KROMI Logistik AG: KROMI Logistik AG publishes 6-month report for 2017/2018

• Sales rise by 15.8 % to KEUR 39,335
• Positive sales growth at home and abroad
• Once again very positive developments in Brazil
• Gross profit margin matches the level of the previous year with 25.1%
• Adjusted operating earnings of KEUR 1,441 generated

Hamburg, February 08, 2018 – KROMI Logistik AG, supplier of integrated tool logistics solutions for manufacturing companies, today published its report for the first six months of the financial year 2017/2018 (July 1 to December 31, 2017). The report shows that the company has succeeded in increasing sales by 15.8 % to KEUR 39,335 (previous year: KEUR 33,981). The positive turn to the business in Brazil, in particular, with sales growth of 53.5% over the previous year, confirms the company’s strategy of achieving profitable growth and a steady expansion of the customer base in new and existing markets by enhancing customer benefit.

With the positive development of sales and earnings, KROMI Logistik showed a profitable growth trend in the first six months of fiscal 2017/2018 even in the traditionally weaker first half of the financial year. Sales in Germany surpassed the level of the previous year by a considerable margin in the 2017/2018 reporting period, posting a total of KEUR 23,400 (previous year KEUR 20,623). The successful expansion of business with existing customers as well as the simultaneous winning of new customers from different sectors were contributing factors in this development. Outside Germany, the operating business also showed very pleasing overall growth. Sales in countries outside Germany reached KEUR 12,246 which represented an increase of around 12.2 % over the previous year (KEUR 10,954). Sales of the subsidiary in Brazil increased by 53.5 %, amounting to KEUR 3,689 (previous year: KEUR 2,404), and even by 61.1% in the local currency BRL.

Bernd Paulini, Spokesman of the Executive Board of KROMI Logistik AG, commented as follows: “All areas of KROMI Logistik are growing – across all the main sectors of industry, at home and abroad. We judge this to be the result of our aim of using our expertise in technology, data and logistics to generate the maximum benefit for KROMI customers for the success of their business.” Uwe Pfeiffer, CFO of KROMI Logistik AG, adds: “Overall, we succeeded in raising sales by around 16 % year on year, reaching a new record level of around EUR 39 million. This means we have once again outpaced the market level for precision tools and machining tools by a significant margin.”

Material expenditure increased from KEUR 25,406 in the same period last year to KEUR 29,442. The cost of materials ratio rose marginally as a result to 74.9% (previous year: 74.8 %). The gross profit margin (sales revenue minus cost of materials expressed as a ratio of sales in percent) stood at 25.1 % which more or less matched the figure of 25.2% for the previous year.

Personnel costs rose from KEUR 5,323 in the same period in the previous year to KEUR 6,684. This development is due in large measure to a one-off extraordinary effect resulting from a provision of KEUR 1,245 which does not impact the cash position. The provision was formed in the wake of the mutually agreed resignation of Chairman Jörg Schubert with effect from December 31, 2017. However, KROMI Logistik will save costs in the two following years at the same level as the provision formed with the result that overall, the formation of the provision will have no additional negative impact on the company’s operating results over the entire period under review until the end of 2019. Adjusted to take account of this provision, personnel costs stood at KEUR 5,439 on the reporting date which was therefore only slightly higher than for the previous year. The adjusted personnel cost ratio was significantly below the level of the previous year at 13.8 % (previous year: 15.7 %).

Costs resulting from exchange rate effects between the Brazilian Real and the Euro with no impact on liquidity amounted to KEUR 369. In the previous year, KROMI Logistik had recorded a positive foreign exchange effect of KEUR 289. Adjusted to reflect non-operating extraordinary effects with no impact on liquidity resulting from the provision formed in connection with Jörg Schubert’s resignation and foreign exchange effects, operating earnings amounted to KEUR 1,441. Taking these extraordinary effects into account, KROMI posted an operating result (EBIT) of KEUR -173 for the first half of 2017/2018 following KEUR 708 in the previous year.

For the whole year, the Board is expecting sales growth in the upper-single-digit percentage range by comparison with the previous year, as well as a steady, marked improvement in its operating earnings before non-operating extraordinary effects not impacting the cash position.

In the course of the day, KROMI Logistik AG will provide its complete report for the first six months of 2017/2018 prepared in accordance with IFRS on its website www.kromi.de in the Investor Relations section for downloading.

Company profile:
KROMI Logistik AG offers companies in the manufacturing sector at home and abroad end-to-end outsourcing to supply them with precision machining tools (“tool management”). The focus is on technically sophisticated machining tools (wearing tools and tool holders, e.g. drills) for processing metal and plastic. KROMI Logistik combines the traditional tool trade with local supply through fully automated tool dispensing in customers’ manufacturing areas, and an IT-based tool management and controlling system. The aim of KROMI Logistik’s business activities is to optimize the supply of operating materials to its customers, particularly tools, on a lasting basis, and to ensure that the right equipment is available in the right place at the right time. The company currently has four locations in Germany and four abroad (Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Spain and Brazil), as well as operations in six other European countries. KROMI Logistik has so far focused primarily on customers in the sectors of general mechanical engineering, automotive suppliers, aerospace and marine engine construction.

On the internet: www.kromi.de

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