DGAP-News

MAX Automation closes 2016 with record order backlog - Group sales and earnings lower than last year as announced - Seite 3

- Net interest income improved from EUR -3.6 million to EUR -2.8 million due to the effects of the reorganization of Group financing in 2015. As expected, interest expenses were reduced by around EUR 1 million.

- The Group posted an annual result of EUR 8.3 million euros (2015: EUR 10.6 million, -21.2%).

- Group equity increased to EUR 111.3 million as of December 31, 2016 (December 31, 2015: EUR 106.9 million, +4.1%). At 36.3%, the equity ratio remained well above the targeted minimum value of 30% (December 31, 2015: 37.7%).

Development of the Group segments

The Industrial Automation segment increased its order intake by 27.2% in 2016 to EUR 300.7 million (2015: EUR 236.3 million). The order backlog rose as of December 31 by 59.2% to the record level of EUR 164.1 million (December 31, 2015: EUR 103.1 million). Due to customer delays in the awarding of contracts, however, sales of EUR 239.8 million remained below expectations (2015: EUR 252.2 million, -4.9%). EBIT before PPA decreased to EUR 16.8 million (2015: EUR 26.4 million), which was mainly influenced by a temporary reduction in capacity utilization as a result of delayed orders and the aforementioned personnel buildup. In addition, it should be taken into account that the Group's profit in the previous year had benefited from a product and project mix that was advantageous in terms of profitability.

The Environmental Technology segment that includes the Vecoplan Group recorded an unsatisfactory business trend in the reporting year. This was due to the persistently low oil price and correspondingly lower demand for recycling and processing solutions, especially in the US. Even a good final quarter, which was above expectations, could not compensate for the sluggish demand in the previous quarters. Sales declined by 26.3% to 97.4 million euros (2015: EUR 132.2 million euros). EBIT before PPA amounted to EUR 1.8 million compared to EUR 1.5 million in the previous year. In the meantime, Vecoplan has adapted its capacities to the changed market conditions and thus created a good basis for a positive development in the current year.