DGAP-News: Stabilus S.A. makes a solid start to its 2022 fiscal year and unveils its long-term strategy 2030

CORPORATE NEWS

Stabilus S.A. makes a solid start to its 2022 fiscal year and unveils its long-term strategy 2030

- Revenue increases by 3.5% to 243.7 million in Q1 2022: Industrial and Automotive Powerise are the growth drivers

- Adjusted EBIT^[1] in Q1 at 29.3 million compared to 32.3 million in Q1 FY2021

- Q1 result at 18.0 million (Q1 FY2021: 14.3 million) and free cash flow before acquisitions (adj. FCF^[1]) at 7.4 million (Q1 FY2021: 21.9 million)

- Stabilus sets out a long-term strategy until 2030: Global leader in intelligent motion control technologies; Group revenue of 2 billion with adj. EBIT margin^[1] of 15%

Luxembourg/Koblenz, January 31, 2022 - During the first quarter of the current fiscal year 2022 ended December 31, 2021, Stabilus S.A. (ISIN: LU1066226637), one of the world's leading suppliers of motion control solutions for a wide range of industries, benefited from a strong development in the Industrial and Automotive Powerise sectors and recorded revenue growth.

Group revenue increased to 243.7 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2022 from 235.4 million in the same period last year, corresponding to year-on-year revenue growth of 3.5%.

Dr. Michael Büchsner, CEO of Stabilus, said: "Our goal is to be the global leader in intelligent motion control technologies by 2030 and to ensure that motion is easy and safe at all times while maintaining the first-rate quality of our solutions. Our strategy aims to secure profitable and sustainable growth that is primarily driven by our innovative strength. We have made a solid start to the current fiscal year. In particular, the Industrial division saw double-digit revenue growth, and Automotive Powerise performed well in Asia-Pacific."

Global leader in intelligent motion control technologies by 2030
Stabilus today presented its long-term strategy for the period up to 2030. The company aims to be the global leader in intelligent motion control technologies at the beginning of the next decade. The financial targets of 2 billion revenue with an adj. EBIT margin^[1] of 15% in 2030 explicitly include the company's sustainability initiatives, with which Stabilus will ensure top performance in sustainability ratings. The Group's innovation approach is at the core of the growth strategy. This will lead to numerous new product developments in the field of motion control and the establishment of a motion ecosystem. As a result, Stabilus plans to generate revenue of around 500 million with new innovative products in 2030. Stabilus expects the APAC region to continue to be one of the fastest-growing regions in the coming years.

Promissory note (Schuldschein) of 55 million issued
Stabilus GmbH in Koblenz has issued another promissory note (Schuldschein) with a volume of 55 million guaranteed by Stabilus S.A. in Luxembourg. Together with the promissory note with a volume of 95 million issued in March 2021, Stabilus now has a total promissory note volume of 150 million. Stabilus' long-term financing strategy is particularly focused on creating a balanced maturity profile, diversifying financing sources and providing the flexibility for the optimization of the costs of capital.

Strong growth in Automotive Powerise drives sales development in APAC
In the EMEA segment, revenue decreased by 7.1% to 105.5 million in Q1 FY2022 (Q1 FY2021: 113.6 million), mainly due to lower revenue from Stabilus Automotive business, while the Industrial business developed positively in the region. The revenue declines in the Automotive Gas Spring and Automotive Powerise divisions resulted primarily from the significant year-on-year reduction in light vehicle production. Nevertheless, both automotive business units of Stabilus outperformed the underlying market. In the Americas segment, revenue decreased by 8.5% year-on-year to 77.2 million (Q1 FY2021: 84.4 million), with the strong US Dollar providing some support. This was driven by lower light vehicle production as well, as a result of semiconductor shortages at several OEMs. In the Asia-Pacific (APAC) segment, the company recorded a very strong year-on-year revenue increase of 63.4% to 61.1 million (Q1 FY2021: 37.4 million). All divisions contributed to the strong quarterly development in APAC. The Automotive Powerise division in particular had a significant impact on revenue development with organic growth of 141.8% compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

Double-digit growth in the Industrial division
Broken down by business unit, Stabilus recorded a revenue increase in both Automotive Powerise and Industrial in the first quarter of the 2022 fiscal year, while revenue in the Automotive Gas Spring segment declined. Stabilus' automotive business was impacted overall by the significant year-on-year decline in light vehicle production worldwide, due in particular to semiconductor shortages at a large number of OEMs. Nevertheless, both Automotive Gas Spring and Automotive Powerise outperformed the underlying market. Revenue in the Automotive Gas Spring division fell by 6.0% to 76.5 million (Q1 FY2021: 81.4 million). In Automotive Powerise, which was able to decouple from the negative development of global light vehicle production to an even higher degree than Automotive Gas Spring, revenue rose by 5.6% to 76.7 million in Q1 FY2022 (Q1 FY2021: 72.6 million).

The Industrial business unit recorded a revenue increase of 11.2% to 90.5 million in Q1 FY2022 (Q1 FY2021: 81.4 million). The growth of the division is mainly due to a strong development of the Distributors, Independent Aftermarket and E-Commerce (DIAMEC) segment. Stabilus achieved further growth in the Mobility and Energy, Construction, Industrial Machinery and Automation (ECIMA) segments, while the Health, Recreation & Furniture (HRF) segment recorded a revenue decline.

For Q1 FY2022 in total, the Industrial business unit accounted for 37% (Q1 FY2021: 35%) of Group's revenue, and the two automotive business units Automotive Powerise and Automotive Gas Spring accounted for 63% (Q1 FY2021: 65%).

Adjusted EBIT margin of 12.0% in the first quarter
Adjusted operating profit (adjusted EBIT^[1]) decreased by 9.3% to 29.3 million in Q1 FY2022 (Q1 FY2021: 32.3 million). This corresponds to an adjusted EBIT margin of 12.0%, compared to 13.7% in the same quarter of Q1 FY2021.

In Q1 FY2022, profit was 18.0 million. This was above the result of 14.3 million recorded in the same quarter of the previous year, mainly due to currency translation effects. Free cash flow before acquisitions (adj. FCF^[1]) declined to 7.4 million, compared to 21.9 million in Q1 FY2021.

Forecast for fiscal year 2022 confirmed
Stabilus confirms its forecast for the full fiscal year 2022 and continues to expect revenue of 940 million to 990 million as well as an adjusted EBIT^[1] margin in the range of 14% to 15%.

The quarterly statement for the first quarter of fiscal year 2022 can be downloaded from the company's website at Investors / Financial Reports & Presentations.

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^[1] Cf. definition/calculation of KPI's adjusted EBIT and free cash flow before acquisitions (adj. FCF) in our quarterly statement for Q1 FY2022, pp. 5 and 10, that can be downloaded from the company's website at Investors / Financial Reports & Presentations.

Investor contact:
Andreas Schröder
Tel.: +352 286 770 21
E-Mail: anschroeder@stabilus.com

Press contact:
Peter Steiner
Tel.: +49 69 794090 27
E-Mail: Peter.Steiner@charlesbarker.de
Charles Barker Corporate Communications

About Stabilus
As one of the world's leading suppliers of gas springs, damping solutions and electromechanical drives, Stabilus has for eight decades been demonstrating its expertise in the automotive industry and a variety of other sectors. Gas springs, dampers and electromechanical POWERISE drives from Stabilus optimize opening, closing, lifting, lowering and adjusting operations, and also protect against vibrations. Employing a workforce of more than six thousand worldwide, the company has its operational headquarters in Koblenz. Stabilus has reported revenue of EUR 937.7 million in the 2021 fiscal year. Stabilus has a global production network encompassing plants in eleven countries. Additionally, the Group maintains regional offices and relations to sales partners in over fifty countries in Europe, North and South America, as well as in Asia-Pacific. Stabilus S.A. is listed in the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and included in the SDAX index.

Important Notice
This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Stabilus Group management and other information currently available to Stabilus. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here.