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Vossloh Aktiengesellschaft: Vossloh with a very good start in the 2021 fiscal year, sales and operating profitability well above the previous year - Seite 2

The Group's financial position also improved significantly. The equity ratio went up to 43.9 percent (previous year: 28.6 percent). Net financial debt (excluding lease liabilities) fell considerably to €202.1 million (March 31, 2020: €386.4 million). In addition to the positive free cash flow in the core business over the past twelve months, this was largely driven by the successful placement of the hybrid note in the amount of roughly €150 million in February. The hybrid note was presented within equity in accordance with IFRS accounting standards.

"We have made an excellent start to the 2021 fiscal year. After a lengthy period of restructuring and realignment, Vossloh's earnings potential is becoming clearly visible in view of our best operating result in a first quarter in ten years," Oliver Schuster, Chief Executive Officer of Vossloh AG, explained. "We are perfectly positioned and well on the way to achieve our ambitious goals. Our integrated range of products and services and our financial flexibility have put us on track for long-term profitable growth."

Core Components division
In the Core Components division, Vossloh increased its sales in the first quarter of 2021 by more than 35 percent to €105.1 million (previous year: €77.7 million). This outstanding performance is largely due to the Fastening Systems business unit's improved business in China, mainly as a result of deliveries being shifted to 2021 due to the pandemic. The sales of the business unit went up by almost 50 percent in the reporting period to €65.5 million (previous year: €43.9 million). The revenues of the Tie Technologies business unit increased to €40.6 million (previous year: €36.5 million), mainly due to higher volumes of concrete ties being delivered in Australia. Orders received in the division amounted to €99.5 million in the first three months of 2021 (previous year: €107.9 million). The order backlog fell to €237.5 million on March 31, 2021. The decrease compared to the previous year's figure (March 31, 2020: €302.8 million) was largely due to the planned execution of the high order backlog in Australia and China. The Core Components division achieved an EBIT of €14.7 million in the first quarter of 2021 (previous year on a comparable basis: €3.8 million). This caused the EBIT margin to improve from a comparable figure of 4.9 percent in the previous year to 14.0 percent. This significant rise is primarily due to increased deliveries for high-margin rail fastening systems projects.