KROMI Logistik AG reports further business growth in Q1 2016/2017

• Revenue increase of 5.5% to EUR 17,004 thousand (previous year: EUR 16,112 thousand)
• Operating profit (EBIT) of EUR 199 thousand significantly above previous year (EUR -866 thousand)
• KROMI Logistik outperforms market again
• Further profitable growth aimed in FY 2016/2017

Hamburg, November 17, 2016 – KROMI Logistik AG, a provider of end-to-end tools logistics solutions for manufacturing companies, reports an increase in its revenue of 5.5% during the first quarter of its 2016/2017 fiscal year. Between July 1, 2016 and September 30, 2016, the company generated EUR 17,004 thousand of sales revenue (previous year: EUR 16,112 thousand), boosting its revenues across all main target sectors. The operating result (EBIT) also improved significantly in the reporting period.

In Germany, KROMI Logistik not only successfully expanded business with existing customers during the period under review, but also acquired additional new customers from various sectors. Revenue in Germany consequently rose by 3.9%, from EUR 10,261 thousand in the previous year to EUR 10,664 thousand in the first three months of 2016/2017. With this growth the company again outperformed the market to a significant extent, which is all the more remarkable as the first quarter of KROMI’s fiscal year is always affected by the summer vacation phase when manufacturing industry activity is usually weaker. The operating business put in a successful performance outside Germany, too. Revenue generated abroad of EUR 6,340 thousand was up by around 8.4% compared with the previous year’s level (EUR 5,851 thousand).

It is notable in this context that KROMI Logistik reported a substantial increase in its revenue level in Brazil when expressed in the national currency, the Brazilian real, despite a difficult economic environment, where customers are currently still operating well below full capacity utilisation. The company succeeded in increasing revenue by around 55% year-on-year in terms of Brazilian real, and even by around 70% when expressed in euros. The Brazilian economy’s gathering recovery offers correspondingly significant upside potential. The Managing Board consequently expects the Brazil business to continue reporting good news in the future.

“With our revenue growth in the first quarter of 2016/2017 we are continuing the last twelve months’ successful performance, with KROMI Logistik AG on track to report further profitable growth. It should be noted that we are significantly outperforming our markets again. The trend in our gross profit margin – at 25.2% – is very pleasing. So we have succeeded in converting our revenue growth almost one-to-one into gross profit,” notes Jörg Schubert, CEO of KROMI Logistik.

The cost of materials increased from EUR 12,348 thousand to EUR 12,713 thousand in the reporting period, with the cost of materials ratio of 74.8% below the previous year’s 76.6%. Staff costs rose year-on-year from EUR 2,431 thousand to EUR 2,615 thousand, leaving the staff cost ratio at 15.4% almost unchanged compared with the previous year’s level of 15.1%. Other operating expenses reduced significantly to EUR 1,497 thousand (previous year: EUR 2,248 thousand). Among other items, other operating expenses include unrealised currency differences of EUR 34 thousand (previous year: EUR 1,157 thousand) that do not derive from trading transactions but instead from the accountancy-based currency translation of the parent company’s investment in relation to its Brazilian subsidiary. Compared with the previous year, additional one-off expenses of around EUR 380 thousand were also incurred in connection with the SAP launch and participation at a trade fair.

Following an operating result (EBIT) that was still negative to the tune of EUR -866 thousand in the previous year, KROMI Logistik achieved a markedly improved EBIT result of EUR 199 thousand during the first three months of 2016/2017. Pure operating earnings before currency effects stood at EUR 233 thousand (previous year: EUR 291 thousand). The year-on-year change reflects additional, one-off expenses connected with the SAP launch and attendance at a trade fair. Overall, this leads to a significantly higher reported consolidated net result of EUR 9 thousand (previous year: EUR -1,052 thousand).

“We currently note a somewhat wait-and-see investment stance across all target sectors – especially among our major globally operating customers. We believe this is due to both factors of political uncertainty as well as general scepticism about global economic growth. We nevertheless expect investment confidence to normalise again over the further course of the fiscal year. We are satisfied overall with our business trends after the first three months of the year, and see this as laying the basis for us to reach our targets for the full 2016/17 fiscal year,” comments Uwe Pfeiffer, CFO at KROMI Logistik AG.

Over the course of the day, KROMI Logistik will make its full (IFRS) report for the first three months of its 2016/2017 fiscal year available for downloading from its website at www.kromi.de within the Investor Relations area.

Company profile:
KROMI Logistik AG offers manufacturing companies end-to-end outsourcing for their supply of precision machining tools, both in Germany and abroad. The company focuses on technically advanced machining tools for metalworking and plastics (consumable and cutting tools, e.g. drills). KROMI Logistik combines conventional tool retailing with a decentralised tool supply system that includes output machines in the customer’s production area and an IT-based tool management and controlling system. The aim of KROMI Logistik is to sustainably optimise the supply of resources (particularly tools) for its customers and to secure the availability of the appropriate resources at the right time and in the right place. The company is currently represented at four locations in Germany and four abroad (Slovakia, Czech Republic, Brazil and Spain), and is active in six other European countries. To date, KROMI Logistik has primarily focused on customers in the sectors of general machine engineering, automotive suppliers, aerospace and marine engine construction.

Visit us online at: www.kromi.de

Investor relations contact:

cometis AG
Claudius Krause
Tel.: +49 (0)611-205855-28
Fax: +49 (0)611-205855-66
Email: krause@cometis.de