to each share totals EUR 0.16, after EUR 0.13 year-on-year.

Cashflow. The inventory reduction as well as higher downpayments on id projects led to a significant reduction of the working capital by EUR 8.6 million and to an operating Cashflow of plus EUR 19.8 million in the first half 2012 (PY: +EUR 15.3 million). After deduction of planned capital expenditures of EUR 18.8 million (PY: EUR 12.9 million), the free cashflow generated by the solutions provider in the first six months is up to plus EUR 0.9 million - after minus EUR 2.6 million in the same period of the previous year. The equity ratio is 61.4% at the end of the quarter, compared to 68.1% on December 31, 2011.

Order income and order backlog. At EUR 78.3 million, consolidated order income is 17.1 % lower, however, compared with the second-highest value in the Group's history of EUR 94.5 million, achieved during the same quarter of the previous year, it is still at a high level. In this context, Semiconductor Related Products compensates for more than half of the decline in orders in the core area Cards & TECURITY® through the concentration of further government orders worth approx. EUR 45 million - also issued to a group company and insofar included on a pro-rata basis - at the beginning of July. At EUR 226.0 million, consolidated order backlog was 9.0 % higher year-on-year (PY: EUR 207.3 million), thus marking a new record in corporate history.

Outlook. Global economic prospects deteriorated even further in Q2 2012. In Europe, in particular, the debt crisis is increasingly slowing down the economy. In addition, the competitive pressure from Asia and the recent distinct downward trend of the semiconductor industry have prompted the company to act more cautiously overall, in order to stably pilot the business, which is based on sustainability, through increasingly difficult waters. While sales development is meant to pick up speed during the second half of the year and ensure that total annual sales are higher year-on-year, operating income will not reach the original goal, namely a year-on-year increase of earnings - irrespective of the expected boost in 2HY 2012 against 1HY 2012. This boost is to be derived from the adjustment of the risk evaluation to the current environment. The company is now expecting to achieve an operating margin in the middle to upper single-digit percent range in respect of the entire year.

The medium- and long-term prospects on the markets relevant to Mühlbauer, however, remain positive, overall. Mühlbauer therefore intends to ramp up its efforts considerably in order to benefit strongly from this situation and to improve its 2013 earnings situation significantly.

Discover the smart world of TECURITY®

As an independent partner, Mühlbauer is already involved in more than 300 ID projects and supports numerous governments and public authorities worldwide, accepting full responsibility for the introduction of innovative ID documents. As a developer and manufacturer of the complete range of hardware and software systems in-house, customers benefit particularly from the technological and market expertise of the solution provider for the recording of personal and biometric data, the production and personalization of individual ID documents such as ID cards and ePassports, through to fully automatic access controls, which is gained over a period of thirty years.

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