DGAP-News: Muehlhan AG

PRESS RELEASE

Muehlhan AG publishes results for financial year 2017

- Muehlhan Group continues steady upward trend of the past few years

- EUR247.7 million of sales revenues and EUR8.5 million of EBIT at upper end of expectations

- Dividend of EUR0.08 per share proposed

Hamburg, 29 March 2018 - In 2017, Muehlhan AG (Open Market; ISIN DE000A0KDF7) successfully continued its upward trend of the past few years. As expected, sales revenues decreased slightly to EUR247.7 million while EBIT increased by 24 % to EUR8.5 million. Thus, the EBIT margin improved from 2.7 % to 3.4 %. Consolidated annual net income increased by 64 % to EUR4.6 million. After minority interests, the Group generated net income allocable to equity holders of EUR4.1 million in reporting year 2017, more than twice the prior-year figure. 
Cash flow from operating activities also showed a positive trend, increasing from EUR8.9 million in the previous year to EUR15.4 million.
 

A geographic review shows that sales revenues in Europe increased by 3 % to EUR192.5 million in the reporting year. Despite damage caused by a supplier in the Netherlands, EBIT increased disproportionately from EUR4.9 million in the previous year to EUR7.5 million in the reporting year.

In the Middle East, there was a steep EUR9.0 million drop in sales revenues to EUR20.8 million, mainly due to the fact that the Emirate of Qatar is being blockaded by neighboring countries. By contrast, this region's EBIT almost tripled to EUR1.3 million.

In North America, business lagged behind the previous year, with sales revenues declining by EUR5.8 million to EUR21.1 million. By contrast, EBIT rose by EUR0.8 million to EUR2.1 million.

In the Rest of the World, oil and gas projects generated EUR13.2 million of sales revenues and EUR1.4 million of EBIT.
 

In the Ship business segment, sales revenues decreased, as expected, by EUR7.3 million to
EUR56.2 million. Due to more selective criteria for screening follow-up projects as part of the strict risk management approach, profitability increased, as demonstrated by the increase in EBIT to EUR5.7 million.

The Oil & Gas business segment managed to increase sales revenues from EUR63.2 million in 2016 to EUR73.3 million in 2017 thanks to a slightly improved market environment. High pressure on margins in the industry, the negative impact of the mentioned damage suffered in the Netherlands and negative foreign currency effects result in a significant EUR4.5 million decrease in EBIT to EUR2.0 million.

In the Renewables business segment, sales revenues decreased slightly by EUR1.4 million to
EUR32.6 million. However, due to operating improvements - among other things - EBIT increased by
EUR5.5 million to EUR3.0 million.

The Industry/Infrastructure business segment reported an EUR8.1 million decrease in sales revenues to EUR85.5 million. EBIT dropped from EUR3.3 million in the previous year to EUR2.3 million due to project-related reasons.

With the Supervisory Board's approval, the Executive Board will propose to the Annual General Meeting that for financial year 2017, a dividend of EUR0.08 per share (previous year: EUR0.06 per share) be distributed.
 

Muehlhan is confident that the Group's upward trend will continue and profitability can be improved further. The company expects sales revenues to remain constant at around EUR250 million, with EBIT increasing slightly to between EUR8.5 million and EUR9.5 million.

For additional information on the financial year 2017 and details on the outlook for 2018, please consult the Muehlhan Annual Report published on 29 March 2018.

The company's key performance indicators are shown in the following table:

* adjusted in accordance with IAS 8.41 et seq.
¹ EBITDA: Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization
² EBIT: Profit from operations (Earnings before interest and taxes)
³ EBT: Earnings before taxes
^{4Fixed assets: Total non-current assets less deferred tax assets}
 

About Muehlhan: Worldwide, Muehlhan Group is a reliable partner in industrial services and high-quality surface protection. As one of the few full-service providers, we offer our customers a broad range of services designed to meet the exacting quality standards expected in professional industrial services. Our customers benefit from our exceptional organizational skills, on-time delivery, the technical expertise that differentiates us from our competitors, and our more than 130 years of experience. We have an established market presence in the four business segments in which we operate: Ship, Renewables, Oil & Gas, and Industry/Infrastructure. Muehlhan AG is a listed company and is traded on the Open Market under ISIN DE000A0KD0F7.

For more information, visit www.muehlhan.com

Contact: Muehlhan AG; phone: +49-40-752-7115-0 e-mail: investorrelations@muehlhan.com