DGAP-News

GESCO takes stock after the first nine months and provides a positive outlook for new financial year - Seite 2

Cash flow from operating activities developed extremely positively, almost doubling from EUR 16.6 million to EUR 30.7 million. At the same time, liabilities to financial institutions were reduced by EUR 7.3 million to EUR 109.9 million.

In the following fourth quarter, which encompasses the operating months October to December 2016 in the case of the subsidiaries, incoming orders saw a robust increase of more than 16 %, reaching approximately EUR 122 million (EUR 105.1 million). Group sales stood at approximately EUR 125 million and on a par with the previous year (EUR 124.8 million). This resulted in incoming orders exceeding sales over the year as a whole, which is a positive sign for future development. Order backlog rose over the course of the year by just under 10 % from EUR 171.7 million to approximately EUR 188 million.

With regard to Group sales, the Company confirms the forecast from November 2016 for the full financial year 2016/2017 of approximately EUR 480 million. In November 2016, the Company forecast Group net income after minority interest of EUR 11.5 million to EUR 12.5 million. Since operating business performed better than expected in the fourth quarter, the Company now believes that from an operating point of view Group net income after minority interest will come in at between EUR 12.5 million and EUR 13.5 million. However, the decision made after the end of the reporting period to sell off the majority shareholding in Protomaster GmbH (communicated in an ad hoc notification on 2 February 2017) will have a negative impact on the outlook. Earnings are expected to face a negative one-off effect of approximately EUR 6.5 million. This results in a new outlook for Group net income after minority interest of between EUR 6.0 million and EUR 7.0 million for financial year 2016/2017. The majority of the negative effects from the planned sale have no impact on liquidity.

The decision to sell off Protomaster is offset by an addition to the portfolio, which will lay the foundations for external growth in the new financial year: In December 2016 GESCO AG acquired the Pickhardt & Gerlach Group (PGW) in Finnentrop, a leading strip steel processor with sales of roughly EUR 30 million, as part of its succession planning process. The approval of the purchase necessary under antitrust law was granted in January 2017. Against the backdrop of this acquisition, GESCO AG is considering the option of utilising the authorised capital granted by the 2016 Annual General Meeting either in full or in part to further strengthen the equity base.