DGAP-News: Gesco AG / Key word(s): Quarterly / Interim Statement/9-month figures

2016-02-15 / 07:35
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

---

* Increased incoming orders and sales in the first nine months of the financial year
* Disproportionately high increase in earnings 
* Earnings guidance increased 
* Slight dip in demand, as expected, in the fourth quarter * Dr. Eric Bernhard strengthens GESCO's Executive Board
Wuppertal, 15 February 2016 - In the first nine months (1 April to 31 December 2015) of financial year 2015/2016, GESCO Group recorded relatively strong demand from customers, with growth in incoming orders and sales, as well as a disproportionately high increase in earnings despite a challenging economic environment. The earnings guidance for the full financial year has been increased.

The first nine months of GESCO Group's financial year encompass the months of April to December 2015 for GESCO AG and January to September 2015 for its subsidiaries. In this period, incoming orders increased by 11.2 % to EUR 378.1 million (previous year's period: EUR 340.0 million). Group sales rose by 9.3 %,to EUR 369.2 million (EUR 337.9 million). Thanks to operating improvements and successful restructuring measures at two subsidiaries, key earnings figures rose more sharply than sales in the first nine months of the financial year. This led to a 17.6 % increase in EBITDA to EUR 40.5 million (EUR 34.4 million) and a 23.7 % increase in EBIT to EUR 25.3 million (EUR 20.4 million). Group net income after minority interest rose by 24.1 % to EUR 12.9 million (EUR 10.5 million). Earnings per share pursuant to IFRS increased from EUR 3.14 to EUR 3.90.
In the following fourth quarter, which encompasses the operating months October to December 2015 in the case of the subsidiaries, the Group experienced the slight dip in demand expected due to the deterioration in the overall economic climate. In the fourth quarter, incoming orders totalled approximately EUR 104 million (EUR 108.8 million), while sales stood at approximately EUR 120 million (EUR 113.4 million).
In its outlook for the full financial year, the company forecast Group sales of between EUR 480 million and EUR 490 million. Now it expects sales to come in at the upper end of that range. With regard to Group net income after minority interest, the forecast most recently predicted a figure of EUR 14.0 million or slightly higher. Based on the information available at the current time, the company now expects a value of around EUR 16 million.
GESCO Executive Board Member Dr.-Ing. Hans-Gert Mayrose on the company's development in the first nine months of the year: "Conditions for the capital goods industry remain subdued. Weak economic growth in China and an unclear outlook regarding the US economy are having a negative effect on the climate. Over the course of the past few months, the low oil price has increasingly come to be seen as an indication of deterioration in the performance of the broader economy. While the drop in the price of oil is bolstering consumption, it is also having a widely felt negative effect on the willingness of companies to make investments. In this challenging environment, GESCO Group achieved respectable growth in incoming orders and sales. We are particularly pleased about the disproportionately high increase in earnings. A number of GESCO Group companies developed better than expected, and the restructuring measures at two subsidiaries made significant progress."

At the Annual General Meeting on 18 August 2015, the Supervisory Board announced that it intended to expand the Executive Board. Since 1 January 2016, Dr. Eric Bernhard has been an additional member of the Executive Board of GESCO AG. Dr. Bernhard has extensive management experience in the metal and plastics processing industry. As a member of the Executive Board of GESCO AG, Dr. Bernhard is responsible for the strategic and operational development of the subsidiaries. Dr.-Ing. Hans-Gert Mayrose continues to be responsible for M&A and Investor Relations, and Robert Spartmann retains responsibility for Finance, Legal and HR. In addition, they are both responsible for supporting subsidiaries. The three members of the Executive Board have equal rights; no chairman or spokesman has been appointed.
The full quarterly statement is available at
www.gesco.de/en/investor-relations/financial-reports.

About GESCO 
GESCO Group is an association of industrial SMEs, some of them market and technology leaders, with a focus on tool manufacturing/mechanical engineering and plastics technology. As a listed company, GESCO AG offers private and institutional investors access to a portfolio of leading German industrial SMEs.

Investor Relations   *   Oliver Vollbrecht 
Phone +49 202 24820-18 * Fax: +49 202 24820-49 Email: info@gesco.de   *   Website: www.gesco.de 

---

2016-02-15 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.
Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de

---

Language: English Company: Gesco AG Johannisberg 7 42103 Wuppertal Germany Phone: +49 (0)202 248200 Fax: +49 (0)202 2482049 E-mail: gesco@gesco.de Internet: www.gesco.de ISIN: DE000A1K0201 WKN: A1K020 Listed: Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Stuttgart  
   
     End of News    DGAP News Service