EQS-Adhoc

Mikron Holding AG: Strong Swiss franc and volatile order intake hold back Mikron - Seite 2

anticipated balanced result and - despite a decline in net sales - the
Automation business segment would have increased profitability.

Mikron Automation
In the first half of 2015, Mikron Automation's US sales market continued to
perform positively. In Europe, on the other hand, pressure on margins
increased - especially as a result of the decision by the Swiss National
Bank to discontinue the minimum exchange rate against the euro. The
business segment also came under intense pressure from competitors, mostly
those from Germany. As expected, Mikron Automation was unable to repeat the
previous year's exceptionally high order intake (CHF 86.9 million),
reporting CHF 56.1 million for the first half of 2015. The order backlog
level remained good at CHF 69.9 million (first half of 2014: CHF 89.9
million). As a number of projects were in an early or advanced development
stage, sales fell to CHF 55.1 million in the first half of 2015 (first half
of 2014: CHF 56.9 million). Factoring out the currency-related value
adjustments on work in progress, the business segment would have achieved
positive EBIT of CHF 0.8 million (previous year CHF -0.2 million).

Mikron Machining
Mikron Machining's business performance was again very mixed in the first
half of 2015: While demand for tools and spare parts was still solid, the
business segment faced a decline in the machinery business in the second
quarter. Despite an encouraging, relatively steady flow of requests for
quotes from customers, above all new orders for linear transfer machines
manufactured in Germany remained well below expectations. Mikron Machining
increased order intake from the low CHF 52.6 million seen in the first half
of 2014 to CHF 62.5 million in the first six months of 2015. The business
segment increased order backlog from CHF 46.3 million to CHF 54.1 million,
although some orders will not generate sales revenue until 2016 or later.
Net sales fell from CHF 63.1 million to CHF 52.7 million. Under the impact
of the strong Swiss franc and due to the substantial decrease in net sales,
profitability was also negative.

Outlook
In the second half of 2015, the Mikron Group expects to continue facing a
challenging, uncertain and - particularly regarding order intake in the
machinery business - volatile situation. The Swiss companies in
particular will remain exposed to huge pressure on margins. Continuing