EANS-News: S&T AG: further strong growth in sales and an even greater increase
in profitability in Q1 2016
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Subtitle: - Sales grow by 4% to EUR 96.4 million (PY: EUR 92.8 million)
- EBITDA increases by 8% to EUR 6.3 million (PY: EUR 5.8 million)
- Consolidated income up to EUR 3.2 million (PY: EUR 2.7 million)
quarterly report
Linz, 04.05.2016. S&T AG (www.snt.at) was able to set forth in the first quarter
of financial year 2016 the course of growth foreseen by its corporate plans. The
sales for the first quarter increased by 4% to EUR 96.4 million (the first
quarter of 2015: EUR 92.8 million). This caused EBITDA to rise 8%, going from
EUR 5.8 million to EUR 6.3 million. This is attributable to the reduction of
expenditures achieved in the smart energy segment. Consolidated income for the
first quarter rose to EUR 3.2 million (PY: EUR 2.7 million). As had been the
case in the first quarter of 2015, earnings per share came to 6 cents.
Slightly exceeding plans, the "Services" segments recorded sales amounting to
EUR 70.0 million (PY: EUR 65.3 million) and an EBITDA of EUR 2.6 million (PY:
EUR 2.4 million). The "Technologies" segments registered sales in the first
quarter of 2016 that were at the previous year's level. Their profitability
increased. The segments' revenues from sales came to EUR 26.3 million (PY: EUR
27.6 million), the EBITDA amounted to EUR 3.7 million (PY: EUR 3.5 million). The
strong inflow of orders in the first quarter of 2016 is causing management to
forecast strong growth for the company's technology sectors in 2016 as a whole.
The company's assets and liquidity situations remain very strong. At EUR 101.8
million as of 31.3.2016, the company's equity remained virtually unchanged from
31.12.2015 (EUR 102.2 million). This caused the equity ratio to rise from the
end of 2015's 32.0% to 36.0% as of 31.03.2016. Cash and cash equivalents
amounted to EUR 39.5 million (31.12.2015: EUR 60.3 million). The financial
liabilities were reduced to EUR 48.9 million (31.12.2015: EUR 51.0 million). As
had been expected, seasonal effects caused the operative cash flow to weaken to
EUR -8.8 million. This was still much better than the previous year's figure of
EUR -17.0 million.
The company's sustained profitability and strong liquidity have caused S&T's
Executive and Supervisory Board to resolve to propose to the company's
shareholders, to be convened in June for its annual general meeting of
shareholders, an increasing of the company's dividend to 8 cents. In terms of
income taxes, this distribution constitutes a capital repayment that meets the
stipulations of § 4 Paragraph 12 of Austria's Income Tax Act.
At EUR 188.5 million, the orders backlog remained at a high level (31.12.2015:
EUR 170.0 million, after subtracting EUR 11 million for the projects being
carried out outside the EU by NES USA, which was deconsolidated). The company's
project pipeline attained EUR 864.5 million (up from EUR 701.5 million as of the
beginning of 2016). This development has caused management to forecast a strong
second quarter for the company, which is expected to realize sales substantially
exceeding the EUR 100 million mark.
The management expects financial year 2016 to bring a setting forth of the
course of expansion. Management has confirmed its previous forecast: that the
Group will achieve sales of more than EUR 500 million in 2016. Profits are set
to rise even more strongly. The technology segments serve the security and smart
energy markets. The strong demand for services ensuring the security of the
operations performed via the Internet of Things (IoT) should cause these
segments to register growth of more than 20% annually in 2016 and in the years
following that. The Group has a large order backlog. Many of these orders are in
the high-margin, high-tech area. The Group also has a record volume of orders in
its pipeline. These factors substantiate these objectives for growth!
On S&T AG:
S&T AG (www.snt.at, ISIN AT0000A0E9W5, WKN A0X9EJ, SANT) is a high-tech
corporation. It employs some 2,400 employees, and maintains subsidiaries and
offices in 20 countries. S&T AG provides IT systems. It is listed on the
Frankfurt Stock Exchange's Prime Standard segment. These systems are comprised
in the company's comprehensive portfolio of IT solutions and services. These
make S&T one of the leading suppliers in Central and Eastern Europe. S&T is a
renowned manufacturer of products featuring proprietary technologies. Its wide-
ranging portfolio includes innovations in such areas as appliances, cloud
security and smart energy.
Further inquiry note:
ir@snt.at; +431801911125;
end of announcement euro adhoc
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company: S&T AG
Industriezeile 35
A-4021 Linz
phone: +43 664 6119214
FAX: +43 1 80191 1290
mail: ir@snt.at
WWW: www.snt.at
sector: Computing & Information Technology
ISIN: AT0000A0E9W5, DE000A1HJLL6
indexes:
stockmarkets: regulated dealing/prime standard: Frankfurt
language: English