DGAP-News: KRONES AG

20 July 2017
Corporate News Report

Krones continues stable growth in the first half of 2017

- Revenue and order intake increased 13.8% and 11.0%, respectively, in the first half.

- Earnings before taxes (EBT) improved by 12.8% in the period from January to June.
EBT margin is 6.8%.

- Ratio of working capital to revenue comes to 26.3% (previous year: 25.5%).

- Executive Board keeps forecast for 2017 unchanged. Krones expects 4% revenue growth
and an EBT margin of 7.0%, excluding effects from acquisitions.

Krones, the world's leading manufacturer of filling and packaging technology, continued its stable growth in the first half of 2017. Overall, revenue improved 13.8% year-on-year to EUR1,775.2 million. Adjusted for acquisitions, revenue was up 10.2%. The increase was partly due to a relatively low baseline of sales in the first half of 2016. The strongest revenue growth came in the North and Central America, Asia-Pacific, and South America/Mexico regions in the period from January to June 2017.

Order intake at Krones increased 11.0% in the first half of 2017 to EUR1,779.3 million. Adjusted for acquisitions, order intake was up 4.7% year-on-year. Orders growth in Western Europe and Latin America was higher than overall orders growth. Order intake in China was lower. In the Asia-Pacific, North America, and Middle East/Africa sales regions, order intake was stable. At EUR1,148.8 million, orders on hand at Krones at the end of June 2017 were up 1.1% over the year-earlier period.

EBT margin is 6.8% after six months

Krones improved earnings before taxes (EBT) by 12.8% to EUR121.0 million in the period from January to June 2017 despite a highly competitive market situation. As expected, market prices provided no support. By contrast, the Value strategy programme, with which Krones is increasing efficiency throughout the company, had a positive impact. At 6.8%, the EBT margin for the first six months of 2017 was nearly unchanged year-on-year (previous year: 6.9%). After taxes, net income was up 10.8% to EUR82.4 million. Earnings per share increased from EUR2.37 in the previous year to EUR2.64.

The ratio of average working capital for the past four quarters to revenue came to 26.3%, after 25.5% in the year-earlier period. However, the ratio is an improvement over the first quarter of 2017 (26.8%).

The return on capital employed (ROCE) increased to 16.3% (previous year: 15.6%). In the period from January to June 2017, the company generated operating free cash flow of -EUR126.7 million (previous year: -EUR155.5 million), which is an improvement of around EUR30 million.

Krones forecast for 2017 is unchanged

The company's revenue growth target (excluding acquisitions) for the year 2017 as a whole remains 4%. Profitability should be stable this year. Krones expects the EBT margin to be around 7.0% for the year 2017. For its third financial performance target, working capital to revenue, the company is forecasting 27% for the current financial year.

Krones has published the complete half-yearly report online at https://www.krones.com/en/company/investor-relations/reports.php

Contact:
Olaf Scholz /
Head of Investor Relations, Krones AG
Phone: +49 9401 70-1169 / E-mail: olaf.scholz@krones.com