DGAP-News

ElringKlinger reports strong surge in earnings for first quarter of 2021 - Seite 2

Having felt the effects of the coronavirus pandemic in China in the first quarter of the previous year, ElringKlinger recorded a significant increase in revenue in the Asia-Pacific region from January to March 2021, up 38.8% to EUR 81.8 million. In Europe, the Group saw revenue expand by 4.8%. In North America, meanwhile, the decline in sales revenue recorded by ElringKlinger in the first quarter of 2021 was attributable solely to currency effects. At constant exchange rates, the Group's revenue would have increased slightly compared to the same period last year.

Strong operating result
The growth in revenue was also reflected in the bottom-line result: the Group achieved earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of EUR 77.2 million in the first quarter of 2021, which was up EUR 31.4 million or 68.6% on the prior-year level of EUR 45.8 million. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased by EUR 32.4 million to EUR 48.4 million, which corresponds to an EBIT margin of 11.4% (Q1 2020: 4.0%). Excluding the gain of EUR 10.9 million on disposal of the Austrian subsidiary, which was transferred to the French partner as part of the agreement with Plastic Omnium, the EBIT margin stood at 8.8%, a significant increase on previous quarters. Alongside a favorable product and regional mix, this was also attributable to better utilization of existing capacities as a result of buoyant demand. In addition, both the Aftermarket and the Engineered Plastics segment made a very solid contribution to Group earnings.

Due to a positive net finance result and a marked improvement in the effective tax rate, the Group was also able to significantly increase its net income for the period (after non-controlling interests) to EUR 37.9 million (Q1 2020: EUR 2.0 million). This translates into earnings per share of EUR 0.60 in the first three months of 2021, compared to EUR 0.03 in the first quarter of the previous year.

Net debt ratio scaled back to 1.9
ElringKlinger continued to pursue its disciplined investment approach in the first quarter, in addition to further optimizing net working capital. In conjunction with the substantial improvement in earnings performance, these measures resulted in operating free cash flow of EUR 28.6 million, which contrasts with EUR -2.2 million in the first three months of the previous year. This figure does not include proceeds from the sale of the Austrian subsidiary or the payment of EUR 30 million received by ElringKlinger under the terms of the agreement with French supplier Plastic Omnium as part of the companies' partnership relating to fuel cell technology. The latter payment will help to accelerate further capacity expansion at the joint venture EKPO Fuel Cell Technologies GmbH, an entity fully consolidated by ElringKlinger.