Provisional nine-month figures for technotrans below expectations – annual forecast for 2019 financial year adjusted

Sassenberg, October 22, 2019 – The provisional figures for the business performance of the technotrans Group in the first nine months of the 2019 financial year on the whole fall short of expectations, with consolidated revenue of EUR 153.4 million and a consolidated operating profit (EBIT) of around EUR 6.6 million.

The Technology segment, according to provisional figures, experienced a hitherto unexpected, substantial drop in revenue of 10.2 % to EUR 35.7 million in the third quarter, down from EUR 39.8 million in the prior-year period. In the Services segment, revenue for Q3 2019 came to EUR 15.1 million, equally below the figure for the corresponding prior-year period.

Based on these provisional figures for the third quarter of 2019 as well as the revenue now expected for the fourth quarter and therefore for 2019 as a whole, the Board of Management is adjusting the annual forecast for the technotrans Group. On the assumption that the unexpectedly sharp fall in revenue in the Technology segment will continue until the end of the year, the Board of Management now anticipates consolidated revenue of around EUR 205 million for 2019 as a whole (previously: EUR 218 to 226 million) and a consolidated operating profit (EBIT) in the range of EUR 7.6 to 8.4 million, instead of the previously forecast EUR 12.0 to 16.0 million.

According to current findings, the development in the third quarter and the need to adjust the annual forecast are attributable to the following factors:

  • Following the weak revenue and earnings performance of the Group company gwk Gesellschaft Wärme Kältetechnik (gwk) in the first half of 2019, it was not possible to increase output to the extent previously anticipated due to unexpected capacity restrictions. Despite the existing order backlog, this has had a hitherto unanticipated knock-on effect on the fourth quarter too, which is now reflected in the adjusted annual forecast.
  • Furthermore, the global economic slowdown is putting the brakes on the Group’s new machinery business in the second half more sharply than technotrans was able to foresee at the first-half reporting date; this effect will be reflected in both the third and fourth quarters of 2019.

Double-digit growth rates in the growth markets of electric mobility, medical and scanner technology as well as EUV technology will not suffice to compensate for the negative effects presented above.

The figures for the first nine months of the 2019 financial year will be published on November 5, 2019.