DGAP-News: KATEK SE: KATEK announces strong market share gains and 36.8% growth in the first three quarters

KATEK announces strong market share gains and 36.8% growth in the first three quarters

Group EBITDA more than triples year-on-year

- Sales after nine months increased by 36.8% compared to the previous year to EUR 402.0 million

- Reported EBITDA more than tripled to EUR 19.8 million

- Operating result (adjusted EBITDA) increased by 35.7% to EUR 21.1 million

- First signs of normalization of semiconductor market in sub-segments as of 2022

- M&A activities and increasing momentum in the M&A market: minority stake acquired in eMobility startup iOX Mobility GmbH

- Targets and communicated forecast corridor for 2021 confirmed

Munich, November 10, 2021 - In a market environment for semiconductors still characterized by material shortage, the KATEK Group succeeded in continuing its growth path in the third quarter of 2021. Thus, after nine months, the KATEK Group increased sales revenues by 36.8% to EUR 402.0 million (previous year EUR 293.8 million). The strong growth is based on a very positive development in almost all industries that KATEK provides with high-value electronics. The future markets of Tele-Care, eMobility/Charging and Solar/Renewables developed particularly successfully, increasing by a total of 51.2%.

At the same time, earnings again increased significantly compared to the same period of the previous year. In the nine-month period, KATEK achieved a group EBITDA of EUR 19.8 million (previous year: EUR 6.4 million). The operating result (EBITDA adjusted) improved by 35.7% over the same period of the previous year to EUR 21.1 million. With a constant value of 5.2%, the path of a targeted increase in the operating margin (margin EBITDA adjusted) was consistently continued in the third quarter at the same time as the strong growth.

Looking only at the third quarter of 2021, sales of EUR 131.0 million were stable at the level of the previous quarters and around 18% above the same period of the previous year despite increased volatility on the procurement markets.

KATEK's management is optimistic that the semiconductor market will begin to ease in the course of the first quarter of 2022. This is said to be due, among other things, to an expansion of production capacities at manufacturers as well as the normalization of order volumes and inventories. The full order books also signal that bottlenecks will essentially only lead to a shift in demand rather than a disappearance.

eMobility and M&A remain key growth drivers

The KATEK Group is defying the materials crisis with its very good purchasing position, professional and agile purchasing organization, very close cooperation with key suppliers and its healthy mix of industries and customers. As a result, KATEK has also succeeded in reliably delivering to customers over the past few months and gaining market share.

"We see that the supply chain in the automotive industry is currently changing due to the shift towards eMobility and the massive material bottlenecks: Car companies increasingly want to purchase the most important parts together with us and, above all, in the area of eMobility, build up electronics expertise themselves in cooperation with strong electronics partners. Our partnership with Porsche is a good example. We are also in discussion with other very well-known European groups. We will take advantage of these opportunities," says Rainer Koppitz, CEO & Co-Founder of KATEK SE.

Analogous to the development on land, eMobility on water will also grow strongly in the coming years. As part of KATEK's strategy to play a leading role in the development and production of the high-value electronics required for eMobility, KATEK SE acquired a minority interest (10%) in iOX Mobility GmbH, based in Pullach near Munich, in the third quarter of 2021. iOX Mobility GmbH develops and implements radical innovations for eMobility on water. The cooperation partners of the young company include leading companies in the marine industry and a leading manufacturer in the automotive industry. KATEK will be the exclusive electronics partner of iOX Mobility GmbH, the launch of the first products is planned for 2022.

"eMobility is becoming relevant for more and more sectors. This increases the demand for high-value electronics solutions. We as the KATEK Group specialize in precisely this. That means we are electronics service providers for companies that have complexity in their applications. In addition to the automotive and eMobility sectors, these also include megatrends such as solar or renewable energies, healthcare or connectivity, for example in the smart home," says Rainer Koppitz.

Acquisitions are and will be an important growth driver. KATEK sees increasing momentum in the M&A market. "In Northern and Western Europe alone, around 70 companies could be interesting. In line with our investment criteria regarding price, synergy and value enhancement potential, a handful of very promising transactions are currently in the due diligence phase," explains Rainer Koppitz. With the implementation of one of these projects, KATEK would take a significant step towards the consolidation of the European market.

Outlook

Based on the development in the current year, KATEK's management is sticking to the targets for 2021 and the forecast corridor for the fiscal year communicated in the half-year financial report. This means a volume of around EUR 535 to 560 million for consolidated sales and an increase in operating profit (EBITDA adjusted) between 30 and 59% to EUR 27 to 33 million.

"In 2020, we were among the top five European electronics companies with sales of 414 million euros. As of September 2021, we are already over EUR 400 million and will clearly exceed half a billion euros in sales this year. In two to three years at the latest, we should be number two in Europe, because our medium-term long-term goal is to reach one billion euros in sales. This will make us one of the preferred partners for the entire European industry in the field of high-value electronics," says the KATEK CEO.

The full quarterly statement of KATEK SE as of September 30, 2021 is published on the website www.katek-group.com in the Investor Relations section.

KATEK Investor Relations
Investor Relations
ir@katek-group.com
+ 49 89 2323 9887-0

KATEK press contact
Ramona Kasper
Head of Marketing & Communications
ramona.kasper@katek-group.com
+ 49 160 970 88 676

About KATEK
The KATEK Group is a leading European electronics company offering hardware and software development, prototyping and manufacturing, and related services in the market for high-end electronics or electronics services. The KATEK Group currently employs over 2,600 employees* in Germany and Eastern Europe. CEO is Rainer Koppitz and CFO is Dr. Johannes Fues. For more information about KATEK, please visit https://katek-group.com/.

Statements contained herein may constitute "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements are identified by words such as "may", "will", "should", "plans", "expects", "anticipates", "estimates", "believes", "intends", "has in mind", "targets" or their negative form or equivalent variations and comparable terminology.

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