3U HOLDING AG

3U plans significant revenue growth for 2019 - Seite 2

Non-recurring effects influenced the development of earnings in the Renewable Energies segment. Due to the sale of a wind farm in the 2017 financial year and the lower wind level in the 2018 financial year, revenue declined by 35% to EUR 6.3 million (2017: EUR 9.7 million). The lower revenue is also apparent in the segment's EBITDA, which - also on account of a non-recurring intra-Group settlement of EUR 0.5 million - fell by 36% to EUR 4.0 million (2017: EUR 6.2 million).
The Sanitary, Heating and Air Conditioning Technology (SHAC) segment achieved revenue growth of 14% to EUR 26.7 million (2017: EUR 23.5 million). The strategically important e-commerce business in this segment also grew in double digits as expected, although demand was somewhat weaker than had been assumed in the planning on account of the long spell of hot weather. EBITDA was slightly below the previous year's level (2018: EUR 0.41 million; 2017: EUR 0.66 million). The measures initiated to optimise processes and expand logistics capacity are expected to result in a marked margin improvement in the future.

Cash and equity increased
In the past financial year, the operating cash flow amounted to EUR 0.6 million (2017: EUR 6.7 million). Cash flow from investing activities is shaped among other things by the cash inflows in connection with the sale of a data centre property. Cash inflow from investing activities of EUR 8.1 million is therefore EUR 9.3 million higher than in the previous year (2017: cash outflow of EUR 1.2 million). Scheduled loan repayments and payments to shareholders resulted in cash outflow from financing activities of EUR 8.2 million (2017: cash outflow of EUR 5.7 million). In total, cash and cash equivalents increased by EUR 1.0 million from EUR 11.3 million at the start of the year to EUR 12.3 million as of 31 December 2018.
The sale of the property is also significantly responsible for the lower total assets of EUR 74.5 million (31 December 2017: EUR 81.2 million). For this reason, the share of current assets rose from 28.1% to 35.5%. Under equity and liabilities, the reclassification of the Lüdersdorf wind farm, previously recognised as held for sale, and scheduled repayments resulted in a transfer between current and non-current financial liabilities. As of 31 December 2018, non-current financial liabilities amounted to EUR 19.6 million (31 December 2017: EUR 14.9 million), current financial liabilities to EUR 3.5 million (31 December 2017: EUR 7.1 million). Equity attributable to shareholders of 3U HOLDING AG increased to EUR 42.4 million (31 December 2017: EUR 41.2 million). Overall, 3U has a very solid equity ratio of 55.6% (31 December 2017: 49.2%).