Following a strong 2014, the HOMAG Group to become significantly more profitable in 2015
Dividend increase to EUR 0.40 for 2014 planned | Preliminary figures for fiscal 2014 confirmed | Net profit for the year 2015 to increase by around 70 percent
| in EUR million | 2014 | 2013 |
|---|---|---|
| Order intake* | 802.6 | 734.3 |
| Order backlog* | 307.3 | 207.6 |
| Sales revenue | 914.8 | 788.8 |
| Operative EBITDA** | 93.2 | 75.8 |
| Net profit for the year (after non-controlling interests) | 18.9 | 18.4 |
| Net liabilities to banks | 28.5 | 69.2 |
| Employees as of December 31 | 5,606 | 5,064 |
*New calculation method: Order intake and order backlog now contain own machines, merchandise of production companies and after sales (prior year restated)
**Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization as well as before employee profit participation and before extraordinary expenses
HOMAG Group AG, the world’s leading manufacturer of plant and machinery for the woodworking industry and cabinet makers, aims to grow further and in particular significantly raise net profit for the fiscal year 2015. According to the recently published forecast, the company belonging to the Dürr Group anticipates an increase in net profit for the year of around 70 percent to between EUR 31 million and EUR 33 million (prior year: EUR 18.9 million). CEO Ralph Heuwing explains the significant increase forecast: “In the current fiscal year we aim to further enhance operative earning power. Furthermore, we anticipate considerably lower extraordinary expenses, as, among other things, the negative effects arising from the Stiles acquisition, have for the most part been accounted for in the 2014 result.”
The HOMAG Group expects to increase order intake to between EUR 830 million and EUR 850 million (prior year: EUR 802.6 million) and sales revenue to between EUR 950 million and EUR 970 million (prior year: EUR 914.8 million). Operative EBITDA before employee profit participation expenses and before extraordinary expenses is expected to increase to between EUR 95 million and EUR 97 million (prior year: EUR 93.2 million). In these forecasts, the management board does not expect the economic environment to deteriorate significantly.
The HOMAG Group also announced the planned dividends for fiscal 2014. According to the announcement, the management board and the supervisory board will propose an increase in the dividend from EUR 0.35 to EUR 0.40 per share to the annual general meeting on May 8, 2015.
Fiscal year 2014
The Group also confirmed the previously published provisional figures for fiscal 2014. The HOMAG Group was able to increase its sales revenue by around 16 percent to EUR 914.8 million (prior year: EUR 788.8 million). Just over half of this growth stems from the US sales and service company Stiles Machinery, Inc., which was taken over by the HOMAG Group at the beginning of 2014. Order intake, which was not affected by the acquisition of Stiles as it does not include the merchandise of the sales companies or their margins, rose by 9.3 percent to EUR 802.6 million (prior year: EUR 734.3 million). The Group’s order backlog reached a record year-end high of EUR 307.3 million as of December 31, 2014 (prior year: EUR 207.6 million).
Outpacing sales revenue growth, operative EBITDA before employee profit participation expenses and before extraordinary expenses of the HOMAG Group was up 23.0 percent to EUR 93.2 million (prior year: EUR 75.8 million). The net profit after non-controlling interests rose slightly to EUR 18.9 million (prior year: EUR 18.4 million). This was due to some negative special effects, which were above all attributable to the acquisition of Stiles. Net liabilities to banks were reduced by around 59 percent to EUR 28.5 million as of December 31, 2014 (prior year: EUR 69.2 million).
The HOMAG Group’s headcount increased to 5,606 employees as of December 31, 2014 (prior year: 5,064 employees). This includes 329 employees from Stiles Machinery Inc., which was taken over in the fiscal year. The main increases in headcount were seen at the foreign production companies in Poland and China.
Ralph Heuwing draws a positive conclusion regarding fiscal 2014: “We have stayed firmly on our course for profitable growth, capturing additional market shares and further improving our operating result. We therefore are ideally positioned to get even better in the future.”
Disclaimer
This press release contains certain statements relating to the future. Future-oriented statements are all those statements that do not pertain to historical facts and events or expressions pertaining to the future such as “believes”, “estimates”, “assumes”, “forecasts”, “intend”, “may”, “will”, “should” or similar expressions. Such future-oriented statements are subject to risks and uncertainty since they relate to future events and are based on current assumptions of the Company, which may not occur in the future or may not occur in the anticipated form. The Company points out that such future-oriented statements do not guarantee the future; actual results including the financial position and the profitability of the HOMAG Group as well as the development of economic and regulatory framework conditions may deviate significantly (and prove unfavorable) from what is expressly or implicitly assumed or described in these statements. Even if the actual results of the HOMAG Group including the financial position and profitability as well as the economic and regulatory framework conditions should coincide with the future-oriented statements in this announcement, it cannot be guaranteed that the same will hold true in the future.