Corporate | 15 March 2016 23:50

STRATEC publishes preliminary figures for the 2015 financial year and adjusts financial forecast

DGAP-News: STRATEC Biomedical AG / Key word(s): Preliminary Results/Change in Forecast

2016-03-15 / 23:50
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

STRATEC publishes preliminary figures for the 2015 financial year and adjusts financial forecast

– Sales increased to EUR 146.9 million in 2015 financial year (previous year: EUR 144.9 million)
– EBIT margin improved to 18.3% (previous year: 16.6%)
(Sales and EBIT margin are preliminary, unaudited results for FY 2015)
– Increase in dividend to EUR 0.75 per share (previous year: EUR 0.70) to be proposed
– 2016 sales forecast of between EUR 150 million and EUR 154 million
– 2016 EBIT margin should remain stable
– Mid-term financial forecast for 2014 to 2017: average annual sales growth (CAGR) of around 6%

Birkenfeld, March 15, 2016

STRATEC Biomedical AG, Birkenfeld, Germany (Frankfurt: SBS; Prime Standard, TecDAX), today published (by way of an ad-hoc announcement) an adjustment in its financial forecast up to and including 2017 and its preliminary, unaudited figures for the 2015 financial year.

Preliminary figures for 2015 and proposed dividend
Based on preliminary, unaudited figures, STRATEC Biomedical AG increased its sales by 1.8% to EUR 146.9 million in the 2015 financial year. The EBIT margin rose significantly from 16.6% in the previous year to 18.3%. The final audited results for the 2015 financial year will be published on April 14, 2016.

At the meeting to be held to adopt the financial statements, the Board of Management and Supervisory Board will discuss submitting a proposed dividend of EUR 0.75 per share for the 2015 financial year for approval by the Annual General Meeting. Following a dividend payment of EUR 0.70 per share in the previous year, this would represent an increase by 7.1%. This would reflect the company’s consistently strong earnings performance and its ongoing positive business prospects, also in respect of potential company acquisitions.

Adjustment to sales forecast
For the current 2016 financial year, STRATEC now expects its sales to grow to between EUR 150 million and EUR 154 million. This means, however, that the company will not achieve its mid-term financial forecast issued in 2013, which was valid to date and provided for average annual sales growth (CAGR) of 8% to 12% in the years from 2014 to 2017. The new target for average sales growth between 2014 and 2017 now amounts to around 6%.

Growth held back by weak business in China
The adjustment in the mid-term outlook is largely due to the forecast and order reductions received from a major customer that is one of the world’s top three in-vitro diagnostics players and that previously generated a large share of its STRATEC product sales in China. Other customers have also corrected their call-up expectations, here too with reference to the more difficult economic climate, especially in Asia. Furthermore, some of STRATEC’s development projects will only generate the sales contributions originally budgeted for 2016 and 2017 at a later date. This is due to delays in the availability of comprehensive test menus and in approval procedures.

Given these delays and in view of a very weak first quarter, 2016 sales are unlikely to meet market expectations, even if other projects show unexpected upside developments. The EBIT margin, which due to the product mix has recently risen faster than previously budgeted, should be maintained in 2016 at around the level attained in 2015.

About STRATEC
STRATEC Biomedical AG ( www.stratec.com ) designs and manufactures fully automated analyzer systems for its partners in the fields of clinical diagnostics and biotechnology. These partners market such systems, in general together with their own reagents, as system solutions to laboratories, blood banks and research institutes around the world. The company develops its products on the basis of its own patented technologies.

Shares in the company (ISIN: DE000STRA555) are traded in the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and are listed in the TecDAX select index of the German Stock Exchange.

Further information can be obtained from:
STRATEC Biomedical AG
André Loy, Corporate Communications
Gewerbestr. 37, 75217 Birkenfeld
Germany
Tel: +49 7082 7916-190
Fax: +49 7082 7916-999
ir@stratec.com
www.stratec.com

2016-03-15 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.

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Language:	English
Company:	STRATEC Biomedical AG
	Gewerbestr. 37
	75217 Birkenfeld
	Germany
Phone:	+49 (0)7082 7916 0
Fax:	+49 (0)7082 7916 999
E-mail:	info@stratec.com
Internet:	www.stratec.com
ISIN:	DE000STRA555
WKN:	STRA55
Indices:	TecDAX
Listed:	Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Stuttgart, Tradegate Exchange; Terminbörse EUREX

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