Corporate | 16 February 2015 06:58

Grammer AG: Grammer Group reporting sales of EUR 1.36 billion, marking the fourth record year in a row

Grammer AG / Key word(s): Preliminary Results

2015-02-16 / 06:58

Grammer Group reporting sales of EUR 1.36 billion, marking the fourth record year in a row

– Preliminary figures shows a substantial increase of over 7 percent in revenue to EUR 1.36 billion

– As expected, Group EBIT of around EUR 57 million on previous year’s level.

Amberg, February 16, 2015 – With Group revenue of around EUR 1.36 billion (2013: 1.27) according to preliminary figures, Grammer experienced another record year in 2014, thus growing by over 7 percent over the previous year.

Thanks to its strong international presence and broad product portfolio, the specialist in seating systems for commercial vehicles and passenger vehicle interiors posted top-line growth in its two divisions, Seating Systems and Automotive, despite volatile markets. According to preliminary figures, the Automotive Division achieved a high 12 percent increase in revenue to around EUR 910 million (2013: 813). The generally good order situation driven by the global increase in demand for passenger cars as well as further market share gains allowed Grammer to leverage its good market position and global presence. In particular, the large number of new launches for center consoles in the second half of the year made a significant contribution to this revenue growth. At around EUR 475 million, the Seating Systems Division recorded a roughly 1 percent increase in revenue in 2014 compared to the previous year (2013: 473). Here, ongoing weak conditions in the Brazilian commercial vehicle market and the now significant decline in global demand for agricultural machinery slowed down on revenue growth.

Second highest earnings in company history
As expected, the Grammer Group generated preliminary operating earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of roughly EUR 57 million (2013: 58). Thus, it was able to achieve the second highest earnings in its history in 2014 even despite the heavy up-front costs of some EUR 10 million for its global growth strategy and contraction in some core markets.

“Last year, we launched a large program involving new plant constructions, capacity expansion, production relocations and numerous new product launches, for improving Grammer’s worldwide positioning as a basis for a further successful development. In light of this, it is particularly gratifying for us to see that despite these enormous efforts and ongoing challenging market conditions we were able to remain on our growth trajectory and achieve earnings on previous year’s level,” says Hartmut Müller, Chief Executive Officer of Grammer AG.

Exceptional strong Automotive but muted Seating business in the fourth quarter
Group revenue came to around EUR 370 million in the fourth quarter of 2014 (Q4 2013: 313), thus marking a very substantial increase of around 18 percent. This strong growth was driven by the Automotive Division, which at EUR 270 million (Q4 2013: 206) posted an exceptional high increase in revenues of roughly 30 percent over the previous year (Q4 2013: 206) due to the large number of new product launches. With market conditions still weak in Brazil accompanied by a substantial decline in agricultural machinery business, the Seating Systems Division generated revenue of around EUR 110 million in the same period, roughly 1.5 percent down on the same quarter of the previous year (Q4 2013: 112). Despite the up-front costs and the aforementioned muted market conditions, Group EBIT came to around EUR 14 million, i.e. roughly on a par with the previous year (Q4 2013: 15).

Group revenue expected to continue rising in 2015 despite weak conditions in key commercial vehicle markets
Underpinned by the numerous new product launches and continued stable conditions in the passenger car market, Grammer expects higher revenue in the Automotive Division in 2015. At the same time, a number of still ongoing expansion and optimization projects will influence earnings in this Division, which from the Group’s perspective, achieves weaker margins. On the other hand, Grammer anticipates a continuation of the challenging and volatile market conditions in the Seating Systems Division in 2015. As the already discernible weakness in the market for agricultural machinery and the uncertain development of the Brazilian truck market are likely to persist, Grammer expects top-line momentum to continue slowing in this Division.

Accordingly, the Executive Board projects a further increase in revenue for the Group as a whole in 2015. Operating profit will be influenced by the aforementioned developments in the two Divisions.

Grammer AG will be publishing its full annual report for 2014 on March 30, 2015.

Company Profile
Grammer AG, Amberg, Germany, is specialized in the development and production of components and systems for automotive interiors as well as driver and passenger seats for offroad vehicles (agricultural and construction machinery, forklifts), trucks, buses and trains. Our Seating Systems division comprises the truck and offroad seat segments as well as train and bus seating. In the Automotive division, we supply headrests, armrests and center console systems to premium automakers and automotive system suppliers.

Grammer is represented in 20 countries worldwide with a workforce of more than 10,000 employees across its 30 subsidiaries.

Grammer shares are listed in the SDAX segment of the German Stock Exchange, and are traded on the Munich and Frankfurt stock exchanges, via the Xetra electronic trading platform and on the OTC markets of the Stuttgart, Berlin and Hamburg stock exchanges.

Contact:
GRAMMER AG
Ralf Hoppe
Phone: 0049 9621 66 2200
investor-relations@grammer.com

2015-02-16 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP – a service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.
Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de

Language:	English
Company:	Grammer AG
	Postfach 14 54
	92204 Amberg
	Germany
Phone:	+49 (0)9621 66-0
Fax:	+49 (0)9621 66-1000
E-mail:	investor-relations@grammer.com
Internet:	www.grammer.com
ISIN:	DE0005895403, DE0005895403
WKN:	589540, 589540
Indices:	SDAX
Listed:	Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard), Munich; Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Stuttgart

End of News DGAP News-Service

323637  2015-02-16