TAKKT looks back on a successful 2016 financial year

• TAKKT achieves organic growth of 5.2 percent, reported sales up by 5.8 percent
• EBITDA margin improved to 15.2 (14.8) percent, without one-time effects at 14.5 (14.5) percent
• Earnings per share increased to EUR 1.39 (1.24)
• Management Board proposes to the Supervisory Board that the dividend be increased to EUR 0.55 (0.50) per share

Stuttgart, Germany, February 16, 2017. TAKKT was able to increase consolidated sales in the 2016 financial year by 5.8 percent to EUR 1,125.0 (1,063.8) million. When adjusted for currency, disposal and acquisition effects, organic sales rose by 5.2 percent. After a strong first half-year, as expected, organic growth in the second half was weaker. In the last quarter, with 3.0 percent, it was on a comparable level as the third quarter. “Our organic growth for the year as a whole was slightly above the upper end of the projected range of three to five percent,” explains CEO Felix Zimmermann. “In view of the increased economic uncertainty, we are satisfied with our key figures. We can look back on a successful year.” The stronger momentum came from the TAKKT AMERICA segment just like it did in the previous year, where the OEG division specialized in office equipment even reached double-digit growth. Development in both divisions of TAKKT EUROPE in organic terms was at a comparable level and characterized by solid growth.
The gross profit margin of 42.6 (42.6) percent was at the level of the previous year. At EUR 171.3 (157.3) million, EBITDA was 8.9 percent higher in the 2016 financial year than the previous year, which is also attributable to the positive development of organic sales. The EBITDA margin rose accordingly to 15.2 (14.8) percent, whereby one-time gains in both financial years should also be taken into account. Without these positive one-off effects, the EBITDA margin would have remained constant at 14.5 (14.5) percent and thus still in the upper third of the target corridor of 13 to 15 percent. Earnings per share increased to EUR 1.39 (1.24).

The Management Board proposes to the Supervisory Board that a dividend of EUR 0.55 (0.50) per share be paid out for the 2016 financial year. This would correspond to a payout ratio of 39.5 (40.5) percent.

Given the present emerging economic scenario, TAKKT expects to realize an organic sales gain in 2017. However, the Group anticipates increased economic risk from the planned British withdrawal from the EU as well as the political uncertainty in the US. “We want to continue our course of growth in 2017, with strategic focus on the implementation of the digital agenda which we developed in the previous year. Due to the implementation-related investments and costs planned for the digitalization activities, we expect an EBITDA margin in the middle of our long-term target corridor of 12 to 15 percent,” says CFO Claude Tomaszewski, summing up the preliminary outlook for 2017.

TAKKT will give further details on the 2016 consolidated financial statements and assessment of future business development with the publication of the 2016 annual report on March 22, 2017.

Conference call: February 16, 2017, at 3:00 pm (CET).
The login details to participate in the earnings call can be found under the following link: 4http://www.takkt.com/event

About TAKKT AG
TAKKT is the leading B2B direct marketing specialist for business equipment in Europe and North America. The Group is represented with its brands in more than 25 countries. The product range of the subsidiaries comprises more than 300,000 products for the areas of plant and warehouse equipment, office furniture, transport packaging, display articles and equipment for the food service industry, hotel market and retailers. The TAKKT Group has over 2,000 employees and just under three million customers worldwide. The company is listed on the SDAX and Deutsche Börse Prime Standard.

Contacts:
Dr. Christian Warns Tel. +49 711 3465-8222
Giuseppe Palmieri Tel. +49 711 3465-8250

Email: investor@takkt.de